Philetus Sawyer purchased the first section of land on the Middle Concho River and Centralia Draw.
1871
1885
Edgar P. Sawyer, son of Philetus Sawyer, purchased 18 sections of land from the Texas Pacific Railroad.
1887
The Bar S Brand was established by Captain S.E. Sterrett and George Sherwood. The Sawyer’s purchased Sterrett and Sherwood holdings and Sawyer Cattle Company was born. The Bar S Ranch was the first ranch in west Texas to fence its holdings and the first to drill a water well.
1910
By the close of the year, the Bar S ranch had grown from one section of land to a sprawling 172,000 acres.
1917
At the death of manager Wash Tankersley, L.L. Farr, Sr. became General Manger with an office in the Central National Bank building in San Angelo, Texas. Mr. Farr continued the practice of upgrading the herd and only the best available registered Hereford bulls were used. Mr. Farr also drastically upgraded the quality of horses on the ranch and the Bar S started raising their own horses.
1930
At the death of L.L. Farr, Sr., L.L. Farr, Jr, eldest son of L.L. Farr, Sr., became general manager. Many changes took place during L.L. Farr, Jr’s tenure, including establishing the registration of the ranch’s quarter horses. Sawyer Cattle Company purchased the 80,000 acre San Cristobal Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. The San Cristobal Ranch was later sold and is now part of Singleton Ranches.
1940
Under the direction of L.L. Farr, Jr. the ranch registered its first horse with the AQHA, Red #204.
1954
The ranch and all its holdings were sold to William A. Blakley. Mr. Blakley was a Texas politician and businessman. He was appointed to fill two separate vacancies in the US Senate. His business interests expanded into real estate, ranch land, banking, and insurance; and he was, at one time, the largest single shareholder of Braniff International Airways. With the purchase of the ranch, Senator Blakley changed the brand to Rocker b.
1958
Blakley and Farr made headlines in livestock publications across the nation when they purchased six bulls and 102 females at the dispersion of the Windsor Place herd of Anxiety 4th Herefords.
1964
The ranch in its entirety was gifted to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children.
1994
The first foals in approximately 20 years arrived.
2003
The ranch began keeping ranch raised commercial Angus-Hereford to incorporate back into the cow herd.
2007
Increased emphasis placed on the type of horses being produced. Horses with more modern, performance-based bloodlines were incorporated into the ranch bred horses.
2016
A small herd of registered Hereford heifers was purchased with the intent to raise registered bulls for the commercial cow herd.
2017
Ranch stallions started being collected and shipped semen became available. The equine breeding program went from being exclusively live cover to predominately artificial insemination.
Our Crew
The managers, cowboys, guides, and ranch hands who keep our operation producing its best.
Director of Ranch Operations
L. Cody Webb
Ranch Operations Manager
Tony Martinez
Salthouse Camp
George Calvin Self
Elbow Camp
Austin Freeman
Whoo Doo Camp
Tyler Dunn
Vat Camp
Bailey Bodystun
Westline Camp
Ty Self
Hughes Camp
Jacob Rydell
Headquarters Camp/Equine Breeding
Alex Martinez
Office Manager/Equine Breeding Manager
Sarah Webb
Office Assistant
Erin McWilliams
Wildlife Coordinator
Lance Culak
