India, Oct. 30 -- We all probably know someone whose weekend hobby quietly turned into an expensive obsession. For Elvis Presley, that hobby was horseback riding. According to Graceland's official timeline, he bought a 163-acre ranch in Mississippi for $437,000 in February 1967. The land was only minutes from Graceland, just across the state line. His entourage, their wives, and Elvis himself had all taken up riding, and the hobby had outgrown the pasture at his Memphis home. Soon the ranch was known as Circle G.

The trail began in late 1966. Elvis got serious about horses by December 5 and bought riding clothes and gear, according to the timeline. He got Priscilla a horse on December 20 for a Christmas present. The National Register of ...