CE Miller Ranch Valentine, TX

Location

Established in 1925, the CE Miller Ranch is nestled at the base of the Sierra Vieja Mountains in the Chihuahuan Desert.  Located in Jeff Davis and Presidio counties, it is comprised of grassland and oak and juniper woodlands with madrones and colorful bigtooth maples.  The nearest town, Valentine, Texas, is 11 miles east, or about a 30 minute drive along a lonely dirt road.  The C.E. Miller Ranch headquarters sits at an elevation of 4,400 feet and the mountains rise to 5,800 feet in elevation.

Cattle Numbers

In good years, the ranch can support 500 Angus mother cows.  During the most recent drought years, the Millers have sold many of the cattle to maintain the land’s productivity.

ZH Canyon

ZH Canyon, located behind the CE Miller Ranch headquarters, boasts a spring that supplies drinking water throughout the year for people, livestock and wildlife on the south end of the ranch.  A young cowboy named Tom Moore stated that when he worked for Mr. Finley in 1900, the pipeline which still “snakes” through the canyon and carries water down to the headquarters, was already there.  This spring was the reason the army built Camp Holland in ZH Canyon 1918 in response to Mexican bandit raids.