California Rancher?

1848 was a busy years in California.  The Treaty of Guadalupe giving the territory of California to the United States along with gold being discovered at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento were both major magnets attracting people to the Pacific Ocean.

By the end of 1849 over 100,000 settlers had found their way to California.  Joel Walker (Captain Joe's older brother) worked as a freight hauler, delivering beef, kidney and draft animals to the gold miners.   Captain Walker himself purchased a ranch to use as a holding place for horses and cattle he was buying and selling.

The Walkers actually did better in the gold rush than most miners.  By their findings, they built the first hotel in Sacramento - the Mo House, a canvas and plank place that they sold in the summer of 1849.

Captain Joe Walker, who was seldom near the mines, was quite a prosperous rancher.  Trailing herds seemed to have been only part of what interested him, but he was rarely at the ranch either, hardly long enough to be involved in routine feeding, branding or round ups.  He used the business as a way of funding his adventures in the wilderness - now in his 50s, he wasn't down yet!  Ranching was sort of Captain Joe's IRA for retirement...he'll be back,  but meantime...

Next Time...2 Routes, 2 Ways

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Today in History:  On December 7, 1802 having spied the Pacific Ocean for the first time a few weeks earlier, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark cross to the south shore of the Columbia River (near modern-day Portland) and begin building the small fort, Fort Clatsop, that would be their winter home.