back to home page   ELWOOD HISTORICAL CATTLE RANCH

WONDER VALLEY, CA

 

HISTORY OF THE ELWOOD RANCH

Sometime around 1880, Judson Elwood homesteaded 6,000 acres which was known as the Elwood Ranch. When Judson Elwood arrived in Fresno County he had two sons, Burton and Kenneth. Burton (Burt) Elwood was the existing owners great grandfather and Kenneth was their great uncle.

The original homestead house was located across Mill Creek close to Dalton Mt. A fire destroyed the old homestead and the house was built where it still stands today.

Through the years, parts of the ranch were sold off to Johnson's where the rock house is, Pearson Dude Ranch which is now Wonder Valley Resort and other ranchers. The heirs of the Elwood family have sold off all of the ranch and today there is only this 1440+- acres left in the family. The Elwood Ranch is located in Tretton Canyon and goes to the top of Dalton Mt. And about a third up Bear Mt. There is a run off and spring fed creek that starts at the top of the canyon and runs all the way through the property to Mill Creek. The creek has never seen completely dry as springs are along the creek. There has been gold dust panned out of the creek but no great amount and no one is sure where it comes from. The ranch is covered with white oak, live oak and vast amounts of buck brush. There is also some manzanita on the Bear Mt. Side.

When Judson homesteaded the land, Indians were still living there. Judson told the Indians they could live there as long as they wanted and they stayed there until Judson was a middle aged man.

Judson Elwood was a prospector. After his wife died, he would go prospecting and leave the two boys there alone. The boys would go squirrel hunting and take the squirrels to the Indians who lived behind the house by the big rock. The Indians would throw the squirrels in the fire guts, hair and all to cook them. The two boys would scrounge around and find something fitting to eat. The boys were so small at this time one would bend over and the other would lay the rifle across his back so they could aim and shoot as the rifle was so heavy. This relationship between Burton and Indians grew into a lasting one. Burton became a member of the tribe.

The Indians had Burton sit in on all council meetings. At one meeting, the Indians decided they did not like the Indian Agent and were going to kill him. Burton talked them out of that task by telling them the army would come in and kill or jail all of them.

When an Indian died, it was customary to bury all his possessions with him so he could go to the happy hunting ground in style. This included the dog. As the story goes, one of the Indians dogs had been taking all this in all of his years and when his master died, the dog ran like hell. According to my grandmother, there was all hell to pay because they could not find the dog to kill and bury with his master. I presume there are Indians buried on the ranch someplace and one without his dog.

The Indians had a medicine man for the tribe. This was a nice profession until one of your patients died. The story goes, the family of the deceased hunted down the medicine man and killed him this adding more bones to the property.

The fences on the property were all put in by hand and the fencing material was hauled up the mountains by horse. There were springs developed starting from the top of the property and water was piped down to the house. There were sprinklers that watered the pasture by the house year round from this water system. The house pump was installed in 1975. When they dug the well, they hit an underground river.

Dalton Mountain was named after the infamous Dalton Brothers. They would use this mountain as a hideout when they were in the area. One particular incident, Grat Dalton and Riley Dean were hiding out on the mountain. A sheriff's posse started after them December 22, 1891 from Fresno. After riding all night in the rain, they arrived at Judson Elwood's house. The posse was wet and half frozen. They decided to sleep on the floor which was cold as ice on a pond. The next morning, they started up the mountain to capture the bad guys. The posse captured Riley Dean but Grat fired one shot at the posse and fled down the mountain. Judson was using a two-horse team to plow that day. Grat took one of the horses and escaped to Clovis and then Merced. Grat turned the horse loose and it came back to the Elwood ranch. A year later, Grat was killed along with his brothers in Coffeeville, Kansas robbing two banks at the same time. Only one Dalton survived Coffeeville, prison and lived to be an old man. The Dalton Brothers never stole from the ranchers. If they raided the smoke house and took stores, they always left money for what they took. No telling where the money came from.

During the winter, the rains turn the mountains a lush green and they stayed that way through spring. When the wild flowers come out, it is breathtaking.

Animals on the ranch are Black Tail Deer, bob cat, mountain lion, coyote, squirrels and wild pigs. The owner reports he hasn't seen any mountain lion for about 10 years but feels they are still there on top of Dalton and Bear Mountains. There is also quail, dove and wild turkeys. Turkeys are something new within the last 5 years and they seem to be growing in population in leaps and bounds.