Some ranches retain their original name, after the owner is long gone. A perfect is the Bare Ranch in Surprise Valley. In 1864, Thomas Bare established the ranch, sold it in 1880, and it is still known over a century later as the Bare Ranch.
The Lonkey Ranch is not one of those ranches. It was originally known as the San Francisco Ranch, the owners from that city. Lonkey was in the middle, followed by Five Dot. For those not familiar, this ranch is located approximately twelve miles north of Susanville in the Willow Creek Valley.
In 1908, the Hill Lonkey Land & Livestock Company purchased two of the largest ranches in Willow Creek Valley–the San Francisco Ranch and the Folsom Ranch (now Fish & Game). Two years later the company dissolved and Camille Lonkey, along with his wife, Georgianna and three daughters, Irma, Joyce, and Verdi took possession of the San Francisco Ranch. In 1912, Camille Lonkey died from an appendicitis infection. His widow, Georgianna carried on the best she could. In 1924, she found a buyer in Rees Jenkins. Jenkins was expanding his sheep enterprise and Willow Creek would make for excellent summer range.
Jenkins continued to expand his enterprise, but the great depression took its toll on his operation and the sheep industry was especially hard hit. In 1936, the Reno National Bank filed foreclosure proceedings against the Rees T. Jenkins Land & Livestock Company. Jenkins filed for bankruptcy in an effort to negotiate settlements with his creditors. At risk was the ownership of some 25,000 acres, along with 20,000 head of sheep. In August 1937, Reno National Bank accepted a negotiated settlement of $175,000. Of that amount, $95,000 had been paid from a court auction of the livestock.
Jenkins was forced to relinquish the Lonkey ranch and the property reverted back to Georgianna Lonkey, who held the mortgage. Georgianna, along with her daughter, Verdi Shirley, and two grandsons moved back to the ranch. It was a temporary move until a buyer could be found. In November 1939, the Lonkey’s found a buyer, namely, W.C. Anderson, a banker from Galt, California.