Glide Ranch

Photo of Glide Ranch in duo-tone, mid-1990s? This photo in in question... see comments in entry

Thornton ("Tawny") S. Glide, Jr. and his wife, Katrina ("Scatter") Dangberg Glide owned and operated the T.S. Glide Ranch. Though both are now deceased, they established a charitable foundation to protect animals, wildlife, agriculture and the environment of Yolo County. The Glide Foundation operates out of the Pierce Ranch, the sister ranch to the Glide Ranch. Both are located in the Outskirts of Davis, off Russell Boulevard past Cactus Corner. Fairfield School is across the street.

The Glide Foundation rents office space to nonprofits that work in line with their mission. Currently housed at the Glide Ranch are:

• State headquarters of Community Alliance with Family Farmers
  

• Field office of ATTRA, the National Center for Appropriate Technology
  

• Field office of CCOF, California Certified Organic Farmers
  

• Field office of FarmLink

• Lease land to grass-fed cattle rancher
  

• House & care for some 30-odd rescue horses
  

• Is a historical building, built some 100 years ago
  

• Located on Putah Creek
  

• Looks like an oasis of palm trees from the road
  

• Gardener cares for many rose varieties in Scatter's garden
  

• It's totally off-limits to walk about the ranch or lands
  

• but you may visit any of the nonprofits to get a look at the inside of Glide Ranch
  

• Glide has a magnificent board room, can be occasionally used by outside groups
  

• There are a few rental properties on the Glide/Pierce land. Great for vet grad students.

Glide Ranch, by Timothy Rice

Rumors and Questions

The Glides are practically historical figures in Davis. But before history, comes gossip. What all is true? Maybe the wiki can help gather the facts from those who know...

• The Glides were well-known in the Davis community and beyond. Do any old-timers out there know how she got the nickname 'Scatter'?
  

• They say that Pierce Ranch was built so close to Glide Ranch because of some story about a visiting sister. Does anyone know the whole story?
  

• It's also said that the Glide Family owned a huge amount of land in this area because they were buying up land around the would-be train tracks. But tracks went through the mountains instead, so they ended up with land that could be used for ag.
  

• One final bit - I heard that the Glides felt that the UC was pressuring Davis landholders to sell their land, and that this was partly why the Glides wanted their lands put into a trust. Can anyone verify this?

What can you tell us about the Glides? Give a source, if you can.

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2007-05-13 03:28:52   My father leased the entire Glide ranch from Putah Creek north for many years from the '60s until the 90's. I can not place the house you show. The only thing close is the old Chapman house, which is directly east of the Chapman's property, which borders the north end of the Glides'. Or maybe it is the house at the bend in the road from Winters to Putah Creek. I new Joe and Marnell Glide quite well. He was very reserved and she was a real character. She used to speak about when she grew up adjacent to an indian reservation. She said the indian kids would try to get her to eat bananas with the skin on, while she tried to get them to eat them with the skin off. I spent the majority of my childhood on that ranch, along with the Chapman and Scott Ranches. We had 'em all.

Source: Me —Ernie

• Hi Ernie. Both the photo and the drawing are of the same place, 36355 Russell Blvd. I only know it as the Glide Ranch House, but maybe it has another name. It's still at this address. The last Glide to live there was 'Scatter', while the Glide Foundation operates out of nearby Pierce Ranch House. You should stop by and have a look around.—JoRo
  

2007-05-13 21:37:09   Joe(J.H.) Glide told us that when he was 10 years old (turn of the century)he had a CA driver's license signed by the governor. He also had a private zoo and chauferred limosine. The family had seven fully stocked and wardrobed ranches at the time, so all they had to do was travel from one to the other, as desired. —Ernie

2008-02-22 13:04:22   The Pierce ranch was owned by Scatter Glide. There was never a sister who lived there. Scatter's sisters all resided at their "home ranch" in Minden, NV. The picture of the house above is the back of the "glide home ranch" and was drawn after their deaths in July of 1995, since the back of the house had been altered to remove the "bird porch". The limosine belonged to Mr. Glide's father and he personally never used it. It was stored in the barn until it was sold after his death. His car was a 1950 black cadillac that also was stored there and sold after his death. Mr. Glide inherited the ranch from his father. He purchased the Pierce ranch (for the Mrs.) and the Russell ranch directly to the west of the home ranch. The rumor of seven fully stocked and wardrobed ranches is not true, Scatter kept her home ranch in Minden, NV stocked and visited often. The Glide's always believed in preserving ranch land and animal husbandry. They had no heirs and left their estate to provide for preservation of land and animals. Mr. Glide had one sister who has since passed away; Scatter's sister's preceded her in death. I worked for the Glide's for many years and found their love of the land and animals a very heartfelt and wonderful thing. —Goose