Diamond M Ranch was part of the original 25,000 acre California Ranch settled by Captain Keeran in the mid 1800’s. He bought the California ranch for 25 cents/ac, sight unseen. He and his family sailed around South America to arrive at his new ranch in the mid 1850s. To place this in historical perspective, Lincoln would soon begin drafting the Emancipation Proclamation, Texas was about to succeed from the union and the Civil War would soon begin.

The French explorer LaSalle played an important role in the early development of this area. While trying to locate the mouth of the Mississippi River he sailed into Matagorda Bay and ultimately into Lavaca Bay and became shipwrecked at the mouth of Gracitas Creek, located in upper Lavaca Bay. He and his followers made their way up the creek and settled historic Fort St. Louis on what later became the California Ranch. The fort fell to repeated Indian attacks. Captain LaSalle was eventually killed by one of his followers. 

A Victorian style house, located near the center of the ranch, marks the focus of our hunting/breeding facility. Following a fire in the late 1800s, the main house was rebuilt in the early 1900s. Extensive hurricane damage by Carla in 1961 forced still another renovation that produced the house we have today. One of only a few in Texas, our ranch has a self contained bomb shelter that was constructed in the early 1950s.

The cattle business played an integral part of the ranch through the years. The origin of the “hump back” Brahma cattle line can be traced to Captain Keeran and the California Ranch.