b'enterprises, Lucien Maxwell lived on his vastand purchased more from the Pecos country. land holdings outside of Cimarron when it wasHe ran 9,000 head on the Fort Sumner ranch. a strictly agricultural and pastoral interest thatMaxwell was not a happy man at Fort Sumner. bound those on the land grant together. The Pecos country was just not the same type of terrain and environment as Cimarron country.GOLD & GREEDLife on the grant changed radically when goldTOO FAR FOR INDIAN FRIENDSwas discovered in 1867 and 1868 on the grant. BigOld and loyal friends of Maxwell, the Jicarilla companies took an interest in Maxwells paradise.Apaches, and Utes, traveled on their ponies down They found abundant resources of coal, timber,the Pecos to bring buffalo hides to Maxwell and and gold on the grant. trade with him for their needs. But the distance was long, and the visits of the Indians he knew Lucien Maxwell, the trail-hardened trapperand cared for grew less.who loved the country around Taos did not like what was happening. He no longer was masterHis last ties to the old land grant was the big ditch, of his vast domain. Greed was and it was out ofa 40-mile ditch that carried water through the his control. He sold his land grant interest formountains from the Raynado to the gold mines $650,000, a lot of money in those days, but notat Elizabethtown, a mining camp on the eastern much for what was to turn out to be 2080 squareedge of the grant. Maxwell went to Raynado in miles. It seemed like a fair price to Maxwell at theApril 1875 and sold the big ditch to Matt Lynch of time, since he had only invested about $50,000Trinidad, Colorado.in the land buying out all of Charles Beaubiens partners and family members. A month later, after his return to Fort Sumner, Maxwell sent a party of 12 men to Fort Sill in TRIES BANKING Oklahoma, the so-called Indian Territory, to He took some of his money and started the Firstrecover horses the Comanche had stolen from National Bank of Santa Fe but he sold his controllinghim. The men returned in early July with 40 interest in the bank to Stephen Benton Elkins andBACK TO RANCHING head they had recovered. They found Maxwell ill Thomas Benton Catron in 1871. Maxwell had littleHe purchased all of the improvements whichand bedfast. On July 25, Lucien Maxwell died of his interest in banking. His mind went to cattle, horses,commanded thousands of acres of public grazingillness. He was 57.pastureland, and pitting pinto ponies against sorrels inland along the Pecos River. In the deal, he got old a county horse race for a wager. He took over the oldgovernment buildings, officers houses, as well asDEATH WITHOUT KNOWINGFort Sumner property from the government after thea parade ground, and plenty of public domain forMaxwell died with no knowledge of the vast expanse government effort to force the Navajos to live theregrazing. He brought some cattle with him from theof the land grant he had owned and to him, it failed and the fort was abandoned. Cimarron and Rayado country on the old land grantprobably mattered little. He just knew it had been his continued on page 59GROUNDBREAKINGFROM THEGROUND UP.Versatile. Durable. Dependable. Our tractorsare in their element in every element. WELL QUIT WHEN YOU QUIT.www.masseyferguson.usBLYTHE, CA CASA GRANDE, AZ IMPERIAL, CA SHOW LOW, AZ190 S. Intake Blvd. 8901 W. Hwy 287 3393 Highway 86 1501 E. Thornton St.760-921-9500 520-251-2087 760-355-2443 928-532-2098BUCKEYE, AZ THATCHER, AZ PRESCOTT, AZ YUMA, AZ26403 W. US Hwy 85 2574 US-70 3060 Centerpointe E. 3885 E. Gila Ridge Rd.623-925-3083 928-899-6137 928-499-6001 928-941-7997 Serving Arizona and Southwestern California2020 AGCO Corporation. Massey Ferguson is a worldwide brand of AGCO Corporation. AGCO and Massey Ferguson are trademarks of AGCO. All rights reserved. www.empireag.comArizonaRealCountry.com December 2021 57Empire_AZRealCntryMag_Ad_071420.indd 1 7/14/2020 9:30:00 AM'