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After Guy died, E. Paul and Buster faced the issue of what would become of his shares in the Waggoner estate. 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. Bucky Wharton didnt think of the ranch as his heritage until he was in high school at Culver Military Academy, in Indiana. Members of American Quarter Horse Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, National Beef Council, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, and the Texas Land and Mineral Owners Association. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. When they presented the map to Gene, they say, he asked for more details. Marketing is done through private treaty and production sales. The only time we dont work, Hawley tells me, is when its raining and lightning, or when its very hot. Inside the Decades-long Effort to Commemorate a Notorious Waco Lynching. A full moon hangs over West Diving Board Pasture. In a deposition filed with the court in 2001, Bucky acknowledged: We do not meet face to face, just he and I. [9] It also includes 30,000 acres of arable land and about 1,100 producing oil wells. Now look at it! She was a genteel and educated woman, polished at Miss Wrights finishing school at Bryn Mawr, a person who hated the details of ranching but respected and loved the tradition. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. [6] Other towns nearby include Electra and Seymour. LOCATION Brooks, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, and Willacy counties. The entryway is glass, and there is a skylight over the vaulted ceiling above the staircase. Her best-known work is the statue of Will Rogers on horseback at the entrance to the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, in Fort Worth. Meanwhile, W.T.s widow, Ella, ran the ranch as dowager empress until her death, in 1959. Legend has it that Electra once blew $1 million in a single day at Neiman Marcus. 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. 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. 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. [8], After the death of Daniel Waggoner in 1902, his son W.T. 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. The Waggoner is one of the 20 largest cattle ranches in the U.S. and is known worldwide for its quarter horses. Dan died in 1903, leaving everything to Tom. 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. 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. 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. This is the job I set my sights on, he says. was determined to keep Electra nearby. I cant sit down, never could, he 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. Why do they fight on? All together, as one may imagine, with this many contiguous acres, there is an immense variety of land types on the Waggoner. My dockets not that crowded, he said. Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch, including Poco Bueno, who was buried on the ranch. Many thousands of additional acres of native pasture are suitable for cultivation, if desired. . Skyfood Supermarket (six locations in New York) - Asian Oriental Supermarket. The wooded river and creek courses offer exceptional cover and desirable habitat for native game. 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. By all rights the Waggoner Ranch ought to be the equal of the King Ranch in Texas lore. After Buckys father died, Lula [the last of Busters four wives] stripped this place. Some whitetail deer on the Waggoner Ranch are estimated to be of Boone and Crockett quality. Oil production soon followed. After a big wedding in Decatur, the couple honeymooned in Europe and then planned to settle in Philadelphia. Map: The Waggoner Ranch is really, really big, y'all - MySA 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. 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. In one, he wished Electra happy birthday and said, I bought you a $2,500 bond.. In 1965 he replaced Tony Hazelwood as foreman. But when I talked to Judge Neely in October, he told me, No, that wasnt my ruling. The two sides had agreed to this wording: An event has occurred [Buckys notice of termination] which requires the winding up of. Our ranching operation includes, cattle, horses and the farm. 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. Hughes grew up in Vernon and has been hunting and fishing on the ranch since high school. A drought in the last part of the nineteenth century made the land where the Waggoner Ranch now sits nearly useless for growing crops. At that time, Gene wanted to sell leases to hunters and Bucky didnt. The Waggoner Ranch was ordered liquidated. has created a haven for deer, turkey, quail, dove, waterfowl and feral hogs. 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. Gene is, by all accounts, gregarious and outgoing, a typical good ol boy who enjoys playing dominoes at the country club. The current inventory of studs, mares, geldings and colts is approximately 474 head. They were mailed while she was socializing in New York with her daughter, named after E. Pauls sister, Electra, and known as Electra II. The family feud began the moment the old man rigged the game. 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. At one dinner party, two Texans pulled six-guns from their dinner jackets and shot up the ceiling. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. 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. The Waggoner Ranch can be characterized as a potential sportsmans paradise. 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. 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. 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. After a time everyone seemed in agreement on all except one pointmaintenance of the dam at Santa Rosa Lake. 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. 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. 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. I didnt ask for the nuts and bolts, he said and walked away. 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. Approximately 30,000 acres are in cultivation. [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. The ranch's wild steers, huge supply of . They gathered information on the value of individual pastures, with the help of foreman Jimmy Lee Smith. This huge block of farmland is crossfenced into large manageable fields which are suitable for grazing thousands of head of wheat pasture cattle. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. 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. He served as trustee, and his three children, Guy Waggoner, Electra Waggoner Wharton, and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors. In the late eighties, as the oil revenue began to peter out, the new trustee of the Waggoner estate, Charles Prather, resigned. 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. Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845, so the Waggoner Ranch is nearly as old as Texas itself. Jim Hughes, a longtime attorney for the Waggoner estate who was being groomed to become a trustee before the feud cost him the opportunity, slows down as a dozen or more wild turkeys scamper across the highway and disappear into thick stands of mesquite. Instead of six bedrooms, it now has four. 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. When E. Paul drew Zacaweista instead, W.T. Its now the home of Electras grandson, Bucky Wharton, his wife, Joline, and their two children. The Willingham house is a low, ranch-style brick structure, set behind a wall of trees. [8] By 1903, he sold some of the land near China Creek to developers. Waggoner left behind in East Texas the grave of his wife. Vernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County, is located approximately 12 miles due north of the ranch. [8] Although it still spans six counties, it is primarily centered on Wichita County and Wilbarger County. 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. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. Buckys home sits on one side of the square. 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. Residents of Waggoner Ranch told to vacate property by Rams - Chron No Waggoner is buried on the ranch, only this one cowboy and a few early settlers in unmarked graves. Making Texas history: Legendary Waggoner Ranch sells to Rams owner In the late sixties Bucky attended the University of the Americas, in Mexico City. Or so people say.. [6] However, in 1923, he changed his mind, and set up a Massachusetts trust. 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. Oil was a nuisance, and any good cattleman knew the value of water. Waggoner acquired more land. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. It is as much a part of the legacy as horses, cattle, oil, opulent mansions, divorces, and drunken sprees. 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. The majority of the ranch is in native pasture, supporting a mixed variety of palatable native grasses. Concerned about the future of the ranch, W.T. 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. W.T. In his entire life, he never drew a paycheck from anyone but the Waggoners. All pens are very well maintained. 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. In fact, when this ranch was first established, Abe Lincoln was in Congress, California was petitioning to join the U.S. as a free state, and neighboring Oklahoma was Indian Territory. 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. This rare phenomenon. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. 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. 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. Waggoner Ranch is now officially, for the first time ever in its history, offered for sale on the international marketplace. But W.T. Now 56, Bucky is one of the protagonists in the battle over the future of the ranch. We have unique items that feature our brand. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. The settlers, most of them German or Czech, moved north of Paradise Creek, which runs just beyond the present northern boundary of the ranch. He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. The history and the legend surrounding the Waggoner Ranch are as big as the ground it covers. B. Wharton III, known as Bucky. Proctor, whose daddy was a Waggoner cowboy too, went to work for the ranch in 1937, at age thirteen. The squabbling that has ensnared the ranch for almost a century began on Christmas Day of. You Can Now Buy a Texas Ranch That's the Size of a Small Nation, For 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. After the first freeze, 120,000 geese will land on Santa Rosa Lake and feast on winter wheat fields. Thats where Electra Waggoner Biggs lived and where she kept her studio, Hughes tells me. Dan and W.T. All canvas prints are professionally printed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. Because of Toms great influence on the horse industry, he became a founding member of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). The two sides have never been able to agree on a replacement. Some people believe that she would never have permitted the sale of the Waggoner Ranch. He offered him pennies on the dollar for his fifty percent share., It was a paltry amount, Roberson agreed. Waggoner Ranch cattle have been 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford. Both were famous for breeding, the King Ranch for Santa Gertrudis cattle, the Waggoner Ranch for cutting horses. They married in 1969. Most other ranches in this general area also rely on creek water and earthen ponds. 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. [9] One of the lakes on the ranch provides water for the City of Wichita Falls. After a hard rain, this endless maze of graded red clay becomes a network of quagmires. The other wants to sell the ranch and divide the assets. 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. Horses have always been big business at the Waggoner Ranch. While the last of the calves are being loaded onto the trucks, I talk to a 22-year-old cowboy named Shane Bone, a handsome young man in dusty brown chaps and a well-used cowboy hat. A municipal waterline from nearby Seymour serves some of the homes located at Lake Kemp. The assets of the estate have been estimated at $200 to $300 million, but it would surely fetch far less if liquidated. Poco Bueno sired 36 AQHA Champions, and many of his offspring have excelled in all the different disciplines of modern day horse events. Heath@WaggonerRanch.com 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. Waggoner Ranch is a working one, with 20 cowboy camps scattered throughout the property to house the more than 120 workers. After that, negotiations were dead in the water. Gene remembered it differently. The summer after his discharge, in 1970, Bucky decided it was time to move to the ranch and begin his real education. We see a bunch of javelinas too, and a bobcat as big as a mountain lion. Weve root-plowed, sprayed, pulled it up with a tractor, dug it up with a backhoe. [6], In 1991, Electra Waggoner Biggs sued to be able to sell the ranch. Waggoner, a widower, and his young son, William Thomas, settled on Catlett Creek, near present-day Decatur. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners Framed Print by Richard W Linford. At Christmas, they exchange giftsby messenger. The terrain varies from fairly level to gently rolling, sloping and hilly, but there are areas of rougher breaks and scenic, very eroded, red clay badland. It doesnt seem real to even think about it, he says. Sachueista Gate - WT Waggoner Estate Ranch - Vernon, Texas Waggoner Ranch - AQHA - American Quarter Horse Association Growing up, the ranch didnt seem like a big deal, Bucky told me. One of the most interesting properties at Zacaweista is the gothic stone barn where Buster Wharton bred his polo ponies. Bernard Uechtritz, one of the property brokers, told the. Nothing is too trivial to spark an argument. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. Perhaps they are afraid of ghosts. 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. The house eventually fell apart and was torn down. Enlow is an advertising, media and fine arts photographer based in Fort Worth. 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. 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. The Big Pasture, however, remained available for grazing and hunting. Buckys pride in this place was unmistakable. Waggoner Ranch, the 800-square-mile plot of land in North Texas, is really big. Rani's World Foods (Texas & Nevada) - Indian supermarket chain. In 1879, the Waggoners foiled rustlers by changing their brand from the D-71 to the now-legendary three reverse Ds. 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. Or you draw a line and Ill take first pick.. 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. The United States Department of Agriculture, as part of a conservation project, had surveyed every foot of ground on the ranch, and Roberson fed this information into a database. What does it take to be a good cowboy? I ask. Its now the residence of Gene and Helen Willingham. 940-552-2521 x:270. Thats the only reason anyone would want to sell.. You have no voice here and you never will.. The other half belonged to Electra Waggoner Biggs, through various trusts. The house sits on high ground, mostly hidden by oak and pecan trees and a fieldstone wall. While drilling for water, W.T. 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. asked his children to draw cards for the three parcels. It was in terrible condition, Joline explained as she showed me through their home. He went on and on about how heartbroken he was and how much he missed them, but he didnt write them. The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. As land was cleared for settlement, he gradually moved west and by the late 1870s settled along Beaver Creek near Electra Texas. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Horses like Waggoners Rainy Day, Midnight, One Eyed Waggoner, Yellow Wolf, Yellow Jacket, Pretty Boy, Pretty Buck, Snipper W, Pep Up, Jesse James and of course Poco Bueno still appear in the pedigrees of many great horses today. 2021 Chas S Middleton and Son. 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. Historically, the Waggoner Ranch has been operated as a cow/calf ranching unit, with stocker cattle used for seasonal grazing on wheat fields. 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. Though there are more than two thousand miles of road inside the ranch, there are hardly any road signs or navigational landmarks. discovered oil while trying to drill for water, Hughes tells me.