The High Lonesome Ranch was one of five early ranches in Lea County. Below is a brief recap of how it got its start.
Two men named Dwight P. Atwood and Roswell A. Neal, along with other investors, had formed the Mallett Cattle Company in the state of Connecticut during 1883 with headquarters near Colorado City, Texas. At one point, their holdings had extended from West Texas on further north and west to into New Mexico, in Lea County, with total holdings of around ninety thousand acres. During the 1890s, due to various factors, the company’s fortunes had declined to the point where it was forced to take bankruptcy in 1893.
Bankruptcy receivers sold off assets to different individuals and companies. D. P. Earnest, a manager of one of the ranches, acquired some of the property in Howard and Mitchell counties of Texas. Two individuals out of San Antonio named Halff acquired more of the Texas property and incorporated it into their Quien Sabe Ranch. Another buyer in West Texas was Theodore Schuster who operated a livestock business there for a short time, but ultimately sold out to David DeVitt and John Scharbauer around 1895 who set up their own entity and called it the Mallet Ranch. Three people out of Midland, Texas were headed up by Allen C. Heard acquired the Lea County property and named it the High Lonesome Ranch.
It apparently took its name from the surrounding terrain, which included the highest point of the Llano Estacado between Midland and Roswell. In addition to A. C. Heard (1858 – 1944), other owners are believed to have been John Thomas White (1868 – 1926) and Jesse Heard (1845 – 1911).
We have also occasionally seen the ranch referred to in newspaper articles as “Highlonesome,” without a dash or a space between the two words. We also see some references to a ghost town with the one word name but it is described as a one pump gas station, and exact location of it is currently unknown.
For more information about the entire Mallet Ranch that High Lonesome came from, see Mallet Ranch.
Old Lea County, N.M. 
We found the ranch about 8 miles north of Lovington .
It has a red roof now no longer the pioneer home I lived in in 1974 . It was a beautiful home all rock, with red leather long horn steers on them.
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To those who grew up in Lovington or near Rt 83 Avenue D.
As I mentioned in the comment above, my family and I moved from Albuquerque in the summer of 1974. I was around 12 years old and I thought the Highlonesome Ranch was amazing!
When we rolled up on the driveway, to this Rustic 1800’s Ranch it was like we had come into the movie set for a John Wayne movie! It was a stone house with wooden shingles, and carved trees for columns on the front porch. There on land of about 100 acres we rented from a lady in Hobbs who said her father purchased it for about .50 an acre during the Great Depression. What was also impressive was the broken-down wagons in the front yard. We didn’t have propane for the first month. But there was a huge barbecue pit where we would heat the water for baths and cooking. What was also impressive was the furniture inside the home that was made of wood and leather. Red leather with longhorn steers on them also the longest pioneer style dining table with wooden benches and captain’s chairs on each end, that made you feel that you must have been sitting right where many a cowboy sat 70 years earlier to eat a fine meal before heading back out on their horses for that lonely ride across the Western Plains, destination unknown?
The reason I felt I must share my experience with you all is because the Lea County Museum didn’t have any information on the Highlonesome except for a few pictures of the man who built it named George Causey. He was a Buffalo hunter and later became a rancher. The fact is that in 2025 the Highlonesome still stands, it has new owners that must have built second story with a red roof on it. But if you drive to Prairie View Rd at the corner of Rt 80 east of Lovington you will see a metal sign called the High Lonesome Ranch. Also I purchased a book at the museum called “Lea New Mexico’s Last Frontier“, which has a few things to say about Causey and the ranch. So, if anyone out there has more history on the Highlonesome, the store that was there, and the schoolhouse where Elizabeth Lupton Owen taught in 1924, ( also called the Highlonesome), I would personally love to hear your story! And so would the museum.
Thank you!
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Thanks so much for your comment. Do you have any photos of the ranch house? There are at least two more books that may mention the ranch, probably both are long out of print. I will look through my copies and get back to you.
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Hi there! I am not sure, but will ask my stepmom if she has any, but if she doesn’t I can send the one we took of the gate with the High Lonesome sign if you want?
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Sure, that would be great.
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