Roots that still run deep.
A few facts about Raymond W. and Ruth Banning Lewis.
We've made knowledge, discovery and nature three of the cornerstone values of the new Banning Lewis Ranch community. But education, innovation and respect for the land were the foundation of this place long before we arrived.
Ruth Banning was a Colorado Springs native. Having graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College in 1915, she was well educated to say the least. While attending Wellesley, she even took a class from Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote "America the Beautiful." No doubt her academic achievement is part of what prepared her to take over her family's businesses — the Union Ice and Coal Company and the Banning Ranch — after the death of her parents and brother.
Miss Banning married Raymond W. Lewis in 1921. Raymond was Missouri-born but had moved to Colorado with his family when he was 15. He graduated from Colorado College in 1914, where he was best known for his prowess on the football field.
A progressive pair
The Lewis' were more than the typical couple of their day. They were bold, inventive business partners. In 1922 Ruth bought ten prize-winning Hereford cattle to add to the purebred Herefords from the Lewis family's ranch in Fowler, Colorado. Two years later she sold her ice and coal business to devote more time to cattle ranching. Ruth and Raymond soon moved their ranching operation, now called Banning-Lewis Ranches, from the old Banning Ranch property south of Colorado Springs to a stretch of land on the east side of town. Over the next several years they expanded their ranching business and their land holdings, eventually acquiring more than 30,000 acres. And the Banning-Lewis cattle, known as the Colorado Domino Type Herefords, became nationally renowned as some of the finest examples of the breed.
The term "sustainability" wasn't in use back then. But Ruth and Raymond Lewis were certainly familiar with the principle. The Banning-Lewis Ranches had one of the most progressive soil conservation practices in the US and in 1948 won the Colorado Soil Conservation program award.
Beyond the ranch
Raymond Lewis maintained his love of athletics and the Colorado outdoors throughout his life. He was an avid polo and tennis player. On occasion, he even shared the polo field with his friend, Will Rogers.
Both Raymond and Ruth participated in numerous civic organizations. And it's clear that Ruth never lost her focus on education. In 1923, she was elected to the board of Colorado Springs' School District 11 and served as its president from 1927 until her resignation in 1934. In 1927, she also helped create the first Girl Scout organization west of the Mississippi. And she was involved in the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters.
With their love of learning, their inventive spirit and their care for the environment, Raymond W. and Ruth Banning Lewis established a legacy that would endure long after the great herds of Colorado Domino Herefords were gone — a legacy we're proud to continue.