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Historical records matching Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell
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About Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell
"A NATIVE OF KASKASKIA, ILL. A FUR TRADER AND TRAPPER WHO BY INDUSTRY, GOOD FORTUNE AND TRADING BECAME SOLE OWNER IN 1864 OF THE LARGEST SINGLE TRACT OF LAND OWNED BY ANY ONE INDIVIDUAL IN THE UNITED STATES. MAXWELL FOUNDED THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF SANTA FE, NEW MEX. AND INVESTER $250,000 TO HELP BUILD THE TEXAS PACIFIC RAILROAD. DYNAMIC....CHARITABLE....LAVISH....ONE OF THE GREAT BUILDERS OF THE AMERICAN WEST. DIED IN QUIET RETIREMENT, JULY 25, 1875 AT FORT SUMNER, NEW MEXICO. BORN SEPT. 14, 1818
Find A Grave contributor senior_v has made a suggestion:
Maxwell started his career as a hunter with John Fremont’s western expeditions where he became friends with Kit Carson. In later years he became a wealthy rancher who, at one time, owned more than 1,700,000 acres of New Mexico and Colorado in what’s now known as the Maxwell Land Grant. After selling much of the land, Maxwell eventually bought the abandoned army post of Ft. Sumner where he died in 1875.
-bio courtesy of Billy the Kid Outlaw Gang http://www.billythekidoutlawgang.com* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Oct 7 2019, 5:18:19 UTC
- Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Oct 7 2019, 5:19:15 UTC
Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell (September 14, 1818 - July 25, 1875) was a rancher and entrepreneur who at one point owned more than 1,700,000 acres (6,900 km2). Along with Thomas Catron and Ted Turner, Maxwell was one of the largest private landowners in United States history.
Maxwell was born in Kaskaskia, Illinois. He traveled west in 1834 after the death of his father and encountered Kit Carson. Both were to sign up with John C. Frémont in 1841 for western expeditions with Carson serving as guide and Maxwell chief hunter.
In 1844 he returned to Taos, New Mexico, where he married Carlos Beaubien's daughter, Luz Beaubien. It was a dual wedding as Carson also married. In 1843 Beaubien and his partner, Guadalupe Miranda, had received a land grant of a million acres (4,000 km²) in northeast New Mexico. Beaubien's wedding gift to Maxwell was 15,000 acres (61 km2).
In 1847, Maxwell was at Fort Bent when Governor of New Mexico Charles Bent was killed in the Taos Revolt. Maxwell's wife survived but her brother (Beaubien's son), Narciso Beaubien was killed. Miranda was wounded and fled to Mexico. Maxwell began more active management of the land grant.
In 1848 Maxwell survived an ambush while delivering supplies to a cabin on the Ponil River.
In 1849, at the conclusion of the Mexican-American War, Maxwell and Carson proposed building a fort on the Rayado River at Rayado, New Mexico, on the Santa Fe Trail. Maxwell built a large house and Carson had a smaller adobe hut.
In 1850 the Army moved its fort 30 miles (48 km) further south to Fort Union on the Mora River. Maxwell sold his Rayado property and moved to Cimarron, New Mexico, which was on the Cimarron River.
In 1858 Miranda, who was still in Mexico, sold his share of the 1,000,000-acre (4,000 km2) land to Maxwell for $2,745. After Beaubien died in 1864, Maxwell acquired much of the original estate that he had not inherited; his landholdings then peaked at 1,714,765 acres (6,939.41 km2). The entire area is referred to as the Maxwell Land Grant.
At the conclusion of the American Civil War, gold was discovered on his property at Baldy Mountain (Colfax County, New Mexico). Maxwell leased land to the miners and sold them supplies. In 1870 he sold most of the land for $1,350,000 to a British company, which incorporated it under the name of the Maxwell Land Grant and Railway Company. Plaque on Statue of Lucien B. Maxwell in Mountainview Cemetery in Cimarron, New Mexico
Maxwell moved to Fort Sumner where he died and was buried in 1875.
Subsequent events
Patrick Garrett killed the outlaw Billy the Kid at Maxwell's Fort Sumner home in 1881, which was then owned by Pete Maxwell, son of Lucien Maxwell. Billy was later buried a few feet from Lucien Maxwell in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
After Maxwell sold the grant, the armed struggle between the new owners and squatters came to be known as the Colfax County War. Litigation over whether his land claims were legitimate would continue until 1887 when the United States Supreme Court approved a clear title.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien_Maxwell http://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-maxwell.html
Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell was a rancher and entrepreneur who at one point owned more than 1,700,000 acres. Along with Thomas Catron and Ted Turner, Maxwell was one of the largest private landowners in United States history
Billy the Kid was killed (murdered) at his house by Sheriff Pat Garret.
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Lucien Bonaparte Maxwell's Timeline
| 1818 |
September 14, 1818
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Kaskaskia, Randolph County, Illinois, United States
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| 1839 |
1839
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Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Chinle, Apache County, Arizona, United States
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| 1848 |
April 27, 1848
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Taos, Taos County, New Mexico, United States
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| 1850 |
December 12, 1850
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Taos, Taos County, New Mexico Territory, United States
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| 1854 |
1854
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Rayado, Colfax County, New Mexico, United States
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| 1864 |
May 17, 1864
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Mora, Mora County, New Mexico, United States
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| 1869 |
July 25, 1869
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Fort Sumner, De Baca County, New Mexico, United States
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| 1875 |
July 25, 1875
Age 56
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Fort Sumner, De Baca County, New Mexico, United States
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