On our last day in Texas on the Livestock Tours presented by Western Livestock Journal, we saw Hereford cattle. We learned about American Spanish Goats on a fifth-generation ranch west of Austin and north of San Antonio. At 6 a.
m. in San Antonio, it was 80’F, and TV weather said it felt like 86’F, and expecting 100’F. Enroute to Stonewall, we drove past a couple of vineyards, the first I had seen on this trip.
Yucca plants were in bloom, and groups of bicyclists were on the highway. We were at 1,700 ft elevation, and trees were on the hills. Weinhiemer Ranch is 146 years old this year.
The ranch was started by Jacob (1857-1931) in 1878 when he was 21 years old, on land that his father John had purchased in eastern Gillespie County. The family presented a history of the Weinhiemer family with pictures of family, genealogy, land, and brands. It was similar to what my mother and sister Marilyn presented at the Willard Family Association, years ago, although we didn’t incorporate like Weinhiemer.
(Each son got a part of the original ranch when my great-grandmother died in 1923) Weinhiemer Ranch has 18 shareholders, with a 3 Day Camp Out of cousins, 40 to 50 people. The ranch has had livestock diversity over time with registered Herefords, commercial cattle, registered Brafords, registered Quarter Horses, Delaine sheep, Angora goats, Moulton sheep, Texas Dali sheep, Black Hawaiian sheep, Desert Paint sheep, Jacobs sheep, and now American Spanish goats. In 1921, five regist.