Photo of Temecula cowboys overlooks Wolf Store

| Friday, June 6, 2003 10:00 PM PDT ∞

Teri Figueroa
Staff Writer

TEMECULA ---- Seven weathered cowboys are once again watching over Vail Ranch, just as they did 50 years ago.

Cars have replaced the cattle and developments have mowed down some of the rolling, grassy hills, but the spirit of early Temecula ---- the one old-timers smile about and local history books celebrate ---- has a home.

Take a peek on the side of the new Kohl's department store on Highway 79 South and there it is, overlooking the historic buildings of old Vail Ranch: a giant photo of seven ranch hands who once herded cows at that very site.

The photo ---- likely taken by famous author Erle Stanley Gardner ---- came from a collection owned by 81-year-old James "Sandy" Vail Wilkinson, whose family owned Vail Ranch.

Wilkinson, who called the ranch home for a short spell in 1950, said the photo is a "fitting" representation of the site.

June Bokma, 53, of Temecula and her twin sister, Joan Bolton, of Murrieta grew up on Vail Ranch, and are the nieces of Joe Gomez, the cowboy in the middle of the photo, fourth from the left.

Bokma remembers the day her uncle brought home that particular photo and "was all excited about it. He always liked pictures of the ranch."

"That was his life, being a cowboy," Bokma said. "And if there was a picture of it, that was great for him."

Bokma said she knew all the men in the photo and that the group had a great camaraderie and ability to work together.

"They all worked together and rode together all the time," she said. "It was like they could read each other's mind."

Gomez died in 1990, when he was in his late 70s.

"You can't stop progress," Bokma said. "The photo helps to remind you that they were there too, not just those buildings."

Local history books that include the photo raise a question as to the identities of the seven men. They seem to agree that six of the men are Chappo La Bato, Carlos Reyes, Janaro Bernel, Joe Gomez, Ben Kane and Rafael Villa. The seventh man could be Arturo Santa Maria or Reyes Loborin.

Darell Farnbach, president of the Vail Ranch Restoration Association, said Kohl's agreed to pay for and put up the photo.

He sent the retail company five different photos and company officials opted for the one that now hangs on the side of the building.

"That photo really embodies the ranch," Farnbach said.

The photo overlooks seven historic buildings nestled on a 4-acre site east of Kohl's. An agreement between Riverside County and Price Legacy, the developer of the shopping center, paves the way for the restoration of the buildings ---- including Wolf Store, a general store built by entrepreneur Louis Wolf about a century ago.

As for the photo making its debut on the wall, though, there was one snafu.

Farnbach said the contractor sort of, well, put the photo up on the wrong wall. He said the contractor had called him with questions about the schematic, which he said was backward.

Farnbach thought the two had wrangled the confusion ---- that is, until he drove by the store last week to see the photo and "lo and behold, there it is on the wrong side of the building."

"I knew it was utterly a mistake," Farnbach said. "It's just kind of silly."

He figures that the sign contractor didn't realize that the photo was meant to watch over the ranch on the east, and instead put it up on the west side of the building, where it can easily be seen from busy Redhawk Parkway.

A Kohl's spokeswoman did not respond to numerous phone calls this week, and provided no other information than a voice mail message that the mural would be moved to the other side of the building.

The photo was placed in the correct spot Friday.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2623, or tfigueroa@californian.com.

6/7/03