The Land Report 100
At no time in the last decade has such an extensive list of the nation’s largest landowners been compiled. After months of exhaustive research we present to you the most comprehensive list of the nation’s real estate elite: The Land Report 100.
-The Editors
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Why on earth would one man own 20 properties in 10 states, a swath of America so large that it not only dwarfs Rhode Island, but also exceeds both Rhode Island and Delaware combined? The answer is astonishingly simple. Because he’s Ted Turner.
The man is incapable of thinking small. That’s how he made his fortune, first by buying a failing UHF station and transforming it into WTBS. Then he launched CNN. Then he acquired the MGM movie library. Then he rolled out Turner Classic Movies. With Turner, one idea begets another, which is how he became the country’s leading land baron.
The brainstorm behind his far-flung empire was a single bison he bought in 1976. Three decades later, he owns 40,000, the largest private herd in the country. Bison steaks and bison burgers from Turner Ranches are shipped to upscale grocers coast to coast and served at his chain of restaurants, Ted’s Montana Grill.
Along the way, he purchased 14 ranches in 7 western states: 4 in Montana, 4 in Nebraska, and 3 others in South Dakota, Kansas, and Oklahoma. In New Mexico alone, he owns more than 1 million acres.
“I acquired more land because I required more land. I wanted it,” Turner said in a 2004 interview. “I never like to buy anything except land. It’s the only thing that lasts.”
The Turner portfolio also includes personal homes in the Atlanta area and in Big Sur, as well as plantations in South Carolina and Florida, where his beloved Avalon lies. This treasured retreat encompasses more than 25,000 acres south of Tallahassee, and with a conservationist’s touch, Turner is reintroducing longleaf pine on the property. The vast majority of his holdings, however, can be found on the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountain West, where he stocks his bison.
Turner’s ultimate plan? According to published reports, after his death the properties will go into a trust, which his five children will manage until the last one passes away. At that point, the trust will revert to the Turner Foundation, an Atlanta-based charitable organization that Turner founded in 1990 to preserve the environment.
2. Archie Aldis “Red” Emmerson
1.722 million acres
It all began with a man called Curly. Raleigh Humes “Curly” Emmerson was operating a sawmill in Newburg, Oregon, in the 1920s-and not very successfully- when he decided to pack it up and move to Northern California. But it wasn’t until the ’40s that things began to look up business-wise for Mr. Emmerson. With the help of a young man named Red (his son, Archie Aldis), Emmerson set the stage for what would become Sierra Pacific
Industries, an enterprise that now owns and manages 1.722 million acres of forestland in California and Washington.
Thousands of acres of timberland belonging to Sierra Pacific Industries surround Lassen Peak.
Under Red’s management, the company took off and today continues to flourish. Now the third generation of Emmersons has joined the family business, with Red’s two sons and daughter holding positions within the company. According to the SPI web site, the operation
has grown from a two-man team to a business that employs 3,900 workers.
It’s no secret that timberland acquisition has been one of Red’s main goals. One of his most memorable land grabs was the purchase of 522,000 acres from Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corp. in 1987. Over the next eight years, he bought an additional 400,000 acres and continued to amass land throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including the recent purchase of the 147,000-acre Hamilton Tree Farm in Washington State.
Besides its timber sector, SPI also sells various wood products and produces doors and windows through its Sierra Pacific Windows division. And its newest venture: real estate.
3. Irving Family
1.2 million acres
From newspapers to gas stations, the Irving clan has its hands in a sprawling amount of business. And 1.2 million of the Canadian family’s more than 3 million acres are in the northeastern United States. J.D. Irving, Limited, the family’s forestry business, can trace its beginnings to a single sawmill that opened in 1882, but JDI’s business ventures now include everything from shipbuilding to home-improvement
stores to frozen-potato products.
And as if that weren’t enough, there’s also Irving Oil, the family’s other major business operation. Irving employs more than 7,000 workers, owns more than 800 retail locations, and runs Canada’s largest refinery. And the place is so expansive that employees ride bicycles to travel inside the refinery. Not bad for a company that started in a small garage in 1924.
Growth, growth, and more growth seems to be the business model that the Irvings have followed. Now run by brothers James, Arthur, and John, the Irving empire has become increasingly dominating, and the rather secretive family has been able to take vertical integration to a whole new level. With such diverse industries in their portfolios, the Irving companies (all privately owned) can use the services and products of other Irving companies, ensuring that profits stay within the family.
With more than a century in business, the Irvings have dealt with their share of controversy: environmental criticisms, accusations of political patronage, and media monopolization complaints, to name a few. But guilty or not, one thing is for sure: There’s no slowing these guys down.
4. Singleton Family
1 million-plus acres
Henry Singleton was a man of science. Educated at MIT, he was especially interested in technology. And in 1960, he and a partner founded a company called Teledyne, a business dedicated to the young field of digital technology. The company made millions, and Singleton became a well-known business executive. Late in his life, however, he began investing in a field far removed from the world of semiconductors and microchips. His new passion: land.
In the mid-1980s, Singleton started buying ranches in California and New Mexico, beginning with the historic San Cristobal Ranch outside Santa Fe. Within a 14-year period, he purchased 28 other ranches, which made Singleton Ranches the largest cow-calf operation in the Land of Enchantment.
The ranch that started it all, the culture-rich San Cristobal, was once home to Indian pueblos, but it’s now the base of Singleton Ranches’ horse division. This division of the ranch conglomerate has facilities for breeding and training and holds horse clinics every year that are open to the public.
Singleton died in 1999, but not before amassing more than a million acres of ranchland that remain in the Singleton family, putting the Singletons neck and neck with Ted Turner for the title of largest landowner in New Mexico.
5. King Ranch Heirs
851,642 acres
This national landmark got its start in 1853 when Capt. Richard King purchased a 15,500-acre Mexican land grant known as the Rincon de Santa Gertrudis for $300. Paying less than two cents an acre for one of the rare well-watered tracts in the Desert of the Dead was typical of the shrewd riverboat captain, who ranked as the wealthiest man in Texas at the time of his death in 1885. His heirs showed similar acumen, expanding their holdings, paying down debts, and forging long-term relationships with companies such as Humble Oil and its successor, Exxon-Mobil. Worth noting: King Ranch produced the first registered American quarter horse, two breeds of cattle, and a Triple Crown winner, Assault.
6. Pingree Heirs
850,000 acres
David Pingree was a forward-thinking man. In 1820, the Massachusetts shipping magnate began buying vast tracts of timberland in what was then the newest state in the Union-Maine. Pingree believed that the heyday of the New England shipping boom had come and gone, and was he ever right. In 2001, his 5th-, 6th-, and 7th-generation heirs showed similar foresight when they sold the largest conservation easement in U.S. history, a record-setting 762,192 acres. The family’s Seven Islands Land Co. continues to run timber operations on these holdings, which are certified as an American Tree Farm by the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
7. Brad Kelley
789,851 acres
Kelley took home a $1 billion payday in 2001 when he sold his cigarette manufacturing company, Commonwealth Brands, maker of Bull Durham, USA Gold, and Malibu. To celebrate, he went on a shopping spree, snapping up dozens of ranches and more than 700,000 acres in Texas, New Mexico, and Florida. The man is no real estate developer, however. His acquisitions are all in the name of wildlife conservation. Work crews have been busy constructing fences and establishing veterinary operations on his Florida properties to better care for his rhinos, pygmy hippos, gazelles, antelopes, wildebeests, impalas, and wart hogs.
8. Reed Family
770,000 acres
More than a century ago in 1890, Sol Simpson planted the seeds for what became the Simpson Investment Company in the emerald forests of the Pacific Northwest. Today the land and the company shares are held entirely by Simpson’s descendants, the Reed family. Through the 20th century, the company steadily grew into its current holdings of more than three-quarters of a million acres, spread throughout Washington, California, and Oregon. In addition to the timberlands, the family owns a door company, a paper company, and a number of rendering and production facilities.
9. Ford Family
740,000 acres
At the height of the Great Depression, Kenneth Ford pursued a dream with a single sawmill near Roseburg, Oregon. Ford created Roseburg Forest Products Co., one of the largest familyowned wood products manufacturers in the nation. He was also one of the first timber men to practice responsible forest management on his vast holdings, which stretch through Oregon and California. On his death, Ford, who founded the Ford Family Foundation in the 1950s, passed his legacy on to his son, Allyn, who oversees the family’s timber and wood products empire.
10. Huber Family
600,000 acres
Started in 1883 by Joseph Maria Huber, the New Jersey-based J.M. Huber Corporation has grown from a small dry colors business into a multinational, industrially diverse company. But even with all this growth, at least one thing hasn’t changed: The Huber family is still minding the store, and the corporation is one of the largest family-owned businesses in the country. The land holdings of Huber’s natural resources division include 600,000 acres across the country. The company has timberland in Maine, Oklahoma, and the Southeast, and its oil and gas properties can be found in Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, and Utah.
11. Lykes Bros. Heirs
578,302 acres
Founded more than a century ago by Howell Tyson Lykes and his seven sons, the familyowned company owns Lykes Ranch, one of the largest contiguous pieces of property in the Sunshine State and the home to some 20,000 cattle. It also owns the 02 Ranch in West Texas, a 239,981-acre spread in the Chihuahuan Desert not far from the Mexican border.
12. Dolph Briscoe Jr.
560,000 acres
A two-time Texas governor, Briscoe, 83, also served as the president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association where he spearheaded the cattle industry’s effort to eradicate screwworms. He declined to confirm published reports of the size of Briscoe Ranch, which was established by his father.
13. W.T. Waggoner Estate
520,000 acres
Texas boasts thousands of cattle operations, but none, not even King Ranch, can match the Waggoner’s brag: “the nation’s largest ranch under one fence.” Established in 1849 by Dan Waggoner, the contiguous parcel now encompasses more than 800 square miles. The massive cattle operations, horse breeding program, and oil and gas production are managed by two Waggoner heirs, A.B. Wharton and Gene Willingham.
14. D.M. O’Connor Heirs
500,000 acres
The O’Connor family’s ties to cattle ranching in South Texas date back to the 1830s, when Thomas O’Connor arrived from Ireland. His son Dennis Martin joined the family business, and today, the descendants of D.M. O’Connor share ownership of an estimated 500,000 acres of ranchland in and around Victoria County.
15. Robert Earl Holding
400,000 acres
Salt Lake City resident Robert Earl Holding, owner of Sinclair Oil and proprietor of a number of hotels and resorts, is said to own 400,000 acres of ranchland in Wyoming and Montana. Holding, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, ranked 59th on the 2006 Forbes 400 list.
16. J.R. Simplot
355,746 acres
Nothing seems more simple and humble as a potato. Almost hard to believe it’s the centerpiece of J.R. Simplot’s empire, which stretches across the West. Simplot blended a gambler’s intuition with a businessman’s judgment and common sense to build an agriculture and livestock operation that raises everything from beef cattle to corn and, of course, potatoes.
17. East Family
350,000 acres
Following the death of Richard King’s widow, a substantial number of heirs joined together to maintain the King Ranch legacy (see King Ranch Heirs). Alice Gertrudis Kleberg East, however, eventually cashed in her interests and received two ranches of her own: the San Antonio Viejo and the Santa Fe. They now belong to her descendants.
18. Anne Marion
345,000 acres
Alas, the Four Sixes Ranch does not trace its founding to a winning poker hand. Ranch founder Samuel Burk Burnett purchased a herd of cattle with the 6666 brand and eventually registered the mark as his own in 1875. His great-granddaughter is the sole owner of the 345,000-acre cow-calf operation.
19. Gerald Lyda
320,035 acres
This San Antonio general contractor built such landmarks as the Tower of the Americas and the Alamodome. He sold the Ladder Ranch in New Mexico to top-ranked Ted Turner. With the proceeds, he parceled together a new ranch in West Texas, which he dubbed La Escalera (”ladder” in Spanish).
20. Collins Family
305,313 acres
The seed that became The Collins Companies was planted in Pennsylvania in 1855, and the family-owned, eco-friendly forest products business has been growing ever since. The company now owns just over 300,000 acres in California, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia and has received multiple honors for its commitment to the environment.
21. Fasken Family
300,000 acres
The Faskens were lucky enough to settle in West Texas before oil and gas were discovered in the Permian Basin. Their holdings now span Midland, Ector, Andrews, and Martin counties, and they own additional acreage in Culberson and Reeves counties as well as in South Texas near Laredo.
22. The Bell Ranch
292,000 acres
In 1824, the Mexican government granted former Spanish army Captain Pablo Montoya more than 600,000 acres near Tucumcari, New Mexico. In 1947, after a slew of colorful owners, the land was divided into six parcels. William Lane II eventually purchased the largest plot in 1970. The Bell Ranch, named for the bell-shaped butte on the property, is now owned by Bill Lane’s five children and is used to raise cattle and horses. The Lanes also offer trail rides, guided hikes, hunting, and lodging.
Bell Ranch listing from Orvis/Cushman & Wakefield
23. Jeff Bezos
290,000 acres
Amazon.com founder Bezos, 43, is a regular on the Forbes 400. His $3.6 billion fortune (Forbes’s 2006 estimate) enables him to fund a space flight company called Blue Origin. The company tested its first developmental vehicle in November 2006. The launch site? One of several West Texas ranches Bezos has acquired for takeoff and landing.
24. Collier Family
280,000 acres
The Collier family has had a substantial presence in the Sunshine State since the early part of the 20th century when Barron Gift Collier headed south from New York City and bought more than a million acres in southwest Florida. Today the family owns a reported 280,000 acres and runs operations that include cattle ranching, vegetable farming, and citrus production, among others.
25. Babbitt Ranches
270,000 acres
The Babbitt Ranches are a 120- year-old cow-calf and yearlingoperation where home on the range still includes a bedroll and chuck wagon. The ranchlands encompass 700,000 acres, 270,000 of which are deeded, and extend from the Grand Canyon to the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.
26. Jones Heirs
255,000 acres
The Joneses are tight-lipped about their South Texas landholdings, but previous reports show the family owning more than 250,000 acres. The accumulation of land started more than a century ago with William Whitby Jones and now continues with A.C. Jones IV.
27. True Family
255,000 acres
Established in 1957 with the purchase of Wyoming’s Double Four Ranch at the foot of Laramie Peak, the True family has since expanded its holdings to include seven ranches, two farms, and two feedlots. They run Angus, Black Baldy, Charolais, and Hereford cattle.
28. Reynolds Family
250,000 acres
The Long X brand dates back to 1868 when two brothers, George Thomas and William David Reynolds, formed a partnership that became the Reynolds Cattle Company. Family-owned ranches were operated in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, and North Dakota. Today, dozens of Reynolds heirs jointly and individually own ranchlands in Texas.
29. Mike Smith
245,000 acres
In recent years, Amarillo’s Mike Smith has purchased 245,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle. The land is used predominantly for grazing and other recreational purposes. “I’ve accumulated the land myself,” he says.
30. D.K. Boyd
243,437 acres
A Lubbock oilman, Boyd acquired the 137,372-acre Frying Pan Ranch in 1996 and the 106,065-acre LE Ranch in 1998. The two cattle ranches are among the most historic in the West Texas/Southeast New Mexico region and date back to the late 19th century.
31. Langdale Family
240,000 acres
Based in Valdosta, Georgia, the Langdale Company dates back to 1894. Founder John Wesley Langdale died in 1911 and left his property to his three sons, one of which was Harley Langdale Sr. Harley acquired more and more land, most of which is used today for timber and other forest products.
32. Koch Family
230,000 acres
Dixie cups, Brawny paper towels, Stainmaster carpet-these are a few of the consumer products produced by Koch Industries, one of the world’s largest privately held companies. Among the family’s holdings are the Matador Cattle Company in Texas, which is owned outright, and Beaverhead, a 200,000-acre ranch in Montana on leased land.
33. Tim Blixseth
213,895 acres
Blixseth made his fortune in timber but recently shifted focus to the luxury resort business. In the 1990s, he developed the country’s only private golf and ski resort, the Yellowstone Club, on 13,400 acres in Big Sky, Montana. Thetimber tycoon also owns 180,000 acres of former Boise Cascade land in Idaho.
34. Roxana Hayne & Joan Kelleher
213,730 acres
In 1878, Alfred Gage left his native Vermont to make his fortune in the Lone Star State. Given the size of his estate at his death in 1928, an estimated 500,000 acres, he did exactly that. Hayne and Kelleher own the largest remaining portion of Gage’s original ranch.
35. Cassidy Heirs
212,985 acres
If it’s in Maine and it’s a large landholding, it’s got to be timber. (That’s why they nicknamed it the Pine Tree State.) That’s definitely the case with family-owned Cassidy Timberlands, which owns 200,000-plus acres in various locales. Almost all is used primarily for timber harvesting.
36. Irwin Heirs
210,000 acres
Thomas Watson Sr. founded IBM. His son-in-law John Irwin II bought Arizona’s O RO Ranch. His grandson John Irwin III now heads the familyowned JJJ Corporation, which owns and operates the ranch, as well as other cattle operations.
37. Bidegain Family
200,000 acres
More than a century after Howard Kohn founded what would become the T4 Cattle Co. in New Mexico, family members remain loyal to its cattle ranching heritage. Kohn’s daughter Yetta and her family, the Bidegains, now own the approximately 200,000-acre ranch. Her son Phillip manages the property.
38. Emily Bonavia
200,000 acres
When her father, Willard Garvey, passed away, Emily Bonavia inherited the Kansas family’s 200,000-acre cattle and farming operation outside Winnemucca, Nevada. Today, she runs the business with her sons under the name Nevada First Corporation.
39. Killam Family
200,000 acres
Besides operating an oil and gas company and a real estate development business, the Killam family also owns several ranches totaling more than 200,000 acres in Texas, Oregon, and Mexico. One of these is the 125,000-acre Duval County Ranch in South Texas, which they purchased in 1994.
40. Bogle Family
192,000 acres
Beginning in 1920, Hal Bogle established himself in the ranching community by acquiring land in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, and Tennessee. When he died in 1973, he left almost 192,000 acres of ranchland in New Mexico to his son William Clarence and to William’s five children.
41. Williams Family
180,000 acres
Any cowboy worth his salt will tell you that a gray horse with a black mane and black tail is a Pitchfork Gray. It’s one of the many emblematic aspects to this West Texas ranch, which has been owned by the same St. Louis family since its founding in 1883.
42. Eugene Gabrych
172,000 acres
A self-made multimillionaire, Gabrych buys and sells his holdings in California and Nevada through a hard-charging broker by the name of Matt Kelpis. Kelpis would not confirm the total extent of the Gabrych portfolio, only the properties he presently has listed that Gabrych owns: a 100,000-acre parcel at Pyramid Lake and two listings near Winnemucca totaling 72,000 acres.
43. Broadbent Family
170,000 acres
The late Joseph Ray Broadbent, known as J.R. to his friends, got his start in the 1930s with his own lamb-feeding business in California’s Imperial Valley. Over the ensuing decades, he grew his stake. Now his sons operate Broadbent Brothers Sheep on a reported 170,000 acres in California and Wyoming.
44. Malcolm Forbes Heirs
170,000 acres
In 1969, the late great Malcolm Forbes purchased the Trinchera Ranch in Colorado’s San Luis Valley as a family retreat. Owned and operated by Forbes Inc., it includes Cuatro, Harrison, Napoleon, and Trinchera peaks and remains the largest undeveloped parcel within the historic Sangre de Cristo land grant, which dates to 1843.
45. McCoy Family
170,000 acres
Emmett McCoy transformed his father’s roofing business into McCoy’s Building Supply, a $550 million business with 84 stores. In their spare time, the McCoys run Angus cattle on family-owned ranches in the Davis Mountains of Texas. Ranch foreman Kaare Remme says, “It’s a cow-camp operation with the land divided into camps like in the old days.”
46. John Hampton
167,000 acres
For more than 50 years, three generations of the Hampton family have owned and operated Hampton Affiliates. The company operates five sawmills and manages 167,000 acres of timberland in Oregon and Washington.
47. Sugg Family
165,487 acres
Although published reports of the family’s West Texas cattle ranches detail holdings of close to 300,000 acres, a thorough examination of tax records confirmed only a portion of that total in and around San Angelo where the family settled in the early 1900s.
48. H.L. Kokernot Heirs
163,166 acres
Herbert Lee Kokernot Sr. established the 06 Ranch in West Texas in 1912. The brand he chose, the 06, had belonged to his grandfather David Kokernot, a scout for Sam Houston during the Texas Revolution. His descendants run Hereford cattle on much of the family’s vast mountainous holdings.
49. Cogdell Family
160,000 acres
When Billy Cogdell passed away a few years ago at the age of 70, his family’s Tule Ranch was divided among his four children. Today, the three brothers and one sister run a cattle company near Tulia, Texas. They also raise quarter horses. In 2006 they were honored by the American Quarter Horse Association with its Best Remuda award.
50. Leo Drey
160,000 acres
The St. Louis businessman and conservationist began collecting Missouri land in 1951. In 1954 his holdings grew considerably larger after a forester warned Drey that National Distillers was planning to clear cut thousands of acres of white oak in the Ozarks. Drey purchased those 90,000 acres and continues to buy land today.
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51. Eddy Family
160,000 acres
Published reports indicate that the Eddy family’s Port Blakely Companies control 160,000 acres in Washington and Oregon, with additional property in New Zealand. The companies have been in the family since 1903 and include ventures in timber, forest products, and real estate.
52. Hearst Family
153,000 acres
In 1865, family patriarch George Hearst bought a 48,000- acre ranch on the California coast at San Simeon. Hearst’s holdings eventually totaled 270,000 acres, which his son, William Randolph, crowned with the Hearst Castle. The Hearsts still own two ranches in California: the 73,000-acre Jack Ranch in Cholame, and 80,000 acres adjacent to the castle, which was given to the state in 1957.
53. Bass Family
150,000 acres
In 1936, Texas oilman Sid Richardson purchased St. Joseph’s Island. The retreat, totaling more than 33,000 acres just off the Texas coast, became the billionaire bachelor’s favorite getaway and is now one of many parcels that his heirs, the Bass family of Fort Worth, own and operate in the Lone Star State.
54. Boswell Family
150,000 acres
The J.G. Boswell Company was formed in the 1920s and now owns a reported 150,000 acres in California’s Central Valley. The family-owned agribusiness is recognized as one of the world’s largest cotton producers, and it is said to be the largest privately held farm in the United States.
55. William Henry Green Heirs
150,000 acres
In 1886, Thomas Henry Green sent his son William west to look after a band of horses along Hubbard Creek. The young man arrived in Shackelford County with a $20 gold piece and an eye for good grassland. Over a century later, William’s son Bob, 82, and other members of the Green family run cattle in six Texas counties as a partnership.
56. Robert Rebholtz Jr.
150,000 acres
Robert Rebholtz Sr. founded Agri Beef Co. as a ranching and cattle feed operation. Under his son’s leadership, Agri Beef has evolved into a vertically integrated company that is now involved in every stage of beef production. Published reports list the family’s private land holdings at 150,000 acres.
57. Scott Family
150,000 acres
Homer Scott started the Padlock Ranch in 1943 with 300 cows on 3,000 acres. Today the family’s holdings stretch from Hardin, Montana, to Sheridan, Wyoming. The ranch, which is headquartered at the foot of Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains, now raises and markets more than 12,000 calves a year.
58. Philip Anschutz
149,493 acres
Notoriously secretive, the selfmade billionaire tipped his hand about his substantial land holdings last year when he put his Wyoming ranch on the market. Situated along 22 miles of the North Platte River, the Overland Trail Cattle Company includes 312,170 acres: 149,493 are owned by Anschutz, and the rest is leased from the Bureau of Land Management.
59. Clayton Williams Jr.
146,655 acres
The son of one of the first licensed geologists in Texas, Williams, 75, is based in Midland where he runs his own oil and gas company, Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. (CWEI). Claytie has several ranches in West Texas. He recently parted with one, which was purchased by Brad Kelley.
60. Mike Mechenbier
142,000 acres
An Albuquerque businessman, Mechenbier owns 142,000 acres spread across several New Mexico counties, including farmland and four adjoining cattle ranches. And he wants the land to stay in the family as long as possible. A large portion of the acreage lies in a trust that prevents that land from being mortgaged.
61. Gerald J. Ford
140,000 acres
This Dallas banker teamed up with Ronald Perelman to sell Golden State Bancorp to Citigroup for $5.8 billion in 2002. Ford also owns the historic Diamond A Ranch in New Mexico and Diamond A Racing in Kentucky, which produced Pleasantly Perfect, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2003 and the Dubai World Cup in 2004.
62. Harrison Family
140,000 acres
Published reports show the Harrison family owning 140,000 acres, including an expansive horse ranch just outside Houston. D.J. Harrison Sr. began breeding quarter horses in the 1930s, and the Harrison Quarter Horse Ranch is now managed by Rosemary Harrison, wife of Daniel III.
63. Thomas Lane
140,000 acres
Thomas Lane began acquiring Montana land in 1954 with a 320-acre purchase. With the help of his four sons, Lane now runs seven livestock operations: Windsor Livestock, which is the home ranch, Holland Ranch, Giles Ranch, Foster Ranch, Hodson Ranch, Gasper Ranch, and Palm Ranch.
64. Wells Family
140,000 acres
Along with a reported 140,000 acres of ranchland in Nebraska, the Wells family also has other real estate ventures, including the historic Riverside Hotel in Fort Lauderdale. The family’s Las Olas Company has been investing in Florida real estate since the 1930s.
65. Yturria Heirs
140,000 acres
The Yturria name is indelibly entwined in the history of South Texas. Family patriarch Francisco Yturria opened the first private bank south of San Antonio and was a contemporary of Capt. Richard King (see King Ranch Heirs). According to a family spokesperson, multiple heirs have holdings in several South Texas counties.
66. Tom Siebel
135,000 acres
A former Oracle executive, Siebel netted an estimated $500 million in 2006 when he sold his Siebel Systems to Larry Ellison, his old boss at Oracle. His cattle operation ships about 1.5 million pounds of beef off his two sprawling Montana ranches, the Dearborn near Wolf Creek and the N Bar near Grass Range.
67. Wilson-Hodge Ranches
134,000 acres
Headquartered in Del Rio, Texas, this family-owned ranching company has three divisions spread out in three counties in Southwest Texas. In addition to traditional ranching operations, a wildlife management program has been implemented that has bolstered native populations of whitetail and mule deer, turkey, dove, and quail.
68. Russell Gordy
132,927 acres
The oil patch has been good to this Houstonian, whose diverse interests range from oil and gas to methane and ranching. His Rock Creek Ranch in Southwest Texas tips the scales at almost 89,000 acres, and he paid around $1,000 an acre for his 44,000-acre Montana spread.
69. Isaac Ellwood Heirs
130,000 acres
Joseph Glidden and Isaac Ellwood brought an end to the open range in the American West. The two entrepreneurs co-owned the original patent for barbed wire and profited handsomely. Ellwood’s descendants own and lease five ranches in West Texas totaling 260,000 acres. According to family spokesman John Welch, approximately half is deeded land.
70. Ritchie Family
130,000 acres
Situated in picturesque Palo Duro Canyon south of Amarillo, the Ritchie family’s JA Ranch is the oldest privately owned cattle ranch in the Texas Panhandle. An estimated 130,000 acres, the JA has been in the family for more than 130 years. Unlike many Texas ranches, none of its income comes from oil and gas.
71. Les Davis Heirs
128,000 acres
Tucked away at the foot of the Rockies in Cimarron, New Mexico, the 134-year-old CS Cattle Co. runs several enterprises, including hunting, outfitting, and taking in pasture cattle, on its 138,000 acres (10,000 of which are leased). Les Davis, who began working at the ranch in 1941, died in 2001 and left the CS to his wife, Linda, and their six children.
72. Booth Family
125,000 acres
Booth Land and Livestock, owned by Mark and Gary Booth, expanded its Colorado ranch in 1985 with the purchase of property in southeast Wyoming. The ranch operates a year-round cow-calf operation, and its land is home to a variety of wildlife, including antelope, deer, elk, and waterfowl.
73. Brite Ranch Heirs
125,000 acres
In 1885, Luke Brite trailed a small herd of cattle across several hundred miles of the Texas frontier until he arrived at the base of Capote Peak. For the next few years, Brite camped alone under the West Texas skies as he established this now famous ranch, whose divisions are run by his descendants.
74. Robert A. Funk
124,744 acres
Funk’s Express Ranches run one of the largest seed stock operations in the county. The ranches- Express Ranches in Yukon, Oklahoma; Express Atmore Ranch in Ute Park, New Mexico; and the Express UU Bar Ranch near Cimarron, New Mexico-also develop, test, and export genetics as well as conduct an artificial insemination and embryo transfer program.
75. Ellison Family
122,000 acres
Ellison Ranching Company operates a number of ranches in Nevada, including the 38,000-acre 71 Ranch in Elko and the Spanish Ranch, which the family has owned for more than 75 years. The Ellisons had no comment on their ranches, but their holdings include at least 122,000 acres in Elko and Lander counties.
76. Drummond Family
119,649 acres
Drummond Land & Cattle Co. dates back to 1887 when three Drummond brothers first learned the Osage language in order to lease land from the tribe. Tim and Ladd Drummond now manage ranching and farming operations in Osage and Jefferson counties with more than 6,500 mother cows, 4,000 wild horses, and 12,000 yearlings.
77. A.W. Moursund
115,000 acres
Following the sale of 35,000 acres in South Dakota, it is believed that Moursund and his family own 115,000 acres in Texas and Nebraska, including 56,000 acres in Sheridan and Cherry counties.
78. Scharbauer Family
113,532 acres
The Scharbauer family’s affiliation with Texas cattle ranching dates back to the late 1880s. Today the Scharbauers own more than 100,000 acres in West Texas and the Panhandle. Family patriarch Clarence Scharbauer Jr. also owns 393- acre Valor Farm in Pilot Point, Texas, a renowned horse farm.
79. Richard and Victoria Evans
113,065 acres
The couple owns the 109,065-acre Double V Ranch near Fort Sumner, New Mexico, which has been the site of two separate F-16 crashes. The Evanses are presently marketing the Double V for $26,175,000. They also own 4,000 acres in the Texas Panhandle as well as significant acreage in South America.
80. Linnebur Family
110,000 acres
Although their property has been divided among various family members, the Linneburs are collectively one of Colorado’s largest landowners. Brothers Gene and Lloyd each own substantial parcels, and the widow and four sons of a third brother, Emmett, are still active landowners.
81. David Murdock
108,740 acres
This high school dropout has a penchant for taking large landholding companies private. In 2000, he acquired the venerable Hawaiian firm of Castle & Cooke, a move that made him sole owner of 98 percent of the island of Lanai. Two years later, Murdock paid $1.43 billion for the portion of Dole Food he didn’t already own.
82. Stan Harper
106,500 acres
The owner of Lenders & Members Service Group, Harper lives just south of Fort Worth where he also owns 6,500 acres. But his true passion is northern New Mexico, where he owns a 100,000-acre parcel that most recently belonged to Brad Kelley. This ranch is located in Mora County near the tiny town of Wagon Mound.
83. Desiree Moore
105,000 acres
Bill Moore co-founded Kelly-Moore Paint Co. in 1946. He began his pursuit of land with the purchase of Montana’s Hamilton Ranch in 1988. Several years and 46 transactions later, he had assembled a 135,000-acre tract (105,000 deeded), which he dubbed Broken O Ranch. Upon his death in 2004, his widow inherited the ranch.
84. Reese Family
105,000 acres
The Rockin’ 7 Ranch is a Wyoming cattle operation that dates back four generations in the Reese family. Cloaked in cedar and located 130 miles north of Cheyenne, the Rockin’ 7 also welcomes hunters on the prowl for elk, mule deer, whitetail, antelope, turkey, and upland birds.
85. Robinson Family
103,000 acres
Members of the Robinson family, descendants of Elizabeth Sinclair, control more than 100,000 acres in Hawaii, including the 46,000-acre island of Niiahu, which is known as the Forbidden Island because of the family’s closed-door policy on unapproved visitors. Today, however, because of financial stresses, the Robinsons have become more accepting of tourist dollars.
86. Milliken Family
101,000 acres
The family-owned Baskahegan Company, founded in 1920 and headed by Roger Milliken Jr., holds 101,000 acres of forestland located mainly in the northern part of Maine’s Washington County. In 2004, the Forest Stewardship Council certified Baskahegan’s property, and Milliken himself serves on the board of The Nature Conservancy in Maine.
87. Danny, Doug, and Larry Adams
100,000 acres
Based out of Atlanta, the Adams brothers operate one of the most extensive real estate companies in the nation. They literally own hundreds of pieces of property. Some are cattle ranches. Others are for hunting and fishing. The one common thread is that all are for sale through their marketing company, OEI Properties (www.oeiproperties.com).
88. Beggs Family
100,000 acres
You’ll find no helicopters at roundup on the Beggs Ranches. It may take a little longer, but the Fort Worth family prefers to operate their three West Texas ranches the old-fashioned way: “I’m just trying to follow in my dad’s footsteps,” Ed Beggs II told an interviewer in 2005.
89. Powell Heirs
100,000 acres
Jimmy Powell, head of Powell Ranches, runs his family’s sheep and cattle operation on an estimated 100,000 acres in several Texas counties as well as Cherry County, Nebraska. In 2005, the Rice University graduate was recognized for his longtime leadership in Texas agriculture.
90. Walter Umphrey
100,000 acres
When the tobacco industry settled with the state of Texas, the five attorneys who negotiated the $17.3 billion deal split a staggering $3.3 billion fee. This Beaumont attorney took his share and indulged his penchant for South Texas ranches, which he buys and sells at a fast clip.
91. Dennis Washington
100,000 acres
From rail transportation to aviation technology, construction and mining to heavy equipment sales, this aggressive entrepreneur has been a player in a wide variety of business sectors. It should come as little surprise that his real estate interests also include owning a reported 100,000 acres in the Northwest.
92. Yates Family
100,000 acres
The family is best known for the operations of Yates Petroleum, which is based out of Artesia, New Mexico. The Yateses also reportedly own approximately 100,000 acres of ranchland in several counties of their home state.
93. Butler Heirs
97,389 acres
The Butler family’s Fort Union Ranch is a working cow-calf and yearling operation that spans more than 97,000 acres and surrounds the Fort Union National Monument in New Mexico. The historic monument, which sits on 720 acres donated by the Butlers, receives 13,000 to 14,000 visitors per year.
94. Eshleman Family
96,000 acres
The family’s Eshleman-Vogt Ranch is located in Jim Hogg County. This South Texas property is used primarily for cattle ranching although hunting leases are proving to be a valuable source of income as well.
95. Dunn Family
92,000 acres
The Dunn family’s Maine timber holdings have been divvied up among several dozen heirs.
96. Joe Finley Jr.
89,000 acres
Finley’s Callaghan Ranch is a hunting and cattle operation that once consisted of more than 200,000 acres in South Texas. Today guests on the Callaghan can hunt a wide variety of wildlife, including hogs, whitetail deer, bobcats, and mountain lions.
97. Millard Morris
89,000 acres
Morris acquired the Tongue River Ranch in 1997. Originally a division of the famed Swenson Ranch, it is located in four West Texas counties. One of the many traditions Morris has preserved is the ranch rodeo team, which took top honors at the Fort Worth Stock Show Ranch Rodeo in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
98. Allen Cook
76,356 acres
The Cook family runs a successful cattle operation on its 91,000-acre Wyoming ranch (76,356 acres are deeded). The ranch’s true renown is its Mesozoic marine fossils and mid-Jurassic period remnants. Allen Cook recently donated 4,700 acres to the University of Pittsburgh for its geology, archaeology, and paleontology programs.
99. Robbins Family
75,675 acres
Frank Robbins once welcomed paying visitors a la City Slickers to his family’s High Island Ranch in Wyoming. But for more than a decade, Robbins has been in a litigious dispute with the Bureau of Land Management, prompting him to close his dude ranch. His case is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
100. Roxanne Quimby
75,000 acres
Roxanne Quimby is not your typical large landowner. The co-founder of Burt’s Bees, a multimillion-dollar organic personal-products line, purchased 75,000 acres in northern Maine over the past few years. The land is not for timber or ranching or farming. Instead Quimby hopes to donate her properties for a national park.
