Stop 5: Ranch Labor

Cook for the Muir's, A. Fong.

Historic Image from the JOMU collection.

Transcript for the John Muir NHS Cell Phone Tour

Stop Number 5

Maintaining the 2600-acre ranch required a lot of work. With the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the 1870’s, help was available in the form of displaced Chinese railroad workers. 

Here in Northern California, they didn’t have to look too far for work. The planting, growing, pruning and harvesting of fruit required many ranch hands. Behind the mansion stood the “China House”, a segregated dormitory for the men working in the orchards. Chinese workers were accustomed to hard work and long hours, but if the pay wasn’t good enough, they would leave for better prospects at other fruit ranches. Muir, like all ranchers, struggled with the cost of labor cutting into his profit margins. Failure to maintain the balance could lead to his fruit rotting on the trees. 

By 1890, Chinese workers in this orchard and others would have been taking care of all aspects of fruit and nut production. It began with the planting, grafting, pruning and spraying of trees, then on to the harvesting, boxing and delivering of fruits and nuts to buyers. It would have been impossible to have had a successful orchard business without the experienced help of the Chinese laborers. Muir himself described the running of the ranch as “an eternal fountain of work”.