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((The following is an effort to pull together some information about the history of the tauren. I kept it fairly general, although there is great stuff to be had regarding Cairne's first encounter with Thrall, and his eventual demise prior to the Shattering. This write-up borrows very generously from from the usual wikis.))

Tauren are one of the most interesting yet also least defined races in Azeroth. For starters, there is the outward appearance: at six and a half to nine feet tall and weighing from 400 to 700 pounds, they are the tallest and largest playable race. They also look like cows.

Borrowing their name and appearance to some degree from the mythological Minotaur, tauren really have very little in common with that legendary creature of Greek mythology. Their name is an anagram of “nature”, which is a bigger key to understanding tauren as characters.

Overview
The tauren (Shu’halo in their native tongue) are a race of shamans, druids, hunters, and warriors. They developed a complex culture and existence without the aid of stonework, steel or conquest. Since the Cataclysm, it is suggested that tauren are also be able to draw power from the sun, An’she, like the druids draw power from the moon, Mu’sha. Those blessed with the power of the sun are referred to as Sunwalkers, the tauren version of a paladin.

While generally peaceful, tauren are capable of retaliating with swift brutality when angered. They are the embodiment of the strong and silent type. Tauren rarely speak, preferring to act instead of talk. Tauren do not kill for the sake of killing. Taking any life is an act filled with great significance and responsibility. The elders are usually consulted to resolve disputes, and conflicts may be settled in a form of a duel.

Tauren speak Taur-ahe and Orcish, and tend to learn languages primarily for trade or exchanging ideas. The last name of a tauren is usually a family name, handed down through the generations. If the tauren has performed some act that has made an impression on the elders of his tribe, he may choose to take on his own last name to commemorate that act.

Tauren currently resident mostly in the city of Thunder Bluff, located in the northern part of Mulgore on the continent of Kalimdor. The entire city is built on bluffs several hundred feet above the surrounding landscape. To gain access to the city, visitors must either ride wyverns to the top one of the four towering mesas, use the zeppelin from Orgrimmar or be lifted via rope and wood elevators, an invention unique to the tauren.

History
Although tauren are said to be an ancient race – likely having been around as long as elves – there is no indication that they share the long life expectancy or even the immortality of elves. The life expectancy of tauren is likely close to that of humans or orcs. Tauren have a rich oral history that has been handed down from generation to generation. Since there are no tauren old enough to be living witnesses of their origin history, much of the narrative can be interpreted as legend or folklore, rather than fact.

The earliest of the tauren legends, the Mists of Dawn, tells the creation of the world and the tauren by the goddess Earth Mother. It is said that Earth Mother created the world and then created day and night by alternately opening and closing her right and left eyes, An’she (the sun), and Mu’sha (the moon). She created tauren by rising them up from the soil of the earth.

Tauren fell from grace when they gave in to the whispers of the Old Gods that arose from beneath the earth. The Old Gods taught them malice and deception. Their creator Earth Mother felt such sorrow over this that she tore out her eyes, the sun and moon, and sent them chasing each other across the heavens.

Tauren became great hunters, yet Apa’ro the white stag always eluded them. To escape the tauren, Apa’ro fled into the heavens, and his antlers became tangled in the stars. As Mu’sha, the moon, came chasing across the skies, she saw the stag and fell in love with him. Saved by Mu’sha, Apa’ro in turn fell in love with her. The two conceived Cenarius, a demigod of the sky and the earth. Cenarius befriended the tauren and taught them the ways of the druids. Armed with this knowledge, the tauren helped Cenarius protect the land.

The story of the Great Hunt is core to the spiritual culture of the tauren. Tauren look to prove their bravery by going up against creatures of the wild. Tauren never waste anything given to them by nature and give back what they can in return. Tauren still maintain this balance in honor of Earth Mother, who they see as a sort of universal consciousness. While individual spirits might represent a particular location, animal or object, Earth Mother represents the land and is everywhere life and nature is. The Earth Mother is regarded in tauren culture the same way Elune is viewed in Kal’dorei culture.

Cenarius eventually left the tauren, and in time they forgot much of his druidic teachings. The tauren continued to live in peace, no longer tempted by the whispers of the Old Gods.

Around the time of the Third War, marauding centaurs began to drive the tauren out of their homeland. The displaced tauren were forced to wander the Barrens and the plains of Mulgore as nomads.

Seeing his people brought to the brink of extinction by the centaurs, Chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof turned to Thrall. With the help of the orcs, the tauren were able to drive back the centaurs and reclaim Mulgore as their home. For the first time in millennia, the tauren had land to call their own. On top of Thunder Bluff, Cairne built a refuge for the scattered tauren tribes. Over time, they united under his rule.

Recently, after the defeat of Cairne Bloodhoof by Garrosh Hellscream in a fixed contest, the tauren have become weary of the orcs. Baine Bloodhoof made an uneasy peace with Garrosh after an apology from the new warchief, but Baine still lacks trust in Hellscream’s leadership abilities.

Tribal Politics
The tauren possess a structure of spiritual hierarchy. The most talented and powerful shaman traditionally hold positions of power, though leadership positions are not exclusive to them. Shaman interpret the voice of the Earth Mother and the wishes of the ancestors. The leader of a tribe holds the title “Chief” or “Chieftain.” The three most powerful healers in the tribe support the chief, with the most powerful among them taking the title of “Seer.” A chief generally consults the seer and the other two healers before making any decision, but consultation is not required. The leader of the Tauren tribes also uses the title “Chieftain.” During council meetings, chiefs make recommendations to the chieftain, but any final decision is the chieftain’s alone to make.

Prior to the Cataclysm, the Grimtotem tribe tried to overthrow Cairne Bloodhoof. Magatha Grimtotem was Cairne’s rival for the leadership of all tauren. After engineering Cairne’s death at the hand of Garrosh’s poisoned blade and briefly taking control of Thunder Bluff, Magatha and her Grimtotem were defeated by an army under the leadership of Cairne’s son Baine. Jevan Stormstrong, a Grimtotem shaman, had alerted Baine to his father’s death and of Magatha’s plan to assassinate him. Stormsong had been a loyal servant Magatha for many years, but felt that his mistress had betrayed what it meant to be a shaman. Magatha requested assistance from Garrosh, believing that the orc would come to her aid. Having discovered what had happened, Garrosh condemned Magatha’s treachery. The Grimtotem stood alone when Baine led his assault on Thunder Bluff, forcing Magatha to yield.

Baine banished Magatha from the tauren lands, allowing those who would not follow her to remain in Thunder Bluff as long as they swore allegiance to him as their chieftain. Magatha and her loyalists were exiled in the Stonetalon Mountains.

The Grimtotem tribe is an aggressive counterpoint to the otherwise peaceful tauren. They wish to eradicate the “lesser races” from Kalimdor and retake the long lost tauren ancestral holdings. The Grimtotem tribe regards almost all races are enemies of the tauren. They are known for unprovoked and vicious attacks. With the exception of the Forsaken, Grimtotems allow only tauren to join. These Forsaken often act as special consultants who aid the Grimtotems by providing dangerous toxins to fight intruders on their land. While the Grimtotem name is generations old, the clan as an organization has existed only for a few years.

Taunka
Upon arriving in Northrend, Garrosh Hellscream and the orcish forces discovered the taunka, ancient relatives of the tauren. Like their distant cousins, taunka commune with the spirits of the land. However after living for so long in the harsh environment of Northrend, taunka force the elements to do their bidding rather than asking for their aid. This is in part a survival mechanism.

Isn't Falstead dead?

I love this. I want to play this role.

However, I should have been a Sunwalker.

I guess that is what alternate spellings are for.

Tauren bring to my mind the Pte people, ancestral to the Lakota/Dakota/Nakota (also called Sioux). The story is quite fuzzy in my mind but it involves an ancestral race of Buffalo People, exemplifying many of the positive characteristics borrowed to make Tauren. Tauren somehow strike me as being more Southwestern though, with mesas and such. And I've noticed quite a few Tauren NPC's have viking names *headscratch*

... it involves an ancestral race of Buffalo People, exemplifying many of the positive characteristics borrowed to make Tauren.

The Buffalo People are actually a darn good comparison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33zB7JhKkpg (not a link to "Friday" or Rick Astley)

The beginning of the Fourth (and current) World saw the introduction of the Ball Game. In this game, a designated person stands in the middle of a level field and throws a hide ball in the four directions, one at a time. Someone catches it at the edge of the field each time and throws it back. Then she throws the ball straight up.
The story is that when the Buffalo People emerged into the current world, and the ball game was introduced, they were unable to catch and return the ball because they had hooves instead of hands. The few people who developed hands to catch the ball, stayed and became the first Humans.
Another flavor link is the Pleiades. Several native legends say humans came from the Pleiades, or somewhere near them in the sky. Some versions call the Sun the eighth Pleiade. The inference is that the Buffalo People went back home to the other 7 stars.

Not quite Minos, no. But it still involves sacred cows.