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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. Salt cedar is found along creek and river courses, and cedar is moderate to dense in the rougher, eroded areas of the ranch. The ranch originally operated under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son. I worked a couple of weeks gauging wells. [4] It was acquired by Stan Kroenke, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of Sam Walton), in February 2016. (It still is, except for the magnificent Wise County courthouse.) The Waggoner Ranch has been very well managed over time, and considering the recent four-year drought, the worst in recorded history, the ranch supports an overall good turf of native grasses. The 1905 hunt was a classic Waggoner production. They married in 1969. Waggoner Estate Ranch and related assets are now, for the first time ever, being offered for sale at a guideline listed price of. The farmers probably didnt need intimidating. Hawley has a cell phone handy, and the ranch radio under the dash crackles with voices from isolated posts miles away. The Waggoner Ranch got into oil in a big way, and today oil wells still methodically pump as cattle graze around them.. How could things have spun so wildly out of control? Because of Toms great influence on the horse industry, he became a founding member of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). For more than a century the520,000-acre Waggoner Ranch has been an inseparable part of the culture and fabric of the Red River country west of Wichita Fallsand of Texas itself. Now 56, Bucky is one of the protagonists in the battle over the future of the ranch. Its now the home of Electras grandson, Bucky Wharton, his wife, Joline, and their two children. The summer after his discharge, in 1970, Bucky decided it was time to move to the ranch and begin his real education. A unified decision has now been made by the shareholders to sell this legendary ranch. Skyfood Supermarket (six locations in New York) - Asian Oriental Supermarket. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. The assets of the estate have been estimated at $200 to $300 million, but it would surely fetch far less if liquidated. Bickering and backstabbing have been a way of life in the family. W. T. Waggoner Ranch is located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas with office headquarters in Vernon. The two sides have never been able to agree on a replacement. 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. I got two dollars a match. Cecil Smith, the world-famous ten-goal player, rode with Busters Waggoner Ranch team. 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. Waggoner Ranch cattle have been 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford. 20% off all products! Its like watching the death of a huge and magnificent animal: People cant bear to look, yet theyre powerless to turn away. 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. Growing up, the ranch didnt seem like a big deal, Bucky told me. I worked for six months with various people in the oil and the ranching divisions, he told me. Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch. Both ranches once covered more than a million acres. I never saw him on horseback except during a parade. E. Paul was a famous charmer, though his wife, Helen, perhaps saw his romanticism through more practical eyes. 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. In the lower draws and creek bottoms, hackberry and soapberry trees are common. He first settled on Catlett Creek near the site of present Decatur. He borrowed a large sum from his nonagenarian grandmother, Ella, who later transferred the note to E. Paul. 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). The wooded river and creek courses offer exceptional cover and desirable habitat for native game. One of the most interesting properties at Zacaweista is the gothic stone barn where Buster Wharton bred his polo ponies. Without a trustee to keep them at arms length, they set off on a collision course. The majority of the cultivated land is farmed on a dryland basis, but three circle pivot systems are used to irrigate a small portion of the farmland. Hunting big game in Africa and hosting extravagant parties at the ranch occupied most of Busters time. By all rights the Waggoner Ranch ought to be the equal of the King Ranch in Texas lore. I saw them together at a backyard wedding two years ago, but they stayed on opposite sides of the yard, Jim Hughes told me. [8] The ranch spanned more than a million acres of land. Sep 1989 - Present33 years 6 months. 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. 1700 Deaf Smith St., Vernon, TX 76384, US. 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. The King Ranch, based in south Texas, has more acreage spread over several parcels. $ 58.00. This is the job I set my sights on, he says. A drought in the last part of the nineteenth century made the land where the Waggoner Ranch now sits nearly useless for growing crops. Recently, new ownership has brought substantial investment in both equipment and design. Subscribe Contact Us We love our customers, so feel free to visit during normal business hours. [6] Guy Waggoner lived there with his wife Anne Burnett, the daughter of Samuel Burk Burnett and heiress of the 6666 Ranch from 1922 until their divorce. Waggoner, a widower, and his young son, William Thomas, settled on Catlett Creek, near present-day Decatur. He had grown up in Albuquerque, where his mother, the third of Buster Whartons four wives, had moved after their divorce, when Bucky was two. Another number brand is placed on the left hip to denote the year. The ranch is fenced and crossfenced, with an estimated several thousand miles of ranch roads and ranch fencing. Sign up to receive timely, useful information in your inbox. Hes not a large man, but his pleasant and unassuming manner and his quiet, considered confidence give him stature. After that, negotiations were dead in the water. Gene remembered it differently. Approximately 41.67% of the mineral rights with a pro-rata portion of the executive leasing rights are expected to convey with the sale. Most other ranches in this general area also rely on creek water and earthen ponds. 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. In over 165 years of the Waggoner family ownership, commercial hunting has never been allowed on this expansive ranch. This was probably a bluff. According to a 2005 article in The Western Horseman Magazine, But another event in 1902 had a lasting impact on the Waggoner Ranch. Its now the residence of Gene and Helen Willingham. 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. At midnight, March 31, 2003, the clock ran out on the W. T. Waggoner trust. 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. Electra prevailed, as usual. Historically, the Waggoner Ranch has been operated as a cow/calf ranching unit, with stocker cattle used for seasonal grazing on wheat fields. [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. Both were famous for breeding, the King Ranch for Santa Gertrudis cattle, the Waggoner Ranch for cutting horses. John and Electra had two daughtersa third Electra and Helen. [5], The ranch is located west of Wichita Falls, Texas, south of Vernon, near the Red River. 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. Waggoner Estate Ranch. These cows are bred to Hereford, Angus, and Charolais bulls. A municipal waterline from nearby Seymour serves some of the homes located at Lake Kemp. Bernard Uechtritz of Briggs-Freeman Sothebys International Realty in Dallas, and Sam Middleton, of Chas. It's one of the largest ranches in the world with 825,00 acres. Richard King and Captain James Walworth's King Ranch brand was registered June 27, 1859 3. | There are several other large ponds, as well as hundreds of livestock ponds scattered throughout the property. W.T. Moore resigned as trustee in the early eighties, at a critical moment for the estate. 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. Thats the case that has been snaking through Judge Tom Neelys Forty-sixth District Court, in Wilbarger County, for these past twelve years. Wharton, a Philadelphia blue blood she met while traveling in the Himalayas. 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. [6], The ranch was originally established in 1852 near Vernon, Texas, by Daniel Waggoner under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son; his son being William Thomas Waggoner, who was an infant at the time. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire, More Colorful Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At. Shortly after leaving, he got his draft notice, at the height of the Vietnam War. 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. Didnt any of them have to work or suffer to get it. 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. 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. Other areas show substantial regrowth, and those areas of the ranch with a dense canopy of mesquite offer exceptional protection for wildlife. Historically, potable drinking water has been an issue on the Waggoner Ranch, and for that matter, on many other ranches in this area of North Texas. 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. 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. [3][14][15] It was ultimately sold in February 2016 to billionaire Stan Kroenke, the husband of Wal-Mart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke and current owner of the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams and the Premier League's Arsenal F.C. He secretly wanted his favorite, Electra, to draw Zacaweista, because it was nearest to his homestead. 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. 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. There is also a rumor that the Willinghams have already bought a home in Fort Worth. Both families are already fabulously wealthy, though the wealth is in the land rather than their pockets. Then, in 1997, Bucky and Roberson drew another map, this time setting aside the two homesteads, and again offered Gene first choice. 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. [6] Meanwhile, Electra Waggoner Biggs became a renowned sculptor. The ranch includes thousands of cattle, hundreds of horses and oil wells, and 30,000 acres of. Some people dont see it, but shes beautiful. Nearby Vernon, which serves as the famed headquarters for the ranch operations office complex, receives an average of 28 inches per year. Waggoner Ranch, the 800-square-mile plot of land in North Texas, is really big. The main set of shipping pens are located along the highway at the Zacaweista Headquarters Division. The W.T. 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. As Smith put it, They were a beer-and-champagne twosome.. Cowboys are a different breed. Our cattle herd consists of approximately 10,000 mother cows comprised of 60 percent Hereford and 40 percent Angus/Hereford and Brangus/Hereford cross. To Buckys surprise, the Biggs family responded by filing suit, asking the court to liquidate the estate. 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. He sits across the table from me in his starched jeans and freshly shined boots, ramrod straight, his hat resting in his lap, his gray hair slicked down. Waggoner Estate operating approximately 150 of these wells and 40 independent operators operating the balance. Two of the camp divisions, the Zacaweista and the Santa Rosa, are very highly improved. Jim Jennings, in a 2005 article in The Quarter Horse Journal, states, By 1868, the Waggoner outfit had grown considerably, but help was still short. Mesquite is the major invader in this part of Texas. In The American Quarter Horse Journal, Jim Jennings writes, The Waggoner contribution to the Quarter Horse industry has long been recognized. And so they were, for a hundred years and more. The family feud began the moment the old man rigged the game. SOLD. 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. Marketing is done through private treaty and production sales. Neither the Willinghams nor the Whartons have the funds to buy the other out. Though there are more than two thousand miles of road inside the ranch, there are hardly any road signs or navigational landmarks. Though he wouldnt talk about the lawsuit, he spoke freely about his bewildering transformation from New Mexico schoolboy to co-owner of one of the countrys most famous ranches. Why do they fight on? Today, it is estimated there are over 1,000 producing oil wells on the Waggoner Ranch, with the W.T. Electra married A.B. asked his children to draw cards for the three parcels. 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. In 1869 Dan made seventeen-year-old W.T. Its a weird deal. She was strikingly pretty, with a long, sensitive face and dark, sparkling eyes. Maybe thats why Judge Neely told me that he has no intention of setting a deadline. Jim Jennings, in a 2005 article in The Quarter Horse Journal, states, By 1868, the Waggoner outfit had grown considerably, but help was still short. The facility is equipped to do embryo transfers and has both indoor and outdoor arenas, two barns, and over 30 stalls. 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. Most sets of pens are capable of handling several thousand head of cattle at one time. In 1923, W. T. formed what is known today as the W. T. Waggoner Estate. 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. [10], By 1909, W.T. Poco Bueno sired 36 AQHA Champions, and many of his offspring have excelled in all the different disciplines of modern day horse events. Its absence symbolizes the fate of the Guy Waggoner clan in the history of the ranch. It was in terrible condition, Joline explained as she showed me through their home. They have been up since three and have had a hefty cookhouse breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. The Wichita River, the two branches of Beaver Creek, countless small streams and tributaries, and dozens of stock tanks supply the ranchs water. 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. The property is divided into approximately 16 camp or division units. 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. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. [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. The W.T. The house sits on high ground, mostly hidden by oak and pecan trees and a fieldstone wall. W.T. Waggoner biographer Roze McCoy Porter writes that Electra spent $90,000 remodeling the one-year-old mansion and another $55,000 on draperies. 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. Ranching operations began with 230 head of longhorn cattle and some horses. They gathered information on the value of individual pastures, with the help of foreman Jimmy Lee Smith. 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. Numerous large, functional and well designed sets of shipping and working pens are scattered throughout the ranch. [6], After W.T. Three pivot sprinkler systems are used to distribute irrigation water to three large fields on the ranch. One morning she packed, jumped in her car, and headed for town, not bothering to stop and open any of the ten gates on the way. 940-552-2521 x:270. Buster Wharton Jr., a polo player, playboy, and famous drunk who died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1963. An additional 320 acres were then purchased in 1856 near the small town of Decatur, marking the first major expansion of Waggoner's estate. 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. Vernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County, is located approximately 12 miles due north of the ranch. Then, twelve years ago, the two branches of the Waggoner family that control the W. T. Waggoner estate, which in turn controls the ranch, locked themselves in a lawsuit no one can win. Depending upon weather and moisture conditions, the ranch has been operated with 11,000 14,000 mother cows, plus calves, bulls and replacements; however, due to the recent drought, and in order to protect the ranch, current stocking rates have been reduced to around 7,000 mother cows/calves, plus replacements and bulls. Santa Rosa Lake covers approximately 1,400 surface acres when full. There is a photograph of her in the Red River Valley Museum, near Vernon College, along with a large collection of her work: busts of Will Rogers, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Bob Hope, Knute Rockne, Amon Carter, John Nance Garner. After her husband died, Electra II did not keep up the pressure on Bucky, as John Biggs and Killen Moore had done. W.T. The gifts were not entirely altruistic. [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 majority of the ranch is in native pasture, supporting a mixed variety of palatable native grasses. All rights reserved. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. [6][12], When Guy Waggoner died in 1950, his sons sold their share of the estate to members of the family. Many thousands of additional acres of native pasture are suitable for cultivation, if desired. While drilling for water, W.T. 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 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. This is a robust and versatile multi-faceted operation like none other available on the market today. 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.. 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. Hed consult with him and get back to us. What must be going through his mind? But the Willinghams arent talkingabout the lawsuit or anything else. The substantial structural improvements, thousands of miles of fences and roads, hundreds of earthen pond dam sites, rolling stock, waterlines, natural gas and oilfield lines, oil field equipment, the Waggoner office building, the included livestock (horses and cattle) and the entire operation are offered as a turn-key sale on an as-is, where-is basis. a full partner, gave him $12, a group of drovers, and fifty hard-used saddle horses, and sent him to Abilene, Kansas, with a herd of five thousand steers. The Bronc-busting, Cow-punching, Death-defying Legend of Boots ONeal, At Texas Swingers Clubs, the Lifestyle Is Booming. Proctor, whose daddy was a Waggoner cowboy too, went to work for the ranch in 1937, at age thirteen. Today the ranch consists of approximately 535,000 acres, and is recognized as the largest ranch in Texas under one fence. Its the Story of Shankleville, One of the States Early Freedom Colonies. Legend has it that Electra once blew $1 million in a single day at Neiman Marcus. Cowboying isnt a profession, its a life, but if the Waggoner Ranch is broken up into pieces, that life will exist no more. 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. Ill draw a line and you take first pick, he offered. There are none to be seen, because there is not a drop of groundwater. All I ever knew is the Waggoner Ranch, he tells me. Heath@WaggonerRanch.com Apparently they just agreed to continue to disagree. Two large, privately-owned lakes are located on the Waggoner Ranch. The greatest annual precipitation occurs to the east, in Archer and Wichita Counties, at just over 29 inches per year annually. E. Paul was a dapper, dashing Hollywood-style cowboy, with a mustache and mischievous eyes. [9] It also includes 30,000 acres of arable land and about 1,100 producing oil wells. They cant wait to get started. Bucky looks more like a Little League coach than a cattle baron. Now he lives in the bunkhouse. Copyright 2023 Waggoner Ranch Store - All Rights Reserved. But for how much longer? 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. 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. In 1877, Burk Burnett (6666 Ranch), Col. C.C. That became the seed money for the Waggoner empire. 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. Buster never liked cows; the only thing about the ranch he cared about was horses, especially his polo ponies. At Christmas, they exchange giftsby messenger. In total, the ranch spans nearly 800 square miles. Waggoner Ranch cowboys like and respect both families and consider them fair and generous. 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. Hawley is the ranch manager, and Im sitting in the passenger seat of his pickup, holding my third cup of coffee. She joined him in the apartment, and they set to work remodeling the Zacaweista mansion, which had sat vacant for nearly a dozen years. [8] By 1903, he sold some of the land near China Creek to developers. He was a nineteen-year-old Army sergeant at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, when he learned that the lawsuits had been resolved and that he was heir to 50 percent of the W. T. Waggoner estate. 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. hoped that his kids would learn to ranch and develop a sense of responsibility. The W. T. Waggoner Estate is the nation's largest ranch under one fence. A complete list of this inventory can be made available. Choose from multiple print sizes, border colors, and canvas materials. On each of those transactions, Kroenke had relied on Leadbetter's counsel and the insights of Sam Connolly, general manager of Kroenke Ranches. Waggoner Ranch livestock have access to water at both lakes. The Waggoner Ranch was ordered liquidated. [6] Thirty cowboys, and about 120 people overall, are employed on the property. Back in town, I am introduced to 79-year-old G. L. Proctor, the old cowboy who Weldon Hawley has modeled himself after. Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch, including Poco Bueno, who was buried on the ranch. St Louis, Missouri, United States. The ranch's wild steers, huge supply of . The cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch are living legends, men who embody the attributes of the lean and dusty riders who braved the wild a century ago to make room for a herd. I think there were twenty-five or twenty-seven attorneys involved, he recalled. Thats the only reason anyone would want to sell.. When I asked Joline if they had found any memorabilia from Electras time, she laughed. 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. [13] He once played there with polo champion Cecil Smith. The W.T. The history of the land and the Waggoner family is so entwined with myth and legend that nobody can untangle the truth. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States. 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. Now the fate of the ranch was up to the court. This huge block of farmland is crossfenced into large manageable fields which are suitable for grazing thousands of head of wheat pasture cattle. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. As the frontier pushed westward, he expanded his herd and bought more land, in Clay and Wichita counties. 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. Lonny Morrison [Genes attorney] said he knew an expert who could advise on that matter. The Waggoner Ranch is a historic north Texas ranch located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas. 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. Houses back then were very dark, with low ceilings and small windows. He pointed to an impenetrable thicket of mesquite and told me, Thirty years ago we cleared that pasture, all the way to Beaver Creek. Approximately 160,000 acres of the 560,000 acres areproven prolific oilproperties. Land Broker and Land Appraisalfirm established in 1920. It is as much a part of the legacy as horses, cattle, oil, opulent mansions, divorces, and drunken sprees. 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.