JA Ranch - Later Ranch Managers

Later Ranch Managers

In 1888, Cornelia Adair named John Edward Farrington as manager though Goodnight had specifically trained Henry Webster Taylor for the position.. Jack Ritchie, Mrs. Adair's son by her first marriage, served briefly as foreman of the JA’s steer division in Tule Canyon before he returned to New York City to handle the purchase of JA horses for the municipal police department.

Arthur Tisdale succeeded Farrington as JA manager in 1891 but was himself replaced in 1892 by Richard Walsh, an Irish immigrant who had been with the ranch since 1885. Improvements continued to be made through crossbreeding with blooded Hereford and Angus stock. Walsh soon built one of the finest-quality herds of cattle in the nation.

As the railroads brought more settlers, the JA began leasing and selling excess pasture. In 1891, a school (named the "Heckman school" after ranch homesteader John Heckman on whose camp the school was erected) opened near JA headquarters for the children of ranch employees and neighboring settlers. Over the years the ranch was gradually reduced in size as longtime employees began their own operations on former JA lands. In 1917, Edward D. Harrell purchased the acreage where the Old Home Ranch was located.