Johnson's Ranch was the first settlement in California reached by emigrant trains using the Emigrant ("Donner") Trail. It was part of the original 1844 Don Pablo Gutierrez Land Grant, and in 1849 part of the ranch was set aside as a government reserve called Camp Far West. The property was sold at auction to William Johnson in 1854, and in 1866 the town of Wheatland was laid out on a portion of the grant.