In the spring of 1844, two brothers and their cowboys drove a herd of 4,000 longhorn cattle through the Little Missouri River Valley after a long, grueling journey from Texas. Rumors of abundant grass had sent them east from Montana into the Little Missouri Badlands, where they apparently found what they sought. The Reynolds brothers then established the Long X Ranch a few miles north, and over the next 4 years they drove several more herds from Texas and expanded their operation into one of the largest in the area. Cattle drives along the Little Missouri River and the Long X Trail continued for decades, and ranching remains an important part of western North Dakota's heritage today.