By Dr. Scott White
General Edward Fitzgerald Beale founded Tejon Ranch in 1866. The Kitanemuk, Kawaiisu, Chumash, Yokuts, and Tataviam tribes all lived in this area before the Europeans arrived. Captain Pedro Fages was the first Spanish explorer to travel across what would become Tejon Pass in 1772. It was 36 years before the next Spanish expedition passed through. Led by Spanish Lieutenant Francisco Ruiz, the company of men crossed the San Joaquin Valley at the Tehachapi Mountains. Ruiz named the area “El Tejon” (the badger). Four land grants had been created by the Mexican government on land that included the future Tejon Ranch. Rancho Los Alamos y Agua Caliente was 26,626 acres. Rancho El Tejon was 97,617 acres and a third grant created Rancho Castaic which was 22,178 acres in 1843. The fourth land grant was created in 1846. It was named Rancho La Liebre and it covered 48,800 acres. The land became American property in 1848 after the Mexican-American War.
Beale came to the region in 1853 to set up the Sebastian Indian Reservation. Some 500–800 Native Americans were moved there during the California Gold Rush. The U.S. Army built the headquarters for Company A of the 1st U.S. Dragoons and tried to create a camel corps there in the late 1850s. The fort was abandoned in 1864 and the land became available to General Beale.
Headquarters: shops and bunk house. The building on the right is the blacksmith and wheelwright shops. The building to the left is the sleeping quarters for the employees, while in the distance in the store and residence.
Beale returned to the area in 1855 and, with his wife Mary Edwards Beale, purchased the original four land grants, naming the new ranch Tejon Ranch. He raised sheep and cattle on the 270,000 acres.
Truxtun Beale, General Beale’s son, took over the ranch in 1893. He sold the ranch in 1912 to Harry Chandler and his partner investors. Chandler was the publisher of the Los Angeles Times. The investment was divided into shares in 1936 with the newspaper owning about a third of the shares. The newspaper sold its shares in 1997. The ranch is owned by the Tejon Ranch Company and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999. It is described as a diversified real estate development and agribusiness company, whose principal asset is its 270,000-acre land holding located approximately 60 miles north of Los Angeles and 30 miles south of Bakersfield.
Sign at the Tejon Ranch headquarters near Lebec, California.
The ranch is the largest privately owned ranch in California. The acreage covers southern San Joaquin Valley, some of the Tehachapi Mountains, and Antelope Valley. The ranch has diversified the use of the land into a vineyard, pistachio and almond groves, and other seasonal farming. Up to 12,000 cattle still graze the pastures. In 2008, the ranch put 240,000 acres in a permanent conservation pact with the state to preserve the land and the natural resources.
The ranch raised and bred Hereford cattle and uses the “Cross and Crescent” brand. The ranch has one of the largest commercial cow herds in California although recent droughts have reduced the number of cattle on the ranch.
Sources:
Great Ranches of the United States
Tejon Ranch website
Tejon Ranch Wikipedia
