About 15 miles north of Sonoita we drove into the Las Cienegas Conservation Area and visited The Empire Ranch. To get to the ranch you take a dirt road off of the highway for 3 miles. The country is what Betsy and I call high desert and it is just beautiful.
The ranch was started in the 1870's and was primarily a cattle operation but then they discovered silver on the ranch and the proceeds from the silver allowed the owners to eventually purchase a total of almost one million acres. I can't even begin to get a handle on one million acres! The ranch was sold two or three times and eventually became the property of the BLM. The old ranch house, barns, stables, bunkhouses are all still there, but are in need of repair. The buildings are part of the Empire Ranch Foundation and they raise money for the restoration. Quite a number of projects were going on. We drove up to the ranch and wandered about for a good hour and never saw another person! We did see a couple of pickup trucks parked at what appears to be a caretakers house, but never actually saw anyone else. It was a bit eerie, but a very neat place.
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Ok we are in....a Circle Compound. :) We are still coming will communicate soon. Hagers
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