Talk:Sheep Ranch, California

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Anybody else other than me have a personal knowledge of Sheepranch? I grew up there, and now live far, far away!

The Pioneer Hotel[edit]

Here is an interesting side note:

   Dan and Betty Magnuson purchased the Pioneer Hotel in 1962 from George Key, and moved their with their four children. They refurbished much of the hotel, keeping the Anchor Steam Beer at the antique bar, and serving family-style meals for which Mrs. Magnuson became quite well known. Daughters Nora Lacie and Laurel gave regular tours of the hotel to visitors,(sorry, no ghosts!), waited tables, picked the local blackberries and baked pies in the small restaurant. Many guests remembered the dozen clocks in the dining room "going off" at different times. The Magnusons operated the two guest rooms available at that time and "shooed" the chickens from the lobby when they would walk in through the large swinging doors. Mr. Magnuson, a retired ironworker, "resquared" the timbers in the basement supporting the entire structure by jacking up the building and replacing the old timbers with new and pouring concrete pillars. Local teens, John and Calvin Morse helped with this project.

Sadly, Dan Magnuson died suddenly at the age of 51, and his wife Betty could not manage the hotel alone. Though it was for sale at the time for $30,000, the former owner approached possible buyers offering them a "deal" if they would wait for foreclosure.

   For the savings realized by the new buyers, the family was left with no business and no home. Mrs. Magnuson bought a tiny local house from a sympathetic friend of the family and later operated the Sheep Ranch post office. For a time, she worked as a cook for former guests of the hotel, and personal friends, the Gallo family in Modesto. The children fended for themselves during the work/school week, looked in by caring friends and neighbors. 
   This episode created quite a stir in the bucolic community, causing hard feelings toward "flatlanders" and accusations of cheating, but Mrs. Magnuson, refused to harbor bitter feelings and later moved to San Andreas where she died in 1979. The children are better and wiser for their time in Sheep Ranch, and have fond memories of the "Old Pioneer". 
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.125.208.74 (talk) 16:12, 12 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]