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

Farmers, Ranchers, the Land and the Falls
Figure 38. The Pedernales River at the Circle Bar after the great flood of 1952.
Photo courtesy of Sherill East, Diana L. Cooper, and Candace K. Sandefur.
In 1962, when C.A. was 80 years old and Harriet almost 72, the Wheatleys
offered to donate the Circle Bar to the State of Texas, with the stipulation that
the land would be developed into a “first class state park.” “It is the intent of
the Grantors..,” the contract read, “that such premises will never be used for
hunting purposes.” 100 The contract also stipulated that unless the State of Texas
appropriated $250,000 to improve the property by October 1, 1963, the contract
would be “null and void.” The acquisition was supported by Governor John
Connally and the Legislative Budget Board, and passed by both houses of the
Texas Legislature. But when the appropriations bill went to a ten-member joint
House and Senate conference committee, the money allocated to improve the
Circle Bar was divided among nine other parks in areas favored by members of
the committee. Connally vetoed the resulting bill, and the Wheatley’s withdrew
their offer. 101
C.A. Wheatley died in 1963. By 1965, Harriet had sold their old home in
San Antonio and moved to an apartment on North McCullough Avenue. She
continued to be active in San Antonio civic organizations, and kept C.A.’s old
office in the Maverick Building. She still spent some of her time at the Circle
Bar, though, and in 1967 she jokingly listed her profession as “ranch hand” in the
San Antonio City Directory. In 1969 she apparently offered to sell (not give) the
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