To manage and conserve the natural and animal resources of the land for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Two centuries before the first voyage of Columbus, Tamique and Jaraname Indians cultivated and hunted the lands between the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers. The ground on which Rancho Los Senderos is situated has flowing creeks, which were undoubtedly farmed and hunted by the surrounding Indians.

After the Spaniards arrived in 1721, the use of the land changed to that of livestock grazing. Most historians claim that the lands between Rancho, Tejas (now called Nixon, TX) and Mission Espiritu Santo are considered to be the birthplace of ranching, the Longhorn and the Vaquero/Cowboy culture. Many of the images, icons and vinacular of today's western lifestyle like rodeos, roundups, espuela (spur), la reata and the Texas longhorn were either created or made into legend in these lands.

Within the borders of Rancho Los Senderos are three cemeteries and the ruins of an old schoolhouse and other dwellings of a small ranching community called Elm City, Texas. The famous gunfighter John Wesley Hardin once lived and hid out in the small isolated community. The town is all but gone now but its graves are permanent reminders of ranching life in the 1800 and 1900's.

Perhaps the most fascinating chapter in Rancho Los Senderos history is that of its ownership. In 1836 soon after the Texas Revolution the newly formed Republic of Texas and its General Land Office granted one league and one labor of land to J.W. Fannin's wife Minerva Fannin and his surviving children as compensation and recognition for their bravery, loyalty and importance he demonstrated in the struggle for Texas freedom. Rancho Los Senderos is part of this original land grant. Since then the ranch has passed through several notable Texans like Thomas Jones and most recently a prominent resident of Nixon, Texas -- Donald R. Finch and others. Under Mr. Finch's ownership part of the ranch was named Elm Creek Ranch after one of the two creeks that flow through the property. The other part of the ranch was named Broken Oak Ranch.

Today, the ranch has been renamed Rancho Los Senderos in honor of the Spanish, Mexican and Texas men and women who have left us with the legacy of ranching and cowboy culture.

We invite you to experience our past and the people who made it. If you have the opportunity to explore Rancho Los Senderos you will undoubtedly sense and feel the rugged land and legend that made the original cowboy.