Browse Items (308 total)

This document is a certificate of inspection from December 22, 1902. The document shows eight different types of brands and the markings for 818 cattle shipped by Vail and Gates from Pantano, AZ to Gaviota, CA. By the early 1880s, Vail began to…

Following the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the Federal government started surveying the West with the intention of selling as much land as possible to the public. The system used divided land into thirty-six single-square-mile sections. Each section…

Letter to Edward L. Vail (March 301898) from H. Harrison, the secretary of the Live Stock Sanitary Board for the Territory of Arizona. The letter is the notification of Edward L. Vail's appointment as Live Stock Inspector and Detective for the…

Walter Vail's home on the Empire Ranch. When Walter Vail's wife arrived on the ranch in the summer of 1881, Walter improved the house with an eight-room addition including two bedrooms, a living room, a dining area, and a covered porch. The structure…

Notary Document for 1876 Bill of Sale for properties and animals related to the expansion of the Empire Ranch.

Pages 1-10 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Pages 11-20 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Pages 21-30 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Pages 31-40 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Pages 41-50 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Pages 51-60 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Pages 61-70 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Pages 71-77 of an interview of Harry Heffner, Foreman of the Empire Ranch from 1893 to 1905, by Charles U. Pickrell on June 4, 1960. The interview discusses the history of the Empire Ranch giving details on people involved with the ranch and Southern…

Edward L. Vail agreed to lease a building he owned for the Rosemont School at the rate of ninety-five dollars per year. The building was located on the Fair View Placer Claim approximately 1/4 mile east from the Post Office in the Village of…

An original Southern Pacific Company Thousand Mile Ticket used by Edward L. Vail, stamped February 14, 1901. The ticket included travel between railroad stations in Arizona, New Mexico, and El PasoTexas. It is punched on the days it was used. Note…

Map carried by Edward L. Vail on the 1890 cattle drive from the Empire Ranch to the Warner Ranch in California. The map shows the route taken from the Empire Ranch to Yuma, AZ. The camps that were made during this portion of the cattle drive are…

1883 map of Arizona Territory shows the location of the Fish Ranch, also known as the Empire Ranch, which was purchased by Walter Vail and his partner in 1876. In 1880, the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Arizona. This map shows the routes of…

Close up of the 1883 map of Arizona Territory showing Pima County and the location of the Fish Ranch.