Nonprofit pushing for museum to tell Texas Longhorn and cattle drive history

The Texas Longhorn Legacy Foundation hopes to break ground next year for the Texas Longhorn Legacy Museum of the West.

You don't need to know a lot about ranching or livestock to know a Texas Longhorn when you see one.

"The Longhorn is such an iconic animal," Texas Longhorn Legacy Foundation Board Member Tom Buxton said. "Everybody knows a Longhorn. They could look at any cow and couldn't tell you if it's an Angus, or Hereford, or whatever. You look at a Longhorn, and you know it's a Longhorn cow."

At Buxton Ranch in Meridian, 4 generations have been breeding and raising Longhorns, carrying on a Texas tradition.

"I mean, they still run wild in West Texas," Buxton said.

The proposed Texas Longhorn Legacy Museum of the West would tell the story of how the Longhorn became such a Texas icon, and the cattle drives that paved the way.

"I think the history of Texas needs to be told," Texas Longhorn Legacy Foundation President Wayne Manning said. "Learning about the trail system, learning about the Texas Longhorn, knowing that Texas really wouldn't exist without the Texas Longhorn."

Manning envisions school field trips to the proposed 37,000 square foot museum, which would double as a gateway entrance to the north end of the Fort Worth Stockyards.

"The excitement about the Texas Longhorn now is just off the charts! So the museum property at Exchange and Stockyard Boulevard has been there for a long time, so it's the right time for a museum," Buxton said. "Our goal is to educate and preserve the heritage of the Texas Longhorns."

The Texas Longhorn Legacy Foundation nonprofit is hoping to get approval from the city to break ground in 2026.