Tejon Ranch Company, Records of, 1912-1945

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Summary

Title:
Records of the Tejon Ranch Company
Dates:
1912-1945
Creators:
Tejon Ranchos, Inc. Tejon Ranch Company
Abstract:
The records of Tejon Ranch includes subject files, internal correspondence files, financial statements, tax files, lease files and photographs. The bulk of the records are from 1933 and later, although a few items date from the 1912 purchase of the ranch by Los Angeles investors. The subjects documented in the records include the governance of the ranch, including the records of the board of manager and board of directors, 1936 incorporation, and the issuance of bonds. The records also document daily operations of the ranch. Prominent subjects includes stock raising, farming, rights-of-way, historic Fort Tejon, hunting and flower viewing permits.
Extent:
51 document boxes; 21 linear feet, 4 inches; 1 oversize folder; 169 photographs
Language:
Preferred citation:

Records of the Tejon Ranch Company. Sherman Library and Gardens

Background

Scope and content:

The records of Tejon Ranch includes subject files, internal correspondence files, financial statements, tax files, lease files and photographs. The bulk of the records are from 1933 and later, although a few items date from the 1912 purchase of the ranch by Los Angeles investors. The subjects documented in the records include the governance of the ranch, including the records of the board of manager and board of directors, 1936 incorporation, and the issuance of bonds. The records also document daily operations of the ranch. Prominent subjects includes stock raising, farming, rights-of-way, historic Fort Tejon, hunting and flower viewing permits.

Biographical / historical:

Edward S. Beale, formed Tejon Ranch through the purchase of portions of four Mexican Land Grants – Rancho La Liebre, Rancho el Tejón, Rancho los Alamos y Agua Caliente, Rancho de Castac – the last being purchased in 1866. Encompassing more than 264,000 acres, Beale employed the land to raise sheep until 1880. At one point, more than 125,000 sheep roamed the hills and valleys of Tejon Ranch.

In 1880, Beale shifted from sheep to cattle. Raising cattle would remain the principle source of income for the ranch for more than three decades. In 1893, Edward Beale died, and his son Truxtun took over the Ranch.

In 1911, Harry Chandler, Moses H. Sherman, Otto F. Brant, William H. Allen, Stoddard Jess, J. M. Elliot, Hobart J. Whitley and Eli P. Clark struck an agreement with Truxtun Beale to purchase the Tejon Ranch for $3 million. The deal called for the group to pay $1.5 million in cash and for Beale to hold a mortgage for the remaining $1.5 million, which would be payable after one year. The group formed a syndicate, which sold 30 shares for $50,000 each. According to the participation agreement each investor had to pay "before March 1st, 1912, the sum of $25,000 in cash, and … at the time of such payment, his promisory [sic] note for $25,000 due February 15, 1913, bearing interest at 6% per annum…" Investors included William G. Kerchhoff of the San Joaquin Light and Power; R. C. Gillis of the Santa Monica Land and Water Co., F. X. Pfefinger, Treasurer of the Los Angeles Times, Harvey S. Firestone and J. Benton Van Nuys.

The investors hoped to make the ranch profitable by improving the cattle operations and moving from dry to irrigated farming. By 1916, however, the ranch faced a financial crisis. Neither the cattle nor farming operations proved as lucrative as expected. Coupled with the failure of many investors to pay their $25,000 promissory notes, the group faced foreclosure for failure to pay the mortgage. To save the venture, Chandler and Sherman agreed to buy out the mortgage. The Chandler's Times-Mirror Corp assumed half and Sherman assumed the other. Sherman sold all but $50,000 to First National Bank of Los Angeles (later Security-First National Bank), Title Insurance & Trust Company of Los Angeles and Pacific Mutual Life Insurance.

In 1936, after years of lackluster performance and default on debt, the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company and Security First National Bank of Los Angeles demanded the foreclosure of Tejon Ranch. These demands lead to a refining of the Ranch's debt, the incorporation of the business under the name Tejon Ranchos, Inc. and the issuance of bonds. In subsequent years, the Tejon Ranchos increasingly depended upon revenue from oil leasing.

Date Event
1843 Tejon Ranch is established through Mexican land grants.
1846 – Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, eventual owner of Tejon Ranch, arrives in California as a naval officer, and serves with Fremont during the Mexican War.
1852 Beale arrives as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, a post he held until 1854.
1854 Fort Tejon is established by the First Dragoons at the recommendation of Beale.
1855 Rancho La Liebre is deeded to Mary Edward Beale from William C. Walker, and is the first of four Mexican land grants that would eventually make up Tejon Ranch.
1864 Fort Tejon is abandoned on Sept. 11
1865 Beale purchases Rancho el Tejon and Rancho los Alamos y Agua Caliente, two of the four Mexican land grants that make up Tejon Ranch.
1866 Beale buys Rancho de Castac, the last of the four original Mexican land grants that make up Tejon Ranch.
1868 The Cross and Crescent is recorded in Kern County as a brand.
1879 At the direction of Beale, Jose Jesus Lopez, Tejon Ranch sheep foreman and cattle boss for 50 years, makes legendary drive to Green River, Wyoming, starting with 17,000 sheep.
1880 Beale returns to California and turns to raising cattle.
1893 Beale dies at the age of 72. Management of the Ranch passes on to his son, Truxtun Beale.
1912 A group of businessmen, led by Harry Chandler and M.H. Sherman, buys Tejon Ranch from Truxtun Beale.
1936 Tejon Ranch Company is incorporated.
1936 A new three-lane road replaces the original Grapevine Grade on the Ridge Route.
1939 Tejon Ranch donates land to the State of California to establish the Fort Tejon State Historical Park.
Acquisition information:
Arrangement:
  1. Subject Files, 1912-1943 (Boxes 1-31)
  2. Internal Correspondence, 1933-1945 (Boxes 32-33)
  3. Financial Statements, 1931-1941 (Boxes 34-37)
  4. Tax Files, 1933-1942 (Boxes 38-39)
  5. Lease Files – General, 1923-1942 (Box 40)
  6. Lease Files – Agricultural, 1931-1942 (Box 41)
  7. Lease Files – Mining, 1927-1941 (Boxes 42-43)
  8. Lease Files – Oil Drilling, 1932-1943 (Boxes 44-49)
  9. Lease Files – Leased to Tejon, 1929-1941 (Box 50)
  10. Photographs, n.d. (Box 51)

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by Sherman Library and Gardens staff using RecordEXPRESS
Date Prepared:
2019

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research

Terms of access:

Preferred citation:

Records of the Tejon Ranch Company. Sherman Library and Gardens

Location of this collection:
614 Dahlia Ave.
Corona del Mar, CA 92625, US
Contact:
(949) 673-1880
library@slgardens.org
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