M. Hall McAllister, renowned San Francisco attorney and orator, bought the another part of Rancho San Geronimo in 1854. Samuel Cutler Ward and his two cousins M. Hall McAllister (1826–1888) and Ward McAllister (1827–1895) joined the gold rush in 1849. Six months after his arrival in San Francisco, he returned to New York City with a newly acquired fortune. There he met financial failure, and returned to California in 1851, where he remained for the next five years.