Plaque Text

McCarran Ranch

Settled in 1875 by Patrick and Margaret McCarran.
Their first house was built on the Storey County
side of of the river but was destroyed by fire. Later
it was re-built on the Washoe side which still
remains today.

The area originally called Ditho was later renamed
Patrick.

Today the ranch still remains in the McCarran
family making it one of the oldest family ranches
in Nevada.

Julia C. Bulette Chapter 1864
E Clampus Vitus
June 23, 1990

 

McCarran Ranch Dedication

Patrick McCarran senior migrated to the United States from Ireland when he was 14 years of age. To become a citizen of the United States he took a hitch in the Union Army. In 1875 he mustered out at Fort Churchill. Later on in that year he met and married Margaret Oshea.

In 1876 the two settled approximately 15 miles down the Truckee River from Reno at a place the Central Pacific Railroad would later call Ditho (later on renamed Patrick).

Patrick at first planned to develope his ranch on the Storey County side of the river at Ditho. Their first house burned while the family were working in their fields. A new house was built on the Washoe side of the river which still remains today.

Patrick Jr. attended the Glendale school and would ride his horse to and from school. Patrick later would go on to become an attorny and eventually a United States Senator.

The first case tried by Patrick Jr. would be in the defense of hos father. The telephone company sought an easement to take its lines through the ranch and Partick Sr. had objected strenuously. When the telephone company exercising "eminent domain" proceeded to erect its poles in spite of his protests, he cut them down and brought them into his yard. In the end he was arrested for destroying federal property. The newspaper accounts of the trial showed the communties of Reno and Carson to have been involved and sympathetic with the McCarran case. To everyones surprise, Patrick Jr. took the stand at the end of the second day and testified that the wrong man had been arrested and that it was he who had cut down the poles and had brought them into the ranch premises. For several days the newspaper lamented this development, assuming that Patrick Jr. had jeopardized his career before him by perjuring himself to save his father. This story had no follow-up since no action against McCarran was taken.

Today the McCarran Ranch still remains in the McCarran family, possibly making it one of the oldest family owned ranches in Nevada.