× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

On any given day this summer, about 4,000 Boy Scouts can be found hiking in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico during their stay at the largest youth camp on earth.

Philmont Scout Ranch is 140,000 acres (about 220 square miles) of mountain wilderness, and it all came from Tulsa oilman Waite Phillips.

“We tell the story of Waite Phillips and Philmont to every person that comes here,” said Mark Anderson, Philmont Scout Ranch program director. “It is a story that every kid on a trek hears at a campfire before they go out on the trails. It is a story told through exhibits at Villa Philmonte. It is our story, and we’re very proud of it.”

The donation of Philmont was such a huge gift that Tulsan Bob LaFortune, who has served on the Philmont Ranch Committee for four decades, simply said, “It is now worth billions.”

To put it in perspective, that would put Phillips in the same league with modern-day philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.

“It has been said that Waite Phillips made and gave away three fortunes,” said LaFortune. “He was a big believer that the best things in life are the things you give away.