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Features
To provide a little context for the feature story on Fredericksburg, and to illustrate some of the dangers the first Hill Country pioneers faced, I’m going to tell you the story of an early community called Strickling, and how it fits into Texas history. Captain John Webster was a plantation owner in Virginia when Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836, but the stories he heard appealed to his adventurous disposition, and he sold his plantation to come to Texas.
For former Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe Jr., the Hill Country represents home. Since 1939, four generations of the Briscoe family have greatly enjoyed their Rio Frio Ranch north of Uvalde.
No town embodies the spirit of the Texas Hill Country better than Fredericksburg. Its amazing history and vibrant personality make Fredericksburg the Hill Country’s most popular tourist destination, and while we always encourage visitors to explore the entire Hill Country, Fredericksburg would be our choice if we could visit only one town.
Stories & Photos
View photos from this issue. Click below to zoom.
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Fishing can bring two unlikely people together to form a bond of friendship that lasts a lifetime. For example, take one young college professor and one older farmer/rancher and try to imagine what they might have in common. Fishing was the common bond and as fate would have it they both joined the local bass club about the same time and became friends.
Adolf Nebgen, here after affectionately referred to as “Daddy”, had long done custom hay baling in the Stonewall area with a horse-powered baler. This type of baler had removable wheels, used for transporting, which were removed at the site, so that it sat on the ground. A horse, mule or donkey, harnessed to a long pole and walking in a circle, provided the power. The hay being baled was usually in a “haystack” in the barnyard.
I guess it wouldn’t be right to say that Jerry Bridwell is in his second childhood – that might give folks the wrong idea – but it’s safe to say that, after a very successful career in the oil and gas industry, the Horseshoe Bay resident has returned to a childhood dream. Ever since he discovered an arrowhead at a friend’s ranch fifty-odd years ago, Bridwell has had a passion for all things related to the American Indians who once populated Texas.
For several months, friends have been telling me I should check out that BBQ place in Bertram. Now I have driven through Bertram many times, dated a pretty girl there years ago, but never really stopped to look around and had not noticed any BBQ place but when you have several people talk about a place being good, it is time to check it out.
Freedom... a small word that represents so very much. This American freedom that we enjoy has come with no small price. Americans have paid the price with many lives lost to protect this freedom of ours. The American Revolution; the War of 1812 when American independence was assured; the Mexican-American War; the Civil War; the Spanish-American War; World War I; World War II; the Korean War; the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom...
You might say Greer Kothmann is “spurred on” by his love of cowboys and Indians. Years of extensive research, attending shows and learning from and networking with other collectors has led Kothmann to become well-known in his own right as an authority on special types of spurs, bits and arrowheads.
If you're looking for a good fishing hole half an hour from the granite dome of the State Capitol, then Lake Georgetown might be just the place. This U. S. Army Corps of Engineers project sits four miles west of its namesake city, some 20 miles north of Austin. It's a typical Hill Country reservoir, deep and clear, created in the late 1970s by damming up a canyon on the North San Gabriel River.
There are a lot of us around who actually grew up during the second world war. My most formative years were completed about the time the war ended. There was no electricity in our farm and ranch community but we had a battery-powered radio. Several of our neighbors, who had no radio, came over to listen to the news every evening. I heard the broadcasts and all the adult "war talk" with great alarm.
I had the unique pleasure on the afternoon of June 4th to observe the courtship ritual of a pair of vermilion flycatchers. I'd never seen anything like that before and I probably will never have the opportunity to see it again. They would take turns coming to one branch on an oak tree....they'd sit there and sort of squiggle around, ruffle their feathers and then fly off.