IN 1869 VICENTA CARRILLO conveyed the ranch house and 4,444 acres of the Valle de San José to ex-Governor John G. Downey. Eventually, Downy acquired the remainder of the valley from the Warner-Carrillo interests.
In 1888 Downey leased the Valle de San José to Walter Vail, a cattleman who owned and operated the Empire Ranch in Pima County, Arizona, as well as ranches in Temecula. Sam Taylor was foreman of Vail's operation here at Warner-Carrillo Ranch House from 1895-1913.
 The Vail era, 1880s |
 The Waterman era c. 1890s. Courtesy Coons collection |
"SAMUEL B. TAYLOR (below left) is a rancher and ranch manager at Warner's Hot Springs and has been identified with that interesting locality of San Diego County for thirty years. He is a native son of California, has lived a life of action and enterprise, and is widely and favorably known. Mr. Taylor married in 1894 Mary Jane Helm, daughter of a pioneer of San Diego County, Turner Helm. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have eight children: Lilly, Samuel B., Charles C, Mildred, John, Henry, Banning, and Arthur."
George Sawday (below right), a cattle baron who owned and operated the largest cattle enterprise in Southern California, secured the ranch in 1913, and kept it in operation nearly 50 years. A family home from 1857-1913, under the Sawday occupation, it was utilized as the quintessential "cowboy bunkhouse."
 Courtesy San Diego History Center |
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