Cap gathered cattle and horses that were pure. He traveled to Mexico
and brought back what he felt were the true Spanish cow pony. Cap
gathered cattle as well. Lots of cattle. At one time on his Texas Ranch
he had around 1000 head of pure Longhorn cattle. To Cap The purity of
the cattle was more important than color or horn. Cap was in every
sense a purest. Although he owned other breeds he was very strict
about keeping the Longhorns separated from them. Yates did some
trading with Graves, Peeler and Marks most of his cattle came from
Northern Mexico were he would travel to buy the purest stock he could
find. These Mexican Longhorns were not influenced by European
breeds like the US cattle were. In 1927 the WR-or Wild Life Refuge herd
in OK was started. This was largely due to Cap Yates and his undying
love for the breed. He petitioned Congress to save the Long horn. Before
he died he saw his dream come true. Before his death Cap also left a
large portion of his herd with a long time friend and fellow historian,
Tally Johnson. Tally and his family live in NE Oklahoma. There on the
Johnson Ranch the "Yates" strain of Spanish horses still survive, as do
some of Caps cattle.
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