Peace, quiet, and goats
Robert Deming - Ruins of the Meusebach Store
History
Loyal Valley: The Hill Country Ghost Town
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One of the few reminders of the town that was is this one-room school house. The community is now just a few scattered homes and agricultural operations, although the community’s population has grown from a low of around 40 people a few years ago by transplants from other areas claiming some of the quiet beauty for their dream house. The Loyal Valley Cemetery is across the road from the old school.
Photo: Robert Deming
These goats stand next to the Marschall-Meusebach Cemetery in Cherry Springs, owned by the Gillespie County Historical Society, and the location of Meusebach’s grave. The peace and quiet apparent today belies tales of great struggle, pain, death, suffering, and hard work, generations of people meeting the challenges and uncertainty of each day with courage and bravery. When the German settlers arrived in this country there were rattlesnakes, bears, mountain lions, and wolves. At times Apache warriors bent on revenge or seeking to kidnap children appeared when least expected. Drought, flood, bitter cold, and stifling heat were a part of everyday life. On Meusebach’s tomb stone are etched these words from his family’s crest: TENAX PROPOSITI, tenacity of purpose, recognizing the drive it took to survive, and thrive, in this harsh and dangerous paradise.
