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The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. Bucky and Gene and their lawyers were there. The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. Approximately 41.67% of the mineral rights with a pro-rata portion of the executive leasing rights are expected to convey with the sale. 27 of 56 28 of 56 Cowboys on the Waggoner Ranch brand calves in the spring of 1983. It comprises 520,000 acres in six counties, and is the home for 12,000 mother cows. Marketing is done through private treaty and production sales. Waggoner left behind in East Texas the grave of his wife. Showdown at Waggoner Ranch - Texas Monthly It is as much a part of the legacy as horses, cattle, oil, opulent mansions, divorces, and drunken sprees. In later years, W.T. The ranch was established in 1849 and spans six Texas counties and almost 800 square miles. [4] It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of Sam Walton), in February 2016. This sprawling property is approximately three-fourths the size of Rhode Island. Buckys home sits on one side of the square. Waggoner Ranch, among US' largest, listed for sale - Chron W.T. A number that denotes the foal's dam is placed on the left shoulder, and the ranch's famous D brand is placed under that. Concerned about the future of the ranch, W.T. Moreover, a sale would be taxed and so would the distribution of the money. Shortly before she ended her eighteen-year marriage to A.B., she purchased another magnificent home on Preston Road in Highland Park and named it Shadowlawn. 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. [3] It spans six counties[3][6] and is half as large as Rhode Island. All pens are very well maintained. Seymour, the county seat of Baylor County, is several miles south of the ranch, and has a runway that is 4,300 feet long. They were mailed while she was socializing in New York with her daughter, named after E. Pauls sister, Electra, and known as Electra II. [11] Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. American Made Cap Company Texas History: What's your opinion?: Cattle Brands - Blogger They cant wait to get started. Though their homesteads are only a few miles apart, the families of Bucky Wharton, the original Electras grandson, and Gene Willingham, Electra IIs son-in-law, might as well live on separate continents. At an early age, Dan started building what would become a ranching empire and founded the Waggoner Ranch in 1849. What the new buyer gets with this $725 million North Texas ranch 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. Please create an account or shop as a guest. Two years after Prathers resignation, Bucky gave notice of termination of the trust in a letter to Electra IIs family. Skyfood Supermarket (six locations in New York) - Asian Oriental Supermarket. Disgusted, he continued drilling for water. 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. But for how much longer? Lonny Morrison [Genes attorney] said he knew an expert who could advise on that matter. It may be hard to truly comprehend the sheer vastness of the Waggoner Ranch. The rich and spoiled siblings nearly squandered the family fortune on wild parties, all-night poker games, trips around the world, and divorce settlements. | Another formula was used to calculate mineral rights, pipelines, cattle, horses, equipment, other assets. But Gene and Helen seem determined to do just that. You get in here far enough, it just swallows you up, Hughes tells me. The Reversed 3Ds is still used as a symbol representing the historic Waggoner Ranch. has created a haven for deer, turkey, quail, dove, waterfowl and feral hogs. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners Mammoth estate to be split up, auctioned - Chron Choose from multiple print sizes and hundreds of frame and mat options. 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. We met in the boardroom at the Waggoner building, Roberson told me. 1700 Deaf Smith St., Vernon, TX 76384, US. 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. 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 answer lies in the rich and rowdy heritage of the Waggoner clan. What does it take to be a good cowboy? I ask. 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. 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. Seafood City (California, Hawaii, Washington, Nevada, Illinois) - Filipino American. 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. Photographs of his wife and children occupied a bookshelf beside four footballs labeled Coach Bucky Whartongifts from former University of Texas coach David McWilliams, whod invited Wharton to join him on the sidelines at several UT games. | 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 sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. [9] One of the lakes on the ranch provides water for the City of Wichita Falls. We would love to have our customers come by and see us and see our newly remodeled store. 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. They work six and sometimes seven days a week, from daylight until the job is done, often late at night. Look out there! There is also a rumor that the Willinghams have already bought a home in Fort Worth. From the highway, its pastures seem timeless and impregnable. Sold! Texas's legendary Waggoner ranch bought by Arsenal owner Stan 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 have unique items that feature our brand. The Waggoner Ranch has been very well managed over time, and considering the recent four-year drought, the worst in recorded history, the ranch supports an overall good turf of native grasses. He served as trustee, and his three children, Guy Waggoner, Electra Waggoner Wharton, and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors. In addition to land and cattle, the family owned five banks, three cottonseed mills, and a coal company. 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. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners Framed Print by Richard W Linford. Who was going to be responsible for it? The Waggoner is one of the 20 largest cattle ranches in the U.S. and is known worldwide for its quarter horses. Buster Wharton Jr., a polo player, playboy, and famous drunk who died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. W.T. Waggoner Estate Ranch | Chas S. Middleton 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. [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. 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. Both were famous for breeding, the King Ranch for Santa Gertrudis cattle, the Waggoner Ranch for cutting horses. At Christmas, they exchange giftsby messenger. Dan Waggoner passed away in 1903, and his son, W. T. (Tom) Waggoner continued to expand his ranching interests. These camps range in size from just over 20,000 acres to nearly 40,000 acres each. A full moon hangs over West Diving Board Pasture. 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. This iconic ranch property has been owned and operated by Waggoner heirs for approximately 165 years. Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch. Biggs second in command was comptroller Killen Moore, a onetime Internal Revenue Service agent. We would love to have our customers come by and see us and see our newly remodeled store. 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. B. The main headquarters at the Waggoner Ranch has municipal-quality water from Vernon. Waggoner Ranch is now officially, for the first time ever in its history, offered for sale on the international marketplace. In addition to Lake Kemp and Lake Diversion, the ranch boasts several other large private lakes, some of which, such as Santa Rosa Lake, are reserved for the exclusive use of the families. Meanwhile, the Waggoner family tree was sprouting more branches. 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. [8] Although it still spans six counties, it is primarily centered on Wichita County and Wilbarger County. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. You Can Now Buy a Texas Ranch That's the Size of a Small Nation, For We invite you to browse through our store and shop with confidence. Busters card room, on the second floor, which was once walled in leather, now has the original wood exposed. 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. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. He secretly wanted his favorite, Electra, to draw Zacaweista, because it was nearest to his homestead. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. 510,527.00 Poco Bueno sired 36 AQHA Champions, and many of his offspring have excelled in all the different disciplines of modern day horse events. Buster never liked cows; the only thing about the ranch he cared about was horses, especially his polo ponies. 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! W.T. As the sun begins to crawl over the horizon, Hawley marvels at the endless prairie. [6] It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. [7] Parts of it can be seen from highways U.S. 183 Hughes grew up in Vernon and has been hunting and fishing on the ranch since high school. Mrs. Biggs called ahead and had the director meet us on the front step. This land sits atop the Seymour Aquifer, while the ranch itself is bone-dry. [5], The ranch is located west of Wichita Falls, Texas, south of Vernon, near the Red River. These live creeks and their tributaries provide a desirable source of livestock water throughout the property. . Cowboying isnt a profession, its a life, but if the Waggoner Ranch is broken up into pieces, that life will exist no more. 940-552-2521 x:270. The operation can breed outside mares as well as ship cooled or frozen semen. While drilling for water, W.T. As Smith put it, They were a beer-and-champagne twosome.. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. The entryway is glass, and there is a skylight over the vaulted ceiling above the staircase. In early 1963 Buster filed a lawsuit, seeking a dispensation to sell shares, but he died before the matter was litigated. His daddy worked this ranch for fifteen years, and Shane grew up on Cowboy Row. discovered oil while trying to drill for water, Hughes tells me. The Waggoner Ranch, 550,000 acres extending into six counties, a realm steeped in Texas history, teeters on the brink of liquidation. This treated water is used for human consumption to serve the substantial headquarter improvements. When E. Paul drew Zacaweista instead, W.T. By contrast, Bucky is reserved, private, and serious about his business affairs. All canvas prints are professionally printed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. In 1869 Dan made seventeen-year-old W.T. 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. 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 big wedding in Decatur, the couple honeymooned in Europe and then planned to settle in Philadelphia. Ranching operations began with 230 head of longhorn cattle and some horses. A complete list of this inventory can be made available. Oil production soon followed. 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. Moore astonished Bucky by trying to buy his stock in the estate. After Guy died, E. Paul and Buster faced the issue of what would become of his shares in the Waggoner estate. The history and the legend surrounding the Waggoner Ranch are as big as the ground it covers. 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. Its now the residence of Gene and Helen Willingham. Some of these were bred strictly for ranch work, and others for the show arena, but they all had one thing in common, they were cow horses., Poco Bueno was foaled in 1944 and was purchased by E. Paul Waggoner in 1945. G. Vista Caliente - Signed Print by Woodrow M. Blagg - Cowboys - Waggoner In one, he wished Electra happy birthday and said, I bought you a $2,500 bond.. 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. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. In the late eighties, as the oil revenue began to peter out, the new trustee of the Waggoner estate, Charles Prather, resigned. But W.T. . Find a huge selection of trailers from DooLittle and SureTrac in MO. He ended up using it for cattle dip, and the well became Electras city dump., Near the entrance to Zacaweista, once the home of the first Electra, we stop at the grave of Poco Bueno. Its a weird deal. 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. (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.. Now he lives in the bunkhouse. The settlers, most of them German or Czech, moved north of Paradise Creek, which runs just beyond the present northern boundary of the ranch. One of the most interesting properties at Zacaweista is the gothic stone barn where Buster Wharton bred his polo ponies. Electra prevailed, as usual. It is doubtful there is any other contiguous area of this magnitude in Texas which has had no commercial hunting pressure since the land was first settled. Didnt any of them have to work or suffer to get it. What must be going through his mind? But the Willinghams arent talkingabout the lawsuit or anything else. Waggoner Ranch - Wikipedia In the lower draws and creek bottoms, hackberry and soapberry trees are common. Both families are already fabulously wealthy, though the wealth is in the land rather than their pockets. When full, Lake Kemp covers an area of over 16,540 surface acres and Lake Diversion covers approximately 3,420 surface acres. Vernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County, is located approximately 12 miles due north of the ranch. As the frontier pushed westward, he expanded his herd and bought more land, in Clay and Wichita counties. The Waggoner Ranch can be characterized as a potential sportsmans paradise. When I asked Joline if they had found any memorabilia from Electras time, she laughed. The Biggest Ranches - Texas Monthly They ride the trails of their forebearers, living a life and practicing skills that have almost disappeared. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners This was probably a bluff. She finally pulled up in front of the Vernon drugstore, pieces of gate and fence hanging off the car, Bucky tells me. The Bronc-busting, Cow-punching, Death-defying Legend of Boots ONeal, At Texas Swingers Clubs, the Lifestyle Is Booming. He offered to pay Buckys attorney fees and pitch in an extra one million. 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 has been owned by the same family almost as long as Texas been a state. Waggoner biographer Roze McCoy Porter writes that Electra spent $90,000 remodeling the one-year-old mansion and another $55,000 on draperies. Potential buyers include a group of Japanese investors, Ross Perot Jr., Boone Pickens, even the Mormon churchor so go the rumors. 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). But selling the ranchor, worse still, permitting the court to liquidate itwould cost both sides dearly in taxes and prestige. The main set of shipping pens are located along the highway at the Zacaweista Headquarters Division. Brokers: Sale of Waggoner ranch looks hopeful as bidding ends - Chron Either way, your shopping cart will be active until you leave the store. 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. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. The Waggoner Ranchis a historic north Texasranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. When Helens father died, in 1975, they moved to the ranch, where Gene gradually assumed the position of head of the family. Oil was a nuisance, and any good cattleman knew the value of water. Waggoner Ranch cattle have been 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford. Though its a nicer house, the Willinghams have never moved up there. 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.. Bucky Wharton didnt think of the ranch as his heritage until he was in high school at Culver Military Academy, in Indiana. All rights reserved. [9], In August 2014, the ranch was listed on the real estate market with an asking price of US$725 million. 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. There are several other large ponds, as well as hundreds of livestock ponds scattered throughout the property. Slaughter (Slaughter Ranches), Jim Loving (JA Ranch) and Dan and W.T. 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 Waggoner Ranch owns all of the land surrounding and under these lakes, but the water itself is used for off-site municipal water purposes. All I ever knew is the Waggoner Ranch, he tells me. Buckys pride in this place was unmistakable. Dan took advantage of this great opportunity. By the 1880s, the Waggoners Victorian mansion, El Castile, was the most prominent structure in Decatur. The Waggoner Ranch: The Largest Acreage in America Under One Fence (Tom) Waggoner was heard to say, There I was with more than 5,000 big, wild steers, 50 sore-backed horses, $12 and 16 years of my life., In a 1956 article in The Quarter Horse Journal, Franklin Reynolds notes, It was possibly Tom Waggoners experiences with those sorry horses that caused him to resolve to always have good ones. [6][11] E. Paul Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch. 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. 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. Its like watching the death of a huge and magnificent animal: People cant bear to look, yet theyre powerless to turn away. The Bold Brand - The Land Report The horse operation, known as the Whiteface Division, is a state-of-the-art training/breeding facility located in the northeastern portion of the Waggoner Ranch. 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. Most sets of pens are capable of handling several thousand head of cattle at one time. He first settled on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. Two of the camp divisions, the Zacaweista and the Santa Rosa, are very highly improved. Bernard Uechtritz of Briggs-Freeman Sothebys International Realty in Dallas, and Sam Middleton, of Chas. Ill draw a line and you take first pick, he offered.