Early Days
Lois Shane researched and shared a history of Kingvale and many of its cabins, publishing her books for Kingvalians in 2007 with an update in 2016. With her permission we are bringing you some highlights.
Located along the old Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road, later the Lincoln Highway, Old High 40, Highway 40 and now Donner Pass Road, Kingvale has served as a stopping place for horse and wagon, stage coach, sheepherders, cattle drivers, and all manner of motor vehicles and their riders.
Maps at the Big Bend Ranger Station show Kingvale as the location of the Jones Hotel (circa 1866), a stage stop along the toll road. The "hotel" probably resembled the Soda Springs Station, looking more like a barn with an overhanging roof and a place to tie up your horse and get a drink. The exact location within Kingvale is not known.
Early Kingvale residents remember both cattle and sheep being driven up the road and blocking traffic even though a 1916 law required sheepherders and cattle drivers to give the right-of-way to all other traffic.
According to the King/Brennan family history, Kingvale was part of a homestead grant dating back to 1867. The river and meadows provided a good "stopping over" place when driving cattle or sheep from the Auburn area to graze in summer near Devil's Peak. The tall pines and fir trees are a relatively recent development in Kingvale and at one time Kingvale had meadows suitable for grazing.
Located along the old Dutch Flat Donner Lake Wagon Road, later the Lincoln Highway, Old High 40, Highway 40 and now Donner Pass Road, Kingvale has served as a stopping place for horse and wagon, stage coach, sheepherders, cattle drivers, and all manner of motor vehicles and their riders.
Maps at the Big Bend Ranger Station show Kingvale as the location of the Jones Hotel (circa 1866), a stage stop along the toll road. The "hotel" probably resembled the Soda Springs Station, looking more like a barn with an overhanging roof and a place to tie up your horse and get a drink. The exact location within Kingvale is not known.
Early Kingvale residents remember both cattle and sheep being driven up the road and blocking traffic even though a 1916 law required sheepherders and cattle drivers to give the right-of-way to all other traffic.
According to the King/Brennan family history, Kingvale was part of a homestead grant dating back to 1867. The river and meadows provided a good "stopping over" place when driving cattle or sheep from the Auburn area to graze in summer near Devil's Peak. The tall pines and fir trees are a relatively recent development in Kingvale and at one time Kingvale had meadows suitable for grazing.
Voices from the past
During the summer of 2000, Charlie Philips arranged for Kay Reimer, granddaughter of James Brennan Sr., to meet with a number of Kingvale "old timers" and reminisce about the past. Here are some excerpts.
According to Kay Reimer, Owen King came to California from Ireland and homesteaded in Placer County. Kingvale was the "wood lot" that was included in the homestead deed which was signed in 1867. The old well is all that remains on the cabin site used by Owen King as a stopover in Kingvale when driving cattle. The remains of the well are between the Tobin and Place cabins on Brennan Ave.
The Kings died in 1886 and 1893, leaving their three daughters in charge of the ranch. The daughters started selling wood to the railroad. One of the daughters, Anna King, married James Brennan Sr., "Papa Brennan," who moved in with all three King women following his marriage to Anna. Papa Brennan only had a third grade education, so Anna, who was a schoolteacher, taught him to read and speak properly. He decided they had sold enough wood off the ranch, so he planted fruit trees. While the fruit trees were maturing he planted strawberries. He eventually started the California Fruit Exchange.
Kay Reimer's father, James Brennan Jr. drove cattle for his father and did much of the work on the ranch. Papa Brennan liked to go to Sacramento to the Fruit Exchange. He brought Kay and her sister to Kingvale each summer, along with Nana, a young woman who worked for the family caring for the four girls. They left home for Kingvale with fruit trucks full of clothes, cats, kittens, dogs, puppies and horses on Memorial Day and did not return until Labor Day. Kay remembers these summers at Kingvale as a "marvelous time." There was little supervision and a lot of freedom.
The 4th of July Picnic started in the 1930s when Papa Brennan would buy a lamb and have some Greek cooks come up from Roseville, build a fire pit and spend the day turning the lamb. Everyone in the Kingvale valley came. There is a video of the 1935 barbecue which included many of the early Kingvale people, including Papa Brennan. The ladies were all dressed up, and Papa and Grandma Brennan were crowned at the picnic.
According to Kay Reimer, Owen King came to California from Ireland and homesteaded in Placer County. Kingvale was the "wood lot" that was included in the homestead deed which was signed in 1867. The old well is all that remains on the cabin site used by Owen King as a stopover in Kingvale when driving cattle. The remains of the well are between the Tobin and Place cabins on Brennan Ave.
The Kings died in 1886 and 1893, leaving their three daughters in charge of the ranch. The daughters started selling wood to the railroad. One of the daughters, Anna King, married James Brennan Sr., "Papa Brennan," who moved in with all three King women following his marriage to Anna. Papa Brennan only had a third grade education, so Anna, who was a schoolteacher, taught him to read and speak properly. He decided they had sold enough wood off the ranch, so he planted fruit trees. While the fruit trees were maturing he planted strawberries. He eventually started the California Fruit Exchange.
Kay Reimer's father, James Brennan Jr. drove cattle for his father and did much of the work on the ranch. Papa Brennan liked to go to Sacramento to the Fruit Exchange. He brought Kay and her sister to Kingvale each summer, along with Nana, a young woman who worked for the family caring for the four girls. They left home for Kingvale with fruit trucks full of clothes, cats, kittens, dogs, puppies and horses on Memorial Day and did not return until Labor Day. Kay remembers these summers at Kingvale as a "marvelous time." There was little supervision and a lot of freedom.
The 4th of July Picnic started in the 1930s when Papa Brennan would buy a lamb and have some Greek cooks come up from Roseville, build a fire pit and spend the day turning the lamb. Everyone in the Kingvale valley came. There is a video of the 1935 barbecue which included many of the early Kingvale people, including Papa Brennan. The ladies were all dressed up, and Papa and Grandma Brennan were crowned at the picnic.