ABOUT US

In 1835, Jacob Hartzell and his family settled in what would become Navarro County Texas. He and later descendants acquired land holdings in the region that have been divided and passed down to successive generations to present days. In 2004, a portion of those holdings were placed under the stewardship of two city slickers from San Diego, California.

We didn’t know much about Texas, and knew even less about raising cattle. But we watched the "Lonesome Dove" movie five times, read Joe Assad’s website, and decided we needed to get some Texas Longhorns to keep our pastures mowed. (Hey, they looked cool in the movie!)

Continuing our extensive research, we asked a long-time local cattleman what we needed to get started. He replied (serious as a heart attack), "Ya just get yourself some cows and turn em on out." So we did!

Fortunately for us, Navarro county and vicinity is chock-full of patient, knowledgeable cattle-people (including the aforementioned friend) who are willing to gently prod tenderfeet in the right direction if you ask them nicely. So too are the many Texas Longhorn breeders across America. (Please see our "Gratitude" section on this website.)

The remainder of our website features the results of three years of our "Texanization". We’re proud of the results so far and hope to continue improving the herd and the land as we learn and make additional investments into our "sweat equity".

If you see something on our site that interests you, or you have any questions, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.

                                               Dan and Joan Book

                                               Second Chance Ranch.

Site updated 5/25/2008