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. 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. 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. Killen knew that Bucky was strapped with legal fees from the court battles of the sixties, Hughes told me. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. Didnt any of them have to work or suffer to get it. Even the water in Beaver Creek was reda sign, Bucky said, that it was fresh and contained no gypsum. Its pastures and wheat fields, cattle and horses, mansions. W.T. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. Each camp is equipped with a managers house, outbuildings and pens. 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. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. So what does it all mean? There are several other large ponds, as well as hundreds of livestock ponds scattered throughout the property. 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. They plied him with extravagant gifts: engraved pearl-handled revolvers, diamond stick pins, junkets to Fort Worth, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. [11] Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. Ill draw a line and you take first pick, he offered. All framed prints are professionally printed, framed, assembled, and shipped within 3 - 4 business days and delivered ready-to-hang on your wall. Waggoner first settled his wife and son, William Thomas (Tom) Waggoner,qv in a home on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. Weve root-plowed, sprayed, pulled it up with a tractor, dug it up with a backhoe. When they supplied them, he fumed. But the difference is that the cattle barons of the King Ranch led private, almost secretive lives, running their empire themselves and living on the land, while the Waggoners turned their ranch over to professionals, moved away, and pursued flamboyance. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. In over 165 years of the Waggoner family ownership, commercial hunting has never been allowed on this expansive ranch. It was in terrible condition, Joline explained as she showed me through their home. This was a time when much of Texas was open range and unexplored. 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. 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. An enormous picture window with a panoramic view of the ranch replaced the porthole-size window of 1910. Electra prevailed, as usual. Many thousands of additional acres of native pasture are suitable for cultivation, if desired. Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845, so the Waggoner Ranch is nearly as old as Texas itself. The current inventory of studs, mares, geldings and colts is approximately 474 head. The W.T. In his entire life, he never drew a paycheck from anyone but the Waggoners. 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 Willingham house is a low, ranch-style brick structure, set behind a wall of trees. The Municipal Airport at Wichita Falls is served by American Eagle, and the runway is 13,100 feet long. The Big Pasture, however, remained available for grazing and hunting. The horses are bred for working ranch purposes,and many still carry the bloodline of the famous quarter horse, Poco Bueno; Decendants of the Waggoner family sold the ranch to Kroenke-Ranches of Bozeman, MT in 2016. Lonny Morrison [Genes attorney] said he knew an expert who could advise on that matter. 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. In later years, W.T. The only thing I can figure, it was give to them. 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. [9], In August 2014, the ranch was listed on the real estate market with an asking price of US$725 million. They cant wait to get started. Even when he was a young lad of 14, W.T. We always meet with our employees present, and nothing is really handled. They have quarreled over which wells to cap or abandon, over control of the corporate airplane, over the purchase of bulls and the size of cow herds. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. 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. Two large, privately-owned lakes are located on the Waggoner Ranch. On each of those transactions, Kroenke had relied on Leadbetter's counsel and the insights of Sam Connolly, general manager of Kroenke Ranches. 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. The two sides have never been able to agree on a replacement. Wharton, a Philadelphia blue blood she met while traveling in the Himalayas. All during the spring and summer of 2003, they talked of little else. The King Ranch, based in south Texas, has more acreage spread over several parcels. 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. The 1905 hunt was a classic Waggoner production. As the frontier pushed westward, he expanded his herd and bought more land, in Clay and Wichita counties. [6] It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. In 1877, Burk Burnett (6666 Ranch), Col. C.C. Our ranching operation includes, cattle, horses and the farm. It doesnt seem real to even think about it, he says. Waggoner Ranch is a working one, with 20 cowboy camps scattered throughout the property to house the more than 120 workers. There is also a rumor that the Willinghams have already bought a home in Fort Worth. But even as board members, they were powerless to exercise any authority over the ranch, except to elect future trustees. 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. He first settled on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. [11], The ranch has been surveyed by the United States Department of Agriculture for matters of preservation. As land was cleared for settlement, he gradually moved west and by the late 1870s settled along Beaver Creek near Electra Texas. Waggoner Ranch is, the five-time winner of the Texas Ranch Roundup and a recipient of the American Quarter Horse Associations Best of the Remuda Award.. Its now the residence of Gene and Helen Willingham. 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. Now 56, Bucky is one of the protagonists in the battle over the future of the ranch. Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch. [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. 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. . W.T. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. LOCATION Brooks, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Nueces, and Willacy counties. 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. Bernard Uechtritz, one of the property brokers, told the. The other wants to sell the ranch and divide the assets. They almost killed him with kindness, literally. Nothing is too trivial to spark an argument. He built the newlyweds an eighteen-room mansion in Fort Worth, where he later built a twenty-story office building as the base for his empire. Buckys pride in this place was unmistakable. Genes got to drive within fifty feet of Buckys house every morning and again every evening to get to his own place. 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. [7] Parts of it can be seen from highways U.S. 183 Wichita Falls, the county seat of Wichita County, is approximately 20 miles east of the eastern boundary of the ranch. You have no voice here and you never will.. I cant sit down, never could, he tells me. Skyfood Supermarket (six locations in New York) - Asian Oriental Supermarket. The main set of shipping pens are located along the highway at the Zacaweista Headquarters Division. 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. He secretly wanted his favorite, Electra, to draw Zacaweista, because it was nearest to his homestead. All rights reserved. It may be hard to truly comprehend the sheer vastness of the Waggoner Ranch. 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. Many carry the bloodline of Poco Bueno. Land Broker and Land Appraisalfirm established in 1920. At midnight, March 31, 2003, the clock ran out on the W. T. Waggoner trust. This is what shes good at, raising cattle. Hawley is 52 and has been at the ranch since 1972, working his way up from cowpuncher to straw boss to headquarters boss and finally to ranch manager. The Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. E. Paul, a whiskey-drinking, poker-playing party animal, stayed married to his wife, Helen, for fifty years, but few people doubted the rumors that he kept mistresses in Mexico and South Texas. On the other three sides are a number of buildings constructed of identical reddish-brown stone, quarried on the eastern part of the ranch. Subscribe Contact Us We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours. WHAT WE DO: We deliver strategic, brand-driven marketing communications solutions and deploy content that truly resonates . Enlow is an advertising, media and fine arts photographer based in Fort Worth. 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!