A native of Missouri, Samuel Burk Burnett came to Texas with his family soon after the Civil War. He married Ruth Loyd of Fort Worth in 1870, and in partnership with her father, Martin B. Loyd, established the famous Four Sixes (6666) Ranch in 1875. Burnett became one of the most influential ranchers in the state and a major business leader in Fort Worth. Burnett's second wife was Mary Couts Barradel of Weatherford. U.S. resident Theodore Roosevelt is said to have named the town of Burkburnett after a wolf-hunting trip with Burnett in 1905.