materials. Compton also purchased the adjacent Glen Ranch on the Shatter 

 ranch. 174 



As Jack Mason wrote, "Compton's Bear Valley Ranch was as different 

 from Colonel Langdon's as day from night. The austerity and tension of the 

 Langdon years gave way to creature comforts and good will. The public had 

 never felt wanted at the ranch; now it did." Compton staged three rodeos 

 (1946, 1947, 1948) at the ranch, in the area south of today's picnic area and 

 parking lot, that drew competitors from all over the state. The last rodeo was 

 endorsed by the International Rodeo Association and Rodeo Cowboys of 

 America, which put the event in the league of world champions. Compton built 

 an arena, complete with bleachers, refreshment stands, and restrooms, with the 

 proceeds of the event to benefit the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Point 

 Reyes Station and the Widows and Orphans Fund of the Olema Volunteer Fire 

 Department. 175 



Unexpectedly, Compton sold the ranch on February 11, 1949 to Grace H. 

 Kelham, heiress to the Spreckels sugar fortune, and her husband Bruce, a San 

 Francisco investment broker, and left town. The Kelhams were not interested 

 in rodeos or dairy farming, and within a year sold the dairy herd and 

 demolished the dairy and hospital (hay) barn. Equipment was auctioned and, 

 after more than 80 years as a premium dairy, Bear Valley Ranch became a large 

 beef cattle operation. The Kelhams hired Ralph Beatty as ranch foreman; 

 Compton's manager Schramm stayed on for a short time to help Beatty get 

 familiar with ranch operations. 176 



The Kelhams kept up the ranch buildings, and apparently did not build 

 any others. Their ranch hands, including Beatty and George DeMartini (who 

 was employed at the ranch by the Kelhams from 1949 and then by the park 

 until his retirement in 1984), built corrals, cleared brush off of acres of hillsides 

 on the ocean side of the ranch, and raised hay on the Olema Creek flats and at 

 Y and U Ranches. DeMartini recalled tearing down the old Country Club 

 buildings for the Kelhams around 1950 and then the coastal barns for the 

 National Park Service fifteen years later. DeMartini, the assistant foreman, 



174 Mason, Point Reyes, p. 95, Historian, p. 823; comments of Louis Bloom, Boyd and JoAnn 

 Stewart. 



175 Mason, Historian, pp. 823-824. 



176 Mason, Point Reves. p. 95; interview with George DeMartini. 



303 



