Library

The owners and staff of Spread Oaks Ranch never set out to research and write a history book. But the stories they first found suggested their land had a deep connection with Texas and Matagorda County, and they wanted to uncover and preserve them. The result is a new 316-page book, called At A Bend in the River: The History of Spread Oaks Ranch, and it can be ordered online from Nueces Press.

And what stories they turned out to be. In its early history, the southern portion of the ranch changed hands four times in just 30 years, its diverse ownership a result of untimely death, murder, and indebtedness. It was here, at Jennings Lake, that Stephen F. Austin’s first colonists settled in 1821. Fourteen years later, the volunteers who made up the Texian ragtag army in its War for Independence camped beside Jennings Creek before marching to Gonzales and the first battle of the Texas Revolution. The same campsite was occupied just 15 months later by Mexican troops, intent on marching to San Jacinto to support General Santa Anna. 

Early ranch deed holders had connections to many of Texas history’s best-known historical events. Some fought in the Texas Revolution and others in the Mexican-American War. Still others were part of the early Texas government. One young man who grew up on the Colorado River banks at Jennings Creek was killed by Comanches at San Antonio in the Council House fight, and another landowner was filled with arrows during the Comanche raid at Linville in 1840.  

Within the historical mix was what was called the great log jam that blocked navigation along the Colorado River for nearly a hundred years. The river steamboat initially charged with removal of the logs chugged past the river banks of Spread Oaks Ranch and one day successfully cleared the river, at least for a few years, then triumphantly sailed into the Gulf of Mexico where it met with the hurricane of 1854 and the loss of the ship and most of its crew. 

After America’s War Between the States, Spread Oaks Ranch was the center of the era of the legends and lore of cowboys and cattlemen, its pastures one of the starting points for longhorns destined for the great northern cattle drives.  

The next phase in its history was the taming of its canebrakes and native grasslands for Texas rice. Spread Oaks Ranch was the site of one of the state’s most ambitious early rice irrigation schemes. The work transformed the natural landscape, and the face of modern Spread Oaks Ranch reflects their hand today. Those involved in the project included a Texas governor who went bankrupt and a colorful character known in Texas history as Silver Dollar Jim. Then there is the story of the man who is immortalized on the ranch with a bronze statue atop a mule. We’ll never know exactly why he thought this memorial to himself was so important, but it’s an interesting story of another fascinating early ranch owner. 

To tell the story of Spread Oaks Ranch is to tell the story of Texas and Matagorda County, the drama played on a smaller stage. It’s a fun and entertaining journey. At A Bend in the River: The History of Spread Oaks Ranch is available at the ranch and also can be ordered online from Nueces Press.