The Waggoner Ranch is a historic

north Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

ranch located 13 miles south of

Vernon, Texas Vernon is a city and the county seat of Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. and as of the 2010 Census had a population of 11,002. History The original town was called Eagle Springs by the indigenous community as early as 1858. After th ...

. The land was used primarily to raise

crops A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponics ...

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk production). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf operat ...

and

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

as well as for

oil production Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dri ...

. It was notable for being the largest ranch within one fence in the United States.American Quarter Horse Association: Waggoner Ranch
It was originally established in 1852 near Vernon, Texas, by

Daniel Waggoner Daniel Waggoner (July 7, 1828 – September 5, 1902) was an early American settler and rancher in Texas. He also owned five banks, three cottonseed oil mills, and a coal company. He established the Waggoner Ranch, which spanned eight counties: Wise ...

under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son; his son being

William Thomas Waggoner William Thomas Waggoner (August 31, 1852 – December 11, 1934) was an American rancher, oilman, banker, horsebreeder and philanthropist from Texas. He was the owner of the Waggoner Ranch, where he found oil in 1903. He was the founding President o ...

. It was acquired by

Stan Kroenke Enos Stanley Kroenke (; born July 29, 1947) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the owner of Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which is the holding company of Arsenal F.C. of the Premier League and Arsenal W.F.C. of the WSL, the Los ...

, who is married to Ann Walton (niece of

Sam Walton Samuel Moore Walton (March 29, 1918 – April 5, 1992) was an American business magnate best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club, which he started in 1962 and 1983 respectively. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. grew to be the world's l ...

), in February 2016. At the time of acquisition, the ranch comprised , or but additional acreage was included in the sale making the total closer to .

Location

The ranch is located west of

Wichita Falls, Texas Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

, south of Vernon, near the Red River. Other towns nearby include Electra and Seymour. It is the second largest ranch in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(after the

King Ranch King Ranch is the largest ranch in the United States. At some it is larger than the state of Rhode Island and country of Luxembourg. It is mainly a cattle ranch, but also produced the Triple Crown winning racehorse Assault. The ranch is lo ...

), enclosing of land. It spans six counties and is half as large as

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Parts of it can be seen from highways U.S. 183 and

283 Year 283 ( CCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Carus and Carinus (or, less frequently, year 1036 ''Ab urbe cond ...

History

The ranch was originally established in 1852 near Vernon, Texas, by

under the name of Dan Waggoner & Son; his son being

, who was an infant at the time. Ranching operations began with 230 head of longhorn cattle and some horses. From 1889 to 1903, they acquired land in Wichita County,

Wilbarger County Wilbarger County ( ) is a county located in the North Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,887. The county seat is Vernon. The county was created in 1858 and later organized in 1881. Wilbarge ...

as well as Foard County, Knox County, Baylor County and

Archer County Archer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 8,560. Its county seat is Archer City. It is part of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area. History In 1858, the Texas Legislat ...

. The ranch spanned more than a million acres of land. After the death of Daniel Waggoner in 1902, his son W.T. Waggoner acquired more land. By 1903, he sold some of the land near China Creek to developers. Although it still spans six counties, it is primarily centered on Wichita County and Wilbarger County. W.T. Waggoner raised

Quarter Horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at ...

s on the ranch, including Poco Bueno, who was buried on the ranch. In 1902, W.T. Waggoner found oil while drilling for water. By 1909, W.T. 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. However, in 1923, he changed his mind, and set up a

Massachusetts trust A Massachusetts Business Trust (MBT) is a legal trust set up for the purposes of business, but not necessarily one that is operated in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They may also be referred to as an unincorporated business organization or U ...

. His children would elect a Board of Trustees, who would make decisions with him at the helm. After W.T. Waggoner's death, his three children, Guy Waggoner, E. Paul Waggoner and

Electra Waggoner Electra Waggoner (January 6, 1882 – November 26, 1925) was an American rancher and socialite from Texas. She was an heiress to the Waggoner Ranch, one of the largest ranches in the United States. The town of Electra, Texas was named in her honor ...

each inherited a section of the ranch, although there was still a Board of Trustees. Guy Waggoner lived there with his wife Anne Burnett, the daughter of

Samuel Burk Burnett Samuel Burk Burnett (January 1, 1849 – June 27, 1922) was an American cattleman and rancher from Texas, owner of the 6666 Ranch, and namesake of Burkburnett, Texas. Early life Samuel Burk Burnett was born on January 1, 1849, in Bates Count ...

and heiress of the

6666 Ranch The 6666 Ranch (also known as the Four Sixes Ranch or Quad Sixes) is a ranch in King County, Texas as well as Carson County and Hutchinson County. Location The main section of the ranch is located near the town of Guthrie in King County, Texa ...

from 1922 until their divorce. E. Paul Waggoner raised Quarter Horses on the ranch. Electra Waggoner mostly resided at Thistle Hill in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, although her husband, Albert Buck Wharton, operated a

livery yard A livery yard, livery stable or boarding stable, is a stable where horse owners pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses. A livery or boarding yard is not usually a riding school and the horses are not normally for hire (unless on work ...

and horse

stables A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

on the ranch. When Guy Waggoner died in 1950, his sons sold their share of the estate to members of the family. Specifically, this went to Albert Buckman Wharton, Jr., also known as ''Buster Wharton'', who was Electra Waggoner's son, and

Electra Waggoner Biggs Electra Waggoner Biggs (November 8, 1912 – April 23, 2001) was a Texas-born heiress, socialite and sculptor, widely known as owner of the Waggoner Ranch in Texas as well as her sculptures of Will Rogers, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Bob Ho ...

, who was E. Paul Waggoner's daughter. Buster raised polo ponies and established the El Ranchio Polo Club on the ranch. He once played there with

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

champion Cecil Smith. Meanwhile, Electra Waggoner Biggs became a renowned sculptor. In 1991, Electra Waggoner Biggs sued to be able to sell the ranch. Her second cousin, Albert Buckman Wharton III, also known as ''Bucky Wharton'', who was Buster Wharton's son, appealed to stop the liquidation. After Electra Waggoner Biggs's death, her share was inherited by Electra Waggoner Biggs's daughter Helen Biggs and her husband, Gene Willingham. The ranch has been surveyed by the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

for matters of preservation. Thirty cowboys, and about 120 people overall, are employed on the property. It has about 14,000 cows and bulls as well as 500 horses. It also includes 30,000 acres of arable land and about 1,100 producing oil wells. One of the lakes on the ranch provides water for the City of Wichita Falls. In August 2014, the ranch was listed on the real estate market with an asking price of million. It was ultimately sold in February 2016 to billionaire

, the husband of

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

heiress Ann Walton Kroenke and current owner of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

and the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

's Arsenal F.C.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waggoner Ranch 1852 establishments in Texas Ranches in Texas Wichita County, Texas Wilbarger County, Texas Polo clubs in the United States Walton family Companies established in 1852