FIFTH GENERATION

58. Benjamin Howard MCKISSICK ^{(144) (145)} was born in 1859 in Suisun, Solano, CA. He died in 1903. The year 1892 saw some changes in the ranching operation of Jacob McKissick. He had been in partners with his nephew, Howard, for several years, but now he turned all of his ranches over to Howard to run. Howard was only thirty-two years of age, but he had proven himself so capable of running Jake's ranches that Jake had first taken him in as a partner and now, since he was getting old and incapable of taking care of his vast holdings himself, he simply retired and turned the entire business over to Howard. Howard was the only son of Pink McKissick. He had been a boy of about ten when his family had moved into Secret Valley. Pink was not the businessman that his older brother, Jake, was and did not take the same interest in cattle ranching that Jake did. But Howard, on the other hand, took an active interest in cattle ranching and at a very early age exhibited the same practical business traits that his Uncle Jake was famous for. I working on Jake's ranches, Howard became a perfectionist at everything he did. He was a superb horse trainer and buckaroo. He could handle large jerkline horse teams with ease, using his skills for such jobs as hauling grain to Jake's ranches or freighting wool at shearing time from Smoke Creek to Reno. At handling a riata he was unequally, except maybe by his cousin, Buster, and then it would have been a close match. He could not only use a riata, but he was very skilled at braiding them. He braided riatas and hackamores and most anything that could be made form rawhide. And he was as fine a McCarty (hair rope) marker as there ever was or ever will be. He twisted the horse hair with such fine craftsmanship as to give a factory-made appearance to his McCarties. He used his skills as a businessman to such a degree of perfection also. He always took care of Uncle Jake's affairs with the utmost of care and calculation. Pink McKissick left the area in 1883 and moved to Idaho and eventually back to Iowa where the McKissicks were from. When he left the country he sold his Secret Valley land to Jake, and Howard kept his livestock and other property. By that time, at the age of only twenty-three Howard was already basically in charge of the Secret Valley and Madeline Ranches. He lived at Secret Valley during the winters, usually, but made his headquarters at the Madeline Ranch in the summers, and some years he lived there year-round. By 1889, Howard owned the old, original Secret Valley Ranch by then, and most of the livestock were in his name. The following spring after the bad winter of 1889-90, they had lost cattle and other livestock by the hundreds. They lost an entire band of sheep, killed by deep and heavy snow preventing them from getting to the feed. From that year forth, as long as the property was held by any of the McKissick family, there was never another band of sheep ran on the McKissick lands. It is believed that Jake gave the Long Valley Ranch to Howard as a wedding gift. At any rate, regardless of how he got it, Howard became the owner of the property at Long Valley and he and his new bride made their home there in the huge, two-story house that Jake had built over thirty years before. Jake had decided it was time for him to sit back and relax some. So, he retired, living some of the time in Reno, but most of the time with Howard and Lulu. They took care of him like he was their father as he got older. As the years went along, Howard continued to expand the McKissick holdings and to improve the property they already had. At that time the McKissick outfit was probably the largest operation in both Lassen County, California and Washoe County, Nevada.

He was married to Lulu L. BLACK on 10 Jan 1892 in California. Lulu L. BLACK died in 1919. She was born in Prudy, , CA. Benjamin Howard MCKISSICK and Lulu L. BLACK had the following children:

+158 i. Howard Frank MCKISSICK.