The Willms Ranch

No state plaque stands at the ranch; the family set its own stone about 2015, counting 163 years of continuous operation. John Willms, born in Hanover, and his friend John Kappelmann settled here in 1852 and raised horses for the mines at Virginia City and Bodie. Their KW brand was the first registered in Tuolumne County, because this ground was Tuolumne County until Stanislaus was carved from it in 1854. Willms married his partner's sister in 1867 and built the ranch past ten thousand acres, still mostly held by his descendants.

What the plaque says

Willms Ranch John Remmers Willms, a pioneer settler, was born in Hanover, Germany and came to America at the age of six. When he was 20 years old, he joined the Gold Rush to California along with his friend, John H. Kappelmann, arriving in Sacramento on October 12, 1849. The partners spent time in the southern mines, engaged in the hotel and butcher business in Buena Vista, and along with John Dent, brother-in-law of President Ulysses S. Grant, conducted a trading post on the Stanislaus River near Knights Ferry. Willms and Kappelmann also built the Table Mountain Water Company with the water being used for mining in the Buena Vista gravel mines. In 1852 the partners settled on the old Willms homestead, buying up claims from surrounding settlers and began raising horses for the mines in Virginia City and Bodie. The "KW" brand was the first brand registered in Tuolumne County in April 1852. In 1867 Willms married Elizabeth Kappelmann, his partner's sister, who became the mother of seven children, John Henry, Etta, Fred, Clara, Arthur, Walter and Camilla. After Kappelmann's death in 1881, Willms went into the cattle business and increased the ranch holdings to over 10,000 acres. The ranch house was built in 1892. The Willms Land and Cattle Company was incorporated in 1909 and operated until World War II when the corporation was dissolved with each partner managing their own land. The majority of the original ranch is still owned by the Willms descendants and has been in continuous operation for the past 163 years. It is a member of the California Agricultural Heritage Club and is California State Historical Landmark #415.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 22 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Knights Ferry — 1.8 mi
• O'Byrne Ferry — 7.7 mi
• Copperopolis — 12 mi
• Wells Fargo Express Company Building — 13 mi