Originally from the eastern United States, Morse moved west and fell in love with the Monterey Peninsula, eventually owning and preserving vast acreage while also developing golf courses and The Lodge at Pebble Beach.

Although he inherited a considerable sum upon his father's death in 1905, he decided to move out west to begin working on his own after graduation.

During World War II, he also leased the Hotel Del Monte and land to the navy to be used as a flight school for 2000 cadets.

The resort also reflected a sign of the times as initially African Americans and "people under the former subjection of the Ottoman Empire" were not allowed to own property within Del Monte; however this ban was lifted in the 1960s by his son-in-law Richard Osborne, president of the company.

In the late 1950s Morse proposed opening a shopping center in Monterey, which aroused much controversy and opposition from the downtown merchants.

[citation needed] Morse married his first wife Ann Camden Thompson on 29 June 1907 at Staatsburg-on-the-Hudson, Dutchess County, New York.

[4] Morse bought back 500 acres (200 ha) of land located in Carmel Valley and named it River Ranch.