Philmont Scout Ranch
Philmont Scout Ranch is a ranch located in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, near the village of Cimarron. Donated by oil baron Waite Phillips, the ranch is owned by Scouting America. It is a high adventure base where crews of Scouts and Venturers take part in backpacking treks and other outdoor activities. The ranch covers nearly of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains.
It is the largest youth camp in the world.
Philmont is also home to the Philmont Training Center, the National Scouting Museum, and the Seton Memorial Library. The Training Center is the primary location for Scouting America's national volunteer training programs. Philmont is a working ranch, maintaining small herds of cattle, horses, burros, and bison.
The only documented Tyrannosaurus rex track in the world was discovered within the camp's boundaries in 1993 in North Ponil Canyon by the Anasazi Trail Camp. It was formally identified in 1994.
Scouting America operates three other high adventure camps: Northern Tier in Minnesota, as well as Manitoba and Ontario in Canada; Sea Base in the Florida Keys; and Summit Bechtel Reserve in southern West Virginia.
Location and geography
Philmont covers of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the east side of the Cimarron Range of the Rocky Mountains. The closest village is Cimarron, New Mexico. The ranch's address is 17 Deer Run Rd., Cimarron, New Mexico, 87714. It is also about west-northwest of Springer, New Mexico, and southwest of Raton, New Mexico. Philmont is about across at its widest point and about long. There are no mountains to the south or east of Philmont. The interior of the ranch is mountainous but a small part of the eastern area is prairie.Philmont's lowest point is the southeast corner at and its highest point is the peak of Baldy Mountain, located on the ranch's northwest boundary, at. Aside from Baldy, the ranch contains several prominent peaks. The South Country is home to a series of six challenging peaks, namely Mount Phillips, Comanche Peak, Big Red, Bear Mountain, Black Mountain, and Schaefers Peak, as well as Trail Peak, which is popular for its nearness to Beaubien, and the wreckage of the crash of a B-24 bomber in 1942 near its summit. Black Mountain is widely considered the most difficult of the ranch's various peaks with trail access, followed closely by Baldy and Big Red.
The most recognizable landmark is the Tooth of Time at, a dacite monolith protruding vertically from an east-west ridge. The Tooth of Time Ridge and the latitude line on which it sits marks the boundary between the central and southern sections of Philmont. The boundary between the central and northern sections is around U.S. Route 64, which runs just south of the narrowest part of the 'I'-shape, which is only a few miles across. Other prominent landmarks on the ranch include Grizzly Tooth, Window Rock, Deer Lake Mesa, Wilson Mesa, and Urraca Mesa.
History
Native Americans of the Jicarilla Apache tribe and Ute tribe once inhabited Philmont. A few Native American archaeological sites exist in the northern section near the 'Indian Writings' camp, and various camps seek to preserve Philmont's Native American heritage.On April 22, 1942, a B-24 Liberator crashed into the side of Trail Peak. Some of the wreckage still remains, including a wing and propeller, and because of its location, it is the world's most visited airplane crash site.
Private ownership
The Santa Fe Trail crossed the plains southwest of Philmont in the mid-1800s. The Tooth of Time owes its name to this trail; travelers knew that once they passed it, they had only one week to go until they reached Santa Fe, New Mexico. Philmont's strategic location along the trail spurred some interest in it. In 1841, Carlos Beaubien and Guadalupe Miranda obtained a large land grant from the Mexican government, including the present ranch. Soon, the grant passed on to Beaubien's son-in-law Lucien Maxwell, who played an important role in developing and settling it. Maxwell sold the ranch to the Maxwell Land Grant and Railroad Company, giving it up and handing it to a Dutch development company, which decided to parcel it out to ranchers.One of the most prominent ranchers was Jesus Gil Abreu, who ran the Abreu Rayado Ranch from the 1870s till his death in 1901. Operating from the Rayado Settlement, he raised cattle, goats, and sheep and grew crops. The family owned this property until 1911, when they sold most of it. One of the sons remained on the ranch near the site of Abreu, a present staffed camp, and his homestead was preserved for years. Eventually, the adobe structure was abandoned and collapsed. The foundation of this building now serves as the foundation for the Abreu cantina. The house was reconstructed in 1998 about uphill.
The history of mining at Philmont dates back to the years immediately after the Civil War. U.S. soldiers were stationed in the West after the war, as the U.S. Army was driving out the Native Americans. At Fort Union, some stationed soldiers traded with Native Americans for float copper. In 1866, the soldiers went up Baldy Mountain in search of this copper, but instead found gold. They could not stay to mine the gold due to the approaching winter, but the area was overrun with prospectors when they returned in the spring. Scores of gold mines were excavated and operated into the early 20th century on what was once the Baldy Mining District, now modern-day Philmont. Today, two mines are located on Philmont property. The Contention Mine, located at Cyphers Mine, is open to guided tours. However, the Aztec Mine, located above French Henry, was recently closed due to mine safety concerns.
Wealthy oil magnate and wilderness enthusiast Waite Phillips amassed a large part of the old land grant in the 1920s, totaling over. Phillips built a large residence in the lowlands of Philmont. He turned the ranch into a private game reserve for himself and his friends and built several hunting lodges and day-use camps. He chose not to provide electricity at the remote camps. A few of these original camps, including Fish Camp and the Hunting Lodge, have been preserved, complete with wood-burning stoves, oil lamps, and unique design features indicative of Phillips's often eccentric taste.
Donated to Boy Scouts
Phillips sometimes allowed others, including a few Boy Scout troops, to visit his ranch. He was so impressed with the Scouts that in 1938, during the Great Depression, he donated of his land to the Boy Scouts of America. His only condition was that the property be used "for the benefit of the members of the Boy Scout organization". He donated a second, larger section of land later in the 1930s, requiring only that this section pay its fair share of taxes on any portion devoted to competitive commercial operations. The ranch was originally named Philturn Rocky Mountain Scout Camp.In 1941, Phillips added more Philmont property, including the Villa Philmonte, bringing the total to. Contrary to popular belief, Phillips did not donate his entire ranch to the Boy Scouts, but only that portion of the property that provided the most recreational value. The total donation comprised about 40% of the ranch. To help fund the maintenance of Philmont, he also donated the Philtower office building in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1963, vice-president of the National Council Norton Clapp contributed funds to purchase another of land within the Maxwell Land Grant, consisting of the Baldy Mountain mining area. In 2015, the Boy Scouts of America purchased that was once operated as a camp called Cimarroncita Ranch.
In 1989, the Boy Scouts obtained a renewable special use permit to the Valle Vidal Unit of the Carson National Forest from the United States Forest Service. This allowed Scouts to hike and camp in the area. Philmont operates three staffed camps—Whiteman Vega, Seally Canyon, and Ring Place—and two trail camps in that area. Those camps serve around 3,000 Scouts each summer. In return, each camper is asked to contribute three hours of conservation work in the Valle on projects approved by the Forest Service.
Rich Cabins, a historical farming cabin on Ted Turner's Vermejo Reserve, is operated as a staff camp.