We drove south from Kitt Peak on Hwy. 86 and into the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. At 118,000 acres, the former cattle ranch is a beautiful desert grassland reaching from Baboquivari Peak on the west, the Mexican Border to the south and the Las Guijas Mountains to the east.
"In the 1850's, Pedro
Aguirre, Jr. came to the Alter Valley and started a stagecoach and freight
line that would connect Tucson, the mining town of Arivaca, Arizona,
and the town of Altar in Sonora, Mexico. He built a homestead in
1864 and named it Buenos Ayres, or "good air," because of the constant
winds found there.
Aguirre constructed a large reservoir near the head of the watershed where two washes meet. With water in place, Aguirre and his neighbors could capitalize on the abundance of forage in the Altar Valley.
The cattle industry in southeastern Arizona exploded as the water supply was secured. Then came the railroads that opened new markets. But the cattle industry suffered a setback when a severe drought in the region lasted from 1885-1892. It resulted in the loss of 50 to 70 percent of the cattle herds. The cattle that remained stripped the land bare. When the rains returned, there was no vegetation left to absorb the water and rain eroded the landscape creating washes and gullies.
Between 1909 and 1985, Buenos Aires Ranch changed ownership several times. It became one of the most prominent and successful livestock operations in Arizona. From 1926 to 1959, the Gill family raised prize-winning racing quarter horses. During the 1970s and 80s, the Victorio Land and Cattle Company specialized in purebred Brangus cattle, well suited to hot, dry climates.
On February 20, 1985, the Secretary of the Interior announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would purchase the Buenos Aires Ranch as a national wildlife refuge. Conservation strategies are now restoring the grassland and bringing back the native pronghorns and masked bobwhite quail, along with over 330 species of birds."
Aguirre constructed a large reservoir near the head of the watershed where two washes meet. With water in place, Aguirre and his neighbors could capitalize on the abundance of forage in the Altar Valley.
The cattle industry in southeastern Arizona exploded as the water supply was secured. Then came the railroads that opened new markets. But the cattle industry suffered a setback when a severe drought in the region lasted from 1885-1892. It resulted in the loss of 50 to 70 percent of the cattle herds. The cattle that remained stripped the land bare. When the rains returned, there was no vegetation left to absorb the water and rain eroded the landscape creating washes and gullies.
Between 1909 and 1985, Buenos Aires Ranch changed ownership several times. It became one of the most prominent and successful livestock operations in Arizona. From 1926 to 1959, the Gill family raised prize-winning racing quarter horses. During the 1970s and 80s, the Victorio Land and Cattle Company specialized in purebred Brangus cattle, well suited to hot, dry climates.
On February 20, 1985, the Secretary of the Interior announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would purchase the Buenos Aires Ranch as a national wildlife refuge. Conservation strategies are now restoring the grassland and bringing back the native pronghorns and masked bobwhite quail, along with over 330 species of birds."
We visited the old headquarters home, now used as a visitor's center. We walked about the corrals, and Aguirre Lake. We drove through over 20 miles of the Buenos Aires Wildlife Refuge. The grasslands are beautiful! And Baboquivari Peak is always regal and tall to the west!
