From all accounts, the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company would not exist if it wasn't for Daniel Baldwin Gardner and Eugene Flewellyn Williams, both cousins and life-long friends. They were born in Mississippi in 1851 to plantation-owning families. In 1871, tales of abundant opportunity in Texas lured Gardner to Fort Griffin, located near present-day Albany. In February of 1877, Gardner was one of 17 men who drafted plans for what was to become one of the most powerful and prestigious livestock organizations in the world, which is known today as the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association. In the summer of 1881, Gardner learned that Jerry Savage, who had been running cattle on the South Wichita River under a Pitchfork brand, was interested in selling land, equipment and stock. Needing capital, Gardner thought of his boyhood friend and cousin, Eugene Williams. In 1881, Williams journeyed to Fort Worth and after a dinner meeting announced he was ready to close the deal, without seeing either the land or the cattle. Williams said he was investing in the venture solely because he had the highest regard for his cousin, Dan Garder. Williams wrote a check and took the night train back to St. Louis. The property Gardner and Williams purchased included 2,600 longhorn cattle, 70 horses, wagons and camp equipment, but little land. They did obtain rights to the ranch that bordered the South Wichita River in eastern Dickens and western King counties. Wishing to expand, but lacking capital, the two men found two willing investors from Texas, A.P. Bush, Jr. and Samuel Lazarus and two from St. Louis, A.D. Brown and W. H. Carroll. In St. Louis on December 29, 1883, the partners gathered to adopt the by-laws and elect officers of the newly formed corporation known as the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company. Gardner was chosen to be general manager, a position he held until his death in June of 1928. Six managers have filled the vacancy left by Gardner. These included Rudolph Swenson, Virgil Parr, D. Burns, Jim Humphreys and Bob Moorhouse. Today, the ranch is managed by Brooks Hodges. The Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company stretches some 175,000 acres in two west Texas counties and acreage in Waurika, Oklahoma known as the Pitchfork OK Ranch. The descendants of Eugene Williams continue to operate the 141-year-old ranch in the same conservative manner as did the ranch’s founders. pitchfork Land & cattle Guthrie, Texas • 806-284-2223 • ThePitchforkRanch.com 24 lot 11 - Consigned by 2025 Invitational Ranch Horse Show & Sale JANUARY 18, 2025 | FT WORTH, TEXAS | JOHN JUSTIN ARENA
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