Posts, California

After returning to the Monterey area, W.B. found work in upper Carmel Valley at the ranch of James Meadows. Meadows had married Loretta Onesimo, one of the last Rumsen Ohlone and native speakers of the Ohlone language. W.B. met Loretta's sister Anselma and they were married in 1850.[5] Post earned a reputation as a skilled bear and deer hunter in the Big Sur region and he traded in hides and buckskin. This work drew him north to the Elkhorn Slough on Monterey Bay where Capt. Charles Moss was establishing a landing and wharf to handle the emerging grain trade in the Salinas Valley in the early l860s.[5][3] W.B. opened one of the first grain warehouses along the coast at Moss Landing. Flat bottom boats brought grain from all over the Salinas Valley to the Slough and unloaded at Post’s warehouse. W.B. was as agent for the steamship company of Goodall, Nelson and Perkins. The success of the shipping point stimulated the growth of Castroville, one of Monterey County's first municipalities, which served to support Moss Landing commerce.[5]

W.B. then built the first butcher shop in Castroville in 1870 where their two daughters Mary and Ellen were born.[3][2][5] W.B. decided to obtain land in the Big Sur region and filed a patent for 640 acres (260 ha) south of Sycamore Canyon, where the existing trail ended, making him one of the Big Sur region's first homesteaders.[2]

Post homestead on Highway 1 circa 1930

The family moved to the Soberanes Ranch in Big Sur where W.B was foreman. Ezequiel Soberanes operated a prosperous cattle and sheep ranch for 24 years in the area now known as Garrapata State Park. The Soberanes family, locally famed for their musical talents, offered their hospitality to other ranchers traveling along the coast to Monterey.[6]

The Post family added two sons, Frank and Joe, while living at the Soberanes Ranch. W. B. built a single-room cabin with a kitchen on the homestead about 20 miles (32 km) south of the Soberanes Ranch in 1867. The family divided its time between their homestead and the Soberanes Ranch until 1877, when son Joe constructed a two-story addition that provided room for the entire family.[2] W.B. raised cattle, hogs, and apples on the land and sold his products to stores in Monterey County. He also sold tanbark to George and William Notley. The tanbark was harvested from the isolated trees inland, corded, brought out by mule back or using wooden sleds, and loaded by cable onto waiting vessels anchored offshore at Notley's Landing. The bark was used to manufacture tannic acid, necessary to the growing leather tanning industry located in Santa Cruz, across the bay from Monterey.[2][5]

The ranch was initially at the end of a horse trail from Monterey.[7] The trail was gradually improved into a road and Monterey County declared the Old Coast Road a public road in 1885. In 1886 Charles Bixby, who owned land 15 miles (24 km) to the north of the Post Ranch, improved the road between his ranch and Monterey, and W.B. extended it further south to his ranch. A son, Joseph William Post, was born on the ranch. In 1888, Joseph Post won a government contract to build a road to connect the road his father built and Point Sur, the future site of the Point Sur Lighthouse.[8]

In 1920, the 26 mi (42 km) trip from Carmel in a light spring wagon pulled by two horses could be completed in about 11 hours. A lumber wagon pulled by four horses could make the trip in 13 hours. The road was impassable for most of each winter. Dr. John L. Roberts first proposed improving the wagon road into a highway in 1915.[9]

The southern region of Monterey County coast was isolated from the few settlements in the north by the steep and rugged terrain. To the south of Posts, there was no road beyond the Pfeiffer Resort and Ranch, only a foot and horseback trail.[10] During the 18th century, the trail began at the Post Ranch and climbed inland to the crest of the coastal ridge. To avoid the steep canyons along the coast, the trail followed the coastal ridge over Anderson Peak and Cone Peak to locations in the south, including homesteads at Slates Hot Springs, the Harlan and Dani families at Lucia, the mining town of Manchester, and the Plaskett family in Pacific Valley near what is now known as Gorda.[11]^: 38[12][13]

Big Sur’s first post office, named "Posts", was in their house.[14] Confusion ensued when mail intended for the Presidio was sent to Big Sur, and mail for the military post was sent to the local residents. The residents changed the name of the post office to Arbolado (Spanish: 'woodland'), but that was confused by the post office for Alvarado, a street in Monterey. The post office operated at Posts from 1889 to 1910; it was moved in 1905 several miles northwest to the Pfeiffer Ranch Resort in what later became the Big Sur Village.[2] Finally, the English-speaking homesteaders petitioned the United States Post Office in Washington, D.C., to change the name of their post office from Arbolado to Big Sur, and the rubber stamp using that name was returned on March 6, 1915, cementing the use of Big Sur as the place name.[15]^: 8[16]^: 7[17][18]

After James enlarged his father's cabin in 1877, the family hosted visitors as was the custom of the time until 1910, when a discourteous guest caused his wife to began charging visitors.

W.B. and Anselma's youngest son, Joe, married Rebecca Elizabeth Gilkey, a neighbor of Cherokee descent. They gradually bought other family member's claims, acquiring nearly 1,500 acres (610 ha). Their son Bill continued to lead pack trips into the interior and worked as a cowboy and rancher. Bill was hired to carry the mail from Monterey to Big Sur, and on one of his trips he met Irene Fredericks in Monterey. The couple opened a small resort and café named Rancho Sierra Mar near the Post family home, which they ran with their two children, Billy and Mary. The resort and cafe are now part of the Post Ranch Inn.[7] John Steinbeck was one of the ranch's hired hands in 1920.[19] He wrote a letter to the family thanking them for stagecoach fare back to Salinas. The letter is preserved at the inn as one of the earliest samples of his writing.[20]

Their son Billy, born Joseph William Post III on August 24, 1920, drove cattle as a young man from the ranch to the rail road in Monterey. The trip took three days.[21] At Malpaso Creek, he had to bring the cattle to the beach and wait for low tide to get the cattle to the other side.[22] Descendants of the Ohlone people, the Post family was recorded on the Census Roll for Indians in 1933 as members of the "Mission Carmel" tribe.[23]

The Post Ranch used to be much larger. To avoid foreclosure, W.B. Post sold part of the ranch west of the Old Coast Road to Russell Fields in 1926. This later became known as Ventana and Coastlands.[22] Long-time Big Sur resident and contractor Sam Trotter built a home there in 1938 at 14 Upper Coastlands.[24][25]

Billy went to school to become a veterinarian, but college was interrupted by World War II. He joined the Marine Corps and served in the Pacific. He returned home to run the ranch. Bill married Lynette Hettich on February 12, 1955,[26] and they had two girls, Gayle and Rebecca. When he divorced, he raised the two daughters on his own.[7][27]

Billy worked for Caltrans as a highway electrician for many years. In the 1960s he met Luci Leonard Lee, a business woman with two daughters. They married in 1969 and in 1973 they returned to Big Sur to help his ailing parents. After their passing, he and Luci moved into the home he had built for his parents, now called the Post House. They later moved to Carmel Valley.[7][20]

On January 11, 1972, the Post family sold 200 acres to Big Sur Ventana Corporation, including the Post House which sits on Highway 1 across from the entrance to Post Ranch Inn. The company built the Ventana Big Sur Resort. The red New England–style house is now a registered historical landmark.[7][20]

The 41 cabins and cottages at Post Ranch Inn are located along a rocky-ridged cliff overlooking the ocean. The rooms and cottages include ocean-view lodgings with treehouses on stilts and the freestanding Cliff House, which features a deck at the edge of a 1,200 feet (370 m)-high ocean bluff. Each room is named after a Post family member or Big Sur pioneer and feature a period photo of that individual.[20][29] The rooms are built from recycled redwood, steel, and stone featuring a modern design incorporating glass and wood stoves.[30][31] Rooms feature king-size beds, wood-burning fireplaces, indoor or outdoor spa tubs, a private deck, and digital music systems.[32]

The Inn advertises the opportunity for seclusion and reflection. The rooms do not contain televisions or alarm clocks. Guests must be 18 years old or older.[30] The modern resort's spa features its own products made using locally picked flowers.[31] The Inn offers yoga classes, guided hikes, and stargazing outings.[30] As of 2022, a double room is USD $1,823 (£1345.06) per night. Rates include breakfast and valet parking. The Inn loans Lexus cars to guests. A buffet breakfast, minibar in each room, and snacks are included in the room rate.[31]

The Inn offers complimentary breakfast to guests and breakfast, lunch, and dinner to guests and the public at the Forbes Travel Guide rated Four-Star Sierra Mar restaurant. Its wine cellar carries more than 15,000 bottles and 3,200 varying selections. Wine Spectator has awarded the restaurant its Grand Award on several occasions.[32] The restaurant borrows its name from the original Rancho Sierra Mar, a restaurant and service station built by Bill Post Jr. In 1945 after he returned from serving in the Pacific during World War II. His son Bill III and his wife Irene operated it with their two children, Billy and Mary, through the 1960s. Irene died in 1975 at age 76 and Bill Jr died in 1978 at age 82.[33] Mary Post Fleenor continued to operate it until she closed it in 1972. When his sister Mary died in 1989, Billy established a trust in her name to pay the educational expenses for 11 children of family and friends. The new Sierra Mar restaurant was dedicated to Mary on its opening night.[29] Billy III was described as "the last cowboy" of the Big Sur region. He died on July 26, 2009, at age 88.[20][34] The current restaurant offers a Prix-Fixe Lunch for $75.00 as of 2023 and dinner is $145.[35]