Free Range

Mustang Island earned its name from all of the Spanish horses that bred and roamed freely on the island. The settlers brought cattle. They too, roamed freely and when it was time to take them to market they were corralled and driven across to the mainland at wherever the best crossings were at that time. There are pictures of herds of 100's of cows swimming across to the mainland. At some point the residents got tired of stampedes through the town so the free range disappeared. And gradually so have the most of the cattle.

I've been looking for cattle on the island for a while because there are so many Mercer Log entries about cattle. One time I saw some off in the distance but couldn't get close enough to photograph them on private property. But the wonderful people at the Port Aransas Preservation and Historic Association gave me a contact and he arranged to have the cattle brought to the fence line for me to photograph.

So far I have not found a horse or a pig on Mustang Island although I have heard that there are wild pigs on the bay side. If you know of a domestic pig or a horse on Mustang Island, let me know. I really do not want to have to go looking for a wild pig to photograph.