at the 71 Ranch you will be able to achieve the true working cowboy experience.  Whether it is helping us gather calves for branding, sorting yearlings, checking or moving cattle from pasture to pasture, you will be able to participate in all the ranch work that goes along with a cattle operation.  Ride the trails with us daily, spending hours in the saddle and enjoying life on horseback as it was meant to be.  Our cowboys are some of the best in Nevada so you will learn from the best!

Great Horses!  Great Cowboys! Great times!

Located in Elko County Nevada at the base of the Ruby Mountains at an elevation of 5400 ft., the 38,000 acre 71 Ranch has been a working cattle ranch since the 1870's and is a shining example of how the Spirit of the American West continues to thrive and flourish in the modern west.  During the summer months we run between 2000 and 3000 head on the ranch.

Started in 1879 by Joseph Scott and Caleb Hank, the 71 Ranch quickly gained prominence in the cattle business.  Joseph Scott initially ran cattle in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.  The Nevada ranch was christened the 71 after Scott’s first cattle operation and brand that he used in Idaho.  By the early 1900's, the 71 was one of the largest livestock operations in Nevada.

Soon after the two men established the Nevada 71 Ranch, Scott began importing high quality purebred Herefords from England and quickly established a reputation for some of the best bred cattle in the west. The 71 Ranch Herefords were responsible for improving many of Nevada’s herds. The 71 Ranch was also well known for importing Shire horses from England, which also became a major foundation breeding source for many Nevada horses. Through good times and bad. . .rustlers, range wars, droughts, floods and blizzards, the 71 has continued to run cattle year after year.  We still work our ranch today as was done a 100 years ago . . .on horseback.   Ellison Ranching Company, one of Nevada’s largest and continuously run cattle ranching operations for over 80 years, has owned the 71 Ranch since 1995, and continues to operate the Ranch in the same traditional western manner as it has been since the 1800's.  the Ellison family has owned our sister cattle ranch, the Spanish Ranch, located north of Elko, for over 75 years.        Ride with us as we move our cattle, from OUR LUSH MEADOWS to the high mountain pastures in the Ruby Mountains.  experience the life of the working cowboy at the historic 71 ranch.