View Larger Map From Tucson Go east on I-10 and exit at Route 83 (scenic highway) Proceed south on Route 83 approximately 18 miles to the paved gravel road on your left between mile post 40 and 39. Watch for brown Historic Empire Ranch sign on the right side of the highway. Turn east (left) onto paved road and follow for 3 miles to the Empire Ranch House on your left. From Sonoita Go north on Route 83 for 6.6 miles, to the paved gravel road on yo…
…e not generally required to visit the national conservation area. However, commercial, competitive, and large organized group events require a special recreation permit. Permits are generally required if the group number is over 29, or if the activity needs BLM oversight or will have an impact to public lands and people. Click here for more detailed information about BLM permits. The Empire Ranch House is a 22-room adobe and wood frame building, w…
…. For more information about tours, call the Empire Ranch Foundation at 888-364-2829. Agents of Discovery Kids can explore Historic Empire Ranch in an exciting new way by using Agents of Discovery, a learning game that can be downloaded for free and played on a mobile device. Agents of Discovery requires no WiFi or data connection while you’re out exploring. Once downloaded you can walk throughout Empire Ranch Headquarters to unlock location-bas…
…pire Ranch in an exciting new way. It’s called Agents of Discovery, the not-so-secret, secret agency dedicated to learning and playing outdoors. To get started: 1. Download the free Agents of Discovery app to your mobile device at the Apple App Store, Google Play or visit www.AgentsofDiscovery.com. 2. After downloading the app, click on the Missions button and select the ones you want to play. 3. Preload the missions and head out to the Historic E…
…n Daily Citizen, 5/4/1942] U.S. food rationing poster. Courtesy of SarahSundin.com. Wartime Beef Production—1943 “Frank S. Boice of Sonoita, Ariz., association president, reported that United States cattle numbers are now close to the record figure of 76,000,000 head, an increase of 1,000,000 in the last year. Boice said the slaughter increased to 28,000,000 head in 1942. He predicted that marketings this year would surpass the 30,000,000-goal set…
…ife management, and conservation efforts in the watershed. Start by downloading the TravelStorys.Com App to your phone or other device. Open TravelStory and select “Tour the Cienega Watershed” to save the tour on your phone. Once you’ve download the app and the tour, no Internet access is needed. The tour includes 21 podcast-style stories that will automatically play at the appropriate location using your phone’s GPS. The route loop includes the G…
…work in Arizona ranching at: https://www.azfb.org/Article/Arizona-Ranching-In-the-Beginning 300 tons of alfalfa hay grown in the agricultural fields at the Empire Ranch in the South Barn, at the Empire Ranch, 1924. ERF archives A301-001 Carroll W. Gates (1860-1920) Carroll W. Gates, 1909. ERF archives: A540-009 Carroll Gates was born in New York in 1860 and moved at an early age with his family to California. Educated in the San Jose area he fi…
…Bernard L. Fontana. Overland Press, 1965. [available from libraries or out-of-print dealers] Empire Ranch by Gail Waechter Corkill and Sharon E. Hunt, Charleston, SC, Arcadia Publishing, 2011. Images of America series. [order from the Empire Ranch Foundation] Heart of the Empire. Historic Structure Report, Empire Ranch, Arizona by Laura Soulliere Harrison and Paul Niedenger, Volume 1, December 1992, revised 2020. Historic American Landscape Surve…
…ou have Arizona.” Left Florence at 7 p.m. for Tucson having for travelling companions two Indian agents going to look after their reservations. One of them was a Dublin man and as jolly a fellow as I have met since leaving England.” Ad (left) advertises the sale of E.N. Fish & Co. stock, including a ranch. From the Arizona Citizen, July 29, 1876 Arizona Governor Anson Safford. Source: Wikipedia July 13, 1876—Tucson At L…
…nsist of suckling pig, turkey ( if possible), ducks, quail and English plum-pudding served up in good old English style surrounded by burning brandy, by your humble servant, that will not be so bad for Arizona?” Gould’s turkey, a native Arizona wild turkey commonly found in the southern part of the state. Courtesy of the National Park Service. Hislop Selling Out?—January 1878 Hislop’s outlook on life at the Empire Ranch did not improve in the ne…