The story of Legacy Acres Ranch begins in 1938 in Ville Platte, Louisiana, where Jesse James Thomas, a man of faith, vision, and grit, was born to Linton Thomas, Sr. and Waverly Poullard-Thomas. His upbringing in rural Louisiana was a rather simple country life where he was taught the values of family, faith, and hard work from a very early age. As the eldest of eight, he was tasked early on to help provide for the family and with only an 8th grade education, Jesse left school and entered the workforce full time. Initially working odd jobs wherever he could get on, he eventually settled into a 45 year career as an Over The Road Truck Driver, hauling iron and steel for Chicago Bridge & Iron. He would later enter entrepreneurship, operating 2 big rigs, 3 dump trucks and 2 flatbed trailers under his own authority.

In 1994 purchased a small five-acre tract of land with a dream — to create a safe and welcoming place for the community to ride, grow, and connect. Initially calling his ranch the J. Bar Ranch, with his own two hands, and the help of his brother Michael, Jesse built 18 horse stalls from the ground up, turning bare land into a living, breathing ranch. Families from all over began to stable their horses, share meals, and find peace beneath the open Texas sky.

Seeing the need for more space, Jesse soon leased the neighboring 16 acres from Houston Lighting & Power Company, now known as Centerpoint Energy, transforming the back pastures into open grazing fields where horses could roam freely.

What started as one man’s dream has become a generational legacy — rooted in faith, community, and the enduring spirit of the Black Cowboy.

Today, Jesse’s descendants carry that torch forward through Legacy Acres Ranch and the Jesse James Trail, honoring the land, the horses, our ancestors and God who made it all possible.