Temple's Ranch

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Temple's Ranch, was the ranch and a home of F. P. F. Temple, a wealthy land owner in Los Angeles County, with large business and land holdings of thousands of acres in Madera County and Fresno County including this ranch in Fresno County near the Merced County border.

Temple's Ranch was a swing station in the First Division of the Butterfield Overland Mail in Fresno County, California. It was located 13 miles east southeast of Lone Willow Station and 15 miles northwest of Firebaugh's Ferry northwest of what is now Dos Palos.^[1]^[2] The station at Temple's Ranch was located on the west bank of the San Joaquin River, at the home of F. T. F. Temple, the original owner of the property, who was living there in 1858. Temple sold the ranch in 1866.

This section of the mail road along the San Joaquin River and over the plain, west through Lone Willow Station to St. Luis Ranch and Pacheco Pass was described as one of the best for making fast time on the route. The fifteen miles between Firebaugh's Ferry and Temple's Ranch was frequently driven in one hour and twelve minutes.^[3]

37°01′27″N 120°32′34″W / 37.02417°N 120.54278°W / 37.02417; -120.54278

↑ Historic Spots in California, Third Edition, p.202
↑ List of Stations from New York Times, October 14 1858, Itinerary of the Route
↑ Roscoe Platt Conkling, Margaret Badenoch Conkling, BUTTERFIELD OVERLAND MAIL, 1858-1869, The American Trail Series, Volume 4, Arthur H. Clark, Glendale, 1947, p.294

Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division Stations

San Francisco – Western terminus and 1st Division headquarters, located in downtown San Francisco.
Clarks's Station – Located 12 miles south of San Francisco in what is now San Bruno.
Sun Water Station – Located 9 miles south of Clarks Station in what is now San Mateo.
Redwood City – Located 9 miles south of Sun Water Station.
Mountain View Station – Located 12 miles south of Redwood City.
San Jose Station – Located 11 miles south of Mountain View Station in the city of San Jose.
Seventeen Mile House – Located 17 miles south of San Jose.
Gilroy Station – Located 13 miles south of Seventeen Mile House in what is now Gilroy, California.
Pacheco Pass Station – Located 18 miles east of Gilroy near the top of Pacheco Pass.
St. Louis Ranch – Located 17 miles east of Pacheco Pass.
Lone Willow Station – Located 18 miles east of St. Louis Ranch near Los Banos.
Temple's Ranch – Located 13 miles southeast of Lone Willow Station near Dos Palos.
Firebaugh's Ferry – Located 15 miles southeast of Temples Ranch, on the San Joaquin River.
Fresno City – Located 19 miles southeast of Firebaugh's Ferry.
Elkhorn Spring Station – Located 22 miles east of Fresno City near present-day Riverdale.
Whitmore's Ferry – Located 17 miles southeast of Elkhorn Spring Station on the Kings River.
Head of Cross Creek Station – Located 15 miles southeast of Whitmore's Ferry.
Visalia – Located 12 miles southeast of Cross Creek Station.
Packwood Station – Located 12 miles east of Visalia.
Tule River Station – Located 14 miles south of Packwood Station.
Fountain Spring Station – Located 14 miles southeast of Tule River Station.
Mountain House – Located 12 miles south of Fountain Spring Station.
Posey Creek Station – Located 15 miles southwest of Mountain House, on Posey (Poso) Creek.
Gordon's Ferry (Kern River Station) – Located 10 miles south of Posey Creek Station on the Kern River just above present-day Bakersfield.
Kern River Slough Station – Located 12 miles south of Gordons Ferry.
Sink of Tejon Station – Located 14 miles southwest of Kern River Slough Station.
Fort Tejon – Located 15 miles southwest of Sink of Tejon Station, north of and below the summit of Tejon Pass.
Reed's Station – Located 8 miles southeast of Fort Tejon, near, to the south of the summit of the Tejon Pass.
French John's Station – Located 14 miles east southeast of Reeds Station, in the vicinity of the mouth of Cow Springs Creek Canyon.
Mud Spring, a later station operating in 1860, 14 miles east from French Johns and 13 miles north from Clayton's Station (formerly Widow Smith's Station). [1]
Widow Smith's Station (Clayton's Station, Major Gordon's Station) – Located 24 miles from French John's Station, in upper San Francisquito Canyon near Green Valley.
King's Station – Located 10 miles south of Widow Smith's Station in lower San Francisquito Canyon.
Hart's Station or Lyons Station – Located 12 miles south of King's Station, in Santa Clarita.
Lopez Station – Located 81⁄2 miles southeast of Hart's Station, in the San Fernando Valley north of Mission San Fernando Rey de España.
Cahuenga Station – Located 12 miles southeast of Mission San Fernando, in Cahuenga Pass, of the Santa Monica Mountains. The first station of the 1st Division, it was located 12 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Source: "List of Butterfield Overland Mail Stations "Itinerary of the Route"" (PDF). New York Times. October 14, 1858.

[1] Notes of a Trip to Los Angeles No. 1, Daily Alta California, Volume 12, Number 3888, 5 October 1860 — Page 1

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