DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one's worth every mile of road between you and Kerr County. Charles Armand Schreiner was born in Alsace-Lorraine in 1838, and by 1852 he was already a Texan. His family made the crossing, and the Hill Country got itself a man who was not going to sit still for long.
He joined the Texas Rangers at age fifteen. Fifteen. Let that settle in a moment.
While most boys that age were figuring out which end of a plow goes in the ground, young Schreiner was riding with the Rangers. By 1856 he was in the cattle business at Turtle Creek, right there in Kerr County. But then the Civil War called, and Schreiner answered — he left to serve in the Third Texas Infantry.
When the war was over, he came back to Kerr County in 1865, and if anything, the Hill Country seemed to suit him even better than when he'd left. He moved to Kerrville in 1869 and opened a mercantile business that, by all accounts, did just fine. But Kerrville in those days was not exactly what you'd call settled country.
Indian raids were a genuine threat, and that threat prompted the formation of the Kerrville Mounted Rifles. Governor Richard Coke appointed Schreiner Captain in 1875. From Texas Ranger to Confederate infantryman to Captain of the Mounted Rifles — this man collected duties like some folks collect belt buckles.
Then in 1880 he bought the Taylor-Clements Ranch, and with it came something that would define the rest of his story: the Y.O. brand. Texas longhorn cattle became Captain Schreiner's primary concern, and over three hundred thousand head were driven from this area north to Kansas railheads. Three hundred thousand.
You can almost hear the ground shake just saying it. And longhorns weren't his only livestock ambition. Schreiner raised sheep and goats too, and that venture earned Kerrville a title you don't hear attached to many Hill Country towns — the Mohair Center of the World.
The last cattle drive from the Y.O. Ranch came in 1941, the stock moved to Kerrville for shipment to Fort Worth. There's something quietly enormous about that moment — a way of life that had thundered across the Texas plains for decades, making its final run.
Charles Armand Schreiner lived from 1838 to 1927, a man who'd crossed an ocean, ridden with Rangers, fought in a war, built a business empire, and driven a third of a million cattle to Kansas. The Y.O. Ranch he built went on to become known throughout the world — not just for its Texas longhorns, but for its native and exotic wildlife conservation programs.
Some brands just keep on riding.
What the marker says
Charles Armand Schreiner (1838-1927), a native of Alsace-Lorraine, immigrated to Texas with his family in 1852. He joined the Texas Rangers at age fifteen, and in 1856 entered the cattle business at Turtle Creek in Kerr County. He left to serve in the Third Texas Infantry during the Civil War, and returned to Kerr County in 1865. Moving to Kerrville in 1869, he opened a successful mercantile business. The threat of Indian raids in the area soon prompted the formation of the Kerrville Mounted Rifles, and Schreiner was appointed Captain by Governor Richard Coke in 1875. In 1880 he bought the Taylor-Clements Ranch and its Y.O. brand. Texas longhorn cattle became Captain Schreiner's primary concern, and over 300,000 head were driven from this area to Kansas railheads. Because of Schreiner's venture in raising sheep and goats, Kerrville was known as the "Mohair Center of the World". The last cattle drive from the ranch was held in 1941, the stock being moved to Kerrville for shipment to Fort Worth. The Y.O. Ranch has also become known throughout the world for its Texas longhorn cattle and its native and exotic wildlife conservation programs. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986