The Four Sixes

Samuel Burk Burnett

Born in Bates County, Missouri, on Jan. 1, 1849, to Jeremiah and Mary Turner Burnett, Samuel Burk Burnett became one of the most well known and respected ranchers in Texas. His parents were in the farming business, but in 1857-58, conditions caused them to move from Missouri to Denton County, Texas, where Jerry Burnett became involved in the cattle business. Burk, 10 years old at the time of the move, began watching the nature of the cow business and learned from his father.

At age 19, Burk went into business for himself with the purchase of 100 head of cattle, which were wearing the 6666 brand. With the title to the cattle came ownership of the brand. Burnett survived the panic of 1873 by holding over the winter 1,100 steers he had driven to market in Wichita, Kansas. The next year, he sold the cattle for a profit of $10,000. He was one of the first ranchers in Texas to buy steers and graze them for market.

During the winter of the following year, Burnett bought 1,300 more cattle in

Grande Valley of South Texas and drove them north up the Chisholm Trail to the open range grazing lands near the Little Wichita River. He soon saw the need to have control over the lands on which his cattle fed and began buying property. He also decided to build his first headquarters near where the town of Wichita Falls, Texas, would later stand. Drought conditions in the 1880s forced Burnett and other ranchers to go in search of grass for their cattle. The tribal lands of the Kiowa and Comanche north of the Red River in Oklahoma had not suffered the dry conditions, which devastated the range farther south.

So, Burnett negotiated with Comanche chief Quanah Parker for the lease of the Indian lands. Not only was Burnett able to acquire the use of some 300,000 acres of grassland, he gained the friendship of the Comanche leader. The much-needed lease continued until the early 1900s at which time the federal government ordered the land turned back to the tribes. Burnett traveled to Washington, D.C., where he met President Theodore Roosevelt to ask for an extension on the lease. Roosevelt gave the ranchers two more years, allowing them time to find new ranges for their herds. As a result, a friendship developed between Burnett and the President. In fact, it was Roosevelt, during a trip to Texas in 1910, who encouraged the renaming of the town of Nesterville to Burkburnett in honor of his friend.

The open range was coming to an end, and the only protection the cowman had was the private ownership of land. A purchase near the turn

Theodore Roosevelt with friends, including Burk Burnett

of the century of the 8 Ranch near Guthrie, Texas, from the Louisville Land and Cattle Co., and the Dixon Creek Ranch from the Cunard Line marked the beginning of an empire. Burnett added to and developed his holdings, including the building of the Four Sixes Supply House and a new headquarters in Guthrie. In 1921, oil was discovered on his land near Dixon Creek, and his wealth increased dramatically.

Burk Burnett with son, Tom, and daughter, Anne Valliant, namesake of Tom's child in later years.

Since 1900, Burnett had maintained a residence in Fort Worth, where his financial enterprises were headquartered. He was director and principal stockholder of the First National Bank of Fort Worth and president of the Ardmore Oil Milling and Gin Co. He made frequent trips to his ranches on his own railroad car, carrying him from Fort Worth to Paducah, Texas. From there, he hitched his horse and buggy for the 30-mile ride south to Guthrie.

Burnett and Ruth B. Loyd, daughter of Fort Worth banker M.B. Loyd, married in 1869 and had three children, two of whom died. Ruth and Burk divorced, and he married Mary Couts Barradel on Sept. 13, 1892. They had one son, Burk Burnett Jr., who died in 1917. Burnett's own health failed, and on June 27, 1922, he died at the age of 73, leaving one son, Tom Burnett.

Previous Page

Next Page