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About the Empire Ranch

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Location
The Empire Ranch is magnificently situated in the high Sonoran Desert and rolling grasslands of Arizona, approximately 50 miles southeast of Tucson.  

The Empire Ranch House is a 22-room adobe and wood frame building which dates to 1870 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The ranch sits at the heart of the 42,000-acre Las Cienegas National Conservation Area, on public lands acquired and administered since 1988 by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Tucson Office.

Directions:  From Tucson go east on I-10, exit ramp 281 and go south on Route 83 for approximately 18 miles.  Go left (east) at the entrance sign for the Empire Cienega Resource Area, between mile post 40 and 39.  Follow dirt road 3 miles to Empire Ranch on your  left.

bulletRoad map
bulletAccommodations near the Empire Ranch

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History
The Empire Ranch was originally established in the 1860's as a ranch of 160 acres with a four-room adobe ranch house and adjoining corral.
  Owned by Edward Nye Fish, a Tucson businessman, the ranch was acquired in 1876 by Walter L. Vail, a native of Liverpool, Nova Scotia, and Herbert Hislop, an Englishman.   

Over the next 20 years, as a part of the historic expansion of ranching, railroads, mining and other growth in the West, Vail and various partners expanded the original land holdings to include over one million acres.  The ranch house became an extended complex with more than 22-rooms and many related structures, and remained a Vail family enterprise until 1928.

In 1928, the Empire Ranch was purchased by the Boice, Gates and Johnson partnership, successor to the Chiricahua Cattle Co., when their cattle had to be moved from the San Carlos Indian Reservation. The Boices were respected cattlemen known for their promotion of the Hereford breed of cattle in the Southwest. Partner Frank Boice and his family lived on and managed the Empire Ranch, and became sole owners in 1951. During their tenure they also hosted Hollywood production companies for the filming of a number of classic western movies.

In 1969 the lands were sold to Gulf American Corporation for a proposed real estate development, and later resold to Anamax Mining Company for mining and water potential.  None of these developments materialized, however, and to this day the lands and ranch headquarters have  supported only cattle operations.

In the 1980s a groundswell of public support developed to preserve the ranch and its natural resources in their pristine condition.  In 1988 a series of land exchanges put the property into public ownership under the administration of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a division of the U.S. Department of Interior.  In 2000, the U.S. Congress officially designated these 42,000 acres to be Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.

The Empire Ranch Foundation was established as a private non-profit organization in 1997 to work with the BLM to develop private support to preserve the ranch buildings and enhance the educational and recreational opportunities it offers to the general public.  The Foundation has developed a number of educational pamphlets on Empire Ranch history.  Click on links below to download:

bulletBrief History of the Empire Ranch House (.html)       (.pdf format,  37kb)
bulletFloor Plan - Ranch House (.art file)
bulletRooms of the Empire Ranch House: Past Uses, Future Plans, and Progress (as of Summer 2007) (.pdf, 43kb)
bulletWesterns Filmed in Empire Ranch Territory (.pdf, 15kb)
bulletTimeline: History of Empire Ranch (.pdf, 3MB)

Visitor and Community Activities
Today the Ranch headquarters area and the surrounding Las Cienegas National Resource Conservation Area are open daily to visitors (click link for additional BLM website information http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/blm_special_areas/ncarea/lascienegas.html)

The Empire Ranch House and Headquarters is the site of special events and tours hosted by the Foundation, including  a Fall Roundup Open House, educational Legacy Day and Hands on the Land day camp events for youngsters, and a membership pot luck lunch.   In addition, the Foundation holds a Winter "Empire 100" Western Art Show and Sale, in Tucson.

bulletCurrent Working Calendar
bulletFall Roundup Open House 
bulletMembers Pot Luck Buffet at the Ranch in November
bulletWinter "The Empire 100" Western Art Show & Sale in January and February

Preservation, Restoration and Reuse
Physical preservation of the Empire Ranch House and other buildings is a first-order mission of the Foundation.  These projects involve stabilization and repair of ranch house doors, windows, walls, roofs and foundations.  Once stabilization is assured,  a Master Plan and an Adaptive Reuse Plan jointly prepared by the Foundation and the BLM envisions development of the Empire Ranch Western Heritage Site and Education Center, with interdependent programs for:

-Restoration of the Ranch House as a historic house museum;

-Establishment of a self-guided Heritage Trail linking  the historic buildings, natural landscape  and ecology of the ranch; and

-Development of educational programs for all ages, especially programs for children to augment classroom learning about the natural and cultural history of the region.

bulletPreservation Projects Cumulative Summary
bulletRooms of the Empire Ranch House: Past Uses, Future Plans, and Progress (as of Summer 2007) (.pdf)

Western Heritage and Education Center
The Empire Ranch Foundation addresses the western heritage and education focus of our mission through sponsorship of an annual Roundup and Open House for the general public at ranch headquarters; a "Legacy Day" field day of on-site ranching education for local middle school children; and "Wild About the Grasslands!", a youth education program focused on ecology and conservation stewardship. 

The Empire Ranch is an official member site of the Hands on the Land (HOL) program, a national network of field classrooms, connecting students, teacher, and parents to their public lands and waterways.  Click link below to see the Empire Ranch Site Profile on the HOL website:

bullethttp://www.handsontheland.org/profiles/profile_details.cfm?sitecode=emra 

A self-guided Heritage Discovery Trail is under construction at Ranch Headquarters; the first segment of the trail will be completed in October 2007.

Archives
One of the missions of the Empire Ranch Foundation is preservation of photos, oral histories, documents and articles relating to the history of the Empire Ranch.  Links for downloading pamphlets on Ranch history are provided above.  In the future we will make additional materials and resource lists available for download from this site.  Keep an eye on "What's New," where items will be announced.

Newsletter
The Empire Ranch Foundation publishes a quarterly newsletter with further information about the Empire Ranch, its colorful history and current activities.  Individual issues are available from this website (.pdf files; requires Adobe Reader).  

bulletERF Newsletter Issues
bulletERF Newsletter Articles -- Topic Index

Membership
It takes time, money and lots of effort to accomplish our mission.  We invite you to join us today by becoming a member of the Empire Ranch Foundation.

bulletMembership Form

  

 

 

Empire Ranch Foundation | P.O. Box 842, Sonoita, AZ 85637

 

 

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Send e-mail correspondence  to:  info@empireranchfoundation.org