The Monitor from McAllen, Texas • A34

12C AUGUST 3, 2003 SUNDAY Outdoors with Richard Moore Watch RICHARD MOORE Monday and Wednesday at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at 6 a.m. on Newschannel 5 By ICHARD OORE Monitor Staff Writer ooming up from the oak and mesquite thickets of deep South Texas, the or was once headquarters to the historic Kenedy Ranch. Today, the imposing, white stucco structure with the red- tile roof serves as focal point for the Missionary Oblates. It is the centerpiece of the House of Prayer called Lebh Shomea, which means listening heart, and provides a sanctuary for spiritual renewal.

The ranch headquarters are also known as (grapevine in Spanish), and the surrounding oaks are festooned with thick vines heavy with ripening grapes. Whitetail deer and wild turkeys roam the grounds, and there are no sounds except for the buzz of cicadas and native birdsong. La Parra is approximately halfway between Corpus Christi and Brownsville. The Casa Grande commands the high ground halfway between the county seat of Kenedy County at Sarita and Baffin Bay. a part of Texas that changed much, and with a population according to the last census of only 410 people, Kenedy County is the least-populated county in the state.

Mifflin Kenedy founded the Kenedy Ranch in 1882. He chose the site as ranch headquarters because at 37 feet above sea level, it was the highest point for miles around. The high ground has proven to be a good choice, as throughout the decades the ranch has often served as an island sanctuary during coastal flooding caused by various hurricanes. The Kenedy ranch once sprawled across 500,000 acres. As you gaze out from the balcony atop the second story, nearly all the land you can see in every direction belonged to the With the passing of Sarita Kenedy East in 1961, the vast ranch was willed to the Kenedy Memorial Foundation and the Oblates.

The Kenedy Memorial Foundation, a charitable trust based in Corpus Christi, now controls the 200,000 acres surrounding the ranch headquarters, but the Big House and the immediate 1,100 acres are the property of the Oblates. The Rev. Francis Kelly Nemeck came to La Parra in 1973, and he has been managing the property for the Oblates for the past 30 years. He is tall and thin and usually wears a weathered Stetson to shade himself from the relentless sun. This man of the cloth is a perfect fit for ranch life.

His easy smile emanates from the soul of a man who has found his niche in life. loved this place from the first time I set foot here. I just fit in he said with a grin. have come to realize over the years that it is the pristine and natural quality of La Parra that is so As he talked, a doe and fawn ambled slowly by. all share this land together, the people and the wildlife This was the home and ranch of Sarita Kenedy East and two generations of Kenedys, her father and mother and then herself and her Kelly said.

died in 1961 and passed the home itself and the buildings surrounding it, the chapel, and cemeteries to the Missionary Oblates of Mary When Richard King and Mifflin Kenedy arrived in South Texas, the of was already riding the vast expanse of ranch land stretching north of Raymondville to Kingsville and west to Hebronville. The Oblate missionaries fanned out across this immense span of native grass, prickly pear cactus and scattered oak motts, spreading the word of God throughout the sparsely-settled Wild Horse Desert. King and Kenedy made their fortunes running cargo-laden steamboats up the Rio Grande to Roma, and later parlayed their wealth into land acquisitions north of the river. King established the immense King Ranch, and Kenedy pursued a similar course founding the Kenedy Pasture Company in 1882. A relic from seafaring days is the weathered bell that hangs near the back door of the house.

The Kenedys ran the bell to summon their employees and herald the arrival of guests. Today, the bell rings three times a day in the melodious cadence of the a devotional prayer dating back to the earliest centuries of Christianity. Mifflin Kenedy died in 1895, but not before he had a spacious frame house built on the high ground he had selected years before. Following death, his third son, John Gregory consolidated the Kenedy holdings, which encompassed some 500,000 acres of ranch land. The sturdy frame house was later moved by John Sr.

to make way for the Big House. It took many men and mules an entire month to gradually drag the house down the slope several hundred yards to where it now sits nestled among towering oaks and swaying Spanish moss. In 1918, he and several hundred workmen began building the Casa Grande. All the construction material was shipped by barge from Corpus Christi down the Laguna Madre to a pier on ranch property on Baffin Bay. The equipment was then hauled by oxcart five miles to the site.

The project took more than five years, but by 1923 it was substantially completed. The massive three-story mansion was built like a fortress with 18-inch thick walls to protect the occupants from marauding bandits. A gattling gun mounted in the tower atop the Casa Grande provided additional protection. If the walls were breached and the gattling gun silenced, there was a secret tunnel that would lead the Kenedys to safety. At the peak of the Kenedy ranch operations, the 10-bedroom hacienda was lavishly decorated with chandeliers, Persian rugs, four poster beds and Louis XIV furniture.

The remote ranch was self sustaining, and surrounding the Casa Grande were bunkhouses for the vaqueros, a commissary, chapel, various barns, blacksmith shop, a dairy, an icehouse and smokehouse and an artesian-well-powered turbine to generate electricity. The Rev. Jean Bretault, known affectionately by the coastal ranchers between Corpus Christi and Brownsville as Padre Juanito or Juan de la Costa (John of the coast), was a member of the famed of They were a band of Missionary Oblates who rode horseback up and down the Rio Grande and throughout the sparsely-settled coastal ranches. One of Padre regular missionary stopovers was the ranch at La Parra, and three generation of Kenedys took a special liking to the old missionary. Padre Juanito rode the range for Christ until his death on May 31, 1934, at La Lomita, near Mission.

Sarita Kenedy, granddaughter of Mifflin Kenedy and daughter of son John, married Arthur East, but they had no children. Arthur preceded Sarita in death, and when Sarita passed away she willed La Parra to the Missionary Oblates in recognition of the decades of service the Oblates spent ministering on horseback to the ranch families. Sarita Kenedy East is buried on the ranch in a picturesque family cemetery shaded by ancient oaks adjacent to the chapel that Padre Juanito dedicated in 1897. of people have come through here seeking to commune with God in silence and Rev. Kelly said.

we have more than maybe 15 or 20 people here at any given time. We keep it deliberately small to preserve the silence and solitude. This is an incredible ecosystem of which we are all a part. We are a sanctuary in both senses of the word. We are a sanctuary in the spiritual sense and also in the ecological Winding through the oaks behind the main house is a narrow sandy road leading to the cowboy cemetery.

Here there are mostly chipped and faded tombstones, many with no recognizable names, and an occasional weathered wooden cross. Among the oldest of the headstones legible is that of Fabia Rejoas (1810-1895). Most of the epitaphs are brief and in Spanish, but an exception is that of Isaac Hodges, which reads: in Macon, Ga. Died May 18, 1910, at La Parra he was just passing through, as indeed each of us Kelly said. If you are interested in visiting Lebh Shomea you may write to the Missionary Oblates at P.O.

Box 9, Sarita, TX, 78385. Monday evening at 6:30 p.m.,Richard Moore will present a special 30- minute program on NewsChannel Five.The special is titled Texas and will feature a variety of wildlife from majestic white tail deer to tropical altamira orioles. Historic Kenedy Ranch Haven for Wildlife and Worshippers South Texas Treasure Ric Morning Star Ric Morning Star Ric Morning Star Ric Morning Star The brilliant red stucco roof and the towering palms set the "Big House" apart from the ranchland of Kenedy County. The front of the home faces east to meet the prevailing southeast breezes from the Gulf of Mexico and sits on the highest portion of the Kenedy Ranch. Below, images from the Kenedy Ranch depict beautiful scenery as well as religious iconography found in and around the chapel of Lebh Shomea.

Pictured standing on the steps of is the Rev. Francis Kelly Nemeck, who has been managing the property for the last 30 years..