Philmont Scout Ranch

Once inhabited by Jicarilla Apache and Moache Ute Indians, Philmont was the site of one of the first pioneer settlements in northeastern New Mexico. The present ranch is part of the original Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda Land Grant which was granted to Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda by the Mexican governmentin 1841. Beaubien's son-in-law, mountain man Lucien Maxwell, led the first settlers to the grant in 1848. With the help of his friend Kit Carson, Maxwell's settlement on the Rayado River prospered, despite frequent Indian raids and harsh wilderness conditions.

Maxwell moved his ranch north to the Cimmaron River in 1857, the site of present day Cimarron. There, it became a famous stop on the Santa Fe Trail, bringing American trade goods into New Mexico. Ten years after Maxwell moved to Cimarron, gold was discovered on his ranch near Baldy Mountain. For years afterward, the mountains and streams of Maxwell's Ranch swarmed with prospectors and miners.

In 1870, Maxwell sold his ranch to an English land company known as the Maxwell Land Grant and Railroad Company

Last Revised 4/4/99.