Bell Ranch

Lying along La Cinta Creek near the Canadian River, the ranch is bordered by Conchas Lake in San Miguel County, New Mexico about 30 miles (97 km) from Tucumcari, New Mexico. ==Description==

The Bell Ranch stands at , Cattle mainly graze the grasslands of the ranch, with some supplemental feed. Its features include Conchas Lake, Mule Canyon, and of land along the Canadian River. With 453 square miles, it is large enough to have its own zip code. ==History==

Kiowa and Comanche ranged over the grassland that is now Bell Ranch. The ranch originated from a Mexican 655,468-acre land grant held by Pablo Montoya in 1824. At that time, the land was located within Santa Fe de Nuevo México of the First Mexican Republic (1824–1835). Montoya named the land Bell Ranch after Bell Mountain. Montoya did not have full ownership from the government until 1869. It also included the Baca Float No. 2. Montoya sold the land in 1874, after four vaqueros (cowboys) were killed by several Kiowa. In 1947, the ranch was divided into six sections and land was sold. ==Popular culture==

• Canadian artist Robert Lougheed visited the ranch numerous times taking inspiration from the horses, people and places to create a body of work recognized by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. • In the 1940s, famed photographer Harvey Caplin took images in black and white. Some of these have been used by the Stetson Hat Company for promotion since that time as the quintessential western iconography. ==See also==