The W. T. Waggoner Ranch is five-time winner of the Texas Ranch Roundup and a recipient of the American Quarter Horse Association's "Best of the Remuda Award". 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. As the frontier pushed westward, he expanded his herd and bought more land, in Clay and Wichita counties. The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. 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. 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. 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. [11], The ranch has been surveyed by the United States Department of Agriculture for matters of preservation. While drilling for water, W.T. 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. Another number brand is placed on the left hip to denote the year. It would be Helens husband, Gene Willingham, who would one day become Bucky Whartons main opponent in the struggle over the Waggoner Ranch. Some of the larger main shipping pens are equipped with hydraulic chutes and scales. As their cattle business grew, the ranch needed more grazing land, especially as barbed wire began to close in the open range. [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. Two of the camp divisions, the Zacaweista and the Santa Rosa, are very highly improved. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. The sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. [6] Specifically, this went to Albert Buckman Wharton, Jr., also known as Buster Wharton, who was Electra Waggoner's son, and Electra Waggoner Biggs, who was E. Paul Waggoner's daughter. He borrowed a large sum from his nonagenarian grandmother, Ella, who later transferred the note to E. Paul. Heath@WaggonerRanch.com All rights reserved. This iconic ranch property has been owned and operated by Waggoner heirs for approximately 165 years. Another formula was used to calculate mineral rights, pipelines, cattle, horses, equipment, other assets. At midnight, March 31, 2003, the clock ran out on the W. T. Waggoner trust. G. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is currently developing hunting opportunities for quail, wild hog and deer. Hostile Comanches and Kiowas, plus a few foolhardy nesters trying to scratch out a living, occupied this endless stretch of grassland. In early 1963 Buster filed a lawsuit, seeking a dispensation to sell shares, but he died before the matter was litigated. 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. [3] It spans six counties[3][6] and is half as large as Rhode Island. I ask him what he thinks of the family feud that threatens to end the way of life that he knew. Didnt any of them have to work or suffer to get it. Waggoner left behind in East Texas the grave of his wife. (Waggoner) hit oil instead. 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. 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. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. 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. 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. In one last attempt to keep the range open, W.T. 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. One side wants the ranch divided equally but otherwise left intact. All together, as one may imagine, with this many contiguous acres, there is an immense variety of land types on the Waggoner. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. She left the motor running, didnt even bother to shut it off, and walked to the depot and took the next train out of town. When Guy moved to New Mexico, Tony Hazelwood, who hated his guts, showed his disrespect by storing oats on the homes prized hardwood floors. Electra married A.B. He sits across the table from me in his starched jeans and freshly shined boots, ramrod straight, his hat resting in his lap, his gray hair slicked down. 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. A portion of this acreage is seeded to very productive Coastal Bermuda. 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. Since Electra IIs death, in 2001, the board has been composed of these two men who rarely speak to each other. 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. The ranchs famous reverse triple-D brand, for example, supposedly got that way when a blacksmith inadvertently read W.T.s hand-drawn design upside down. Some of the wells discovered in the 1920s are still in operation. The bidding period on the ranch, going for $725 million, ended Oct. 20 with about six serious potential buyers. Many carry the bloodline of Poco Bueno. Lonny Morrison [Genes attorney] said he knew an expert who could advise on that matter. This was a time when much of Texas was open range and unexplored. They work six and sometimes seven days a week, from daylight until the job is done, often late at night. Numerous large, functional and well designed sets of shipping and working pens are scattered throughout the ranch. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. King Ranch. The ranch includes thousands of cattle, hundreds of horses and oil wells, and 30,000 acres of. She was strikingly pretty, with a long, sensitive face and dark, sparkling eyes. [14] After Electra Waggoner Biggs's death, her share was inherited by Electra Waggoner Biggs's daughter Helen Biggs and her husband, Gene Willingham. To Buckys surprise, the Biggs family responded by filing suit, asking the court to liquidate the estate. They married in 1969. 940-552-2521 x:270. When my wife got sick with cancer, Gene and Buck got the company plane to fly her to M. D. Anderson. Sep 1989 - Present33 years 6 months. Today the ranch consists of approximately 535,000 acres, and is recognized as the largest ranch in Texas under one fence. The rich and spoiled siblings nearly squandered the family fortune on wild parties, all-night poker games, trips around the world, and divorce settlements. This rare phenomenon. Some people dont see it, but shes beautiful. Moreover, a sale would be taxed and so would the distribution of the money. 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. Back in town, I am introduced to 79-year-old G. L. Proctor, the old cowboy who Weldon Hawley has modeled himself after. 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. Now 56, Bucky is one of the protagonists in the battle over the future of the ranch. This was probably a bluff. The major drainages through the ranch are Beaver Creek, which starts on the west side of the ranch and runs through the entirety of the northern portion of the property, and the North Wichita and the South Wichita Rivers, which converge in the southwest portion of the ranch and meander through the entire south side of the property. ACRES Meanwhile, W.T.s widow, Ella, ran the ranch as dowager empress until her death, in 1959. [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. 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. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. The W.T. 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. Electra prevailed, as usual. The squabbling that has ensnared the ranch for almost a century began on Christmas Day of. Additionally, all livestock (cattle and horses), an extremely substantial inventory of rolling stock, farm equipment, pickups, trucks, etc., and considerable other personal property are included in this offering. [8] W.T. 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. I just knew that life there was a lot different from life in Albuquerque. In 1963, when Bucky was fifteen, Buster Wharton died, leaving a will that gave his share of the Waggoner estate to his widow and his shotguns to Bucky. They communicate by written memos, even though their offices are separated by only a few feet. Land Broker and Land Appraisalfirm established in 1920. Nearby Vernon, which serves as the famed headquarters for the ranch operations office complex, receives an average of 28 inches per year. I tried college in Vernon for a little while, but it wasnt for me. After that, negotiations were dead in the water. Gene remembered it differently. Leave them blank to get signed up. W.T. He first settled on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. In a deposition filed with the court in 2001, Bucky acknowledged: We do not meet face to face, just he and I. On a Dan Waggonerfinanced trip to Fort Worth, Chief Yellow Bear was asphyxiated and Quanah nearly was when the Indians blew out the gas lamp in their hotel room before retiring. After Buckys father died, Lula [the last of Busters four wives] stripped this place. Bucky Wharton didnt think of the ranch as his heritage until he was in high school at Culver Military Academy, in Indiana. Proctor, whose daddy was a Waggoner cowboy too, went to work for the ranch in 1937, at age thirteen. 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. Buster Wharton Jr., a polo player, playboy, and famous drunk who died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. Wichita Falls, the county seat of Wichita County, is approximately 20 miles east of the eastern boundary of the ranch. They cant wait to get started. [8] The ranch spanned more than a million acres of land. 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. [6] It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. 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. $ 58.00. Some people believe that she would never have permitted the sale of the Waggoner Ranch. Marketing is done through private treaty and production sales. 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. In 1869 Dan made seventeen-year-old W.T. Please create an account or shop as a guest. Ill draw a line and you take first pick, he offered. 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. They were super, super people. Nevertheless, Smith resigned in 1997, tired of being caught in the middle of the power struggle. 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. W.T. Bernard Uechtritz of Briggs-Freeman Sothebys International Realty in Dallas, and Sam Middleton, of Chas. At Christmas, they exchange giftsby messenger. But selling the ranchor, worse still, permitting the court to liquidate itwould cost both sides dearly in taxes and prestige. Slaughter (Slaughter Ranches), Jim Loving (JA Ranch) and Dan and W.T. [9] It also includes 30,000 acres of arable land and about 1,100 producing oil wells. 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 Estate Ranch. The major block of this farmland, which is located on the northwest side of the ranch, contains approximately 14,000 acres. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. 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. Joe Roberson showed me how to read the books. Neither of her parents came to the wedding; biographer Porter reports that E. Paul and Helen were having marital problems. By the turn of the century, settlers were overrunning Indian reservations, and the open range was all but gone. Instead of six bedrooms, it now has four. In 1923, W. T. formed what is known today as the W. T. Waggoner Estate. hoped that his kids would learn to ranch and develop a sense of responsibility. Very few test wells havepenetrated the remaining 400,000 acres. Our cattle herd consists of approximately 10,000 mother cows comprised of 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford cross. Houses back then were very dark, with low ceilings and small windows. His daddy worked this ranch for fifteen years, and Shane grew up on Cowboy Row. Moore resigned as trustee in the early eighties, at a critical moment for the estate. 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. Guy, who eventually settled on another ranch the family owned in New Mexico, married eight times. At least thats what everyone outside the two families, their lawyers, and the judge believe happened. An enormous picture window with a panoramic view of the ranch replaced the porthole-size window of 1910. Other areas show substantial regrowth, and those areas of the ranch with a dense canopy of mesquite offer exceptional protection for wildlife. In later years, W.T. 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. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. [5], The ranch is located west of Wichita Falls, Texas, south of Vernon, near the Red River. W.T. $720,000,000 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 Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. Buster never liked cows; the only thing about the ranch he cared about was horses, especially his polo ponies. Its like watching the death of a huge and magnificent animal: People cant bear to look, yet theyre powerless to turn away. . In his entire life, he never drew a paycheck from anyone but the Waggoners. The cattle will be sold, along with the trucks that haul them, and the vast pastures will be chopped up, and who knows what will replace them. 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. Dan Waggoner passed away in 1903, and his son, W. T. (Tom) Waggoner continued to expand his ranching interests. [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. Anne was the granddaughter of W.T.s friend Burk Burnett and hardly the type to sit around waiting for a roving husband. L. Proctor was foreman when I got here, and I made him my model., The ranch has about thirty cowboys, many of them second- and third-generation Waggoner employees. Legend has it that Electra once blew $1 million in a single day at Neiman Marcus. The W. T. Waggoner Estate is the nation's largest ranch under one fence. They seldom speak and hardly ever socialize. Approximately 160,000 acres of the 560,000 acres areproven prolific oilproperties. My dockets not that crowded, he said. The operation can breed outside mares as well as ship cooled or frozen semen. 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. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. Her best-known work is the statue of Will Rogers on horseback at the entrance to the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, in Fort Worth. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. Most sets of pens are capable of handling several thousand head of cattle at one time. 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. 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. 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. Buster too had multiple spouses (four, to be exact), but his only heir was A. Disgusted, he continued drilling for water. 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 history and the legend surrounding the Waggoner Ranch are as big as the ground it covers. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. Much of the ranch is covered with mesquite, cedar, and prickly pear, and when the sun softens late in the evening, the dull green of the vegetation and the deep red of the soil give the ranch the pastel serenity of a Mexican village. The dispute seemed to highlight Bucky and Genes contrasting attitudesone loved the land, the other loved the money. 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. 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. We met in the boardroom at the Waggoner building, Roberson told me. 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. They chose the latter. Waggoner Estate operating approximately 150 of these wells and 40 independent operators operating the balance. 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 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 comprises 520,000 acres in six counties, and is the home for 12,000 mother cows. The house sits on high ground, mostly hidden by oak and pecan trees and a fieldstone wall. E. Paul was a dapper, dashing Hollywood-style cowboy, with a mustache and mischievous eyes. 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. 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. [6], After W.T. Guy had a weakness for the ladies; he once skipped town with the lead actress from a traveling burlesque show. We could drive the 60 miles from Bull Run Pasture, on the northeast corner, where the 10th Cavalry camped in 1871, to the David Camp, on the southwest corner, and never venture outside the Waggoner fence. Shareholders of the ranch reside at these two divisions. All I ever knew is the Waggoner Ranch, he tells me. We farm approximately 25,000 that we use to graze cattle and raise crops for sale and internal use. St Louis, Missouri, United States. When they supplied them, he fumed. 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. 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. Or you draw a line and Ill take first pick.. 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. Yesterday a helicopter herded one hundred mother cows and their calves into a trapa corner of the large pastureand soon cowboys on horseback will be stripping the calves away from their mothers, herding them into separate pens and loading them onto trucks for transportation to other parts of the ranch. The two sides have never been able to agree on a replacement. We would love to have our customers come by and see us and see our newly remodeled store. 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 Running W is the brand for the King Ranch located in south Texas close to Kingsville, Tx.
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