New Book Traces Story Of Historic Temecula, Murrieta Landowner: Report

TEMECULA, CA — The life of a man who once owned tens of thousands of acres across modern-day Temecula and Murrieta was chronicled in a new book.

Though Walter Vail never lived in what we now call Riverside County, in the 1880s, he bought 87,500 acres of it, The Press-Enterprise reported. Today that land would stretch from Highway 79 South north to Clinton Keith Road, and about Camp Pendleton in the west and Vail Lake to the east.

The book, authored by local historians Rebecca Farnbach and Jim Sappington. Farnbach has co-authored seven books about Riverside County history. She is Vail's sixth cousin, three times removed, the newspaper reported.

The new book, “Walter Vail: Arizona and California Rancher," was published last month by the Temecula Valley Historical Society and Empire Ranch Foundation.

The journey to California began when Vail, in the 1870s, left his New Jersey home with just $100. Eventually, his Vail empire would span 1 million acres across Arizona, the Santa Rosa Island, and Los Angeles, Imperial, San Diego and Riverside counties.

Read more from The Press-Enterprise here: New book covers the story of Temecula-Murrieta land owner Walter Vail