All you need to know about legendary longhorns, true Texas icons
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So-called “goalpost” horns on a Texas longhorn may look pretty, but these days most breeders prefer longhorns with lateral or twisty horns.codyphotography /Getty ImagesShow MoreShow Less
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You can’t talk Texas longhorns without talking Bevo, the beloved Texas Longhorns mascot for the University of Texas at Austin. UT has had a Bevo for a living mascot for more than 100 years. Pictured is Bevo XV at the Valero Alamo Bowl in December 2020.Tim Warner /Getty ImagesShow MoreShow Less
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As seen in this vintage 1930s postcard, longhorns have long been associated with Texas iconography. But it wasn’t until 1995 that the Texas Legislature designated it an official state mammal.Found Image Holdings Inc /Corbis via Getty ImagesShow MoreShow Less
TEXAS HISTORY MINUTE: James Frank Dobie, respected storyteller
By Ken Bridges
Special to the Herald Democrat
Great storytelling is an honored tradition across the South and the Southwest. Texas, with its long history of engaging characters and adventures, has produced many tales to tell. Perhaps one of the most respected storytellers was writer and professor J. Frank Dobie.
Born James Frank Dobie on September 26, 1888, a love of literature and the open prairie was instilled in him from birth. The family lived on a modest ranch in Live Oak County in South Texas. Dobie was the oldest of six children, and he worked the ranch with his family from a young age. In the evenings, after the day’s chores had been completed, his father read to him and the other children from the family Bible while his mother read classic works of literature to them.
Live Oak County entered 2021 with a steady eye on the past as well as the future, as the commissioners court appointed a new head of the Live Oak County Historical Commission.
Mary Margaret Campbell, who previously served as vice chair of the commission, was appointed chair of the  organization for the next two years.
She succeeds Ross Harrison, who served as chair for 2019 and 2020.
After serving as director of George West Storyfest for a decade and leading the Dobie Dichos program, which promotes the works and legacy of Texas author J. Frank Dobie, many in the area are well acquainted with Campbell.
Take artist Woody Gwynâs 48-by-74-inch
The Earth, the Air, the Water (oil on canvas, 2020), for instance. Up close, the rocky terrain depicted is a series of splotches of color, each rock differentiated from the next by a mere shift in color or a dark line here and there. The light, glinting off of the sea beyond the rocky hillsides, merely specks of white paint. But at a distance of, say, 10 feet, the whole scene coalesces into a landscape and seascape that conveys remarkable detail. Step back a little further and it looks almost like a photograph.
Gwyn has a way of capturing a sense of precision or exactitude without the need to render a multitude of infinitesimal landscape features, although his paintings certainly give that impression. And he does paint with fidelity, putting you in the scene.