Hostile Comanches and Kiowas, plus a few foolhardy nesters trying to scratch out a living, occupied this endless stretch of grassland. Look out there! Waggoner first settled his wife and son, William Thomas (Tom) Waggoner,qv in a home on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. Waggoner Ranch with all of its history and be a part of its future unbridled potential. Either way, your shopping cart will be active until you leave the store. Some of the larger main shipping pens are equipped with hydraulic chutes and scales. a full partner, gave him $12, a group of drovers, and fifty hard-used saddle horses, and sent him to Abilene, Kansas, with a herd of five thousand steers. The ranch is fenced and crossfenced, with an estimated several thousand miles of ranch roads and ranch fencing. No one, it seems, wants to witness the breakup of a mythic Texas ranchexcept the Waggoner heirs. 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. They almost killed him with kindness, literally. [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. Jim Jennings, in a 2005 article in The Quarter Horse Journal, states, By 1868, the Waggoner outfit had grown considerably, but help was still short. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. Most other ranches in this general area also rely on creek water and earthen ponds. Three pivot sprinkler systems are used to distribute irrigation water to three large fields on the ranch. At one dinner party, two Texans pulled six-guns from their dinner jackets and shot up the ceiling. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. All pens are very well maintained. Thats where Electra Waggoner Biggs lived and where she kept her studio, Hughes tells me. List of supermarket chains in the United States - Wikipedia [11] Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. A full moon hangs over West Diving Board Pasture. [6] Meanwhile, Electra Waggoner Biggs became a renowned sculptor. The only time we dont work, Hawley tells me, is when its raining and lightning, or when its very hot. 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. This was a time when much of Texas was open range and unexplored. LOCATION Brooks, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, and Willacy counties. Leave them blank to get signed up. St Louis, Missouri, United States. Vista Caliente - Signed Print by Woodrow M. Blagg - Cowboys - Waggoner Copyright 2023 Waggoner Ranch Store - All Rights Reserved. Santa Rosa Lake covers approximately 1,400 surface acres when full. By all rights the Waggoner Ranch ought to be the equal of the King Ranch in Texas lore. 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. 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. After the first freeze, 120,000 geese will land on Santa Rosa Lake and feast on winter wheat fields. Both ranches once covered more than a million acres. Ranching operations began with 230 head of longhorn cattle and some horses. The Waggoner Ranch Reversed D Brand is burned on the right hip of calves, and dates back to June 11, 1849. and fellow cattle baron Burk Burnett sent their pet Indian to Washington, D.C., in 1905 to ride in President Theodore Roosevelts second inaugural paradeand to invite Roosevelt to go wolf hunting on the Big Pasture. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. HOUCHRON CAPTION (07/27/2003): A calf is branded on the ranch in 1983. . Reply Anonymous February 3, 2013 at 8:00 PM The family made their main homes in the city and returned to the ranch for weekend getaways and holidays. [5], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}3354N 9900W / 33.9N 99.0W / 33.9; -99.0. Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. Lonny Morrison [Genes attorney] said he knew an expert who could advise on that matter. This is the job I set my sights on, he says. Another formula was used to calculate mineral rights, pipelines, cattle, horses, equipment, other assets. 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. Waggoner Estate office building in downtown Vernon, and most importantly, the exclusive right and use of the iconic Waggoner Ranch name, historic brand, and related rights are expected to convey within the sale. 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. The Waggoner Ranch: The Largest Acreage in America Under One Fence Gene is, by all accounts, gregarious and outgoing, a typical good ol boy who enjoys playing dominoes at the country club. Historically, potable drinking water has been an issue on the Waggoner Ranch, and for that matter, on many other ranches in this area of North Texas. The house sits on high ground, mostly hidden by oak and pecan trees and a fieldstone wall. Heath@WaggonerRanch.com Poco Bueno sired 36 AQHA Champions, and many of his offspring have excelled in all the different disciplines of modern day horse events. Then he left the meeting and thats the last we heard. Guy had a weakness for the ladies; he once skipped town with the lead actress from a traveling burlesque show. 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. Free shipping for many products! San Antonio Luxury Resort - The Villas at La Cantera 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 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. At an early age, Dan started building what would become a ranching empire and founded the Waggoner Ranch in 1849. Numerous food plots are located adjacent to these protected creek bottom areas, and these food plots serve as a magnet for wildlife. Waggoner Ranch is now officially, for the first time ever in its history, offered for sale on the international marketplace. Inside the Decades-long Effort to Commemorate a Notorious Waco Lynching. No Waggoner is buried on the ranch, only this one cowboy and a few early settlers in unmarked graves. 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. They communicate by written memos, even though their offices are separated by only a few feet. Now the fate of the ranch was up to the court. Waggoner Ranch, among US' largest, listed for sale - Chron But we are so far from the lights of townany townthat half an hour before daylight its still pitch black. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is currently developing hunting opportunities for quail, wild hog and deer. He was a nineteen-year-old Army sergeant at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, when he learned that the lawsuits had been resolved and that he was heir to 50 percent of the W. T. Waggoner estate. W.T. In 1923, W. T. formed what is known today as the W. T. Waggoner Estate. This treated water is used for human consumption to serve the substantial headquarter improvements. G. Heath Ownbey. Besides receiving revenue from these house lot leases, the ranch charges a daily use fee for boating and fishing on these lakes and also controls concession rights. and 283. W.T. After a big wedding in Decatur, the couple honeymooned in Europe and then planned to settle in Philadelphia. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At. Cowboying isnt a profession, its a life, but if the Waggoner Ranch is broken up into pieces, that life will exist no more. 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. Both families are already fabulously wealthy, though the wealth is in the land rather than their pockets. Cowboys are a different breed. 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. The ranch is approximately 175 miles northwest of the Dallas/Ft. asked his children to draw cards for the three parcels. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners Canvas Print by Richard W Linford. discovered oil while trying to drill for water, Hughes tells me. In the meantime, the Waggoners had been buying out small farmers on the Texas side of the river, paying $1 an acre and often less. Meanwhile, the Waggoner family tree was sprouting more branches. Approximately 30,000 acres are in cultivation. Waggoner Ranch livestock have access to water at both lakes. We would love to have our customers come by and see us and see our newly remodeled store. 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. Add to cart. It was a crash course, but I learned more in those six months than Id learned my whole life. In 1975 he married Joline, a young woman he had met in Albuquerque seven years earlier. Waggoner left behind in East Texas the grave of his wife. They cant wait to get started. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. In 1877, Burk Burnett (6666 Ranch), Col. C.C. I worked for six months with various people in the oil and the ranching divisions, he told me. By that time, Ella had died, at the age of one hundred, and her successor as trustee was John Biggs, the son-in-law whom E. Paul had groomed for the job. The W. T. Waggoner Estate is seeking a working relationshipwith an industry partner to furtherexplore and develop the ranchlands. 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. A municipal waterline from nearby Seymour serves some of the homes located at Lake Kemp. 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. No way I could live in the city. He means Vernon (population: 12,000). On each of those transactions, Kroenke had relied on Leadbetter's counsel and the insights of Sam Connolly, general manager of Kroenke Ranches. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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. Richard King and Captain James Walworth's King Ranch brand was registered June 27, 1859 3. Please create an account or shop as a guest. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. 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. W. T. Waggoner Ranch - LARGEST RANCH UNDER ONE FENCE 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. How could things have spun so wildly out of control? This iconic ranch property has been owned and operated by Waggoner heirs for approximately 165 years. At midnight, March 31, 2003, the clock ran out on the W. T. Waggoner trust. 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 party bagged seventeen wolves (some of which were really coyotes), and the president beat a five-foot rattlesnake to death with his quirt. You get in here far enough, it just swallows you up, Hughes tells me. 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. The Waggoner is one of the 20 largest cattle ranches in the U.S. and is known worldwide for its quarter horses. Growing up, the ranch didnt seem like a big deal, Bucky told me. These live creeks and their tributaries provide a desirable source of livestock water throughout the property. Bring on the Shiplap. The Waggoner Ranch, 550,000 acres extending into six counties, a realm steeped in Texas history, teeters on the brink of liquidation. 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. One thing you dont see on the ranch is windmills. To sum up the great legacy of the Waggoner Horse Program, it has produced three AQHA Hall of Fame Members (one Waggoner heir and two Waggoner horses): E. Paul Waggoner, Poco Bueno and Poco Lena; it is the number one All-Time Leading Breeder of NCHA Hall of Fame Members, Poco Lena, Poco Mona, Poco Stampede and Snipper W; it is the number three All-Time Breeder of AQHA Champions; and it is the Breeder of All-Time Leading Sires, Poco Pine, Poco Tivio, Poco Dell and Poco Bob. 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. He offered to pay Buckys attorney fees and pitch in an extra one million. Waggoner Ranch Store The gifts were not entirely altruistic. In later years, W.T. Choose from multiple print sizes, border colors, and canvas materials. 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. Beaver Creek feeds Santa Rosa Lake, and the Wichita River feeds Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion. 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.. 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. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? Many carry the bloodline of Poco Bueno. (Tom) Waggoner was heard to say, There I was with more t, han 5,000 big, wild steers, 50 sore-backed horses, $12 and 16 years of my life.. It seems inconceivable that they cant agree on a compromise. In the lower draws and creek bottoms, hackberry and soapberry trees are common. Several small on-site water wells are also located in this large block of farmland. Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. . We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours. He served as trustee, and his three children, Guy Waggoner, Electra Waggoner Wharton, and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors. When I asked Joline if they had found any memorabilia from Electras time, she laughed. [8], After the death of Daniel Waggoner in 1902, his son 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. 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] It spans six counties[3][6] and is half as large as Rhode Island. 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. hoped that his kids would learn to ranch and develop a sense of responsibility. The W.T. 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. 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. I think there were twenty-five or twenty-seven attorneys involved, he recalled. 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 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. Currently, Waggoner Ranch offspring are excelling in multiple competitive associations, including AQHA, Stock Horse of Texas, NRHA, NRCHA and NCHA. Some area ranches have rural water systems available, but still principally rely on creeks and ponds as their major water source. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. 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. After Buckys father died, Lula [the last of Busters four wives] stripped this place. Map: The Waggoner Ranch is really, really big, y'all - MySA Ranch Manager. Sign up to hear from us about specials, sales, and events. She was strikingly pretty, with a long, sensitive face and dark, sparkling eyes. Before the day is done, well spot hundreds of deer and numerous herds of feral hogs, fifty or sixty in a bunch, wee piglets scurrying to keep up. The Big Pasture, however, remained available for grazing and hunting. 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. King Ranch. He offered him pennies on the dollar for his fifty percent share., It was a paltry amount, Roberson agreed. But W.T. The majority of the ranch is in native pasture, supporting a mixed variety of palatable native grasses. In 1869 Dan made seventeen-year-old W.T. 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 major block of this farmland, which is located on the northwest side of the ranch, contains approximately 14,000 acres. $ 58.00. I got two dollars a match. Cecil Smith, the world-famous ten-goal player, rode with Busters Waggoner Ranch team. divided the ranch that he and his dad had founded into four large tracts. Each camp is equipped with a managers house, outbuildings and pens.