Remote corrals are to the rancher as computers are to the writer-they can get along without them but they save time and energy and add to the efficiency of the operation. The circulation of livestock on the island depended on the location of roundup grounds and the various construction designs of the corrals. On the island, two kinds of corral enclosures were used and still exist: the corrals at the ranch complex that were used for a number of functions, including holding, treatment, and shipping, and the roundup corrals scattered around the island, where cattle would be herded from the surrounding rangelands into the corral (with the help of a wing fence), separated as necessary, and moved to the ranch complex at Bechers Bay for shipment.

Main Ranch Corrals
The extensive corrals at the ranch complex at Bechers Bay performed an important function in sorting and caring for cattle. They saw most use around the time of shipping, as newly arriving calves could be sorted and penned and outgoing steers lodged temporarily while being weighed and evaluated. Horses occupied the horse corral adjacent to the horse barn at roundup time.

Their layout is complex, with particular corrals used for various activities such as weighing stock, doctoring, observation, watering, and selection. The long pen paralleling the eucalyptus windbreak was used for holding cattle newly brought in for processing.

The next pen north is a watering pen, with a large trough centrally located. This pen was used for watering animals before and after shipping. It also doubled as a baseball field with local rules that included anything hit over the fence was out and anything in the water tank was a home run. To the west of the water pen is a multiuse corral adjacent to the blacksmith shop barn and rarely used for livestock except for passing through. The pens east of the horse barn were the most active at shipping time, with larger pens for holding cattle awaiting processing feeding into smaller pens that funneled the animals into either the scales, squeeze chute, dip vat, or shipping pens.

A row of six smaller pens connected by a narrow lane is aligned with the land end of the pier. These were used to separate cattle by number and weight for loading onto corresponding pens on the Vaquero II. On the opposite side of the windbreak is a series of two hospital pens with water and feed, and at the south side of the windbreak, east side, another hospital pen, also with water and feed.

Roundup Corrals
The nine remaining roundup corrals are scattered around the island and are relatively recent in origin, all but four dating from the 1960s. The roundup corrals are similar in construction and identical in purpose. The cattle were herded to the corral and sorted to the appropriate pen, i.e., animals to be shipped, animals to be treated, animals to be released back to pasture.

The corrals had to be sturdy as the strength of the recalcitrant cattle could break through a weak fence. The corrals were constructed of posts, usually retired utility poles or railroad ties, with two-by-twelve rails, and, as an additional structural element, metal road guard rails salvaged from the Air Force roadway on the south side of the island. Salvaged chain-link fencing was used in many of the corrals as an alternative to horizontal boards.

For more detailed historical information and citations, please refer to the Historic Resource Study: Island Legacies - A History of the Islands within Channel Islands National Park