Rancho de las Cabras

These photos were taken in 1912 and show the Rancho walls as they were then.
Featured is the first Boy Scout troop from Floresville. Click on the small photos to see a bigger version.

The Rancho de las Cabras, or the goat ranch, was established in the mid- 1700s as a grazing ground for Mission Espada. The rancho was located about 30 miles southeast of Mission Espada, on the San Antonio River, near present-day Floresville. Rancho de las Cabras was a place to raise cattle to feed the Spanish priests and the Indians who lived at Mission Espada. Missionaries trusted certain Indian vaqueros, or cowboys, to live on the ranch and take care of the animals. These Indian cowboys lived with their wives and children on the ranch. Once a week, seven or eight head of cattle were broght from the ranch to Mission Espada. These were some of the first cattle drives and were quite dangerous due to the hostile Indians along the path. The ranch eventually was shut down because Espada was secularized (taken over by the government), relieving the church of the job of feeding the Indians.

Apache raids in the late 1770s caused problems with the rancho system. The Spanish government took over ownership of unbranded cattle in 1778 and in the early 1800s, the rancho lands became the property of the people who had been living there and of new settlers to the area.

All of the animals in the rancho had a different purpose other than meat and there was often a surplus. Oxen plowed, cattle produced hides, soap, grease, and horns for carving and other uses. Horses provided were used for transportation and helped to heard livestock. Cattle, sheep, goats (although their weren't many) and pigs were food. Sheep provided wool, and goats produced milk.

On September 15, 1995, the National Park Service acquired a small section of the former ranch from the Texas Park and Wildlife Department. It is now a a part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Parks. The park service plans to restore the Rancho de los Cabras if they can get the money.

Tours take place on the first Saturday of each month at 10:00 a m. If you wish to come along, go the the pavilion at River Park on Highway 97 (going to Pleasanton) and wait by the information board for a Park Ranger.

Credits: We'd like to thank the rangers from the National Park Service, with whom we have done many tours of the Rancho. Much of the information above comes from them and from the National Park Service brochures about the Rancho and Mission Espada. The historical photos of the ranch shown above are courtesy of the Wilson County Historical Commission and the Emergency Management Service.