As a newcomer to this county I am always interested in learning more about the area.  Saturday the county historical society offered a tour of some sites that were not normally offered to the public and I took advantage by visiting a couple of them.

The Johnson League Ranch was established in 1905 and the ranch house, barns and some other buildings have been recently restored by new owners.  Johnson and his brother had come to the area to make a new start after the great depression of 1873.  He settled in Strawn and had  success in coal mining and in selling cedar for railroad ties before buying the ranch. (A “league” is 4200 acres and refers to the size of the ranch).

According to the story his children died young and rather than being buried, they were kept in their bedrooms in Strawn where Mrs Johnson changed their clothes daily.  When they moved to the ranch, a little wooden mauseleum was constructed near the house where their bodies were kept.  In 1908 Palo Pinto Creek flooded and the mauseleum floated away.   Ranch hands on horseback lassoed the little building and pulled it back to land.

Here is a…