LBJ State Park & National Historic Site

 January 15, 2021

Today we are going to visit 

You check in at the State Park Visitor Center before going a mile down the road to LBJ's former ranch which is now a National Historic Site.  So first come check out the state park with us.

LBJ's Dad would say "You can tell a man by his boots and his hat and the horse he rides."

And with that in mind, the first exhibit is LBJ's boots, hat and his saddle.

"When they began settling North America, both Spanish and Anglo Europeans brought with them their own breed of cattle. Stray cattle wandered throughout Texas. Eventually, the strongest Spanish criollo cattle met up with the toughest English Herefords and the Texas Longhorn was born."

The longhorn steer are represented here by Biscuits & Gravy (love their names).

When we visited they were mainly interested in eating their hay.

The Behrens Cabin 1857

"Many German settlers started small and gradually added to their homes as their farms prospered and their families grew. The Behrens family built the north room first and later added the dog-trot and south room you see today. Since the inside space was small and limited, many chores and other activities happened outside."

One side for kitchen and dining with sleeping areas upstairs, tight quarters for a pioneer family.

The state park here has the

"SAUER-BECKMANN LIVING HISTORY FARM

Step back in time... to experience German Texan farm life from 1915 to 1918"

Two costumed docents helped tell the history of the ranch 

"Johann and Christine Sauer and their four children settled this land in 1869. By 1885, they had built several stone buildings near the original rock and log cabins. Eventually, the Sauers had ten children. One of those, Augusta Sauer Lindig, served as midwife at President Johnson's birth."

The Johnson family did not have a car and the nearest hospital was 20 miles away so a midwife delivered LBJ.

The chickens were behind the house.

After feeding the chickens we see the docent outside by the blacksmith shop.

Tack room saddles

Sheep roamed freely on the grounds

Cows are in the fenced area on the right of the barn.

  On the left (not shown) a pig slept in his fenced pen.

just for fun video

After a successful cotton year, brought on by a good crop and high demand/prices due to the civil war,

the Beckman's were able to add on to the original cabin.

Their addition is on the right side in this photo.

The parents now had their own bedroom with a dresser that looks amazingly like my own.

The living room, with a secretary (in back right corner) similar to the one in my dining room.

Here the front hallway shows considerably more formal style than the earlier cabin.

I enjoyed the farm, especially with the live docents who spoke with us about the farm and answered our questions.  It's nice to have this kind of interaction, so much of it has been removed for self touring during the CoVid Pandemic.

And now we continue a mile down the road to the National Historic Park.

The original grand gate to LBJ's ranch. (not the entrance used today)

LBJ felt a strong connection with the land here, he truly loved it and I can see why, it is beautiful.

"His grandmother, Mrs. Eliza B. Johnson, put together a family farm on the banks of the Pedernales River near Johnson City in 1882 when she bought 950 acres for $2,800 on the installment plan.

After she died in 1917, about three–fourths of the land was sold, Mr. Johnson's father, Sam E. Johnson Jr., sold his 400 acres in the early nineteentwenties.

After the Johnson's radio and television stations began to prosper, Mr. Johnson—who at that time was a Senator —started buying land in the Texas hill country, a scenic area of small random mountains 60 miles northwest of Austin.

His first purchase was in 1954, when he bought 244 acres from his aunt, Mrs. C. W. Martin, for $20,000. Included on the land was a small stone house that was expanded several times into the imposing LBJ ranch house where Mr. Johnson, as President, entertained visiting heads of state, feeding them barbecued beef and German potato salad.

While expanding his ranch house, which Mr. Johnson said he intended to will to the National Park Service, the former President continued to buy back the original family farm owned by his grandmother, and eventually got it all—at a cost of about $100 an acre."

There are 30 stops along the driving tour of the ranch including the one room schoolhouse he attended, a reconstructed birthplace that he used as a guesthouse, a show barn for Hereford cattle and an airplane hangar-now used as a gift shop and exhibition space.

I won't show you all 30 stops just these ones:

 

The family cemetery, which includes the graves of President Johnson and Ladybird

as well as many of his relatives who owned the property originally, is situated under several oak trees making for a very serene setting.

The ranch is vast and beautiful, it seems to go on and on.  What a place this would be to grow up.

  Here Hereford cattle graze and rest.  We also saw numerous deer grazing in the grass.

LBJ bred Herefords for show and breeding.

The strip in the midst of the ranch is an airstrip.

The ranch was used by LBJ as the "Texas Whitehouse" and the airstrip

was used by Air Force One-Half

LBJ his staff and guests would fly into San Antonio on Air Force One and then take this smaller plane to the ranch.  The landing strip is too short to accommodate a larger plane.

The ranch was dubbed the Texas White House where LBJ worked with politicians, and foreign dignitaries as well as friends and celebrities.  Guests included astronauts like Alan Shepard, John Glenn and Gus Grissom as you see here on the Friendship Stones they signed here at the ranch.  LBJ had guests sign there names in concrete blocks- Friendship Stones that were then placed out back of the ranch house.

LBJ was a generous gift giver as noted by this corvette he gave his daughter Luci when she turned 18.  The tour also showed a gift room still filled with gifts for guests including, Stetson hats, lighters with the presidential seal, watches, and toys for children.

Here is the front of the ranch house that looks out onto the Perdernales River

"On August 2, 2018 the Texas White House and adjacent Pool House were closed temporarily until further notice due to health and safety concerns arising from structural issues."  I spoke with the ranger and no work is being done currently to the major structural issues that are keeping the ranch house closed to visitors.

LBJ hosted official guests and often had a good old Texas Barbecue on the front lawn of the ranch house that you see here.  I believe he loved this land and wanted to share it with others.

If you visit the Hill Country of Texas I strongly urge you to come to LBJ National Historical Park.  The ranch itself is beautiful and seems huge at just the current size which is only 18% of its size when LBJ lived here.

And to finish off the day, a little music in Luckenbach Texas.

in Luckenbach, Texas as the official sign says:

"MEMBERS OF THE LUCKENBACH FAMILY AND OTHER GERMAN IMMIGRANTS MOVED HERE FROM FREDERICKSBURG (11 ML. NW) IN THE 1850S. THEY SETTLED ALONG GRAPE CREEK AND SOON ESTABLISHED A SCHOOL FOR THEIR CHILDREN. THE GRAPE CREEK POST OFFICE WAS IN OPERATION BRIEFLY AFTER 1858 WITH WILLIAM LUCKENBACH AS FIRST POSTMASTER. LATER SETTLERS INCLUDED AUGUST ENGEL, WHO SERVED AS FIRST POSTMASTER WHEN THE POST OFFICE WAS REESTABLISHED HERE IN 1886 UNDER THE NAME OF LUCKENBACH. JOHN RUSSELL "HONDO" CROUCH AND OTHERS BOUGHT THE TOWN CENTER IN 1970 AND PROMOTED ITS RUSTIC ATMOSPHERE. TEXAS"

It's a music venue.  And tonight ShAnnie did a socially distant show that was very entertaining.

Shan Kowert (the man on the right) and Annie Acton (center) were nominated  for vocal duo of  the year at the 2008 Texas Music Awards.

 Woody Eastman (left) was their special guest when we saw them, at the Wood Stove Sessions.

Here we are in front of the original Post Office which is now a souvenir store with a bar in the back.

They do have ticketed concerts as well as free shows, two outdoor stages and the one in the barn.  They sell beer and wine and some food like burgers and funnel cakes.  We did not eat here so I can't review the food.

Hondo Crouch

"He was the "Clown Prince of Luckenbach," and entertainer of star quality who refused for years to make money from his comic gifts. He as rancher. A philosopher. A poet. A music man and inspiration for the hit song "Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas." Hondo Crouch was a Texas folk hero.

Before he died in 1976, Hondo helped stage at Luckenbach a series of zany happenings -- from all-female chili cook-offs to Great World's Fairs -- that became so popular the tiny town almost got trampled out of existence. But there was more Hondo than spectacular spoofs.

He had a gift for seeing past facades and into the true nature of the human comedy -- and tragedy -- that we all live inside our hearts. His style ranged from lighthearted teasing to barbed satire, from pratfalls and pranks to rueful reflection."

Luckenbach, music and just plain fun times.