The longhorn is not only a UT tradition; it is a Texas tradition as well. We all have friends and/or family that live outside of this great state (for reasons I do not understand...) that ask us the cliché things about riding to school on horses and living on ranches with cows. I always furiously defend my fellow Texans and explain that we do not in fact live on farms and ranches, that we are civilized. But at the same time there is a portion of me that wants desperately to return to that "uncivilized" time in our history when the livestock roamed free and home was on the range, back to a time when horses were the main source of transportation. Back to the time when the famous cattle drives went up the Chisholm Trail. Every great Texas museum puts a nostalgic air around these rough and wild days of our ancestors. There is something about the longhorn that brings out a certain amount of emotion in Texans. Their power, pride, yet usually gentle ways say a lot about Texans in general. We are all proud of our state, for better or for worse. We think we are the biggest and best (because we are…sorry Dana and Russell). And we are generally laid back and easy going people; where else in the world can you smile at everyone you meet on the street for no particular reason and be sure that they will smile right back?
For the University of Texas, there could be not be a better fitting mascot than the mighty longhorn. As a symbol of the state of Texas for many years, it only made sense for the first public university, funded by the state of Texas, to have the longhorn as its mascot. Since its founding the longhorn has become the totem animal for all things UT. As the Encyclopedia Americana states a totem animal is “an animal… with which a social or religious group feels a special affinity and which is often considered to be the mythical ancestor of the group.”
[i] Although all UT fans far and wide definitely feel an affinity for the longhorn I doubt any of us actually believe we are decedents from cows (if only the mascot was a monkey…). There are three basic elements to being a totem animal. First is the social, second is the psychological, and third is the ritual.
[ii] UT has all of these. We are adamant fans (a social group) who go crazy while guys in burnt orange uniforms throw a little ball to each other (psychological problems). Before big games with our rival teams we have torch light parades and hex rallies (rituals).
On a more serious note, the power and majesty of the mighty longhorn has long held the respect of Texans, from the days of the cowboys to the present. As Frank Dobie said of the longhorn, “He was a drifter at times; he ranged far and could walk to the end of the world; but the Longhorn was also a home lover and a persistent returner to his querencia, as the vaquero language call the place where an animal is born or to which her shows a strong attachment.”
[iii] Longhorns such as Old Whitey “will remain the bedrock on which the history of the cow country of America is founded.”
[iv]
The longhorn is not only a UT tradition; it is a Texas tradition as well. We all have friends and/or family that live outside of this great state (for reasons I do not understand...) that ask us the cliché things about riding to school on horses and living on ranches with cows. I always furiously defend my fellow Texans and explain that we do not in fact live on farms and ranches, that we are civilized. But at the same time there is a portion of me that wants desperately to return to that "uncivilized" time in our history when the livestock roamed free and home was on the range, back to a time when horses were the main source of transportation. Back to the time when the famous cattle drives went up the Chisholm Trail. Every great Texas museum puts a nostalgic air around these rough and wild days of our ancestors. There is something about the longhorn that brings out a certain amount of emotion in Texans. Their power, pride, yet usually gentle ways say a lot about Texans in general. We are all proud of our state, for better or for worse. We think we are the biggest and best (because we are…sorry Dana and Russell). And we are generally laid back and easy going people; where else in the world can you smile at everyone you meet on the street for no particular reason and be sure that they will smile right back?
For the University of Texas, there could be not be a better fitting mascot than the mighty longhorn. As a symbol of the state of Texas for many years, it only made sense for the first public university, funded by the state of Texas, to have the longhorn as its mascot. Since its founding the longhorn has become the totem animal for all things UT. As the Encyclopedia Americana states a totem animal is “an animal… with which a social or religious group feels a special affinity and which is often considered to be the mythical ancestor of the group.”[i] Although all UT fans far and wide definitely feel an affinity for the longhorn I doubt any of us actually believe we are decedents from cows (if only the mascot was a monkey…). There are three basic elements to being a totem animal. First is the social, second is the psychological, and third is the ritual.[ii] UT has all of these. We are adamant fans (a social group) who go crazy while guys in burnt orange uniforms throw a little ball to each other (psychological problems). Before big games with our rival teams we have torch light parades and hex rallies (rituals). 
On a more serious note, the power and majesty of the mighty longhorn has long held the respect of Texans, from the days of the cowboys to the present. As Frank Dobie said of the longhorn, “He was a drifter at times; he ranged far and could walk to the end of the world; but the Longhorn was also a home lover and a persistent returner to his querencia, as the vaquero language call the place where an animal is born or to which her shows a strong attachment.”[iii] Longhorns such as Old Whitey “will remain the bedrock on which the history of the cow country of America is founded.”[iv]
