Breckenridge Texan

By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan

In 1836 — 190 years ago this March — fewer than 200 Texians, which is what Texans were called back then, battled as many at 2,000 Mexicans at the Alamo in their quest for Texas independence. The Texians lost the battle, but their valiant fight to the death for what they believed was right served as inspiration to those who continued to fight for — and eventually won — Texas’ independence, as well as to others around the world fighting against overwhelming odds.

Now, almost 200 years later, Stephens County is playing a role in the preservation and enhancement of the Alamo. Thanks to two local ranches, Stephens County has donated the 10th most amount of money to the Alamo Statewide Stampede, a public fundraising challenge among the 254 counties in the State of Texas to see which county could raise the most funds.

As a Stephens County ranch owner and the treasurer general of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, Kenneth Raney knew that he wanted to support the project. To help Stephens County make an impact, he also approached the MT7 Ranch, asking for a donation.

The Quail Alley Ranch, owned by Raney and his wife, Carolyn, and the MT7 Ranch, owned by Mike and Mary Terry and managed by Ty Bartoskewitz, donated a total of $51,500, placing Stephens County at Number 10 out of the 76 counties with ranches that have donated. The two Stephens County ranches will receive a recognition plaque on a life-sized commemorative cattle sculpture on the Alamo grounds, along with other donors contributing $25,000 or more to the fundraising campaign.

The Alamo Statewide Stampede project is just a part of the fundraising that is going on to support a major undertaking to renovate and restore parts of the Alamo and the surrounding grounds, explained Raney. All of the work on the Alamo is to get it ready for the Texas Bicentennial in 2036, he said.

“There’s a lot of things going on in the state right now that (my wife) Carolyn and I are involved with to lay the groundwork for that,” Raney said.

The overall Alamo plan includes three main parts, according to the Alamo website, www.thealamo.org. The three-part plan includes:

1. Preserving the 300-year-old Church, which is what most people think of as “The Alamo,” and Long Barrack, a two- story building that originally served as the quarters and offices of the Spanish missionaries.
2. Recapturing the original mission site and battlefield footprint
3. Creating a world-class visitor center and museum to tell the full history of the site

The total amount of money raised through the Stampede project ($ 2,894,426) was revealed in November at the grand opening of a new pedestrian walkway, known as the Alamo Promenade, which features statues of key Texas history figures, as well as wide walkways, native plantings, shaded seating areas, and interpretive elements designed to enrich the visitor experience and guide visitors toward the Alamo church.

“I can’t say enough about Mike and Mary (Terry) and Ty (Bartoskewitz), and I’m proud that my little old Quail Alley Ranch and MT7, together, have helped with this project,” Raney said. “This county was specifically mentioned during the Promenade opening, in front of the lieutenant governor, who was there. It was a big ceremony.”

The recognition plaques for Quail Alley Ranch and MT7 Ranch will be affixed to a slightly-larger-than-lifesize bronze statue of a Texas longhorn. The sculpture has been designed, and the organizers are still deciding on the sculptor, Raney said. The sculpture is planned to be unveiled at the opening of the Alamo Visitor Center and Museum next year.

Quail Alley Ranch

Quail Alley Ranch is owned by Kenneth and Carolyn Raney, who acquired the ranch in 1992. The cattle brand is an “R joined with a backwards K.”  The Raneys, along with their daughter, Claire Yancey and her husband, Brandon; their son, Dr. K.C. Raney, III, and his wife, Eva; and their five grandchildren, run a cow-calf operation and have a hunting camp for family and friends, just east of Sandy Creek.

Kenneth has been coming to Stephens County most of his life. “My first trip out here was my birthday weekend in 1957 on Don and Margie Compton’s property,” he said.

Carolyn Raney is the past president general of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas and is involved with the Picketville Chapter in Stephens County as an associate member.

Kenneth Raney speaks to the Stephens County Commissioners Court on Feb. 24, 2025, about installing a monument featuring the words of the letter that Lt. Col. William Barret Travis sent to Sam Houston on Feb. 24, 1836, asking for help in protecting the Alamo from the Mexican army. The commissioners approved the monument. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)

Kenneth also serves as the Stephens County Chair of the Alamo Letter Society and has been instrumental in getting a copy of the “Travis Letter” installed at the Stephens County courthouse, a project that is still in progress. The display will feature a bronze plaque featuring the words of William Barret Travis’s famous Alamo letter.

On Feb. 24, 1836, while surrounded by Mexican troops at the Alamo, Travis wrote the letter addressed “To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World,” pleading for reinforcements. Capt. Albert Martin delivered the letter to Sam Houston, who sent a few men to the Alamo, but not enough to turn the tide.

The original letter is now housed at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin, and the Alamo Letter Society is aiming to place the plaques of the letter at all 254 Texas county courthouses. On Feb. 24, 2025, the Stephens County Commissioners Court voted to approve an installation of the letter on a bronze plaque on the courthouse lawn. Earlier this month, Kenneth Raney said they are waiting on a pink granite block from Canada to mount the letter one.

MT7 Ranch

The MT7 Ranch was established by the Mike and Mary Terry family of Dallas in 2008, eight miles east of Breckenridge in Stephens County. Mike is the chief executive officer and president of M. Terry Enterprises and serves as chairman of the firm’s investment committee. In 2006, Mike and Mary founded The Mike & Mary Terry Foundation, where he serves as vice president and treasurer and she serves as secretary. Ty Bartoskewitz is the ranch manager.

Mary Terry’s great-grandfather, Col. Christopher Columbus (C.C.) Slaughter, was a prominent Texas rancher, banker and philanthropist, influenced by his father George Webb Slaughter, who served under Sam Houston as courier and chief of scouts during the campaign leading to the Battle of San Jacinto in the Texas Revolution (1835-1836). C.C. Slaughter ranched in Palo Pinto County before becoming known as the “Cattle King of Texas.”

The MT7 Ranch features the Texas State Historical Marker for Sam Bass and his Gang, installed in 2023. The ranch received the 2024 Lone Star Land Steward Award and the 2024 Leopold Conservation Award for its commitment to conservation.

Cutline, top photo: Kenneth Raney is the owner of the Quail Alley Ranch in Stephens County, as well as treasurer general of the Sons of the Republic of Texas. He was instrumental in raising funds for the Alamo Statewide Stampede fundraising project and helped to get Stephens County recognition for being one of the top ten Texas counties to raise funds for the project. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)