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. Recently, new ownership has brought substantial investment in both equipment and design. The house eventually fell apart and was torn down. Some people believe that she would never have permitted the sale of the Waggoner Ranch. This huge block of farmland is crossfenced into large manageable fields which are suitable for grazing thousands of head of wheat pasture cattle. 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. | As the sun begins to crawl over the horizon, Hawley marvels at the endless prairie. Killen told Bucky, Take this, go back to New Mexico, and live your life. The farmers probably didnt need intimidating. The Waggoner Ranch Reversed D Brand is burned on the right hip of calves, and dates back to June 11, 1849. PRIMARY USE cow-calf, feed yard, farming, horses, oil and gas, wild game hunting, birding . 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. Moore astonished Bucky by trying to buy his stock in the estate. An additional 320 acres were then purchased in 1856 near the small town of Decatur, marking the first major expansion of Waggoner's estate. In the late eighties, as the oil revenue began to peter out, the new trustee of the Waggoner estate, Charles Prather, resigned. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. Oil was a nuisance, and any good cattleman knew the value of water. Its like watching the death of a huge and magnificent animal: People cant bear to look, yet theyre powerless to turn away. 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. 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. [9] It also includes 30,000 acres of arable land and about 1,100 producing oil wells. 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. The W.T. Then he left the meeting and thats the last we heard. This is the job I set my sights on, he says. Because of Toms great influence on the horse industry, he became a founding member of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). It would be Helens husband, Gene Willingham, who would one day become Bucky Whartons main opponent in the struggle over the Waggoner Ranch. 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. | . You have no voice here and you never will.. Genes got to drive within fifty feet of Buckys house every morning and again every evening to get to his own place. 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. Bucky Wharton didnt think of the ranch as his heritage until he was in high school at Culver Military Academy, in Indiana. The King Ranch, based in south Texas, has more acreage spread over several parcels. The majority of the ranch is in native pasture, supporting a mixed variety of palatable native grasses. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattleand horsesas well as for oil production. Two large, privately-owned lakes are located on the Waggoner Ranch. Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. Marketing is done through private treaty and production sales. As the frontier pushed westward, he expanded his herd and bought more land, in Clay and Wichita counties. He borrowed a large sum from his nonagenarian grandmother, Ella, who later transferred the note to E. Paul. Quality horses are always the pride of a true rancher, and this original set of broodmares became a huge influence in the development of the Quarter Horse breed. Our ranching operation includes, cattle, horses and the farm. 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. We have unique items that feature our brand. After the first freeze, 120,000 geese will land on Santa Rosa Lake and feast on winter wheat fields. He was the first quarter horse ever to be insured for $100,000. 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. The Waggoner Ranch, 550,000 acres extending into six counties, a realm steeped in Texas history, teeters on the brink of liquidation. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. At least thats what everyone outside the two families, their lawyers, and the judge believe happened. Historically, the Waggoner Ranch has been operated as a cow/calf ranching unit, with stocker cattle used for seasonal grazing on wheat fields. I saw them together at a backyard wedding two years ago, but they stayed on opposite sides of the yard, Jim Hughes told me. Or so people say.. No way I could live in the city. He means Vernon (population: 12,000). As their cattle business grew, the ranch needed more grazing land, especially as barbed wire began to close in the open range. Cowboys worry that the feud will destroy the ranch. It doesnt seem real to even think about it, he says. The Waggoner Ranch was ordered liquidated. The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. The Waggoner Ranchis a historic north Texasranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. In addition to land and cattle, the family owned five banks, three cottonseed mills, and a coal company. What does it take to be a good cowboy? I ask. All pens are very well maintained. Waggoner Ranch is, the five-time winner of the Texas Ranch Roundup and a recipient of the American Quarter Horse Associations Best of the Remuda Award.. Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. Subscribe Contact Us We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours. (It still is, except for the magnificent Wise County courthouse.) When they presented the map to Gene, they say, he asked for more details. In a deposition filed with the court in 2001, Bucky acknowledged: We do not meet face to face, just he and I. After that, negotiations were dead in the water. Gene remembered it differently. was determined to keep Electra nearby. He pointed to an impenetrable thicket of mesquite and told me, Thirty years ago we cleared that pasture, all the way to Beaver Creek. [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. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. 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. Waggoner Ranch with all of its history and be a part of its future unbridled potential. It may be many years before a similar ranch of this magnitude becomes available, if ever. Some of the wells discovered in the 1920s are still in operation. We met in the boardroom at the Waggoner building, Roberson told me. My dockets not that crowded, he said. We farm approximately 25,000 that we use to graze cattle and raise crops for sale and internal use. Lonny Morrison [Genes attorney] said he knew an expert who could advise on that matter. Several small on-site water wells are also located in this large block of farmland. (Waggoner) hit oil instead. The cowboys are already waiting on horseback just outside the loading pens, cutting up like schoolboys awaiting the bell for recess. Salt cedar is found along creek and river courses, and cedar is moderate to dense in the rougher, eroded areas of the ranch. Numerous smaller cultivated fields are scattered throughout the ranch. The cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch are living legends, men who embody the attributes of the lean and dusty riders who braved the wild a century ago to make room for a herd. My first job was walkin hotscooling down winded horsesbetween chuckers. He offered him pennies on the dollar for his fifty percent share., It was a paltry amount, Roberson agreed. Things were working smoothly at that moment, but neither side believed the harmony would last. Texas Purple Hull Pea Festival Is More Than an Event. ACRES 825,000. Approximately 41.67% of the mineral rights with a pro-rata portion of the executive leasing rights are expected to convey with the sale. The family made their main homes in the city and returned to the ranch for weekend getaways and holidays. The Big Pasture, however, remained available for grazing and hunting. There is also a rumor that the Willinghams have already bought a home in Fort Worth. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Approximately 30,000 acres are in cultivation. [8] The ranch spanned more than a million acres of land. In later years, W.T. At one dinner party, two Texans pulled six-guns from their dinner jackets and shot up the ceiling. [9] In 1902, W.T. [13] He once played there with polo champion Cecil Smith. 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. The bidding period on the ranch, going for $725 million, ended Oct. 20 with about six serious potential buyers. But by the 1920s, with the advent of the automobile, W.T.s attitude about oil had changed. Dan took advantage of this great opportunity. West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, H-E-Bs True Texas BBQ Restaurant Is Slipping, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians. Free shipping for many products! The sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. Bickering and backstabbing have been a way of life in the family. Who was going to be responsible for it? 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. 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. The main headquarters at the Waggoner Ranch has municipal-quality water from Vernon. 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. Even when he was a young lad of 14, W.T. By the late fifties, forces were marshalling to ensure total control for E. Paul and his heirs. W.T. They have been up since three and have had a hefty cookhouse breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. 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. W.T. This land sits atop the Seymour Aquifer, while the ranch itself is bone-dry. 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. Why do they fight on? Heath@WaggonerRanch.com When they supplied them, he fumed. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. 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. The Waggoner Ranch got into oil in a big way, and today oil wells still methodically pump as cattle graze around them.. She was strikingly pretty, with a long, sensitive face and dark, sparkling eyes. 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. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. I was there. They built him a grand home on West Cache Creek, the only permanent structure between Fort Sill and the Texas border, and the chief decorated the roof of his Comanche White House with fourteen stars, symbolizing his generalship in battle. 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. W.T. hoped that his kids would learn to ranch and develop a sense of responsibility. In 1923, W. T. formed what is known today as the W. T. Waggoner Estate. St Louis, Missouri, United States. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. The ranch's wild steers, huge supply of . E. Paul was a dapper, dashing Hollywood-style cowboy, with a mustache and mischievous eyes. The dam was right on the dividing line. She hosted parties of celebrities, movie stars, and barons of capitalism, including the daughter of J. P. Morgan. The greatest annual precipitation occurs to the east, in Archer and Wichita Counties, at just over 29 inches per year annually. 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. Buckys home sits on one side of the square. 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. The other half belonged to Electra Waggoner Biggs, through various trusts. But for how much longer? 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. Houses back then were very dark, with low ceilings and small windows. 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. 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. But W.T. Jim Hughes, a longtime attorney for the Waggoner estate who was being groomed to become a trustee before the feud cost him the opportunity, slows down as a dozen or more wild turkeys scamper across the highway and disappear into thick stands of mesquite. Each camp manager is responsible for the operation of his specific unit, but all of the managers and cowboys work together during spring branding and shipping. $720,000,000 The W.T. . Today, the W. T. Waggoner Ranch is managed by Sam Connolly of Bozeman. The current inventory of studs, mares, geldings and colts is approximately 474 head. 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. [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. Joe Roberson showed me how to read the books. Now look at it! Patel Brothers - largest Indian American supermarket chain. The W.T. A granite marker, weighing four tons, notes his grave site. The Waggoner Ranch can be characterized as a potential sportsmans paradise. At that time, Gene wanted to sell leases to hunters and Bucky didnt. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Currently, Waggoner Ranch offspring are excelling in multiple competitive associations, including AQHA, Stock Horse of Texas, NRHA, NRCHA and NCHA.

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