Medina Ranch
This ranch has a long and storied history. According to a state historical marker at the Medina Ranch Cemetery on the property (which is no longer publically accessible), it is the burial place of Hendrick Arnold who died of cholera in 1849.1
Arnold received the land from the Republic of Texas for serving as a guide and spy during the Texas Revolution and assisting Deaf Smith during the Battle of San Jacinto.2
In 1915, the ranch was renamed the W.T. Montgomery Ranch, one of America's pioneer Hereford ranches. It was then purchased in 1945 by Joseph Straus, Sr. and renamed the Straus-Medina Ranch, later becoming a horse ranch.
My mother, who grew up in the area during the 1950s, remembers spending time at the ranch and knew the ranch foreman, John, and his wife "Big Mama."
A few years ago, the ranch was sold to the San Antoino Water System (SAWS) and remains derelect and abandoned. Along the road to the cache, you can see many of the old houses used by the ranch staff. It can be a bit creepy!
Footnotes
- "Medina Ranch Cemetery," Find a Grave, (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=29364573&CRid=2162), accessed August 02, 2014.
- Nolan Thompson, "ARNOLD, HENDRICK," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/far15), accessed August 02, 2014. Uploaded on June 9, 2010. Modified on March 28, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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