Cliff Notes
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Camp Mystic, a prestigious summer camp in Texas, has hosted daughters of political and business elites for nearly a century, including members of the Johnson family and First Lady Laura Bush.
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The camp’s recent tragedy involved flash floods, resulting in the loss of at least 27 campers and staff members, with many remaining unaccounted for.
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The camp community, dubbed the “Mystic mafia,” is mourning the devastation, expressing sentiments of loss and the deep emotional bonds formed through years of summers spent at the camp.
Generations of Texas elite in mourning over Camp Mystic tragedy | US News
The area around the Guadalupe River is home to dozens of summer camps, but it is Camp Mystic that was long favoured by the Texas elite.
For almost a century, the daughters of senators, presidents, and oil barons would stream through the gates each summer.
“The camp has always served as a near-flawless training ground for archetypal Texas women,” wrote Texas Monthly writer Mimi Swartz in a 2011 profile.
First Lady Laura Bush was a camp counsellor there during college, while President Lyndon B Johnson sent daughters and granddaughters through the green gates.