Gwendolyn and Joe Winneburger worry about vanishing ranchland

By MONETTE TAYLOR | Country World South Central

June 7, 2001 -- Gwendolyn Stubbs Winneburger's family was from England and her husband, Joe Winneburger's family was from Germany. Almost 40 years ago, they wed...and things have never been the same since then for this Travis County couple.

Driving into the entrance of the Winneburger Ranch, it is apparent that this acreage is the only one, undeveloped, in the area. Grocery stores, strip malls, high-rise apartments and fast food restaurants surround them.

When explaining their ranching heritage, Gwendolyn said, "...my grandfather ran a grocery store on 26th and Guadalupe...by the University...and my mother had a brother who was 9-10 years older than she. One day, someone approached my grandfather and wanted to know, 'Would you take...in trade...a ranch for this store?'

"Well, my grandparents didn't want my uncle and mother raised in the city...now, think about that...over 100 years ago!...and so they said yea, so they traded the grocery store for the ranch above Dripping Springs."

The Stubbs family lived on one side of the river and the Winneburgers on the other. Eventually, it led to marriage and a most unusual, exciting life, according to Gwendolyn.

Both of the Winneburgers are hunters and have numerous trophies mounted in their home...but, already into their 70's...they have no plans to quit...just slow down a bit. They worry about the future of ranching and farming and it's effect on America.

"Every time you look around, there goes another ranch...dead. It's sickening. What worries me...of course, I don't have that many years to probably live, anyway...but, what are people going to have to eat? Where are they going to raise it? The farm and ranch land is gone! People forget that is where that food comes from," said Gwendolyn.

While Gwendolyn is the outspoken one of the two, Joe's easy smile and additions to the comments denotes a true partnership in every way.

"My mother made my dresses out of feed sacks and you tell that to people and they look at you like, 'What?' I've still got some of them," said Gwendolyn.

On the property are two log cabins, one enclosed in the middle of the house where they live, and the other across a driveway, almost untouched by the hands of time. In four garages sit vintage cars from 1922 on up...each in prime condition...and a couple of them used in movies, including Willie Nelson's "Red Headed Stranger," (Gwendolyn had a part in the movie, too) and the car used in the wedding scene from the "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

Outside is a complete menagerie of animals including Boar, Saanen and Nubian goats, llamas, chickens, guineas, deer, ducks, geese and a donkey. While the animals have been raised for meat and eggs, many are pets with names.

When asked about how she could tell the goats apart, Gwen said, "They're just like people! Everyone is different!"

With the city closing in on their 45 acres of property, the Winneburgers have dealt with the loss of many animals to dogs and coyotes.

"Several years ago, they got in my pastures and killed $25,000 worth of llamas for me. Slaughtered them all right here. I had been feeding a baby that the mother refused to nurse, and I fed her on the bottle right here in my house.

"That was the cutest llama I've ever seen and she'd follow me right to the sink for a drink of water. She loved to watch television. I'd go in and lay down on the floor and she'd come in and sit down and hum and sing to me all the time we'd watch television. She even rode in parades with us," said Gwendolyn.

Many of their animals are used in area parades, taken to visit nursing homes and used in Christmas programs in the area.

Most of their ewes were killed by dogs this past winter, and there doesn't seem to be any way of stopping the killings, according to Winneburger.

"You cannot have anything of your own, anymore, and we don't let anything bother anybody and we don't want anything bothering us," she added.

She and Joe have cattle in about 5 locations around Central Texas and are always looking to lease more land.

"I need the pastures because it is getting dry, again," she said.

It disturbs them to see the old family ranches being split and chopped up, making ranching harder for producers who are trying to stay in business.

Once the elderly owners are gone, "...the children just want the money," she said.

"If they can get it and tear it up and fill everything with concrete and roads, then they can bring in the houses and people."

Even though times are rapidly changing, the Winneburgers plan to continue living the life they have chosen over the years...unless they are offered enough for their land to purchase several hundred acres for all their animals.

"...and what we need would cost over a million dollars," said Gwendolyn.

Until then, Joe and Gwendolyn will continue with their lives, hunting big game all over the world, traveling to their home in Montana and singing with "Gwendolyn and the 620 Ranch Hands" country-western dance band. Now, that's another story.