Our beautiful little valley, Walker's Basin, was named for Joseph Reddford Walker who was a scout for General Fremont. Walker came through this area in 1834 when he came down the San Joaquin Valley from Monterey and led his party out of the valley and over the pass which was also named for him...Walker Pass. The first settlers came to Walker's Basin long before roads came...the trail leading up Walker's Basin Creek through the Basin and over the mountain pass was the route of the Union Soldiers during the Civil War...as they journeyed between Fort Tejon and Fort Independence (near Bishop in northern California).

One of the early day Pony Express routes was through Walker's Basin - David Smith carried the mail horseback between Visalia and Fort Tejon, passing through the Basin...after 1865 a road was established north to Havilah, then the Kern County Seat. In 1867, Wells Fargo Company began service through Kern County, with a stage stop in the Basin. The teamster's barn, used by the drivers for a change of horses, still stands at Rankin Ranch, and is still in use...now as a hay barn and for general storage.

In the early 1860's the call of the West lured young Walker Rankin from his family's farm in Pennsylvania. After arriving in California, he mined for gold and tried dairy ranching before he settled in Walker's Basin and founded the Quarter Circle U RANKIN RANCH in 1863. Walker decided that a good breed of White Face cattle would be profitable in this rich valley, and imported the first purebred Herefords to the area.

On September 14, 1868, Walker Rankin and Miss Lavinia Lightner were married. Lavinia's family had settled in Walker's Basin earlier in 1858. Abia T. Lightner, Lavinia's father, had been Captain of the wagon train which left Missouri in the spring of 1849 for the long ten month journey to California. Abia did very well mining "Old Mammoth" in the gold rush town of Keysville prior to establishing his ranch in Walker's Basin. Early in the 1870's Walker and Lavinia started building their house. The lumber was cut and milled on the ranch; hand forged nails were made at their blacksmith shop. Today, this same beautiful ranch house, built from a plan in "Godey's Ladies Book," is enjoyed by the Rankin family.

Our family is very fortunate to have Lavinia's memoir which has many wonderful stories. She tells about their covered wagon trip West from Missouri, early days in Walker's Basin; a visit from Joaquin Murietta and the Vasquez band; an account of the great earthquake of 1870, and much more. Lavinia, affectionately known as Nana, lived to be 100 years and 4 months of age, passing away in 1948. During these years she experienced some incredible changes in her way of life in this new western frontier of California...from covered wagons to airplanes.

Fortunately, generations of family members have worked hard and valued this wonderful heritage. Today, Rankin Ranch is still a thriving enterprise with much diversity. It produces cattle, hay and row crops...and welcomes guests from all over the world to enjoy the flavor of the Old West and share a rare and special life style. One hundred years after Walker Rankin Sr. first settled in Walker's Basin, Helen Rankin, true to the pioneer spirit, continued to run the cattle operation and added a guest ranch business, now in it's 43rd successful season.