S & L Ranch History

The property that is currently the Lucky S & L Ranch was originally part of two Mexican Land Grants. The first was issued on November 15, 1834 to James Brown, and the second on November 20, 1834 to Henry Robert Eyles.

The Property was subsequently deeded to P.R. Welder and his wife B.E. Welder, and in January 1895 and May 1896, the welders sold it to John Ellis. The acreage was subdivided over the years, but the part that became the lucky S & L Ranch remained in the Ellis family until purchased by Larry and Sandy Jones in 1992.

Location
The ranch is located 60 miles north northwest of Corpus Christi between Beeville and Refugio, Texas on State highway 202. It's close to the Medio Creek and a few miles from the Texas Department of Corrections Chase Field facility.

The Name
The Lucky S & L name is derived from the names of the current owners, Larry and Sandy Jones, and what they perceive as the good fortune they experienced during the acquisition of the property. The Jones searched for three years over more than fifty counties in South Texas before they found what they considered the right place.

The frustration level was high after three years, so when they spotted an ad for a larger place than they wanted, in Bee County where they didn't think they wanted to be, they called. The broker was curt and not helpful. He said the owner would not split the property and he wouldn't waste his time showing it unless they would buy it all. When pressed he added that it was his day off and he wouldn't show it anyway. After another week of pestering him he gave Larry general directions and Jones went to look at it.

 

The place had highway frontage but almost no roads, and the area was inundated with flood water from severe rains. In spite of that it looked promising from the road and a week later Jones finally extorted an appointment with the reluctant broker to show the place.

Fortunately the owner was on site when the Jones's arrived. Due to the water, the looking was limited to a couple of fence row right-of-ways and the highway, but the live oaks and undisturbed native brush sold the Jones's. In conversation with the owner it became apparent he was suddenly interested in a quick deal, and he soon agreed to split out the part the Jones wanted and to take the price they offered. By the next morning the minerals were negotiated, 50% now and 100% to the Jones's after a few years, and the contract was signed.

With that bit of "good luck" behind them, the "it's too good to be true" syndrome set in. The Jones's started to wonder what the 75% of the place they hadn't seen looked like, and if maybe there was a land fill or toxic waste dump on the property.

The next weekend it was hip boots and miles of walking to check it out. The part unseen was as beautiful as the part they had already looked at. Wave after wave of quail flushed while walking the high ground, and big game or its sign was everywhere. Lucky again!

Buying the ranch was the accomplishment of a specific goal set thirty two years before - having the money to buy it was a result of the work invested over that thirty two years. Lucky again? Maybe, but 30 years of sixty and seventy hour weeks played a part too.

Another "lucky" part was the location. After having driven past it many times to look at property a lot farther away, they ended up with a place an hour from work and an hour and a half from home. In hind site this was very fortunate, because for the next several years, half or more of their time was spent working at the ranch.

A horse named "Lucky" was also part of the name selection. A couple of years into the search the Jones's decided to go ahead and buy a horse before a property was found. After all, old age was just around the corner and it looked like its effects might materialize before the ranch did. It seemed to make sense that it would be safer for the grand kids to learn to ride a horse at a stable than at a ranch. In any event it seemed time for a little gratification.

Lucky was a great find, a Registered Quarter Horse that was gentle with little kids and yet could run with the teenagers. Unfortunately, that search also took a long time, but when finally concluded, everything seemed to get moving too. Finding the property was almost immediate. Lucky had only a few months at the stable before she moved to the ranch, but that was OK with the Jones's.

After all that, it seemed only right that the Ranch have Lucky in its name and since the Jones's now felt pretty lucky, why not the Lucky S & L Ranch? What else could it be? The Patient S & L? The Frustrated S & L? The Road Weary S & L? Somehow, "The Lucky S & L Ranch" seemed most appropriate.

The Lucky story would not be complete without mentioning the "Big Ranch" neighbors who adopted the Jones tribe as one of their own and helped them and taught them and made them feel welcome. To all of them the Jones family owes a great deal and extends a heartfelt thank you.

Why?
Both Larry and Sandy had ties to the land in their youth. Larry, to a dairy farm in Michigan where his mother was born in the early 1900's, and which is still in family hands today. Sandy is a native Texan, actually a DRT, or Daughter of The Republic of Texas and spent countless days on her family's ranch in Brazos County, Texas. Both felt a strong need to bond their kids and grandkids to the earth, but Sandy probably was the driving force in the decision. The memories and the events that shaped her into the really special person she is came from family life on a ranch. Seeing history repeat itself as their offspring bond in a similar way is, as anticipated, the best part of the Lucky S & L Ranch.

Ranch Goals
A Ranch Mission Statement was developed to help clarify the priorities and direction the Jones's would take with the property. Preservation was and is a major concern. A State Game Warden and a State Biologist were quick to point out to us that the ranch was almost all virgin, native Texas range, which made it pretty rare in this age of improved grasses and the root plow.

We enrolled the Ranch in a State initiative called The Private Lands Enhancement Program and we were assigned a State Biologist to work with. Together we developed a long-range conservation and management plan that we have followed. The ranch is in a three way ecotone which provides a wide diversity of plant life and great wildlife habitat. The plan called for maintaining and enhancing what was already there, not changing it.

Some improvements made include building two tanks, creating two small wet land areas, adding some cross fencing to control cattle grazing, doing limited prescribed burns, and initiating some specialized clearing in certain pastures to create more "edge" and improve the game habitat. It is a labor of love and a money pit and all of it is soaked in sweat.