He served as trustee, and his three children, Guy Waggoner, Electra Waggoner Wharton, and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors. Electra married A.B. The party bagged seventeen wolves (some of which were really coyotes), and the president beat a five-foot rattlesnake to death with his quirt. 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. After the first freeze, 120,000 geese will land on Santa Rosa Lake and feast on winter wheat fields. It doesnt seem real to even think about it, he says. 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. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. $ 58.00. One side wants the ranch divided equally but otherwise left intact. In fact, when this ranch was first established, Abe Lincoln was in Congress, California was petitioning to join the U.S. as a free state, and neighboring Oklahoma was Indian Territory. Skyfood Supermarket (six locations in New York) - Asian Oriental Supermarket. I tried college in Vernon for a little while, but it wasnt for me. The United States Department of Agriculture, as part of a conservation project, had surveyed every foot of ground on the ranch, and Roberson fed this information into a database. Heath Ownbey. Buster too had multiple spouses (four, to be exact), but his only heir was A. Waggoner Estate Ranch and related assets are now, for the first time ever, being offered for sale at a guideline listed price of $725,000,000. Brokers: Sale of Waggoner ranch looks hopeful as bidding ends - Chron [4] It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of Sam Walton), in February 2016. The rich and spoiled siblings nearly squandered the family fortune on wild parties, all-night poker games, trips around the world, and divorce settlements. 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. [2][3] It was originally established in 1852 near Vernon, Texas, by Daniel Waggoner under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son; his son being William Thomas Waggoner. 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. What he got was just the opposite. She was strikingly pretty, with a long, sensitive face and dark, sparkling eyes. Its a trade that suits only a select few for whom the life satisfies rather than restricts. For more than a century the520,000-acre Waggoner Ranch has been an inseparable part of the culture and fabric of the Red River country west of Wichita Fallsand of Texas itself. The majority of the ranch is in native pasture, supporting a mixed variety of palatable native grasses. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. Copyright 2023 Waggoner Ranch Store - All Rights Reserved. Concerned about the future of the ranch, W.T. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. The King Ranch, based in south Texas, has more acreage spread over several parcels. We invite you to browse through our store and shop with confidence. 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. [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 every opportunity, Dan Waggoner purchased land. . St Louis, Missouri, United States. The Waggoner Ranch: The Largest Acreage in America Under One Fence [8], After the death of Daniel Waggoner in 1902, his son W.T. In later years, W.T. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners My dockets not that crowded, he said. She joined him in the apartment, and they set to work remodeling the Zacaweista mansion, which had sat vacant for nearly a dozen years. I worked for six months with various people in the oil and the ranching divisions, he told me. Today, Waggoner descendants still reside at the ranch in two main compounds: Albert B. Wharton, III lives at the Zacaweista (Indian term for good grass) Headquarters and Helen Biggs Willingham and her husband Gene live at the Santa Rosa Headquarters. When Judge Tom Neely, who is in charge of the current lawsuit to break up the ranch, was a young attorney in a previous round of Waggoner lawsuits during the sixties, he and other lawyers found some of E. Pauls letters to Helen. Poco Bueno died in 1969 and was buried in a standing position in front of the main ranch entrance. 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. The property is divided into approximately 16 camp or division units. He built the newlyweds an eighteen-room mansion in Fort Worth, where he later built a twenty-story office building as the base for his empire. Land Broker and Land Appraisalfirm established in 1920. The squabbling that has ensnared the ranch for almost a century began on Christmas Day of that year, when W.T. Oil production soon followed. We opened it up. Today the home is bright and welcoming. The Waggoner (Three D) Ranch had its beginnings in the early 1850s when Daniel Waggoner, his son W. T. (Tom), and a fifteen-year-old Black slave trailed 242 cattle and six horses into Wise County. Approximately 160,000 acres of the 560,000 acres areproven prolific oilproperties. All canvas prints are professionally printed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. Free shipping for many products! Houses back then were very dark, with low ceilings and small windows. The Waggoner Ranch, 550,000 acres extending into six counties, a realm steeped in Texas history, teeters on the brink of liquidation. I ask him what he thinks of the family feud that threatens to end the way of life that he knew. By the time he was 27, Tom had full reins of the Waggoner cattle empire.. His most arresting feature is his green eyes, which are reminiscent of the luminous eyes that made his grandmother, the original Electra, such a commanding figure. The Waggoner Ranch is a historic north Texas ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. Some area ranches have rural water systems available, but still principally rely on creeks and ponds as their major water source. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. The horses are bred for working ranch purposes,and many still carry the bloodline of the famous quarter horse, Poco Bueno; Decendants of the Waggoner family sold the ranch to Kroenke-Ranches of Bozeman, MT in 2016. While drilling for water, W.T. One thing you dont see on the ranch is windmills. Both ranches once covered more than a million acres. One of the striking sights as you leave the ranch is the sudden appearance of enormous green fields of cotton, wheat, and alfalfa. 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. King Ranch. On each of those transactions, Kroenke had relied on Leadbetter's counsel and the insights of Sam Connolly, general manager of Kroenke Ranches. Today, the ranch boasts 7 stallions and over 90 broodmares containing bloodlines of Poco Bueno, High Brow Cat, Peppy San Badger, Top Sail Cody, Smart Chic Olena, and Wimpys Little Step. In 1877, Burk Burnett (6666 Ranch), Col. C.C. So it was the King Ranch whose legend was set down for posterity by the distinguished Texas author Tom Lea, while the Waggoners escapades were left to be recorded by the English author John Bainbridgea few passages in his 1960 book called The Super-Americans, about the excesses of Texass oil millionaires. We have unique items that feature our brand. What must be going through his mind? But the Willinghams arent talkingabout the lawsuit or anything else. In the late sixties Bucky attended the University of the Americas, in Mexico City. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. 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. Nearby Vernon, which serves as the famed headquarters for the ranch operations office complex, receives an average of 28 inches per year. Some people dont see it, but shes beautiful. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattleand horsesas well as for oil production. It may be many years before a similar ranch of this magnitude becomes available, if ever. 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. Apparently they just agreed to continue to disagree. Yet the Waggoner Ranch has outlasted its South Texas rival in one respect: It is still under the direct control of its founding family. Some of the wells discovered in the 1920s are still in operation. The sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. Residents of Waggoner Ranch told to vacate property by Rams - Chron These live creeks and their tributaries provide a desirable source of livestock water throughout the property. She took everythingthe furniture, even the light fixtures. Handsome and trim, Joline once competed in the New York and Paris marathons and still gets up before first light to run. Vernon Regional Airport has a 5,100 foot long runway. Thats the only reason anyone would want to sell.. 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. The W. T. Waggoner Estate is the nation's largest ranch under one fence. Salt cedar is found along creek and river courses, and cedar is moderate to dense in the rougher, eroded areas of the ranch. Northwest Texas was open range in the 1850s, when Dan Waggoner and his fifteen-year-old black slave trailed 242 Longhorn cattle and 6 horses to Wise County. Gene has told people that the ranch would sell in no time, the whole 520,000 acres. By the turn of the century, settlers were overrunning Indian reservations, and the open range was all but gone. Disgusted, he continued drilling for water. As their cattle business grew, the ranch needed more grazing land, especially as barbed wire began to close in the open range. 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. Quietly and efficiently, Moore began to purge anyone friendly to the Wharton half of the trust: Jim Hughes, who most people had believed would succeed Biggs as trustee; Joe Roberson, the auditor who was being groomed as comptroller; Bill McBroom, the head of the oil division; and Ross Malone, the game warden. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. All together, as one may imagine, with this many contiguous acres, there is an immense variety of land types on the Waggoner. They buried him standing up, Hughes informs me. and 283. Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch, including Poco Bueno, who was buried on the ranch. List of supermarket chains in the United States - Wikipedia The only time we dont work, Hawley tells me, is when its raining and lightning, or when its very hot. The ranch has perfected water right permits to pump approximately 3,893 acre feet of water annually, which is used to irrigate farmland and water the grounds around major headquarter improvements. The Texanist: Why Dont Texas Houses Have Basements? You get in here far enough, it just swallows you up, Hughes tells me. We try not to put stress on the livestock.. [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. Dan and W.T. has created a haven for deer, turkey, quail, dove, waterfowl and feral hogs. The main set of shipping pens are located along the highway at the Zacaweista Headquarters Division. TSHA | Waggoner Ranch - Handbook Of Texas Moreover, a sale would be taxed and so would the distribution of the money. The ranch is fenced and crossfenced, with an estimated several thousand miles of ranch roads and ranch fencing. [5], The ranch is located west of Wichita Falls, Texas, south of Vernon, near the Red River. 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. Lake Kemp, a popular North Texas fishing and recreational site, is located approximately 40 miles west of Wichita Falls in Cara Blanca Park, the recreational park surrounding the lake. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. asked his children to draw cards for the three parcels. Bucky and Gene and their lawyers were there. But we are so far from the lights of townany townthat half an hour before daylight its still pitch black. Waggoner left behind in East Texas the grave of his wife. They chose the latter. The settlers, most of them German or Czech, moved north of Paradise Creek, which runs just beyond the present northern boundary of the ranch. Guy, who eventually settled on another ranch the family owned in New Mexico, married eight times. Shortly before she ended her eighteen-year marriage to A.B., she purchased another magnificent home on Preston Road in Highland Park and named it Shadowlawn. Two large, privately-owned lakes are located on the Waggoner Ranch. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? The major block of this farmland, which is located on the northwest side of the ranch, contains approximately 14,000 acres. Potential buyers include a group of Japanese investors, Ross Perot Jr., Boone Pickens, even the Mormon churchor so go the rumors. In the meantime, the Waggoners had been buying out small farmers on the Texas side of the river, paying $1 an acre and often less. One story has it that a gunslinger named Jimmie Roberts, originally hired to deal with rustlers, was sent out to make farmers an offer they couldnt refuse. You Can Now Buy a Texas Ranch That's the Size of a Small Nation, For 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. 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. But even as board members, they were powerless to exercise any authority over the ranch, except to elect future trustees. Electra II married twice, the second time for keeps to John Biggs, a Texan who worked for International Paper Company, in New York, in 1943. Slaughter (Slaughter Ranches), Jim Loving (JA Ranch) and Dan and W.T. Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch. They are already being augmented by Kroenke Ranches' world-class commercial Angus herd. The Willingham house is a low, ranch-style brick structure, set behind a wall of trees. Things were working smoothly at that moment, but neither side believed the harmony would last. Both were famous for breeding, the King Ranch for Santa Gertrudis cattle, the Waggoner Ranch for cutting horses. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. He pointed to an impenetrable thicket of mesquite and told me, Thirty years ago we cleared that pasture, all the way to Beaver Creek. It comprises 520,000 acres in six counties, and is the home for 12,000 mother cows. The main headquarters at the Waggoner Ranch has municipal-quality water from Vernon. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is currently developing hunting opportunities for quail, wild hog and deer. Its now the residence of Gene and Helen Willingham. Then he left the meeting and thats the last we heard. But when I talked to Judge Neely in October, he told me, No, that wasnt my ruling. The two sides had agreed to this wording: An event has occurred [Buckys notice of termination] which requires the winding up of. Our ranching operation includes, cattle, horses and the farm. Some of the larger main shipping pens are equipped with hydraulic chutes and scales. 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. 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. 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. 27 of 56 28 of 56 Cowboys on the Waggoner Ranch brand calves in the spring of 1983. Please create an account or shop as a guest. 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. Busters card room, on the second floor, which was once walled in leather, now has the original wood exposed. Cattle - W. T. Waggoner Ranch When full, Lake Kemp covers an area of over 16,540 surface acres and Lake Diversion covers approximately 3,420 surface acres. Waggoner Estate operating approximately 150 of these wells and 40 independent operators operating the balance. This is a diverse operation consisting of cattle, horses, farming, oil, recreational lakes and wildlife. 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. How could things have spun so wildly out of control? It may be hard to truly comprehend the sheer vastness of the Waggoner Ranch. Buster Wharton Jr., a polo player, playboy, and famous drunk who died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. [8] Although it still spans six counties, it is primarily centered on Wichita County and Wilbarger County. Another number brand is placed on the left hip to denote the year. The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. The second Electra was, like her namesake, a globe-hopping socialite (she was once linked romantically to Cary Grant by Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons), but she also was an acclaimed artist, who knew all the celebrities of her day and sculpted busts of many of them. $725 million Waggoner Ranch in Texas finds lender for - Chron When my wife got sick with cancer, Gene and Buck got the company plane to fly her to M. D. Anderson. An additional 320 acres were then purchased in 1856 near the small town of Decatur, marking the first major expansion of Waggoner's estate. After dinner by the creek, Dan suggested that they all ride into Frederick, Oklahoma, personally setting the pace. He offered to pay Buckys attorney fees and pitch in an extra one million. Today, it is estimated there are over 1,000 producing oil wells on the Waggoner Ranch, with the W.T. The Waggoner Ranch was ordered liquidated. Thats how it was reported in nearly every newspaper in Texas, including the Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and the Houston Chronicle. Each camp is equipped with a managers house, outbuildings and pens. The Waggoner Ranch got into oil in a big way, and today oil wells still methodically pump as cattle graze around them.. This land sits atop the Seymour Aquifer, while the ranch itself is bone-dry. As Parker biographer Bill Neeley has noted, ethics and morality played no part of this business arrangement. Killen told Bucky, Take this, go back to New Mexico, and live your life. The Waggoner (Three D) Ranch had its beginnings in the early 1850s when Daniel Waggonerqv and a fifteen-year-old black slave trailed 242 longhorn cattleqv and six horses into Wise County. Now the fate of the ranch was up to the court. Home | Mid America | Utility Flatbed Trailers in St Louis MO and Dump Then, in 1997, Bucky and Roberson drew another map, this time setting aside the two homesteads, and again offered Gene first choice. This was probably a bluff. By contrast, Bucky is reserved, private, and serious about his business affairs. My first job was walkin hotscooling down winded horsesbetween chuckers. 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. 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. Since Electra IIs death, in 2001, the board has been composed of these two men who rarely speak to each other. Many thousands of additional acres of native pasture are suitable for cultivation, if desired. 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. The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. [6][11] E. Paul Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch. 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. I cant sit down, never could, he tells me. They ride the trails of their forebearers, living a life and practicing skills that have almost disappeared. It seems inconceivable that they cant agree on a compromise. These are the men who made the ranch work while the Waggoners were off in Fort Worth or New York or Europe. The dam was right on the dividing line. Our cattle herd consists of approximately 10,000 mother cows comprised of 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford cross. Waggoner Estate Ranch. Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. All framed prints are professionally printed, framed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. 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. 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. 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. Another formula was used to calculate mineral rights, pipelines, cattle, horses, equipment, other assets. The W.T. Its second only to the King Ranch in size, and second to none in its history of drink, divorce, and dissension. Instead of six bedrooms, it now has four. The family made their main homes in the city and returned to the ranch for weekend getaways and holidays. Because of Toms great influence on the horse industry, he became a founding member of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). 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.

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