LBJ - a True Texan

 

Our plans for the day when we started out were to go to the LBJ sites. Fredericksburg, and Enchanted Rock State Park.  All things are within 25 miles of each other about 50 miles from camp.  We didn't get away as early as we planned because we have a very friendly neighbor and we talked to him awhile.  First stop was the LBJ State Park and LBJ National Historical Park.  We really didn't know what to expect with any of it but we both thought that an hour would be the longest we would stay there.  We were sure wrong.  We spent over three hours and didn't make it to anything else on our list.  We really enjoyed it and did not regret spending so much time at both parks.  The LBJ State Park is located across the river from LBJ's home.  The State Park focuses on life during the time LBJ would have been a boy.  This is to show how he would have lived on this land at that time.

 

The Sauer/Beckmann Farm is a working farm  similar to those in 1915.  The Sauer family came from German and built a rock and log cabin.  When the number of kids grew to 10, they built an additional dormitory-style building for the children.  The ranch had no electricity or running water so everything was done by hand.  Costumed volunteers run the farm today.   They do the canning, caring for the farm animals, cooking, gardening, blacksmithing, etc.  For lunch they were making schnitzel and sauerkraut soup.  The schnitzel smelled delicious. From the length of the horns on the goat below, I would say he has been around the farm for awhile.     

The farm had sheep, chickens, pigs, cows and turkeys.  

Later the Beckmann family brought the farm and built this Victorian-style house.

The windmill pumped the water into the block building which housed the laundry equipment

We found out that this is a milk separator.  The volunteer told us that nothing went to waste on the farm.  Nothing was thrown away.  Milk would go through a process from skimming cream to provide skim milk, to making butter and cottage cheese and then other cheeses  Anything left from that process would be  fed the animals.  Any extra milk, cream, butter and cheeses would be used to trade for things they could not produce.

We left LBJ State Park and crossed the Pendernales River to the LBJ Ranch.  This is the one-room school that LBJ attended when he was only four years old.  The teacher had 30 students age 4 to eighth grade.

It was very basic but the kids learned reading, writing and arithmetic all under the guidance of one teacher.

 

LBJ would fly Air Force One into a big city near the ranch and then fly this jet into the ranch.  He called it "Air Force Half."  The runway was not long enough or heavy enough to support Air Force One.

This 1965 Corvette was a birthday present for his 18-year old daughter, Luci.

Here is Carol saying something funny and making the President laugh.

This is the house that LBJ was born in.  LBJ was born, lived, died and buried on this ranch.  He had a deep attachment for places. the land, and his heritage

This church was across the river from the ranch.  He signed the legislation that authorized the Head Start Program into existence at this church.

This was the home of Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson.  During his presidency it was known as the Texas White House.  We were not able to go inside the house because it has some structural damage that is being repaired.   Following his death, the house was donated to the park service along with 675 of the nearly 2500 acre ranch.  

The Johnsons loved to throw BBQs and would host them on the front lawn of the home.

The Johnsons had guests sign their names on concrete pieces and then the pieces were displayed in the back yard.  Above is Jerry Ford.  Below is Curtis LeMay and Eddy Arnold.   There were others.  Curt LeMay was the first commander of SAC.

Lyndon and Lady Bird loved to drive around the ranch in this car and one day they drove a across the river at the spot the picture below was taken.

He used this golf cart to take visitor's around the ranch.  Presidents of countries have ridden on this cart around the ranch.

This car can be driven and land and water.  He loved to take guests for a drive in this car and would head toward the river and then shout that the brakes had gone out causing much stress with the unsuspecting passengers until they discovered that the car could become a boat.

This 1915 fire engine was given to him by the town of Brady, Texas.  The back of the engine had been fitted with bench seats and he loved to take visitor's around the ranch in it.

If you visited the ranch, you would go home with a memento.  This room demonstrates what kinds of things were given to visitors.  He would give cigarette lighters, tie clips, etc. of which all had the presidential seal.  His favorite thing to give was a cowboy hat like he wore.  The top shelves had stacks of  hats in hat boxes.

He even gave things to the children who visited.

He was president from November 1963 until January 1969.  These were the phones he used. No smart phones or electronic devises during these years.  The Secret Service and media had buildings near the house in which to work.  The houses were painted "LBJ green."  It was a specially formulated color of green that was produced by the PPG Paint Store in Fredericksville just for use at the ranch.

This swing hangs from one of the many live oaks that fill the yard and property.  The river is just beyond the swing.  I can imagine he and Lady Bird sitting in this swing in the cool of the evening, relaxing and thinking over their lives at the ranch.

He and Lady Bird are buried in the family cemetery on the property just across the street from where he was born.

This row of stones is the Johnson Family from right to left:
LBJ Paternal Parents who first came to hill country Texas in the late 1850's
His Father, a state legislator
His mother, college-educated who imprinted on him the importance of education
LBJ
Lady Bird
The remaining row is his siblings and some spouses

We did not expect to gain so much from this visit.  We though it would be just a quick stop and then on to other things; but, we really enjoyed learning about who LBJ was.  We learned that he loved his family, country, his heritage, and the ranch.  He enjoyed opening his ranch to people of all kinds.  His motto for the ranch was "All the world is welcome here"   He was a true Texan and during his presidency let the rest of the country  and world get to know Texas and its people.

The full moon was beautiful this evening.
Tomorrow we head back to Fredericksburg and Enchanted Rock State Park.