Back in town, I am introduced to 79-year-old G. L. Proctor, the old cowboy who Weldon Hawley has modeled himself after. With the trust on the verge of expiring, Bucky and Electra II agreed to extend it until March 31, 2003. Thats where Electra Waggoner Biggs lived and where she kept her studio, Hughes tells me. Both families are already fabulously wealthy, though the wealth is in the land rather than their pockets. Biggs second in command was comptroller Killen Moore, a onetime Internal Revenue Service agent. I tried college in Vernon for a little while, but it wasnt for me. The ranch is approximately 175 miles northwest of the Dallas/Ft. They were mailed while she was socializing in New York with her daughter, named after E. Pauls sister, Electra, and known as Electra II. Our horses are American Quarter Horses and we raise them for our use on the ranch. Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch, including Poco Bueno, who was buried on the ranch. Bucky Wharton didnt think of the ranch as his heritage until he was in high school at Culver Military Academy, in Indiana. 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. 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. Nearby Vernon, which serves as the famed headquarters for the ranch operations office complex, receives an average of 28 inches per year. Our cattle herd consists of approximately 10,000 mother cows comprised of 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford cross. [8] By 1903, he sold some of the land near China Creek to developers. But Buckys mother was not about to give up her sons inheritance without a fight. 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. This was a time when much of Texas was open range and unexplored. In one, he wished Electra happy birthday and said, I bought you a $2,500 bond.. The nearly 30,000 acres of farmland is generally farmed in wheat for grazing, but Coastal Bermuda fields and haygrazer fields are baled and used to feed cattle and also to supply quality hay for the large horse operation. SOLD. Land Broker and Land Appraisalfirm established in 1920. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas with office headquarters in Vernon. Add to cart. On a slight rise behind this house is a much grander two-story Spanish-style villa with a red tile roof, a swimming pool, and a formal garden. 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 owns all of the land surrounding and under these lakes, but the water itself is used for off-site municipal water purposes. "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. | Slaughter (Slaughter Ranches), Jim Loving (JA Ranch) and Dan and W.T. 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. Two of the camp divisions, the Zacaweista and the Santa Rosa, are very highly improved. As it turned out, he didnt. Instead of six bedrooms, it now has four. Richard King and Captain James Walworth's King Ranch brand was registered June 27, 1859 3. The party bagged seventeen wolves (some of which were really coyotes), and the president beat a five-foot rattlesnake to death with his quirt. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. Reply Anonymous February 3, 2013 at 8:00 PM Dan took advantage of this great opportunity. The Waggoner Ranch got into oil in a big way, and today oil wells still methodically pump as cattle graze around them.. The Reversed 3Ds is still used as a symbol representing the historic Waggoner Ranch. Joe Roberson showed me how to read the books. It doesnt seem real to even think about it, he says. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. When it is necessary for them to be in the same room, they let third parties do the talking. 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. The ranch is fenced and crossfenced, with an estimated several thousand miles of ranch roads and ranch fencing. 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. Inside the Decades-long Effort to Commemorate a Notorious Waco Lynching. Stretching across six North Texas counties, the Waggoner Ranch is considered to be extremely well located. [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. Both were famous for breeding, the King Ranch for Santa Gertrudis cattle, the Waggoner Ranch for cutting horses. discovered oil while trying to drill for water, Hughes tells me. The Willingham house is a low, ranch-style brick structure, set behind a wall of trees. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. 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. 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. Buckys pride in this place was unmistakable. E. Paul, a whiskey-drinking, poker-playing party animal, stayed married to his wife, Helen, for fifty years, but few people doubted the rumors that he kept mistresses in Mexico and South Texas. Buster Wharton Jr., a polo player, playboy, and famous drunk who died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. 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. G. A granite tombstone, set in the center of a small, neatly trimmed pasture, marks the grave of the greatest cutting horse of all time. [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. Free shipping for many products! The substantial structural improvements, thousands of miles of fences and roads, hundreds of earthen pond dam sites, rolling stock, waterlines, natural gas and oilfield lines, oil field equipment, the Waggoner office building, the included livestock (horses and cattle) and the entire operation are offered as a turn-key sale on an as-is, where-is basis. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? Gene has told people that the ranch would sell in no time, the whole 520,000 acres. [6], After W.T. Santa Rosa Lake covers approximately 1,400 surface acres when full. His daddy worked this ranch for fifteen years, and Shane grew up on Cowboy Row. A full moon hangs over West Diving Board Pasture. At least thats what everyone outside the two families, their lawyers, and the judge believe happened. Or you draw a line and Ill take first pick.. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. 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. All together, as one may imagine, with this many contiguous acres, there is an immense variety of land types on the Waggoner. In addition to land and cattle, the family owned five banks, three cottonseed mills, and a coal company. 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. 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. 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. Joe Roberson, who was the estates auditor for many years, describes him this way: Big belt buckle, expensive boots, a bottle of whiskey. E. Paul had a good eye for horseshe bought Poco Bueno, the great cutting horse sireand loved to be seen as the ultimate cattle baron, but a retired Waggoner Ranch foreman named G. L. Proctor told me, He wasnt much of a rider. The Waggoner Ranch was ordered liquidated. After the Biggses requested liquidation, he hired Hughes and Roberson to draw a map, splitting the ranch in a way that would be acceptable to both sides. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. As a boy, Bucky visited the ranch at Christmas and during the summer, but he was never close to his father and knew nothing about cattle or oil. Most other ranches in this general area also rely on creek water and earthen ponds. [4] It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of Sam Walton), in February 2016. 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. The cowboys sided with Bucky, who felt that hunters left litter, cut fences, and left gates open. The W. T. Waggoner Estate is the nation's largest ranch under one fence. He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. He served as trustee, and his three children, Guy Waggoner, Electra Waggoner Wharton, and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. Waggoner Ranch cattle have been 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is currently developing hunting opportunities for quail, wild hog and deer. 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. [9] It also includes 30,000 acres of arable land and about 1,100 producing oil wells. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. They buried him standing up, Hughes informs me. Some people believe that she would never have permitted the sale of the Waggoner Ranch. Weve root-plowed, sprayed, pulled it up with a tractor, dug it up with a backhoe. [6] It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. 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. 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. Biggss brother-in-law was the president of General Motors, and he later named a Buick model for Electra. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. Beaver Creek feeds Santa Rosa Lake, and the Wichita River feeds Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion. One thing you dont see on the ranch is windmills. Even when he was a young lad of 14, W.T. Maybe thats why Judge Neely told me that he has no intention of setting a deadline. The Waggoner is the largest U.S. ranch within one fence, measuring 520,527 acres (207,000 hectares) or 800 square miles (2,072 square kilometers). No Waggoner is buried on the ranch, only this one cowboy and a few early settlers in unmarked graves. We would love to have our customers come by and see us and see our newly remodeled store. Why do they fight on? Though there are more than two thousand miles of road inside the ranch, there are hardly any road signs or navigational landmarks. All rights reserved. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. St Louis, Missouri, United States. At midnight, March 31, 2003, the clock ran out on the W. T. Waggoner trust. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners Framed Print by Richard W Linford. The sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. At that time, Gene wanted to sell leases to hunters and Bucky didnt. I saw them together at a backyard wedding two years ago, but they stayed on opposite sides of the yard, Jim Hughes told me. Thats the case that has been snaking through Judge Tom Neelys Forty-sixth District Court, in Wilbarger County, for these past twelve years. Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. 510,527.00 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. Dan Waggoner, who was born in Tennessee in 1828, moved to Texas with his family in the mid-1840s. The operation can breed outside mares as well as ship cooled or frozen semen. At one dinner party, two Texans pulled six-guns from their dinner jackets and shot up the ceiling. I cant sit down, never could, he tells me. Moore resigned as trustee in the early eighties, at a critical moment for the estate. Recently, new ownership has brought substantial investment in both equipment and design. 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. Lonny Morrison [Genes attorney] said he knew an expert who could advise on that matter. He borrowed a large sum from his nonagenarian grandmother, Ella, who later transferred the note to E. Paul. Look out there! These camps range in size from just over 20,000 acres to nearly 40,000 acres each. 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. Our ranching operation includes, cattle, horses and the farm. Guy had a weakness for the ladies; he once skipped town with the lead actress from a traveling burlesque show. Killen knew that Bucky was strapped with legal fees from the court battles of the sixties, Hughes told me. [13] He once played there with polo champion Cecil Smith. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. Its like watching the death of a huge and magnificent animal: People cant bear to look, yet theyre powerless to turn away. The property is divided into approximately 16 camp or division units. 27 of 56 28 of 56 Cowboys on the Waggoner Ranch brand calves in the spring of 1983. 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. Hostile Comanches and Kiowas, plus a few foolhardy nesters trying to scratch out a living, occupied this endless stretch of grassland. 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. Approximately 160,000 acres of the 560,000 acres areproven prolific oilproperties. PRIMARY USE cow-calf, feed yard, farming, horses, oil and gas, wild game hunting, birding . Waggoner found oil while drilling for water. A granite marker, weighing four tons, notes his grave site. He pointed to an impenetrable thicket of mesquite and told me, Thirty years ago we cleared that pasture, all the way to Beaver Creek. Cowboys ambling from the bunkhouse to the cookhouse for their five-thirty breakfast see her loping across pastures, dodging bulls and pump jacks. 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. [6], In 1991, Electra Waggoner Biggs sued to be able to sell the ranch. Waggoner Estate operating approximately 150 of these wells and 40 independent operators operating the balance. I didnt ask for the nuts and bolts, he said and walked away. The squabbling that has ensnared the ranch for almost a century began on Christmas Day of. The assets of the estate have been estimated at $200 to $300 million, but it would surely fetch far less if liquidated. 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. Genes got to drive within fifty feet of Buckys house every morning and again every evening to get to his own place. Numerous smaller cultivated fields are scattered throughout the ranch. Proctor, whose daddy was a Waggoner cowboy too, went to work for the ranch in 1937, at age thirteen. Waggoner Ranch cowboys like and respect both families and consider them fair and generous. An additional 320 acres were then purchased in 1856 near the small town of Decatur, marking the first major expansion of Waggoner's estate. [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. Bucky looks more like a Little League coach than a cattle baron. 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. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. Please create an account or shop as a guest. Choose from multiple print sizes and hundreds of frame and mat options. $ 58.00. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. [8] W.T. 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. In total, the ranch spans nearly 800 square miles. 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. The wooded river and creek courses offer exceptional cover and desirable habitat for native game. Waggoner met in Graham, Texas, and formed what today is known as the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), which is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. 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.. Either way, your shopping cart will be active until you leave the store. Waggoner Ranch is a working one, with 20 cowboy camps scattered throughout the property to house the more than 120 workers. The cowboys are already waiting on horseback just outside the loading pens, cutting up like schoolboys awaiting the bell for recess. Many carry the bloodline of Poco Bueno. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. Thistle Hill, as Electras mansion was called, stands to this day on the crest of Summit Avenue, near downtown. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. One morning she packed, jumped in her car, and headed for town, not bothering to stop and open any of the ten gates on the way. This huge block of farmland is crossfenced into large manageable fields which are suitable for grazing thousands of head of wheat pasture cattle. [6][11] E. Paul Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch. ACRES 825,000. 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. According to a 2005 article in The Western Horseman Magazine, But another event in 1902 had a lasting impact on the Waggoner Ranch. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattleand horsesas well as for oil production. The W. T. Waggoner Estate is seeking a working relationshipwith an industry partner to furtherexplore and develop the ranchlands. The family made their main homes in the city and returned to the ranch for weekend getaways and holidays. But Wait, There's More A smattering of the more than 4,000 items listed on the. As Parker biographer Bill Neeley has noted, ethics and morality played no part of this business arrangement. [9], In August 2014, the ranch was listed on the real estate market with an asking price of US$725 million. For several years there were no further attempts to settle. Seymour, the county seat of Baylor County, is several miles south of the ranch, and has a runway that is 4,300 feet long. The house eventually fell apart and was torn down. All canvas prints are professionally printed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Texas Purple Hull Pea Festival Is More Than an Event. On each of those transactions, Kroenke had relied on Leadbetter's counsel and the insights of Sam Connolly, general manager of Kroenke Ranches. They work six and sometimes seven days a week, from daylight until the job is done, often late at night. Bernard Uechtritz, one of the property brokers, told the. As the frontier pushed westward, he expanded his herd and bought more land, in Clay and Wichita counties. The ranch's wild steers, huge supply of . Be alert all the time and ready to go, he says in a strong, sure voice. Moreover, a sale would be taxed and so would the distribution of the money. Heath Ownbey. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. W.T. After a time everyone seemed in agreement on all except one pointmaintenance of the dam at Santa Rosa Lake. 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. W.T. 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! 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. 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. Ranching operations began with 230 head of longhorn cattle and some horses. (Tom) Waggoner had a good eye for quality horse flesh and developed a herd of broodmares to produce working ranch geldings for his cowboys. 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. Oil was a nuisance, and any good cattleman knew the value of water. A portion of this acreage is seeded to very productive Coastal Bermuda. They chose the latter. The farmers probably didnt need intimidating. Since Electra IIs death, in 2001, the board has been composed of these two men who rarely speak to each other. In a January 2003 deposition, Gene said he sent Bucky his own draft of the map but never got a reply. He either didnt care or didnt notice that E. Pauls clanespecially his socialite wife, Helenconsidered Electras line of the family to be tainted and Buster to be an irresponsible spendthrift, and they were plotting for the day when they could force the Whartons out. They cant wait to get started. I ask him what he thinks of the family feud that threatens to end the way of life that he knew. Neither of her parents came to the wedding; biographer Porter reports that E. Paul and Helen were having marital problems. Legend has it that Electra once blew $1 million in a single day at Neiman Marcus. The family feud began the moment the old man rigged the game. After a big wedding in Decatur, the couple honeymooned in Europe and then planned to settle in Philadelphia. 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. The summer after his discharge, in 1970, Bucky decided it was time to move to the ranch and begin his real education. She finally pulled up in front of the Vernon drugstore, pieces of gate and fence hanging off the car, Bucky tells me. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. Without question, this legacy ranch represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance for an investor with vision and love of the land the rare opportunity to take this legendary offering to the next level. It would be Helens husband, Gene Willingham, who would one day become Bucky Whartons main opponent in the struggle over the Waggoner Ranch. (It still is, except for the magnificent Wise County courthouse.) 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. Electra married A.B. 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. 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. What must be going through his mind? But the Willinghams arent talkingabout the lawsuit or anything else. 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. Fort Worth-based Jeremy Enlow was given exclusive access to the cowboys behind the prestigious reversed triple D brand of the Waggoner Ranch, the largest ranch in the United States under one fence.
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