This image is the cover for the book Pioneer Ranch Life in Orange

Pioneer Ranch Life in Orange

This previously unpublished account of early California ranch life from 1875 to 1887 covers a pivotal era in Orange County history. Vassar-educated Mary Teegarden Clark captured the future Orange County during its transition from the untamed cattle rancho era to citrus empire. Mary writes engagingly about breaking ground for the citrus Yale Grove in the city of Orange, her home life with husband Albert B. Clark and workaday ranch chores with Chinese and Latino farmhands. Her firsthand accounts enlarge the historical record of citrus marketing, wilderness excursions and the escapades of Wild West pistoleros. Through deft editing, Paul F. Clark, Mary's great-grandson, provides the historical framework through which to view Mary's remarkably vivid experiences.

Mary Teegarden Clark

Paul F. Clark was the supervising or principal planner for the Riverside County Planning Department from 1983 to 2009, and managed the field office in Indio, California. He is a life member and past president of the Orange Community Historical Society, and a member of and journal contributor to the Orange County Historical Society. Mary Teegarden Clark was a Vassar College-educated wife and mother who journeyed from her Indiana home with her husband and infant to start a new life on a ranch in what became Orange County, California.

The History Press