In 1869 Dan made seventeen-year-old W.T. The three smaller, 85,000-acre parcelsZacaweista, Four Corners, and Santa Rosawere gifts to his three children, Electra, Guy, and E. Paul. hoped that his kids would learn to ranch and develop a sense of responsibility. All together, as one may imagine, with this many contiguous acres, there is an immense variety of land types on the Waggoner. The house eventually fell apart and was torn down. 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. They cant wait to get started. This treated water is used for human consumption to serve the substantial headquarter improvements. [9] In 1902, W.T. [11] Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. Look out there! Mid America is your local truck topper and trailer dealer in St Louis MO for all your new and used truck toppers in st louis as well as dump trailers and utility flatbed trailers in St Louis MO. Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch. You can still see Busters polo fields across the road from the big house Electra had built, next to his landing strip, and the skeet- and trap-shooting range where he and his guests gunned down live pigeons. The house sits on high ground, mostly hidden by oak and pecan trees and a fieldstone wall. 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. 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. Worth Metroplex area. While drilling for water, W.T. [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. Many carry the bloodline of Poco Bueno. 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. The only time we dont work, Hawley tells me, is when its raining and lightning, or when its very hot. Waggoner Ranch cattle have been 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford. A full moon hangs over West Diving Board Pasture. [9] It also includes 30,000 acres of arable land and about 1,100 producing oil wells. This iconic ranch property has been owned and operated by Waggoner heirs for approximately 165 years. 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. 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. [4] It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of Sam Walton), in February 2016. The ranch was established in 1849 and spans six Texas counties and almost 800 square miles. Buster Wharton Jr., a polo player, playboy, and famous drunk who died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. Add to cart. 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. | 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. Approximately 41.67% of the mineral rights with a pro-rata portion of the executive leasing rights are expected to convey with the sale. 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. 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. 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. Apparently they just agreed to continue to disagree. At midnight, March 31, 2003, the clock ran out on the W. T. Waggoner trust. From the highway, its pastures seem timeless and impregnable. The W.T. The Wichita River, the two branches of Beaver Creek, countless small streams and tributaries, and dozens of stock tanks supply the ranchs water. 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 a hard rain, this endless maze of graded red clay becomes a network of quagmires. Its absence symbolizes the fate of the Guy Waggoner clan in the history of the ranch. Very few test wells havepenetrated the remaining 400,000 acres. John and Electra had two daughtersa third Electra and Helen. A portion of this acreage is seeded to very productive Coastal Bermuda. Hes not a large man, but his pleasant and unassuming manner and his quiet, considered confidence give him stature. The other wants to sell the ranch and divide the assets. Please create an account or shop as a guest. Didnt any of them have to work or suffer to get it. And so they were, for a hundred years and more. The W. T. Waggoner Estate is the nation's largest ranch under one fence. Waggoner Estate Ranch and related assets are now, for the first time ever, being offered for sale at a guideline listed price of. Three pivot sprinkler systems are used to distribute irrigation water to three large fields on the ranch. By the 1880s, the Waggoners Victorian mansion, El Castile, was the most prominent structure in Decatur. Cowboying isnt a profession, its a life, but if the Waggoner Ranch is broken up into pieces, that life will exist no more. Bring on the Shiplap. The last e-mail I got from him, he testified, [was] five years ago.. [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. 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). How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At. $ 58.00. Be alert all the time and ready to go, he says in a strong, sure voice. 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. Inside the Decades-long Effort to Commemorate a Notorious Waco Lynching. 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. All framed prints are professionally printed, framed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. 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. Killen knew that Bucky was strapped with legal fees from the court battles of the sixties, Hughes told me. Millionaire ranchers from Argentina and the elite of East Coast society came in their private planes for weekends of polo and debauchery. What the hell could he do with oil! HOUCHRON CAPTION (07/27/2003): A calf is branded on the ranch in 1983. Buckys pride in this place was unmistakable. Ranches, Farms and Land forsale in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas. I didnt ask for the nuts and bolts, he said and walked away. 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. The ranch is fenced and crossfenced, with an estimated several thousand miles of ranch roads and ranch fencing. Our cattle herd consists of approximately 10,000 mother cows comprised of 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford cross. We met in the boardroom at the Waggoner building, Roberson told me. Perhaps they are afraid of ghosts. Marketing is done through private treaty and production sales. 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. [6][11] E. Paul Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch. Anne was the granddaughter of W.T.s friend Burk Burnett and hardly the type to sit around waiting for a roving husband. When it is necessary for them to be in the same room, they let third parties do the talking. Waggoners have a series of brands that go on each foal, the history of which goes back to the days of W. T. Waggoner. The W.T. was determined to keep Electra nearby. On the map of Texas it appears as a great emptiness south of Vernon, occupied only by the thin strip of U.S. 183/283. Electra died in 1925 at the age of 43, her life and much of her fortune spent on extravagance. In one, he wished Electra happy birthday and said, I bought you a $2,500 bond.. Without question, this legacy ranch represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance for an investor with vision and love of the land the rare opportunity to take this legendary offering to the next level. [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. Rani's World Foods (Texas & Nevada) - Indian supermarket chain. There are none to be seen, because there is not a drop of groundwater. Its now the home of Electras grandson, Bucky Wharton, his wife, Joline, and their two children. 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. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. In 1879, the Waggoners foiled rustlers by changing their brand from the D-71 to the now-legendary three reverse Ds. Mesquite is the major invader in this part of Texas. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. 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. Proctor, whose daddy was a Waggoner cowboy too, went to work for the ranch in 1937, at age thirteen. 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. We invite you to browse through our store and shop with confidence. 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. Wharton, a Philadelphia blue blood she met while traveling in the Himalayas. The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. [3] It spans six counties[3][6] and is half as large as Rhode Island. Electra prevailed, as usual. Even when he was a young lad of 14, W.T. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [6], After W.T. This land sits atop the Seymour Aquifer, while the ranch itself is bone-dry. Texas Almanac Rainfall Records show the lowest annual rainfall for this six county area is in Foard and Knox Counties, at 24 inches and 26 inches per year, respectively. In the Roaring Twenties, Electra Waggoner was the most infamous socialite in Texas. The W.T. In a deposition filed with the court in 2001, Bucky acknowledged: We do not meet face to face, just he and I. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. The bidding period on the ranch, going for $725 million, ended Oct. 20 with about six serious potential buyers. 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. At Christmas, they exchange giftsby messenger. Both were famous for breeding, the King Ranch for Santa Gertrudis cattle, the Waggoner Ranch for cutting horses. This historic brand has been used in one form or another since that date, making it one of the very oldest brands in Texas. Subscribe Contact Us We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours. Most sets of pens are capable of handling several thousand head of cattle at one time. The Waggoner Ranch Store is located in the Waggoner Estate building in Vernon Texas. The summer after his discharge, in 1970, Bucky decided it was time to move to the ranch and begin his real education. But Gene and Helen seem determined to do just that. Land Broker and Land Appraisalfirm established in 1920. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. I ask him what he thinks of the family feud that threatens to end the way of life that he knew. After that, negotiations were dead in the water. Gene remembered it differently. Buckys home sits on one side of the square. The Reversed 3Ds is still used as a symbol representing the historic Waggoner Ranch. 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. Some of the wells discovered in the 1920s are still in operation. 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. One thing you dont see on the ranch is windmills. The Waggoner Ranch can be characterized as a potential sportsmans paradise. There are several other large ponds, as well as hundreds of livestock ponds scattered throughout the property. S. Middleton & Son in Lubbock are honored to announce the exclusive offering of the historic W.T. 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. 510,527.00 Some of the larger main shipping pens are equipped with hydraulic chutes and scales. They work six and sometimes seven days a week, from daylight until the job is done, often late at night. This sprawling property is approximately three-fourths the size of Rhode Island. Genes got to drive within fifty feet of Buckys house every morning and again every evening to get to his own place. After a time everyone seemed in agreement on all except one pointmaintenance of the dam at Santa Rosa Lake. They say he was as mad as a nest of hornets. 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. The farmers probably didnt need intimidating. Waggoner found oil while drilling for water. In addition to land and cattle, the family owned five banks, three cottonseed mills, and a coal company. Another number brand is placed on the left hip to denote the year. A drought in the last part of the nineteenth century made the land where the Waggoner Ranch now sits nearly useless for growing crops. Growing up, the ranch didnt seem like a big deal, Bucky told me. the estate. Judge Neely accepted this language. Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. Its second only to the King Ranch in size, and second to none in its history of drink, divorce, and dissension. (It still is, except for the magnificent Wise County courthouse.) Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. When I asked Joline if they had found any memorabilia from Electras time, she laughed. 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. Dan took advantage of this great opportunity. 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. By the turn of the century, settlers were overrunning Indian reservations, and the open range was all but gone. Since his retirement, in 1991, Proctor has lived in Vernon, raising a few cows and tending his yard. Hostile Comanches and Kiowas, plus a few foolhardy nesters trying to scratch out a living, occupied this endless stretch of grassland. 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. The gifts were not entirely altruistic. Who was going to be responsible for it? 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. This is your chance to purchase the W.T. 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. I was there. 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. He borrowed a large sum from his nonagenarian grandmother, Ella, who later transferred the note to E. Paul. But W.T. They wintered the herd that year in Clay County and the following spring drove it to market, netting a profit of $55,000. Legend has it that Electra once blew $1 million in a single day at Neiman Marcus. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. 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. 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. Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch, including Poco Bueno, who was buried on the ranch. Two large, privately-owned lakes are located on the Waggoner Ranch. Currently, Waggoner Ranch offspring are excelling in multiple competitive associations, including AQHA, Stock Horse of Texas, NRHA, NRCHA and NCHA. 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). Copyright 2023 Waggoner Ranch Store - All Rights Reserved. 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. The family feud began the moment the old man rigged the game. By the late fifties, forces were marshalling to ensure total control for E. Paul and his heirs. Consequently, climate data can vary over such a large area of the state. 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. I cant sit down, never could, he tells me. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Poco Bueno sired 36 AQHA Champions, and many of his offspring have excelled in all the different disciplines of modern day horse events. Approximately 30,000 acres are in cultivation. At that time, Gene wanted to sell leases to hunters and Bucky didnt. [8] W.T. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. This is the job I set my sights on, he says. 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.
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