W. H. (Uncle Billy) Gibbons

(1846-1932) In the 1870s Irish-born William Henry Gibbons drove 1500 sheep into San Saba County. After a time "Uncle Billy" became one of the largest landowners in the county, a prominent banker, and a community leader. In 1930 he gave the Boy Scouts of America a 99-year lease to campgrounds along Brady Creek on his ranch. Gibbons' son James Edward inherited Camp Billy Gibbons land in 1932 and continued the agreement with the newly organized Comanche Trail Council. In 1947 the camp moved to this 103-acre site donated by "Uncle Billy's" son John William Gibbons. (1979)