The Newport Harbor Buffalo Ranch

Photo by Google Earth

On the corner of MacArthur Blvd. and Bonita Canyon in Newport Beach stands a statue of an animal that looks out of place.  You might expect the sculpture of an American Bison… Buffalo… to be found in Wyoming, Kansas, or Montana, but no. There in the middle of some of the most valuable real estate on earth stands a lone bronze buffalo, contentedly looking out at the cars as they pass. But why here?  Because at one time, that very corner was the center of buffalo country, Orange County style.

As we have said here before, California history is rich with tales of dreams that hit it big, or fade into obscurity, and many entrepreneurs came up with attractions to garner tourist dollars.  Orange County seemed an especially appealing place to bring animals to roam the open spaces that once rolled for miles without a house in sight.  There were ostrich, deer, and alligator farms, bird sanctuaries and one very large development dedicated to a variety of African animals called Lion Country Safari.  More on that later.

In 1955, a different sanctuary sprang up, founded by Irvine Company’s Gene Clark and Chief Cuthle Geronimo III, great grandson of famous Apache warrior.  They secured a large 115-acre site in Newport Beach, California.  Clark wanted visitors to come to a wildlife park, drive among the live bison, and stop at the Porter Western Store to pick up souvenirs. There was a train and a fire engine for kids to ride. He named it the Newport Harbor Buffalo Ranch, “the West’s Largest Buffalo Ranch!”

Porter’s store was constructed to resemble a barn, and adjacent to the barn stood a tall, white silo where you could purchase a delicious buffalo burger… fresh off the farm made from one of the former residents.  In fact, for a while Knott’s Berry Farm would occasionally purchase one of the animals for their own Buffalo Burger nights.  

Several Native Americans relocated from Kansas for the park and would greet visitors to explain the fine points of native culture and buffalo hunting. They built a small, touristy Indian village, where you could watch live demonstrations of tribal dances. They ran a petting zoo with other farm animals like goats and sheep.

72 Buffalo were the first residents, arriving in November of 1955.  The population grew to around 100, but timing is everything.  There were other attractions opening across Southern California, and the Buffalo ranch had a hard time competing with Knotts, Disneyland (both of which also had Indian villages), and Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes. The ranch couldn’t keep up. Though plans had been made to build a conference center, the expansion never materialized.  The herd dwindled, and the ranch closed just four years later.

Many of the bison remained for years, even as the neighborhood homes sprang up around.  Ford Motor Company built a facility across the street, bordered by MacArthur, Jamboree, and Ford Road.  The University of California, Irvine was sprouting up on nearby land, and campus designer William Pereira accepted a contract to also create the layout of the city of Irvine.  He needed a local office. Being a lover of barn buildings, Pereira converted the Porter building and dubbed it “Urbanus Square.” He kept four of the animals: Becky, Happy, Rainbow, and Lucky. 

But in five years, even Pereira had to move out.  The land was just too ripe for development.  A Huntington Beach man named John Cogorno took Happy, Rainbow, and Lucky to his ranch to live out their remaining days.  Becky was sold to the Orange County Fairgrounds, where she later gave birth to a calf, Tatonka. 

The bronze statue is the only remaining evidence, standing behind a plaque on the corner by the sidewalk. It marks the Ranch as follows:

“In 1954, Myford Irvine granted a 115-acre lease to the Newport Harbor Buffalo Ranch for a sightseeing attraction in this location. The Buffalo Ranch provided a glimpse of the colorful days of the Old West with buildings, cowboys, chuckwagons, and Native Americans. The ranch was home to over 100 bison that were overlooked by Chief Cuthle Geronimo III, grandson of the famous Apache chieftain. The original Buffalo Ranch buildings, designed in an authentic western style including a barn and silo, were located on this corner.”

5 Out of 4 Ate Here

It was 1955, and Orange County looked to have a lot of tourist potential, provided all things went according to plan.  Sure, there were many who scoffed at the idea of an amusement park based on Mickey Mouse, but there were many who doubted Walt Disney before, and regretted it. 

So, just down Harbor Boulevard from where Disneyland was being constructed, Harvey and Charlotte found a piece of land where they could build a restaurant. The building was not that large, and sat about 35 people, but everyone knew about it for two reasons. First, Belisle’s was hard to miss. It was a bright pink landmark on the corner of Harbor and Chapman Avenue in Garden Grove.  Harvey chose pink because he liked the way it drew your attention, just as it did for the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.  

But Belisle’s Restaurant had one other famous caloric feature: the servings of everything on the menu were enormous.  No, not just big, or generous.  They were enormous. They served catfish, and hush puppies, beef ribs and meatloaf. They served stacks of pancakes and plates full of bacon. But these were not your average restaurant portions.  The Los Angeles Times once described the meatloaf “about the size of the crankcase,” and the generous portions extended to desserts too, in the unlikely event you felt like more food.  They had a banana split that looked like a mountain, and an enormous strawberry pie covered in whipped cream.

The place was open 24 hours a day and attracted people from all walks of life.  Many will say that Belisle’s was built to feed the crews who built Disneyland, but Disneyland and Belisle’s opened just months apart. Still, there were hotels that sprang up along Harbor, and construction workers were regulars.  And many notables stopped in as well, such as Ronald Reagan, Architect Phillip Johnson (Architect of the Crystal Cathedral, just east on Chapman), and even Cesar Chavez, who, as you might expect, requested that there would be no lettuce or grapes in his meal. 

Belisle’s started out small, but it grew over time.  The place was always packed, with lines waiting for the gluttonous portions of pancakes on Sunday Mornings.  For a while, a large man dressed in a chef’s hat would stand on the corner flagging cars to stop by… a novelty back then, but as the novelty wore off, Belisle’s upped the game by adding a little person also dressed as a chef.  They added wing on to the pink building, and a towering sign with a circus motif and changeable message board… though it almost always carried the same message: “5 out of 4 eat here.”

But all good things come to an end, and after 40 years, Belisle’s was closed and razed in 1995.  The city of Garden Grove was in constant search of something to lure tourist dollars to venture south and tried several times to come up with something… anything… that might work.  Their plan for the Belisle’s property was to build a world class hotel adjacent to a new “Riverwalk” shopping district, though the adjacent “river” was nothing more than a small wash.  Through eminent domain, Garden Grove seized the Belisle’s place… and then nothing happened. 

Maybe developers got cold feet.  Maybe the land was not fit for a large complex.  But for whatever the reason, Orange County mourned the loss of their beloved Belisle’s. Little did Garden Grove realize they just destroyed one of the best attractions they ever could hope for. Today there is a Red Robin on the corner where Fresh Pies were “daked baily,” and even though you can order bottomless steak fries, they pale in comparison to the load of potatoes you could get at the mighty little pink diner that once sat at the corner of Harbor and Chapman.

The Pope House

In 1929, Owen Pope met his future wife, Dolly, when he was 16 years old. The two met in Fort Worth, Texas and were married five years later. The couple loved horses, so they developed their equestrian interest into a little show featuring Shetland ponies.

They hit the road in a trailer Owen had fashioned himself and lived the travelling show-cowboy life for several years. Their Shetlands were frequent prize winners, and as Owen and Dolly Pope’s reputation grew, so did their horse show. They toured the country, eventually doing a show at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA.

It was there that a gentleman named Harper Goff caught the Pope’s act, and he just knew his boss had to come see it too.

Goff had been a painter in civilian life, and he wanted to create ways for everyone to be able to paint pictures. But before his “paint-by-numbers” business took off, he was called to service during World War II.

Working in the painting services department in Fort Belvoir, VA, Goff came up with special camouflage designs and pigments to add to the machines of war. Employing his own paint-by-number technique, Goff’s designs became standard. He even developed several pigments that could be washed off easily, once the camouflage was deemed unnecessary.

After the War, Goff went to work for Warner Brothers, and designing and painting sets for movies. He developed a passion for model trains, and on one trip to London in 1951, Goff ran into another hobbyist who wanted to buy the same item Goff desired. The two men hit it off, and that was how Harper Goff came to work for Walt Disney. 

Now, Goff had learned his new boss had an idea to build a little park in Glendale based on his popular character, a little mouse in red pants. Walt’s park went through several plans, each one growing larger as Walt added a little western town, a stagecoach ride, and even a riding trail through a pine forest and desert area. Goff recognized that Walt was going to need someone to wrangle all those horses, and he felt Owen and Dolly would be perfect for the job.

Disney did meet the Popes, and offered them a job, carving out a section of the Disney Studio lot for the Popes to raise horses. Walt’s plans had now grown quite large, with a Main Street complete with horse-drawn carriages and trollies. The little lot where Walt originally planned to build Mickey Mouse Land was too small to hold it all, and you know how Disneyland came to life in Anaheim.

The pony ranch was moved to Anaheim too. The property had a few houses on it when Walt bought it, so he offered one to the Popes so they could live on property, tending the animals. They took 10 acres and created the Circle D Corral behind the park. Later, in 1971, Owen and Dolly moved to Orlando Florida to create a corral for Disney World.

The Popes not only raised the smaller horses needed for the parks, but Owen designed a small surrey, a buckboard wagon and a stagecoach. All three were used in Disneyland, and when their usefulness waned as bucolic pony and stagecoach rides lost favor to the thrills of rollercoasters, they continued to be used as display items at Thunder Ranch. Even today along the pathway that will lead from Fantasyland’s back gate to Galaxy’s edge, the stagecoach still stands, suffering the decay of neglect and time.

Finally, you might have heard that the horse property was removed in order to make room for Galaxy’s Edge, but the Pope house was saved, refurbished, and moved to the back corner of the cast member parking lot, just off of Ball Road. Now sporting restored paint and wheelchair access, Disneyland uses the house for meetings and planning sessions. We mere mortals may not have access to look behind the fence, but you can still see it… thanks to Google Earth.