Lucas Charles Brite first arrived at the base of Capote Peak  on October 12, 1885.  Mr. Brite’s own account states, “Before me was a new and untried country- an experiment.   I wondered what the future held in store for me.  I fully realized whether successful or unsuccessful that I would necessarily have to endure many hardships.”

He was born in 1860 in Caldwell County.   When Luke Brite was 3 years old, his father had died .  As a young boy he learned to ride the ranges of Tom Green and  Frio Counties.  At the age of 25 young Luke began  trailing a main herd of common cattle belonging to a half-dozen  friends; Brite’s  herd was a part of it. The hardships and trials of 7 months of trailing over  600 miles from Frio County to the Texas Highlands had left its impress- both cattle and horses were thin in flesh, languid, and leg weary, and doubtless like the man, overjoyed when they reached the “End of the Trail.” at the base of Capote Mountain .



Nature severely tested the mettle of young Luke Brite. All  who settled that area quickly learned that it was unrelenting- a harsh land for tough men.  The first year, that part of Texas was drought –stricken, and Brite lost one-fourth of his herd.  But he was no quitter; he accepted hardships and trials as part of the game.  He studied the land, its grasses, water sources, the weather, the carrying capacity and the effects of overgrazing.
Luke Brite lived  his life on faith in God, Hereford cattle and grama grass.

 
 Brite registered the Bar-Cross brand in 1904, the year he established the foundation for the present herd.  He  purchased 300 registered heifers from the Wyoming Hereford Ranch in Cheyenne and 135 head from William Powell at Channing, Texas.   Sires of outstanding breeding and individuality were bought from the registered herds of Gudgell & Simpson and other quality bulls from outside herds.  He never bought bulls from the same ranch two years in a row.  The Bar Cross cattle were in demand by breeders because of their outstanding uniformity, their adaptability to the range and their natural instinct to rustle for themselves, plus their desirable beef characteristics.  In 1910, Brite began his annual sale of 1,000 bull a year for 14 years.  Luke’s wit is reflected by an advertisement he ran in various publications: “ Big-Bones, Broad-Backed, Bald-Faced Beauties-Buy Bar-Cross Bulls- Brite’s Best.”

At that time he bought bulls from W.H. Curtis of Kentucky, and from the original Gudgell-Simpson herd.  Following that time he took breeding principals to another level when he closed his herd thus believing that the bulls bred on his own ranch were up to the standard and better adapted to range use.  He would avoid the pitfalls of inbreeding by  carefully selecting  the best young bulls  and heifers bred on his own ranch.  Brite had seen the results of Gudgell and Simpson’s line-breeding program, and he was willing to try it.  If it worked for Gudgell and Simpson, it would work for him!       



In 1914, Mr. Brite purchased his last bulls.  Mr. Brite said, in an article in The Producer:   “As I remember, it was about the year 1915 that the foot and mouth disease broke out in Missouri and Kansas.  I was afraid to go there for bulls, as had been my custom.  In fact the disease was spreading so rapidly that I considered it unsafe to ship in bulls from any source.  I saved bull calves of my breeding that I kept  in a pasture separated from my other cattle.  The result was so gratifying that I continue using bulls from my own herd.  It is through line- breeding that the most satisfactory results are obtained.”

Luke Brites’ granddaughter, Jane Brite White and her husband J. E. White, Jr. manager of the Brite Ranch for the past 41 years, have four children: a daughter, Hester Ann White and  three sons, James E. ‘Jim’ White III, Beauregard B. White and Edward McMinn ’Mac’ White.
What  Luke Brite accomplished has endured.  His ranch properties in Presidio County to this day are grazed by the Bar Cross  line- bred Hereford cattle.   Jim White  III , a  4th generation grandson,  manages the  Brite Ranch  for his mother  Jane  and the White Family .  Jim agrees with his great –great grandfather  and  his own father, J.E. White, Jr. ,that  line-breeding  is the most successful means for establishing uniform quality and breeding in cattle.  The White family continues their ranching operation paying strict attention to high ethical standards and business principles which contributed mightily to Luke Brite’s  success.