ranch rodeo participating ranches
*Green Land
& Cattle Co.*
*Guitar Ranches*
*Haythorn Land and Cattle
Co.*
*Matthews/Nail Ranches*
*Muleshoe Ranch*
*Pitchfork Land & Cattle
Co.*
*Spade Ranches*
*Stuart Ranch*
*Swenson Land & Cattle Co.*
*Tongue River Ranch*
Green Land & Cattle
Company
Albany, Texas
Founded: 1892
In the 1870’s, Thomas Henry Green, Confederate veteran from Hill County, Texas was in the horse business, running his stock on the open range of West Central Texas. Later on, the open range was being fenced, and, a herd of mares, colts and geldings belonging to him, were located in Western Stephens County, on Hubbard Creek. He sent his young son, William Henry, a recent 1885 graduate of Trinity University, up the Texas Central Railroad to Albany, with instructions to locate, gather, and sell the horses and return to Hill County with the proceeds. Henry did everything his father told him except return to Hill County, as he was so impressed with the Hubbard Creek country that he used the money received from the horses to lease and later purchase what was to be the beginning of the Green Ranches.
As the years passed, he was able to acquire additional ranch land, which was fortunate, for all four of his children became ranchers. Today, Henry Green’s children have ranches in Stephens, Shackelford, Oldham, Hartley, and Motley counties, owning or controlling over 150,000 acres. Billy Green lives in Albany, Tom Green on a ranch near Vega in the Panhandle, the late Mary Anna Green Musselman until her death resided on a ranch near Ibex, and Bob Green lives on the old original ranch near Hubbard Creek Lake.
When William Henry Green first acquired a herd of cows that were branded “J” on the left hip, he adopted that brand as his own. The Green Ranches of today run Hereford and black baldy cows plus yearlings as well as a brood mare herd to furnish replacement horses for their ranching operation.
Guitar
Ranches
Abilene, Texas
Founded: 1906
John Guitar Sr. was born in Carrollton, Missouri in 1866. In
1890 he moved to East Texas where he purchased cotton gins, compresses, and
cotton oil mills. He moved to Abilene in 1896 and expanded his cotton business
into West Texas and New Mexico. John purchased his first ranch in 1906 at Big
Spring, Texas. In 1918 he expanded into the Carlsbad, New Mexico area where he
owned and leased 200 sections of grass and 2,500 acres of irrigated farmland.
John purchased 50,000 acres of the Figure “2” Ranch at Salt Flat, Texas in
1927.
In 1934, he purchased the Colbert Ranch at Spur, Texas. He also
had feedlots in Abilene and Colorado City where he fed cotton seed products from
his cotton oil mills. He was the first person to have shipped fertilizer into
West Texas.
John’s youngest child, Earl, also ranched in West Texas.
Earl’s wife, Anita Grissom, inherited the Hardy Grissom Ranch east of Abilene
where they raised outstanding registered Hereford cattle from 1948 until the
1960’s. During this period Earl purchased Noble Sam, champion of the English
Royal in Hereford, England. After the Guitar Trust divided in 1961, he leased
and purchased parts of the Big Spring and Spur ranches where he maintained a
commercial cow-calf operation. Earl’s son, Phil, continues to operate these
ranches today. They run a combination cow-calf and yearling
operation.
Jane Guitar, Phil’s wife, is the daughter of the late Dickie
and Elmo Joy Ferguson from Hamlin. She owns and operates the W.F. Martin Ranch
in Fisher and Stonewall counties. Both Phil and Jane are dedicated volunteers of
the Western Heritage Classic. Phil and Perry Johns are partners in a horse
breeding operation at the Spur Ranch.
Haythorn Land & Cattle Company
Arthur,
Nebraska
Founded: 1884
Located in the Sand Hills of Nebraska, the Haythorn Land & Cattle Co. claims a unique and colorful history. Founder Harry Haythornthwaite first got a taste of the grit of the Sand Hills when he came north from Texas on a cattle drive. As a sixteen year old boy in Lancaster, England, Harry had fallen in love too early and was denied his wish to marry. The heartbroken lad stowed away on a ship in 1876. Discovered by the ship's captain, he was put to work tending white-faced bulls headed for Galveston, Texas. Over the next eight years Harry worked as a cowhand making four trail drives into Kansas and Nebraska and unlike most early settlers, was drawn to the vast space of the Great Plains. Harry found the Great Plains to his liking and decided to stay. He opened a livery barn, shortened his name to Haythorn, and married Emma Gilpin a veterinarian's daughter.
In 1884 Harry
filed a land grant section to begin the Haythorn Ranches that now spread over
three ranches in two counties. In
the late 1800's Harry gathered 500 head of
horses and trailed them back to Nebraska from Baker, Oregon. Then in the 1940's
Walt Haythorn, Harry's son purchased "Sport" the first registered quarter horse
in Nebraska, who went on to produce many geldings and exceptional producing
mares. Haythorns crossed these mares with the original Eddie with great success.
The ranch was recognized in 1992-1993 with the first annual Best of the Remuda
Award bestowed by AQHA.
With horses playing a pivotal role the Haythorn ranch continues to carry on its rich western traditions.
Matthews/Nail Ranches
Albany, Texas
Founded: 1885
The Matthews Ranch and Nail Ranch join forces once again, as members from both ranching operations form a team for the Ranch Rodeo.
J.A. MATTHEWS RANCH - The Matthews family came to the Clear Fork area in 1858. Ranching history was made on Christmas Day in 1875 when Sallie Reynolds married John Alexander Matthews. It was the first of many partnerships between the two Texas pioneer families. In 1885 John Alexander and Sallie Matthews registered the famous “open A, lazy V” brand that remains the ranch brand today. Today the ranch is run as a cow-calf operation at the Lambshead Ranch on the Clear Fork of the Brazos north of Albany. Herefords are crossed with Angus, Brangus, or Longhorn bulls and more than 40 working horses and chuck wagon mules round out the livestock population at the ranch.
NAIL RANCH - Before setting up a ranching operation in and around Shackelford County in the late 1890’s, the Nail Family enjoyed an impressive ranching heritage in other parts of Texas. Upon settling the Albany location Jim Nail and his wife Chloe acquired the Monroe Cattle Company Ranch and eventually established his company as the J.H. Nail Cattle Company. The couple began acquiring other ranches in the area. Jim died in 1928 and son, James H. Nail, Jr. took over the running of the ranches with his wife, Tenie, at his side. By the outbreak of WWI Albany, Texas was surrounded by Nail-owned ranches. Since the death of Jim Jr., George Peacock has served as foreman and continues to oversee the day-to-day operations.
Muleshoe Ranch
Gail, Texas
Founded: 1913
W.K. Johnson, Sr. started the Muleshoe brand when he bought the
Blackwater division of the XIT Ranch on the Blackwater draw about 1900. Texico,
NM was the nearest town. Later, the Santa Fe Railroad built a road from Lubbock
to Clovis, NM that ran through the middle of the ranch known as the Muleshoe
Ranch. By that time Mr. Johnson had sold the ranch to E.K. Warren and son from
Three Oaks, Michigan. Warren gave one section for a town site when the railroad
was built. This town was named Muleshoe and still goes by that name.
When Mr. Johnson sold the ranch, he maintained the Muleshoe
brand. Around 1908, Mr. Johnson and Mr. R.M. Clayton formed a partnership and
leased a large body of land east, north and west of what is now Post, Texas.
C.W. Post owned this land.
When Mr. Post started developing this land, selling it to the
farmers, the Clayton and Johnson Co. bought a ranch in Borden Co. in 1913 and
continued using the Muleshoe brand.
What is now the Muleshoe Ranch was originally open grazing and
was used by the Magnola Land and Cattle Co. prior to 1894. Sometime between 1900
and 1910 Mr. Abney who later sold to J.D. Milton of Virginia put the ranch
together.
Clayton and Johnson Co. bought the land from Mr. Milton on Aug. 25, 1913. In 1945 Mr. Jerry Clayton, one of R.M. Clayton’s sons, bought the Muleshoe Ranch from another son, A.M. Clayton. In 1957, Jerry Clayton sold the ranch to his daughters, Jere Hubbard and Barbara Anderson. In 1994 Rich and Barbara became sole owners of the ranch. John, his wife Kevva and their three children live on the place. They are the 4th and 5th generation to live on and operate the Muleshoe Ranch.
Pitchfork Land & Cattle Co.
Guthrie, Texas
Founded: 1883
Boyhood friends from Mississippi, Eugene Williams, a sales manager for the St. Louis based Hamilton Brown Shoe Co. and D.B. Gardner, a Texas surveyor, established the Pitchfork Ranch in 1870. D.B. Gardner purchased cattle from South Texas to begin the ranch. The herd already wore the Pitchfork brand so he simply named the ranch after the brand.
In 1883, the ranch was incorporated, with the principal stockholders being the Williams family in St. Louis. Gardner managed the ranch until his death in 1928. Although it has grown larger and more prosperous, the Pitchfork has not lost the spirit of friendship and trust that Gardner and Williams brought to it. Only six managers have managed the Pitchfork Ranch since Mr. Gardner, the present being Ron Lane.
The home ranch stretching across 165,000 acres of central west Texas is located80 miles east of Lubbock along a 14-mile stretch of Highway 82. The ranch is located in Dickens and King counties, in addition to 3,000 acres in Benjamin, Texas, and 3,300 in the Flint Hills of Kansas. The Williams family descendants continue to operate the 122-year old ranch in the same conservative manner as their founders with an emphasis on friendship and hospitality.
Spade Ranches
Lubbock, Texas
Founded: 1889
In 1889, Colonel Isaac Ellwood, one of the original inventors of barbed wire, made a trip out west to Colorado City (the end of the railroad line) on a market development tour. Before he left, he had fallen in love with west Texas and bought 130,000 acres 22 miles south of Colorado City from the Snyder brothers.
The ranch was called the
Renderbrook, after the big Renderbrook spring at headquarters. In the 1870’s, a
Captain Rendlebrock from Fort Concho had a skirmish with the Comanches camped at
the spring and in a slightly distorted spelling, the spring was named after him.
When Ellwood bought 800 cows and the Spade brand from J.F. “Spade” Evans, the
ranching empire got its name.
The Spade ranches today consist of five outfits: the original
Renderbrook Spade in Mitchell, Sterling and Coke Counties; the Borden Spade in
Borden County; the Wagon Creek Spade in Throckmorton and Baylor Counties; the
North Spade in Briscoe and Motley Counties and the Panhandle Spade in Roberts
County, totaling about 275,000 acres. John Welch is the President and C.E.O. of
Spade Ranches and the board of directors consists of six
great-great-grandchildren of Isaac Ellwood, along with outside
directors.
The Spade ranch has employed a planned crossbreeding program
since the late 1960’s and it continues today; although it is changing with the
changing market demands. Today, the ranches use composite bulls (Simm/Angus and
Balancer) crossing the heifers from one mating to the other composite. This
maintains a high level of heterosis while producing a uniform calf crop, a
stable breed composition and eliminating the need to buy replacement heifers
from other sources.
The Spades also have a horse breeding program which crosses the daughters on their own son of Little Peppy with their son of Doc’s Hickory and vice versa. The objective is to use unrelated bloodlines to produce functional ranch horses with lots of cow sense and bottom. Although the number one goal is to provide good horses for the Spade men, a few horses are sold each year.
Stuart
Ranch
Waurika, Oklahoma
In 1868 in Blue County, Indian Territory, Robert Clay Freeny established the headquarters of the operation known today as the Stuart Ranch. The ranch now includes over 40,000 acres. Stuart Ranch was designated an “Oklahoma Centennial Ranch” by the Oklahoma Historical Society.
The Quarter Horse operation, located in Waurika, stands Real Gun, the 2004 AQHA Superhorse and NRCHA Limited Open Bridle World Champion. The ranch mares have produced numerous world champions, superior event horses, RHAA, NRCHA and NRHA money earners, national high point titles and the 1995 Superhorse. Also in 1995, the ranch was awarded the “Best of the Remuda Award” by AQHA and Bayer.
Over 5,000 yearlings and mama cows graze the ranch on a yearly basis and calve in either a fall or spring herd.
Stuart Ranch Outfitters is a hunting operation offering first class lodging, both at Waurika and Caddo. Quail, turkey, hogs, and waterfowl are also available in abundance.
As the oldest ranch in the state of Oklahoma under continuous family ownership, the ranch is proud of their tradition and heritage and looks forward to an exciting future of growth and excellence.
Swenson Land & Cattle
Co.
Stamford, Texas
Founded: 1882
In 1836, Swante Magnus Swenson arrived from Sweden and bought over 100,000 acres of the buffalo bayou, Brazos and Colorado Railway land. In 1882 when the government started imposing taxes, Swante enlisted his two sons Eric P. and Swen A. to find a way for the land to pay for itself. Fencing in 50,000 acres in Jones and Shackelford counties and adding cattle, the SMS brand was born. The SMS continues to build their land holdings and by 1898 had acquired 400,000 acres in parts of King, Motley, and Dickens counties that they called the Spur Ranch. The brothers also acquired 78,000 acres in Cottle County, which is now known as the Tongue River Ranch.
The Swenson Ranch has changed and evolved since its start, however one thing has remained the same: a long standing rich heritage. Swenson Land and Cattle is owned by Bruce and Perry Swanson and their children. All direct descendants of Swante Magnus Swenson.
The Swenson family is committed to a long-term future in the cattle industry. Their major challenge today is the responsibility to be profit-driven, while keeping alive their 152 year heritage.
Keeping a tradition of excellence, profitability and SMS culture is ranch manager Dennis Braden primary goal. He has taken a very proactive approach to making cowboy heritage a big part of the day-to-day operations. The SMS has reinstated traditional practices such as the use of the horse-drawn chuck wagon during branding and weaning.
Today, the SMS takes pride in producing quality Hereford and black baldy cattle and horses that are bred for ranch work. Today’s ranch crew includes cowboys, farmers, and maintenance men who are all loyal, hard-working, and professional.
Tongue
River Ranch
Dumont, Texas
Founded: 1898
In 1898 Eric and Albin Swenson, the sons of S. M. Swenson of the SMS Ranches, purchased the 79,000 acre Scab 8 Ranch. The ranch was located in the excellent ranch country of King, Cottle, Motley and Dickens counties. The brothers renamed it Tongue River Ranch (TRR) because of its location on the Tongue (South Pease) River, aptly named in reference to black tongue, a nineteenth century disease which wiped out many buffalo in the region. Folklore also states that the many different Indian tribes in the area nicknamed the river “River of Many Tongues” which was later shortened to Tongue River.
Present day owner, Millard Morris purchased Tongue River at its current size of 89,000 acres in 1997, and added the New Mexico division in 2005. In 2007, the 30,000 acre Big Baldy Ranch was added to the New Mexico division. Over the past eleven years, Mr. Morris has focused on preserving the heritage of the ranch while making many improvements. This includes a revitalization of headquarters and a state-of-the art horse facility.
Paramount to the Tongue River Ranch operation is their outstanding horse program. TRR has concentrated on raising horses that are well built, highly intelligent and incredible athletes. This is evidenced by the numerous ranch rodeo wins and top horse honors TRR has received. Of the twelve years the WRCA has held the World Championships, TRR has qualified six times, and has taken Top Horse honors twice since 2002. TRR horses have won both the Champion and Reserve Champion titles at the RHAA National Finals.
Tongue River Ranch takes great pride in preserving the land for future generations to come by focusing on many of the traditions that were utilized in 1898. Cowboys still head out for the day horseback to gather, brand, and doctor cattle the old fashioned cowboy way. Continuing tradition and preserving history is a way of life, not a job at Tongue River Ranch.
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