No elaborate, eye-catching signs mark theentrances to the Beggs family ranches – only the Beggs name and brand, athree-line barbed wire fence and some cedar posts. No books have been writtenabout the family's ranching heritage, which began with George Beggs Sr. in1876. And if you wanted to write a book, you probably wouldn't get much helpfrom George Beggs III, the family patriarch.
But Beggs and his family are interesting,and the history of the Beggs ranching empire is compelling. The unassumingBeggs would never call his family business an empire, of course, and he'dprefer that no one else did; but his holdings are impressive, stretching acrossseven Texascounties and spanning four generations.
The home ranch near Aledo, where Beggsand his wife Janie reside in a simple ranch-style house, seems to roll acrossthe Parker County landscape as far as the eye cansee – crossing gently sloped hills dotted with freshly weaned calves, dippingsoftly into the rocky terrain, and finally disappearing into the sun-drenchedhorizon.
The award is named for the great Texascattleman Charles Goodnight (1836-1929), who cemented his place in Texas lorewith his legendary exploits on the cattle trails and with his million-acreranch in the Panhandle, where he introduced landmark innovations in cattlebreeding and agribusiness.
The Beggs family will accept the awardDec. 1 during the Goodnight Gala at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in Fort Worth. Proceeds fromthe gala, held in conjunction with the National Cutting Horse Association'sWorld Championship Futurity, will benefit the Texas Christian University RanchManagement Program, the National Cowgirl Museumand Hall of Fame, and the Cattle Raisers Museum.
The ranching tradition that has definedgeneration after generation of the Beggs family now rests securely in thesteadfast hands of George Beggs III and his two sons, George Beggs IV and EdFarmer Beggs II. Although members of the Beggs family have grown older andtimes have changed, it's as if these men had taken a vow to keep their cowboyhats on, their hearts on the prairie and their boots firmly planted on the soilthat has meant so much to them and to their ancestors.
George Beggs III, 84, spends his daysoverseeing the ranching business in his office at the Fort Worth Club and hisevenings at the ranch house near Aledo. Ed, 48, lives a half-mile from hisparents on the Parker County property andmanages day-to-day operations at the ranch. George IV, 50, runs the three Beggsranches in West Texas.
George III and Janie Martin Beggs alsohave two daughters: Janie, who often helps out her father at the Fort Worth office; andJudy, who is married to Jamey Clement, a member of the legendary King Ranchfamily.
W.A. “Tex”Moncrief Jr., president and owner of Fort Worth's Moncrief Oil, is a longtime friend of GeorgeIII and is married to Beggs' sister, Deborah.
Moncrief says that while the Beggsranches may not have total acreage equal to massive operations such as King Ranch,they have been a Texasmainstay for more than a century.
Ed has worked at the Parker Countycow-calf ranch since his college years. The operation includes Herefords, BlackAngus and some crosses, he says.
George Beggs IV spends his time workinghis cow-calf operation, a quarter horse business and an annual horse sale inwhich several ranches join forces: Beggs, Circle Bar, Four Sixes, PitchforkLand & Cattle Co. and the Tongue River Ranch.
The Beggs family was awarded the AmericanQuarter Horse Association's Legacy Award in 2003 in honor of the ranches' 50years in the quarter horse business – an award bestowed upon fewer than 100families in the nation.
After learning of the honor, a journalistfrom the quarter horse association, Kellye Fondy, went to visit George Beggs IVon one of his West Texas ranches. It was avisit she will never forget.
Anne Marion, president of Burnett RanchesLtd., says she can't remember a time when she didn't know George Beggs III. Marion says the Beggsfamily is a perfect choice for the Charles Goodnight Award.
“They have been in the ranching businessfor generations. They are conservative and go about ranching in a traditionalway – no helicopters or fluff,” says Marion, who received the Goodnight Awardin 1993.
Though many ranchers have abandonedtraditional cattle drives and now use helicopters to round up their livestock,Ed still works cattle with horses and a few day hires. It may not be the mostefficient way to do it, he says, but it works.
Through the years, surrounding towns haveslowly crept toward the ranch near Aledo, Ed says, and family members can nowsee neighboring rooftops while working on their land.
Among the problems caused by changingtimes, says George Beggs IV, is a shortage of ranch hands to help him brand andwean calves and drive livestock in West Texas.
One aspect of modern civilization thatfew ranchers can resist in the 21st century is the oil and gass industry. The Parker Countyranch is said to be perched atop one of the largest natural gas fields in theBarnett Shale region, and Ed says his father has agreed to allow as many as 50gas rigs on the property.
George Beggs Sr. was thinking about thefuture when he left Great Britainand traveled to Texasin 1876. Beggs Sr. settled in Village Creek – later called Handley – six milesfrom the hustle and bustle of a thriving Fort Worth.
Beggs leased land in the area and begandealing in cattle and horses. In 1895, Beggs moved his wife and their sixchildren to Fort Worth,where he opened a livestock commission and loan business in the Stockyards onthe north side of town.
Growing up around their father's businessgave Beggs' three sons – William Dickey (“W.D.”), John Erin (“J.E.”), andGeorge Jr. – an education in the art of buying and selling horses and cattle.In the early 1920s, W.D. and J.E. Beggs decided to try their hand at theranching business, operating as Beggs Brothers. The Beggs boys leased land atBluff Dale and, later, at Wellington, Texas.
Meanwhile, George Beggs Sr.'s friend,E.D. Farmer, hired George Beggs Jr. to manage Farmer's real estate ventures indowntown Fort Worth.Soon, George Beggs Jr. opened his own office at the intersection of Seventh andHoustonstreets.
In 1923, W.D. and J.E. Beggs found aranch they wanted to purchase in West Texas.After a family meeting among the brothers, George Beggs Jr. agreed to join theBeggs Brothers partnership. During the next 20 years, the trio purchasedranches in Parker, Garza, Kent, Dickens, King and Stonewallcounties. The Beggs boys marked their horses and cattle with a “lazy 3” torepresent the three brothers.
W.D. Beggs worked on the ranches in WestTexas while J.E. worked cattle on a ranch in Parker County.George Beggs Jr. manned the financial end of the growing ranching business fromhis downtown Fort Worthoffice.
E.D. Farmer died in 1923 and because ofhis close relationship with George Beggs Jr., Beggs was intent on buying hismentor's land, located near what is now Aledo. After several years of workingas executor to close Farmer's estate, Beggs Jr. succeeded in purchasing the3,000-acre ranch.
As the three Beggs brothers grew older,they began looking toward the younger generation to carry on the familybusiness, and two champions arose. George Beggs Jr.'s sons, George Beggs IIIand Ed Farmer Beggs, had grown up among the horses and cattle of their father'sand uncles' ranches. Though the boys were in high school in the late 1930s,both knew they wanted to take the reins of the Beggs Brothers' business.
Soon, both Beggs boys got the call forWorld War II. Health problems prevented Ed from serving in the military, but inthe early 1940s, George joined the Army and left the family ranching businessto his younger brother.
When Beggs returned from the war inSeptember 1945, he was eager to slip into his cowboy boots and take a look atwhat Ed had done in his absence.
One of the first orders of business forthe brothers was to change the name of their holdings to Beggs Cattle Company.With a new name came a new brand for their livestock and the boys turned totheir family heritage for ideas.
Just four months later, a tragic accidentmarked the end of the brothers' partnership. As Ed Farmer Beggs retrieved hisgun from his truck one January afternoon in 1946, the gun fired, killing himinstantly.
George and Janie Beggs raised all four oftheir children on the Parker County ranch. Ed Beggsremembers that when he and his brother and sisters were young, their fatherbought each of them a Shetland pony.
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