Show Barn (wayside)

The president ropes a calf at his ranch.

LBJ Library photo / Yoichi Okamoto

Quick Facts

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Although ranching produced just a fraction of the Johnsons' income, it constituted a major portion of the President's public identity. The Johnsons maintained two herds of cattle on the LBJ Ranch—one of them a commercial herd sold for beef, the other a herd of about 500 registered Herefords, sold for breeding purposes. The registered Herefords on the ranch today are descendants of the animals owned by President Johnson. The show barn was the center of the ranching operation, where equipment was stored and the ranch's five or six employees reported to work. Here ranch hands prepared cattle for showing, both to prospective buyers and at shows throughout Texas. Herdsmen trained and fitted the show cattle. Each animal represented a considerable investment; at that time a prize-winning bull was worth between $500 and $1500.