“The Texas longhorn made more history than any other breed of cattle the civilized world has known,” wrote the noted Texas historian J. Frank Dobie. Tracing the history and lore of the Texas steer, “the bedrock on which the history of the cow country of America is founded,” Dobie added: “They were the cow brutes for the open range, the cattle of the hour. They suited the wide, untamed land and the men that ranged it.” Russell also greatly appreciated the contribution of the longhorn to the American West, and he created a number of depictions of the reclining animal in painted plaster as gifts for family and friends. Painted in a range of colors and given a variety of horn shapes, these models from a common mold became distinctly individual works. There is little liklihood that Russell ever saw the bronze version of his model, for the first cast was supposedly made in 1927, well after the artist’s death. After that, there are only a few casts documented as having been exhibited or sold. At the time of Mrs. Russell’s death, there were no bronze casts remaining in her estate, but there were five plaster models, two of them painted. The Texas businessman C. R. Smith, who purchased Mrs. Russell’s estate following her death, arranged to have the bronze pictured here cast by the Nelli Art Bronze Works of Los Angeles from one of the plaster models. This cast, then, is a late example and not to be confused with the earlier casts by Roman Bronze Works that were made in Nancy Russell’s lifetime.