Ruddick's
Family
Site

Lewis M. Ruddick
1836 - 1910
A Mendocino County, California pioneer
Father of a large pioneer Ukiah, California, family. Made
two trips to California. The first was
via the Isthmus of
Panama and the second
was overland by wagon. Too young to leave
for the California gold fields in 1849 he had to bide his time
until the
middle 1850's. After trying his hand for
a time in the Sierra gold fields of Calaveras/Amador Counties he came
to the Ukiah Valley and in 1857
homesteaded a piece of property located on the east side of the Russian
River
southeast of the current City of Ukiah on what is now identified as
Cunningham-Ruddick Rd. His ranch became
the stopping over point for the Ruddicks who moved west from Indiana to northern California, Oregon and Washington. This ranch
has remained in the Ruddick family continously since its founding.