Table Of Content·,
I
f)-5'+
~
I
RANCHING ON THE
I
POINT REYES PENINSULA
I
A 1-fistory of the Dl!liry and Beef R,anches
Within Point Reyes National Seashore, 1834-1992
I
I
I
I
'
I
I
I
I
I
by t>. S. (Dewey) Livingston
I
tltnoRtA.N. I'OIHT' •rra HAnoH.tJ. sW HOtn:
'
HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY
I
NATIONAl PARK SEAVICE
L
~.:L".U rourm R POINT .REVES ~AT10NAL SEASI~OR£
cnm.:t
JEtlll~CJJ..&::S.:' .i'~·1
tJ •) rr~ to:tNE!l m-r.cr ~:7.il
;z .z_ ZL.bc
IMTIOIW PAM Sl:ll'IIC£
I
I
RANCHING ON THE
I
POINT REYES PENINSULA
I
A History of the Dairy and Beef Ranches
I
Within Point Reyes National Seashore, 1834-1992
I
I
I
I
I
by D. S. (Dewey) Livingston
I
HISTORIAN. POINT REYES NAnONAL SEASHOR£
I
I
I
HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY
POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
I
POINT REYES STATION. CALIFORNIA
JULY 1993
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Produced at Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes Station, California, 94956
Design, maps, illustrations and production by Dewey Livingston
Copy photos by The Darkroom, San Rafael, and The Photo Lab, San Francisco
Halftones by Fast Stats, San Rafael
-I
Printed by GSA Printing, San Francisco
. -
I
TABLE OF CON'I'ENTS
I
Administrative Section .. . . . . . . . . " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Statement of Cont ext . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ·. ix
.I
I. History of Ownership and Ranching at Point Reyes .................. 1
A. Land Grants · · · · .· . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ............. 1
I
1. Punta de los Reyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. Punta de los Reyes Sobrante ......................... 4
3. A Fiesta at Garcia's Ranchero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
••
B. Andrew Randall on Point Reyes ............... ....... . ... .. 7
C. Title Litigation · . · .................................. 9
D. Pioneer Dairies at Point Reyes .................. . ...... 11
I .
1. California Dairy Development to 1857 .................. 11
2. The First Point Reyes Dairies: Steele Brothers .......... 12
3. Josiah Swain, Laird Brothers, Carlisle Abbott, and Others . . 20
I
E. Shafter and Company · · . · · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
F. The Partition of 1869-1870 ............................ .. . 33
G. Shafter Dairy Development .............................. 35
I
1. Growth of the "Butter Rancho" ....................... 35
2. Sites and Construction · · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3. Typical Dairy Layout · · . · .......................... 39
4. Tenant System and Ranch Superintendents ............. 42
5. Early Transportation on Point Reyes ..... . ..... . ...... 46
a. Overland Travel · · · · . · · · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 7
I
b. Schooners · · · · · · . . · · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
c. Railroads . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
a • • • • • • - • • • • • • • • • • • •
6. Historic Operation of the Dairy Ranches ............... 53
I
a. Grazing and Livestock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
b. Milking and Separating ....................... 55
I c. Buttermaking · · · · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
d. Cheesemaking . . · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
e. Marketing . · · · · . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
••
7. Government Dairy Regulation ....................... 65
H. Sale of the Shafter and Howard Ranches, 1919-39 ........... . . 68
1. C. W. Howard Lands, 1919 .......................... 69
I 2. J. M. Shafter Lands, 1929 .......................... 70
3. 0. L. Shafter Lands, 1939 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
I. Point Reyes Becomes Public Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
I 1. County and State Acquisition, 1935-62 ................ 72
2. National Park Service Acquisition, 1963-88 ............. 74
I •
I
.,
II. Ranches of Charles Webb Howard ............................. 77
I
A. Description and General History .......................... 79
B. A Ranch (George Nunes Dairy) ................. ~ ....... · · 83
{NOTE: Each section about an individual ranch contains the following subsections, 1
which, for the sake of space, are not repeated in the table of contents: I
1. Description
2. History
3. Buildings and Historic Resources J·
4. Significance
5. Historic Features
6. Historic Photographs} I
C. BRanch (Joseph H. Mendoza and Son Dairy) ................. 99
D. C Ranch (Spaletta Dairy) . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
E. D Ranch (Vivian Horick Dairy) ........................... 139
:::: :: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : J
~. ~ ~g:~~:ru::c~~) ~~). ~~~
I
H. G Ranch (Lunny Ranch) ............................... 187
I. U Ranch (site at Coast Camp) ........................... 205
..
J. W Ranch (Bear Valley Ranch, Park Headquarters) . . . . . . · . . . . .. 213
K. Y Ranch (site at Kelham Beach) .......................... 231
1
L. Z Ranch (site at Sky Camp) ............................. 237
III. Ranches of Oscar L. Shafter 24 3
.. • .. .. • • I • a I a a • a .. ' W 9 W 9 I • a • • • * a •
A. Description and General History ......................... 245
B. H Ranch (Grossi/Evans Ranch) .......................... 249
C. I Ranch (Ron and Bob McClure Dairy) .....................2 65
I
D. J Ranch (Kenneth Kehoe and Sons Dairy) .................. 281
E. K Ranch (site) and Lairds Landing ....................... 293
F. L Ranch (G. W. Lobaugh and J. H. Mendoza Dairy) ........... 303 I
G. M Ranch (Domingo Grossi Ranch) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
H. Rogers Ranch (Part of M Ranch) ......................... 325
I. N Ranch (site of Heims Ranch) ...........................3 31 t
J. Lalte Ranch (site) ................................... 341
K. South End Ranch (site at Palomarin Trailhead) .............. 349
·I
IV. Ranches of James McMillan Shafter .......................... 355
A. Description and General History ......................... 357
I
B. Home Ranch (Murphy Ranch) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
C. Other James McMillan Shafter Ranches .................... 397
1. Drakes Head Ranch (site) .......................... 398
2. New Albion Ranch (site) ........................... 405 I
3. Glenbrook Ranch (site) ............................ 410
4. Muddy Hollow Ranch (site) ......................... 415
5. Laguna Ranch (American Youth Hostel) ............... 419
..
u I
I
I
6. Sunnyside Ranch (site) ............................ 425
7. Vision Ranch (site) ............................... 427
I 8. Oporto Ranch (site) .............................. 431
9. Glen Ranch (site). ................................ 433
10. Wildcat IWnch (site) .............................. 437
I
V. Independent Point Reyes Ranches ............................ 441
A. Pierce Ranch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
-I
B. Hagmaier Ranch (including Biesler .................. 491
Ranch~
C. Teixeira Ranch (Strain Ranch) ........................... 503
D. Commonweal Ranch (Nott and Ingermann Ranches) ........... 515
I
VI. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
A. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
~
I
B. Statement of Historic Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
C. Recommendations .................................... 530
1. Charles Webb Howard Ranches (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, U, W,
I
Y, Z) . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
2. Oscar L. Shafter Ranches (H, I, J, K, L, M, N, Rogers,
Lake, and South End) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .530
I
3. James McMillan Shafter Ranches (Home Ranch, Laguna Rancht
and 7 former ranch sites) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
4. Other Point Reyes Ranches (Pierce, Hagmaier, Teixeira,
Commonweal) .................................. 532
5. The Cultural Landscape of Point Reyes National Seashore . 532
I
VII. Bibliography
535
.. ' t It <1 • 41 • • t • e • • • • <1 • • 1 e • t • • t f • • • • • • lo I e •
I
I
•••
I
I
...
I
l1l
I
'
I
I
I
I
FAlRFIELD
·I
·I
I
I
Pacific
I
Ocean
I
I
,,
I
LOCATION MAP
I
POINT REYES NATIONAl SEASHORE. CAl.IFORHlA
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
•
lV
I
I
I·
ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION
I
Point Reyes National Seashore, authorized by Congress in 1961-1962 and
signed into legislation by President John F. Kennedy on September 13, 1962,
I
covers approximately 70,000 acres of the Point Reyes Peninsula and adjacent
waters in western Marin County, a 40-mile drive north from San Francisco,
I California. At the time of park authorization, approximately 27 working ranches
existed on the peninsula; at the turn of the century there were about 40 dairy
z.
ranches, most of which were named with the letters A to Today there are seven
I
dairy ranches and five beef or replacement cow ranches remaining in operation on
the Point, with three additional grazing permits on former ranch sites and one
I
non-historic cattle/sheep ranch. These former privately-owned ranches that are
the primary subjects of this study were purchased between 1963 and 1976 by the
National Park Service, an agency of the United States Department of the Interior,
J.
and are now operated under various terms known as Reservations of Use and
Occupancy, Leases, and Special Use Permits with the National Park Service. The
I
ranches comprise approximately -21,000 acres of Point Reyes National Seashore,
almost all in the North District of the park.
A previous Historic Resource Study, "A Civil History of Golden Gate
National Recreation Area and Point Reyes National Seashore, CaHfornia," prepared
in 1980 by Anne Coxe Toogood, touched on the ranching history and provided
I
fairly detailed histories of two ranches. That study, however, focused on the two
parks in general and did not provide enough coverage of the ranching history and
I
resources to adequately assist day-to-day management, planning and interpretation
of the Point Reyes ranches. The purpose of this report is to fill those gaps with a
I
detailed, ranch-by-ranch history and evaluation. Research methods included site
inventories, interviews of current and former ranch occupants both on-site and off·
site, and extensive archival research. While investigations into some of the
I
individual ranches yielded great detail, others were more elusive; for instance,
there exists much archival and anecdotal information on the Home Ranch, while
I
the M Ranch history is comparatively lacking in detail. Hopefully, information will
surface to supplement the data in this document.
I
This Historic Resource Study focuses on the A to Z ranches, of which 15
remain in some operable form, and four ranches that were not part of the A to Z
tenant system but are today within park boundaries. Six ranches included in the
I
v
-
I
I
following study are no longer active in agriculture, but retain historic resources
and varying levels of integrity: Laguna Ranch, of which only the house and a shed
I
remains, is operated as a concession by American Youth Hostels; W (Bear Valley)
..
Ranch is now the administrative headquarters for Point Reyes National Seashore;
Pierce Ranch, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has been restored I
for interpretation of the area's ranching past, with the dwelling in use as park
housing; Hagmaier Ranch is used for park housing and storage; Teixeira Ranch is
I
leased by the former owners for residential purposes, with one unit in use as park
housing; and the major elements of the Commonweal (Nott) Ranch are used by
,I
that organization for housing. Nineteen cleared sites of the former historic
ranches in the park are dealt with in this study briefly.
This Historic Resource Study has been funded and produced within the I
park, funding primarily coming from Special Use Permit fees during FY 1989-90
\.•
and Columbus Quincentennial funds during FY 1991-92. It was completed while
·I
the author was working as an LCS Historian at Golden Gate National Recreation
Area.
I
Research has revealed that the entire area within the boundaries of Point
Reyes National Seashore has had significant historic ranching activity, and
therefore may be eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a
regionally significant historic district and/or cultural landscape. Further study and
inventory of the cultural landscape of Point Reyes is recommended.
I
This Historic Resource Study will fulful the requirements of the National
Park Service Management Policies and NPS-28, Cultural Resources Management
I
Guidelines, concerning proposals to affect cultural resources. It accomplishes the
inventory, identification, and evaluation of historical resources within the park's
ranching zones to comply with Executive Order 11593, "Protection and I
Enhancement of the Cultural Environment... The study will also assist the
National Park Service in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic
I
Preservation Act of 1966 and in the associated consultation process with the State
Historic Preservation Officer. It is intended as a complete narrative history of .
.a
ranching on Point Reyes, providing basic reference material for planners, resource
managers, and interpreters to facilitate the proper care, interpretation and
management of these cultural properties within Point Reyes National Seashore. I
Research notes, materials, and photographs have been deposited in the rues
and archives at Point Reyes National Seashore.
•
Vl I
.-
1
I
ACKNO~DGEMENTS
I
Despite its status as a National Park, much of the Point Reyes Peninsula
retains its historic rural ranching character. Dairy and beef ranches, many with
I
pioneer structures evident, continue to operate in the North District of the park
under the operation of families who have been here for generations. The proposal
of a Point Reyes National Seashore in 1958-1962 created a great deal of
I
controversy, felt most deeply on these ranches; at odds were the federal
government, local naturalists and national public land proponents versus local
I
landowners, tax groups, and ranchers. The latter had been enjoying the freedom
of ownership after having witnessed their fathers struggle to throw off the bonds
I
of tenancy. It was not an easy time for the families concerned. Now, thirty years
later, the participants in the park debate have made peace and coexist remarkably
well.
I
Since creation of the park, more than half of the ranching families remain,
and to them I give my heartfelt thanks. Rarely does one find such old-fashioned
I
hospitality and sincere interest in the subject. Of these families, who opened their
homes, memories and photo albums to me, almost all were Point Reyes "oldtimersu;
the newcomers in the bunch arrived over forty years ago. To these ranchers and
their families I dedicate this book: George and Betty Nunes, Joe and Scotty
Mendoza, Ernie and Nicola Spaletta, Vivian Horick, the Gallagher brothers, Joe
I
and Joan Lunny, Alfred and Florence Grossi, Domingo and Mrs. Grossi, Ron and
Bob McClure, Skip and Jeanne Kehoe, G. W. and Wyleen Lobaugh, Lee, Ann a:I;l.d
I
Scott Murphy, and the Teixeira family.
In addition, people with Point Reyes dairy roots have been found all over
I California and the United States; they generously and enthusiastically shared their
knowledge with this stranger, usually with only a phone call as an introduction. I
thank them all, for the report would be only a skeleton without their participation.
I
Also, a number of people loaned photographs to the project, including John
Cushing, Mrs. Thomas Drew, June Gibbon, D. M. Gunn, Roy Farrington Jones,
I
and M. Woodbridge Williams.
Libraries and archives, local and regional, played a large part in research for
I
this report. The archivists and librarians in the many institutions that I visited in
quest of Point Reyes facts are too many to mention, but I thank them all. Dave
Mitchell of the Point Reyes Light provided facilities for last-minute graphics. The
I ••
Vll
I
