6666 – Texas History Notebook

Tom Ryan, Western Artist

Thomas Richard “Tom” Ryan was a well known cowboy artist. He was born on January 12, 1922 in Springfield, Illinois to William Martin Ryan and Sarah Ellen Bernds Ryan and was one of eight children. In the 1930 federal census, his father and one of several older brothers worked in Springfield’s coal mine industry. His father’s family had originally come from Ireland and the census listed his grandfather’s place of birth as the “Irish free state.” His mother’s family had been in the United States a bit longer. Their records indicate that Sarah’s father, John Robert Bernds, was born in Germany in 1858 while her mother’s family had been in the United States since at least around the time of the Revolutionary War. The Ryans were a closely knit, working class family. They had possibly not always lived in the eastern United States. There are some indications that they may have briefly lived in Colorado before Tom was born, although the 1900 and 1910 federal census both show William or William and family residing in Illinois. William and Sarah were married in 1902 and of all their children were born in Illinois.

6666 Barn

For more than seventy years, this barn was in everyday use on the Guthrie, Texas ranch of the 6666. It is believed to have been completed by Samuel Burk Burnett around 1908. It became a landmark, symbolic of the ranching activities carried on there. The structure was a common sight as it sat just off Highway 82 as the highway looped around Guthrie. In later years, the quarter horses owned by the operation were housed there. Within ten years of its completion, Burnett built his ranch house that stood nearby for so many years until the barn was moved.

Dr. Glenn Blodgett

Dr. Glenn Paul “Doc” Blodgett was the horse division manager of the 6666 Ranch for many years. He was born December 31, 1948 in Perryton, Texas and died November 20, 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas. His parents were Clarence Ralph Blodgett, Jr. and Helen Johanne Studer Blodgett. Dr. Blodgett grew up in Spearman where his father operated a grain elevator business called B & B Grain. The family also operated a farm and cattle operation for their own account. There they also raised wheat and leased their grassland. They lived in town but Dr. Blodgett grew up working on the farm and ranch. He was a third generation Texan. Both his father and paternal grandfather were not only born in Texas, but born in the Panhandle. Dr. Blodgett was the oldest of two children.

Two Texas Horses – Traveler and Dash for Cash

Traveler was a former railroad work horse that rose to fame for a short time as a race horse in a career that ended about 120 years ago. He is better known for his offspring. His actual ancestry is unknown, but he was believed to have been born in New York state around 1880 to and was transported to Texas around 1890 as a work horse for a railroad contractor. He had no name at that time and was a utility animal, used to pull an implement called a dirt scraper. At one point, the railroad contractor decided that a mule would be better and traded with an East Texas man named Self. Self determined that the horse had a talent for racing and began match racing him with other horses. The horse was then traded to an owner by the name of Seay who also raced him. How and when he was given the name of Traveler is also not precisely known. Finally the horse suffered a career ending injury and was sold possibly several more times until 1903, when he was acquired by owners Will and Dow Shely of Alfred, Texas. The Shely brothers used Traveler as one of the herd sires at their ranch.

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.