DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells the story of the Fletcher Ranch — let me pass it along to you the way it's been handed down. Somewhere out in Taylor County, there's a ranch that has never left the hands of the family that first claimed it. That's not a boast.
That's just the record. And the record starts in 1878. That year, James Robert Fletcher loaded up his wife, his young son Lorenzo Thomas, a small herd of cattle, work animals, and whatever hope a man could carry in a wagon, and they came out here from Granbury.
Now they didn't arrive to nothing — they arrived to a decision. Fletcher had looked at this land and seen what a practical man sees: a spring-fed creek, large trees fit for wood, coves where animals could shelter from the wind, and grass, ample grass stretching out in every direction. He filed for a patent on it.
He brought a carpenter along to put up a two-story ranch house. A two-story ranch house. Out here.
In 1878. That tells you something about James Robert Fletcher's intentions. That first spring, he planted sorghum for his cattle — making this one of the first cultivated areas in the county.
He wasn't done experimenting either. He shipped Merino sheep all the way from California, set his sights on raising sheep on a large scale in the area. It was an ambitious idea.
It was also, the marker is honest enough to say, an unsuccessful one. But the man tried. Now his son — Lorenzo, who folks called Lo — Lorenzo Thomas Fletcher, born in 1868, he was growing up in a place where the nearest school was a walk to Buffalo Gap.
And Lorenzo walked it. Later he walked all the way to Buffalo Gap Presbyterian College. And here's the part that stays with you: he marked that trail with buffalo skulls.
Set them out so they caught the moonlight, and a boy walking to school in the dark could follow the pale glow of those bones home again. You think about that on a quiet night out here. In 1886, James Robert Fletcher died, and Lo — still a young man — took over the ranch operations.
Three years later, in 1889, he married a woman named Lula May Cummings, whom he had met at Buffalo Gap College. They had three children together. Lorenzo Thomas Fletcher lived until 1939.
And the ranch kept going. The daughters of that line took the Lytle Cove land and developed it into a wildlife refuge — birds, deer, wild turkey finding shelter in the same coves where James Robert Fletcher once sheltered his cattle. This ranch holds the distinction of being the oldest property in Taylor County still occupied by the original family.
The man filed his patent, planted his sorghum, set his buffalo skulls in the moonlight — and his people never left. Some roots go down that deep and just hold.
What the marker says
In 1878 James Robert Fletcher, his wife, and son Lorenzo Thomas (1868-1939) came here from Granbury. Their caravan included a small herd of cattle and work animals. A carpenter came to construct a two-story ranch house. Fletcher filed for a patent on this land because of the nearby spring-fed creek, large trees for wood, coved for animal protection and ample grass. The first spring Fletcher planted sorghum for his cattle, making this one of the first cultivated areas in the county. He shipped Merino sheep from California and made an unsuccessful attempt at raising the first sheep on a large scale in the area. Lorenzo ("Lo") walked to school at Buffalo Gap and later to Buffalo Gap Presbyterian College, marking a trail with buffalo skulls which could be seen by moonlight. After his father died in 1886, Lorenzo took over the ranch operations. In 1889 he married Lula May Cummings whom he met at Buffalo Gap College. They had three children. Their daughters have developed the Lytle Cove land into a wildlife refuge for birds, deer, and wild turkey. This ranch is recognized as the oldest property in Taylor County still occupied by the original family. (1979)