Burnett, Samuel Burk

The legendary Samuel Burk Burnett, known widely as Burk Burnett, was a wealthy Texas rancher, banker, and oilman. He was born on January 1, 1849 in Bates County, Missouri. In the late 1850s Burnett's father moved his family to a small ranch at Denton Creek in Denton County, Texas. In 1871, Burk Burnett began his own ranch known as the Four Sixes. In 1881, Burk Burnett established his ranch headquarters near Wichita Falls after shifting operations to North Central Texas. After years of operating the ranch, Burk leased the land to his son Tom Burnett in 1910. By this time, the 6666 Ranch included the 8 Ranch near Guthrie in King County and land purchased in Carson County.

At the height of his operations, Burk Burnett controlled 206,000 acres with 20,000 cattle throughout Oklahoma, Texas, and Mexico. Burk's wealth increased with the discovery of oil in 1912 near Burkburnett. Later he moved his headquarters to Fort Worth where he lived until his death on June 27, 1922. In addition to his ranches and oil, he was also director and principal stockholder of First National Bank of Fort Worth and president of the Ardmore Oil Milling and Gin Company. He had four children through two marriages. His first wife whom he married in 1869 was Ruth B. Lloyd and they were later divorced. His second wife was Mary Couts Barradel of Weatherford whom he married in 1892 and they had one son.

The Handbook of Texas has published a more in-depth on-line biography of Samuel Burk Burnett and the Four Sixes Ranch at http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/on-line/search.html

From the guide to the Samuel Burk Burnett Estate Records, S 140. 1., 1874-1981 and undated, (Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University)