PRESIDIO COUNTY — Legal wrangling among heirs to the historic Brite Ranch continues with ongoing petitions lobbed at each other in court — all after a significant ruling last summer on who gets to control the ranch’s future failed to quell the family feud over the land’s trust.
Last week, District Judge Tryon Lewis (sitting in for the case at the 394th District Court in Marfa) ruled against brothers Mac and Beau White and dismissed their petition for a restraining order against their brother James “Jim” White III claiming he and his son were engaging in “tortious interference of contract and defamation and libel.” Court filings show that Mac and Beau were angry with Jim and his son, Cuatro White, for not giving free rein to the Border Patrol to operate on the Brite Ranch, for removing Border Patrol monitors, and for trying to cancel a contract with a hunting outfitter initiated by Mac, Beau, and another sibling, Hester.
The most recent conflicts appear to be a result of the brothers being designated by court order as “co-tenants” on the ranch, meaning they theoretically are supposed to work together for the best interests of each other and the ranch and the income generated by the trust. But realistically it means brothers engaged in years of bitter battles in the dispute might show up at their shared ranch house at the same time and also might seek contractual agreements with competing interests, particularly for hunting leases.
The legal battles began in 2018 when Mac and Beau sued Jim for breach of fiduciary duty, claiming he — as a designated trustee to manage the land — was operating the ranch to enrich himself while not generating enough money for his brothers as beneficiaries of the trust. A jury in that case rendered a verdict in June agreeing with the plaintiff brothers, and the court eventually ordered the removal of Jim as trustee, the division of the family trust into separate trusts for each sibling, and found good cause for the modification of the trust to allow for the sale of the Brite Ranch land.
Jim, however, has appealed the ruling to the Eighth District Court of Appeals in El Paso, stopping any sale of the land and leaving the future of Brite Ranch as a whole in limbo — possibly for years. Also at play is a lawsuit filed in October by Jim’s children — Cuatro, Marti Wright White and Clinton White — against Mac, Beau, and their wives, Julie and Kathleen, in Bastrop County. The suit alleges the defendants violated agreements governing each of their own trusts, which would have negatively impacted the plaintiffs as potential heirs to the trusts, and the suit asks for $27 million. That lawsuit also takes aim at both Mac and Beau for adopting the same 60-year-old adult son — Geoffrey Conner — allegedly to create an heir to their trusts, since they didn’t have children.
The ranch land at the center of the battle is estimated to be worth at least $60 million, but court records show the legal squabbles also center around philosophical differences — with Jim and his son Cuatro wanting to preserve most of the ranch and brothers Mac and Beau more of the mindset to sell what the 25% of their trust holds in land.
The Brite Ranch, nestled in the heart of eastern Presidio County north of Capote Peak, played an important role in the county’s history. Lucas Brite settled the land in 1885 and eventually established a 125,000-acre, thriving Highland Hereford cattle ranch. The ranch headquarters became a town of sorts with a store, post office and school. In 1917, Mexican outlaws raided the ranch, took horses and goods and killed three people. Outrage over the raid led to the Porvenir Massacre –– the killing of 15 Mexican American men and boys, led by a posse of Texas Rangers and local ranchers.
Lucas Brite’s granddaughter, Jane, married James Elmer White Jr., thus transforming the Brite name into the White dynasty. Jane died in 2010 and Elmer died in 2013, leaving their four children who are now at odds in the courts: Hester Ann White, James E. White III (Jim), Beauregard Brite White (Beau) and Edward McMinn White (Mac). Having spent much of his life living on and working the Brite Ranch, Jim’s son Cuatro also has played a significant role in the legal battle.
In legal proceedings this spring, Mac and Beau alleged Jim and Cuatro were illegally representing themselves as sole decision-makers for the ranch and that their words and actions against the Border Patrol and the hunting outfitter they contracted damaged Mac and Beau financially and in reputation. Filings from the brothers also accused Cuatro of contempt of court and criminal trespass for leaving behind furniture at a ranch house and for some of his work on the land.
Jim, Cuatro, Mac and Beau declined to comment because the legal proceedings are ongoing. Hester said she would not comment because it’s not a worthwhile story for the public.
Technical filing errors and the March resignation of a trustee for all the ranch trusts — former State Comptroller Susan Combs — left legal hearings this spring in a bit of chaos. At last week’s ruling, Judge Lewis ultimately agreed with Cuatro’s contention that he had free-speech rights under the Texas Citizens Participation Act to communicate with Calan Ahrens of Ahrens Ranch & Wildlife and the Border Patrol –– objecting to them being on the ranch –– so his actions were not “tortious interference” with Mac, Beau and Hester’s dealings.
A hearing in Alpine on June 20 will focus on Jim’s petition for a declaratory judgment against Mac, Beau and Hester. Jim alleges that his siblings are trying to run the Brite Ranch under majority rule — meaning his siblings can make all the decisions they want on hunting and grazing leases and general upkeep. Jim maintains that co-tenancy does not operate that way under Texas law and claims he and Cuatro have paid for significant repairs and utilities at the ranch without receiving any compensation from Mac, Beau and Hester.
Court records show who gets hunting leases is a major source of contention in the co-tenancy. “Purporting to act as a majority, Hester Ann, Beau, and Mac apparently voted to decline a hunting lease to Jim Breck, an outfitter from El Paso, Texas which guaranteed income, when combined with the Chris Shoppa lease, of $304,000 annually, with potential for greater
income, depending on the game taken,” stated a filing by Jim. “No members of the White Family are employed by Breck … Unable to deliver all four interests to Breck, Jim leased his Trust’s hunting rights to Capote Enterprises, LLC (the ‘Capote Lease’) (an outfitter owned by Cuatro) at more favorable terms than the Ahrens purported transaction, including an upfront payment and guaranteed income.”
The White family members do see each other from time to time — as evidenced by Jim, Cuatro, and Mac all showing up at a celebratory barbecue held by County Attorney-elect Blair Park in Marfa on Sunday. But it’s unclear whether they will be able to communicate effectively during the long appeals process to avoid further conflict. As court records noted: “Cuatro White has communicated and attempted to coordinate hunts with Ahrens, but Ahrens has not responded to such efforts.”