The Working Corrals

Hereford cow and calf in the Show Barn

NPS Photo / Jack Burton

Quick Facts

Amenities

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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

President Johnson always kept a close eye on his ranch operations. The image of him handling steers or working a bull is appealing, but most of the physical labor on the ranch was done by a handful of ranch hands—many of them long-time employees, such as Dale Malechek, the ranch foreman.

This, said Lyndon Johnson, was "where the cattle go out and the money comes in." In the working pens, ranch hands tended to the herds-branding, castrating, doctoring, and, most importantly, loading cattle out for shipment after a sale.

The ramp in front of you is a "loading chute" for loading cattle into trucks. The majority of cattle shipped off the ranch were from the Johnson's beef herd—some of which he would simply purchase, clean up, and resell at a profit. Though LBJ was proudest of his registered Herefords (sold for breeding), much of his ranching revenue came from the sale of unregistered beef cattle.