Sunset View Ranch

The story continues on the California Coast near Cape Mendocino. The ranch was a home away from home. On weekends and during the summer months we could hardly wait to get there. The caretakers, Bill and Mable, were like a second set of parents. Following Bill along on his daily chores was a great treat. When it was time to milk the cow we always hoped there might be a new batch of kittens in the barn. The cats loved the milk barn because Bill always gave them a treat of fresh milk. Sometimes it was in a bowl and sometimes it was a squirt in the face while he was milking. Behind the milking stalls was a loft full of hay. Bill always knew if there was a litter of kittens hanging around and he would send us off to hunt for them in the hay bales.

The milking barn also happened to be right next to the bull pasture. There was nothing quite like a bull close up. There was always a fence between us and the bulls so we were never to worried, even when the bulls would paw the ground and snort loudly. I think we secretly hoped each time we went along that we would have the chance to look one of those creatures straight in the eyes. At times there were also pigs to slop (meaning feed them slop or scraps from the ranch house). Those funny pigs would eat anything but pickles as I remember. Then it was off to the horse barn to feed any of the horses that were in the stalls for the night. Bill was our hero as he raised and broke all of the horses that were born on the ranch. It was quite amusing to us when we heard Bill tell the story about a couple of buckskin horses that were brothers. One was named Tim and the other was named Tim Buck Two ~ and they were so similar in looks that Bill actually brought out the wrong horse to saddle one day. I believe Tim Buck Two earned his name honestly ~ the bucking part anyway.

My older sister and I also enjoyed going on hikes and looking for deer antlers and other treasures. The ranch had been in the family since the 1850's so we always were in awe of the old things around the place. There were old horse collars with hames, an old buggy in the horse barn, and the collection of antique bottles that Mable and Bill had dug from various gullies. One day while building a fort inside a large brushy gulch, I unburied a bottle with the date 1875 on it. It was a Colgate Perfume bottle. It was wonderful to think about the ancestors that actually held that very same bottle in there hands, it was a connection to them of sorts. I know that the discovery of that antique bottle was the beginning of my passion for antiques.

The fog on the coast was an intriguing feature also. It would be so foggy and overcast one minute and pure blue sky the next. This phenomena could happen a number of times in one day. In the fall and winter months the wind would just howl sometimes. Since the ranch sat high on the ridge overlooking the ocean the wind gusts would get so hard that sometimes you could lean back and the wind would actually hold you up.

The howling of the wind also reminds me of the bawling of the cows. Twice a year the cows were gathered and held in corrals over a couple of nights. They were gathered in the spring for marking and in the fall I believe, many of the calves were taken to auction. In order to mark and brand the calves they had to be separated from their mothers ~ hence the bawling. My sister and I always slept in the bunkhouse which was closer to the corrals. It was a very sad and eerie feeling to know that those baby calves just wanted their mamas. We were also fascinated at how fast the calves found their mothers when they were put back in the same pens.

As we grew up we learned to help wherever we could. I am sure we were in the
way more often than not too. The calves had to be run through a narrow fenced area and into a chute that was quickly closed on them to keep them still. The chute had a lever that was used to flip it sideways to put the cows on their sides. The calves would then have a chunk of their ears cut out (I think it had something to do with telling the boys from the girls at a long distance but I could be wrong) I also remember when the male calves were castrated and made into steers. There was a batch of hot tar and after the procedure took place the hot tar was applied to stop the bleeding and keep the area free of infection. Then the poor creatures were dehorned with a large cutting devise and a branding iron with a ball on the end was used to cauterize the area. The calves also received a brand on their backsides with a hot branding iron. The registered brand for Sunset View was the number 10. Once the chute was opened the calves came out bucking and running. The whole procedure was done over and over all day long and the smell of the burning hide was thick in the air.

The ranch was so large that the chores and fence mending were just a few of
the projects. There was also the yearly opening of the slide. The land on the coast is prone to slides and every winter when the ground got saturated the ground would slide and wipe out one of the roads. Bill had an old Oliver tractor that would serve as a firewood hauler, road opener and it would also pull an antique road grader. Those tractors must have been something else as it was the only tractor that I remember being used in all my years at the ranch. It is still running today!

Well ~ it is time to hit the bunk I guess ~ Until next time ~ God Bless Cheryl