1874: Into the West

We are featuring part of our collection from Wells Fargo Museum and the Moulton Family. Don’t miss an opportunity to learn about the journey into West. Complete our exhibit passport for a prize from the Museum Store.

Please enjoy our exhibition film featured at the Moulton Museum. Broken into four chapters, this film explores the personal journey of Louis Fenno Moulton and Moulton Ranch.

Did You Know?

The QWERTY keyboard was first used by the Remington typewriter.
In 1874…
- The Southern Pacific Railroad opened.
- Barbed wire was patented.
- Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis jeans were patented.
- President Ulysses S. Grant’s daughter, Nellie, was married at the White House.

Take a Virtual Tour of the Exhibit

1874 was not only a historic time for our nation, but it was also a significant statewide year in Orange County history. The county had not ceded Los Angeles County until 1888, but the interest groups were ready to part ways from the metro city jurisdiction. Back east, Lewis F. Moulton decided to leave home at twenty years old on a daring adventure to California. His future business partner, Jean Pierre Daguerre, journeyed to California as a French Basque sheepherder.

While it was not an easy journey, Lewis ventured into the west as an eager and formidable businessman. Maintaining strong connections with his Bostonian roots, Lewis and the Fenno cousins invested in the enterprise in the early years and helped mature this business into an economic market that sustained agriculture, sheep, and cattle. They operated a weekly wool report that helped the market determine the value of this natural material which was used in many ways, from clothing to bedding. This wool knowledge and capital prepared L. F. Moulton & Company to mature into a 21,723-acre enterprise.