February 23rd in Elvis History

It's February twenty-third, and on this day in 1967… Elvis Presley became the legal owner of a 163-acre ranch in Mississippi, just south of Memphis, near the town of Walls. He named it the *Flying Circle G Ranch*. More than just a getaway, Elvis turned the property into a personal refuge and cowboy-style retreat, complete with horses, saddles, and a growing entourage of friends and family who moved onto the ranch with him. Among them were Billy and Jo Smith, Alan and Dee Fortas, and even Elvis’s Aunt Nashval and her husband Earl. A local hostler named Mike McGregor tended the horses and, in time, crafted custom leather goods for Elvis—including his signature belts. The Circle G marked one of the few times Elvis tried to build a life away from the spotlight, with dreams of simplicity, freedom, and open land.