Rebirth of Chandler Ranch
by Jeremy Gonzalez
I
spend most of my days sitting in a
swivel chair, resting my elbows on
my desk while I am typing up sto-
ries for the Fort Stockton Pioneer. When
the office phone rings I never know
what great opportunities are awaiting
me on the other end of the line.
It was a typical Wednesday morn-
ing when I got a special phone call
from a nice guy named Joe A.
Chandler. The Pioneer was going to
press for its March 10th issue and he
was telling me all about the “rebirth”
of a place called Chandler Ranch. My
ears perked up when he mentioned
that the ranch has some of the purest
water in Texas flowing through it. I
accumulated a good pile of pink post-it
notes as I jotted down the details he
shared.
Charlie Chandler arrived in Texas
12
at the end of the 19th century. He
married Minerva O’Bryant in 1903
and soon started ranching. In 1912
Charlie’s son Joe was born. Joe’s
grandson, also named Joe, is the pres-
ent owner.
In 1920 Charlie Chandler acquired
a state permit to divert water from
“public resources.” He became a
farmer that raised grain, sugar cane,
watermelons and the first and only cot-
ton ever grown in the county. In the
‘40s and ‘50s he divided his ranch
among his children, leaving Joe and his
wife Mildred with the guest ranch area
that visitors can explore today. On that
land Joe built the swimming pool,
game room and cabin, and he cleared
campgrounds along the creek and
river.
The Chandler legacy began back in
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2016
the early ‘50s, and in 1954 a handful of
guest ranch facilities faced destruction
from a historic flood. With hard work
and extensive repairs, the ranch man-
aged to recover and flourish as a pop-
ular West Texas destination from the
‘60s all the way to the ‘80s. It was well-
known for its nine-hole golf course,
and the ranch adopted a fun logo of a
fish with sunglasses holding a golf club
in its fin.
Unfortunately, the ranch gradually
fell off the radar as a popular destina-
tion. Age and health problems led Joe
and Mildred Chandler to close the
ranch to guests. The guest ranch
remained closed to the public, and for
years it was only used for private hunt-
ing leases through permission of the
Chandlers’ daughters, Charlena and
JoBeth.
Grandson and fourth-generation
Chandler Joe A. didn’t want to see his
family’s guest ranch disappear. He
began the work of its restoration in
2014 and has reopened Chandler
Ranch to guests. Joe says, “The new
wild is where people and nature thrive
together.” By the end of our conversa-
tion my coffee mug was empty, my
notes were gathered, and I took off on
my lunch break with a screwy “Ace
Ventura” type of smile on my face. I
couldn’t contain my excitement. My
publisher was all for it. I immediately
called my wife and said, “Babe, start
packing a suitcase. We’re taking a trip
to Chandler Ranch.”
Our journey was a scenic and easy
two-hour drive from Fort Stockton to
the secluded guest ranch in Dryden,
Texas. The approach to the guest