Historical Marker

Lyons and Campbell Ranch Headquarters

The one-million acre L. C. completely overshadowed other ranches in southwestern New Mexico. At peak operation, 60,000 cattle grazed mountains and grasslands stretching to Arizona, employing 75 cowboys and 100 families to ranch and farm the land from the 1880s until 1917. Englishman Tom Lyons and Scottish prospector Angus Campbell created an empire that was one of the truly great ranches of the West. Lyons built a lavish home in Gila and a mountain hunting lodge accessible only by wagon trail two days up river. Landholdings were sold after Lyon’s murder in 1917, but his home, ranch headquarters, and the Catholic church he built for his family and employees still stand in Gila. .