Bobby Daniel Retires After 51 years
Waggoner Ranch cowboy Bobby Daniel, who is featured in Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch, retired on April 30. He has ridden for the Waggoner since 1965. The last of a long line of Daniel cowboys on the Waggoner, his retirement marks a historic change on the Waggoner. There has been a Daniel cowboy on the Waggoner since 1949. At one point, there were eight Daniel cowboys working side by side for the mighty three D:
Windy Daniel 1949 -1973
Cotton Daniel 1964-2015
Bobby Daniel 1965-2016
Mack Daniel 1971-2014.
Casey Daniel 1975-?
Junior Daniel 1977-1987
Brother Daniel 1978-?
Marty Daniel 1979-1984
Eddie Daniel 1980-1993
Shawn Daniel 1989-1994
Bobby Daniel, Waggoner cowboy 1965-2016.
“On a funny side of this story all 5 of us Daniel women that met and married our Cowboys that lived in the Waggoner Bunkhouse are still married. So now that they have shut the Bunkhouse down what’s gonna happen to true love?”
Bobby Daniel in Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch
Bobby Daniel is one of the 26 cowboys featured in Cowboys of the Waggoner Ranch. He shared his wisdom and thoughts on cowboy life with writer Jan Batts:
“Some men are born to cowboying, yes, but a bunch who’ve never done it before make good hands,” says Bobby Daniel. “They pick it up pretty quick.” Bobby, who’s been cowboying at the Waggoner fifty years, has seen a lot of both kinds.
The best cowboy he ever knew, he says, was retired Ranch Manager G.L. Proctor. Proctor started at age thirteen and worked there fifty-three years. “He knew a lot about cows, knew a lot about his job. A good man, a good cow man. He got to be wagon boss and general manager,” says Bobby. “He’s giving them something to live up to.”
Bobby Daniel came to the Waggoner Ranch from the Halsell Ranch in 1965. When he first came, he worked seven days a week, rather than the five and one-half days cowboys work now. “I always wanted to work here,” he says.
Mr. Daniel is a Texas legend, and we wish him all the best.