Thomas Loyd Burnett

Thomas Loyd Burnett was the son of Samuel Burk Burnett (1849 – 1922) and Ruth Bottom Loyd (1853 – 1913), and was born to the couple on December 10, 1871 in Denton County, Texas. Burk and Ruth had both a son and a daughter after Tom was born, but neither child survived beyond one or two years of age. They were followed by another daughter, Anne Valliant Burnett (1876 -1914). Burk and Ruth divorced in 1892 and Burk subsequently married Mary Sue Couts (1857 – 1924). Their union produced a son, (half brother to Tom and Anne) Samuel Burk Burnett, Jr. (1895 – 1916). Burk, Jr. died of cancer when he was almost twenty-one years old after a short illness. Tom’s sister Anne had previously died in 1914.

Tom’s mother Ruth Bottom Loyd was the daughter of Martin Bottom Loyd (1834 – 1912) and Margaret Ann (Martha) Valiant/Valliant Loyd (1836 – 1895). Mr. Loyd was a Confederate veteran and founded the entity that is now First National Bank of Fort Worth. He was a banker and was well known as a civic leader in Fort Worth. After Ruth and Burk were divorced, Ruth married F. E. Shoemaker, but when Ruth died, the inscription on her memorial was engraved in her maiden name, Ruth Bottom Loyd. She is buried in the Loyd plot of old Greenwood Cemetery in Fort Worth, along with her parents, her deceased infant children and her father’s twin brother, Dr. Thomas Loyd.

Tom grew up on the ranch while also attending school. He is said to have gone to school locally, also in Fort Worth as well as several years at Virginia Military Institute before returning to the ranch. His father had become friends with Quanah Parker and Tom is also said to have lived in Oklahoma with the Chief’s family for a while, mostly during the time that Quanah’s residence in Cache, Oklahoma was built. While there, he worked on the ranch and maintained a life long relationship with the great Chief. The Burnett ranch of Burk Burnett included property mostly in Wichita County, Texas and more pasture land leased from the Indian agency of the Kiowa and Comanche reservations in Oklahoma until the government ended that program. While it was in effect, though, Tom’s responsibilities gravitated more to managing the Oklahoma portion of the ranch.

Tom was married to Olive “Ollie” Lake (1871 – 1966) on October 8, 1891. The couple had one daughter, Anne Valliant Burnett – named for Tom’s sister, in 1900. The couple was later divorced. Tom was married a number of other times but is not known to have any other legal descendants.

A rough time line of the various ranches might read something like this. The Wichita County ranch was bought first, probably after 1875. The exact area is not ordinarily stated but it is generally thought to have been located near where the current cities of Wichita Falls, Burkburnett and Iowa Park are today. The Guthrie ranch was previously known as the 8 Ranch and was bought by Burk in 1900 from the Louisville Land and Cattle Company in King County. In 1903, Burk acquired the Dixon Ranch in the Panhandle (Carson and Hutchinson counties) from the Cunard Line. In 1910, Burk bought the Triangle Ranch near Iowa Park. In the meantime, the 6666 headquarters were relocated to the Guthrie ranch.

After Burk died in the summer of 1922, Tom received an annuity under the terms of Burk’s estate. Tom was by that time the only living heir of Burk. The terms of Burk’s will, however, left the ranch property in trust with the final beneficiary to be the last living (and at that point unborn) grandchild of Tom. At the time Burk died, Tom was living in the former ranch headquarters house in Iowa Park and had been leasing some property from his father. Tom had also inherited other assets and some of the Wichita County property of his grandfather, Martin Bottom Loyd who had previously passed away in 1912. Tom adopted the Triangle brand previously used by Loyd and is said to have enjoyed a close relationship with Martin B. Loyd. Below is one image of the brand. At least one other image is reversed top to bottom, that is, with the point down.

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The Triangle Brand

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The late John M. Hendrix grew up in North Texas and wrote a number of articles about ranches and cattle brands. The above image was taken from his one column article on the Triangle brand as it was printed in the Abilene Reporter News issue of April 12, 1951. In the article, Hendrix says that the brand was used by Tom on his ranch. Tom had it painted on the roof and gable of all the buildings along the highway (U. S. 287). Hendrix also added that in addition to raising Palomino horses and quality cattle, that the Wichita County ranch was the location for some 1,400 oil wells.

About the relationship with the Loyd family, though Burk and Ruth were long divorced, Burk seems to have maintained a strong relationship with M. B. Loyd. Burk lived many years in Fort Worth and served with Loyd on the board of First National Bank of Fort Worth. The capital L that was painted below the 6666 on the landmark old red barn, once in Guthrie and now reassembled on the campus of Texas Tech University, is for the Loyd family and is one of the brands of the 6666 ranch. The capital L is still used today on horses and cattle of the ranch in its complex branding system.

As noted, Tom Burnett came up through the ranching system of his father and became a well respected ranch man on his own. He acquired other properties: in the vicinity of Iowa Park, on into West Texas and elsewhere in the state. He extended his interests into banking, becoming a major shareholder of Iowa Park State Bank and his Wichita County property benefited from local oil development.

Tom was also known to have been involved in civic affairs in Iowa Park. He died in December of 1938 and is interred in Highland Cemetery there in Iowa Park. His estate was left to his daughter Anne. It eventually passed to his granddaughter Anne Burnett Windfohr Marion (1938 – 2020) who was the last Burnett descendant to have an interest (in trust) in the 6666 Ranch. She maintained his name by operating as the Tom L. Burnett Cattle Company. The old Iowa Park ranch headquarters where Tom Burnett once lived was later conveyed to the town of Iowa Park, Texas and now serves as the Tom Burnett Memorial Library.

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