Chase Ranch

Established in 1869, the Chase Ranch was successfully owned and operated by the Chase Family for 143 years. In 2012, legendary cattlewoman, fourth generation family member and remaining owner of the Chase Ranch, Gretchen Sammis passed away leaving her family’s historic 11,000 acre ranch to “The Chase Ranch Foundation”. Along with this inheritance came the duty of preserving the rich heritage and history of the ranch and the family who created it. A year later the ‘foundation’ approached Philmont Scout Ranch with an interesting proposal; a 50 year lease agreement where in Philmont Scout Ranch would assume full responsibility of the operations and management of the Chase Ranch, including transformation of the main ranch house and grounds into an educational museum open to all. Today, Philmont is dedicated to preserving the Chase family history by providing educational programs to both Philmont participants and the general public and through the preservation of those historic structures and their contents.