JIM “PAPPY” MOORE: Wimberley’s Gumbert Ranch

By Jim “Pappy” Moore

It was the kind of message you never want to get: “Jim, Dorothy Gumbert passed away.” A friend who lives in Wimberley knew I had gone to Gumbert Ranch many times, where I met Dorothy and Eddie Gumbert about this time of year in 1979.

Fall of 1979 I was working like a mad man. I always worked like a mad man because that’s who I am. Two years out of law school and I was working like it was my only concern. Getting up early, working all day, working into the night, putting in sixteen-hour days was my norm. 

A friend who thought I ought to take a break told me about the Gumbert Ranch. It was a true get-away, like nothing you see in these times. There was no telephone in the houses for rental on the Gumbert Ranch. There were no televisions, no radios. It was you, the house or the cabin, nature, and the Gumbert Ranch.

Eddie and Dorothy were present, but not “around.” They gave you privacy, and respected your setting your own day. Dorothy would ride the grounds on her horse. She had a distinctive saddle, which was higher than most saddles. My girlfriend was a horsewoman of some fame, a trainer and rider who had ridden the best of them. She and Dorothy immediately found common ground.

There were all sorts of animals at Gumbert Ranch. Horses, of course, but all sorts of other animals, including cows and peacocks. It was all in its natural state. No large green, manicured areas. It looked and felt like being out on a ranch, far from town, but it was just around the corner from Wimberley’s business district. 

The Gumbert Ranch sat upstream from downtown Wimberley, with Cypress Creek flowing through the place, with a wonderful swimming hole which sat down the hill from the Gumbert house. There was a small waterfall which trickled the clear, cold water constantly. It fed into the swimming hole, which was large enough to have its own canoe. We could swim in the swimming hole. We could canoe in the canoe. We could swing on the swinging rope and drop into the water hole. It was the kind fun play in nature people dream about. 

It was fairly isolated, and we had our privacy. Eddie and Dorothy were great hosts. Not intrusive at all. They let you decide what you wanted to do there. 

I needed that first trip, and knew immediately it would lead to many more. My girlfriend and I got married the next year, and late the year after that we had our son. He would travel with us to the Gumbert Ranch many times throughout his childhood and into the 1990s. The Gumbert Ranch was the safe haven away from phones, away from television, a place devoted entirely to being with and enjoying the company of loved ones.

I remember their smiles. I remember their welcoming way. I remember Eddie and Dorothy Gumbert, and the heavenly place they called The Gumbert Ranch. I wish I had the ability to tell them now, but I have a lot of faith. I think they might just know.

Copyright 2024, Jim “Pappy” Moore. All rights reserved.