BIG BEND
BOOKS
A Provocative Visual
Journey of
OFF-THE-GRID
Living in Far West
TEXAS
Fresno Ranch, an abandoned horse and mule
operation located in a remote stretch of the Rio
Grande River bordering Mexico, gives evidence
of a human presence spanning centuries. e
ranch saw a period of entrepreneurial mule
breeding and ranching, and ownership by Texas
artist and publishing heiress Jeanne
Norsworthy, who built an off-the-grid, hand-
constructed adobe studio on the premises.
Photographer and freelance writer E. Dan
Klepper spent seven years, off and on, living and
working at Fresno Ranch. By 2008, when the
7,000-acre property was acquired by the Texas
Parks and Wildlife Department to become part
of Big Bend Ranch State Park, the adobe studio
dwelling and its associated structures had been
sitting vacant for almost ten years - many
rugged miles from the nearest electrical power
line and municipal water system.
Between 2006 and 2013, Klepper assisted his
friend Rodrigo Trevizo, park ranger and
caretaker for the property, with the various
chores required to keep the ranch in operating
condition. e two excavated and repaired the
primary water network, cared for the livestock,
cleared brush, and maintained a small, solar-
powered electrical system. Days of 110-degree
heat, boiling water for washing and cooking,
and keeping a wary eye out for rattlesnakes
alternated with evenings spent in the flicker of
kerosene lanterns, listen