Ben Hur, California: From the Gold Rush to Today
The Quick ranch is still cris-crossed by several Chinese stone walls (perhaps 5 miles total length) which were built in 1862 at the direction of Morgan W. Quick, the great grandfather of the present generation of Quicks.
The Quick patriarch came to Mariposa County in the fall of 1849 and staked a gold mining claim near the mouth of Oak Spring Creek, a couple of miles above what now is the town of Mariposa. The fine gravel was rich in gold and Quick averaged $10,000 a year for the next nine years. (~$250,000 today). He built a small adobe house, set out fruit trees and vines and, in 1854, married a Sacramento girl, Deborah Stuart.
The nucleus of the Quick ranch was a brush fenced 160-acre homestead which Quick bought from a Dr. L. Harris in 1859 for $250. Of Dr. Harris, little is known, but he must have been an interesting character. Despite his “doctorate” he still was unable to write, and the original deed is signed with an ” X”.
Quick brought in the first Morgan horses to Mariposa County, built the first barbed wire fence in this part of California, and acquired the first hay press -- a hand operated contraption built in Pennsylvania in 1856. The old press, kept on the ranch until recent years, now is in a museum in Southern California. Quick built up a herd of purebred Hereford and Durham cattle and, in 1864, registered the Quick brand which still is in use and is one of the oldest in the state. He dug wells, put in pumping plants, cemented up several springs and installed watering troughs for his stock, something almost unheard of in those days.
Meanwhile, his two sons, Mark and Morgan W. (Tom) Quick Jr., were growing up and taking an increasingly important part in the operation of the expanding ranch. In the late 1870's the elder Quick retired, turned over the management of the place to the sons, and bought an apple orchard in Watsonville, California. But he retained an active interest in the Mariposa home place until his death in 1903.
In 1904, Guy E. Quick the son of Morgan W. Quick, Jr., joined his father in the operations of the ranch and, in 1912, they bought the county's first gasoline powered truck- a venture which caused much head shaking among the other farmers and brought forth predictions that the Quicks shortly would go broke, spending their money for such newfangled contraptions.
That was the same year the old Ben Hur Post office was moved to the Quick homestead, and Mrs. Guy Quick became the postmistress. She retained the job until the office was discontinued 39 years later. The post office was the half way point on the old stage road between Raymond and Mariposa. The mail was hauled by a two-horse buggy which made the 52-mile round trip daily.
Horses were changed four times along the way.
Morgan Quick, Jr., died in 1922, leaving the ranch to his son. In 1927, the younger Quick changed from the Hereford and Durham shorthorns with which the ranch up to then had been stocked and brought in polled Herefords.
The Quick “Ben Hur Ranch” remained in the Quick family until 2019 when Dr. James Larrick and his wife, Dr. Jun Chen purchased the property seeking to preserve the heritage of this historic place as well as the pristine mountain environment. To this day, cattle continue to run on the ranch, just as they have for the past 150 years! While no changes in this activity are planned by the new owners, rumors are circulating that a flock of ostriches may be introduced in the near future!