Sylvester and Millie Farmer Ashley were native residents of Copiah County, Mississippi. With their toddler son, Henry Clay Ashley, they came to Texas in 1855. Sylvester Ashley served with the Confederate troops in the Civil War, and returned to Van Zandt County when the war was over. He engaged in teaming and lumbering, and supplied the logs for the lumber used in the structure of the old Dallas County Court House. These logs were cut and hauled from a site in Edom and cut into lumber when they arrived in Dallas County. Henry Clay Ashley, a remarkably successful farmer, married Rhoda Smith in 1876, and together they occupied a fine tract of 432 acres near the village of Prairie Valley. Henry and Rhoda were the parents of Jane, Jesse, Turney and Mamie. When each of these four children married, a tract of approximately 100 acres was given as a wedding present from their parents. When Turney Buck Ashley married Exa Branch Clay, The BuckBranch Farm came to life on the northern-most section of the original tract, bordered by Goode Road to the west and a tributary of Cottonwood Creek to the north.

Naoma Ruth was born on The BuckBranch in 1919, the daughter of Turney and Exa. Ruth married Losse Piland in 1940 and other than the brief nomadic travels required in construction, spent her entire life in residence at The BuckBranch Farm. Linda Diane was born in 1948 and is the daughter of Ruth and Losse. She remains in residence at The BuckBranch Farm along with her daughter and family, Gina Suzanne and Carroll Richardson and their children Justin, Austin and Kristin.

Linda's son JJ Townson Slagle recently purchased the 25 acres just north of the Cottonwood Creek tributary, thus expanding the family holdings to approximately 125 acres. JJ and his wife Misty Ann and their children Devin and Leah are currently building their country home near the banks of Cottonwood Creek.

Linda and her descendants are the only family members still living on the original land belonging to Henry Clay Ashley. Family ties are strong here; history is important here. And so, this is the tradition of The BuckBranch Farm.

Not since the farming days of Henry Clay Ashley, has The BuckBranch Farm been self sufficient in agriculture. Farming fell second to employment in the energy
industry for Turney and remained a side venture for Losse and Ruth Piland, as well. With a love of the land second only to Scarlet O'Hara, Linda has long wished for a way to restore the BuckBranch Farm to full production. Harvesting crops of hay and running a small herd of registered Texas Longhorn cattle have been steps in the right direction, though still falling short of the desired goal.

Several ideas have surfaced - summer camps, sports camps, Christian mission camps, music festivals, business retreats, stables and arenas, bed and breakfast, weekend country restaurant, etc. Together our family has vowed to turn our dream into a reality.

A mutual love of horses (we currently have nine) won out as our first endeavor, and plans were on the drawing board to remodel and double the size of our barn, as well as to build a lighted regulation-size roping arena. Almost simultaneously with the delivery of our first load of arena posts, arrived an equestrian eventing team at our front gate, scouting the area for a new and permanent home.

"Can you believe it?" we thought! A fine barn, arena and stables are what we wanted to build, and to offer boarding facilities for horses. And here comes an entire team of eventing horses looking for a home at The BuckBranch Farm. "Build it and we will come" the trainer said, very impressed with the attractive property and the convenient location. "Oh, and by the way, we need it by October 1, 2004…….."

And, so, our dream has come true. We invite you to visit and enjoy The BuckBranch Equestrian Center – the result of our commitment to establishing a quality ridingfacility enhanced by our family’s dedication and involvement.