Guzie Whaley is a wiry, unassuming man. He wears a worn, stained cowboy hat, faded blue jeans and a shirt that’s usually torn. From his looks, you would hardly guess that he runs one of the biggest ranches in Osceola County. Whaley is 135 pounds of Florida cowboy. The son of a cow man, the father of three more, he is, in bone and blood, part of an Osceola County legacy. —A Week In The Life Of A Ranch, 1991, Orlando Sentinel Whaleys were settled on the east shore of Lake Tohopekaliga in the 1860s. Kevin Whaley estimates that at its peak, the ranch headquartered in St. Cloud ran 10,000 or so cattle across the entirety of Osceola County. Family has since been involved in banking, rodeo, veterinary medicine, other leadership and organizational roles in central Florida. Time, people streaming into Florida and taxes took a toll, however. Whaley family members back in 1984 were speaking out about the threat of development, swapping 900 acres near Kissimmee for 3,700 acres southeast of the homestead. Kevin Whaley, who is 59, remembers that Osceola County in his childhood held about 30,000 residents. That population count in 2015 was about 325,000, which is tied to Disney’s arrival in Florida. But what time and a rolling population haven’t changed are the basic values of a country life, Whaley says of the 6,000-acre ranch that today runs cattle and breeds working and rodeo horses. He still works from horseback, is heavily involved from sunrise to sunset, fixing fences, herding and
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keeping watch on his cattle (rustlers remain real issues), helping neighbors as the need arises, he says. The Whaley ranch keeps about 1,000 head of cattle, has sheep, the horses and cattle dogs. “It’s the best life you could have,” he says of a working ranch, the only life he has known from birth. “I don’t know any different.”
“The year was 1917 and these bulls arrived on a train from Texas. They were grade bulls (in other words not registered. Alexander Edward (Ed) Whaley, my greatgreat-great grandpa, bought 35-40 Brahman bulls from a man Dad (that was his first name) Lester out of Texas. My great-great-great grandpa, Steve Partin, bought one (1) of the bulls from Mr. Lester. It just so happened that the bull my great-great-great grandpa Partin bought was hard to deal with. They couldn’t work him or pen him. Great-great-great grandpa Partin got so discouraged by this bull one time, that he shot and killed the bull.” —Laci Whaley, grade 4, Mrs. Whetestone’s, March 2003 Kevin Whaley concedes that even families such as his will have dark corners in their legacy. He knows that one relation arrived in Florida a widow, her husband having been shot in a feud, for instance. Others have split over land and money. Pride, he says, will sever a family bond. That and “in-laws, outlaws and inheritance taxes,” he adds. Jack Collier is editorial director for Florida Country Magazine.
PHOTOS ON THIS AND OPPOSITE PAGE COURTESY OF THE WHALEY FAMILY
Keith Whaley and Laci Whaley Langford (left), first cousins and the next generation of Florida ranchers. Kevin Whaley (right) still works from horseback.