The beauty and majesty of the American Southwest awaits you Felix River Ranch, Inc. O HO HO KD O HO HO KD This grand Rio Rancho in the heart of the historic Old West beckons. Felix River Ranch, including adjacent Felix Canyon Ranch, is a mix of lodging and training facilities, retail opportunities, livestock, and recreational ventures, and wildlife habitat that suggest a myriad of uses by tourists, entrepreneurs, the service sector, trainers, and corporations. Felix River Ranch is a study in contrast. Her beauty and utility combine working livestock areas and outbuildings with exquisitely manicured lodging facilities in the natural backdrop of endless acres of grazing land and scenic mountain vistas. The natural setting and legendary heritage of Felix River lend compelling ambiance, and 505/420.5585 Mobile 505/622.1490 Office you ll want to explore every inch of her fascinating contours and features.
O HO HO KD Opportunities Abound River Ranch is located in the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains 45 miles northwest of Artesia, New Mexico. On a tract of 150,000 acres, the ranch includes two class-a game parks and two regulated shooting preserves and is closest to Flying H, New Mexico, near the intersection of Highways 82 and 13. Just two hours drive from El Paso International Airport, Felix River Felix Ranch is also a short drive from Cloudcroft, New Mexico, a four- KDE season family resort area. For more about the surrounding area, see page 11, Nearby Attractions. The rich natural setting and location of Felix River Ranch makes possible six main areas of opportunity: HOWR Hospitality & Lodging Events & Tours Training Venues Merchandise Livestock Wildlife O WRV
Felix Felix River Creek Ranch, Inc. O HO HO KD Hospitality & Lodging A wide range of hospitality styles at Felix River Ranch will satisfy tastes from cowboy boots and sarsaparilla to Italian loafers and champagne. We accommodate guests for a number of programs from western cowboy camp to war games training to corporate seminars. Game room with pool table, exercise equipment Guest lodges and casitas with Western-style bunks at Felix Canyon Luxury accommodations at Felix River Hunting Lodge and Game Park Camping sites and amenities Bed and Breakfast accommodations at Ranch headquarters and the Hunting Lodge Remote Squaw Canyon Lodge Nightly, weekly, monthly rates
Felix Felix River Creek Ranch, Inc. O HO HO KD G uests can hike, ride horse trails, take photographs, explore local historical sites, watch cow works, shearing sheep and marking lambs, purchase ranch merchandise, and participate in many other activities while staying at Felix River Ranch.
O HO HO KD Events & Tours O ur facilities provide luxurious comfort and warm southwestern charm. Business meetings, banquets, tour groups, and special events like weddings and family reunions are welcome. Sightseeing tours and wildlife photography are popular pastimes. Company parties, weekend getaways, corporate retreats all find a superior destination at Felix River. Training Venue F elix River Ranch is located on a vast tract of land with a variety of features high and low lands, fields, scrub land, canyons, and mountainous ter- both indoor and outdoor training programs. Security field training, off-road driving, four-wheeler drivers training, team-building and survival training, conducted by private contractors. Combined with our hospitality and recreational opportunities, Felix River Ranch is the perfect place to hold your rain and an ideal opportunity to host and even paintball war games can be company s next business meeting, semi- nar, or outdoor training.
O HO HO KD Livestock Livestock pens and chutes for the raising of both beef cattle and sheep plus horse rings and stables give Felix River Ranch an authentic edge over other socalled dude ranches. We are a real working ranch, and daily activities provide entertainment and adventure for our guests. Merchandise Just Leather goods for the fun of it, Felix River s retail store sells a variety of merchandise and souvenirs suitable to our guests discriminating tastes. We sell: Cowboy hats Boots Shirts Native meat products Beef, lamb, elk, deer, and beef jerky Wine Felix River Ranch, Inc. is open to offers by wholesalers or artisans interested in selling ranch and locally related materials in their retail store. Please see the last page of this brochure for contact information.
O HO HO KD Wildlife sheep, and Rocky Mountain elk roam the wide countryside pro- viding both photographic and hunting opportunities. chuckers, dove, and pheasant) plus sport clay shooting. Wide open spaces and clean, fresh air create an environment where wildlife, both flora and fauna, flourish. Thriving populations of desert mule deer, blue quail, antelope, barbary Big game hunting at two class-a game parks (desert mule deer, Rocky Mountain elk, antelope, and barbary sheep) Bird hunting at two regulated shooting preserves (quail,
O HO HO KD Situated Start of the Lincoln County Wars In 1877, an Englishman named John Tunstall came to town to create competition for the local monopoly that owned the main store and had a corner on the lucrative contracts to deliver cattle to the military. History has revealed in his letters home that he planned to put his competition out of business and then create a monopoly of his own. Tunstall never had the opportuni- ty, since he grossly underestimated the ruthlessness of the lawless West. Local History, Culture, and Heritage in the heart of historic outlaw country and stomping grounds of Sheriff Pat Garrett, the notorious Lincoln County Wars and the legendary Billy the Kid, Felix River Ranch and Felix Canyon Ranch offers guests an opportunity to explore this fascinating heritage and relive the events of the Old West. The Dolan house, owned by Jim Dolan, the man almost single-handedly responsible for the famed Lincoln County Wars, is located on the grounds of Felix Canyon Ranch! Indeed, the entire surrounding area is steeped in Wild West history. The prominent partner in the competing Murphy store, Lawrence Murphy, and his most ambitious young part- ner, Jim Dolan, had Tunstall killed on February 18, 1878. Tunstall's employees who had escaped their employer s fate wanted revenge. The most notable of these was a youth of sunny disposition, William Bonney, who would become known as Billy the Kid. Tunstall's death set into motion the Lincoln County War that caused as much as a quarter of the population of Lincoln to be murdered over the next 5 months. This conflict came to a head over four days in the middle of July when the two warring factions barricaded themselves in local houses and stores and shot it out. There was actually very little blood shed, until the US Army showed up and took sides with the ex-army cronies of the Murphy/Dolan camp. After Tunstall's death, a young lawyer named Alexander McSween led what became known as the Regulators. When the US Army showed up, the Regulators were holed up in McSween's adobe house. The house was slowly burning from being torched. At this point, a dispirited McSween gave up all hope and an enthusiastic Billy the Kid took charge. Billy and a group of volunteers created a diversion to allow the others hole up in the house to escape. Although successful in creating a diversion, the others waited too long. They finally did make a run for it, and they were all shot. Only a badly wounded 15-year-old managed to escape. Only one of Billy's group died, a young law student who had ironically come out west for his health. This shoot out basically ended the Lincoln County Wars; both sides ended up losing. There was tremendous bloodshed on both sides, Tunstall was dead, and Dolan was bankrupt. The citizens of Lincoln put down their arms and made peace with each other.
O HO HO KD The story behind the legend of Billy the Kid The story of the Lincoln County Wars and Billy the Kid has all of the elements that made the West wild. The story starts with a group of ex-army men from the bloody Civil War who were running the town with monopolistic zeal. The prize was not only the profitable main store, but also lucrative government cattle contracts. The Trial of Billy the Kid For all of the murders and countless other offenses committed during the Lincoln County War on both sides, Billy the Kid was the only person ever charged with breaking the law an incredibly unjust thing, especially considering he was just one of six gunmen in the shooting for which he was charged. This made him a fugitive, and he became the leader of a small gang of rustlers that terrorized the county until he was caught in December of 1880. Billy was tried and sentenced to hang. Billy's escape into legend Well known throughout New Mexico on the afternoon of April 28, 1881 he catapulted himself into international legend when he escaped from jail. During the jailbreak, he killed a guard who had taunted him constantly about the pains of death by hanging and had dared Billy to try to breakout so he could shoot him. As a testament to how well liked he was in Lincoln, he stayed around for an hour making a speech to the locals and then went around shaking hands. He left town singing on a borrowed horse that he actually returned as he promised he would. Billy is hunted down The official record states that 76 days after his escape, Billy the Kid was shot through the heart in a darkened room by lawman Pat Garrett. Life expectancy in the west, due to this lawlessness, was short. Many of the men killed in the Lincoln County War had not turned 20 yet. There are many people in Lincoln County that knew Billy the Kid and believe that he escaped to Texas. Billy was a kid Billy's exact age is not known. It is thought that he was about 17, when Tunstall was murdered. If true, he was killed at the ripe old age of 21. Short violent lives were common in the Wild West, but at least two of Billy's gang lived into their late 80s or early 90s. The last died in 1947, after the first nuclear explosions in New Mexico ushered the world into the nuclear age. (History courtesy of Ruidoso Chamber of Commerce Web site)
O HO HO KD Nearby Attractions The entire southeastern corner of New Mexico is teeming with activities, festivals, recreational and resort destinations, and the newest population in pursuit of the New Mexico mystique UFO enthusiasts. Ruidoso To the north, the city of Ruidoso offers numerous fun activities and educational opportunities. At an elevation of 7,000 feet, Ruidoso is a winter mecca for skiers and snowboarders. Summer finds golf, horse racing, hiking and biking the Lincoln National Forest, fishing, camping and RVing are the most popular activities in this bustling town filled with art galleries and local artisans shops. Gaming at Casino Apache Nearby, at the Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort, newly renovated and reopened in April, 2005, visitors will find an 18- hole championship golf course, ski slopes, a huge travel center with Smokey Joe s Restaurant, and just down the road? Casino Apache, on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, with blackjack, craps, roulette, video terminals, and slots. fascinating. The site of the famous Roswell Incident in UFOs at Roswell CHAVES COUNTY, SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO To the east visitors will find a trip to Roswell fun and July, 1947, this sleepy little town has been transformed into a lively tourist destination where UFO and alien enthusiasts flock every July for the annual UFO Festival attended by thousands. The rest of the year, Center holds everyone s interest. Dedicated to the collection and preservation of materials and information relevant to the Roswell Incident and other unexplained phenomena, the museum carries on the mis- the Roswell International UFO Museum and Research sion of research and education related to UFOs. Visitors to Roswell can pick up some distinctive UFO paraphernalia like shirts, keychains, frisbees, mugs, and other fun items to remind them of their great time in Roswell.
O HO HO KD Felix River Ranch, Inc. holds amazing potential for a number of business ventures as well as being a comfortable residence with generous guest accommodations. Seasonal hunting is a thriving regional industry, and the Ranch certainly lends itself to this and many other activities. The ranch livestock business is a tourist attraction as well as a lucrative business. Trail riding, hiking, training venues, retail opportunities, corporate retreats, and This archeological exploration of the ranch and the region are very attractive uses. property holds a myriad of possibilities. If you are interested in taking advantage of any of the exciting aspects of Felix River or Felix Canyon, call me today. 505/420.5585 Mobile 505/622.1490 Office E-Mail ptaylor@rt66.com