Its a weird deal. The Waggoner (Three D) Ranch had its beginnings in the early 1850s when Daniel Waggoner, his son W. T. (Tom), and a fifteen-year-old Black slave trailed 242 cattle and six horses into Wise County. [3] It spans six counties[3][6] and is half as large as Rhode Island. 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. It is as much a part of the legacy as horses, cattle, oil, opulent mansions, divorces, and drunken sprees. He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. the estate. Judge Neely accepted this language. HOUCHRON CAPTION (07/27/2003): A calf is branded on the ranch in 1983. [8] The ranch spanned more than a million acres of land. At one dinner party, two Texans pulled six-guns from their dinner jackets and shot up the ceiling. Cowboys worry that the feud will destroy the ranch. Originally, the trust was supposed to expire after twenty years, in 1943, but the terms of the trust allowed it to be routinely extended in twenty-year increments until 1983. This is a diverse operation consisting of cattle, horses, farming, oil, recreational lakes and wildlife. Cowboying isnt a profession, its a life, but if the Waggoner Ranch is broken up into pieces, that life will exist no more. S. Middleton & Son in Lubbock are honored to announce the exclusive offering of the historic W.T. After a big wedding in Decatur, the couple honeymooned in Europe and then planned to settle in Philadelphia. 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. Disgusted, he continued drilling for water. Its like watching the death of a huge and magnificent animal: People cant bear to look, yet theyre powerless to turn away. For the past 15 years, champions at both the National Reining Association and the National Cutting Horse Association Futurity have had Waggoner bloodlines in their pedigree. Our horses are American Quarter Horses and we raise them for our use on the ranch. [6] It is the second largest ranch in Texas (after the King Ranch),[6] enclosing 510,527 acres (207,000ha; 798sqmi; 2,070km2) of land. Bucky and Gene and their lawyers were there. The letters were typed by his secretary, Neely told me. Today, Waggoner descendants still reside at the ranch in two main compounds: Albert B. Wharton, III lives at the Zacaweista (Indian term for good grass) Headquarters and Helen Biggs Willingham and her husband Gene live at the Santa Rosa Headquarters. They seldom speak and hardly ever socialize. They are already being augmented by Kroenke Ranches' world-class commercial Angus herd. $ 58.00. His daddy worked this ranch for fifteen years, and Shane grew up on Cowboy Row. Sep 1989 - Present33 years 6 months. Waggoner acquired more land. Buckys pride in this place was unmistakable. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. My dockets not that crowded, he said. The little village of Lockett, where the descendants of those settlers now live, is wet in another way: It is the nearest spot where citizens of Vernon can buy beer and liquor. | John and Electra had two daughtersa third Electra and Helen. Growing up, the ranch didnt seem like a big deal, Bucky told me. I tried college in Vernon for a little while, but it wasnt for me. Its the Story of Shankleville, One of the States Early Freedom Colonies. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. 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. But selling the ranchor, worse still, permitting the court to liquidate itwould cost both sides dearly in taxes and prestige. [10], By 1909, W.T. 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. 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 of her parents came to the wedding; biographer Porter reports that E. Paul and Helen were having marital problems. Waggoners have a series of brands that go on each foal, the history of which goes back to the days of W. T. Waggoner. Richard King and Captain James Walworth's King Ranch brand was registered June 27, 1859 3. 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. After Buckys father died, Lula [the last of Busters four wives] stripped this place. The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. Dan took advantage of this great opportunity. In the late eighties, as the oil revenue began to peter out, the new trustee of the Waggoner estate, Charles Prather, resigned. 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. 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. 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. All together, as one may imagine, with this many contiguous acres, there is an immense variety of land types on the Waggoner. 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. Hostile Comanches and Kiowas, plus a few foolhardy nesters trying to scratch out a living, occupied this endless stretch of grassland. was determined to keep Electra nearby. 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). Poco Bueno died in 1969 and was buried in a standing position in front of the main ranch entrance. This iconic ranch property has been owned and operated by Waggoner heirs for approximately 165 years. The ranch was established in 1849 and spans six Texas counties and almost 800 square miles. 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. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? [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. 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. 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. Each camp is equipped with a managers house, outbuildings and pens. In a deposition filed with the court in 2001, Bucky acknowledged: We do not meet face to face, just he and I. [6] It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. 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. The gifts were not entirely altruistic. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Ranch Manager. 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. 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. After a time everyone seemed in agreement on all except one pointmaintenance of the dam at Santa Rosa Lake. Waggoner Ranch is now officially, for the first time ever in its history, offered for sale on the international marketplace. I worked for six months with various people in the oil and the ranching divisions, he told me. The last e-mail I got from him, he testified, [was] five years ago.. Settling into an apartment attached to Busters former home at Zacaweista, he enrolled at Midwestern State University, in Wichita Falls, and commuted between ranch and campus, pursing a degree in business administration while learning the ins and outs of the estate. 27 of 56 28 of 56 Cowboys on the Waggoner Ranch brand calves in the spring of 1983. SOLD. Add to cart. Please create an account or shop as a guest. At that time, Gene wanted to sell leases to hunters and Bucky didnt. The Municipal Airport at Wichita Falls is served by American Eagle, and the runway is 13,100 feet long. 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. 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. Oil was a nuisance, and any good cattleman knew the value of water. 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. The second Electra was, like her namesake, a globe-hopping socialite (she was once linked romantically to Cary Grant by Hollywood gossip columnist Louella Parsons), but she also was an acclaimed artist, who knew all the celebrities of her day and sculpted busts of many of them. The Waggoner Ranch can be characterized as a potential sportsmans paradise. We would love to have our customers come by and see us and see our newly remodeled store. Vernon Regional Airport has a 5,100 foot long runway. 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. Approximately 30,000 acres are in cultivation. WHAT WE DO: We deliver strategic, brand-driven marketing communications solutions and deploy content that truly resonates . It's one of the largest ranches in the world with 825,00 acres. This sprawling property is approximately three-fourths the size of Rhode Island. asked his children to draw cards for the three parcels. 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. By the 1880s, the Waggoners Victorian mansion, El Castile, was the most prominent structure in Decatur. The farmers probably didnt need intimidating. St Louis, Missouri, United States. No way I could live in the city. He means Vernon (population: 12,000). 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. The W.T. [6], After W.T. G. At least thats what everyone outside the two families, their lawyers, and the judge believe happened. It seems inconceivable that they cant agree on a compromise. An enormous picture window with a panoramic view of the ranch replaced the porthole-size window of 1910. Or so people say.. Some people think that the last chance for a settlement died with Electra II. 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. 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. Waggoner's death, his three children, Guy Waggoner, E. Paul Waggoner and Electra Waggoner each inherited a section of the ranch, although there was still a Board of Trustees. But we are so far from the lights of townany townthat half an hour before daylight its still pitch black. In later years, W.T. A portion of this acreage is seeded to very productive Coastal Bermuda. hoped that his kids would learn to ranch and develop a sense of responsibility. This is your chance to purchase the W.T. He offered him pennies on the dollar for his fifty percent share., It was a paltry amount, Roberson agreed. In total, the ranch spans nearly 800 square miles. Both families are already fabulously wealthy, though the wealth is in the land rather than their pockets. The sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. One side wants the ranch divided equally but otherwise left intact. [6] Other towns nearby include Electra and Seymour. This was probably a bluff. Guy, who eventually settled on another ranch the family owned in New Mexico, married eight times. The party bagged seventeen wolves (some of which were really coyotes), and the president beat a five-foot rattlesnake to death with his quirt. 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. We have unique items that feature our brand. The Reversed 3Ds is still used as a symbol representing the historic Waggoner Ranch. Nearby Vernon, which serves as the famed headquarters for the ranch operations office complex, receives an average of 28 inches per year. Why do they fight on? He was the first quarter horse ever to be insured for $100,000. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. Waggoner found oil while drilling for water. He was teaching at Will Rogers Elementary School, in Houston, where Helen Biggs was also a teacher. They communicate by written memos, even though their offices are separated by only a few feet. In over 165 years of the Waggoner family ownership, commercial hunting has never been allowed on this expansive ranch. But W.T. After that, negotiations were dead in the water. Gene remembered it differently. Some area ranches have rural water systems available, but still principally rely on creeks and ponds as their major water source. Under the terms of the trust, each of the children owned one third of the 100,000 shares in the estate, elected the board of directors of the trust and served on the board themselves, and retained their homesteads. Sign up to hear from us about specials, sales, and events. 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. Seafood City (California, Hawaii, Washington, Nevada, Illinois) - Filipino American. In 1869 Dan made seventeen-year-old W.T. The operation can breed outside mares as well as ship cooled or frozen semen. Patel Brothers - largest Indian American supermarket chain. I guess you could say its traumatic, but in two or three days the calves will forget they ever had mamas, Weldon Hawley says in response to my city-boy question. She finally pulled up in front of the Vernon drugstore, pieces of gate and fence hanging off the car, Bucky tells me. 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. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. There is a photograph of her in the Red River Valley Museum, near Vernon College, along with a large collection of her work: busts of Will Rogers, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Bob Hope, Knute Rockne, Amon Carter, John Nance Garner. Nobodys sure. She joined him in the apartment, and they set to work remodeling the Zacaweista mansion, which had sat vacant for nearly a dozen years. "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.