Orme Ranch
Mimi and Charlie Orme
Mayer - Yavapai County
Inducted in 2025
The Orme family’s history in Arizona begins with John Pinckney (JP) Orme, who arrived in the Territory in the 1870’s. JP was instrumental in establishing the Salt River ValleyWater User’s Association (SRP), for which he was its first elected president. The planned but unbuilt Orme Dam (part of the Central Arizona Project) was named after JP Orme. A member of the Arizona Constitutional Convention and the first Arizona State House of Representatives, JP farmed throughout the Salt River Valley in the early 1900’s. JP and his wife, Ella, had three children, including Charles “Chick” Orme, who would continue his father’s commitment to farming, ranching, education, and civic Leadership.
Seeking cooler temperatures, in 1929, Chick and wife Mina purchased the Quarter Circle V Bar Ranch in Yavapai County. Orme Ranch sits along Ash Creek with 1,500 deeded acres, 20,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service grazing leases,s and 5,000 acres of Arizona State grazing leases. With their young children, Charles Jr, Morton, and Kathryn, the family farmed 200 acres of vegetables for delivery to Phoenix during the Great Depression.
Both graduates of Stanford University, Chick and Minna, established a small “county accommodation” school, the Orme School, to provide a solid education for their children and those of ranch farm help. In the 1930s, the school welcomed children from the East who sought a drier climate and the opportunity to attend school and work on a western cattle ranch.
The school’s success provided the necessary income for the Orme family during the lean degression era.
Charles Jr. and Mort graduated from Stanford in the early 1940s. They assumed lead roles in the Orme School and the ranch’s cattle and farming operations, allowing Chick to serve 8 years in the Arizona Legislature as a Yavapai County Senator. Chick remained active in farming and ranching his entire life. Minna had a significant role in teaching young people astronomy and horticulture. Many beautiful trees envelop Orme Ranch and Orme School today, and they were planted by Minn, who was inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame for her work.
Charlie and wife Mimi led Orme School for 42 years. Under their leadership, the school became an internationally renowned college preparatory secondary school. The school’s agricultural setting enables students to participate in horsemanship, experience a deep connection to the natural environment, and learn about global sustainability issues firsthand. Under Charle’s direction, the ranch became a leader within the Arizona ranching industry for its commitment to holistic range management and continuous monitoring of the health and biodiversity of the Central Arizona rangeland.
Fourth and fifth generations of the Orme family continue to live on and serve as principals of the Orme Ranch. Charles and Mimi’s son Paul has been the ranch’s president for 20 years, along with the assistance and financial management of his wife, Shawn, serving as the ranch board’s treasurer. The ranch’s Board of Directors comprises family members and Enoch Malouff, the ranch manager. Orme Ranch recently placed a 900-acre conservation easement on most of its deeded land to ensure it remains in agricultural production and open space in perpetuity. The Orme family received the 2023 Wide Open Spaces Award from the Central Arizona Land Trust in Prescott for this effort.
