Las Cienegas NCA, AZ (2/18/2019)

I feel somewhat guilty whining about the weather here in Southern Arizona when people in so much of the country are experiencing truly bad winter weather.  However, everything is relative and the weather here has not been as good as normal, and certainly not what I expected.  For example, this is the view from my front door this morning, where the LRJ is parked only a few feet away.

Well, I'm glad I went out yesterday despite chilly, windy conditions.  It was 45F with 25 mph wind when I left to visit the Empire Ranch located in Las Cienegas NCA, near the town of Sonoita.  There is still active cattle operations at the ranch, but I don't know who owns the cattle that graze throughout the NCA.

The ranch headquarters proved to be a most interesting visit, much like a living museum of the history of this region.  To me, it's more interesting than artifacts presented in a museum setting because it is the real deal, where history actually occurred.

No one seems to know for sure when ranching started on this land that was part of the Gadsden Purchase in 1854.  The known history starts in 1876, when three young Englishmen bought an existing ranch of 160 acres for the sum of $2000.  After a few years, a partner named Vail bought out the shares of his partners and became the sole operator.  Vail was successful in this venture and bought land whenever possible.  The ranch grew to 100,000 acres, a small home was built, Vail married and had a family, additions to the house and outbuildings ensued, and Vail got into other businesses, mostly in California.  In 1896, Vail moved his family to Los Angeles and left a foreman in charge of Empire Ranch.  Vail was killed in a streetcar accident in 1906.  One of his sons came to the ranch to learn the business and took over management in 1913.

Here is the ranch today.  The original house was made of adobe, later covered with stucco.  Over the years, a packed dirt floor was replaced by concrete and the place got "modern" fixtures along with room additions.

I lost count of the number of fireplaces, but there were at least ten of them.

Even interior walls in some cases are 18 inches thick, probably adobe.

In 1928, the ranch was sold to a company in which a man named Boice was a partner.  He later became the sole owner and he and his family did much modernization before moving there.

The original "cowboy quarters" in an outbuilding were expanded with rooms attached to the main house, but with no connecting doors.

Mary Boice raised her sons and kept the grounds looking very nice, with cottonwood trees and garden areas within a grassy lawn.  In 1948, the movie business came calling, since the ranch was a perfect setting for western films.  John Wayne in Red River was the first, but many famous actors made at least 35 movies on or near the ranch.

A separate house, called the Grove house, was built to accommodate visitors and people who did work for the ranch (not cowboys).  The various outbuildings all reflect the time in which they were added.

When Boice died in 1956, his two sons took over management.  They sold the property in 1969, but kept running the ranch under a lease until 1974.  Another man took over the lease until 1976, when BLM acquired the property and it eventually became the conservation area it is today.  There is a non-profit foundation that helps with the preservation and holds public events throughout the year.  See their web site for more info here.

I understand this kind of thing may not be for everyone, but it was most fascinating to me, so I wanted to share the story.