Twentieth Century Ranchers of Forest Home Farm

Numa and Minnie Boone

Travis and Ruth Boone

He and Minnie Thorne Boone were married on August 8, 1899. Her parents, Captain Charles and Mary Thorne lived in Santa Clara where she was born in 1863. The Boones pooled their money and initially bought 200 acres in San Ramon, part of the original Amador Rancho and Russell Ranch land. They built their two-story, 22-room house in 1900.

Prominent in the community and successful in his agricultural enterprises, he owned 250 acres and worked several thousand more. Over the years the Boones produced grain, hay, tomatoes, pears, walnuts and raised various kinds of stock. Numa Boone was also President of the San Ramon Valley bank for ten years. He was a Granger, a member of the San Ramon Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West and the Woodmen of the World.

Their son and daughter-in-law, Travis and Ruth Boone, owned a large spread adjacent to Bishop Ranch, planted primarily to walnuts and tomatoes. Their rectangular-shaped ranch extended across the valley from the wooded hills on the west to the SP railroad on the east. They had a flag stop next to the railroad. Boone did extensive custom grain harvesting in the Diablo and Tri-Valley and invented a truck-mounted device which efficiently knocked down walnuts and was used for date-picking in other parts of the state.

In an interview Ruth Boone recalled that, after bachelor ranch hands from the ranches were paid, they would often enjoy themselves gambling at a place called Connie’s in San Ramon village. She remembered Connie Young telling her “I made a fortune from the men at the Boone and Bishop Ranches.” And she said he probably was right.

There are several interpretive panels on the grounds of this historical park, recognizing the Boones, Indians and the Glass family and house.

Sources:

Histories of Contra Costa County (1917, 1927), Museum of the SRV archives, interview with Ruth Boone