A Brief Overview of Pedernales Falls History

Are you planning a trip to Pedernales Falls State Park (or the surrounding Blanco County) and want to know about Pedernales Falls history? Whenever I travel, I’m that person who wants to know all kinds of interesting details about the history of the area I’m going to. My trouble is I generally don’t feel like reading an entire book, partly because I don’t want to be too distracted from the local area and partly so I don’t get carsick! This post will give you a brief overview of some of the interesting things that have happened in the Pedernales Falls Area, as well as a more detailed overview of Pedernales Falls history and additional resources you can check out if you want even more.

Planning a trip to Pedernales Falls? Check out my travel guide on the area here:

5 Things to Know About Pedernales Falls History:

1. Though there were some slaves in Blanco County (where Pedernales Falls is), the voters overwhelmingly voted against the Civil War

In 1861, partly because about half of the people living in the county at that time were foreign-born Germans who opposed slavery, Blanco County’s voters rejected secession from the Union by 170 to 86. Texas (obviously) seceded from the Union anyway.

2. Indian attacks were common up until the 1870s.

In 1869, a large mounted Indian raiding party killed settlers on Cypress Creek about three miles east of Round Mountain—a woman, Mrs. Phelps, was scalped—then moved east to Cypress Mill and on to Pecan Creek, “stealing horses as they went, and killing those [horses] they could not capture.”

3. Pedernales Falls was originally ranching country.

In 1900, J.B. Wenmohs, a cattle trader, acquired all of the property that would eventually make up Pedernales Falls State Park. J.B.’s nickname was “Goddam” due to his salty language. This area would eventually become over-grazed, removing the fertile topsoil and leaving only the hard bedrock below.

4. A president once lived near Pedernales Falls.

In 1915, Lyndon B. Johnson’s family moved to Johnson City, 12 miles west of what is now Pedernales Falls State Park. Later President Johnson would recall, “I shall never forget the faces of the boys and the girls in that little Welhausen Mexican School, and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor. And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American.”

5. It’s served as an inspiration for Willie Nelson.

In 1979, Willie Nelson bought a golf club he named The Pedernales Golf Club where he recorded the album Tougher Than Leather. The golf club was auctioned in 1991 due to Nelson’s debt to the IRS, but it was bought for safe-keeping by a friend. When the IRS learned of this, the IRS refunded the money and took back the property. Nelson re-acquired the property in 1992.

And there you go! A brief overview of some of the highlights! Want more? Read on:

A More Detailed History of the Pedernales Falls Area:

The Early 1800s:

1821 – While Spanish expeditions traveled through the area in the 1700s, land agents didn’t arrive until 1821.

1835 – The Mexican government begins granting land to white settlers. Noah Smithwick in his book, The Evolution Of A State says, “Men talked hopefully of the future, children reveled in the novelty of the present, but the women bore the burden.” One elderly lady said, “Texas was heaven for men and dogs, but hell for women and oxen.” Perhaps the men were better able to adapt because they could find some escape in hunting game or in a battle to fight. Texas historian, T. R. Fehrenbach has this to say about the Anglo-Texan of 1835; “Texas was drawing men who sought violence like strong drink. If they could not find a war, they were disposed to make one.”

1836 – hostile Comanches pushed the Apaches out of what is now Blanco County, and fiercely resisted white settlement in the region.

The 1850s:

The area is settled predominantly by natives of Tennessee and Alabama, mostly Anglo-Saxon Protestants, although about a tenth of the residents were natives of Germany. In 1858, Blanco county is formed.

The 1860s:

1860 – 1,281 people lived in Blanco county, including ninety-eight slaves. Indian corn and wheat were the county’s most important crops, but settlers also grew small amounts of rye, tobacco, and cotton.

1861 – Blanco County’s voters rejected secession from the Union by 170 to 86. Texas secedes anyway and the Civil War Starts. Federal soldiers stop patrolling the frontier, and Indian attacks in Blanco County increase so much that a number of families moved out of the area.

1865 – Civil War ends and Reconstruction begins… for everywhere except Texas, which is still considered in revolt during this time.

1866 – Peace is declared between Texas and the Northern States, but Texas is still not a part of the US.

July 1869 – a large mounted Indian raiding party killed settlers on Cypress Creek about three miles east of Round Mountain—a woman, Mrs. Phelps, was scalped—then moved east to Cypress Mill and on to Pecan Creek, “stealing horses as they went, and killing those [horses] they could not capture.”

The 1870s:

During the 1870s, before settlement brought overgrazing and erosion, much of the area was a savannah covered by tall native grasses interspersed with clumps of trees in the river valleys and creek beds. Wagon trains bearing families like the Wilsons, Trammels, and Rainses begin to arrive. Most African Americans left the area after the Civil War, although a freedman’s colony was formed In Peyton, about 20 miles south of what is now Pedernales Falls State Park.

1870 – Texas legislature ratifies the 14th and 15th amendments and Texas is finally readmitted to the union, and white settlers begin pushing back against the Indian threat. In June 1870, J. T. Cleveland of Cypress Mill reported to the Austin Republican that a group of local men had attacked a group of Indians near Round Mountain, killing four of them. By the early 1870s, however, the Indian threat had diminished considerably, and new groups of immigrants had begun to move into Blanco County and the Pedernales Falls area. The first cotton gin established in 1870 and cotton became the most important crop in the area.

1874 – Mary Terry, who seems to have been a widow with children, homesteaded a 160-acre tract adjoining the lands occupied by the Wilsons a few months earlier. These families had many children who were largely illiterate but undoubtedly helped maintain the family farms and old stock ranches.

1877 – a Blanco County resident reported to the Austin Daily Statesman that Blanco “was mostly a stock county until 1866, when farming began in good earnest. …This year the acreage in cultivation has increased, and the [cotton] crop yield, with favorable seasons from now on, will be 1,200 to 1,500 bales. …We have fine grass, fine stock, and fat sheep and plenty of mast. …This county is fast settling up.”

The End of the 19th Century:

Some of the first white settlers in the area begin dying or leaving the area

1887 – Mary Terry, now living in Bell County and married to one E.R. Underwood, sells her property.

1890s – a terrible drought hits the region and most families begin leaving the area.

1899 – the Trammell family, the only remaining “oldstock” family in the area, buys Mary Terry’s old property. They’re finally “starved out” of the area the following year. J.B. “Goddam” Wenmohs, a cattle trader, buys the Wilson property and now owns all of the property that will eventually make up Perdenales Falls State Park.

The 20th Century

1930s – Pedernales begins to get the reputation of being one of the best places for fishing, especially catfish. Horse and wagon is still the predominant form of transportation for locals at this point. Electricity finally reached the Hill Country in 1938.

1940s – The Wheatleys, who had made their money wildcatting for oil, buy the Pedernales Falls property and begin building roads and a house on the property (where the Park Superintendent’s residence now sits) which served as a family retreat. They wanted to make their property a working ranch and also instituted conservationist policies to preserve the local wildlife.

1950s – another drought hits the area and juniper ashe take over the landscape.

1960 – The Wheatley’s house burns down in fire.

1970 – Widow Wheatley sells the property to the state to make Pedernales Falls State Park.