Site information:

On Willms Rd, 1.3 mi S of State Hwy 120, 1.9 mi S of Knights Ferry

37.800068,-120.645845

Plaque information:

No plaque when I visited, only an informational sign.

A private plaque has since been installed at the site.

Plaque text:

John Remmers Willms, a pioneer settler, was born in Hanover, Germany and came to America at the age of six. When he was 20 years old, he joined the Gold Rush to California along with his friend, John H. Kappelmann, arriving in Sacramento on October 12, 1849. The partners spent time in the southern mines, engaged in the hotel and butcher business in Buena Vista, and along with John Dent, brother-in-law of President Ulysses S. Grant, conducted a trading post on the Stanislaus River near Knights Ferry. Willms and Kappelmann also built the Table Mountain Water Company with the water being used for mining in the Buena Vista gravel mines.

In 1852 the partners settled on the old Willms homestead, buying up claims from surrounding settlers and began raising horses for the mines in Virginia City and Bodie. The "KW" brand was the first brand registered in Tuolumne County in April 1852. In 1867 Willms married Elizabeth Kappelmann, his partner's sister, who became the mother of seven children, John Henry, Etta, Fred, Clara, Arthur, Walter, and Camilla. After Kappelmann's death in 1881, Willms went into the cattle business and increased the ranch holdings to over 10,000 acres. The ranch house was built in 1892. The Willms Land and Cattle Company was incorporated in 1909 and operated until World War II when the corporation was dissolved with each partner managing their own land. The majority of the original ranch is still owned by the Willms descendants and has been in continuous operation for the past 163 years. It is a member of the California Agricultural Heritage Club and is California State Historical Landmark #415.

OHP description:

Arriving in California October 12, 1849, John R. Willms and John H. Kappelmann engaged in the hotel and butcher businesses in Buena Vista, in what is now Stanislaus County. They bought up mining claims and settler's claims until, by 1852, they had a tract of 3,600 acres. The 'KW' brand was the first in Tuolumne County in 1852. After the death of Kappelmann, Willms carried on alone, and the ranch has been owned by the Willms family ever since.

Registered 11/15/1948