Henry W. "Harry" Coe, Jr., and his brother Charles were both born in what is now San Jose, on lands owned by their father, Henry W. Coe, Sr., a transplanted New Hampshire native. Harry was born on April 17, 1860. In 1905, when Harry was 45 years old, he and his wife, Rhoda Dawson Sutcliffe, moved into the Pine Ridge Ranch house.
Henry W. Coe, Jr., died on March 18, 1943, and left the Pine Ridge Ranch to his son, Henry Sutcliff Coe. In 1948, Henry sold the ranch to the Beach Land and Cattle Company of Fresno County. During its short-lived ownership of the land, the company built the network of roads that we hike, bike, and ride on in Coe Park today. Henry's daughter Sada repurchased the Pine Ridge Ranch in 1950 and operated it through the spring of 1951 as a successful working cattle ranch.
In 1953, Sada donated the 12,230-acre ranch as parklands to Santa Clara County. She wanted the new parkland to be preserved as a memorial to her father and the other early cattle pioneers in California. If you follow what we now call the Monument Trail about a half mile up to the top of the ridge behind the ranch house, you'll find a monument that Sada put in place over 40 years ago. These are the words she had inscribed on the monument:
To the memory of
Henry Willard Coe
April 17, 1860 - March 18, 1943,
known to his friends as Harry Coe,
this park is respectfully dedicated
in the year of our Lord 1955.
May these quiet hills bring peace
To the souls of those who are seeking.
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