Gallatin Ranch

"Field Day set for March 29" by Jean Barton, © Red Bluff Daily News , March 23, 2008. (News Article)

"The public is invited to the 43rd annual Tehama County Cattlemen's Spring Field Day on Saturday, March 29. It will be held at Tom and Terry Bengard's historic Gallatin Ranch ... A hundred years ago the Gallatin Ranch was many thousands of acres of rolling land west of Red Bluff, and wheat was raised on the hills.

In 1860 Albert Gallatin (1835-1905), a native of New York came to California and became associated with the 'Big Four' – Hopkins, Huntington, Crocker and Stanford – better known as the Central Pacific Railroad. When the railroad was under construction, Gallatin owned a hardware store in Sacramento and received a lucrative contract to be a major supplier for that project. Gallatin was influenced by Stanford and branched out into the sheep business. On Aug. 1, 1886, Gallatin made his first purchase of land on the south shore of Eagle Lake, when he bought 160 acres from George Nelson for $400. In the next two years, Gallatin purchased 4,962 acres around the lake for a total cost of $9,070. When Gallatin died he was deep in debt.

It appeared that this and other properties would be lost to his creditors.

Gallatin's second wife, Malvena (1867-1956) reversed the financial situation, paid off all of her deceased husband's debts and continued to purchase additional isolated tracts of land at Eagle Lake. By 1924, Malvena owned more than 40 miles of lakeshore property on the east side from Eagles Nest to Bucks Bay.
[From Lassen County Almanac by Tim Purdy.]

The public still enjoys Gallatin Beach at Eagle Lake, and her summer home is now the Ronald McDonald camp. The [California] Governor's Mansion in Sacramento was once owned by the Gallatins." [More]

[Courtesy Google Alerts.]