America’s Greatest Ranch

HISTory

“The UU Bar Ranch is the living embodiment of the Old West — born from the very people, events, and spirit that forged the frontier.”

A Ranch with History and Heritage, mirroring the settlement of the american west

Founded by Lucien B. Maxwell and closely tied to legendary frontiersmen like Kit Carson and Buffalo Bill Cody, the UU Bar Ranch has seen over 175 years of frontier and ranching life.

UU Bar’s headquarters was part of an Army garrison and lies across the street from Maxwell’s original home which later became an Army Officers’ Quarters, a stagecoach stop and an Indian trading post. A gold rush on UU Bar’s Baldy Mountain ensued after gold and silver were discovered and mining towns sprung up.

Mountain men, fur trappers, cavalry troops, Army scouts, Ute, Apache and Comanche warriors, gold miners, gamblers, painted ladies, squatters, gunfighters, and cowboys - wagon trains, Indian raids, trail drives, gunfights, and stagecoach hold ups are all part of the UU Bar Ranch’s rich history.

For one and three-quarters centuries, UU Bar Ranch’s land has been home to many great horsemen, cattlemen and cowboys. William Cody, Andrew Jackson Calhoun, Will James, Major Grove Cullum (head of Army remount program and founder of Vallejo Polo Ranch), Tommy Crenshaw, Henry Zargas, Leroy Webb, Zane Kiehne and Branden Muncy (today’s working manager) are among them.

Through ownership by oil tycoon Waite Phillips and ultimately into the hands of today’s stewards Z&T Cattle Company—this land has lived through the full sweep of Western history.

La Grulla Cow Camp (click to enlarge)

Will James, Self Portrait on Wall - La Grulla Cow Camp (click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

HISTORY OF THE UU BAR

A LEGACY THAT BEGAN IN 1848

Livestock have continuously run on UU Bar Ranch’s land since 1848, when legendary frontiersman Lucien B. Maxwell, alongside his friend Kit Carson, established the township and ranch settlement of Rayado along the Santa Fe Trail. Maxwell would go on to acquire the Maxwell Land Grant, totaling over 1.7 million acres, making him the largest landowner in the Western Hemisphere. His ranching and mining empire thrived under the leadership of notable figures like William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, his ranch manager, and expanded further with copper (1856) and gold (1867) discoveries on Baldy Mountain.

In 1870 Maxwell’s empire faced financial strain from failed investments, including a $250,000 stake in the Texas Pacific Railroad. Maxwell sold the grant and relocated to Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The land quickly became the epicenter of the Colfax County War (1873–1877), a bloody conflict between settlers and the new landowners.

In 1922, oil baron Waite Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum, purchased 300,000 acres of the original Maxwell holdings—including Rayado. Phillips wanted to brand his cattle with a W Bar. However, New Mexico brand laws do not allow for duplicate brands and the W Bar brand was already in use. Since Double U sounds like W, Phillips registered the UU Bar brand. Today, 100 years later, the ranch’s cattle still wear the UU Bar brand.

Phillips built the Villa Monte estate and later gifted over 126,000 acres to the Boy Scouts of America, forming the foundation of Philmont Scout Ranch. Phillips gifted the most rugged land and retained the most desirable hunting, fishing and grazing sections: the core of today’s UU Bar Ranch.

In 2018, the ranch entered a new era under Z&T Cattle Company, owned by Zane and Tanya Kiehne. According to The Land Report, Z&T Cattle Company is the nation’s 23rd largest landowner in 2025 with holdings of 455,000 acres.

Tanya is a descendant of Jeff Davis County, Texas early pioneers Herman Ludwig Rhinehart Huelster and Mary Josephine Ping Huelster. Herman immigrated from Hanover, Prussia, Germany in 1870, married Mary Ping in 1876 and moved to the foothills of the Davis Mountains near Toyahvale, Texas in 1880.

Zane’s six-generation ranching legacy traces back to 1845 in Texas. Zane’s great-great-great grandfather was the blacksmith and one of the first settlers of Fredericksburg, Texas. In the 1870s and early 1880s, Frederick’s son August Kiehne and his nephew Emil Francis Kiehne (Zane’s great grandfather) trailed herds of cattle from Texas to Montana, Kansas and New Mexico Territory. August was the trail boss. In 1884, they trailed a herd to New Mexico Territory and started the Y Cattle Company owned by Hurst, Black, Kiehne and Wiley. Later, Zane’s great grandfather started the 5 Bar Ranch, located in the Gila Mountains of Southwestern, New Mexico. Zane, like his grandfather (Max C. Kiehne) and father (Max W. “Billy” Kiehne) grew up on the 5 Bar Ranch and started riding and working cattle at an early age. Generations of the Kiehne family are known for being excellent horsemen and cattlemen with horsemanship and cattle handling skills passed down from generation to generation.

The Kiehnes have expanded the UU Bar Ranch to over 281,982 acres (440+ square miles) by acquiring additional historic ranches including:

Vallejo Polo Ranch
The Greenwood (Baldy Mountain)
Harper Ranch
Heck Ranch
Fernandez Ranch
Hooser Ranch
Mora Ranch (Andrew Jackson Calhoun’s horse ranch)

Zane Kiehne’s deep roots in ranching—from the 5 Bar Ranch in the Gila National Forest to large-scale land negotiations in the Texas oilfields—have shaped a new vision for the UU Bar: blending elite livestock production, unmatched wildlife stewardship, and the enduring spirit of the American West.