Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch

This handsome collection of photos taken at the historic Waggoner Ranch in northwest Texas—the largest ranch under one fence in the United States, with more than 510,570 acres—portrays the fading cowboy lifestyle pioneered by “lean and dusty riders who braved the wild to make room for a herd,” as Batts, a native Texan, writes in her brief,provocative introduction. Enlow, a photographer based in Fort Worth, Tex., chronicles the grit and grace of daily life for the cowboys who keep the ranch running. He captures fuzzy images of the predawn hours, when breakfast preparation begins in the cook shack, and then follows the cowboys out to pasture, where they corral and brand the day’s cattle. With an eye for detail, Enlow focuses his lens on the sunbaked lines of veteran cowboys’ faces and the steely stares of younger ones. He also captures the ranch’s broad, majestic landscapes that spill out beneath expansive blue skies. In February 2016, the Waggoner Ranch was sold to billionaire Stan Kroenke, owner of multiple professional sports teams and husband of Walmart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke—leaving uncertain the future of the 26 cowboys (and their families) who are so beautifully depicted here. Color photos. [em](BookLife) [/em]