As a teenager Lyndon Baines Johnson spent summers helping out on his Uncle Clarence Martin's cattle ranch along the Pedernales River. Johnson's attachment to this land was strong, having been born down the road on a farm which had originally been settled by his grandfather. Young Lyndon's fond memories of family gatherings at the Martin house and his daydreams of becoming a rancher were the genesis of his desires to one day own this piece of the Texas Hill Country.
In 1951, Johnson's widowed aunt gave him that chance. In return for a lifetime right to Johnson's mother's house in Johnson City, Frank Martin gave her dilapidated 250 acre ranch to Senator Johnson. He soon began what became a continual series of improvements to the newly christened "LBJ Ranch". Not everyone was confident that Senator Johnson could become a successful rancher. When Johnson applied for a loan to purchase cattle, Percy Brigham, Blanco National Bank President reportedly told him, "Lyndon, if you want to just walk around in yellow cowboy boots and proclaim yourself a rancher, that's one thing. But if you intend to make money ranching, I hope you know something about cattle."
But Johnson applied his prodigious energy and determination to creating a showcase 2,700 acre ranch, complete with 400 head of registered Hereford cattle. At the same time, he acquired the image of a western rancher and a place to recharge his batteries. Both of these contributions from the LBJ Ranch would be invaluable as he entered the harsh spotlight of national politics.