Leta Wright: Family comes first for this lady rancher
By MONETTE TAYLOR | Country World South Central
"We had nothing but junk here...old chicken houses, old fences...I thought, well I know a good man with a bulldozer, and he's an artist, and I can point and he can bury it," said Leta Wright, a rancher near Shiner. "It was a choice of whether we lived in Schulenburg or here, and Schulenburg is a lot prettier, but I just liked here, and the old house was here."
Wright and her husband, Herman, who died in 1989, moved to Lavaca County from the Houston area in 1972. During the time they lived and worked in Houston, weekends were spent in the country around Schulenburg where they own another ranch, according to Wright.
"When we first moved here, we had 375 acres, all that little running mesquite...all that nasty stuff...and I walked this place three years running with a gallon spray can, and now, we have very little. Every spring when a new one pops up, when it's time, like June-July, we'll go get it," said Wright.
Although neither Wright nor her husband had experience in ranching, they knew that they wanted the calm, country life to rear their only child, a daughter.
"We have cattle, we did not have cattle, before. We got cattle. We cleaned the place up. Everybody says I've got the cleanest place ever. No trampy fences, no junk...it is clean. We put some cattle on and we've had cattle ever since. We just raise our own feed...hay. We don't have any row crops," added Wright.
Herman Wright retired at the age of 50, when their daughter was born, and the three of them were inseparable, traveling a lot until their daughter started to school.
"He (Herman) had a real good philosophy. He said, 'There's no point in being greedy. If you have enough...enjoy, because when you get to 'x' age, you may not be able to enjoy...you may not even be here,'" said Wright. "It was a different life than most of my friends, in fact...most of my life has always been different than most of my friends," said Wright.
Wright runs between 150-200 head of cattle, Charolais bulls and cross-bred. She has learned about ranching by working, and never backs away from a challange.
"When you're there, you learn what it is, and you get interested in it or you might become very unhappy. What else is there to do in a little town? I'm not one that has to belong to every club. I work with Crime Stoppers for Lavaca County and Lavaca County Tax Payers Association, and I get a little political, sometimes," said Wright.
"It's hard for a woman to do anything in this area. One year I got the soil conservation award for the year and one from Goodyear...first woman ever. Hasn't been one since, either."
The conservation award is decided by ranch management and improvements made, and there's always something to learn, said Wright.
Along with the cattle, Wright is trying a new grass on her land. After hearing about "WWB Dahl" grass, she made a point to investigate how it might work in this area of Texas.
"It's a bunch grass, and I'm doing it for a grazing pasture. I saw pictures of it where it was almost waist high...just beautiful. Once you establish it, it's supposed to be good. I just said I didn't want anymore you had to renovate and fertilize every year. I just need another grazing pasture. The one out there didn't have much on it.
"We've let it lay idle. The ground had never been plowed since I've been coming over here...since 1950...and so it was just time to completely re-do it, which is what we're doing. It's expensive to do, but I'm hopeful in the long run it pays out. It's a grass that nobody down here's ever heard of," said Wright.
Her style of ranching is very consistent and all cattle go to auction.
"I'm strictly cow-calf. We don't keep any. If I need another animal, we go buy one, and preferably, one with a calf at side. You're not going to have a problem the next time, and you know what kind of calf she's going to have and what she's going to look like after the calf," said Wright.
The things she missed the most, after the move to the ranch, were big grocery stores and a library. Shiner now has a library, but the grocery stores are still missing, but she has never regretted the move and lifestyle change.
"You know, it's a peaceful life. I'm not one who listens to soap operas, either, needless to tell you, but if you don't have something...one day blends into the other.
"I love the land...and I always have the feeling...leave it better than you found it."
