Farmers, Ranchers, the Land and the Falls - Texas Parks & Wildlife ...

A History of the Pedernales Falls Area, 1850–1970
Figure 15. Herman Reiner and
Sherill East, Harriet Wheatley’s
son-in-law, with giant catfish
caught in the Pedernales near
the Falls, ca. late 1950s.
Photo in newspaper clipping,
courtesy of Sherill East,
Diana L. Cooper, and
Candace K. Sandefur.
Figure 16. James Smith
(Harriet Wheatley’s brother)
and Sherill East with catfish
caught near the Falls, ca. 1950s.
Photo in newspaper clipping,
courtesy of Sherill East,
Diana L. Cooper, and
Candace K. Sandefur.
The Wheatleys named their new ranch the Circle Bar. In 1937, almost
immediately after they bought the place, they began a series of improvement
projects. Their first concern was to build a road to the outside world: when they
first purchased the land, the only outlet to the nearest county road (the unpaved
A. Robinson Road) was through the Robinson ranch west of their property.
Graders were brought in, and a new road was cut south to A. Robinson Road,
roughly along the path of the present road leading from the park entrance to
park headquarters. As soon as the road was completed, work on their new
home (or “the manse,” as they called it) began. Situated at the present site of the
park superintendent’s residence, the Wheatley’s ranch home was constructed of
“Cagen” stone, which Mrs. Wheatley believed had been used to build the pyramids
in Egypt. Stonemasons from Blanco County were employed to do the work.
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