Roadtrip to Stockton, California

Sunday mornings in the late 1970s and early 80s I watched (loved) The Big Valley. Barbara Stanwyck (illustration) played the matron and widow of the Barkley clan, Victoria, and owner of the Barkley Ranch located near Stockton, CA. She was tough as nails and always on the look out for poachers and bandits. Her character had a daughter, Audra, and 2 or 3 sons depending on the episode (Jarrod, Nick, and sometimes Eugene). She took in her deceased husband’s bastard (Heath), too.

One episode sticks in my memory. Victoria is kidnapped for a ransom. The place where she’s held captive catches fire. She struggles to escape. The flames are huge. She’s rescued in the nick of time. The drama is over the top. As a kid I lose my mind. I may be traumatized still.

During the pandemic we drove to Stockton. It’s close to Concord, and we were bored. No surprise it was a “ghost town.” For a split second I thought of Victoria Barkley and Audra having a meal in some fancy restaurant. No sign of Eugene because he was studying medicine in Berkeley. Jarrod was finishing his day in court prosecuting a poacher while Nick and Heath were gathering supplies for the ranch. We walked around a bit and stood by the river where Jarrod hopped on a ferry for trips to San Francisco. I can’t say The Big Valley motivated me to head west but its setting captured my imagination. The whole experience through Stockton was strangely satisfying.

Barbara Stanwyck was Victoria Barkley in The Big Valley