Massive Texas Panhandle ranch comes with historic past and $180 million price tag

With a price tag of $180 million, you’d expect the Turkey Track Ranch to be one of the biggest in Texas.

The 80,000-acre spread in the Texas Panhandle doesn’t disappoint.

It also comes with more than 150 years of history and prospects for future development. Along with the land, the buyer gets a stake in mineral rights.

Turkey Track Ranch is along the Canadian River near the town of Borger.

Established in the 1870s, the huge cattle spread in Hansford and Hutchinson counties was one of the first large ranches in the Panhandle.

For the last century, Turkey Track has been owned by the Coble and Whittenburg families. In 2021, the families hired Dallas real estate broker Icon Global Group to put the historic property on the market.

“Our stakeholders are all generational beneficiaries,” Kim McTee, a third-generation Coble family descendant and one of five managers of the ownership trust, said in a statement. “The collective decision to sell, naturally, contains mixed emotions.

“Concurrently, we are proceeding with the second phase of our marketing campaign, as we explore, invite and advance opportunity.”

McTee said the families have looked at a co-ownership model for the property and have had interest from conservation groups

“Expressions of interest continue and include conservation initiatives, even ideas for the reintroduction of buffalo to the plains area via the ranch are under evaluation,” McTee said.

The owners are also looking at natural resources and carbon capture uses for the huge ranch.

Bernard Uechtritz of Icon Global Group said the list price includes “a 25% ownership stake within a near 100% mineral ownership holding.”

“Of all the ranches for sale, it’s the most prolific in terms of water and natural capital,” he said. “There have been some private families looking at it and legacy ranching firms.”

Turkey Track Ranch comes with an original homestead house, plus numerous livestock pens and buildings, ranch operators’ residences and a bunkhouse.

In the 1860s and 1870s, Turkey Track Ranch was the site of the Adobe Walls battles between U.S. soldiers and Native Americans. The six-acre battle site is preserved and contains two monuments.

Turkey Track is one of several big Texas ranches Icon Global is marketing for sale.

At the end of 2023, Icon Global put the…