[4][8] From 1889 to 1903, they acquired land in Wichita County, Wilbarger County as well as Foard County, Knox County, Baylor County and Archer County. W. T. Waggoner Ranch - LARGEST RANCH UNDER ONE FENCE Approximately 160,000 acres of the 560,000 acres areproven prolific oilproperties. 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). The terrain varies from fairly level to gently rolling, sloping and hilly, but there are areas of rougher breaks and scenic, very eroded, red clay badland. In total, the ranch spans nearly 800 square miles. The other half belonged to Electra Waggoner Biggs, through various trusts. When it is necessary for them to be in the same room, they let third parties do the talking. At an early age, Dan started building what would become a ranching empire and founded the Waggoner Ranch in 1849. Electra prevailed, as usual. He secretly wanted his favorite, Electra, to draw Zacaweista, because it was nearest to his homestead. While drilling for water, W.T. 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. Both were famous for breeding, the King Ranch for Santa Gertrudis cattle, the Waggoner Ranch for cutting horses. We see a bunch of javelinas too, and a bobcat as big as a mountain lion. Buckys pride in this place was unmistakable. Cowboys worry that the feud will destroy the ranch. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. Three pivot sprinkler systems are used to distribute irrigation water to three large fields on the ranch. He had grown up in Albuquerque, where his mother, the third of Buster Whartons four wives, had moved after their divorce, when Bucky was two. Bucky wanted to make it clear that he believed the situation was untenable. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. The Waggoner Ranch fully supports the AQHA initiative to implement the Ranchers Heritage Breeders Program and the AQHA Versatility Ranch Horse Program with current staff serving as a member of two AQHA Committees. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners discovered oil while trying to drill for water, Hughes tells me. 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. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. Copyright 2023 W. T. Waggoner Ranch Uptown Style WordPress theme by, 2013 Gelding (Cat Man Do X Smoked Diamonds), 2015 Stallion (Cat Man Do X Smokin and Swingin). The rich and spoiled siblings nearly squandered the family fortune on wild parties, all-night poker games, trips around the world, and divorce settlements. The Waggoner Ranch owns all of the land surrounding and under these lakes, but the water itself is used for off-site municipal water purposes. What the hell could he do with oil! SOLD. The family feud began the moment the old man rigged the game. Waggoner Ranch cattle have been 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford. Gene has told people that the ranch would sell in no time, the whole 520,000 acres. 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. By the turn of the century, settlers were overrunning Indian reservations, and the open range was all but gone. The 1905 hunt was a classic Waggoner production. All canvas prints are professionally printed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. Find a huge selection of trailers from DooLittle and SureTrac in MO. They work six and sometimes seven days a week, from daylight until the job is done, often late at night. 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. $ 58.00. [6] It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas with office headquarters in Vernon. Gene is, by all accounts, gregarious and outgoing, a typical good ol boy who enjoys playing dominoes at the country club. 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. This iconic ranch property has been owned and operated by Waggoner heirs for approximately 165 years. One of the most interesting properties at Zacaweista is the gothic stone barn where Buster Wharton bred his polo ponies. Its pastures and wheat fields, cattle and horses, mansions. It is doubtful there is any other contiguous area of this magnitude in Texas which has had no commercial hunting pressure since the land was first settled. Members of American Quarter Horse Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, National Beef Council, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, and the Texas Land and Mineral Owners Association. HOUCHRON CAPTION (07/27/2003): A calf is branded on the ranch in 1983. [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. As it turned out, he didnt. A complete list of this inventory can be made available. W.T. This is the job I set my sights on, he says. On each of those transactions, Kroenke had relied on Leadbetter's counsel and the insights of Sam Connolly, general manager of Kroenke Ranches. These camps range in size from just over 20,000 acres to nearly 40,000 acres each. B. Wharton III, known as Bucky. Waggoner Ranch Store Beaver Creek feeds Santa Rosa Lake, and the Wichita River feeds Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion. By the 1880s, the Waggoners Victorian mansion, El Castile, was the most prominent structure in Decatur. The Waggoner Ranch got into oil in a big way, and today oil wells still methodically pump as cattle graze around them.. Its a constant battle. Over these past three decades, Bucky has absorbed every inch of this ranch and most of its colorful history. The cost of buying out Guys third of the estate had put a crimp in the flow of dividends, and Buster was running short of money. But by the 1920s, with the advent of the automobile, W.T.s attitude about oil had changed. Numerous large, functional and well designed sets of shipping and working pens are scattered throughout the ranch. (It still is, except for the magnificent Wise County courthouse.) Bernard Uechtritz of Briggs-Freeman Sothebys International Realty in Dallas, and Sam Middleton, of Chas. 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. Meanwhile, W.T.s widow, Ella, ran the ranch as dowager empress until her death, in 1959. Or so people say.. | (and future trustees) would have the sole right to make all management decisions. WAGGONER RANCH (VILLAS 18-21) Vernon, TX | Founded 1852 Archer, Baylor, Foard, Knox, Witchita, and Wilbarger Counties Established in 1852, the ranch was primarily used to raise crops, Longhorn cattle and horses. W.T.s granddaughter, Electra Waggoner Biggs was nationally known as a sculptress, and with her national notoriety, General Motors named their most luxurious Buick model the Electra and Lockheed Aircraft named a plane in her honor. These are the men who made the ranch work while the Waggoners were off in Fort Worth or New York or Europe. They chose the latter. Probably the nation's largest single-parcel ranch, the 510,000-acre property is about 175 miles northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and 12 miles south of Vernon, the county seat of. 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. John and Electra had two daughtersa third Electra and Helen. Thats where Electra Waggoner Biggs lived and where she kept her studio, Hughes tells me. They married in 1969. 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. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. The squabbling that has ensnared the ranch for almost a century began on Christmas Day of that year, when W.T. A drought in the last part of the nineteenth century made the land where the Waggoner Ranch now sits nearly useless for growing crops. The Waggoner is one of the 20 largest cattle ranches in the U.S. and is known worldwide for its quarter horses. As a consequence, the King Ranch scions moved comfortably in elite Texas social, political, and business circles, while the Waggoners never achieved the same degree of prominence. The two sides have never been able to agree on a replacement. After a hard rain, this endless maze of graded red clay becomes a network of quagmires. Waggoner Ranch, the 800-square-mile plot of land in North Texas, is really big. The Bronc-busting, Cow-punching, Death-defying Legend of Boots ONeal, At Texas Swingers Clubs, the Lifestyle Is Booming. She finally pulled up in front of the Vernon drugstore, pieces of gate and fence hanging off the car, Bucky tells me. The ranch is reported to be the largest contiguous ranching operation of its kind under one fence in Texas, and one of the largest in the United States. [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. [11] Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. 2021 Chas S Middleton and Son. 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. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. Thistle Hill, as Electras mansion was called, stands to this day on the crest of Summit Avenue, near downtown. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. When they supplied them, he fumed. 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. Or you draw a line and Ill take first pick.. [6], In 1991, Electra Waggoner Biggs sued to be able to sell the ranch. When full, Lake Kemp covers an area of over 16,540 surface acres and Lake Diversion covers approximately 3,420 surface acres. [6] Thirty cowboys, and about 120 people overall, are employed on the property. The party bagged seventeen wolves (some of which were really coyotes), and the president beat a five-foot rattlesnake to death with his quirt. The assets of the estate have been estimated at $200 to $300 million, but it would surely fetch far less if liquidated. The bidding period on the ranch, going for $725 million, ended Oct. 20 with about six serious potential buyers. 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. 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. American Made Cap has manufactured for all types of customers, from professional baseball teams to local ranches, including the world-famous Waggoner Ranch just down the road. 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. They plied him with extravagant gifts: engraved pearl-handled revolvers, diamond stick pins, junkets to Fort Worth, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. $720,000,000 In the lower draws and creek bottoms, hackberry and soapberry trees are common. The Waggoner Ranchis a historic north Texasranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) One of the largest ranches in the U.S. and an icon for Texas horse and cattlemen has been listed for $725 million, marking the end of a decades-long courtroom battle among. Heath@WaggonerRanch.com She left an enduring reputation and two children from the first of her three marriages: Tom Waggoner Wharton, who died of syphilis at age 25, eight-times married but childless, and A. [6][12], When Guy Waggoner died in 1950, his sons sold their share of the estate to members of the family. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. Two years after Prathers resignation, Bucky gave notice of termination of the trust in a letter to Electra IIs family. In his entire life, he never drew a paycheck from anyone but the Waggoners. The Waggoner Ranch, 550,000 acres extending into six counties, a realm steeped in Texas history, teeters on the brink of liquidation. 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. A full moon hangs over West Diving Board Pasture. They ride the trails of their forebearers, living a life and practicing skills that have almost disappeared. The major block of this farmland, which is located on the northwest side of the ranch, contains approximately 14,000 acres. I tried college in Vernon for a little while, but it wasnt for me. Yet the Waggoner Ranch has outlasted its South Texas rival in one respect: It is still under the direct control of its founding family. American Made Cap Company The house eventually fell apart and was torn down. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Waggoner acquired more land. 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. As the large ranches of Texas, such as the Waggoner, 6666, JA, Slaughter, King Ranch and others, were established, fenced and began to operate, these legendary holdings were, at times, confronted with the problems of Indian raids and cattle rustlers. Waggoner Ranch - AQHA - American Quarter Horse Association [6][11] E. Paul Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch. 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. Then he left the meeting and thats the last we heard. Numerous smaller cultivated fields are scattered throughout the ranch. The W.T. There are none to be seen, because there is not a drop of groundwater. At the same time, they amended the bylaws to allow either party to give notice of termination within certain windows of timean amendment that would later prove crucial in the battle over 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. 510,527.00 Meanwhile, the Waggoner family tree was sprouting more branches. Waggoner Estate operating approximately 150 of these wells and 40 independent operators operating the balance. As land was cleared for settlement, he gradually moved west and by the late 1870s settled along Beaver Creek near Electra Texas. Santa Rosa Lake covers approximately 1,400 surface acres when full. Since his retirement, in 1991, Proctor has lived in Vernon, raising a few cows and tending his yard. I worked a couple of weeks gauging wells. Be alert all the time and ready to go, he says in a strong, sure voice. That became the seed money for the Waggoner empire. He offered him pennies on the dollar for his fifty percent share., It was a paltry amount, Roberson agreed. Texas Almanac Rainfall Records show the lowest annual rainfall for this six county area is in Foard and Knox Counties, at 24 inches and 26 inches per year, respectively. Waggoner Ranch cowboys like and respect both families and consider them fair and generous. [7] Parts of it can be seen from highways U.S. 183 The summer after his discharge, in 1970, Bucky decided it was time to move to the ranch and begin his real education. Land Broker and Land Appraisalfirm established in 1920. Waggoner first settled his wife and son, William Thomas (Tom) Waggoner,qv in a home on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. E. Paul was a dapper, dashing Hollywood-style cowboy, with a mustache and mischievous eyes. The W.T. | It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. In early 1963 Buster filed a lawsuit, seeking a dispensation to sell shares, but he died before the matter was litigated. All pens are very well maintained. Sep 1989 - Present33 years 6 months. In a deposition filed with the court in 2001, Bucky acknowledged: We do not meet face to face, just he and I. The facility is equipped to do embryo transfers and has both indoor and outdoor arenas, two barns, and over 30 stalls. 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. Our cattle herd consists of approximately 10,000 mother cows comprised of 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford cross. Another formula was used to calculate mineral rights, pipelines, cattle, horses, equipment, other assets. Sachueista Gate - WT Waggoner Estate Ranch - Vernon, Texas Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. 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. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. Killen told Bucky, Take this, go back to New Mexico, and live your life. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. 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. 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. The answer lies in the rich and rowdy heritage of the Waggoner clan. Residents of Waggoner Ranch told to vacate property by Rams - Chron Either way, your shopping cart will be active until you leave the store. By contrast, Bucky is reserved, private, and serious about his business affairs. Oil production soon followed. Its now the home of Electras grandson, Bucky Wharton, his wife, Joline, and their two children. Worth Metroplex area. 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. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattleand horsesas well as for oil production. . But Gene and Helen seem determined to do just that. In a January 2003 deposition, Gene said he sent Bucky his own draft of the map but never got a reply. Cattle - W. T. Waggoner Ranch I worked for six months with various people in the oil and the ranching divisions, he told me. Some whitetail deer on the Waggoner Ranch are estimated to be of Boone and Crockett quality. As Smith put it, They were a beer-and-champagne twosome.. The dam was right on the dividing line. But Buckys mother was not about to give up her sons inheritance without a fight. [6], After W.T. Horses have always been big business at the Waggoner Ranch. The main set of shipping pens are located along the highway at the Zacaweista Headquarters Division. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas with office headquarters in Vernon. Over the years, a substantial amount of brush work has been done, and the mesquite canopy ranges from nearly extinct to moderate over portions of the ranch. It seems inconceivable that they cant agree on a compromise. Buster Wharton Jr., a polo player, playboy, and famous drunk who died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. Some of the wells discovered in the 1920s are still in operation. As their cattle business grew, the ranch needed more grazing land, especially as barbed wire began to close in the open range. The majority of the cultivated land is farmed on a dryland basis, but three circle pivot systems are used to irrigate a small portion of the farmland. The house sits on high ground, mostly hidden by oak and pecan trees and a fieldstone wall. As land was cleared for settlement, he gradually moved west and by the late 1870s settled along Beaver Creek near Electra Texas. [4] It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of Sam Walton), in February 2016. Seymour, the county seat of Baylor County, is several miles south of the ranch, and has a runway that is 4,300 feet long. I think there were twenty-five or twenty-seven attorneys involved, he recalled. Dan Waggoner, who was born in Tennessee in 1828, moved to Texas with his family in the mid-1840s. Because of Toms great influence on the horse industry, he became a founding member of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. I remember my mother taking me to Fort Worth to talk to her attorney. Ahead was a legal battle over whether Buster had the right to dispose of property that Electra, his mother, had left in trust to him and his bloodline. In the late eighties, as the oil revenue began to peter out, the new trustee of the Waggoner estate, Charles Prather, resigned. In 1869 Dan made seventeen-year-old W.T. Waggoner biographer Roze McCoy Porter writes that Electra spent $90,000 remodeling the one-year-old mansion and another $55,000 on draperies. They say he was as mad as a nest of hornets. All I ever knew is the Waggoner Ranch, he tells me. When E. Paul drew Zacaweista instead, W.T. Some area ranches have rural water systems available, but still principally rely on creeks and ponds as their major water source. Our horses are American Quarter Horses and we raise them for our use on the ranch. Copyright 2023 Waggoner Ranch Store - All Rights Reserved. Some people dont see it, but shes beautiful. Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. What does it take to be a good cowboy? I ask. Map: The Waggoner Ranch is really, really big, y'all - MySA Guy, who eventually settled on another ranch the family owned in New Mexico, married eight times. We opened it up. Today the home is bright and welcoming. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Passing under a granite arch, we head down a long, paved driveway to Zacaweista, an Indian word meaning good grass. Its the name of both the ranch headquarters and the sprawling rock-and-wood home that Electra built in 1910. 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. 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. Choose from multiple print sizes and hundreds of frame and mat options. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. Showdown at Waggoner Ranch - Texas Monthly Electra married A.B. He went on and on about how heartbroken he was and how much he missed them, but he didnt write them. Waggoner Ranch, among US' largest, listed for sale - Chron Its the Story of Shankleville, One of the States Early Freedom Colonies. Though he wouldnt talk about the lawsuit, he spoke freely about his bewildering transformation from New Mexico schoolboy to co-owner of one of the countrys most famous ranches. After the first freeze, 120,000 geese will land on Santa Rosa Lake and feast on winter wheat fields. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. The Wichita River, the two branches of Beaver Creek, countless small streams and tributaries, and dozens of stock tanks supply the ranchs water. So what does it all mean? Even the water in Beaver Creek was reda sign, Bucky said, that it was fresh and contained no gypsum. Though there are more than two thousand miles of road inside the ranch, there are hardly any road signs or navigational landmarks. Back in town, I am introduced to 79-year-old G. L. Proctor, the old cowboy who Weldon Hawley has modeled himself after. I ask him what he thinks of the family feud that threatens to end the way of life that he knew. Now the fate of the ranch was up to the court. Oil was a nuisance, and any good cattleman knew the value of water. Enlow is an advertising, media and fine arts photographer based in Fort Worth. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At. He didnt want to sell the ranch, but he thought it could be divided, that a line could be drawn on a map so that each side would have a separate but equal share. One thing you dont see on the ranch is windmills. He borrowed a large sum from his nonagenarian grandmother, Ella, who later transferred the note to E. Paul. It may be hard to truly comprehend the sheer vastness of the Waggoner Ranch.