GERMAN INTELLECTUALS ON THE TEXAS FRONTIER

The Texas frontier of the 1850s would seem an unlikely place to find communities with a passion for literature, philosophy, music, and conversations in Latin. Just as unlikely would expectations be very high for communes in the Hill Country attempting to establish utopia along the Llano River.  But, in this area, the communities of Castell, Schoenburg, Bettina, and Leiningen were hotbeds for intellectual conversations and revolutionary social experimentation. These communities were the first to settle the Fisher-Miller Grant located between the Llano and San Saba Rivers.

THERE'S (SOME GOLD) IN THEM THERE HILLS

Tales of lost mines are part of the Texas Hill Country heritage. The legends persist at least in part because there have been virtually continuous mining operations in the Central Mineral Region since the time of the Spanish arrival in the Hill Country. Burnet, San Saba, Llano, and Gillespie counties have all been sites where prospectors have dug for fortunes in silver and gold. Detailed maps today show two creeks just to the north of Enchanted Rock bearing the names Gold Mine Creek and Silver Mine Creek.

ON ENCHANTED ROCK: THE HARMONIC CONVERGENCE - AUG. 1987

Early in the morning of August 15, 1987, phone calls started coming into The Highlander newspaper in Marble Falls, Texas. People wanted information on the massive convergence of people to sacred sites worldwide  -- rumor was that on August 16 & 17 Enchanted Rock, some 60 miles distant, would be one of the principal sites in Texas. There was nothing regarding The Harmonic Convergence, as the event was named, on any of the media. And we received no press releases on the subject. Being something of an authority on Enchanted Rock the assignment was handed to me.

ON ENCHANTED ROCK: VISITOR'S GUIDE TO THE CENTER OF THE WORLD

Enchanted Rock embodies the paradox of delicate beauty and rugged harshness.  It is here wetland and desert species meet. 
Here too, for over 10,000 years, people have met to celebrate the seasons and ponder this awesome creation of nature. 

This billion-year-old granite is the hard core around which the land mass of Texas formed.  This is the geologic center of Texas.  From almost any place in the park you can see examples representing the whole evolution of plant life--from lichen (the slowest growing plant on earth) to mosses, to ferns, to herbaceous plants, to shrubs and finally trees.

THE MANO, MATATE AND MYTHOLOGY

Bedrock metates are one of the few Indian artifacts on view at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.  The metate and its companion piece, the mano, comprise a two-part tool used for grinding seeds and beans in the preparation of food.

FATHER & SON AT ENCHANTED ROCK

Enchanted Rock is the Geologic Center of Texas, In the Middle of Nowhere...  You never know when something plants itself in your life like it was growing there forever. 
More often than not, it's something you hadn't given a lick of brainwork pondering and hardly noticed at the time. 

On the Way to Enchanted Rock
by Annie Simms Walker

In 1860, at the home of my father, Captain J.M. Sims, in Lavaca County, I was married to Joseph H. Walker of Llano County. He was young, handsome, and wealthy, and I was a very young and happy bride. A short time after our marriage we moved to our home in Llano, accompanied by my married sister and her husband. After a short stay they bade us farewell and returned home...

On Saturday, December 15, we started on a visit to another sister of my husband who lived some distance off, near the "Enchanted Rock." This rock enclosed a large basin on the top of a huge mountain, which is filled with sparkling clear water, wherein all kind of fowls drink and bathe, and I was very anxious to see it... We had gone about half a mile when we heard someone yelling frightfully, again and again. On looking up we saw six frightful looking men riding shabby horses and coming on slowly and still yelling. They were dressed in buckskin suits all fringed and tagged, and each wore a tall cap with feathers.

"Oh, Mr. Walker," said I, "who are these men? Are they cowboys?"

"Oh no," said he, "they are Indians."