What's New?


My research during the year since the last revision began with a focus on Captain Loomis' time with the Los Angeles Police Department and his life prior to 1913, when he left the city to build his ranch in the mountains.

I have been surprised at the amount of new information available about his LAPD career, primarily in LA Times articles. The ProQuest collection of historic Los Angeles Times newspaper articles from 1881 to present has been an amazing source of information about the early days of the LAPD and the police career of Captain Loomis.

My focus expanded with the discovery of the Wandalee Thompson Collection of the Sierra Madre Historical Archives, located in the Sierra Madre Public Library. The collection has provided valuable glimpses of life at the ranch. The Collection contains many photographs of the Loomises and the Ranch, and original copies of two journals written by Captain Loomis. The Captain's journals provide personal details and unique perspectives on his life. The Archives recently received another contribution from Muir Thompson which included the "The True Loomis Stories", by Elsie Corwin, which provide wonderful snapshots of life on the Ranch.

Prior to this project, most of the information written concerning Captain Loomis and the Ranch could be traced back to an excellent article that appeared in Trails Magazine written by Odo B. Stade (see The Last Homestead). In reviewing sources of information for this project, it became apparent that Mr. Stade's brief biography of Captain Loomis was the single source for much of the information previously published about his life. That is partially true for this project as well. One of my goals is to independently verify existing information wherever possible, while continuing to search for new sources of information.

Release Summary


03/22/07 - An overall site revision. The entire site has been re-organized, and a significant amount of new material has been added, including:
- "What's New" page
- Captain Loomis section
- Life on the Ranch section
- The Elsie Corwin Stories
- New photos
- New stories
- Historic documents and articles

12/5/05 - Minor editorial corrections. No change in content, except as noted.
- Fixed problem with missing page 11 in "The Last Homestead"
- Changed format of "The Last Homestead" to improve readability and
reduce file size
- Added new contact email address

11/24/05 - Second edition (first update).
- Added historic photo album - Sierra Club photos
- Added several new pages for future work
- Revised description of 1938 flood repair
- Added initial draft of 1945 honeymoon story
- Rearranged some pages and documents
- Added additional pages for future work

11/17/05 - Initial site published. Included:
- A Visit to the Loomis Ranch
- The Last Homestead
- The Great Flood of 1938 - First Draft
- The Loomis Family - Initial Draft
- Links to six documents with Loomis Ranch comments

Areas of Continuing Research


I have had little luck finding information on the period from 1903 through 1913. Most of the available information is from Odo Stade's 1938 article. I am continuing to look for information on this period, with particular interest in:
1. Contracting and construction activities
2. Cemetery development and management
a. Evergreen Cemetery
b. Inglewood Park Cemetery
c. Portland, OR, cemetery
d. Other cemeteries
3. His partnership with Babbit Bros. and Company
4. His work on the Taft to LA natural gas pipeline.