Leland Stanford (1824-1893) was an American industrialist and politician, and founder of Stanford University. Migrating to California from New York during the Gold Rush, he became a merchant and successfully built his business empire. He was one of the founders of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads and served as California's governor and then U.S. senator.

In 1876, Leland Stanford and his wife, Jane, purchased 650 acres of El Rancho San Francisquito, the perfect location to develop a stock farm for trotting horses. Ultimately, this land would become the site of one of the premier institutions of higher learning in the world: Stanford University.