71 Ranch History

The 71 Ranch and surrounding area has a colorful past, and in many ways represents the full history of the American West. The Pony Express, the Emigrant Trail, soldier forts, the railroad, cattle barons, gold mines, boom towns to ghost towns – the 71 has seen it all.

The 71 Ranch has had only four principal owners since Joseph Scott and Caleb Hanks came as pioneers to the Halleck Valley and started the 71 Ranch in 1879. Scott imported the first purebred Herefords from England to Nevada. He also imported blooded Shire horses, and this original stock became the foundation for many future horse and cattle herds in the West.

Quickly gaining prominence and a solid reputation in the cattle industry, during the early 1900’s the 71 Ranch became a part of the vast Union Land and Cattle Company that had livestock holdings from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains. The Marble family bought the 71 Ranch in 1925, and the Ellison Ranching Company, which has been in the Nevada cattle business since 1920, purchased the ranch in 1995.

Reminders of the pioneers who homesteaded the area can be found in many of the ranch’s defining landmarks – Murphy Creek, O’Neil Basin, Upper Wilson, Stephens Creek, the Scott field. If you want an afternoon excursion you can wander among the tombstones of the original Halleck cemetery just across 71 Ranch’s boundary fence, or explore the Walther Field on the southwest end of the ranch where 1880’s fruit trees still blossom. From this once thriving orchard, and along with a huge potato and vegetable garden, the Walther family sold fresh produce to the Fort Halleck soldiers and the emigrants that were traveling through on their way to California. Remnants of old mining claims can still be found in the mountains surrounding the ranch, and even an occasional arrowhead is still discovered while riding across the prairie.

EXPERIENCE THE LIFE OF THE WORKING COWBOY AT THE HISTORIC 71 RANCH.