then leased the Pacheco Ranch in Novato for a year, but returned to the Olema 

 area where he died in 1893. A contemporary biography praised the Muscio 

 Ranch: 



In recording the merits of the many dairy farms 

 which abound in Marin County, that owned by Joseph 

 Muscio must not be omitted. Situated between 

 Olema and Bolinas, in Bolinas Township, it is rich in 

 pasture and grazing land, and in every way well suited 

 to the purpose to which it has been devoted 

 .... At this time [1894] he has a herd of milch cows 

 numbering sixty, and has his place well fitted up with 

 almost every known convenience for the better 

 handling of his business, the power for his separator, 

 etc., being principally furnished by steam. 78 



Joseph Muscio continued to operate the dairy under his high standards, a 

 biography noting that "it has been his life's principle to ami at quality rather 

 than quantity, and there is no better article produced in Bolinas township than 

 that turned out of this dairy." A Marin County newspaper recorded Muscio's 

 dairy as making an average of 2,220 pounds of butter per year from 57 cows at 

 the turn of the century. 79 



Muscio retired from the dairy business in 1914 and moved to Oakland. 

 He spent his last years in Point Reyes Station with his son, Dante, and died at 

 age 75 on October 19, 1921. Muscio's sons were well-known around the Point 

 Reyes area, working on the Shatter Ranch and leasing a number of ranches on 

 the Point Reyes Peninsula. Many in the family eventually settled in the 

 Central Valley. 80 



The ranch had been leased to Irishman Walter Wilson and his family by 

 1919. Muscio's heirs sold the family ranch on September 8, 1922, to Charles 

 and Margaret Blake; Wilson continued the dairy operation under a lease with 

 the Blakes until 1936. Alexander McCall and his wife Agnes moved to the 



78 Marin County Journal. October 20, 1881; Marin Journal. October 10, 1889 and November 12, 

 1890. 



79 Guinn, Coast Counties, p. 480; Marin Journal. June 20, 1901. 



80 Guinn, Coast Counties, p. 480; Cross, Coast Counties, p. 513; Marin Journal. August 14 and 

 September 1, 1919; Point Reves Light. December 14, 1967; interviews with Owen and Oliver 

 Muscio and Fern Muscio Gilliam. 



173 



