 the romance of the ranchos sonora 1850 mysterious slaying of american minor los angles 1850 entire state terrorized by bandit walkie to larry valley 1851 rangers finally end career of famous desperado the title insurance and trust company of los angles presents the romance of the ranchos a weekly dramatization of the colorful events and characters who make up the history of early california each week our wandering vocaro frank graham returns with another authentic story of the romance of the ranchos the offices of the title insurance and trust company of los angles are among the many places where you may purchase united states savings bonds and stamps the company makes two suggestions and connection with your savings bond purchases first always consider them as a sound investment which they are and never as a contribution second determine just how much of your income you can possibly invest then set up a regular schedule for your savings bond buying and stick to it as a starter resolve tonight to buy a savings bond tomorrow now here to tell us the story as our wandering vocaro frank graham buenas noches señoras y señores tonight we turn to a story of violence and terror the story of the most famous and the most feared bandit who ever roamed the hills and valleys of our california often painted as the robin hood of the west he was in reality a young man blinded by revenge who became one of the most blood thirsty highwaymen of history the dramatic story of Joaquin Murrieta is a dark chapter from the romance of the ranchos the story of Joaquin Murrieta starts peacefully enough brought up of a good family in sonora mexico and steeped in the traditions of chivalry and culture of the old spanish californians he was a handsome intelligent and thoroughly honest young man like most mexicans he was upset by the mexican war but he took the defeat philosophically and even forgave the americans to the extent of deciding to make american california his home when in 1849 gold was discovered here and so it was that at the age of 18 he prepared to leave his home and ride north to the gold hills so dearie damia we are on our way and see it makes me a little sad to leave our home walking see but just think in a few years maybe even months we can return here wealthy with enough gold to live in comfort for the rest of our lives but i i cannot help feeling that we might be happier if we stayed here where we belong nonsense besides it is too late now we are already started look back take a last look at the village and say goodbye i cannot look back ah it's clarita waving to me and i have not said goodbye dearie damia will you excuse me for a moment and i will say hasta la vista to her see i will wait here tell her adios for me too see i will you were leaving without another i am sorry senorita we have been so busy getting ready i had no time but i am happy to have this chance to say hasta la vista horkin you will come back soon oh see we will not be gone such a long time oh only one maybe two years oh that is a long time and we we of the village shall meet you gracias carita i shall miss all of you too i i have a momentum for you here i i want you to have it what the wing oh but senorita is beautiful and too valuable no i cannot accept but you must it it will bring you good luck keep you safe from harm wear it always in memory of of our childhood days our childhood days carita we had great fun together hey we did here here tears come little one you must not waste tears on me save them for your husband to be no i shall never marry never mario no but even though you have married another now my heart is yours as it has always been adios carito clarita clarita come back well adios adios amigamia you have said your adios see she gave me a ring carita it is for you to keep you safe here give me your hand no walking it is not for me i understand you must wear it for her and perhaps perhaps it will keep you from harm leaving his broken hearted childhood playmate behind Joaquin and his lovely young wife karman journeyed north into california soon they reached the gold fields on the stanislaus river and took up a claim it was a good one and soon they were prospering but Joaquin was a Mexican and there were certain rough characters in the little mining camp who resented anyone but americans one day five of the hoodlums came to Joaquin's cabin what is it we're here to tell you what you're getting out of this camp but senorita you must be making a mistake this is my no mistake ombre you're moving along we're taking over your claim here who says so we do we're sick and tired of having you mexicans taking out gold a belong to this good american citizen i'm gonna run all you foreigners out of these parts senor i have as much right as you to mine here i have paid my mind it's not matter what you pay you're through get me if you won't get out bag and baggage your own free where we'll run your you'll not run me off my own land no maybe it'd rather be carried off in a pine bar stay inside get eat ice is not the same for a mexican you're a pretty piece of calico me and you could get along all right senorita you're speaking to my wife yeah which he sees and use beyond me senores i shall ask you to leave my house oh no you don't you're the one it's getting out take your hands off me you filthy brook you'll drop that filthy brood am i well i'll teach you a lesson or two here oh look out so you're what they fight senor very well yeah honey nothing to worry about just a little tap on the head and he won't bother us none for a while senor stay away from me stay back oh come on now honey i ain't so bad when you get to know me why you little vixen pull a knife would you give it to me stop please stop go away you're gonna get hurt if you don't watch out all that life why you well she asked for it i didn't want to hurt her but she asked for it when Joaquin Murrieta regained consciousness he found beside him the lifeless body of his lovely young wife wildly he found vengeance on the rowdies who had killed her but his friends calmed him and soon he left the camp and went to stay with his brother Jesus in murphy's diggings another mining camp there he was present as his brother made a financial transaction well sure why not two dollars but senor lying you want two americano don't sure it's a good mule you can't get a better one these parts for lesson three very well i would pay thank you one two things well much obliged marietta you got a good bargain i'm not too sure Jesus eh you think i'm lying i did not say that senor i meant only that perhaps the mule is a little old and may not live up to the bargain you think him to be yeah well you be careful of your tongue i'll be going now how are you yeah i'll do a senior why is that Joaquin stop put your gun back in his holster his americanos there are villains all of them why don't you let me kill him oh Joaquin my brother what good would that do you must forget this hatred of americanos they're not all bad see of course you are right Jesus we know from now on we shall try to forget the past and get along with the americanos no but it was only the next day when Joaquin Murrieta borrowed his brother's mule and rode into town as he rode down the main street what is it you want senor lying what are you doing with my mule your mule senor but you know that this is not your mule it belongs to my brother why you're lying you speaking thief you stole my mule hey there man come here if you're dirty mexican stole my mule senor what are you trying to do you know that this is my brother's mule it is not stolen at all oh shut up i say this is my mule it was stolen for me just yesterday it is not stolen yeah then where'd you get it it is my brother's he bought it well then your brother stole it please senoris let me explain hey hey what's this all about Joaquin what's the trouble ah senor burns amigo mio you must help me this man says i stole his mule sure he did we don't need you poking your nose in here burns we can handle this all right you wouldn't be fixing to have a necktie party by any chance would you lay well now maybe we are we gotta have some justice against these horses i wouldn't do that if i were you lay yeah and what bit of love is yours Joaquin Joaquin where'd you get this mule it is my brother's and he bought it and i say it's mine it was stole from me yesterday that's right i know that mule anywhere i admitted it was senor lang's mule but there you see he admits it come on boys let's bring him up wait a minute wait a minute Joaquin you say that your brother bought the mule who from yeah who from you should know senor lang he bought it from you what's it well what do you get to say about that i say he's lying that mule was stolen and i say he's not lying Joaquin is honest i'd rather believe him and you any day hey is that so well boys what are you thinking that he's hurting his own kind huh well let's show him what we think he's friend come on we'll get Muriel his brother and string him up quickly the drunken blood thirsty mob went to the cabin of Jesus and dragged the two brothers to a tree giving them no chance to offer any explanation but once more the american bill burns tried to intercede uh tie them those good and tight we'll make them a squire well listen man listen to me you can't do this if i can't stop you from hanging this man i can't stop you from doing the same thing to his brother here Joaquin didn't steal the mule if it was stolen well maybe not but he tried to cover up for his brother but he didn't steal it you can't kill a man for something he didn't do i say he's just as guilty as y'all and i say he's not so what about it you man come on has anyone got the courage to speak up for an innocent man well give him the last and teach him better manners yeah that's right the last you'll teach him to call the american lawyer i'll give him 39 strikes myself that'll be more fun than hanging oh but he doesn't deserve such humiliation he's done nothing listen here now burns if you don't shut up we'll sprain you up alongside of him hard boys tie him to that tree strip his clothes down and get me the lice hello i'm sorry walkie i did my best i know gracias that's it now lay him down there work and get a good swing now then for the 39 lices count on him here goes drink this you're poor devil he cut you to ribbons they've gone yeah been gone for a long time it's night already here let me cut that rope there you are now you're free here let me help just lie down for a minute this was where is he i haven't had time to cut him down yet and you're they shall pay for this walking i know how you feel but you gotta get such thoughts out of your mind you're burns you are my friend you have been kind i shall not forget that but all other americanos they shall pay as i lay there under the lash with each stroke i swore revenge revenge against all americanos i will show them no more mercy than they have shown me from now on i bow death and destruction to all americanos when as much as senor lang who's there come senor lang don't you know me who is it what do you want it's enough to scare a man to death confront him like this on a lonely trail at night no senor lang i do not wish to scare you to death that would be too easy hey what are you talking about who are you you haven't recognized me yet come senor lang perhaps i should bear my back you would no doubt recognize me by the skies murrietta what do you want justice and nothing more there's senor lang you will never again cheat and murder you are the first to die by my hand but you will not be alone soon many others will join you let all americans beware of the vengeance of walkie murrietta back through times long before the days of walkie murrietta go the records of the title insurance and trust company of los angles some of the ranchos the bandit raided had been granted half a century before he launched his war against the americanos and each time one of those ranchos or any part of it changed hands one or more written instruments were executed and filed for records the reason title company records must go back to the very beginning and include every transaction up to the present day is that land titles are somewhat like a chain they're only as strong as their weakest link if any link in the chain of title is defective the entire title may be defective too when you buy property you want to know that you really become its owner to ensure your ownership the company seeks out the public records of every transfer of land ownership from the very first to the most recent determines their authenticity and assembles in its title plant essential data from these and other sources for they will always be available one by one the men who'd been in the lynching party that whipped walkie murrietta were mysteriously murdered terror spread through the camp men were afraid to venture outside the town five men mysteriously disappeared from the mining camp on the stanislaus river the five men who had murdered Joaquin's wife already the fiery young mexican was a hunted man and his only means of living was to add robbery to murder quickly he gathered recruits to a desperate band of mexicans cutthroats renegades murderers all desperate all willing to slit a throat for a piece of gold especially if it was an american throat soon the fame of Joaquin murrietta was spread throughout all california and terror went with his reputation periodically he took his accumulated loot down into mexico and it was on one such journey that he again met his childhood playmate he's good to see you senorita carita you have come back towards Joaquin to stay no i still have much to do before i can come back here and forget Joaquin you go away back to that dangerous life ah you know of course who has not heard of the exploits of the famous Joaquin murrietta then you will know that i am not Joaquin murrietta you once knew and you should think no more of me i cannot what you have done what you do my heart will always be yours i cannot every night i pray to the virgin madre to keep you from danger but your ring the little ring you gave me will do that eh you still wear it Joaquin see of course here it is did you not ask me to wear it see i am happy oh Joaquin if only you would forget everything give up this life settle down here we could do no carita i cannot i have sworn to have vengeance on the americanos i have not done enough yet very well carito if you will not stay here then take me with you take you with me see wherever you go to share the dangers with you you love me that much see and if you do not take me i shall follow anyway always with you my love back to california came murrietta bringing with him another lovely maxif in beauty and now his depredations were resumed with increased fury his band numbered a hundred cutthroats and they ranged in small bands from one end of the state to the other robbing plundering and killing most of their crimes were characterized by extreme modacity for instance as Joaquin was staying at san gabriel he received word that sheriff ben wilson of santa barbara was in los angles boasting that he would capture murrietta at any minute and so one afternoon his wilson stood in front of a los angles hotel sure who's afraid of this murrietta he's got the whole state buffalo except me ben wilson i ain't scared of him all i want is to meet him face to face then you'll see how fast i can cut mr. Joaquin down to my side yeah i don't know sheriff sir murrietta is a tough customer you don't know the meaning of fear if i was you i wouldn't be too cocky about catching him why it'll be easier to tell you your umbrella underneath he's afraid to fight square pardon senor you are sherry ben wilson that's me i have heard that you are looking for me yeah and who might you be i am Joaquin you are what's that holy mackerel get out of here you're walking see so take me if you can so Joaquin will be easy eh senor well you have a long time to think that over eternity weeks stretched into months Joaquin's band countered their murders by the hundreds from one end of the state to the other rewards were offered five thousand dollars here one thousand dollars there for murrietta's head more and more bands of armed men roamed the hills looking for the bandits Joaquin met them on every road usually none of them returned they were wiped out but nevertheless the robber baron found it more and more difficult to get around without a fight some of his most trusted lieutenants were killed or captured and hanged more and more he kept to his faraway hideout in remote arroyo cantuva but even there he wasn't safe for one day a rider came in with the news Joaquin Joaquin what is it jack what is the trouble right it's americano where riding through the lower end of the valley for the past going away see but they were in the valley there's only 14 of them no doubt they realized they wouldn't stand a chance against us but they have seen us they have pounder hideout i don't know i think so and they go to bring others come saddle hombres these americas must not leave this valley alive in a bloody fight the americans were massacred all except one and that one did leave the valley alive and murrietta knew that now even his hideout was unsafe and it was clarita who pleaded with him Joaquin you must give this up please back to our home in mexico you have done enough no not quite i have much money see but my plans have not all been completed please Joaquin for me you must go back now i fear for you one more little dog could do you forget i have the ring here on my finger it shall keep me safe never fear they will never take Joaquin murrietta but even then men were bowing that they would take Joaquin murrietta a company of 20 of the hardiest fighters in the state was organized under the command of captain harry love and soon these men were hot on the trail of Joaquin under the extreme pressure now being brought by the forces of law and order many of Joaquin spies deserted him and betrayed him to the officers he was hunted at every turn still he would not give up he was trying to hold out until his reinforcements from mexico arrived he split up his band into small groups to avoid detection with him the five men including the notorious three-fingered jack the human fiend whose blood thirsty habits disgusted even the robber band but who was too valuable to lose jack was retelling one of his gruesome experiences as the six men had breakfast around a campfire in the to lary valley one day in 1851 Joaquin come and listen to this no gracias i must cutting my horse hi you can do it later come and listen to my little exploit with the china good morning senor what hey who are you how did you get here oh we just saw your campfire and wondered up sort of silent like don't didn't know who we might disturb and who are you senor never mind that the question is who are you just peaceful travelers stopping for breakfast uh where you bound for lots of helens i wouldn't move toward those guns of yours on the blanket senor you see we've got you all covered no i did not want the guns there is a little ring there beside the guns i i thought i'd get that if we have to have company i'd like to look my best never mind your looks don't bother us that you bill oh yeah i uh see you found some fellow travelers yeah that's what they say so we meet again senor see we meet again senor burns oh you know him bill i know i'm all right i saved his life for it but this time it's different this time i can't save you Joaquin Joaquin you know you mean this is him look out he's jumping on that horse get him after a man don't let him get away no get the other you got him he's down Joaquin's wounded yeah let's do it now man be careful all right he hasn't got a gun anyway he's too far gone yeah that's right hey i got the others all right yeah well yeah Joaquin senor burns you see i have come to this yes it was the ring i took your ring off Clarita's ring would have saved me but i took it off well i don't know what you're talking about no it doesn't matter now he's too late i am finished you can be thankful it's this way and not hanging Joaquin why'd you bring this on yourself oh it is all right i have done what i swore to do they have to revenge my wife my brother myself i i can die content adios adios amigo mio adios Joaquin well that's the end of him california is rid of another bandit you'll be too hard on him captain he was wrong but he wasn't entirely to blame he could have been much different if things had been different no man today can hit you over the head with a pistol butt and rob you of your land in the way that the renegade american miners rob Joaquin Murrieta of his mining claim but a defect in your title to your home could deprive you of it just as effectively and unless you were protected by a policy of title insurance you might have no recourse the defect might be a false personation or the hitherto undiscovered forgery of a deed executed in some previous transfer of the property either of such circumstances or any of other circumstances might render your title invalid however if you had obtained a policy of title insurance from the title insurance and trust company protecting you against such defect any loss you might suffer would be repaid promptly up to the full base value of the policy it is because such protection is available that land is today such a sound investment and such a readily marketable commodity in most parts of the united states the cost of this protection is considerably higher than the rates charged by the title insurance and trust company of los angles and now what's the story for next week frank next week is east of sunday it is no more appropriate time to tell you the story of the easter day ranch the rancho san pasquale today the land of san pasquale contains the cities of pasadena altadena and part of south pasadena and its story is a dramatic and colorful one that you want to hear until next week then this is your wandering bachero frank graham saying hasta la vista señoras y señores the romance of the ranchos a presentation of the title insurance and trust company of los angles featuring frank graham as the wandering bachero is dramatized by john dunkel and produced by ted bliss with special music arranged by gay lord carter bob laman speaking and saying good night this is the columbia broadcasting system