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. Heath@WaggonerRanch.com I just knew that life there was a lot different from life in Albuquerque. In 1963, when Bucky was fifteen, Buster Wharton died, leaving a will that gave his share of the Waggoner estate to his widow and his shotguns to Bucky. We try not to put stress on the livestock.. They cant wait to get started. In one, he wished Electra happy birthday and said, I bought you a $2,500 bond.. Very few test wells havepenetrated the remaining 400,000 acres. ACRES 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. 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. As previously noted, this massive holding spans six North Texas counties. [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. Buster too had multiple spouses (four, to be exact), but his only heir was A. Its a weird deal. 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. Marketing is done through private treaty and production sales. B. Wharton III, known as Bucky. When I asked Joline if they had found any memorabilia from Electras time, she laughed. In one last attempt to keep the range open, W.T. The Willingham house is a low, ranch-style brick structure, set behind a wall of trees. Now the fate of the ranch was up to the court. The cowboys are already waiting on horseback just outside the loading pens, cutting up like schoolboys awaiting the bell for recess. This is your chance to purchase the W.T. As the sun begins to crawl over the horizon, Hawley marvels at the endless prairie. What does it take to be a good cowboy? I ask. 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. Dan Waggoner passed away in 1903, and his son, W. T. (Tom) Waggoner continued to expand his ranching interests. SOLD. Waggoner, a widower, and his young son, William Thomas, settled on Catlett Creek, near present-day Decatur. Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store Waggoner Ranch Store. WHAT WE DO: We deliver strategic, brand-driven marketing communications solutions and deploy content that truly resonates . At Christmas, they exchange giftsby messenger. This rare phenomenon. At an early age, Dan started building what would become a ranching empire and founded the Waggoner Ranch in 1849. It was in terrible condition, Joline explained as she showed me through their home. The history of the land and the Waggoner family is so entwined with myth and legend that nobody can untangle the truth. 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. They have been up since three and have had a hefty cookhouse breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. 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.. Look out there! After the first freeze, 120,000 geese will land on Santa Rosa Lake and feast on winter wheat fields. The cowboys sided with Bucky, who felt that hunters left litter, cut fences, and left gates open. Now look at it! [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. By the turn of the century, settlers were overrunning Indian reservations, and the open range was all but gone. Approximately 30,000 acres are in cultivation. . Each camp is equipped with a managers house, outbuildings and pens. They are already being augmented by Kroenke Ranches' world-class commercial Angus herd. 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.. They married in 1969. His most arresting feature is his green eyes, which are reminiscent of the luminous eyes that made his grandmother, the original Electra, such a commanding figure. 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. That became the seed money for the Waggoner empire. There is also a rumor that the Willinghams have already bought a home in Fort Worth. The facility is equipped to do embryo transfers and has both indoor and outdoor arenas, two barns, and over 30 stalls. In total, the ranch spans nearly 800 square miles. I was there. Please create an account or shop as a guest. There are several other large ponds, as well as hundreds of livestock ponds scattered throughout the property. Shortly after leaving, he got his draft notice, at the height of the Vietnam War. Since his retirement, in 1991, Proctor has lived in Vernon, raising a few cows and tending his yard. 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. All together, as one may imagine, with this many contiguous acres, there is an immense variety of land types on the Waggoner. 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. Stretching across six North Texas counties, the Waggoner Ranch is considered to be extremely well located. I think there were twenty-five or twenty-seven attorneys involved, he recalled. The bidding period on the ranch, going for $725 million, ended Oct. 20 with about six serious potential buyers. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. The many improvements and related assets mentioned above combine to offer the purchaser an extremely attractive depreciation schedule. (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. At every opportunity, Dan Waggoner purchased land. Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. 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. HOUCHRON CAPTION (07/27/2003): A calf is branded on the ranch in 1983. Her best-known work is the statue of Will Rogers on horseback at the entrance to the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, in Fort Worth. 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. We have unique items that feature our brand. The Waggoner is one of the 20 largest cattle ranches in the U.S. and is known worldwide for its quarter horses. (Tom) Waggoner had a good eye for quality horse flesh and developed a herd of broodmares to produce working ranch geldings for his cowboys. In the late sixties Bucky attended the University of the Americas, in Mexico City. Joe Roberson, who was the estates auditor for many years, describes him this way: Big belt buckle, expensive boots, a bottle of whiskey. E. Paul had a good eye for horseshe bought Poco Bueno, the great cutting horse sireand loved to be seen as the ultimate cattle baron, but a retired Waggoner Ranch foreman named G. L. Proctor told me, He wasnt much of a rider. Most other ranches in this general area also rely on creek water and earthen ponds. The history and the legend surrounding the Waggoner Ranch are as big as the ground it covers. Numerous smaller cultivated fields are scattered throughout the ranch. 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 Waggoner Ranch was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. W.T. Reply Anonymous February 3, 2013 at 8:00 PM Waggoner Ranch cowboys like and respect both families and consider them fair and generous. Approximately 41.67% of the mineral rights with a pro-rata portion of the executive leasing rights are expected to convey with the sale. W.T. By contrast, Bucky is reserved, private, and serious about his business affairs. Nobodys sure. 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. 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. Waggoner had built a great ranch, but in 1909 he was 57 years old and thinking about its future. A granite tombstone, set in the center of a small, neatly trimmed pasture, marks the grave of the greatest cutting horse of all time. Moore astonished Bucky by trying to buy his stock in the estate. Fort Worth-based Jeremy Enlow was given exclusive access to the cowboys behind the prestigious reversed triple D brand of the Waggoner Ranch, the largest ranch in the United States under one fence. . Poco Bueno died in 1969 and was buried in a standing position in front of the main ranch entrance. To make the trip, Dan gave Tom $12, a group of drovers, and 50 saddle horses, all of which had sores on their backs from heavy use. A granite marker, weighing four tons, notes his grave site. The last e-mail I got from him, he testified, [was] five years ago.. Bernard Uechtritz of Briggs-Freeman Sothebys International Realty in Dallas, and Sam Middleton, of Chas. (It still is, except for the magnificent Wise County courthouse.) The ranch was established in 1849 and spans six Texas counties and almost 800 square miles. Both lakes offer good fishing, boating, and water skiing, and the Waggoner Ranch leases out approximately 500 privately-owned housing sites surrounding these two lakes. The Waggoner has been owned by the same family almost as long as Texas been a state. It is as much a part of the legacy as horses, cattle, oil, opulent mansions, divorces, and drunken sprees. The W.T. They plied him with extravagant gifts: engraved pearl-handled revolvers, diamond stick pins, junkets to Fort Worth, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. 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. After a big wedding in Decatur, the couple honeymooned in Europe and then planned to settle in Philadelphia. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. The sale of the iconic Waggoner Ranch, while marking the end of one era, creates for a new owner the opportunity to begin another. They wintered the herd that year in Clay County and the following spring drove it to market, netting a profit of $55,000. After the Biggses requested liquidation, he hired Hughes and Roberson to draw a map, splitting the ranch in a way that would be acceptable to both sides. The party bagged seventeen wolves (some of which were really coyotes), and the president beat a five-foot rattlesnake to death with his quirt. Add to cart. I worked for six months with various people in the oil and the ranching divisions, he told me. American Made Cap has manufactured for all types of customers, from professional baseball teams to local ranches, including the world-famous Waggoner Ranch just down the road. Can College Sports Get More Absurd Than SMU Joining the Pac-12? All during the spring and summer of 2003, they talked of little else. 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. The settlers, most of them German or Czech, moved north of Paradise Creek, which runs just beyond the present northern boundary of the ranch. [8] The ranch spanned more than a million acres of land. The Reversed 3Ds is still used as a symbol representing the historic Waggoner Ranch. W.T. Waggoner first settled his wife and son, William Thomas (Tom) Waggoner,qv in a home on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. [14] Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as Bucky Wharton, who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. Subscribe Contact Us We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours. According to a 2005 article in The Western Horseman Magazine, But another event in 1902 had a lasting impact on the Waggoner Ranch. 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. St Louis, Missouri, United States. By the 1880s, the Waggoners Victorian mansion, El Castile, was the most prominent structure in Decatur.