Texas ranch sale created over 90% of Guadalupe Mountains National Park

What if a piece of land offered to the government for $237,600 had been bought then? The answer might have changed the history of the Guadalupe Mountains by decades. In 1934, Texas rancher J.C. Hunter offered 43,200 acres to the US government, hoping the spectacular mountain country could be protected. The offer went nowhere. More than three decades later, his son, J.C. Hunter Jr., sold the family land to the federal government; this time, 72,071 acres for $1.5 million. According to the National Park Service, the later acquisition accounted for more than 90% of the land that became Guadalupe Mountains National Park.When the mountains were still ranch countryThe Guadalupe Mountains were a very different place in the early 20th century. There was no national park, no network of trails and no stream of visitors arriving to explore the landscape. Much of the area was privately owned ranch land. J.C.