established the First National Bank of Fort Worth. Following the death in 1922 of Captain Burnett, ownership of the ranch was left to Anne Marion, his great-granddaughter, (in fact, yet to be born), with a life estate to Burnett’s d a u g h t e r - i n - l a w, Ollie Lake, and his granddaughter, Anne Valliant Burnett Tandy (“Miss Anne”). The property was held in trust until the death of Miss Anne in 1980 and then passed directly to her daughter, Anne Marion. At a young age, Little Anne spent summers on the Four Sixes, earning the respect of the cowboys as she learned to ride horses and do the things they did. Ollie Lake, who maintained a lovely home in Fort Worth, provided her granddaughter with the emotional support she needed and further established in the young girl a love for ranching and its traditions. “She’s the one that told me the old stories,” Anne Marion said. “She had the background of the Depression, and she kept telling me that I was lucky to have all that I do and not to waste it.” In 1988, Anne married John Louis Marion, honorary chair of Sotheby’s Inc. She has one daughter, Anne “Windi” Phillips Grimes, who also has one daughter, Anne “Hallie” Grimes. Mrs. Marion assumed management of the Four Sixes in 1980. Not since Captain Burnett founded and built the Four Sixes more than a century ago has any family member taken as much interest in the ranches as she, according to her former, long-time ranch manager, the late J.J. Gibson. “She always respected my judgment, but she had her own ideas, too.” Gibson had said. “She is a real hands-on type. The love of the land is in her blood.” “The most important thing that ever happened to me was growing up on that ranch,” Mrs. Marion said. “It kept my feet on the ground more than anything else.”
F o u r S i x e s E m p i r e Land and Oil
The Burnett family has long been dedicated to the responsible stewardship of the land and water resources of their ranch holdings. At one time, the Burnett ranches included more than a third of a million acres. After 1980, however, various parcels, such as the Triangle Ranch, were sold. Today, the two main ranches – the 6666 Ranch near Guthrie and the Dixon Creek Ranch near Panhandle – total 275,000 acres. While cattle and ranching were the cornerstones upon which the Burnett Family fortunes were founded, it was the discovery of oil that allowed the business grow and led to the establishment of the Burnett Foundation which today benefits so many worthy
50
SUMMER 2013
causes. Actual drilling of Gulf No. 2 Burnett, 16 miles north of Panhandle, Texas, began in November, 1920 and was completed in April, 1921. It was 3,052 feet deep, and 175 barrels were produced during the first 24 hours of pumping. The well produced constantly for more than 50 years. This was the first oil well brought in on the Texas Panhandle Field, relatively small compared to future wells, one of which produced 10,000 barrels a day. Captain Burnett, who died in June 1922, did not live long enough to enjoy this increasing wealth. Not a problem: he was rich without it. He foresaw and wrote to his friend, Sid Williams, a couple years before he died, “This puts four of the best outfits in Texas drilling in there [Dixon Creek Ranch], and they should get something by spring if there is any oil field up there. Of course, this would put the ranch out of business as far as cattle are concerned. But there is more money in oil than cattle, don’t you think?” Oil continued to be an important part of the Burnett Legacy, as over the years more wells were brought in. In 1969, another large field was struck, this one at the Four Sixes Ranch in Guthrie. Author F. Stanley wrote: “When it comes to the history of oil in Texas, the name Burnett is definitely one to be reckoned with. In all probability, oil would have been discovered in the Panhandle whether Burnett leased the 6666 pasture or not. But the fact remains that he did, and oil as a big business in this section of Texas began with this ranch because of the Discovery Well.”
Cattle
The legacy began when future cattleman Captain Samuel “Burk” Burnett gathered wild longhorn cattle in South Texas and drove them north to sell. Later, in 1868, he purchased a herd of 100 cattle from Frank Crowley in Denton, Texas. The cattle carried the 6666 brand. Realizing it would be a hard brand to alter, Burnett bought the rights to the brand, along with the cattle. Purebred herds of Hereford cattle were maintained to supply the ranches with herd bulls and heifers. Prize cattle were the result of this cross breeding. George Humphreys maintained the same program of breeding for the entire time he was manager of the ranch, from 1932 to 1970. When J.J. Gibson became ranch manager, he realized in order to take full advantage of the rougher terrain of the ranch, a crossbred female was needed. The initial cross was with a Brangus bull. These bulls were maintained until about 1996, when they were replaced by Angus bulls. During Mike Gibson’s tenure as ranch manager, the ranch’s base of Hereford cows was phased out and replaced with a Black Angus program, which is better suited to today’s markets. Currently, under Ranch Manager Joe Leathers, this program continues to expand and excel. As a cow/calf operation, the ranch now maintains a breeding herd of some 7,000 mother cows. The high quality of Four Sixes cattle is well known, and that reputation continues today making the ranch a frontrunner in the cattle industry.
Quarter Horses
Captain Burnett had loved paint horses, and in the early years of the Four Sixes, he kept many of the paints on the ranch. He often said every spot on a paint horse was worth a dollar. The Indians he often visited and traded with agreed. However, in