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Two for the Price of One - Texas Governor Series LbNA #29868

Owner:Boots Tex
Plant date:Apr 3, 2007
Location:
City:Austin
County:Travis
State:Texas
Boxes:1
Found by: Rory Alice
Last found:Apr 20, 2018
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFaFFF
Last edited:Apr 3, 2007
Mirium Amanda (Ma) Ferguson was the twenty-ninth and the thirty-second governor of Texas. She was also the first woman governor of Texas, born in Bell County. She attended Salado College and Baylor Female College at Belton. In 1899, at the age of twenty-four, she married James Edward Ferguson, also of Bell County. Mrs. Ferguson served as the first lady of Texas during the gubernatorial terms of her husband (1915-17), who was impeached during his second administration. When James Ferguson failed to get his name on the ballot in 1924, Miriam entered the race for the Texas governorship. Before announcing for office, she had devoted her energies almost exclusively to her husband and two daughters. This fact, and the combination of her first and middle initials, led her supporters to call her "Ma" Ferguson. She quickly assured Texans that if elected she would follow the advice of her husband and that Texas thus would gain "Two Governors for the price of one." Her campaign sought vindication for the Ferguson name, promised extensive cuts in state appropriations, condemned the Ku Klux Klan, and opposed passing new liquor legislation. After trailing the Klan-supported prohibitionist candidate, Felix D. Robertson, in the July primary, she easily defeated him in the August run-off to become the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. In November 1924 she handily defeated the Republican nominee, George C. Butte, a former dean of the University of Texas law school. Inaugurated fifteen days after Wyoming's Nellie Ross, Miriam Ferguson became the second woman governor in United States history. She served a second term a in 1932 when her husband again failed to get his name on the ballot.

Getting there:
From MoPac in Austin, take the Lake Austin Blvd. exit and head west. Drive past UT Married Student Housing and the Lions Municipal Golf Course. Turn left onto Redbud Trail and then turn left into the parking lot once on the island. Red Bud Isle sits just south of Tom Miller Dam, where Lake Austin ends and Town Lake begins. The small island features a short hiking trail that circles the island and several spots along the way that extend right out to the water. These small coves are ideal for fishing, taking the dog down for a dip in the water (the entire park is off-leash), or even letterboxing.

To the box:
From the parking area, with your back to the street you came in on, take the trail to your right. When you get to the trail junction, go left (this is the main loop) and walk 40 steps. Look to the left for a social trail to a large boulder about 15 steps off the main trail. The box is under the boulder on the right near side, covered by a rock and leaves.

Look for Lone Star Quilter’s letterbox “Pinwheel—Quilt Block Series” in this park.