W. T. Waggoner Ranch is located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas with office headquarters in Vernon. Shareholders of the ranch reside at these two divisions. Cowboying isnt a profession, its a life, but if the Waggoner Ranch is broken up into pieces, that life will exist no more. As land was cleared for settlement, he gradually moved west and by the late 1870s settled along Beaver Creek near Electra Texas. Buster too had multiple spouses (four, to be exact), but his only heir was A. Vernon Regional Airport has a 5,100 foot long runway. Some of the wells discovered in the 1920s are still in operation. Its pastures and wheat fields, cattle and horses, mansions. Cowboys are a different breed. Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch. Bucky and Gene run the operation from offices in the W. T. Waggoner Estate Building. The Municipal Airport at Wichita Falls is served by American Eagle, and the runway is 13,100 feet long. B. Wharton III, known as Bucky. Thats the only reason anyone would want to sell.. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? Waggoner found oil while drilling for water. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. Additionally, all livestock (cattle and horses), an extremely substantial inventory of rolling stock, farm equipment, pickups, trucks, etc., and considerable other personal property are included in this offering. Things were working smoothly at that moment, but neither side believed the harmony would last. It's one of the largest ranches in the world with 825,00 acres. Currently, Waggoner Ranch offspring are excelling in multiple competitive associations, including AQHA, Stock Horse of Texas, NRHA, NRCHA and NCHA. The ranch originally operated under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son. When E. Paul drew Zacaweista instead, W.T. the estate. Judge Neely accepted this language. ACRES 825,000. Some people believe that she would never have permitted the sale of the Waggoner Ranch. These lakes were built by the Corps of Engineers as a major source of municipal and irrigation use water for Wichita Falls, area towns and nearby farming communities. Oil was a nuisance, and any good cattleman knew the value of water. I can remember the Firestones and the Beverages and the cream of New York society flying in for those matches, Don Ross Malone, a Vernon attorney and son of the former game warden for the ranch, told me. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. The Waggoner Ranch has been very well managed over time, and considering the recent four-year drought, the worst in recorded history, the ranch supports an overall good turf of native grasses. [4] It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of Sam Walton), in February 2016. But Wait, There's More A smattering of the more than 4,000 items listed on the. The ranch's wild steers, huge supply of . The Waggoner Ranch Reversed D Brand is burned on the right hip of calves, and dates back to June 11, 1849. These live creeks and their tributaries provide a desirable source of livestock water throughout the property. Each camp is equipped with a managers house, outbuildings and pens. Quanah delivered the land to the Waggoners and other cattle baronsat one time, Waggoner and son leased 650,000 acres for an annual payment of $30,000and the cattle barons made Quanah rich and famous. By 1881, his ranch had reached its modern dimensions: half a million acres sprawling over six counties the largest ranch in Texas under a single fence. A granite marker, weighing four tons, notes his grave site. Copyright 2023 Waggoner Ranch Store - All Rights Reserved. Proctor, whose daddy was a Waggoner cowboy too, went to work for the ranch in 1937, at age thirteen. and fellow cattle baron Burk Burnett sent their pet Indian to Washington, D.C., in 1905 to ride in President Theodore Roosevelts second inaugural paradeand to invite Roosevelt to go wolf hunting on the Big Pasture. No Waggoner is buried on the ranch, only this one cowboy and a few early settlers in unmarked graves. They were super, super people. Nevertheless, Smith resigned in 1997, tired of being caught in the middle of the power struggle. Employees of the Waggoner Ranch horse operation concentrate on raising horses for working ranch purposes and strive to create athletic and trainable horses that are 15-hands tall with outstanding conformation. Or you draw a line and Ill take first pick.. Its now the home of Electras grandson, Bucky Wharton, his wife, Joline, and their two children. What must be going through his mind? But the Willinghams arent talkingabout the lawsuit or anything else. When they supplied them, he fumed. W.T. I was there. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At. E. Paul was a dapper, dashing Hollywood-style cowboy, with a mustache and mischievous eyes. When full, Lake Kemp covers an area of over 16,540 surface acres and Lake Diversion covers approximately 3,420 surface acres. He went on and on about how heartbroken he was and how much he missed them, but he didnt write them. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. $720,000,000 At the time of acquisition, the ranch comprised 520,527 acres (210,650ha), or 800sqmi (2,100km2) but additional acreage was included in the sale making the total closer to 535,000 acres (217,000ha). Behind his back, other employees referred to Moore as Rasputin. The operation can breed outside mares as well as ship cooled or frozen semen. Now look at it! Choose from multiple print sizes and hundreds of frame and mat options. The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. It is the nations biggest ranch within the confines of a single fence, a spread so vast that it extends across six counties and covers more than eight hundred square miles. Cowboys ambling from the bunkhouse to the cookhouse for their five-thirty breakfast see her loping across pastures, dodging bulls and pump jacks. Electra married A.B. In addition to Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion, the ranch boasts several other large private lakes, some of which, such as Santa Rosa Lake, are reserved for the exclusive use of the families. Some of the larger main shipping pens are equipped with hydraulic chutes and scales. We were talking in Buckys office, a large corner suite on the second floor of the long, low W. T. Waggoner Estate Building just off the main highway in Vernon. Another number brand is placed on the left hip to denote the year. The W.T. [3][14][15] It was ultimately sold in February 2016 to billionaire Stan Kroenke, the husband of Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke and current owner of the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams and the Premier League's Arsenal F.C. I tried college in Vernon for a little while, but it wasnt for me. Depending upon weather and moisture conditions, the ranch has been operated with 11,000 14,000 mother cows, plus calves, bulls and replacements; however, due to the recent drought, and in order to protect the ranch, current stocking rates have been reduced to around 7,000 mother cows/calves, plus replacements and bulls. After Buckys father died, Lula [the last of Busters four wives] stripped this place. In 1877, Burk Burnett (6666 Ranch), Col. C.C. Houses back then were very dark, with low ceilings and small windows. Killen told Bucky, Take this, go back to New Mexico, and live your life. The two sides have never been able to agree on a replacement. Buster received income from his share of the estate, but he had no role in the ranch management and was happy to leave the ranching to E. Paul. The letters were typed by his secretary, Neely told me. There are several other large ponds, as well as hundreds of livestock ponds scattered throughout the property. [3] It spans six counties[3][6] and is half as large as Rhode Island. asked his children to draw cards for the three parcels. 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W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners Framed Print by Richard W Linford. The Waggoner Ranchis a historic north Texasranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. Traveling to the Four Corners line camp, where Guy Waggoners great home once stood, I tried to imagine that day in the twenties when Anne Burnett Waggoner, the fifth of Guys eight wives, decided shed had enough. [8] By 1903, he sold some of the land near China Creek to developers. A number that denotes the foal's dam is placed on the left shoulder, and the ranch's famous D brand is placed under that. He served as trustee, and his three children, Guy Waggoner, Electra Waggoner Wharton, and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors. We met in the boardroom at the Waggoner building, Roberson told me. No way I could live in the city. He means Vernon (population: 12,000). [6] Meanwhile, Electra Waggoner Biggs became a renowned sculptor. The South and Westernportionsof the ranch are within the shelf and slope regions ofthe carbonate platform where the application ofnew seismictechnology tied to solid geological models will lead to a verysuccessful venture. Waggoner Ranch livestock have access to water at both lakes. Be alert all the time and ready to go, he says in a strong, sure voice. 27 of 56 28 of 56 Cowboys on the Waggoner Ranch brand calves in the spring of 1983. Very few test wells havepenetrated the remaining 400,000 acres. There is a photograph of her in the Red River Valley Museum, near Vernon College, along with a large collection of her work: busts of Will Rogers, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Bob Hope, Knute Rockne, Amon Carter, John Nance Garner. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. They communicate by written memos, even though their offices are separated by only a few feet. They ride the trails of their forebearers, living a life and practicing skills that have almost disappeared. What does it take to be a good cowboy? I ask. Its like watching the death of a huge and magnificent animal: People cant bear to look, yet theyre powerless to turn away. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. They plied him with extravagant gifts: engraved pearl-handled revolvers, diamond stick pins, junkets to Fort Worth, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. To make the trip, Dan gave Tom $12, a group of drovers, and 50 saddle horses, all of which had sores on their backs from heavy use. SOLD. [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. Much of the ranch is covered with mesquite, cedar, and prickly pear, and when the sun softens late in the evening, the dull green of the vegetation and the deep red of the soil give the ranch the pastel serenity of a Mexican village. One of the most interesting properties at Zacaweista is the gothic stone barn where Buster Wharton bred his polo ponies. Both families are already fabulously wealthy, though the wealth is in the land rather than their pockets. The farmers probably didnt need intimidating. Yet the Waggoner Ranch has outlasted its South Texas rival in one respect: It is still under the direct control of its founding family. [10], By 1909, W.T. Originally, Dan Waggoner burned the Reversed 3Ds into the right hip, thigh or rib of his cattle; however, as the price of hides increased, it made economic sense to only use one Reversed D in order to save more of the hide. They wintered the herd that year in Clay County and the following spring drove it to market, netting a profit of $55,000. Two of the camp divisions, the Zacaweista and the Santa Rosa, are very highly improved. The family feud began the moment the old man rigged the game. The squabbling that has ensnared the ranch for almost a century began on Christmas Day of. According to a 2005 article in The Western Horseman Magazine, But another event in 1902 had a lasting impact on the Waggoner Ranch. Settling into an apartment attached to Busters former home at Zacaweista, he enrolled at Midwestern State University, in Wichita Falls, and commuted between ranch and campus, pursing a degree in business administration while learning the ins and outs of the estate. Besides receiving revenue from these house lot leases, the ranch charges a daily use fee for boating and fishing on these lakes and also controls concession rights. Busters card room, on the second floor, which was once walled in leather, now has the original wood exposed. Add to cart. Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. How could things have spun so wildly out of control? Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. This sprawling property is approximately three-fourths the size of Rhode Island. Shortly after leaving, he got his draft notice, at the height of the Vietnam War. They chose the latter. The mesquite trees that now dominate the land arrived later, their seeds transported in cow droppings as herds from South Texas passed through on their way to railheads in Kansas. Though their homesteads are only a few miles apart, the families of Bucky Wharton, the original Electras grandson, and Gene Willingham, Electra IIs son-in-law, might as well live on separate continents. The family made their main homes in the city and returned to the ranch for weekend getaways and holidays. Recently, new ownership has brought substantial investment in both equipment and design. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattleand horsesas well as for oil production. By contrast, Bucky is reserved, private, and serious about his business affairs. I worked a couple of weeks gauging wells. W.T. Thistle Hill, as Electras mansion was called, stands to this day on the crest of Summit Avenue, near downtown. Growing up, the ranch didnt seem like a big deal, Bucky told me. By the turn of the century, settlers were overrunning Indian reservations, and the open range was all but gone. The Waggoner has been owned by the same family almost as long as Texas been a state. Yesterday a helicopter herded one hundred mother cows and their calves into a trapa corner of the large pastureand soon cowboys on horseback will be stripping the calves away from their mothers, herding them into separate pens and loading them onto trucks for transportation to other parts of the ranch. The wooded river and creek courses offer exceptional cover and desirable habitat for native game. This legendary horse was named the Grand Champion Stallion at Denvers National Western Stock Show, the Fort Worth Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, and the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City. He was teaching at Will Rogers Elementary School, in Houston, where Helen Biggs was also a teacher. He owns a bank, an oil company, and a cattle company, but he is happiest when he is working outdoors or having dinner with his family. He pointed to an impenetrable thicket of mesquite and told me, Thirty years ago we cleared that pasture, all the way to Beaver Creek. They married in 1969. In the lower draws and creek bottoms, hackberry and soapberry trees are common. To make the trip, Dan gave Tom $12, a group of drovers, and 50 saddle horses, all of which had sores on their backs from heavy use. W.T. The main set of shipping pens are located along the highway at the Zacaweista Headquarters Division. The gifts were not entirely altruistic. declared a misdeal and had them draw again. In a deposition filed with the court in 2001, Bucky acknowledged: We do not meet face to face, just he and I. The sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. You get in here far enough, it just swallows you up, Hughes tells me. [6] Thirty cowboys, and about 120 people overall, are employed on the property. Historically, potable drinking water has been an issue on the Waggoner Ranch, and for that matter, on many other ranches in this area of North Texas. She was a genteel and educated woman, polished at Miss Wrights finishing school at Bryn Mawr, a person who hated the details of ranching but respected and loved the tradition. W.T. Hostile Comanches and Kiowas, plus a few foolhardy nesters trying to scratch out a living, occupied this endless stretch of grassland. In addition to land and cattle, the family owned five banks, three cottonseed mills, and a coal company. We have unique items that feature our brand. Jim Hughes, a longtime attorney for the Waggoner estate who was being groomed to become a trustee before the feud cost him the opportunity, slows down as a dozen or more wild turkeys scamper across the highway and disappear into thick stands of mesquite. For years, its two feuding clans have agreed on only one thing: They want to break up their vast eight-hundred-square-mile spread and close this chapter of Texas history. One thing you dont see on the ranch is windmills. PRIMARY USE cow-calf, feed yard, farming, horses, oil and gas, wild game hunting, birding . Waggoner's death, his three children, Guy Waggoner, E. Paul Waggoner and Electra Waggoner each inherited a section of the ranch, although there was still a Board of Trustees. Other areas show substantial regrowth, and those areas of the ranch with a dense canopy of mesquite offer exceptional protection for wildlife. He sits across the table from me in his starched jeans and freshly shined boots, ramrod straight, his hat resting in his lap, his gray hair slicked down. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. I just knew that life there was a lot different from life in Albuquerque. In 1963, when Bucky was fifteen, Buster Wharton died, leaving a will that gave his share of the Waggoner estate to his widow and his shotguns to Bucky. You can still see Busters polo fields across the road from the big house Electra had built, next to his landing strip, and the skeet- and trap-shooting range where he and his guests gunned down live pigeons. The ranch is approximately 175 miles northwest of the Dallas/Ft. In over 165 years of the Waggoner family ownership, commercial hunting has never been allowed on this expansive ranch. To sum up the great legacy of the Waggoner Horse Program, it has produced three AQHA Hall of Fame Members (one Waggoner heir and two Waggoner horses): E. Paul Waggoner, Poco Bueno and Poco Lena; it is the number one All-Time Leading Breeder of NCHA Hall of Fame Members, Poco Lena, Poco Mona, Poco Stampede and Snipper W; it is the number three All-Time Breeder of AQHA Champions; and it is the Breeder of All-Time Leading Sires, Poco Pine, Poco Tivio, Poco Dell and Poco Bob. The greatest annual precipitation occurs to the east, in Archer and Wichita Counties, at just over 29 inches per year annually. He kept the east side of the ranch, called White Face, for himself. Waggoner first settled his wife and son, William Thomas (Tom) Waggoner,qv in a home on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. A granite tombstone, set in the center of a small, neatly trimmed pasture, marks the grave of the greatest cutting horse of all time. Wharton, a Philadelphia blue blood she met while traveling in the Himalayas. Sep 1989 - Present33 years 6 months. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. Its been vacant ever since. Joe Roberson showed me how to read the books. The horse operation, known as the Whiteface Division, is a state-of-the-art training/breeding facility located in the northeastern portion of the Waggoner Ranch. Its now the residence of Gene and Helen Willingham. [13] He once played there with polo champion Cecil Smith. Another formula was used to calculate mineral rights, pipelines, cattle, horses, equipment, other assets. After Guy died, E. Paul and Buster faced the issue of what would become of his shares in the Waggoner estate. Legend has it that Electra once blew $1 million in a single day at Neiman Marcus. He ended up using it for cattle dip, and the well became Electras city dump., Near the entrance to Zacaweista, once the home of the first Electra, we stop at the grave of Poco Bueno. By that time, Ella had died, at the age of one hundred, and her successor as trustee was John Biggs, the son-in-law whom E. Paul had groomed for the job. The Waggoner Ranch is a historic north Texas ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. Some whitetail deer on the Waggoner Ranch are estimated to be of Boone and Crockett quality. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. The cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch are living legends, men who embody the attributes of the lean and dusty riders who braved the wild a century ago to make room for a herd. Subscribe Contact Us We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours. Many thousands of additional acres of native pasture are suitable for cultivation, if desired. The ranchs famous reverse triple-D brand, for example, supposedly got that way when a blacksmith inadvertently read W.T.s hand-drawn design upside down. [6] However, in 1923, he changed his mind, and set up a Massachusetts trust. Main interests of the company are ranching, oil, and approximately 26,000 acres in cultivation. Both ranches once covered more than a million acres. On the other three sides are a number of buildings constructed of identical reddish-brown stone, quarried on the eastern part of the ranch. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. Even when he was a young lad of 14, W.T. But even as board members, they were powerless to exercise any authority over the ranch, except to elect future trustees. Electra prevailed, as usual. Stretching across six North Texas counties, the Waggoner Ranch is considered to be extremely well located. Ill tell you one thing: Mrs. Biggs [Electra II] was the nicest person in the world to me, said Jimmy Lee Smith, who cowboyed at the ranch for 38 years, rising from cowpuncher to foreman and ranch manager. [6][11] E. Paul Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch. Many carry the bloodline of Poco Bueno. This is what shes good at, raising cattle. Hawley is 52 and has been at the ranch since 1972, working his way up from cowpuncher to straw boss to headquarters boss and finally to ranch manager. We always meet with our employees present, and nothing is really handled. They have quarreled over which wells to cap or abandon, over control of the corporate airplane, over the purchase of bulls and the size of cow herds. Vernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County, is located approximately 12 miles due north of the ranch. The rich and spoiled siblings nearly squandered the family fortune on wild parties, all-night poker games, trips around the world, and divorce settlements. "W. T. Waggoner Estate: Venerable, $725 million ranch about to be sold", American Quarter Horse Association: Waggoner Ranch, "You Can Now Buy a Texas Ranch That's the Size of a Small Nation, For $725 Million", "Waggoner Ranch: 1994 Best Remuda Winner", "NFL Owner Stan Kroenke Buys Texas Mega-Ranch Listed for $725 Million", "Legendary Waggoner Ranch Historical Combination of Then and Now", "Massive Waggoner Ranch, "last of the True West," is up for grabs", "Mammoth estate to be split up, auctioned", "Waggoner Ranch, among US' largest, listed for sale", "Ranch Dressing: Brokers Prep Giant Waggoner Farm for Sale", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waggoner_Ranch&oldid=1097984814, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 July 2022, at 17:07. I saw them together at a backyard wedding two years ago, but they stayed on opposite sides of the yard, Jim Hughes told me. For several years there were no further attempts to settle. They almost killed him with kindness, literally. Located about a three-hour drive north-west of Dallas, the Waggoner ranch was founded in 1849 and has remained in the family ever since. Now he lives in the bunkhouse. I never saw him on horseback except during a parade. E. Paul was a famous charmer, though his wife, Helen, perhaps saw his romanticism through more practical eyes. Bucky Wharton didnt think of the ranch as his heritage until he was in high school at Culver Military Academy, in Indiana. They are already being augmented by Kroenke Ranches' world-class commercial Angus herd. But by the 1920s, with the advent of the automobile, W.T.s attitude about oil had changed. [7] Parts of it can be seen from highways U.S. 183 In early 1963 Buster filed a lawsuit, seeking a dispensation to sell shares, but he died before the matter was litigated. The dispute seemed to highlight Bucky and Genes contrasting attitudesone loved the land, the other loved the money. WHAT WE DO: We deliver strategic, brand-driven marketing communications solutions and deploy content that truly resonates . I cant sit down, never could, he tells me.