Wilhelm Benitz
Ranchos, California
(1841-1867, ages 26-52 years)
(Last updated: Sunday June 07, 2009)
Fort Ross, 1828
(From a postcard of Fort Ross, picture based upon
the painting View of Fort Ross by A.B. Duhaut-Cilly, 1828)
The first official US account we have of Wilhelm in California are the court records of his appeal to regain possession of New Breisgau. It reveals that by 1844 he was a naturalized Mexican citizen and that he had served intermittently, and without pay, in the Mexican army between 1840 and 1844. During 1844 he served 8 months in Micheltorena's army as a lieutenant under Captain John Sutter (of Gold Rush fame). In addition, there is testimony from John Yates who recalls taking Wilhelm to Sacramento in 1843 in search of employment with Sutter. According to the rolls of the Society of California Pioneers, Wilhelm arrived in California in October 1842; in his letters to his brother Thadeus in Germany he claims to have arrived in 1842; in his application for naturalization as a Mexican citizen he claims to have arrived in 1841. In The History of California, Huber Howe Bancroft states Wilhelm "Arrived Oct.'42 acc. to rolls of the Soc. Cal. Pion.; but in applying for naturalization in '44 he claimed to have come in '41."
The dates all coincide if he arrived in the south, Baja California (today still part of Mexico), as he would have if he came overland from Texas via Santa Fe - or places even further south inside Mexico. Assuming he was not in any particular rush, he could easily have taken a year or more to make his way north into Alta California, stopping along the way to work or look about for opportunities in San Diego, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Francisco (Yerba Buena), etc.
Ranchos Owned in California
During his first years in California, Wilhelm Benitz obtained title to three properties in California: Fort Ross (where he lived 1843-1867) and Rancho Hermann in Sonoma county, and New Breisgau in Shasta and Tehama counties. Per his letter of 27th. June, 1853:
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North California USA |
My partner and I have 2 camps [ranches], one of 20,000 acres and one of 11,000; the latter we've sold for $26,500, but the one we still have is much more valuable. I've lived there for 10 years already. I have another property of 25,000 acres up the Sacramento river, which belongs to me alone and which was given to me by the Spanish government. I've named this piece of land 'New Breisgau', this having also been inserted in the map. Till next spring it will be decided whether I remain here or not; in the first case I'll keep Fort Ross and New Breisgau; besides I have invested $36,000, which give me $500 a month. |
Summary:
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Cattle Brand |
The following is a very brief time-line of the ranchos acquired by Wilhelm during the years he farmed and ranched in northern California, from 1842 to 1867. It does not include his other investments. For a detailed list of his purchases and sales of the various ranchos, see Real Estate Deals. For a detailed account of his activities at each of the ranchos, please view their individual pages.
We obtained our information from a detailed history of Fort Ross (FR), court transcripts regarding Rancho Hermann (RH) and New Breisgau (NB), and Wilhelm's own letters to his brother Thadeus in Germany in which he describes his activities in great detail.
 | FR: 1812-1841: The Russian American Company claimed more than 50,000 acres, from Bodega Bay in the south to Timber Cove in the north in what is today Sonoma County. Their fort, later known as Fort Ross, provided food for the Russian colonies in Alaska. |
| FR: 1841-1844: Johan Augustus Sutter, paid the Russians $30,000 for their entire holdings at Fort Ross. Sutter stripped the fort of stock, equipment, supplies, and some buildings, including all iron and a threshing floor. He named several managers (Robert Livermore, Robert T. Ridley, John Bidwell, Samuel Smith) before Wilhelm Benitz in the fall of 1843 who served for almost a year and a half. |
| NB: 1844: Benitz's petition for 5 sitios de ganado mayor of land on the east side of the Sacramento river in Shasta county (today partly in Tehama county) was granted by Governor Manuel Micheltorena. He named it "New Breisgau" and put Julian, a tenant on shares, there to establish his claim. [True size: approx. 3.5 sitios, 15,300 acres, 6,200 has.] |
| FR: 1844-1845: The Mexican government rejected Sutter's claim to Fort Ross and split the property into two grants: "Bodega Rancho", granted August 1844 to Captain Stephen Smith, 35,487 acres south from the Russian River to Bodega Bay; and "Muņiz Rancho", granted December 1845 to Manuel Torres, 4 sitios de ganado mayor (later patented at 17,760 acres, 7,187 has., or 4 and a bit sitios) north from the Russian River to Timber Cover, including Fort Ross proper. |
| NB: 1846: Julian, the tenant at "New Breisgau", was killed by Rogue River Indians. |
| FR: 1845-1849: Benitz & Ernest Rufus (originally from Württenberg, Germany) leased Fort Ross from Sutter for six years, then swapped to Torres when he took title. |
| RH, 1846: With 2 other partners, Benitz & Rufus acquired the Rancho Hermann (aka, German Rancho), located north of Fort Ross along the coast. However, the Mexican governor granted title (for 5 sitios de ganado mayor) to Rufus alone in 1846. [True size: approx. 3 sitios, 13,200 acres, 5,400 has.] |
| FR & RH: 1846: Benitz & Charles Theodor Meyer (originally from Prussia) purchased part of the Rancho Hermann north of Fort Ross. Benitz's Fort Ross holdings lay along the coast from Stillwater Cove in the north to the Russian River in the south. The southern border went several miles inland along the Russian River from present day Jenner to Duncans Mills, the eastern border ran north-west from the Russian River along the ridge to above Timber Cove. His Rancho Hermann property went inland 2-3 miles, from the Walhalla (Gualala) river in the north past Stewart's Point in the south. |
| FR & RH: 1849: Rufus left the partnership and moved to Sonoma. |
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RH & NB: 1850: Benitz exchanged an undivided half share in New Breisgau for Rufus' 3 league share in Rancho Hermann. |
| FR: 1851: Benitz & Meyer paid Torres $5,000 for the Muņiz Rancho (Fort Ross), not deeded to Benitz until 1857 and the U.S. government did not grant a land patent to Torres until 1860 (!). |
| RH: 1853: Benitz & Meyer sold 11,000 acres (4,450 ha.) for $26,500 (Rancho Hermann?). |
| NB: 1854: The US board of land commissioners denied Benitz's claim to "New Breisgau" and he lost it by expropriation. |
| FR: 1855: Benitz bought out Meyer's share of Fort Ross for $22,500. |
| NB: 1856: The District Court of the US Supreme Court for the Northern District of California ruled in Benitz's favor regarding "New Breisgau". However, he still lost 2/3 of the property and $12,000 in legal fees. |
| FR: 1859-1860: Sutter sold his (now invalidated) title to William Muldrew and associates. Benitz paid the Muldrew group $6,000 to obtain clear title to Fort Ross. Per his letters, it cost him $8,000 in total. See below the "Muldrew litigation". |
| FR: 1864: Per the Sonoma County tax assessment roll, Wilhelm owned: 17,770 acres (7,191 ha.) "Mooney Ranch" i.e. Fort Ross, valued at US$13,327, personal property of US$19,176, for a total of US$32,503; he was assessed US$689.0636 in taxes, paid Oct. 26, 1864. |
| FR: 1865: Benitz began selling small parts of Fort Ross to squatters, particularly along the rivers bordering his property. |
| FR: 1867-1873: Benitz sold Fort Ross for a total of $64,000. James Dixon (originally from Ireland) paid $35,000 for 7,000 acres (2,833 ha.) of the northern half including Fort Ross proper, and Charles Snowden Fairfax (originally from Virginia) paid $25,000 for 7,000 acres (2,833 ha.) of the southern half. |
Fort Ross, c. 1866
(Source: John C. Benitz - from Josephine K. Benitz collection)
Instead of rehashing the information already available on line, please go to our page on the Fort Ross State Park where we list several sites of interest.
Fort Ross - after Wilhelm sold it to date:
| 1868: Fairfax sold 4,000 acres to John Rule (who promptly died). Their family ranch & dairy was located above Jenner on the Russian River. |
| 1873: Dixon & Fairfax sold off 3 parcels but kept several thousand acres of wooded upland. George W. Call (from Ohio) bought 2,500 acres, including Fort Ross proper, its chute and livestock for $10,000. |
| 1877: Call bought another 1,800 acres south near Black Mountain. |
| 1873-1979: Fort Ross was owned by George W. Call and his descendants. |
| 1903: July 25, Call sold 2.5 acres, including the fort, to the California Historical Landmarks League for $3,000. It was deeded in 1906. |
| 1979: Fort Ross State Historic Park was established with 3,386 acres. |
