History

Rancho del Oso, a unit of Big Basin State Park, is in the unceded homelands of the Awaswas-speaking Ohlone Tribe known as the Cotoni and Quiroste, who stewarded these lands since time immemorial. Centuries of colonial violence led to the removal and displacement of the Cotoni and Quiroste. Today, their descendants continue their stewardship and presence here, in partnership with State Parks.

Rancho del Oso is a site rich in cultural and natural history. The area was frequented by Native Americans (most likely the Awaswas clan of Ohlone Costanoan), who managed the land in order to benefit from the bountiful landscape and encourage the proliferation of game.

In 1912, Theodore Hoover (Dean of Engineering at Stanford and brother of President Herbert Hoover) bought a majority of the Waddell Valley from more than a dozen small landowners. Hoover built the “Brown House” in 1913 as a family vacation house (a role it still serves) and named his holdings Rancho del Oso. In 1925 he built a large Spanish-style residence, the “Casa,” for his family across the creek from the Brown House. Although the Casa was destroyed by fire in 1959, several of Theodore Hoover’s heirs still have residences at Rancho del Oso.

California State Parks acquired approximately two-thirds of the original Rancho del Oso land including Waddell Beach, from Hoover’s daughters in 1977. This enabled the completion of the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail.

In 1985 Hulda Hoover McLean sold her personal residence and its 40-acre lot to the Sempervirens Fund, intent on creating a place to share the wonders of the natural world with others. After some minor renovations, it was passed on to California State Parks for use as the Rancho del Oso Nature and History Center. She was very active in organizing the Waddell Creek Association, which helps support the volunteer and educational programs at Rancho del Oso, and served on its board of directors well into her 90s. She died in 2006 at the age of 100.