O'Donel, Charles M., 1860-1933

Charles M. O'Donel, ranch manager, was born in County Mayo, Ireland in 1860. Following his education "on the continent", he graduated from Sandhurst Military College, Britain's "West Point". O'Donel resigned a position as captain in the British army to come to the United States with his brother, Manus. They arrived in New Orleans; Charles continued on to Texas, where he started working as a cowboy in 1885. O'Donel arrived at the Bell Ranch on June 2, 1898 as general manager, succeeding Arthur J. Tisdall who had died 2 months earlier. Shortly after o'Donel operated the ranch primarily as a cow and calf ranch, with the priority of continually improving the quality of the herd. For most of his tenure, O'Donel had the opportunity to shape policy and develop his own interests, essentially molding the operations of the Bell Ranch. He is credited with using technology and science to turn the Bell into a forward-looking, well-planned modern cattle operation.

Charles M. O'Donel, ranch manager, was born in County Mayo, Ireland in 1860. Following his education "on the continent", he graduated from Sandhurst Military College, Britian's "West Point". O'Donel resigned a position as captain in the British army to come to the United States with his brother, Manus. They arrived in New Orleans; Charles continued on to Texas, where he started working as a cowboy in 1885. O'Donel arrived at the Bell Ranch on June 2, 1898 as general manager, succeeding Arthur J. Tisdall who had died 2 months earlier. O'Donel operated the ranch primarily as a cow and calf ranch, with the priority of continually improving the quality of the herd. For most of his tenure, O'Donel had the opportunity to shape policy and develop his own interests, essentially molding the operations of the Bell Ranch. He is credited with using technology and science to turn the Bell into a forward-looking, well-planned modern cattle operation.

C.M. O'Donel. (Box 1, Folder 7).

Charles M. O'Donel, ranch manager, was born in County Mayo, Ireland in 1860. Following his education "on the continent, he graduated from Sandhurst Military College, Britains "West Point. O'Donel resigned a position as captain in the British army to come to the United States with his brother, Manus. They arrived in New Orleans; Charles continued on to Texas, where he started working as a cowboy in 1885.

O'Donel arrived at the Bell Ranch on June 2, 1898 as general manager, succeeding Arthur J. Tisdall who had died 2 months earlier. Shortly after O'Donels arrival, the Bell Ranch was bought by the Red River Valley Company. O'Donel operated the ranch primarily as a cow and calf ranch, with the priority of continually improving the quality of the herd. For most of his tenure, O'Donel had the opportunity to shape policy and develop his own interests, essentially molding the operations of the Bell Ranch. He is credited with using technology and science to turn the Bell into a forward-looking, well-planned modern cattle operation.

Charles M. O'Donel was active in local and national livestock related organizations. He served as president of the New Mexico Cattle and Horse Growers Association from 1924-1926. He was a member of the American Cattle Growers Association, the National Live Stock Association, and the American National Live Stock Association (ANLSA). O'Donel was elected president of ANLSA in 1926, but had to step down in 1927 because of failing health (O'Donel suffered from sciatica).

O'Donel was married three times. His first wife died of complications related to childbirth shortly after he began work at the Bell Ranch. In 1908, he married Louise Harral of New Orleans. They had two daughters, Nuala and Bette. The family maintained a second house in Denver, where his wife and children would live during the school year. After Louises death, he married Bettie Ellerbe of Denver, CO.

In 1932, Charles O'Donel retired from the Bell Ranch, but stayed on as vice president of the Red River Valley Company. Philip C. Garrett replaced him as manager, under an unwritten arrangement in which O'Donel would run the office and Garret would manage the outdoor operations. Garretts tenure was short. He was succeeded by Albert Mitchell, who managed the Bell Ranch from January 1, 1933, until the Red River Valley Company sold it in 1946. O'Donel died at the headquarters of the Bell Ranch on Dec. 20, 1933.

The Red River Valley Company, formerly the Bell Ranch, was a three quarters-of-a-million-acre ranch lying along the Canadian River in northeastern New Mexico. Bell Ranch was originally two Mexican land grants, the Baca Location No. 2 and the vast Pablo Montoya Grant of 1824. After the war with Mexico in 1846-1847, the Pablo Montoya heirs applied for confirmation of their grant. John S. Watts who led the confirmation process took a large part of the grant as his legal fee; he later acquired the adjoining Baca Location No. 2. Watts later sold a major part of this huge property to Wilson Waddingham. Waddingham invested in gold and silver mines in the West as well as land grants in the Southwest. In 1898, E.G. Stoddard, president of the New Haven Bank, founded the Red River Valley Company to buy the Bell Ranch. From then until 1946, this company, headed first by Stoddard and after 1923, by Julius G. Day, survived the ups and downs of the cattle markets of the 1920's and 1930's. Building on former ranch manager, Arthur J. Tisdall's new awareness of modern ranching practice, Bell managers Charles M. O'Donel (1898-1933) and Albert K. Mitchell (1933-1947) saw land and grasses as resources that must be kept in balance with the size and distribution of the herd. In 1947, the Bell Ranch was broken up and sold.

Charles M. O'Donel, ranch manager, was born in County Mayo, Ireland in 1860. Following his education "on the continent", he graduated from Sandhurst Military College, Britian's "West Point." O'Donel resigned a position as captain in the British army to come to the United States with his brother, Manus. They arrived in New Orleans; Charles continued on to Texas, where he started working as a cowboy in 1885. O'Donel arrived at the Bell Ranch on June 2, 1898 as general manager, succeeding Arthur J. Tisdall who had died 2 months earlier. Shortly after O'Donel operated the ranch primarily as a cow and calf ranch, with the priority of continually improving the quality of the herd. For most of his tenure, O'Donel had the opportunity to shape policy and develop his own interests, essentially molding the operations of the Bell Ranch. He is credited with using technology and science to turn the Bell into a forward-looking, well-planned modern cattle operation.