The most important historical resource in the valley is the Indian Mound Ranch, owned by Clarence and Pat Jones. Their ranch has been continuously operated by the same family for over 130 years.

The proposed southern route for the Highway 29 expansion would go right through the Indian Mound Ranch, disrupting the wildlife management area, appropriating historically valuable land, and perhaps even endangering the Indian Mound Oak, estimated by Texas officials to be 600 years old (that's 100 years older than the Treaty Oak).

Pat took me on a tour of the ranch, and on the way into the ranch I passed a van of archeologists from Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania who come to Liberty Hill every year to work on the Indian Mound Ranch site.

Quoting from the Williamson County Historical Museum, "Paleo-Indians arrived in the San Gabriel River area at least 10,000 years ago. These early people lived by hunting animals and gathering plants. They traveled in small family groups, but had no permanent homes and few personal possessions." These are the peoples that made the mounds at Indian Mound Ranch.

CJ and Pat keep their land as a managed wildlife area, and it didn't take me long to find the wildlife as I was leaving the property:

Clarence and Pat Jones have been awarded for their preservation efforts as described in Current Archeology in Texas, April 2004.

Every weekend, hundreds of area residents don helmets and spandex to cycle through the quiet hill country between Liberty Hill and Leander.

These athletes and weekend enthusiasts don't ride beside I-35 or Highway 183...they want to enjoy the peace and quiet of the Texas Hill Country, so they come to the South San Gabriel River Valley.

Patrick and Lisa Harlow remind me of Sky King. At the Flying H Ranch they run 75 head of cattle on 300 acres of the South San Gabriel River Valley and they also keep their Piper Cherokee P140 hangared right on the ranch. Their 1000 foot runway is registered with the FAA as 9TX4.

This is what they told me about their land:

23-Jul-2008 Lisa Harlow from 501/901 CR 279 writes:

Hi Michael, Let me introduce myself, Lisa Harlow. My husband Patrick, our two girls Amelia-20yr and Alissa 17yr, live across the river on your way to LH--3rd drive on the right (same drive as Tim and Kathleen). My husband has an electrical contracting business and runs his cows. I own the small gym in town-Flying H Fitness. We own the Flying H Ranch . It includes a few acres at the river (perhaps you have seen the sign on the black gate), hayfield across from the old homestead where the yellow barn is located, and yes, an airstrip where we keep our Piper Cherokee P140. So it is active. This ranch is part of what belonged to Henry Fields when this area was first developed in the 1800's. His homestead is the rock house just past the yellow barn. It has been renovated and now houses a young family that rent it from us. We purchased that place 1992. The rest of the farm was purchased by Ira Forbes (grandfather to Mike, Patrick and Tim Harlow) in the late 1950's and the families all still live here. Five generations actually. So we do have some history here. Thank you for doing the research. We all plan to be at the meeting too.

When I visited their ranch, I saw the old Henry Field's homestead and met Alex, who rents the home from the Harlow's. In the front yard stands a 200 year old Live Oak, probably planted by Henry Field's, himself. Lisa also showed me the old family car, itself dating from to 30s.

Of course, just like Paul Harvey, now I'm going to tell you the rest of the story.

The Flying H Ranch is owned by Patrick and Lisa Harlow. Next to them live Tim and Kathleen Harlow, and next to them live Mike and Linda Harlow. Patrick, Tim and Mike are brothers. The ranch across the street is owned by Barbara and Laura Helms. Laura is a first cousin to all three Harlow brothers.

So if you run an interstate anywhere between Liberty Hill and the Indian Mound Ranch, you're not just separating neighbors, your separating family.

26-Jul-2008 Vickie Honeycutt from 1040 CR 279 writes:

Thanks for setting up this site to let everyone know about the beauty and history of this river valley. It's an important part of Liberty Hill. Virtually every kid who's lived in the Liberty Hill area has been swimming in the crystal clear waters of the South San Gabriel at "Blue Hole" at one time or another. I've counted as many as 26 wild turkeys on the banks of the river on our land in fall mornings. We were told when we first bought our land that certain areas that were being dug up on our property were native American sites that UT was investigating. My daughter, who is a rock hound, has often found amazing carved stones after rains on our land. There are THIRTEEN dinosaur prints VISIBLE to all in the river bed of the South San Gabriel River just a short distance downstream from this proposed highway. I've personally taken many school groups of children to see the prints and marvel at the geological levels exposed in the river bed. It would be a HUGE loss of much of the culture and history of this area to have it paved over and have the cliffs resounding with the sounds of traffic jams every day.