Geronimo, one of George West's favorite lead steers, became a symbol of his community's longhorn legacy and of the strength and tenacity required by the great cattle drives of the mid 19th century. Those drives carried cattle from Texas to profitable markets in the Midwest and beyond across hundreds of miles of rough terrain, took four to six months, and covered around 1500 miles, with each herd relying on a dominant lead steer that knew the trail and guided thousands of cattle safely along the journey. Born around the turn of the century, Geronimo was considered George West's favorite steer, and when changing ranching practices and new railroads brought the cross-country drives to an end, he was never sold but allowed to roam freely in his own pasture for the rest of his life. He died in 1927, but his legacy endured as Albert West hired a San Antonio taxidermist to preserve him, local businesses built him a permanent home on the Live Oak County Courthouse grounds, his display appeared in Edna Ferber's 1952 novel "Giant," and the community restored him for a 1976 American Bicentennial tour of the USSR, where he was shown in Moscow with other American icons.