Very Sad... FAMED WAGGONER RANCH LISTED FOR SALE AT $725 MILLION Aug. 8, 2014 By Glory Ann Kurtz Entrance to the W. T. Waggoner Ranch outside of Vernon, Texas, from the ranchs web site. The Vernon Daily Record has reported that after years of fighting in the courts, the W. T. Waggoner Ranch in North Texas is for sale. A state judge approved the liquidation Wednesday, Aug. 7, in Vernon, Texas. The ranch is one of the largest ranches in the U.S. and the liquidation would end decades of lawsuits by the heirs of W. T. Waggoner, a Texas cattle baron who established the estate in 1923. The ranch is listed with brokers Sam Middleton, Lubbock, Texas and Bernie Uechtritz, Dallas. According to the article, Euchtritz says the 510,0000-acre Waggoner is the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. The estate also includes hundreds of houses and horses, thousands of head of cattle, 1,200 oil wells and 30,000 acres of cultivated land. Six generations have lived and worked raising cattle, crops, Quarter Horses and oilrigs for more than 150 years on the huge chunk of West Texas. However, this is the second time that a judge has ordered the property liquidated to end a legal battle between two sides of the family who can’t agree on how to run the ranch. W. T. Waggoner from the ranchs web site. According to the Waggoner Ranch web site, the ranch that is located 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas, was established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner. He began buying land in western Wise County in 1870. As land was cleared for settlement, he gradually moved west and by the late 1870s settled along Beaver Creek near Electra, Texas. Dan Waggoner passed away in 1903 and his son, W. T. (Tom) Waggoner, continued to expand his ranching interests. In 1923 he formed the W. T. Waggoner Estate, serving as trustee, and his three children: Guy Waggoner Electra Waggoner Wharton and E. Paul Waggoner comprised the Board of Directors. The Ranch is a five-time winner of the Texas Ranch Roundup and a recipient of the American Quarter Horse Association’s (AQHA) “Best of the Remuda Award.” The ranch is also famous for owning and promoting Poco Bueno, the first Quarter Horse to be insured for $100,000. He was foaled on April 10, 1944 and purchased by E. Paul Waggoner in 1945 for $5,700. The famous cutting horse died Nov. 28, 1969 and Mr. Waggoner left specific instructions in his will that Poco Bueno was to be buried in a standing position in a grave across from the ranch entrance on Hwy. 283. A granite marker weighing 4 tons was engraved with his name, picture and the following: Champion and Sire of Champions. In 1990, Poco Bueno was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. The estate is managed by A.B. Wharton and Gene Willingham as co-directors, with the Biggs, represented by Gene Willingham, lived at the house known as Santa Rosa , while the Wharton branch resided at a home dubbed Zacaweista. The two sides have been dueling in court for over 20 years. Electra Waggoner Wharton’s daughter, Electra Waggoner Biggs, has a connection to Fort Worth, as the nationally known sculptress who passed away in 2001. She is best known for her sculpture of Will Rogers on his horse “Soapsuds” called “Into the Sunset.” Amon G. Carter commissioned Electra to create the work after Will Rogers’ fatal airplane crash at Point Barrow, Alaska, in 1935. She also had the honor of the luxurious Buick model Electra being named after her. Many articles have been written about the rich and rowdy heritage of the Waggoner clan and according to a 2004 article in Texas Monthly titled “Showdown at Waggoner Ranch,” with a legacy including “horses, cattle, oil, opulent mansions, divorces and drunken sprees.” ---shared from Glory Ann Klutzs All About Cutting, August 8th
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 05:00:12 +0000