The O RO Ranch (jjjcorp.com) land, located north of Prescott, originally belonged to Spaniard Don Luis Maria Baca, who gave the land to the United States government in 1856. According to the ranch website, the O RO ranch is the only ranch in the northern part of the state that came from a Spanish Land Grant. Currently, the ranch is still a working cattle ranch. Horses branded with the RO brand were some of the first to be accepted by the American Quarterhorse Association in 1940.
The Historic C.O.D. Ranch (codranch.com) is located southeast of Tucson. It was first owned by Frank Daily, who homesteaded the land in the 1880s and made it into a cattle ranch. In 1927 it was sold to Bill Huggett, and remained in the family until 1996, when it was purchased by Steve Malkin, who renovated the ranch and made it into a retreat and special event center, which is its primary function today.
At one time, the Double Circle Ranch (doublecircleranch.com) was almost half a million acres in size, according to the ranch's website. Located in east-central Arizona, close to the New Mexico border, the Double Circle Ranch is now just less than 50,000 acres, but it retains its original purpose of herding cattle. The ranch also provides a guest house and tents for visitors, who can spend time horseback riding, herding cattle or participating in a variety of workshops and programs on subjects that range from wilderness survival skills to cowboy art.
If you are visiting or live in the Phoenix area, you can check out one of Arizona's oldest ranches without driving hours into the wilderness. Sahuaro Ranch Park, founded in 1886 by rancher William Henry Bartlett, is located right in the middle of the city of Glendale. The ranch's original buildings remain, and were recently restored. The City of Glendale has created a park to commemorate the historic site, and the buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
