Mills Canyon

The orchard the panel describes now lies inside a federal grassland. Melvin Mills, a Springer lawyer and territorial legislator, planted more than fourteen thousand fruit and nut trees on the canyon floor by the Forest Service's count, and his two-story ranch house doubled as a stage stop. After the 1904 flood the ranch hung on until it was abandoned in 1916. In the Dust Bowl years the government bought out failing homesteads on these plains, and under the Bankhead-Jones Act of 1937 they became the Kiowa National Grassland, which keeps the canyon and its ruins today.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Mills Canyon The site of one of New Mexico's most spectacular horticultural enter- prises, the Orchard Ranch, establish- ed by Melvin W. Mills of Springer and notable for its skillfully engi- neered irrigation system. The ranch cultivated 12 miles of land along the Canadian River. Vegetable gardens and several thousand fruit trees flourished in the 1880's and later. A destructive flood wiped out orchards, irrigation system, buildings, and other improvements in 1904. They were never replaced.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Canadian River Canyon — 9.5 mi