[citation needed] In 1897, he accepted the editorship of the Evening Journal, flagship of the Hearst chain, and through it gained influence unmatched by any editor in the United States.

"[1] While an employee of Hearst—at one point boasting of making $260,000 in a year[2]—Brisbane also was known for buying failing newspapers, re-organizing them, and selling them to Hearst.

[6] Brisbane was accused of engaging in yellow journalism having published an editorial that called for the assassination of President McKinley.

His daughter Sarah married one of his Daily Mirror employees, Tex McCrary, who later became a radio-TV personality with second wife Jinx Falkenburg.

A 1926 Time magazine cover story described his influence: The New York American, the Chicago Herald-Examiner, the San Francisco Examiner and many another newspaper owned by Publisher Hearst, to say nothing of some 200 non-Hearst dailies and 800 country weeklies which buy syndicated Brisbane, all publish what Mr. Brisbane has said.

[12] Cummin, a well-known member of the Explorer's Club, called Brisbane "a well-informed naturalist," and said the two collaborators discussed the subject of naturalism frequently.

[13] He is also known to have invited the radical journalist and pamphleteer Eleanor Baldwin to move to New York to take up a writing job with him, but she declined the offer to remain at her home in the Pacific Northwest.

[14] Partnering with Hearst, he formed Hearst-Brisbane Properties, investing heavily in New York real estate and developing projects such as the Ziegfeld Theatre, the Warwick Hotel, and the Ritz Tower.

It was here that Brisbane built his dream house, a palatial mansion for its time, adjacent to a lake, and complete with a library tower.

Brisbane eventually began to explore the history of his property at Allaire and, in the 1920s, became aware of its great historic significance.

As early as 1925, Brisbane sought to preserve this property, with its vast natural resources and 19th century village buildings.