 The Romance of the Ranchos Santa Cruz Island, 1542 Discover of California Buried on Lonely Island Santa Catalina Island, 1805 Smuggler's Anchor in Harbor of Avalon San Nicolas Island, 1870 Find Woman Lost 20 Years on Lonely Island The Title Insurance and Trust Company of Los Angeles presents The Romance of the Ranchos A weekly dramatization of the colorful history which is the heritage of our Southern California Each week our wandering vocero Frank Graham returns to tell a true story of romance and adventure in the days of the dawns It's business-like to protect your interest and land with a policy of title insurance It's just as business-like to safeguard your family's financial future with sound investments And there's no sounder investment today than United States defense bonds Even if these bonds paid no interest they would still be the wisest of investments For the money realizes of our nation And without that victory no other investment that you have made or can make will be safe So buy defense bonds and stamps early and often and regularly Don't put it off Make a down payment on victory tomorrow Now here to tell us the story is our wandering vocero Frank Graham Buenos noches señoras y señores Our story tonight is concerned with one of the great forces which helped to bring Americans to California the sea otter trade and with the principal locations of that industry in the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California And since it is closest to us here our story will have for its principal setting the lovely island paradise of Santa Catalina It's a story rich in the romance of the ranchos Long before the white man braved the hardships of a land exploration north from Mexico the hardy seamen of Spanish frigates put forth into one charted waters and won the honor of exploring the coast which was to become our California In the year 1542 north from Natividad came two tiny ships their courageous crews unprotected from the waves even by a deck their commander unsure of what dangers lay ahead but courageously pressing forward northward to claim land and glory for the king of Spain His name Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo Capitan Cabrillo I don't like the looks of these clouds and the wind looks like a storm, a bad one There's narrow channel here between the islands and the mainland it's no place to be caught in a storm We could easily be driven onto the rocks See, we shall put into that cove on the islands See, it'll do We'd better get into it as soon as possible No one knows how furiously the wind may blow in these waters Very well, Channeline Helmsman Do you have an idea what part of the world we are in? See, according to my calculations this must be one of the Maluk Islands just this side of China See, we should sight the coast of Cathay before many days Perhaps, in that case, these natives that line the shores of the cove must be of the Chinese race of which we have heard so much Huh? Line the shore? See, look, hundreds of them Oh, Capitan, I don't like this They may be savages, we may be killed, massacres Oh no, for the Chinese are a friendly race Surely you've heard that and if your calculations are correct Oh, but I could be wrong perhaps See, you are wrong They are Indians such as we know in Mexico this is not China, amigo, but Stilalta, California Well, then they are savages We most surely will be massacres I don't think so, for see, they hold up their hands in welcome they come in their boats to meet us Now here at last we'll find a resting place from the fury of the waves here on this island paradise which we shall claim for our great King of Spain Into today's harbor of Avalon and Santa Catalina Island sail Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo intrepid commander of Spain to be greeted by the tribe of friendly Indians who made it their homes He named the island San Salvador in honor of his flagship After resting at the same cove which is the mecca of gay vacationers today Cabrillo again set sail, north Soon he came to a group of three islands an anchoring in the harbor of one named it San Miguel Today it is called Santa Cruz the lovely isle off the coast of Santa Barbara Here they stopped for rest among the seemingly friendly Indians but one day the stillness was shattered Capitan Cabrillo, what was that? Shouts, they seemed to come from the shore Look, Capitan, it's our party of sailors they're being attacked by the Indians Look, pick men over the side, it is shore hurry if we're to save them we must hurry All right men, here's the shore up and over the rocks, hurry after them Watch out, Capitan The rocks are slippery After them men, after them Capitan Cabrillo, look out Capitan Cabrillo Capitan, for me, are you hurt? I don't think so That was a pretty nasty spill on those rocks here, let me help you get up Give me your hand Capitan, what is it? It's my leg My leg, it's broken In those days long before the use of antiseptics the shattered shin bone of Cabrillo was a serious thing Nevertheless, in pain, but undaunted Cabrillo pointed the prow of his little vessel north once more up the coast to Monterey Bay to Great San Francisco Bay and beyond, he sailed Only severe storms caused him to turn back to run for shelter down the coast But there was another reason for the gloom that enveloped the two tiny ships Alderman, is not that island San Miguel? Si, senor, it is Then we shall put in there Put in? I mean, drop anchor in that place where? Si, for it might be a fitting place to leave him Si, failing fast It is the gangrene in his injured leg It won't be long, Capitan Cabrillo is dying Let me go, our ship, we're not moving No, we're anchored, safe in harbor Will you stop for me? No, no, no, for the storms They blow us off our course We'll wait here for more favorable wind You stop here for me, for I'm going to die Mi amigo, you must not say that Oh, mi amigo, I'm going to die, I know that too And you shall bury me here On these lonely islands, this new land we have found Mi Capitan, you must not think such Oh, it's all right mi amigo, I'm not afraid I could not ask for much more to be buried here in this great new country to be that we have found Mi Capitan Si, it is well, I only regret that I cannot go on claim more of this vast coast for His Majesty I ask but one thing, that you, my good navigator will go on, when I have no more you must go on, sail north and farther north for me I promise you, mi Capitan Then all is well, and my work will be finished On the lonely island of Santa Cruz then called San Miguel the mortal remains of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo the first white man to set foot on the shores of Upper California there today his bones still lie lost under mountains of shifting sand unhonored for the important part he played in California's history It was over half a century before another white man sailed north to visit the islands off the coast and anchor in the little harbor on the island Cabrillo called San Salvador It was in the year 162 and the explorer was Sebastian Vizcainio It was he who spoke the words In honor of the martyred Saint Catherine on whose name day it is pleased the good Lord to grant us this safe harbor I name this island Santa Catalina and claim it in the name of Philip King of Spain And now, after the visit of Vizcainio a hundred years were to pass before the first Americans sailed into these waters Years after the mainland of Southern California had borne fruit under the hands of Spanish settlers These Americans were the hardy seamen from the Lila Bird Captain William Shaler in command and these fur traders immediately became involved in an international incident of some consequence as they were anchored in the Bay of San Diego on board the Lila Bird in the dead of night All right men, over the side You mean Captain Shaler you're actually going to send in that border supply? Of course, California's on the shore waiting to trade them furs But it's against the law, it's smuggling Ah, smuggling Spain is just trying to keep out other countries smother foreign trade People pay no attention to the law Even the common dad winks at our trade if it's not too obvious All the same, I don't like it The common dad might be in a bad mood Yeah, we'll worry about that later Over you go Get to the shore, be as quiet as possible All right men, this is the place ease are in Make her fast, start unloading this stuff California should be here any minutes Easy there, don't make any more noise we can help, we don't want the guard down on us no use taking any chances Oh, here come the men we're to see now Over here, over here You're kind enough to give us your exact position Now put up your hand What, what do you mean? You're under arrest They're holding them on the beach until morning It's, it's only a small guard We can feed them easily So into the boats men, we have a little fighting to do Work up the beach slowly Got them surrounded When I give the word fire, your gun's in the air We'll scare them into surrendering All right, after us Up with your hands, senorys You're surrounded Right men, the rescue party Up with your hands, senorys That's right Now there'll be no trouble if you just let my men go back to their jeep But there will be trouble, senorys There'll be trouble, you cannot do this You're defying the government of Spain And what will the government of Spain do about it? You will see, senorys When you try to sail out past the guns of default Shaila, you're not going to try it You bet I am What else are we going to do? Stay here in the harbor and let them arrest us all? The mouth of the harbor is nearer We'll have to sail within a hundred yards of the gun We've got guns too We've got them all lined up on the port side Ready for action We'll get by all right I hope so It's almost dawn now So we might as well make a run for it All right, men Up all sail We're almost opposite to the port, sir Keep her on this tack They're shooting, sir Their aim isn't so good That one was short Shall we reply? Not yet Sail right in Hold to fire until we're directly opposite Then give them a full broadside Yes, sir It's going to be mighty close, captain I'm not worried, sir We'll get by They haven't hit us yet anyway But we're almost even with the port Shall I get the order? Just yet, sir Another moment Yes There All right, sir Look at them running away from the guns Now we have a clear passage out And we're safe Captain Shaler's smuggling activity Was characteristic of the times Spain, in an effort to keep foreigners Out of California for bad trade But the Californians wanted it As did the ships of all nations So, half legitimate smuggling And evasion of customs Went on for many years But trade was only a side issue The magnet which drew the ships Of the world of California coast Was the little animal Which abounded among the Channel Islands The sea otter Together with the seals These animals made millions For the early sailors That was why Captain Shaler Was impressed with Catiline Island When he stopped there to repair his ship Look, sir, look The waters alive with them Yes, sir I've certainly never seen So many seals at one time That rock out in the harbor Is covered with them But not only seals, sir There are hundreds of sea otters, too You know what the skin of a sea otter Brings in the markers of cantern? No, sir How much? Forty dollars, sir And on up And here they are to be had By the hundreds My friend, these islands Will bring us a fortune The sea otter trade Flourished for many years Around Catiline Island The traders from Russia, England The United States And many other nations Reaped fortunes They hired the Indians To hunt the otters all year They pegged them with glass beads Knives or rusty chisels For a hundred furs Valued at thousands of dollars Finally The supply was so depleted That the profits dwindled And once more The Channel Islands Were left in a solitary beauty But civilization Had come to southern California And in July of 1846 A small party of people Including Captain Thomas Robbins of Santa Barbara Landed on the shores of Catiline Robbins was beside himself with joy And alive Just look at it Isn't it the most wonderful place in the world? I can hardly believe it But here it is Here's the governor's grant Right here in my hand Santa Catalina Island is mine It belongs to me Several times on these programs We've referred to the fact that Issuing title insurance policies Requires highly skilled, thoroughly trained personnel Here's an example of why this is true Let us say that the title examiner Is examining the documents Comprising the recorded history Of the ownership of a particular piece of land One link in that chain of title Is a deed which Smith, the record owner In 1938, executed to Brown The form, signature and acknowledgement Fulfill all legal requirements From an inspection of the records The deed appears to be valid But the examiner knows that the deed May be absolutely void If any one of certain conditions Existed in connection with its Execution or delivery If, for example, the deed was stolen by Brown Or any other person and recorded Without proper delivery Or if the deed was executed in blank And Brown's name inserted without Smith's written authority Or if Smith was under the age of 18 Even though he appeared older Or if Smith was actually insane Though not so adjudged Or if the person who signed the deed Was not the Smith who won the title In other words, if the deed had been forged Any of these conditions would render the deed void None would necessarily be evident From an inspection of the record of the deed It takes a considerable degree of skill In training to determine such matters And when the title insurance And trust company issues a policy Of title insurance to you That policy ensures you against loss Arising from the existence of any Of the defects I have mentioned Thus it is apparent that the title insurance Policy ensures much more Than just a record title For the first time, an individual owner Took over Santa Catalina Island The American captain, Thomas Robbins And now began its use as a rancho And later as a pleasure resort Few people lived there The Indians who had made it their home Had long since been removed to the mainland This forced migration of the island Indians From one of the other Channel Islands Furnished a fascinating and little known Chapter in their history The barren rocky spits of San Nicolas It is the most remote of the islands Off Santa Barbara And because of its location far out In the open sea Its Indian inhabitants were among the last To be removed from the islands By the Padres of the Franciscan missions It was on this last trip that the Story began Say there Padre Are you all aboard? Si, si capitale Just a moment Well hurry up The wind's coming up I want to get away from these rocks Island is petrified Last one is coming on board now There he's up All right capitale You can weigh anchor now Yeah nothing too soon Looks like a bad blow's coming up all right All right men Up sail Up sail Way anchor Way anchor I'm glad to get out of this Into the Channel Even with this heavy sea Seems to be some commotion The Indians seem to be cutting up a bit I mean they don't want to leave their island I don't know why So No it seems to be just one woman She's screaming about something Yeah it doesn't want to leave no doubt The woman is especially a funny that way Now you take care Roberto What is it? What's the trouble? Wait a minute Padre Don't bother Padre She can calm down in a minute It'll be all right Seems to be something wrong with her Perhaps we better wait Padre Capitan Stop the ship We'll have to put back Put back Listen mister we'll not put back I'm getting as far away from these rocks as I can As quick as I can No Padre You've got to stop this ship What's wrong my son That woman has left her baby on the island What? See in the rush of loading She left her baby And you must turn back Padre it may mean the lies of every person on board Winds getting stronger every minute The sea is running And those rocks are becoming the name of heaven Turn back Padre it's too late now Look the woman she's broken the way She's climbing on the rail She's going to jump into the sea No stop her stop her Stop stop It's too late There she goes Padre to Dios And her little baby The Lord have mercy on the soul Now that we brought him back here To Santa Barbara Padre Why don't you deal with these Indians He will be given homes on the mission lands The children put into schools He'll have a chance to be civilized for the first time Then uh You're through with my services? Oh no Capitan We're going back to the island To son Nicholas But why? Uh You mean the woman? See The woman And her baby But I tell you it's just It's impossible that she could be alive The miracles do happen my son It's just possible And it's just possible that her baby may have survived too At any rate I must try All right I'll be ready to sail in the morning Well ah Capitan Here are the supplies the Padre sends for your journey To the island tomorrow Yes see Rashes Say what's all the commotion in town A little out of yelling and excitement Oh haven't you heard It's gold They discovered gold Up north on the Sacramento River Gold? See bushels are what they say They're lying around loose Therefore anybody who gets it first Great Jesus Gold Man Attention You lazy thoughties See a post Get ready to hoist sail We're sailing right away The Padre Last the Padre man There's gold to be had And we're sailing north tonight When the ships of the port turned north In a mad rush for gold The search for the lost woman of son Nicholas was abandoned For many years her existence was forgotten Only the half remembered story Remained to be told And retold Then one day almost twenty years later Padre On the last talk in We stopped for an hour at the little island of son Nicholas Son Nicholas She remembered don't you See I remember May God rest her soul No Padre I think she's still alive Alive But Roberto I know it sounds fantastic But out there on that lonely desolate island We found unmistakable signs of human habitation Primitive Indian habitation Nothing would expect to be left by a passing fisherman You're sure of this Roberto? Absolutely Then we'll start immediately Organize a searching party to go to son Nicholas Padre It's no use We'll never be able to find her on this desolate mountain Roberto she's here Each time we've tried and failed I Have become more convinced than ever that she's here We found the evidence See but where is she We've combed almost every foot of the island We've yelled out our lungs Surely she would see us or hear us I think she does I think she's hiding from us Hiding from us But why Because she has been alone here for 20 years now No doubt her mind is affected She's probably returned to primitive mental state I think her Wait What was that? Sounds like a dog howling See It seems to come from behind that rock Come Padre Come Padre Great heavens Padre Look See it is she But she looks more like an animal Poor creature just sitting there next to a wild dog Staring at us Look Padre look She smiles See she has some human memory Laught even after tortures of 20 years Come One mistake to be bought Bring her at last back to life Found at last was the lost woman of son Nicholas Whose love for her long dead baby Caused her 20 years of animal-like living on the lonely isle of son Nicholas So was closed an amazing chapter in California history Now began the growth of the modern islands Either as ranchos or as pleasure resorts Santa Catalina passed through both stages And through a number of ownership Captain Robin sold his island rancho To Jose Maria Covarubias of Santa Barbara Who passed it on to Albert Packard in 1853 The next owner was James Lick A wealthy gentleman with great philanthropic interests In fact, some people thought he was a bit too philanthropic James, I'm never here to such a thing You know what people are saying about you behind your back No, what are they saying, my friend? It's your plumb loony, that's what Lawsies say with all that money Are you busy every minute of the day Thinking up ways of giving it away Well, I can't use it all myself, George Why not put it where it'll do the most good? All right, I'm your friend I understand that you got a big heart Most folks can understand some of the things you've done Like old ladies home, orphan asylum Library, association But folks begin to talk when you started that society For the prevention of cruelty to animals Oh, but George I know, I know Folks ought to be kind to animals It's all right in me if you want them to Now this last thing, that's too much for me even You mean my observatory for the study of the stars? You mean them telescopes for stargazing Throwing money down a rat hole But George, astronomy's a great science Ah, what can you learn from looking at them stars? James Lick, the whole world's going to laugh at you For putting money in them telescopes But the world didn't laugh at James Lick Instead, his name is perpetuated in the great Lick Observatory Where many great discoveries have been made Now Santa Catalina passed into the hands of George R. Chateau Who founded the town of Avalon and built a hotel In 1892, the land went to William Banning Son of the famous Phineas Banning And he, together with his brothers and sisters Organized the Santa Catalina Island Company And started to develop the island Into one of the world's greatest mechas for vacationers In 1919, William Wrigley Jr. bought it And completed the work Today, the emerald isle that offered safe harbor To the hearty seamen of Juan Caprillo, Vizcaino And Captain Shaler Is an island paradise for pleasure seekers Known the world over Such is the story of progress And such is the romance of the ranchos In a moment, Frank Graham will be back To tell you about his story for next week When I first read the script Of the story we've just finished telling I couldn't help thinking How much more interesting my next visit To Catalina Island is going to be than my last one For when I enter Avalon Harbor I'll see a new and different sight The island as it looked to Cabrillo and Vizcaino Arriving in their primitive little sailing ships I'll picture in my mind's eye the shore As it looked in those days Before the modern buildings and roads And piers were built And see on the beach the native Indians That Cabrillo's navigator thought were Chinese There'll be a brand new thrill There's always thrilling trip The fact is that all of us connected With these broadcasts have found new interest In scores of Southern California places And communities through learning about Their colorful histories And the title insurance and trust company Of Los Angeles will feel well repaid If you listeners discover a similar Added pleasure in Southern California Through hearing these stories And now Frank, what's the story for next week? Next week we're going to tell you A new story of Hugo Reed The Scotchman who came here to win The great Rancho Santa Anita And the hand of a beautiful Indian girl It's a story with laughter and tears Drama and high adventure And you won't want to miss it So until then, this is your Wondering Vaquero, 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 Angeles Frank Graham is the Wondering Vaquero Is dramatized by John Dunkel And produced by Ted Bliss With special music arranged by Erwin Yeo Bob LeMond speaking This is the Columbia Broadcasting System