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TANQUE VERDE RANCH Our Arizona excursion began with a stay at the Tanque Verde Ranch, which was as wild west as any ranch you'll find in the U.S. With a long, hundred- year history, the ranch is family-owned, surrounded by nature, and encourages unplugging with suites that do not come equipped with televisions. Tanque Verde is located about 45 minutes outside of Tucson and sits near the base of Mount Lemmon. Mount Lemmon and the neighboring Santa Catalina mountains are an integral part of Tucson's history and environment. The Apache natives lived, harvested, foraged, and used the mountains as shelter. The area was also where, in the 1770s, Apaches began fighting against Spanish occupation, continuing the battles well into the era of western expansion after the U.S. took control of the area today known as Arizona. The first ranch on Tanque Verde land dates back to 1856 when Mexican native, Don Emilio Carrillo moved his family to Tucson after the Gadsden Purchase which brought southern Arizona under the control of the United States. After being injured during a robbery in 1904, Emilio's son, Rafael took control of the ranch and later sold it in the 1920s to cattleman Jim Converse. Converse became a successful rancher in the valley and built the present-day Ramada in 1928 to welcome Eastern guests. Those same guests were willing to pay a fee for an authentic ranch-life experience that provided Jim with operational help as well as much-needed cash. After running into legal trouble for shooting a Mexican cowboy, Converse sold the ranch to a man named Brownie Cate. Brownie had given up law school for other successful business ventures that enabled him to purchase a number of neighboring ranches, eventually including Tanque Verde in 1957. Brownie's son, Bob, took over management in 1969 and began marketing the ranch as a country getaway. Bob and his wife Rita introduced a wide range of activities and hosted guests until retiring in 2009. Bob and Rita still live on the property and visit their ranch friends almost daily. Today the ranch owns 640 acres of land and leases an additional 60,000 acres of land from the U.S. Forest Service. With so much space, Tanque Verde offers a wide range of activities from horseback riding on trails that take in mountain and desert scenery to tennis on one of the ranch's four tennis courts. Other options are taking an archery class, going mountain biking, sunset horseback riding, ATV rentals, Jeep adventures, and so much more. The ranch is family-friendly and also a great place for those who love to spend every day, all day, outdoors. There are weekly schedules for both adult and kid's activities so that families can opt to explore together or apart. V U E N J .C O M 111

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