OFFICIAL Watterson Ranch Website
Bastrop, Texas
Home Page
A BIT ABOUT US:
The Watterson Ranch is a 6th generation, family owned and operated working cattle ranch located in Bastrop County, the heart of Central Texas. Once a way station stop for the stagecoach traveling from Austin to Port Arthur, the Watterson Ranch is rich in local history, character and beauty. Watterson Ranch is a proud recipient of the prestigious 100 year Heritage Plaque from the State of Texas, having been in one family for over 100 years.
Scott and Trina Miller live and work on the Watterson Ranch with their 3 children: daughters, Callie Nathalie (12) and Cate Lane (5); and son, Samuel Watterson Miller (1 yr).
Under the current management of Scott, like his Grandpa (Claude Watterson) before him, ranching continues to be the main focus of operations while holding firm to the roots and values that will preserve its rich history and Legacy for generations to come. This is a tall order to fill when modern standards and the economy prove not very friendly to the family Rancher and Farmer. However, as our founders did in their journey to make a place in this world, we humbly plug along, continuing to diversify our supplemental services to help meet the demands and operating costs of todays unstable market.
In November of 2002, under the entrepreneurial vision of Trina, we began a supplemental career path down the NATURE TOURISM trail, producing equine-focused events on a very small scale. In fact, our first public trail ride in November 2002 was nothing short of a near disaster! You name it, it went wrong; from mesquite thorn flat tires on trucks and trailers, to broncy horses and nervous trail guides. But as with any new business venture - they say “give it 5 years” and here we are in our 7th year of operation and the growth and education we have experienced has been nothing short of an adventure! We take great pride in producing quality, family friendly events.
Since 2002, our NATURE TOURISM services have expanded to include additional equine-based productions, such as RANCH SORTINGS, HORSEMANSHIP CLINICS & COMPETITIONS and of course, our biggest equine draw event is our annual COWGIRL WEEKEND EVENT. Now in it's 7th year, COWGIRL WEEKEND has been featured in the prestigious WESTERN HORSEMAN MAGAZINE, a segment on RFD-tv's COWBOY CHURCH w/ Susie Luchsinger and Russ Weaver and most recently could be found among the pages of AQHA's AMERICA'S HORSE MAGAZINE (Oct. 2009 issue).
Just this year, our NATURE TOURISM services have grown to encompass additional recreational interests, including BIRD and WILDLIFE WATCHING PACKAGES; NATURE/WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY OPPORTUNITIES; RANCH TOURS and SEASONAL HUNTING.
Thank you, from the bottom or our hearts.
Along the way, we have been so blessed with a faithful client base, many who have become like family to us over the years. While our services continue to diversify in this ever changing, ever unpredictable economy, one thing has never changed: our commitment and care to our clients. Without question, your experience with WATTERSON RANCH will be unique and memorable. We appreciate each and everyone of you who have chosen to come to us for your business or recreational needs and we consider it a blessing to be able to do what we do for a living. It's not just a job to us -- this IS our lifestyle!
~ The Miller Family
Scott, Trina, Callie, Cate & Sam
THE HISTORY BEHIND WATTERSON, TX:
WATTERSON is located in southern Bastrop County about nine miles south of the town of Bastrop, on an old road between Bastrop and Red Rock. Named for pioneer Charles Coffin Watterson, who with his wife, Martha, settled in the area about 1852 and began farming and stock raising. Samuel and Caroline Wolfenbarger were also among the community's early settlers, most of whom depended on farming and stock raising for a living.
A post office with the name Live Oaks was established in 1878 with Charles Coffin Watterson as postmaster. In 1891 the town was renamed in his honor. In 1896 the community had a population of 100, a Methodist Church, a gristmill and gin and general store. Students attended the Lentz Branch and Hilbig schools, which combined to form the Watterson School House in 1900. The post office closed in 1904, and the Watterson School House was consolidated with the eight Live Oaks school's in 1927.
In the 1930s Watterson still had a community club and Methodist Church. By 1962 many of the large farms had been broken up, but Watterson remained a farming community made up in large part of descendants of the early settlers. Though no population figures appear for it in any twentieth-century Texas Almanac, in the mid-1980s Watterson continued to be listed as a community in Cities and Towns of Texas and to appear on county highway maps.
**The above history of Watterson, Texas was taken from The Handbook of Texas Online.**
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691-1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977).
D. L. Vest, Watterson Folk of Bastrop County (Waco: Texian Press, 1963).
D. L. Vest, Watterson, A Texas Rural Community (M.A. thesis, St. Mary's University, 1946).
The Watterson Ranch is a 6th generation, family owned and operated working cattle ranch located in Bastrop County, the heart of Central Texas. Once a way station stop for the stagecoach traveling from Austin to Port Arthur, the Watterson Ranch is rich in local history, character and beauty. Watterson Ranch is a proud recipient of the prestigious 100 year Heritage Plaque from the State of Texas, having been in one family for over 100 years.
Scott and Trina Miller live and work on the Watterson Ranch with their 3 children: daughters, Callie Nathalie (12) and Cate Lane (5); and son, Samuel Watterson Miller (1 yr).
Under the current management of Scott, like his Grandpa (Claude Watterson) before him, ranching continues to be the main focus of operations while holding firm to the roots and values that will preserve its rich history and Legacy for generations to come. This is a tall order to fill when modern standards and the economy prove not very friendly to the family Rancher and Farmer. However, as our founders did in their journey to make a place in this world, we humbly plug along, continuing to diversify our supplemental services to help meet the demands and operating costs of todays unstable market.
In November of 2002, under the entrepreneurial vision of Trina, we began a supplemental career path down the NATURE TOURISM trail, producing equine-focused events on a very small scale. In fact, our first public trail ride in November 2002 was nothing short of a near disaster! You name it, it went wrong; from mesquite thorn flat tires on trucks and trailers, to broncy horses and nervous trail guides. But as with any new business venture - they say “give it 5 years” and here we are in our 7th year of operation and the growth and education we have experienced has been nothing short of an adventure! We take great pride in producing quality, family friendly events.
Since 2002, our NATURE TOURISM services have expanded to include additional equine-based productions, such as RANCH SORTINGS, HORSEMANSHIP CLINICS & COMPETITIONS and of course, our biggest equine draw event is our annual COWGIRL WEEKEND EVENT. Now in it's 7th year, COWGIRL WEEKEND has been featured in the prestigious WESTERN HORSEMAN MAGAZINE, a segment on RFD-tv's COWBOY CHURCH w/ Susie Luchsinger and Russ Weaver and most recently could be found among the pages of AQHA's AMERICA'S HORSE MAGAZINE (Oct. 2009 issue).
Just this year, our NATURE TOURISM services have grown to encompass additional recreational interests, including BIRD and WILDLIFE WATCHING PACKAGES; NATURE/WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY OPPORTUNITIES; RANCH TOURS and SEASONAL HUNTING.
Thank you, from the bottom or our hearts.
Along the way, we have been so blessed with a faithful client base, many who have become like family to us over the years. While our services continue to diversify in this ever changing, ever unpredictable economy, one thing has never changed: our commitment and care to our clients. Without question, your experience with WATTERSON RANCH will be unique and memorable. We appreciate each and everyone of you who have chosen to come to us for your business or recreational needs and we consider it a blessing to be able to do what we do for a living. It's not just a job to us -- this IS our lifestyle!
~ The Miller Family
Scott, Trina, Callie, Cate & Sam
THE HISTORY BEHIND WATTERSON, TX:
WATTERSON is located in southern Bastrop County about nine miles south of the town of Bastrop, on an old road between Bastrop and Red Rock. Named for pioneer Charles Coffin Watterson, who with his wife, Martha, settled in the area about 1852 and began farming and stock raising. Samuel and Caroline Wolfenbarger were also among the community's early settlers, most of whom depended on farming and stock raising for a living.
A post office with the name Live Oaks was established in 1878 with Charles Coffin Watterson as postmaster. In 1891 the town was renamed in his honor. In 1896 the community had a population of 100, a Methodist Church, a gristmill and gin and general store. Students attended the Lentz Branch and Hilbig schools, which combined to form the Watterson School House in 1900. The post office closed in 1904, and the Watterson School House was consolidated with the eight Live Oaks school's in 1927.
In the 1930s Watterson still had a community club and Methodist Church. By 1962 many of the large farms had been broken up, but Watterson remained a farming community made up in large part of descendants of the early settlers. Though no population figures appear for it in any twentieth-century Texas Almanac, in the mid-1980s Watterson continued to be listed as a community in Cities and Towns of Texas and to appear on county highway maps.
**The above history of Watterson, Texas was taken from The Handbook of Texas Online.**
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bill Moore, Bastrop County, 1691-1900 (Wichita Falls: Nortex, 1977).
D. L. Vest, Watterson Folk of Bastrop County (Waco: Texian Press, 1963).
D. L. Vest, Watterson, A Texas Rural Community (M.A. thesis, St. Mary's University, 1946).
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