[3] Vail left his family's Plainfield, New Jersey house in the middle of 1875 to pursue riches in the West.

He worked for a few months in Virginia City, Nevada as a mine's timekeeper, but in November he wrote of his intention to get involved in Arizona's sheep business.

In 1884, Vail was elected to the Arizona Stock Growers Association, where he introduced many laws relating to cattle farming.

He started leasing Californian land mainly in Temecula Valley, but established his headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

[2] Vail married Margaret "Maggie"[a] Newhall in 1881, with them having five children: Nathan Russel, Mahlon, Mary, Walter Lennox Jr., and William Banning (who used his middle name) together.

[1] In 1890, a Gila monster bit Vail on his middle finger, and for years thereafter he experienced bleeding and swelling in his throat, which was thought to be caused by the venom from the bite.