When I was in 2nd through 5th grades at Pacific Avenue Elementary School my best friend in the whole world was Myra Ratlief. I visited Myra at her house on Ave. Juan Bautista many times over the years. Behind her house were rolling fields and we would sometimes go wandering over hill and dale with her brother Jimmy and her sister Jeannie. There was a wooden structure that really intrigued us. We made up all kinds of stories about it, most having to do with Indians and sacrificing cattle. Kids, got to love their imaginations! I realize now that it was a ramp/chute that was designed to get cows up into a truck, a relic from Tom Clay’s 1001 Ranch. One of the joys of childhood is discovering the past, even if you don’t know until years later what it is you are discovering!
The 1001 Ranch covered many, many acres of land, including present-day Indian Hills, Jurupa Hills, and parts of Pedley. Tom Clay, a lawyer, bought the land from one of his clients in 1929 and then almost lost it himself during the Great Depression. He made other land purchases and by the 1950s owned over 2400 acres. Clay became well known for, among other things, the Appaloosa horses he raised on his ranch.
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