A Photo Essay by Carl H. Deal
In Scripture, gates are more than architectural elements—they are deeply symbolic of spiritual realities. They represent access points, authority, transition zones, protection, worship, and judgment. From Old Testament cities to heavenly visions in Revelation, gates appear as strategic and prophetic symbols. The gate is the symbol of a passage or transformation, it is associated with the entrance into a significant space, realm or domain, just as the bridge is associated with the aspect of transition. In modern times in ranching country—they can mean anything or nothing and just be the beauty in the eye of the beholder and an integral part of Texas land.
The Last Dollar Ranch is somewhere between Mason and Fredericksburg, if my memory serves me right. Every time I pass—which is not that often—I have to turn around, park for a bit, and gander. I bought my house from an oil man—he’d built a great wall, put high pressure pumps on his water line to pull off the city, and had a canon in his driveway he swore was from the Alamo. When he moved—that was all he took.
Ryan Ranch is near Marfa, Texas on Hwy 67 as I recall. It’s so wide open and vast – and one of my faves.
Skulls on a fence post in Tardy Canyon, in Pandale, Texas, near the Pecos River
This buck in felt could not escape his portrait because of the fence.
The orange sign says “Bitter Weed Wash Required.” Bitter Weed is an invasive, low-growing weed that has a lot of yellow flowers—which, if you are raising sheep or goats, is toxic for them and can kill your herd. Ranches that have successfully eradicated Bitter Weed don’t want their deer hunters or their dumb friends driving seeds onto their ranch—and in some places, there are roadside car washes with the sole purpose of rinsing vehicles, minimizing the risk of infestation in a region.
When girls were girls and men were men, I asked this ranching fellow once—as I pondered his many fences that went down cliffs and up steep canyon walls—“Who built all that stuff?” He looked at me like I was a complete idiot and said, “What do you think we did every day?? We’d get on our horses, go someplace, and make fences—and some days we’d only get one hole dug in this rock. And then at dark, we’d mosey on home.”
Winter ice on a gate in the Gries Ranch in Valverde County
G1 or GM Ranch gate, on the road between Marathon, home of the Historic Gage Hotel, and the more historic Big Bend National Park.
A Western-attired mannequin by a ranch gate somewhere in the vastness of Terlingua Ranch in Brewster County, Texas
A skeleton bootlegger on a tractor in Terlingua Ranch, Brewster County, between Terlingua and Alpine.
Flowers under a cattle guard, between Fredericksburg and Llano, on a ranch resort near Crabapple Creek—and if you’ve had a couple of drinks, those things can discourage people, too.
CIR Ranch Gate on the new acquisition of Enchanted Rock Park land by Texas Parks & Wildlife—some 3,600 acres added to the popular red granite park between Fredericksburg and Llano.
The Empty Pockets Ranch, between Pandale and Comstock, Texas