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Later on they send me to Hollywood. To make movies. It was all new to me. I was only 21 years old.
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Elvis acquired his John Deere 4010 tractor with the purchase of a Mississippi ranch in 1966. Having grown up around farming in Tupelo, Elvis knew he needed the best equipment possible to care for the land he had just purchased.
Elvis first saw Twinkletown Farm on Wednesday, February 8, 1967, while on a horse-buying adventure in Mississippi. He’d been buying horses and enlarging the riding area at Graceland since buying a horse for Priscilla the December before. He was already outgrowing the horse barn and pasture at Graceland. The cattle farm in Walls, MS was just ten miles from Graceland. It was 160 acres and was for sale. It was the 65 foot high lighted white cross on the property that drew his eye and he knew it was the place for him immediately.
He put $5,000 down toward the $437,000 price and renamed it the Circle G (for Graceland) ranch.
He then bought horses, mobile homes and light weight pickups such as the Chevy El Camino, for everybody and their wives or girlfriends. It became a communal cowboy life for a while and Elvis spent a great deal of money outfitting everybody. This phase lasted until August of 1967 and then by September of 1967 Elvis had it up for sale.
Elvis' John Deere Tractor restored
announced that a John Deere tractor often used by Elvis on his ranch and at Graceland has been fully restored and will be placed on public display, beginning May 8th, 2009, at the Elvis Presley Auto Museum – located at the national historic landmark Elvis Presley’s Graceland.
The restoration has been a cooperative effort between Elvis Presley Enterprises and John Deere – an initiative that also includes future sales of die-cast replicas of Elvis’ tractor. Students at Northwest Mississippi Community College restored the tractor with guidance from John Deere.
Elvis acquired his John Deere 4010 tractor with the purchase of a Mississippi ranch in 1966. Having grown up around farming in Tupelo, Elvis knew he needed the best equipment possible to care for the land he had just purchased. Family members and close friends of Elvis tell stories about the enjoyment the famous entertainer had while working with his tractor.
After Elvis sold the ranch, the tractor moved to Graceland and was used to maintain the beautiful landscaping on the property for decades. Graceland visitors from around the world had come to know and look for Elvis’ old tractor when visiting the historical landmark. Graceland replaced the John Deere with a new model recently and decided to prepare the old tractor, which had served for nearly 50 years, for display in the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum.
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So Elvis cast himself in the role of ranch foreman. He no longer looked like a famous singer and movie star. Wearing a cowboy hat and sheepskin jacket and sitting tall in the saddle, he was a dead ringer for the Marlboro man. Every morning he saddled Rising Sun and rode out to issue instructions to the contractor on how to do things and where everything should go. Only one trailer was placed near the main house, the one designated for Alan Fortas —- who was supposed to be in charge of the ranch—-and his wife. Finally, everything was ready. We moved into our trailers, Elvis had all the horses shipped over, and we settled into ranch living. Of course, Elvis was so tickled by the notion of living in a trailer on his honeymoon that he asked Alan to move into the main house. Lisa Marie was conceived in that trailer. When he tired of living in the trailer and moved back into the house, he and Priscilla saddled their horses every morning and rode out back to join us for a cup of coffee. On weekends, we threw giant barbecues. The wives prepared all the food, except for the meat, which I cooked on an open grill. We had great times. For a year and a half after the marriage, between making movies we headed straight for the Circle G. Elvis felt very comfortable in his own little ranch world and usually hated being torn from it.
Joe Esposito
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February 8,1967
Elvis buys a 163-acre ranch in Mississippi, minutes across the Tennessee state line from Graceland for $437,000. He and his entourage and their wives had become interested in horseback riding after Elvis purchased a horse for Priscilla as a gift. The hobby had outgrown the pasture at Graceland. Over the months to come, Elvis and the gang will enjoy spending a lot of time at the Circle G. It becomes a happy diversion for Elvis as his frustration and unhappiness over the state of his career reaches its height.
RCA releases Elvis’ second gospel album, How Great Thou Art, which was recorded in mid-1966. It gets very good reviews and goes on to earn Elvis the Grammy Award for Best Sacred Performance from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. This is the first of his three Grammy wins.
Upon seeing this cross in 1966, Elvis bought the entire 110 acre ranch. He named it Circle G, after Graceland. He and his extended family and friends rode horses on the property. He wanted many of them to stay at the ranch so he bought for them dozens of mobile homes, and trucks. Priscilla and Elvis pent part of their honeymoon at the cottage in 1967. By the time they separated five years later, Elvis had lost interest and he sold the ranch. Today the ranch appears abandoned. Ownership is unclear.
PETA Asks To Lease Circle G Ranch
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wrote a letter Wednesday proposing to lease Elvis Presley's old Circle G Ranch in Horn Lake for use as a "Don't Be Cruel Educational Center" for children.
"This would be a good way to let kids know the truth about how cows are suffering before they're turned into burgers or blue suede shoes," said PETA spokesman Ashley Byrne of Washington. The Circle G Ranch went up for sale a month ago with an asking price of $6.5 million, said real estate agent Rodger Motz, representing property owner Dennis McLemore. Motz said the current owner had looked into several uses for the land, including as a resort property or a residential development. Motz said it now is zoned for planned unit development, although McLemore keeps cattle on the land. He said he isn't sure how many cattle McLemore has. "I didn't count them, but there are a bunch of Black Angus." Motz said he has had inquiries from potential buyers across the United States and Europe, but is not close to agreeing to terms with anyone. And he said McLemore is "not interested in leasing it to those people," referring to PETA.
Updated: Oct 22, 2009
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Road To Circle G Ranch
Horn Lake, Mississippi
 
From 1966 to 1971, Elvis owned this ranch in Horn Lake ten miles from Graceland. The white cross is only visible in the winter when the leaves are down. It is the same cross that attracted Elvis to this place over 40 years ago. He offered the property owner enough money immediately that the man sold it. At the time, only 15,ooo people lived in this county just across the state line from Memphis. The ranch was truely a rural escape from the city. Elvis and Priscilla stayed in the brick house at the corner of Goodman Road and Highway 301. It is sometimes called the "honeymoon cottage," for they stayed there days after their May 1967 wedding. Elvis, and his friends enjoyed riding horses on the 110 acres. Well, at least some of them did. Others prefered the bright lights of the city. When Elvis insisted on buying trailers for the Memphis Mafia, not all of them were thrilled.
Today, not much of the property remains to remind us of his time here. The honeymoon cottage and other buildings on the ranch are in disrepair. At times dubious proposals have been made to develope the ranch property and capitalize on Elvis' name. The latest was either 2004 or 2005. The ranch had been owned by one man for a generation after Elvis sold it. When he died, there was a disputed will. Until that legal question is resolved, the ranch will remain in limbo. One thing is for certain, the property will be developed. This county now has 150,000 people and is the fastest growing county in Mississippi. Very soon all the land around the ranch will be developed. Hopefully the town or county managers will save some of the ranch and create a park out of it. They will receive thousands of visitors if they create a park out of Elvis' former ranch. Visit my webshots page to see more images of the ranch today;
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Circle G Ranch letter
This is a letter to Tom Diskin that was sent by Elvis from the Circle G Ranch.
It is handwritten by EP himself....
Thanks to Jürgen Keilwerth for sharing his collection
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This 1967 Dodge Pick-up truck used to belong to Elvis Presley. When Elvis got into horseback riding he bought himself and his family and friends all horses. When Graceland was starting to get a little small for all the horses he bought the Circle G Ranch near Walls, Mississippi. At the ranch he had this truck to drive him around his enormous property. After the wedding Elvis took Pricilla to the ranch to spend their honeymoon. A new Marriage, a new ranch and their new Dodge Truck.
 
 
 
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| 7/01/2012 18:12:59 |
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'The Circle G Foundation' Launch:
Lesley Pilling announces the launch of The Circle G Foundation - and new website.
Our vision for the Circle G Ranch is to see it open as an attraction for Elvis fans and non-fans alike and also provide leisure facilities for the local community in Horn Lake Mississippi. Our objective is to sympathetically and tastefully restore the site to how it was when Elvis knew and loved it; enabling visitors to enjoy the tranquility of the site, just as Elvis did, by providing walking trails, horse riding (hopefully creating a safe haven for rescue horses) and other outdoor activities (all with easy access for the disabled). We envisage the inclusion of a small museum and shop, along with a longer-term plan to provide a small amount of accommodation.
Considerable numbers of Elvis fans already visit the site in its run down condition and are thrilled just to catch a glimpse of the ranch house, lake, bridge and cross - when the ranch is restored we can guarantee increased visitor numbers. The Mississippi Tourist
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Organization already recognise the site in their literature and web-site and see its potential if developed in the right way.
At a recent meeting held in Memphis we discussed the possibility of fans being able to buy a 'share' in the ranch; this idea has been met with enthusiasm and is something we are looking to pursue.
We are doing our utmost to find an individual or group of people who share our dream and have the funding to buy the ranch and with the help and support of fans from all over the work will rescue, renovate and restore the ranch to how Elvis knew and loved it.
GO HERE for more info and on-going Circle G News.
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