Six Bar Six is a Family Legacy spanning 6 generations beginning with Marc's great grandfather Newton Jasper Phillips "Newt" in 1899. Newt and his wife Jeannette "Nettie" homesteaded the original Phillips Ranch in "Bootjack", Mariposa, CA in 1900, just outside of Yosemite National Park.

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In the early 1900's tourists were flocking to the Yosemite area, drawn to the unique landscape by the words of John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt and back-country guides were in demand. This was a perfect fit for Newt who was known as "the man of the mountains". By the teens and 1920's packing hunters, and enthusiasts into the back country, and assisting the California Conservation Corps "CCC's" by packing crews and materials to build trails and High Sierra Camps became a profitable business. Every spring Newt would leave his homestead in Bootjack and drive his stock to a small set of corrals behind the pond in Fish Camp, CA on property rented from Charlie Beery, the major land owner at that time. Fish Camp served as Newt's summer Head Quarters until the early 1930's when he moved his summer operation to Jackass Meadow because of the pressure of strip-logging and narrow gauge railroads that had changed the landscape of the front-country.

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Newt was a "real cowboy" running stock on his Bootjack homestead and packing into the Yosemite High Country for over 4 decades. In 1944, 1 day before his 75th birthday he was breaking one of his young colts when he was killed as it flipped over on him while he was on its back. It was a tragedy for the family, but the legacy and the homestead continued through his son and daughter in-law Don and Jean Phillips. For 5 generations the Phillips family was involved with horses, ranching, and high-country packing in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Over the years pieces of the homestead were broke into smaller parcels for family members but the Legacy remained.

 

Marc and Barbara Phillips served in various positions as pastors in ministry for over 20 years. They were the Lead pastors of a growing church which began as a church "re-start" / plant, with a regular weekend attendance of less than 10 people when the torch was passed to them from the former pastor who retired. In only a couple years it was grown into a thriving ministry with 250-300 in regular weekend attendance, hundreds accepting Christ as their Savior, reaching over 2,000 in local outreach, and impacting thousands globally online. In 2019 Marc and Barbara Phillips, and their son Hayden understood clearly that their time serving in that season of ministry had come to an end. It was also at this time when both Marc's dad, Donald Zane Phillips, and his grandmother, Jean Phillips (Holmes), had passed away. Things were also obviously changing on the homestead as well. That is when Marc and Barbara and Hayden decided to move from the Yosemite area to find a State that provided a way forward for their entrepreneurial dreams, and one of the last pieces of the original homestead was sold as Marc's mother, Loretta followed North in 2020. It may be a new location, but the Legacy continues. The family purchased property in the North Idaho Panhandle in 2020, re-registered the 6 Bar 6 family Brand in Idaho, and quickly got to work rebuilding their ranching lifestyle from deep family roots.

 

Six Bar Six is now a small but growing Performance Horse and Cattle Ranch in North Idaho. Starting a ranch "from scratch" is no small endeavour. In fact, in the words of one of the family's closest friends, Larry Knapp, who also owns a generational ranch in the San Joaquin Valley of CA, and now owns and operates the Pack Station over the same trails of FIsh Camp that began by Newt: "That's ambitious". When they purchased the property in Idaho it was nothing but a small house and shop, and a whole lot of trees. It was certainly not a ranch. But that doesn't stop the Phillips. Over the last few years they have kept themselves extremely busy clearing trees, building fence, constructing corrals, and creating the infrastructure of a first class operation and working ranch. All of this while beginning and operating a family portable sanitation business, and beginning the livestock operation of Six Bar Six in Idaho. 

 

In September 2023 Six Bar Six incorporated to continue the legacy in our modern day. They now have become a reputable seed-stock producer raising champion American Aberdeen cattle, and work hard breeding and raising some of the greatest bloodlines in performance Quarter Horses. The acreage may be tight, but they work hard at pasture rotation and management, making the operation a perfect fit for raising American Aberdeen cattle which are genetically bred to excel on grass forage and are ideal for the small acre ranch or farm. 

 

The breeding program, for both cattle and horses, uses only superior genetics raised under regenerative practices, producing quality animals humanely raised with lower environmental impacts. Six Bar Six Ranch is committed to thoughtful land and wildlife stewardship, while building a sustainable product and a lasting legacy for generations to come. 

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Marc says: "We are excited to still have 3 generations continuing the daily operations of Six Bar Six, and we work hard involving a 4th generation, as well as my nephew, Tristen Robinson, to keep the legacy moving into the future. Cowboys are not a dying breed, they're just working hard to pass down what they love and believe in. And Six Bar Six remains diligent to keep it going long after these 6 generations. Thank you God for Your incredible blessings, thank You Jesus for our salvation, and Thank you to everyone who has played a role in building this great legacy. We are Committed to A Higher Standard - Committed to God! And we are excited to see what He has for the future of Six Bar Six."