William Benitz
Rancho de Muniz & Fort Ross

“Benitz Rancho”: Within the Benitz family and California State Parks, the whole property (Fort Ross & Rancho de Muniz) is known familiarly as Fort Ross. However, during the time William Benitz operated the combined properties they were known locally as the “Benitz Rancho”. We avoid this term because (i) it would be pretentious on our part; (ii) it is not sufficiently specific: Was the German Ranch (Rancho de Hermann/German) included? (iii) It could also be applied to his Rancho New Breisgau in the Sacramento River valley.

Acquisition:

In May, 1845, with partners Ernest Rufus and Charles Theodor Meyer, William Benitz leased Fort Ross from John A. Sutter (Sutter had bought it from the Russians when they left end of 1841). Later that same year (1845) the Mexican authorities rejected Sutter’s claim to the land and granted it, Rancho de Muniz, to Torres (Note: in the original agreement with the Spanish government, the Russians were allowed use of the land but not its ownership. Any improvements made by them were theirs, e.g. buildings, & orchards?). Benitz and Meyer bought Rancho de Muniz from Torres in 1851 with a $5,000 promissory note; in 1855 Benitz bought out Meyer ($22,500); in 1857 he paid the note to Torres. In 1859 Benitz paid $6,000 to Sutter, Muldrew, et al for clear title to Fort Ross, which was not included in the original Rancho de Muniz land grant. The entire property was surveyed in 1859 and patented in 1860 as the Muniz Rancho at 17,760 acres (7,187 ha.).

Raid 1845

In late July, 1845, while William was absent from Fort Ross, a group of rancheros from Sonoma and Marin counties raided the fort and Metini, the neighboring Kashaya village, in search of Indian slave labor. Per the rancheros own callous testimony in court, they were brutal.

The Kashaya’s Metini

Kashaya Band of Pomo Indians
of Stewarts Point Rancheria

The Kashaya Band of Pomo Indians were the first inhabitants of the coastal Sonoma County area around Fort Ross, known to them as METINI “this place”. The Metini village and ancestral homeland was uphill east of the Russian fort.

For about 9,000 years the Kashaya lived in lands that extended from the Gualala River in the North to Duncan’s Point south of the Russian River (i.e. all of German Rancho, all of Rancho Muniz, & northern 3 miles of Rancho Bodega). Kashaya territory extended thirty miles inland from the Pacific coast over coastal mountain ranges down the Warm Springs Creek to the confluence of Dry Creek (west of today’s US101 highway).

An estimated 1,500 people inhabited this area pre-contact, and migrated seasonally throughout this territory to take full advantage of the resources for their subsistence. By 1870, only 3 villages remained and by 1914, the United States Federal Government began the process of taking land into Trust, establishing the Stewarts Point Rancheria.

For great detail, please read “Metini Village, An Archaelogical Study of Sustained Colonialism in Northern California”, by Kent G. Lightfoot and Sara L. Gonzalez, 2018.

Production:

To date (July, 2024), we have not come across even a partial estimate of William’s income and expenses for any year (1845-1867). His letters provide us a partial account of some of his farmed products (apples, potatoes) and livestock sales – apparently items of immediate concern at the time of writing each letter. We are therefore obliged to complete his account with other sources, in particular production from Rancho Muniz before and after his ownership, during the Russian and Call family eras.

Disposition:

In 1867, William sold Rancho de Muniz and Fort Ross to lumbermen and moved to Oakland. Today the heart of it is included in the Fort Ross State Historical Park.