Ridleys Ferry, California

Ridleys Ferry, later Benton Mills, is a former settlement in Mariposa County, California.

[1] It was located on the south bank of the Merced River, opposite the settlement of Bagby.

[1] It was on the Rancho Las Mariposas, an 1844 Mexican land grant acquired in 1847 by John C. Frémont.

During the California Gold Rush Frémont built a stamp mill at Ridleys Ferry, and renamed it Benton Mills in honor of his father-in-law Senator Thomas Hart Benton.

[1] Thomas E. Ridley operated a ferry across the Merced River at the site from 1850 to 1852.