Two orphaned German immigrant brothers came to the United States of America, and one of them, John Hermann Deutschke, made his way to California and married Maria Agnes Winter, who had been widowed on the journey west. In 1862, he purchased the first of various portions of the land that became the Dutschke Ranch. His son, Charles Jacob Dutschke, inherited the ranch and left it to his two sons, Herman and Carleton Dutschke, who operated it as Dutschke Brothers Ranch. For more than 150 years and at the time of this dedication, the ranch continued under Dutschke family ownership.