D. HAGMAIER RANCH 



including Biesler Ranch 



(Point Reyes National Seashore) 



1. Description 



During the last 50 years the Hagmaier Ranch has consisted of two 

 smaller ranch complexes, one of which was removed in the early 1970s. 

 Historically known as the Miller and Figueras Ranches, the two were merged in 

 the late 1930s when purchased by the Hagmaier family, and today the 

 remaining ranch complex serves as park housing and storage. 



Hagmaier Ranch lies in the upper, or southern, end of the Olema Valley, 

 where Olema Creek enters the flat valley for its journey to Tomales Bay. It is 

 in an interesting geographic area on the San Andreas fault where Olema Creek 

 flows north on the east side of the ranch and Pine Gulch Creek flows south on 

 the west side. Flanked on the west by forested hills beyond Pine Gulch Creek 

 and on the east by grassy hills with encroaching brush and forests, the ranch is 

 on a relatively level site of about 500 acres. Olema Creek and State Highway 1, 

 a paved, two-lane road, serve as the ranch's eastern boundary. A gravel 

 driveway provides access to the ranch buildings. The Olema Valley Trail 

 passes through the west edge of the ranch, and the Randall Trail connects 

 hikers coming from Highway One to the Olema Valley Trail, just north of the 

 existing ranch complex. 



2. History of Hagmaier Ranch 



Benjamin Miller settled in the upper Olema Valley as early as 1856, 

 apparently claiming unoccupied land that would figure in subsequent title 

 litigation. He eventually purchased his land from the Shatter law firm on 

 March 6, 1861, for $3,264.05, or about $15 per acre. Miller, born in Ohio around 

 1812, gained local renown for the murder of his neighbor, William Randall, in 

 1861, as described in the following chapter. 42 



Miller had developed the ranch extensively by 1860, when he was 



^Munro-Fraser, Marin County, pp. 239-240, 278; Population Schedules, 8th U. S. Census, 

 1860. 



131 



