In 1864 Lucien B. Maxwell was the largest land grant owner in the world. His was a rags-to-riches story, he born in Illinois in 1818 to a family of Indian traders. At the age of 17 Maxwell embarked on an adventure west as a trapper and met the dynamic frontiersman Kit Carson. Enthralled with the escapades of Carson he followed him to Taos, New Mexico. He was introduced to the enterprising businessman, Carlos Beaubien, and quickly went to work for him.
Child Bride Wedding
Maxwell fell in love with Beaubien’s thirteen year-old daughter. With her father’s blessing Maria de la Luz and the forty-two year old Maxwell were married by Padre Jose Antonio Martinez in 1862.Beaubien was an astute business man who had petitioned for a land grant during the Mexican American war that comprised of property in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. Maxwell inherited the land grant and took over the family business after his father in-law died, supplying food and supplies to the troops during the American Civil War. In 1868 gold was discovered on the Maxwell land grant and the property was leased to miners and their families. Maxwell provided housing, food and supplies to the miners. During the first year of operation the Aztec mine had produced a million dollars in gold making Maxwell a very wealthy man.
First National Bank of Santa Fe
Maxwell founded the First National Bank of Santa Fe in 1867 but soon found that he did not have the business acumen to be a banker and sold the bank. Then he became cattle rancher and invested in other agricultural ventures but they all failed. By 1870 he had lost all of his assets and died five years later in poverty. Maxwell’s child bride, Maria de la Luz, was buried by his side at the Old Fort Sumner cemetery twenty-five years later. In1879 the town of Maxwell in Colfax County was named in his honor.