K-Bar Ranch

The Half Circle K Ranch, known originally as the Bar O, was bought and patented by Thomas Richards and J. W. Sacra in 1882. It was a comparatively small outfit, 31,000 acres sandwiched between the ranges of the JA, the Diamond F, and the Quarter Circle Heart on the Salt Fork of the Red River, eighteen miles northwest of Old Clarendon in Donley County. Richards soon sold his half to E. C. and J. W. Suggs (or Sugg) whose land and cattle holdings included a vast range in the Indian Territory. The Sugg brothers and Sacra continued to use the Bar O brand. Fred Patching, a bronc-buster known by the sobriquet the Bar O Kid, was the ranch's most famous employee. Other Bar O cowhands included Pat Gormley, Dave Buchanan, Ed Johnson, Art Sherrod, Barr Brown, Don Blaylock, Clint Phillips, Boney the cook, and a black race jockey named Billy Freeman. Although the Half Circle K's life was brief, it was the proving ground of William Jenks Lewis , who gained valuable experience there in his gradual climb to success as a wealthy cattleman and eventual owner of the RO Ranch .