In 1873, Burnett decided to sell the ranch and return to Scotland. There are many stories as to why he lost his fancy for ranching, but the one seeming most accurate was the Lady Burnett grew homesick for her native land and wished to spend her last years there.

Daniel Freeman, a Canadian, leased Sausal Redondo in 1873, for a yearly rental of $7,500.00 with an option to buy for $150,000. This document was recorded and is available for inspection today. Freeman came to California after reading a popular book of the time entitled, "California: for Health, Pleasure and Residence," written by a Charles Nordhoff. Freeman inspected a number of ranches in San Gabriel and San Fernando and chose the Sausal Redondo because he believed the cool air and the view of the mountains would be beneficial to Mrs. Freeman's health. The ranch took on new life with the occupancy of Freeman, his wife and their three children.

Freeman restocked the ranch with sheep and continued Burnett's plan of planting trees. He put out 1,500 eucalyptus and pepper trees, 7,000 orange trees, 1,800 lemons, 2,000 almonds, 400 lime and 300 olive trees. Some of these trees are still living today and, as late as the beginning of the present century, a considerable group of the fruit trees were standing the western part of Hawthorne. He also developed the underground water sources throughout the

If Hawthorne had a forest and lumber camp, this had to be it. The Hawthorne Community Hospital at 11700 Grevillea now stands on this site.

entire ranch by building windmills. He began a program of raising horses, among the best in the area. His children, Charles and Grace, were known to ride all day through the fields of wildflowers extending on all sides of the salt road to the ocean. There were poppies, lupine, wild mustard, wild horseradish and pink verbena.

In 1875 and 1876, a severe drought caused a great loss of Freeman stock comprising over 50,000 head of sheep and cattle. Two seasons without rain killed thousands of animals.

Twenty-two thousand head drowned in the sea, of which ten thousand jumped off the cliffs of present day Palos Verdes. Freeman saved the remainder of his herd by driving the animals into the mountains. As a result of this disaster, Freeman started dry farming and grew barley. These golden fields stretched as far as the sea and produced a million bushes annually, some of which were shipped around the Horn to Europe.