Page 30 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine Summer 2021 - Online Magazine

in 1892. Their only child When Miss Anne died in 1980,
died just a few days before Little Anne (Anne Marion)
he would have been 21. inherited the Four Sixes ranches
When Burk died in 1922, through directives stated in
he willed the bulk of his Burk’s will and also inherited her
estate to his granddaughter, grandfather Tom’s estate, which
Anne Valliant Burnett, in included the Triangle ranches.
a trusteeship for her yet Anne Marion sold all of her
unborn child. By that time, grandfather’s ranches and focused
Tom had established himself her attention on the Four Sixes, a
as a rancher and cowman. ranch that had been important to
He acquired the 26,000-acre her since she was a small child.
Triangle Ranch near Iowa
Park in 1910 and expanded In a 2019 Western Horseman article,
those holdings by buying Anne Marion said that the time
five more ranches in the she spent on the ranch as a child
next 15 years, including and young girl was one of the
another Triangle Ranch near most important and life-forming
Paducah. periods of her life. She credited
the cowboys and their families
When Tom died in 1938, with instilling a set of values in
he left his estate to his only her and teaching her how to raise
Anne Valliant Burnett Tandy, a third-generation owner child, Anne Valliant Burnett, livestock. “Little Anne” became
of the Four Sixes, shared a magazine cover with her
daughter, Anne Windfohr Marion in the 1970s. Both who became known as the new “Miss Anne,” a fixture in
women led epic lives as ranchers, philanthropists and Miss Anne. As a result, she the ranching industry her entire
stewards of the land. Anne Marion ran the ranch for
40 years after the death of her mother in 1980. operated both her father’s life.
Triangle ranches and her
grandfather’s Four Sixes With all three of the Four Sixes
son Tom lived to adulthood. ranches now listed for sale,
Tom learned the cattle business ranches. Miss Anne and her the land will pass out of the
from working as a ranch hand second husband, Jim Hall, had ownership of the Burnett family,
for his dad. When he turned only one child, who was also but the famous “brand with a
21, he became wagon boss of named Anne and became known background” will likely outlive its
the Indian Territory unit of the in West Texas ranch country as founders in the minds of families
ranch and married Olive “Ollie” “Little Anne.” on the South Plains.
Lake in 1891. They lived
in the Wichita County
headquarters while Tom
ran the Indian Territory
unit. The couple had one
daughter, named after
Tom’s deceased sister,
Anne Valliant Burnett.
After Burk and Ruth
divorced, Burk married
Mary Courts Barradel
Legendary Four Sixes cowboy Boots O’Neal is 88 years old and has
been taking care of livestock on horseback for 75 of his 88 years.
(Photo by Jim Jennings)

30 Amarillo Senior Link