In 1850, a plainspoken Missouri man left the family farm and journeyed west to find his fortune in the California gold fields. Over the next decade, George Hearst nearly died of cholera. He struck up a great friendship with Mark Twain. But he didn’t strike gold. Instead, he bought a stake in the richest silver vein ever discovered in the US.
Thanks to the Comstock Lode, Hearst would soon become a state senator. He was able to ensconce his wife, Phoebe, and his young son, then known as Willie, on Russian Hill. And he became a landowner, buying 500,000 acres alongside San Simeon Bay (above). To learn more about his fabled ranch, which the Hearsts still call home a century and a half later, click HERE.
RELATED ARTICLES
Forever Texas Fund Launched
The Texas Agricultural Land Trust (TALT) launched the public phase of a $10 million fundraising …
Let’s Make A Deal
Over the last two decades, water levels in the nation’s largest man-made reservoir, Lake Mead, …
Sold! Montana's Broken O Ranch
The 124,000-acre Broken O Ranch, one of the most expansive and versatile agricultural operations in …
Five Data Points You Should Know Before Buying Farmland
Searching for farmland can be made far simpler with accessible, accurate land data. Land data …
