Shepherd Ranch

Shepherd Ranch

Courtesy County of Inyo, Eastern California Museum

Quick Facts

Location:

northern part of Manzanar tour road

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

“It was in 1863 that my parents set out on a great adventure. They packed their goods in a wagon, hitched up their teams, and made the long, rough trip to Owens Valley. The drama of our frontier community began to unfold. . . ”
Eva Lee Shepherd

In 1864, cattleman John Shepherd homesteaded 160 acres of fertile land and brought his young family to a small adobe cabin he built nearby. As one of the first Euroamerican settlers in the area, Shepherd employed dozens of Paiute men and women, whose labor helped him prosper. He supplied mining camps with beef, hay, and grain, hauled ore to Southern California, and operated a toll road to eastside mines. By 1900, the Shepherd Ranch encompassed 1,700 acres. Much of it would become Manzanar War Relocation Center.

In 1873, Shepherd built an elegant nine-room home. With water piped to its kitchen and an ornate fountain in the front yard, it was called “the showplace of the Owens Valley.” You would have seen the home’s tall white gables from far down the dusty Inyo County Wagon Road. Shaded by walnut, apple, and poplar trees, it became a popular stopping place and the center of a lively Owens Valley social life.

John Shepherd retired and sold the ranch to water developer George Chaffey in 1905. The house was headquarters for Chaffey’s Owens Valley Improvement Company and home to its farm superintendents. In 1924, the City of Los Angeles purchased the property, and with the orchard community’s decline after 1930, the buildings were moved, burned, or torn down.