James B. Wilson, a gold miner and veteran of the Civil War, arrived in southern Nevada in 1869. He first started a ranch near the original Las Vegas Rancho, but sold that property. In 1876 he homesteaded the Sandstone Ranch at this location with George Anderson. Anderson later left, but his sons stayed and were later adopted by Wilson. During this period they raised vegetables and cattle. Upon Wilson's death in 1906, Jim Jr. and Tweed Wilson inherited the ranch. Later owners included Willard George, a childhood friend of the Wilson boys and a relative of the Kiel family, who was also a celebrated furrier in Hollywood and raised chinchillas on the ranch; radio star Chet Lauck, "Lum" of the popular "Lum and Abner" radio show, who turned the ranch into a horse ranch with his good friend Don Ameche; German Baroness Vera Krupp, who changed the name to Spring Mountain Ranch; and Howard Huges. The Nevada division of state parks purchased the ranch in 1974 from businessman Fletcher Jones when he proposed developing the property into a private equestrian-themed community.