If ranchers had royalty, Linda Davis would have worn a crown. She grew up on legendary ranches in northeastern New Mexico, began riding a horse as a toddler, and operated the historic CS Ranch with her husband Les. He said she was the best cowboy in the place.
Linda died at home on her beloved land on Feb. 18. She was 93.
Born to Albert and Julia Mitchell on July 11, 1930, Linda was the fourth generation to grow up on the Tequesquite Ranch near Mosquero in Harding County. In 1931, Albert, a well-known cattleman, became manager of the massive Bell Ranch in San Miguel County.
“I’ve always known how to ride,” she said. As a tot, she sat in front of her grandfather on the saddle. “I remember vividly getting my own horse at three years old.”
Her mother died in 1934. Linda told me in an interview in 1991, “I was basically raised by cowboys.” When she became a mother later on, and her daughters wanted to wear ruffles, it was unfamiliar territory.
Linda could cook, but mainly she worked on the ranch with the men until 1947.
“I would say my dad was probably ahead of his time. My dad had
this attitude I was going to grow up on a ranch and learn to do everything,” she said.
Linda studied agricultural science at Cornell University and in 1953 married Les Davis. His grandfather, Frank Springer, started the CS Ranch in 1873 when he became a lawyer for the Maxwell Land Grant Co. Frank named the ranch near Cimarron for his brother, Charles Springer. In 1881, Frank bought Hereford cattle, the ranch’s foundation stock.
Les had grown up in Philadelphia. As a Dartmouth College student, he was curious about his mother’s family ranch. Frank, who had no children, urged Les to come out. Les stayed.
“When she arrived at the ranch with her gear, the CS turned for the better,” he once said. Linda and Les raised six children, who grew up working on the ranch. “All of them are deeply rooted in agriculture,” said Linda.
When I visited the Davises, the CS was still a far-flung operation with deeded and leased lands from Springer to Raton. (It’s bad manners to ask ranchers how much land they own.) It included both cow-calf and yearling operations. In the former, a mother cow produces one calf a year for sale. In the latter, ranchers buy calves, graze them for three to six months, and sell them. The CS also had hay farming, hunting licenses, quarterhorses and racehorses, and leased fishing on Eagle Nest Lake, built by the Springer brothers, to the state. The family sold the lake to the state in 2002.
Like many ranchers, Linda had great respect for Hereford cattle. They’re smart and hardy and know how to act in big country, Linda explained.
“They get out and cover the country and utilize the grass. They’re not that fond of being close to their neighbor. You can mix them up in a herd, and they’ll pick out their own calves. They’re good mothers, very protective. They have a seventh sense about the weather.”
Her obituary said, “She was always happiest on the back of a good sorrel horse working Hereford cattle.”
Linda was honored many times, including New Mexico Cattleman of the Year, 1990; National Golden Spur Award, 1992; National Cowgirl Hall of Fame,1995; and with Les (who died in 2001), Hall of Great Westerners, 2000. She was New Mexico’s first representative on the National Beef Board. For decades, her license plate read MRSBEEF.
At 70 she became an EMT and served with the Cimarron Volunteer Ambulance.
Pause a moment now and remember Linda Davis, a great lady of the West.