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Friday, July 30, 1999
Locals hope Bush will create a White House
in Texas
By KATIE FAIRBANK
Associated Press Writer
CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — Having a Texan in the White House
as well as in the neighborhood would suit many in this one-stop-light
town just fine.
The 700-resident town of Crawford is abuzz with news that presidential
front-runner George W. Bush, while making a bid for the White
House, also has made a bid on a ranch about 90 miles southwest
of Dallas.
Regulars at the local coffee shop and gas station say they
hope the Texas governor will follow the example of native son
Lyndon B. Johnson.
The former president often returned to the LBJ Ranch near Johnson
City and delighted in showing off the land to foreign visitors.
“I think that might be his intention. If that happens,
it's something we could be proud of,” said Randy Sherman,
a Texas history teacher at Crawford High School.
Bush says he's interested in the property, but won't say whether
a closing date has been set.
A work team recently made a survey of the nearly 1,500-acre
ranch and crews are researching whether Bush could build a private
100-acre fishing lake on the land. That report will tell Bush
whether he can build a stock tank on the property, which would
be important to the avid fisherman.
Although many in town are happy about the idea of Bush moving
in, the sale will be bittersweet for Ken Engelbrecht, who has
lived on the family homestead his entire life, farming the property
and raising cattle.
Engelbrecht said one reason the family is selling its holdings
is to move his mother closer to her dialysis treatments, which
she undergoes three times a week in Temple, 30 miles away.
The trip home is tiring after a long day of treatment, Engelbrecht
said.
“It'll be better when they're there,” he said of
his parents. “They're all ready to go.”
Still, it's difficult for him to sell land that has been in
his family since just after the Civil War.
“It's hard, but it's best for the land,” he said.
“You want to sell to somebody who will do your town good,
your neighbors good, the land good.”
The property in western McClennan County adjoins Rainey Creek,
a tributary of the Middle Bosque River. It never was listed with
local real estate agents, although the land is worth an estimated
$800 to $850 an acre.
A hay crop recently was shorn from the rolling pasture, while
bordering ranches sprout cactus, herds of longhorns and goats
and an occasional emu.
A couple of landing strips are nearby, as well as the Hughes
Unit prison farm, which ranges from minimum to maximum security.
One landowner, who refused to give her name, said she likes
Bush just fine, but figures having a prison only 17 miles away
is dangerous enough — she doesn't want a politician added
to the mix.
“There will be people out here just looking. It's just
something we don't need,” she said.
People are indeed looking and there have been Bush sightings
at the local coffee shop in the neighboring town of McGregor.
“He walked up to my table and shook my hand,” said
Leah Driver, whose parents own The Coffee Station in Crawford.
“He said he was going to come over and eat at our place but
we're closed on Sunday.”
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Copyright ©1999,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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