The Four Sixes Ranch | Samuel Burk Burnett | Tom Burnett | Anne Valliant Burnett Tandy | Anne W. Marion
The Big House | Oil and the Four Sixes | Horses of the Four Sixes | The Four Sixes Cattle
Four Sixes Supply House | Burk Burnett's Private Rail Car and The Burnett Buggy | End of the Open Range
Managers | Quanah Parker and Burk Burnett | Quanah Parker | M.B. Loyd

Managers

The Four Sixes is a place of continuity and tradition. Through the years, there have been just five managers at the ranch headquarters in Guthrie, Texas: J.W. “Bud” Arnett, Horace Bryant, George Humphreys, J.J. Gibson Jr. and his son, Mike Gibson.

• Bud Arnett had the distinction of being the 8 Ranch’s only manager and the Four Sixes’ first. He was hired by Burk Burnett when the rancher bought the 8 Ranch at the turn of the 20th century and made it the Four Sixes. Arnett’s tenure lasted from the open range days of the Old West into the modern era of ranching. He retired in 1930 after more than 30 years with the Sixes.

• Horace Bryant, formerly wagon boss for the Sixes, was well liked by all but managed the ranch for only two years, making his intention to leave for personal reasons in 1932.

• George Humphreys started working on the ranch in 1918 at the age of 18, hired by Bud Arnett. He was made manager in 1932 and guided the ranch through the Depression and all-time low cattle prices. He developed the horse operation and also served as sheriff of King County from 1928 to 1948, receiving the designation of Honorary Texas Ranger. He retired from the Four Sixes after 52 years on Nov. 1, 1970.

J.J. Gibson, Mike Gibson, Lathan Withers and Dave Lane

• J.J. Gibson Jr. was ranch manager from 1970 through 1991. Gibson received the Texas Trailblazer Award at the Texas roundup in 1998, was a member of the Hall of Fame of the American Hereford Association, and he received the Foy Proctor Cowman Award of Honor in 2001 just days before his death on Oct. 14.

• Mike Gibson succeeded his father in 1991 and serves as the current Four Sixes manager. A graduate of Texas Tech University, he and his family reside in the ranch headquarters home in Guthrie, where he takes great pride in helping to maintain the fine reputation of this legendary ranch.