‘Old Blue,’ Steer with Leadership Qualities

Old Blue by Veryl Goodnight

Cattle drives sometimes used a lead steer or “bell cow” to help manage other cattle in a herd. One of the most famous was “Old Blue,” a longhorn Charles Goodnight bought because he felt the steer showed “natural leadership.”
Goodnight hung a bell around Old Blue’s neck, and the other cattle followed him up the Western Cattle Trail. 
According to Martha Deeringer, “Choosing not to bed down with the herds,legend has it that Old Blue would hang around the campfires at night and feast on cornbread, biscuits, and dried apples given to him by the appreciative cowboys.” ​

Old Blue made the trip from the Palo Duro Canyon eight times, leading thousands of cattle to Dodge City. The steer was rewarded by being retired to pasture on Goodnight’s JA Ranch, where he lived to be 20 years old. 
Source: Deeringer, Martha. “Old Blue: Top Hand on the Trail.” Texas Co-op Power. January 2010. 
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