The property overlooks a shallow depression called Empire Gulch, through which a spring-fed rivulet bordered by cottonwoods courses eastward to Cienega Creek.

Tucson businessman Edward Nye Fish first occupied the site of the ranch in 1871, but it is uncertain whether or not he built the original four-room adobe house and corral, which may have already been there when he arrived.

Up to that time, Walter had added only a kitchen, pantry, cook's room, and business office to the original four-room structure – just enough to accommodate the cowboys who worked on the ranch.

Shortly after Margaret's arrival, Walter built her an eight-room addition to the earlier dwelling, including two bedrooms, a living room, a dining area and a covered porch.

The imposing structure boasted 12 feet (3.7 m) high ceilings, three stone fireplaces for heating, and a fashionable half-hexagon bay window opening off the living room.

Learning that John Harvey had money to invest, Nathan had encouraged him to visit Tucson and the Empire Ranch, which he did in the early weeks of October.

During the day, the riding stock, which numbered nine saddle horses, twenty brood mares, and twelve colts, grazed in a large fenced-in pasture 600 feet (200 m) from the ranch house.

The possibility of a devastating loss of riding stock remained foremost in their thoughts, as Hislop reflected: "How long we shall keep them out of Apaches' hands I do not know, as I suspect we being the only owners of any number of horses around here, that they will pay us a visit.

Writing to his brother, Edward Vail, on January 20, 1876, Walter reported that "this last outbreak has made so much talk that the Government is going to establish a fort 25 miles (40 km) south of our place, which I hope will put a stop to Indian trouble in this part of the country."

In a series of raids between August 1876 and February 1877, they stole several herds of livestock and killed three cowboys immediately south of the ranch, but each time skirted around the property.

The three cattlemen, hoping to avoid the expense and trouble of driving herds from distant ranges, had made inquiries about other cattle in southern Arizona.

In the latter part of January, they learned that S. S. "Yankee" Miller, foreman for John Chisum's ranch on the San Pedro River near St. David, had driven a large herd of Durhams, Herefords, and longhorns from New Mexico to the vicinity of Benson.

Before Vail could remove the herd, a band of Chiricahua Apaches silently approached Miller's compound and crept away with all their horses under cover of darkness.

Edward "Ned" Vail had corresponded with Walter since 1876 and shared his brother's belief that the cattle trade would soon be a large and prosperous industry in Arizona.

Walter immediately put his brother to work on the range, thereby forcing Edward to acquire a cattleman's skill and "carry his weight" at the ranch.

[1] While Walter and his partners were readying their first cattle for market, a silver discovery was made near Empire Ranch which vitally affected its destiny.

In January 1879, an itinerant prospector named John T. Dillon, located three mining claims on the boulder-strewn eastern slope of the Empire Mountains.

Legal entanglements prevented immediate exploitation of the claim; but when the court re-affirmed their title, the owners incorporated the operation as the Total Wreck Mining and Milling Company.

[1] In 1881, Walter and Nathan Vail secured full control of the corporation, sold shares of the company in New York City, and launched a large-scale development at the Total Wreck.

Vail and Gates bought or leased additional grasslands in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and California during drought years of the early nineties.

While furthering his own business, Vail argued prominently for cattlemen's interests as a legislator, county supervisor, and president of the Livestock Ranchman's Association.

Vail and Gates converted the home ranch fully to "breeder-feeder" operations, with Arizona-bred cattle shipped outside the territory to fatten.

Beginning in 1902, they siphoned corporate assets into lucrative real estate, horse raising, and resort investments on the West Coast.

Around the same time, the ranch was featured in several Western films starring many of Hollywood's most famous actors, such as John Wayne, Gregory Peck and Steve McQueen.

[5] On April 25–26, 2017, the Sawmill Fire, which had been started two days earlier by a gender reveal party, significantly impacted the Empire Ranch, though fortunately its historic buildings were not damaged by the flames thanks to the efforts of firefighters.