Piñon Tree

An old piñon tree at the Mansion grew from a seed planted by Charles Schreiner's son, Gustav Frederick, known as Gus, who was fascinated by cattle and ranching from boyhood and later inherited his father's ranching interests. Kerrville stood along the Great Western Cattle Trail, which formed from several small South Texas feeder trails and ran north along what is now Harper Road through Dodge City, Kansas, to Ogallala, Nebraska. Gus watched cattle stop for water at the Guadalupe River and pass through downtown Kerrville on their way to Kansas. As a young man, he joined a cattle drive to Colorado, where he picked up some piñon seeds, brought them home, and planted them in his family's front yard, probably in the 1880's. One small seed became a large tree more than 100 years old that still stands strong.

Kerrville, Texas · United States