Penn Valley rancher finds his family’s homesteading roots

Submitted photos by Laura Brown Matthew Shapero raises grass fed lamb on 90 leased acres, The Buckeye Ranch, named after his homesteading ancestor's ranch of the same name in Penn Valley.

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Submitted photo The house in the background is the second structure built on the original Buckeye Ranch; dating from the late 1860s, it was built near what is today the end of Spenceville Road in Penn Valley. In the foreground, starting from the left, is "Jennie" Arthur Church (1836-1909), followed by her children Viola Inez Church Baker Morgan (1881-1966), then Bernard Warner (later Munson Warner) Church (1871-1945), who later sat on Nevada Irrigation District's first board of directors, then Arthur Stoddard Church (1866-1941), and finally, an unknown boarder. Viola Church was Matthew Shapero's maternal great-grandmother.

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Submitted photos by Laura Brown Matthew Shapero raises grass fed lamb on 90 leased acres, The Buckeye Ranch, named after his homesteading ancestor's ranch of the same name in Penn Valley.

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Submitted photos by Laura Brown Matthew Shapero and his dog, "Nellie" take a break in the shade of an oak tree on The Buckeye Ranch in Penn Valley. Shapero, formerly of Red Rocker Farm, is raising grass fed lamb on 90 acres and growing 14 varieties of garlic. The ranch is located about a mile from where Shapero's ancestors ranched for nearly a century, a detail of his family history that he only recently discovered.

With lambing season set to begin, Matthew Shapero looks every bit the rancher in his new home surroundings, The Buckeye Ranch, located in the heart of Penn Valley’s rich agricultural community. “I feel much more connected to this landscape, the openness,” Shapero said, walking on the road with his border collie, “Nellie” toward the sheep foraging in the sunny green pasture under a wide-open sky. Shapero adopted the name The Buckeye Ranch in homage to his ancestors who homesteaded 1,000 acres less than a mile away, raising sheep and cattle for nearly a century from 1850 to 1940. Starting his …