Beilue: ‘Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity’: How a WT alum brokered the sale of the 6666 Ranch

Don Bell has been in the ranching real estate game for six years. In that time, he’s helped broker the sale of several ranches of more than 5,000 acres, but nothing like the 6666 Ranch.

“There’s just not a lot of parcels of land available like this one,” Bell said.

Bell graduated from West Texas A&M University in 1998 with a degree in equine industry and business and has since been recognized as alumnus of distinction in the department of agricultural sciences. After he left WT, he was soon training world-champion quarter horses, while finding time for his other passions of Western drawings, sculpting and writing/playing music.

Later, Bell shifted to the world of cutting horses while keeping his artistic bent. But a career change, and a friendship with movie producer and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, had Bell at the forefront of a historical ranch transaction.

“Don is very driven and really seeks excellence in everything he does,” said Dr. John Pipkin, Regents Professor of Animal Science and the equine program director at WT, who also was Bell’s one-time adviser. “He’s a quasi-perfectionist, or at least pursues excellence.”

Now as head of Don Bell Properties in Weatherford, west of Fort Worth, his group represents the United Country Ranch Properties in Texas and Oklahoma. Much of Bell’s business is in that region west of Fort Worth where he has represented a number of cutting horse farms and sold numerous tracts of land of at least a section of 640 acres in size.

Timing and a friendship led to a historical transaction. Sheridan moved to the Weatherford area about five years ago. Their mutual interest in horses and the Western lifestyle as well as Bell’s artistic flair forged a connection with the two.

Sheridan’s many credits in the film industry include acting, writing, directing and producing. He was one of the stars in FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” about 15 years ago. He wrote the screenplay first for “Sicario” in 2015 that was nominated by the Writers Guild of America for best original screenplay. Sheridan then followed that with an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay for “Hell or High Water” in 2016.

Currently, he is the co-creator, producer and director of Paramount Network’s megahit “Yellowstone,” and the creator of its prequel, “1883.”

In 2020, two years after “Yellowstone” debuted, Anne Marion, great-granddaughter of 6666 Ranch founder Samuel Burk Burnett, died. Though there are some other descendants, she was the last one directly tied to the iconic ranch. Terms of her will following her death on Feb. 11, 2020, dictated all the 6666 ranching operations would be sold.

‘It takes a special person to buy it’

Upon hearing the news, Bell’s heart began to beat a little faster at the possibilities. Though growing up in Tennessee, he left for Texas soon after high school graduation. He knew of the culture and the history of the Four Sixes. When going to WT, he’d sometimes go out of his way to drive by the southern portion of the ranch near Guthrie in King County.

“All the world champion race horses, cow horses, cutters that come from there is impressive,” Bell said. “I’d intentionally drive over to the Guthrie area to see the pitchfork and the Sixes. That’s a pretty famous brand.”

At the time of Marion’s death, Sheridan was filming some of Season 4 of “Yellowstone” on the 6666. For a few months in 2020, the future of the ranch was under wraps. Then it began to leak that Marion’s will had the ranch going to market with a hard and fast stipulation—the buyer would continue the legacy of the ranch that first began 150 years ago.

The 6666 Ranch is the ninth-largest in Texas. Operational since 1870, the entire spread covers approximately 266,000 acres. More than 100,000 acres of the Dixon Creek section is in the Texas Panhandle in Carson and Hutchinson counties.

The ranch was established by Samuel Burk Burnett in 1900 after he purchased the land from the Louisville Land and Cattle Company. Legend has it that he won the ranch from a card game, where he scored four sixes. It’s a nice story, but the Burnett family denied the folklore. Instead, the name comes from the first herd he raised on the ranch, which was branded "6666".

Long before “Yellowstone,” the 6666 received some national pop culture notoriety in the 1960s and 1970s when the red barn on the ranch was used in national advertising for Marlboro, the national cigarette brand.

This was just not any old ranch on the market.

“I had several people in the horse business that buy large ranches that I thought might be a fit and I threw it out there to them,” Bell said. “After several months of back and forth, it was clear to me it was not going to be the right fit for any of them. There were a lot of people looking at the ranch. There were four to five serious parties. It takes a special person to buy it.”

Bell and Milt Bradford, his close friend and business partner, had thought of Sheridan as possible buyer for logical reasons, but figured he had too many other irons in the fire.

“Taylor said, ‘I want to know all the details,’ which was a surprise to us,” Bell said. “Taylor has so many things going and we didn’t know if this was just going to burden his schedule even more, but he is so passionate about the Western lifestyle and the horse business.”

Sheridan needed to put an investment group together, and that took some time. Working with Bell and Bradford, Sheridan was registered as a potential buyer for the ranch in February 2021. Sam Middleton of Chas. S. Middleton and Son LLC in Lubbock represented the ranch.

“It’s always complicated when you’re dealing with multiple personalities and multiple investors for any entity like this,” Bell said. “That caused us the most speed bumps because of varied personalities and opinions.”

Continuing the 6666 tradition

As important as negotiating a sale was to convince ranch trustees that a new owner would continue the tradition of the 6666 in terms of operation and stewardship.

“Taylor is the perfect person to carry on the tradition of the Four Sixes,” Bell said. “All of that is important to him. He is very driven to keep the authenticity of the ranch alive. He can build new cashflow opportunities while keeping the operation like it was.

“Taylor did a very good job of representing himself in that fashion. He convinced them wholeheartedly to carry on the tradition of what Mrs. Marion would have wanted.”

Bradford died two days before the purchase/sale agreement was signed in 2021. The final purchase price of the ranches remains undisclosed, but the ranches were listed for sale at $341 million for just the real estate.

“It will be very similar to the way it’s been used for the last 150 years,” Bell said. “They have some other plans too. In the next few months, people will see the 6666 brand all over.”

In addition to portions of seasons 4 and 5 of “Yellowstone” filmed on the 6666, the prequel of “1883” has filmed at the ranch, and stars Sam Elliott, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill were spotted in Amarillo. In the future, according to TV Guide, will be “6666,” that takes the Yellowstone story out of Montana to Texas.

That Bell has thrived in real estate is no surprise to Pipkin, who has been at WT since 1993. Bell first came to Texas to attend Abilene Christian University, but transferred to WT because of Pipkin and the horse judging team.

At WT, he was on the horse judging team and helped with the equestrian team. While at school is where his music as a writer and guitar began to flourish. He cut an album while in school and continue to work as an artist, specifically with charcoal.

“Don has always worked really hard. He has an exceptional work ethic and makes good use of the opportunities he’s had,” Pipkin said. “I’m not surprised he’s had great success in the real estate industry. He’s pretty much been a success in everything he touches.”

As far as representing Sheridan in the sale of the famous ranch, Bell called that “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“And even that’s an understatement,” Bell said. “It’s very humbling to be a part of it. It’s a legendary passing of the torch in the state of Texas and the American West. I may sell ranches for another 50 years and never be a part of anything like this. It’s very humbling is about all I can say.”

Do you know of a student, faculty member, project, an alumnus or any other story idea for “WT: The Heart and Soul of the Texas Panhandle?” If so, email Jon Mark Beilue at jbeilue@wtamu.edu .

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: WT alum represents ‘Yellowstone’ creator in sale of 6666 ranch