65 million years ago Dinosaurs
We have museum quality Tyrannosaurus “T.rex” tracks on the property, embedded into an old river bed. The two sets of tracks split before circling back together. It appears as if the T-Rexes were working together as a team to take down some type of prey.
12,000 years ago Native Americans
Ox Ranch has dozens of Indian mounds scattered throughout the property. Our guests have found hundreds of arrowheads and bird points as souvenirs. They have even found arrowheads over 14,000 years old (older than the pyramids)! We believe it was the Seminole, Commanche, and Tonkawa Indians that once settled our land.
1861 American Civil War
The American Civil War broke out in 1861 and lasted to 1865. We have no proof of any large battles taking place on the property, but we are confident that the Confederacy used our bat cave to harvest guano. The bat guano’s high nitrate content allowed for the Confederacy to create gunpowder. The bat cave was missing for decades and was rediscovered in 2013. The cave contains many bats, snakes, and a giant 30-foot-high mound of guano. The current owner of the ranch, Brent Oxley, developed a serious case of Histoplasmosis upon rediscovering the old cave. Mr. Oxley, along with a few others, was sick for over three months as a result of inhaling the bat guano dust. The symptoms included fatigue, dizziness, headaches, night sweats, and temporarily impaired vision.
1866 Buffalo Soldiers
On July 28, 1866, the U.S. Congress authorized six regiments of black troops, known as Buffalo Soldiers, to be enlisted into the U.S. Army. We have evidence supporting that a small Buffalo Soldier outpost was on the property. The outpost may no longer be visible due to fire, but its remnants still litter the ground. Our metal detecting efforts have discovered multiple horse bits, horseshoes, and even a Buffalo Soldier button in its vicinity. We believe the outpost was established to protect wagon trail settlers en route to Fort Stockton and or San Antonio.
1870 German Royalty
In 1870, Baron Edward Von Woehrmann, a member of German Royalty, brought the first sheep to the area. The history records show that Baron Edward raised sheep as well as mined over 20,000 ounces of silver from the property. The locals say he was hung for competing with the cattle farmers and encroaching on their land. This is very possible but we believe it is more plausible that he was murdered for the silver!
1958 Governor Dolph Briscoe
In 1958, part of the ranch was owned by former Governor of Texas, Dolph Briscoe. Mr. Briscoe had the Army Corp of Engineers build a giant dam on the property and used the ranch as his private fishing camp. The camp entertained many famous visitors including former Vice President John Nance Garner on his 90th birthday.
In 2007, the ranch launched one of the largest cedar removal projects in North American history. Over 10,000 acres of cedar were cleared at an expense of over $3,000,000!
2012 Ox Ranch
In 2012, the ranch was renamed from Four Aces Ranch to Ox Ranch. In early 2013 construction began on a 5,800-foot runway, 16-acre lake, multiple dams, 10 cabins, a giraffe pen, and a 6,000-square-foot hunting lodge.