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This photograph shows C.W. Thompson's wagon full of grain near Thompson's General Store in Tomales circa 1850-1899. Wheat, oats, and some barley were grown during this time in the Walker Creek watershed. The wheat was taken into nearby Valley Ford or Bloomfield every few days by horseback, where it was ground into flour. Photo courtesy of the Tomales Regional History Center.


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This photograph shows dairy activities on the Philip Respini Dairy located on Marshall-Petaluma Road along Salmon Creek, a tributary of Walker Creek circa 1900-1920. The trees in the background appear to have been recently planted for a wind break. In the early days little dairying went on in the area, although a few pioneering dairymen had Spanish Longhorn cattle. However, as Swiss immigrants began to arrive in the 1870's dairying became an important industry. Photo courtesy of the Tomales Regional History Center.


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This photograph shows a boy with lambs circa 1930. After World War II commercial flocks of sheep became more common in this area. The sheep/dairy combination proved to profitable for some ranchers as the sheep, who cropped the grass more closely than the cattle, could be turned out into the fields the cows already grazed. Photo courtesy of the Tomales Regional History Center.