Now Available
High Desert Empire: Ellison Ranching Company 1910-2020
By Cyd McMullen and Jan Petersen
Published by Ellison Ranching Company
Ranching was present in the Great Basin before Nevada statehood in 1864. Cattle from Texas and California grazed its valleys and mountains, and ranch headquarters grew along its rivers and creeks. By the late 1800s, a few large ranching operations dominated the high sagebrush desert, running thousands of head of cattle, and sometimes sheep, on the hundreds of thousands of unclaimed acres of rangeland. These operations, dubbed “cattle empires” by historians of the time, and the buckaroos who rode for them, hold a prime place in the cowboy culture that has become a symbol of the American West. Most of these empires have been broken up, sold and resold, run by absentee owners or distant corporations in place of the families that built them. One has survived still in family hands, still viable in modern times, still operating historic ranches, but in new ways. This is the story of Ellison Ranching Company.
Founded in 1910 by a group of Utah businessmen led by Ephraim Peter Ellison of Layton, the company’s first ranches were located in the Quinn River and Kings River valleys of Humboldt County. Seeing opportunity for expansion, E.P. continued to buy ranch lands in Lander and Elko Counties. Buffeted at times over a century by a harsh climate, poor hay crops, unpredictable prices for beef and lamb, labor shortages, two World Wars and the Great Depression, Ellison Ranching Company survived and eventually thrived.
Today it operates three historic ranches—the Spanish Ranch, the Seventy One, and the PX—and is known for the high quality of the cattle and sheep it produces, for its innovative practices, and for honoring the traditions of the past. It is recognized throughout cattle country and beyond as one of the premier ranching operations in the world.
A PDF copy of High Desert Empire: Ellison Ranching Company is now available and free to access above.
Hard copies are available for purchase below.
Order inquiries can be made using the request form below, upon which a representative from Ellison Ranching Company will reach out to you directly to complete your order. The price of the book is $50, plus a $10 shipping and handling fee.
Book/Cover designed and produced by Maralee Nelson, mGraphicDesign
Cover photo courtesy of Adam Jahiel
Leather medallion engraved by J.K. Fraker, Buffalo, WY