A Taste of Texas History

For those of you who are crafters...and you know who you are..Here is a Texas Christmas wreath..just couldn't resist!!
Yesterday we decided to do some of the sites in the hill country of Texas...and one of the biggest was the LBJ Ranch, about 45 miles North of here. I am a history nut and we had never gone there in the 7 years we have been coming to Canyon Lake. First we went to Johnson City, which is where the Johnson Settlement is.. This is where LBJ's grandfather and his brother and family lived. They made a ton of money taking herds of Longhorns on cattle drives to Abilene, Kansas from 1868 to 1871, on the Chisolm Trail..Cattle selling for $6-$10 in Texas could bring $30-$40 delivered in Abilene. Here is a reproduction of the cabin his Grandpa and Grandma lived in while in the "settlement"..

This was called a "dog trot" cabin..The reason was it was an open porch from one side to the other right in the middle of the house so the dogs could go through...I know, I dont' get it either...
We wandered the settlement for about an hour. Then, map in hand, (courtesy of the visitor's center), we drove another 14 miles to the LBJ Ranch and Historic National park. Before LBJ died, he and Ladybird donated 600 acres of their ranch to the National Park Service with 2 stipulations..Never charge to get in..and keep it a working cattle ranch. Both are true to this day.
When you get inside you get a map of the ranch and CD to play which tells you about what you are seeing..also you get a free driving permit..yup, you guessed it..Everyone is able to drive the ranch in their own vehicle and listen to the Cd...You can get out anywhere you want and wander around..We did, and here are a few photos...The first is the birthplace of LBJ..

You may recognize the ol' cowgirl on the porch...

We stopped at the private family cemetery and took this photo of LBJ's gravestone..yes, he is actually buried here, with most of his family members..

Here is a picture of LBJ and Ladybird's home..called the "Texas White House" because he spent alot of his time here and signed many many bills into law right here in his office...


..and here is the desk and the office where he signed them...


Here is the fireplace in the same office...


We had spent most of the day touring the ranch, so we were REALLY thirsty..and by coincidence Luckenbach was on the way back to Canyon Lake, (if you take the backroads)...a beautiful ride, by the way.. And, as our good luck would have it, there was a cowboy playing his guitar and singing at the Luckenbach General Store/Bar...Here it is..


One more of the Luckenbach General Store/Bar...


Here is the front porch of the Luckenbach General Store...(I don't know who the 'ol cowgirl is that keeps following us around)....


I tell you, I took a ton of photos yesterday at the ranch everywhere we went, but can't put them all on the blog. I LOVED visiting the ranch where Lyndon Johnson and Ladybird lived...and we were only on the 600 acres he donated...there are thousands more!! We even saw a Hereford and her new calf lying in the field as we drove by..she must have just given birth to him, he was still wet and she was licking him off...I couldn't beleive it!! What a great day.. To top it all off, just as we were leaving Luckenbach, a nice young woman offered to take our picture together, which is hard to get!! I leave you with this photo at the end of an amazing day..Are we having fun yet??YES WE ARE!!!!..."Ain't nobody feelin' no pain"....