The Bold Brand - The Land Report But there has been no substantial rain for days now, and we kick up a trail of dark red dust as we head toward Santa Rosa, the area that E. Paul inherited and where his daughter, the second Electra, grew up. But Buckys mother was not about to give up her sons inheritance without a fight. The Waggoner Ranch was ordered liquidated. But the difference is that the cattle barons of the King Ranch led private, almost secretive lives, running their empire themselves and living on the land, while the Waggoners turned their ranch over to professionals, moved away, and pursued flamboyance. The family made their main homes in the city and returned to the ranch for weekend getaways and holidays. There are none to be seen, because there is not a drop of groundwater. 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 absence symbolizes the fate of the Guy Waggoner clan in the history of the ranch. Find a huge selection of trailers from DooLittle and SureTrac in MO. By the 1880s, the Waggoners Victorian mansion, El Castile, was the most prominent structure in Decatur. For several years there were no further attempts to settle. But W.T. This is a robust and versatile multi-faceted operation like none other available on the market today. He went on and on about how heartbroken he was and how much he missed them, but he didnt write them. The other wants to sell the ranch and divide the assets. 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. W.T. Numerous food plots are located adjacent to these protected creek bottom areas, and these food plots serve as a magnet for wildlife. The dam was right on the dividing line. Electra married A.B. . PRIMARY USE cow-calf, feed yard, farming, horses, oil and gas, wild game hunting, birding . It would be Helens husband, Gene Willingham, who would one day become Bucky Whartons main opponent in the struggle over the Waggoner Ranch. Deal of the Century: Waggoner Ranch - The Land Report He was a nineteen-year-old Army sergeant at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, when he learned that the lawsuits had been resolved and that he was heir to 50 percent of the W. T. Waggoner estate. All framed prints are professionally printed, framed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. Busters card room, on the second floor, which was once walled in leather, now has the original wood exposed. The little village of Lockett, where the descendants of those settlers now live, is wet in another way: It is the nearest spot where citizens of Vernon can buy beer and liquor. 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. Three pivot sprinkler systems are used to distribute irrigation water to three large fields on the ranch. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. had said, I want to run the most cattle, breed the best horses and work harder than anyone. When he was 17, his dad made him a full partner. A municipal waterline from nearby Seymour serves some of the homes located at Lake Kemp. 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. declared a misdeal and had them draw again. Most sets of pens are capable of handling several thousand head of cattle at one time. 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. The W.T. has created a haven for deer, turkey, quail, dove, waterfowl and feral hogs. I got two dollars a match. Cecil Smith, the world-famous ten-goal player, rode with Busters Waggoner Ranch team. TSHA | Waggoner Ranch - Handbook Of Texas [6] Thirty cowboys, and about 120 people overall, are employed on the property. Bucky wanted the ranch to be divided, not liquidated. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? began courting Quanah Parker, the Comanche chief, with their eyes on the Big Pasture, a huge block of Indian land just across the Red River in what would eventually become Oklahoma. They were super, super people. Nevertheless, Smith resigned in 1997, tired of being caught in the middle of the power struggle. $725 million Waggoner Ranch in Texas finds lender for - Chron By the late fifties, forces were marshalling to ensure total control for E. Paul and his heirs. Wichita Falls, the county seat of Wichita County, is approximately 20 miles east of the eastern boundary of the ranch. You get in here far enough, it just swallows you up, Hughes tells me. We farm approximately 25,000 that we use to graze cattle and raise crops for sale and internal use. Its a perfect October morning, cool and crisp, and the ranch spreads out in every direction, 25 miles north to south, 30 miles east to west. Both lakes offer good fishing, boating, and water skiing, and the Waggoner Ranch leases out approximately 500 privately-owned housing sites surrounding these two lakes. 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. One closet was filled with fur coats, another with 350 pairs of shoes, and yet a third with the latest gowns from Paris and New Yorkand she was said never to wear one more than once. When full, Lake Kemp covers an area of over 16,540 surface acres and Lake Diversion covers approximately 3,420 surface acres. [6] Electra Waggoner mostly resided at Thistle Hill in Fort Worth, although her husband, Albert Buck Wharton, operated a livery yard and horse stables on the ranch. At that time, Gene wanted to sell leases to hunters and Bucky didnt. As Parker biographer Bill Neeley has noted, ethics and morality played no part of this business arrangement. In total, the ranch spans nearly 800 square miles. Our cattle herd consists of approximately 10,000 mother cows comprised of 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford cross. Who was going to be responsible for it? A good cowboy does what the foreman tells him and waits for his paycheck and for the sun to go down., Now the sun is going down on the Waggoner Ranch, perhaps forever. An enormous picture window with a panoramic view of the ranch replaced the porthole-size window of 1910. I worked for six months with various people in the oil and the ranching divisions, he told me. In his entire life, he never drew a paycheck from anyone but the Waggoners. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. But Wait, There's More A smattering of the more than 4,000 items listed on the. The three smaller, 85,000-acre parcelsZacaweista, Four Corners, and Santa Rosawere gifts to his three children, Electra, Guy, and E. Paul. The squabbling that has ensnared the ranch for almost a century began on Christmas Day of that year, when W.T. Photographs of his wife and children occupied a bookshelf beside four footballs labeled Coach Bucky Whartongifts from former University of Texas coach David McWilliams, whod invited Wharton to join him on the sidelines at several UT games. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. They say he was as mad as a nest of hornets. 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. Beaver Creek feeds Santa Rosa Lake, and the Wichita River feeds Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion. The Waggoner is one of the 20 largest cattle ranches in the U.S. and is known worldwide for its quarter horses. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas with office headquarters in Vernon. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Vista Caliente - Signed Print by Woodrow M. Blagg - Cowboys - Waggoner Ranch at the best online prices at eBay! [9] In 1902, W.T. Killen told Bucky, Take this, go back to New Mexico, and live your life. The cowboys are already waiting on horseback just outside the loading pens, cutting up like schoolboys awaiting the bell for recess. In 1923, W. T. formed what is known today as the W. T. Waggoner Estate. Bucky looks more like a Little League coach than a cattle baron. 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. Waggoner Ranch cattle have been 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford. Patel Brothers - largest Indian American supermarket chain. The color of this ground is the color of the ranch, Bucky told me as we bumped over the maze of rutted roads, he driving his Toyota Land Cruiser and talking nonstop and I jumping out to open gates. Apparently they just agreed to continue to disagree. Its a constant battle. Over these past three decades, Bucky has absorbed every inch of this ranch and most of its colorful history. Its a weird deal. Bernard Uechtritz of Briggs-Freeman Sothebys International Realty in Dallas, and Sam Middleton, of Chas. List of supermarket chains in the United States - Wikipedia He usually dresses in jeans, a polo shirt, and cowboy boots; in the three times I was with him, he never wore a hat or tried to act like a cowboy. As land was cleared for settlement, he gradually moved west and by the late 1870s settled along Beaver Creek near Electra Texas. Enlow is an advertising, media and fine arts photographer based in Fort Worth. At one dinner party, two Texans pulled six-guns from their dinner jackets and shot up the ceiling. While the last of the calves are being loaded onto the trucks, I talk to a 22-year-old cowboy named Shane Bone, a handsome young man in dusty brown chaps and a well-used cowboy hat. Thats the case that has been snaking through Judge Tom Neelys Forty-sixth District Court, in Wilbarger County, for these past twelve years. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. The W.T. Since his retirement, in 1991, Proctor has lived in Vernon, raising a few cows and tending his yard. Residents of Waggoner Ranch told to vacate property by Rams - Chron It may be many years before a similar ranch of this magnitude becomes available, if ever. Waggoner Ranch is a working one, with 20 cowboy camps scattered throughout the property to house the more than 120 workers. Quanah saw his alliance with the Waggoners and other cattle barons as a way to better the lives of his peopleand his own to boot. Perhaps they are afraid of ghosts. At midnight, March 31, 2003, the clock ran out on the W. T. Waggoner trust. Two years after Prathers resignation, Bucky gave notice of termination of the trust in a letter to Electra IIs family. They were mailed while she was socializing in New York with her daughter, named after E. Pauls sister, Electra, and known as Electra II. This well-renowned offering includes the 510,527 contiguous acres, together with all permanent improvements, approximately 41.67% of the mineral estate, all water rights, and all wind generation royalty rights. With the trust on the verge of expiring, Bucky and Electra II agreed to extend it until March 31, 2003. [11] Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. His daddy worked this ranch for fifteen years, and Shane grew up on Cowboy Row. He offered to pay Buckys attorney fees and pitch in an extra one million. As the sun begins to crawl over the horizon, Hawley marvels at the endless prairie. It was a crash course, but I learned more in those six months than Id learned my whole life. In 1975 he married Joline, a young woman he had met in Albuquerque seven years earlier. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. 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. They still talk here of Paul Whitley, an unmarried cowboy who in 1950 rode his horse to Cedar Top, the most remote camp on the ranch, and lived alone in a primitive cabin until his final illness, in 2002. Guy had a weakness for the ladies; he once skipped town with the lead actress from a traveling burlesque show. Waggoner Ranch - AQHA - American Quarter Horse Association Several small on-site water wells are also located in this large block of farmland. After Biggs fell ill with cancer in the early seventies, Moore was essentially running things, and the boardwhich then consisted of Electra II and Buckyappointed him trustee after Biggs died, in 1975. Choose from multiple print sizes and hundreds of frame and mat options. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. They work six and sometimes seven days a week, from daylight until the job is done, often late at night. (Tom) Waggoner had a good eye for quality horse flesh and developed a herd of broodmares to produce working ranch geldings for his cowboys. The Texanist: Why Dont Texas Houses Have Basements? Home | Mid America | Utility Flatbed Trailers in St Louis MO and Dump The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. Her best-known work is the statue of Will Rogers on horseback at the entrance to the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, in Fort Worth. Mammoth estate to be split up, auctioned - Chron But selling the ranchor, worse still, permitting the court to liquidate itwould cost both sides dearly in taxes and prestige. Moreover, a sale would be taxed and so would the distribution of the money. Reply Anonymous February 3, 2013 at 8:00 PM Some whitetail deer on the Waggoner Ranch are estimated to be of Boone and Crockett quality. Currently, Waggoner Ranch offspring are excelling in multiple competitive associations, including AQHA, Stock Horse of Texas, NRHA, NRCHA and NCHA. From the highway, its pastures seem timeless and impregnable. Dan took advantage of this great opportunity. The ranch includes thousands of cattle, hundreds of horses and oil wells, and 30,000 acres of. The headquarters at Zacaweista is a small, self-contained village built around a park that the cowboys call the square. In its center lies the grave of Tony Hazelwood, a legendary Waggoner cowboy and longtime foreman, who died in 1965. A granite marker, weighing four tons, notes his grave site. Thats what folks in Vernon, Electra, Seymour, and other towns near the Waggoner Ranch are asking as they watch one of Texass greatest ranching empires teeter on the brink of disintegration. Buckys home sits on one side of the square. I was there. Some of these were bred strictly for ranch work, and others for the show arena, but they all had one thing in common, they were cow horses., Poco Bueno was foaled in 1944 and was purchased by E. Paul Waggoner in 1945. Now available for sale on the open market, the Waggoner Ranch represents a singular opportunity so rare, it only comes along every 165 years or so. One thing you dont see on the ranch is windmills. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. Currently, the ranch has a water well lease on a nearby offsite well, which furnishes livestock water through an extensive waterline network to the large block of farmland located on the northwest side of the ranch, and also to the main ranch headquarters. Texas Purple Hull Pea Festival Is More Than an Event. She finally pulled up in front of the Vernon drugstore, pieces of gate and fence hanging off the car, Bucky tells me. The wooded river and creek courses offer exceptional cover and desirable habitat for native game. To Buckys surprise, the Biggs family responded by filing suit, asking the court to liquidate the estate. Dan died in 1903, leaving everything to Tom. asked his children to draw cards for the three parcels. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. [13] He once played there with polo champion Cecil Smith. Numerous large, functional and well designed sets of shipping and working pens are scattered throughout the ranch. I worked a couple of weeks gauging wells. [6], The ranch was originally established in 1852 near Vernon, Texas, by Daniel Waggoner under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son; his son being William Thomas Waggoner, who was an infant at the time. In the lower draws and creek bottoms, hackberry and soapberry trees are common. The Waggoner Ranch was founded by a man named Dan Waggoner around 1854 when he and his son relocated to a 160-acre farm in Wise County, TX, after the untimely passing of Dan's wife Nancy in 1853. Some people believe that she would never have permitted the sale of the Waggoner Ranch. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. When my wife got sick with cancer, Gene and Buck got the company plane to fly her to M. D. Anderson. Oil production soon followed. Poco Bueno sired 36 AQHA Champions, and many of his offspring have excelled in all the different disciplines of modern day horse events. W.T. [8] Although it still spans six counties, it is primarily centered on Wichita County and Wilbarger County. The settlers, most of them German or Czech, moved north of Paradise Creek, which runs just beyond the present northern boundary of the ranch. (and future trustees) would have the sole right to make all management decisions. All-night parties that started at Shadowlawn sometimes ended up on the ranch, after a trip by private railroad car, so that Eastern dandies could be treated to the sights of cowboys branding and castrating calves. But we are so far from the lights of townany townthat half an hour before daylight its still pitch black. Our ranching operation includes, cattle, horses and the farm. The bidding period on the ranch, going for $725 million, ended Oct. 20 with about six serious potential buyers. On a Dan Waggonerfinanced trip to Fort Worth, Chief Yellow Bear was asphyxiated and Quanah nearly was when the Indians blew out the gas lamp in their hotel room before retiring. Vernon Regional Airport has a 5,100 foot long runway. $720,000,000 It may be hard to truly comprehend the sheer vastness of the Waggoner Ranch. . This is the job I set my sights on, he says. Bucky and Gene and their lawyers were there. 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Roosevelt remembered later: We broke into a lope a mile outside the limits, and by the time we struck the main street, the horses were on a run and we tore down like a whirlwind until we reached the train.. Disgusted, he continued drilling for water. This is a diverse operation consisting of cattle, horses, farming, oil, recreational lakes and wildlife. He kept the east side of the ranch, called White Face, for himself. Waggoner Ranch - AQHA - American Quarter Horse Association Horses like Waggoners Rainy Day, Midnight, One Eyed Waggoner, Yellow Wolf, Yellow Jacket, Pretty Boy, Pretty Buck, Snipper W, Pep Up, Jesse James and of course Poco Bueno still appear in the pedigrees of many great horses today. discovered oil while trying to drill for water, Hughes tells me. [6], After W.T. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. According to a 2005 article in The Western Horseman Magazine, But another event in 1902 had a lasting impact on the Waggoner Ranch. B. And so they were, for a hundred years and more. The Waggoner Ranch Reversed D Brand is burned on the right hip of calves, and dates back to June 11, 1849. A portion of this acreage is seeded to very productive Coastal Bermuda. A granite tombstone, set in the center of a small, neatly trimmed pasture, marks the grave of the greatest cutting horse of all time. We would love to have our customers come by and see us and see our newly remodeled store. 510,527.00 Waggoner Ranch is now officially, for the first time ever in its history, offered for sale on the international marketplace. 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. reclaimed all land and assets in 1923 and placed them in a so-called Massachusetts trust, a draconian arrangement in which he, as the trustee, controlled everything, including one of the biggest shallow oil fields in the world. He was the first quarter horse ever to be insured for $100,000. As their cattle business grew, the ranch needed more grazing land, especially as barbed wire began to close in the open range. This treated water is used for human consumption to serve the substantial headquarter improvements. What must be going through his mind? But the Willinghams arent talkingabout the lawsuit or anything else. This rare phenomenon. (Tom) Waggoner was heard to say, There I was with more t, han 5,000 big, wild steers, 50 sore-backed horses, $12 and 16 years of my life.. a full partner, gave him $12, a group of drovers, and fifty hard-used saddle horses, and sent him to Abilene, Kansas, with a herd of five thousand steers. Brokers: Sale of Waggoner ranch looks hopeful as bidding ends - Chron Two of the camp divisions, the Zacaweista and the Santa Rosa, are very highly improved. Another formula was used to calculate mineral rights, pipelines, cattle, horses, equipment, other assets. hoped that his kids would learn to ranch and develop a sense of responsibility. Cowboys are a different breed. I guess you could say its traumatic, but in two or three days the calves will forget they ever had mamas, Weldon Hawley says in response to my city-boy question. [6] It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. After Guy died, E. Paul and Buster faced the issue of what would become of his shares in the Waggoner estate. He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. Dan Waggoner, who was born in Tennessee in 1828, moved to Texas with his family in the mid-1840s. Now he lives in the bunkhouse. Ranches, Farms and Land forsale in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas.

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