The Hunt for "Swamp Cows" | Louisiana's REAL folktale

[@carleyaleese]

This was so interesting, you did an amazing job Oscar!! Can’t wait to see your future projects!

[@adlucemproductions]

Stay tuned for the next one! Sea turtles in Louisiana?? 👀👀

[@willbass2869]

​@@adlucemproductionsnot to steal a neighbor's thunder but we in Texas have been driving cattle to the coast for 180+ years to fatten on the "salt grass" in winter. Early settlers drove herds of semi feral cattle to the coast in the fall. They fattened on the grass and then slaughtered them. The hides were packed on salt for delivery to Europe for processing into drive belts on steam powered looms and other equipment. The flesh was salted (salt from the Gulf water), packed in hogshead barrels and sent to Cuba for the slaves on sugar plantations. The bones were crushed and sent off as makings for carbon black and fertilizer. The gut sack was fed to hogs, then they were driven up the coast to Houston markets. They ate pecans & hickory nuts on all the river bottoms along the drive. Made for an excellent tasting meat. The existence of the salt grass trail lives on in the oldest of the dozen trail rides from all points that converge on Houston every February for the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. There's even a trail ride that comes out of NW Louisiana (DeSoto Parish) the Old Spanish Trail trailride.

[@johntyler7089]

I came here to say this

[@Lwbwynnone]

I lived in Louisiana and graduated from high school there. There were cattle everywhere in the Atchafalaya basin at that time.

[@jaysonsanchez4009]

They no longer have any wild cows in the Atchafalaya basin that I’m aware of…. I haven’t seen sign of the heard since the flood in 2011…

[@adlucemproductions]

I actually saw a herd of them on my way to Sulphur for Christmas!

[@jaysonsanchez4009]

@ The part of the basin I’m referring to about truly wild cows is boat access only…. This heard was near Hog Island/Grand Lake/Lake Chicot area of the basin…. Aprox 17 miles due east of Loureauville…

[@ryanstein1654]

@@jaysonsanchez4009I have a camp not far from hog island and they still have cows everywhere around us I saw a small heard yesterday while hunting wood ducks

[@Garybob-e9q]

Any Farm Animal can go Feral if unattended long enough.

[@BradWeimer]

Awesome video! I was the photographer for Bill Jones. Spent 2 days on a horse looking for cows in the southwest marsh with Bill for the book. Now I have a dozen cows behind my house in Thibodaux but I keep them out of my swamp. Great times!

[@adlucemproductions]

Wow! I’m so glad you got to see this video then! Amazing work for Bill you did.

[@allisonkeevers6076]

I love cows, I own 4 brahmans just because i want to. I'm also known for randomly pulling off the side of the road to take photos of other people's cows. I really enjoyed your doco. I live in Australia so I'll never get to visit, but I love the idea of an island called Cow Island.

[@adlucemproductions]

I’m loving the fact that you’re the second Aussie to comment! Crazy that the video is making it over there.

[@DickAnderson-k9y]

Was on Vacation in Florida and took the family on a Airboat ride that the lady at the motel recommended. The airboat owner/ Captain was a very interesting guy who raised cattle ( which I do too in Michigan ) They raise them in the Everglades and check on them with airboats. They try to catch them to tag them (brand them) but apparently they don’t catch all of them. He said there’s a couple families that still raise them like this so you have to scout them looking for the brand. Otherwise you could be accused of cattle rustling if you take the wrong calves. He showed me a picture of his air boat that had cattle paneling to haul them. I found it very interesting as I did your video. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@benjamintickle1476]

Love it! So proud to have been able to participate in the production.

[@glendaroberts5965]

My grandpa used to round up swamp cattle in Florida way back in the early 1900’s.

[@allenwilson9656]

Original Florida cowboy are called " Crackers "

[@regenbassford]

On 471

[@Blue-Dog]

Cool story. Thanks for sharing, cheers from Australia.

[@michaelmaffei3988]

I am from la. Live in oregon now . Watching these vidoes keeps me connected. I miss the deep culter from down home.

[@johntyler7089]

You gained an immediate subscriber, this video was incredibly well done and through. I’m eager for your future work.

[@chrisw.4318]

I’m from Chalmette, I’ve seen cattle in the marsh down around Braithwaite.

[@Mdc7748]

Thank you for the video on an interesting yet obscure subject! Keep doing what you’re doing.

[@Canadiancromagnon]

I have herds that spend their summers walking on top of beaver dams and grazing on reed canary grass 8 feet tall.

[@stubby6658]

You should have caught a boat ride from Venice and went south in the river. They typically have cows all down the river banks and even chutes they leave on the bank to load the cows onto barges.

[@adlucemproductions]

The weather wasn’t exactly working out for us to do that. We tried trust me 😂

[@grapegypsicle]

I love how you mentioned eating burgers at 37:45 before going back to see the cows 😂😂😂 you saw two kinds of beef that day 😂

[@randallgreene6428]

I’m from vermilion parish and I can assure you that you are about almost 100% right in the marshes to the south they would put their cows in the marsh in the winter time and in the spring they load horses on the barge and work them and turn them back out for the winter

[@rickybroussard5350]

I remember when I was a little kid going to Breaux Bridge back in the 60s out on the Bayou Teche and seeing wild donkeys

[@charleshite7944]

Interesting story, different environment for ranching. Earl had some good information about the history of the area and a good old boy vibe. It doesn't matter where you're ranching, always sell off the rogues. It makes herding a bit easier.

[@MarSchlosser]

Tarahumara Criollo cattle are very popular for mixing with Longhorns and corriente. they're the original retinta brought to the Americas from Spain. They tend to be gentle, easy going, and even friendly. Impressive. My son (his mother is Tarahumara) sold dozens of bull calves for years. Problem, why they're tame, after calving cows are milked for a few months. second generation cattle, did not go well with people who wanted a herd bull they could handle.

[@kdseiwert7360]

Dit you ever tought about the native cattle and Herdingdogs of Louisiana! A lot of folks involved could help. Cheers from Germany!

[@fishsaltwater5616]

I’ve seen a lot of cattle in the Atchafalaya Basin. Didn’t know that was a folktale. SE corner of Atchafalaya River and Bayou Sorrel. On our lease the old timers brought them in by barge and free ranged. They had barbed wire fencing to separate calf’s to sell at stockyard. Barge rusted sunk and they just stopped. Old fencing and 100% wild cattle are there. My friend still hunts there if ur interested, I’ll ask him if he still sees them.

[@thibodeaux7051]

I can confirm this I’ve seen these same cows in bayou sorrel along the banks of the atchafalaya river

[@BassholeByNatureFishing]

@@thibodeaux7051all the way up to ramah!! I’ve seen them as far south as bayou pigeon,, matter fact you’ll see cowing in the Intercostal sometimes,

[@prestonking5736]

It was a really nice documentary. I enjoyed watching it a lot.

[@robertnewman4072]

Reminding me where I came from.

[@kms409]

That's awesome! I live in Lake Charles and I love cows. Cool documentary

[@jeanettecoleman-mz7ie]

Do you eat them?

[@kms409]

@jeanettecoleman-mz7ie hahaha no. Just seeing them down by the coast. It's a bunch of ranches.

[@lenormand4967]

My ancestor, Beausoleil, started this, fed most of America w/ our sea of cattle. Ran cattle over the fallen cypress tree bridge across the Basin. We ran 1 head/acre whereas TX needs 10 acres.

[@saltrock9642]

It was always crazy to see cattle “south” of Venice, of all places. If you look closely around the marsh you can also see cactus complete with blooming prickly pares. They are very beautiful. I love the video especially learning my own home state. I love my Louisiana ❤

[@johngil4451]

There used to be feral water buffalo in the marshes around Venice. I’ve seen pictures from an employee of the department of agriculture. I think they were captured a few years ago and none remain. It was usually around 2 dozen or so.

[@saltrock9642]

Big strong and free cows is almost an understatement. They are gorgeous.

[@aaronsanborn4291]

Don't forget the wild horses who range across Ft Polk...I was stationed at Polk from 97-02 amd saw them many times...

[@Brian-rn1dd]

They used to drive herds of cattle down highway 82 in pecan Island. It was cool having to stop and let hundreds of cows walk around your vehicle!

[@PerryButler2024]

Very interesting! My brother, two friends and I spent a week this last October[2024] fishing out of Venice, La. We traveled to the Gulf a couple times and fished many of the passes. We saw the cattle on at least a couple of occasions. They were laying in the open sometimes, my guess was to escape the mosquitos. Not being familiar with the area, I do not know if we were fishing by Cow Island area or not. I will look back to see if I happened to take a pictures. Having grown up around cattle all my life, I did not think about them being special. Thank you for sharing. PB

[@adlucemproductions]

Interesting! Remember that Cow Island is on the other side of the state from Venice though.

[@Yogitrappin]

6:52 rainbow trout unexpected appearance 🔥

[@BlaineBoudreaux]

That my daddy and his brother that how and the only places we had to raise cattle

[@Justpoppingin]

Great work! I enjoyed that thanks 👍

[@Mrchopitup986]

I remember years ago crossing the Point a la Hache ferry many times,cross over to go to the Shell dock which wasn't much to drop off oilfield equipment and tools.

[@adlucemproductions]

Always loved that ferry

[@Mrchopitup986]

@adlucemproductions is it still in operation?,i used to live in Belle Chasse,Lieutenant Gov.Billy Nungessar was Plaquemines Parish President and i got to be good friends with him when the parish would have the party at the shooting range down on hwy 23.

[@oscartickle1722]

@@Mrchopitup986 I think the only one open is the Belle Chase ferry. The other one just kind of sits there now

[@martybeard6714]

Great video! You should do another video on the history of the Louisiana cowboys. Thanks!

[@Showcattle22]

Had to subscribe bc of this vid

[@HarleybyHerm_]

Oh never mind you found em!!!!

[@jaholl97]

Great story

[@Cathal-io7dz]

3 min in and love it already

[@epw-v5s]

I am from Belle Chasse same parish asbootville Venice I have seen those caow while fishing in Venice never knew the story

[@PapaAmmons]

Wow man love it more

[@MarSchlosser]

Spanish and French both introduced cattle. Ponce de Leon in 1513, Pánfilo de Narváez in 1528, and Hernando de Soto in 1539. All brought herds of livestock as a walking food bank. After Spain's little adventures most American Indians had herds of them. They raised them like Europeans did, running them into the brush till el rodeo, roundup. Florida Cracker, Louisiana Swamp, Big Piney, Texas Longhorn all came from these cattle. In Mexico, they're called corrientes and Creollio. My own ancestors, the ani Susos Kanonaseonii (people of the Moon of Maize), Penna Susquehannocks, had livestock soon after, much thanks to Cherokee and so on. Hey, next time we won't come by after dark, OK? But was it really necessary to chase us and shoot arrows or is that some kind of Cherokee welcoming committee? Yeah, some people, no sense of humor.... :)

[@generevelsjr.4971]

Awesome job thanks

[@Cathal-io7dz]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@JohnVanRuiten]

Gosh, now why couldn't a few ranchers get together and donate some time and resources and round them up and haul them somewhere else where they at least have something to eat!

[@julianfleming5627]

Does the meat taste different?

[@HarleybyHerm_]

Try Johnston bayou holly beach area, there are lots of em

[@surfmonkeyau]

I know exactly where that is

[@geneshogsheadcheese307]

You dad is def has the accent brah cool video

[@theresathomas-ray5766]

We were going afyer swamp cows when a hurricane was coming out if Cameron and Calcasieu Parishes.... just had to watch out gor gators

[@jimeboyd3226]

Feral hogs were really plentiful!!

[@mariebrown4458]

Loved Àll The Music Would Love To Have It😊

[@adlucemproductions]

It’s all locally produced! Except Cow Planet. That’s on Spotify

[@debraclogston9379]

Heat signature optics?

[@Cathal-io7dz]

We are Cows

[@leroyaultmon]

23 homeplace 😊

[@jasonarnold3638]

Why want they let you take pictures on that boat

[@adlucemproductions]

Good question

[@DimasFajar-ns4vb]

water buffalo

[@Cathal-io7dz]

Moooooooo

[@jaredtomochak4946]

If you haven't seen them you really weren't looking wow people like you make a swamp ranch sound like it's cryptid

[@jaredtomochak4946]

Why wouldn't you just call a cattle ranch seriously wow i guess City people don't know much about cattle i never realized how naive some people are

[@adlucemproductions]

I’m curious, did you actually watch the video? Maybe see the cattle ranch I went to? 👀