The 5,000-acre Anchor Land & Cattle ranch was once among the holdings of Texas’ iconic Kokernot family.
By Katharine Jose, Managing Editor, Aug 18, 2024
A nearly 5,000-acre West Texas ranch, property that reportedly once belonged to Texas’ famous Kokernot ranching family, was put on the market earlier this year for $6.36 million.
Located just outside of Alpine in Brewster County (Texas’ largest county by area and among its least densely populated), Anchor Land & Cattle is a working ranch that the listing says is suited for both grazing and hunting. The natural environment of the sprawling acreage, listed by Republic Ranches, is comprised of rolling grasslands as well as “commanding” views of nearby mountains such as Mitre Peak, Henderson Mesa, and the Davis and Barilla ranges.
Mitre Peak is also reportedly visible from one of the more famous ranches in the region, according to a recent article in the Cenizo Journal, the Kokernot O6 ranch. The Kokernot family first came to America in 1818, and descendants of the original arrivals moved to Texas just a few years later. Different sources place the registration of the O6 brand at different points in time, but seem to agree that the ranch was well established in Brewster and Jeff Davis counties by about a decade into the 20th century, and is still managed by descendants of the original Kokernots today. At its peak, the ranch was as large as half a million acres across three counties, according to the Texas State Historical Society. The family was listed earlier this year as the 40th largest landowner in the U.S., with 278,000 acres under its heirs.
Anchor Land & Cattle was once part of the family’s holdings, the listing notes, and like the historic property nearby, is still home to active ranching operations as well as local wildlife and hunting opportunities.
That wildlife—including dove, javelina and waterfowl—is fed by the pieces of Alpine and Moss creeks that cross the acreage as well as treated water that leaves the local water treatment facility and a number of wells.
The built environment at Anchor Land & Cattle is more modest, in keeping with the area’s history. The property includes a 3,400-square-foot barndomimium that has both living quarters and garage space as well as horse pens and troughs and a shooting range.
https://www.chron.com/homes/article/alpine-texas-ranch-19661020.php