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

The Four Sixes Cattle

The legacy began when future cattleman 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.

Durhams and then Herefords were introduced to improve the meat quality of the herd. These animals were considered to be among the finest cattle strains in the state.

Purebred herds of Hereford cattle were maintained to supply the ranch with their 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.

Currently, under manager Mike Gibson, the ranch’s base of Hereford cows is being phased out and replaced with Angus females, he said, because they are more suited for today’s markets.

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 forerunner in the cattle industry.