Philmont Archive
Philmont History
Once inhabited by the 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 Miranda Land Grant which was granted to Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda by the Mexican government in 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.
Waite Phillips
Maxwell moved his ranch north to the Cimarron 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 the 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. After several years the land was again sold to a Dutch-based company who attempted several development schemes, but eventually sold the land in tracts for farms and ranches.
Oklahoma oilman, Waite Phillips, became interested in developing a ranch out of the old land grant in 1922. He eventually amassed over 300,000 acres of mountains, and plains in a ranch he named Philmont (derived from his name and the Spanish word for mountain, monte).
The Philmont Ranch became a showplace. Immense herds of Hereford cows and Corriedale sheep grazed its pastures. Phillips built a large Spanish Mediterranean home for his family at the Headquarters, naming it the Villa Philmonte. He developed horse and hiking trails throughout the scenic backcountry along with elaborate fishing and hunting cabins for his family and friends.
Waite Phillips believed in sharing his wealth with people outside his family. In this spirit, he offered 35,857 acres of his ranch to the Boy Scouts of America in 1938 to serve as a national wilderness camping area. The area was named Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp (after Phillips name and the BSA slogan, Do a Good Turn Daily). After observing the enthusiastic response of the first Scout campers, Phillips augmented his original gift in 1941, with an addition including his best camping land, the Villa Philmonte, and the headquarters farming and ranching operation. The second gift was made so that many, rather than a few could enjoy his rich and beautiful land. The property, now totaling
127,395 acres was renamed Philmont Scout Ranch.
Phillips realized that the cost for maintenance and development of the property could not and should not be derived entirely from camper fees. As an endowment he included in the gift his 23-story Philtower Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In 1963, through the generosity of Norton Clapp, vice-president of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, another piece of the Maxwell Land Grant was purchased and added to Philmont. This was the Baldy Mountain mining area consisting of 10,098 acres.
Since the first camping season in 1939, more than 1,000,000 Scouts, Venturers and their leaders have enjoyed trekking through the 137,500 acres of the rugged, majestic Sangre de Cristo mountains of Philmont. Fascinating backcountry programs and 330 miles of challenging trails inspire both youth and adults who backpack this remote and historic area.