Waggoner Ranch, Large cattle ranch in Wichita County, Texas.
Waggoner Ranch is a cattle and horse operation on the plains 13 miles south of Vernon, Texas, spanning six counties. Its cluster of pale-walled ranch buildings with low-pitched white, grey and reddish-brown roofs sits beside a long open-sided shed and a paved yard, with a curved asphalt road sweeping past and reddish-brown fields beyond.
Daniel Waggoner started in 1852 with a small herd of longhorn cattle and built his operation in the plains of northern Texas. His son expanded the property through land purchases and leases in the late 19th century, creating one of the largest contiguous cattle operations in the region.
W.T. Waggoner bred Quarter Horses here, and the stallion Poco Bueno was buried on the ranch. His grandson Buster Wharton later raised polo ponies and set up the El Ranchio Polo Club, where he once played with champion Cecil Smith. E. Paul Waggoner's daughter Electra Waggoner Biggs became a sculptor.
The property is located across several counties west of Wichita Falls and is not usually open to visitors. Access roads pass through open grassland where cattle and horses graze over wide expanses.
Workers drilling for water in the early 1900s unexpectedly struck oil beneath the grazing land. This discovery brought a second source of income alongside traditional cattle raising and shifted the economic foundation of the operation.
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