A Texas Ranch That Became the Most Expensive in the World
Waggoner Ranch is the largest ranch within one fence in the United States, covering almost 800 square miles of land across six counties. The 525,000-acre ranch is the size of the cities of Los Angeles and New York combined. On the ranch are 10,000 cows and bulls, as well as 500 horses, and 25,000 acres of it are farmland. The ranch also has 1,100 oil wells, as well as Lake Kemp, which supplies water to the city of Wichita Falls. The land was used primarily to raise crops, beef cattle and horses as well as for oil production. Located 175 northwest of Dallas, Waggoner Ranch was established in 1852 by Daniel Waggoner. In August 2014, the ranch went up for sale for the amazing asking price of $725 million. It ultimately sold in February 2016 for an undisclosed amount to billionaire Stan Kroenke, the husband of Walmart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke and current owner of the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams. The sale amount was the largest ever offered for an American ranch.