Bucky wanted the ranch to be divided, not liquidated. 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. The ranch was established in 1849 and spans six Texas counties and almost 800 square miles. 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. One of the striking sights as you leave the ranch is the sudden appearance of enormous green fields of cotton, wheat, and alfalfa. Please create an account or shop as a guest. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. 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. By the turn of the century, settlers were overrunning Indian reservations, and the open range was all but gone. 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. Thistle Hill, as Electras mansion was called, stands to this day on the crest of Summit Avenue, near downtown. Worth Metroplex area. Gene has told people that the ranch would sell in no time, the whole 520,000 acres. Vista Caliente - Signed Print by Woodrow M. Blagg - Cowboys - Waggoner Shortly after leaving, he got his draft notice, at the height of the Vietnam War. B. Wharton III, known as Bucky. Many carry the bloodline of Poco Bueno. They were super, super people. Nevertheless, Smith resigned in 1997, tired of being caught in the middle of the power struggle. Each camp is equipped with a managers house, outbuildings and pens. 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. As the frontier pushed westward, he expanded his herd and bought more land, in Clay and Wichita counties. | [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. The W.T. All rights reserved. . Meanwhile, the Waggoner family tree was sprouting more branches. Legend has it that Electra once blew $1 million in a single day at Neiman Marcus. [11], The ranch has been surveyed by the United States Department of Agriculture for matters of preservation. Some people think that the last chance for a settlement died with Electra II. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. Sold! Texas's legendary Waggoner ranch bought by Arsenal owner Stan And so they were, for a hundred years and more. [8] Although it still spans six counties, it is primarily centered on Wichita County and Wilbarger County. Approximately 30,000 acres are in cultivation. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At. I didnt ask for the nuts and bolts, he said and walked away. [11] Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. They say he was as mad as a nest of hornets. Waggoner Ranch, among US' largest, listed for sale - Chron 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. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. [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. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? Dan took advantage of this great opportunity. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. LOCATION Brooks, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, and Willacy counties. With the trust on the verge of expiring, Bucky and Electra II agreed to extend it until March 31, 2003. He was teaching at Will Rogers Elementary School, in Houston, where Helen Biggs was also a teacher. Its a weird deal. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. 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 either didnt care or didnt notice that E. Pauls clanespecially his socialite wife, Helenconsidered Electras line of the family to be tainted and Buster to be an irresponsible spendthrift, and they were plotting for the day when they could force the Whartons out. They work six and sometimes seven days a week, from daylight until the job is done, often late at night. 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. 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. 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! Now he lives in the bunkhouse. Busters card room, on the second floor, which was once walled in leather, now has the original wood exposed. Its now the residence of Gene and Helen Willingham. Wichita Falls, the county seat of Wichita County, is approximately 20 miles east of the eastern boundary of the ranch. He knows the ranch, its cast of characters, and its skeletons and stories as well as any outsider. [8] W.T. Patricia Sharpe writes a regular restaurant column, Pats Pick, for Texas Monthly. 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. [9] One of the lakes on the ranch provides water for the City of Wichita Falls. Perhaps they are afraid of ghosts. But for how much longer? All I ever knew is the Waggoner Ranch, he tells me. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. 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. Waggoner Ranch is a working one, with 20 cowboy camps scattered throughout the property to house the more than 120 workers. [4][8] From 1889 to 1903, they acquired land in Wichita County, Wilbarger County as well as Foard County, Knox County, Baylor County and Archer County. Bickering and backstabbing have been a way of life in the family. 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. After a hard rain, this endless maze of graded red clay becomes a network of quagmires. Electra prevailed, as usual. 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. W T Waggoner Ranch Brand Honoring Waggoner Ranch Family and Owners Canvas Print by Richard W Linford. Stretching across six North Texas counties, the Waggoner Ranch is considered to be extremely well located. Ill draw a line and you take first pick, he offered. Reply Anonymous February 3, 2013 at 8:00 PM E. Paul was a dapper, dashing Hollywood-style cowboy, with a mustache and mischievous eyes. Waggoner Ranch - AQHA - American Quarter Horse Association 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. 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. [13] He once played there with polo champion Cecil Smith. At every opportunity, Dan Waggoner purchased land. Its the Story of Shankleville, One of the States Early Freedom Colonies. (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. But we are so far from the lights of townany townthat half an hour before daylight its still pitch black. 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 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. The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. The Waggoner has been owned by the same family almost as long as Texas been a state. She took everythingthe furniture, even the light fixtures. Handsome and trim, Joline once competed in the New York and Paris marathons and still gets up before first light to run. 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. The history of the land and the Waggoner family is so entwined with myth and legend that nobody can untangle the truth. [9] In 1902, W.T. In a January 2003 deposition, Gene said he sent Bucky his own draft of the map but never got a reply. Vernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County, is located approximately 12 miles due north of the ranch. Look out there! But by the 1920s, with the advent of the automobile, W.T.s attitude about oil had changed. A portion of this acreage is seeded to very productive Coastal Bermuda. The ranch's wild steers, huge supply of . This legendary horse was named the Grand Champion Stallion at Denvers National Western Stock Show, the Fort Worth Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, and the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City. I cant sit down, never could, he tells me. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. He offered him pennies on the dollar for his fifty percent share., It was a paltry amount, Roberson agreed. The greatest annual precipitation occurs to the east, in Archer and Wichita Counties, at just over 29 inches per year annually. 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. Hughes grew up in Vernon and has been hunting and fishing on the ranch since high school. The party bagged seventeen wolves (some of which were really coyotes), and the president beat a five-foot rattlesnake to death with his quirt. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. All pens are very well maintained. has created a haven for deer, turkey, quail, dove, waterfowl and feral hogs. Its a trade that suits only a select few for whom the life satisfies rather than restricts. The Wichita River, the two branches of Beaver Creek, countless small streams and tributaries, and dozens of stock tanks supply the ranchs water. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Electra died in 1925 at the age of 43, her life and much of her fortune spent on extravagance. . American Made Cap Company Dan sent Tom (his son), who was only 16 years old at the time, to Kansas City with a herd of 5,000 steers. Waggoner divided the Waggoner Ranch into four subsections: one for himself (White Face); and three smaller 8,500 acre sub-ranches for his children: Zacaweista, Four Corners, and Santa Ros. 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. One of the most interesting properties at Zacaweista is the gothic stone barn where Buster Wharton bred his polo ponies. 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. By the time he was 27, Tom had full reins of the Waggoner cattle empire.. Northwest Texas was open range in the 1850s, when Dan Waggoner and his fifteen-year-old black slave trailed 242 Longhorn cattle and 6 horses to Wise County. 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.