 The Romance of the Ranchos San Fernando 1845 Armies prepare for Battle of Calinga Pass San Fernando 1874 Senator buys Garden of Eden in Valley San Fernando 1941 Movie star buys Ranch in beautiful Valley of Homes The title insurance and trust company of Los Angeles presents The Romance of the Ranchos A weekly dramatization around the colorful history of Southern California Each week there's a new story narrated in all its excitement and drama By our wandering vocero, Frank Graham Historical accuracy of tonight's story, like that of all these presentations Is assured by the records and the files of the title insurance and trust company of Los Angeles These records contain the detailed history of land ownership in Los Angeles County From the days of the first grants by the King of Spain The older ones are handwritten, of course, and many of them are in Spanish Since many of our early-day leading citizens and landowners were unable to read or write Signatures consisting of a mark attested by witnesses are rather common In many ways the records themselves are as interesting as the stories they tell And here to tell the story is our wandering vocero, Frank Graham Our story tonight deals with the lovely valley we call San Fernando But which was once, Encino, the Valley of the Oaks And from the days of the romantic mission of San Fernando And the days of the dones to the great valley of today It is a story rich in the romance of the Ranchos Our story of the Rancho San Fernando starts about the year 1790 For several years the Franciscan friars who had found the permissions of San Gabriel And San Buena Ventura had traveled many weary miles through the broad green valley They called El Encino, the Valley of the Oaks Another mission was needed, a halfway stop between San Buena Ventura and San Gabriel To break the tedious journey and to complete the chain of missions that stretched away to the north A party set out in 1795 to search for the site of a new mission Into the broad valley of the Oaks they came And then, Padre, this is about the point where it should be See, what we have left El Camino Real, we are business owners perhaps Two leads See, I know, this is all right, my brother Here in this upper end of the valley we will find the spot we want Or it is here that the springs come down from the mountain It is good land, with plenty of water Many Indians rancherias Well, the mission should be constructed on El Camino Real You forget we do not found the mission for our own comfort But for the good we can do for these poor Indians It will be the better, my brother See, I had forgotten, you are right There is a pasture land and a firewood mountain You are right, there is a pasture land and a firewood not far away And rock for the foundation, everything we need Also, from here we will be able to easily reach all of the Indians of the valley And furnish them with the central place for teaching and worship See, my brother, this is the place Here we shall find the 17th mission And so it was that on September 8, 1797 Father Lasuwen stood before a great gathering of curious Indians Here, my children, we have planted a great cross A symbol of our Christian faith May it stand through the years in veneration And may the blessings of our Lord fall upon this land Its fields and streams And bring this new venture a long, prosperous life of service And so we dedicate this mission San Fernando de España In love of God and in the name of our glorious King San Fernando III Oh heavenly Father, as we are gathered here We thank you After the ceremony, many Indians were given baptism And work was started on building a temporary church, granaries and storerooms Crops were put in and the land stuck with cattle The Darcyl Indians of the valley quickly became converts To the new religion of the white fathers And soon hundreds of them were learning the arts And farming and building In most cases, they readily took to the new ways of the white man But once in a while, the Padres had a little trouble Tomás, Tomás, come here I can't, Father, I can't You want? Tomás, where are your clothes? A ride horse, no want other skin, make hot How many times have I told you You must not go around like this without your clothes It is not decent Never wear other skin before a white man comes? Good then You did not know any better then, now you do Can ride horse more better without skin? No matter, you must go get your clothes No, no want Oh, why? Why don't you want to wear them? Come, tell me Squawk, she laughed Me, man, dressed in other skin like woman Women laughed Me, no like Me, man, me, no woman No life, no life In spite of such inconveniences as the new clothing The Indians of San Fernando Valley learned the civilized arts And as the years rolled peacefully by The valley sprang to life under their care By 1822, there were a thousand Indians living at the mission itself With many hundreds more scattered throughout the valley And an accounting of the great herds owned by the mission Showed rich gains Cattle? Seven thousand head Sheep? Sixty-five hundred head Horses? Thirteen hundred And that is all? No, there are forty goats, fifty pigs, eighty mules Quite an animal community, isn't it, brother? The mission's prospered, but it was not to last for long Already the settlers of the Pueblos were forming a movement against them Many a debate went on between church and secular powers But, senor, you are an official at the Pueblo We have always gotten along well together What have you against the mission? Nothing personal, you understand, Padre Nothing at all, in fact Except that they own all of the good land in all the California But we do not own all of it, senor We hold it in trust for the Indians who were here before we came That's just it, Padre That's where the mission system breaks down In the beginning, you thought you could teach the Indians to govern themselves The missions were supposed to turn the land back to them after ten years Yeah, that is right But they are so backward Exactly They are too backward to ever make anything of this land And in the meantime, many fine settlers have come from Sonora From Spain They are eager to build a new land here To make peace a new empire But they cannot, but they can't get no land But there is land Oh, see, land, but not good land You hold all of that And you have grown richer and richer by it, senor We only serve Oh, see, I know I did not mean you Padres personally We have done much good We have turned this desert into a cause See, I acknowledge that But your good has been done Your era has passed It is time now to go on to progress I'm afraid that very soon something will be done about it And something was done The Secularization Act of 1833 Sounded the death knell of the missions Their lands were taken over by the government And granted to private owners little by little But San Fernando suffered less than most others And had prospered for many years more It was widely famous for its fiestas Especially the one on May 30th When San Fernando Day was celebrated People came from miles around To taste the first fruits of the year And to celebrate a mass of thanksgiving Following a great banquet in the afternoon Horse races were held And the main event was a big bullfight The Indian tribes from all over Southern California Gathered to join in festivities of their own A great ceremonial dance was held Around the huge image of an Indian chief With a great ceremonial fire lighting the event And cries of the dancers furnishing the music But the great days of the mission were slipping away Each year more Indians left the confines of the church To work as vaqueros for the newly founded ranchos Others merely planted field crops On a patch of what had been mission land California under the Mexican government Was rapidly falling into anarchy and confusion Governments changed quickly and dramatically The differences between the Californians and Mexico Mounted until in 1844 Word came to Los Angles General Castro He's from Mexico What's the trouble? They have appointed a new governor For Alte California General Mitchell Torrena He's on his way here right now What? He's bringing with him an army He brings an army To grind us under his heel So, he is to be our governor And his army? It is rugged and dirty And most of the men have been taken from the jails Of Mexico City Same for Senor Alvarado Andres Pico Pretty word We must prepare for this It took time to organize an opposition To the new governor And in the meantime He'd occupied the capital and ruled the land But resentment against him grew For his ragged army knew no law Constant stories of the brigandry poured in Senores I did not know what to do Here we were My wife and I confronted by the guns Of two savage ragged soldiers They had no shirts No pantalones Nothing to hide their necks And fill for the greasy blanket They demanded clothes Food A horse At the price of my life I gave it to them How could I do otherwise? I was helpless before the governor Through these things must stop We Jose Castro and Juan Alvarado Proclaimed that Governor Michel Torrena's troops Must be disbanded And sent back to Mexico The proclamation of Castro and Alvarado Bore fruit At least on the surface Michel Torrena agreed To send his ragged followers away But as the months wore on It became apparent that he had No intention of doing so On the contrary He used the time gained To enlist new support Soon he started a military campaign Against the Californians In February of 1845 His army pursued the followers Of Castro and Alvarado Into San Fernando Valley It was there that a young American Approached General Castro General Castro See, Buenos Dias, señor I'm William Workman of Los Angeles See, you need men do you not? Of course Otherwise we should not have had To retreat before those gruffians There are Americans fighting With Michel Torrena? See, a hundred mercenaries Hired by Souter They think if we win We'll close down Americano immigration Hmm, you are an Americano Are you not, señor? Sí, but don't worry Not all Americans favor the governor In fact, most of us here Are behind you to a man I've come to offer you our services James McKinley and I Have enlisted a good many rifles for you Excelente, bueno Your men will be ready to fight When those gruffians get here Sí, we're ready to march right now Bueno, then we'll give them A real battle, señor Let them come José, José Sí, what is it? I have news from the Pueblo The authorities of Los Anales Have issued a proclamation Deposing Michel Torrena And appointing Don Fio Pico To act as governor Then they are behind us Sí, ante el Pueblo, too And the Americans, señor Then our cause is already won We shall ride out to meet Michel Torrena And defeat him Across San Fernando Valley Came the ragged army of the governor Out through Cahuenga Pass Marched 300 Californians Under Castro and El Verado Soon the two armies were within sight Of each other And they lined up for battle On the banks of the Los Angeles River What do you see, Juan? They are bringing up the small cannon Oh, bombardment, eh? Oh, yes Then we shall bring up our cannon Señor, workman You have never seen our artillery in action No No, I haven't You're pretty accurate Accurate Señor, our fire will devastate their ranks The field shall run with blood Oh, did you see, señores Their first shot did not even come near us Now, watch what we shall do to them Here Has anybody got a cigarette? See, I have But what do you... How can I light the cannon Fuse without a cigarette? Give it to me Ha Now watch There General, I... Never mind Our next one might be much closer Hurry, reload And make sure it's pointed the right way this time In the distance noon Yeah, and it's three o'clock now When's the fight begin? The way it looks to me They're gonna keep popping away at each other With those pint-sized cannons all day Hey Take a look over there on the hill Yeah, they got the right idea The lion and the shade I wouldn't mind some shade myself right now They look like Americans, too Yeah, but they're on the other side What difference does that make? They don't look like they were in any more Of a fighting move than we are Let's go and join them Hmm, maybe you're right Looks like they've taken a siesta Looks cool and comfortable, too One of them's got a jug or something Vino, maybe It might be Come on, let's go What have we got to lose? It's almost sundown The battle will be over soon Looks like we are getting the better of them Yes, our shots are coming closer anyway Sir, what are our casualties so far? Two dead, Herr Alcastro Caramba! They shall pay for killing two of my men No, Herr Alatman, two horses The battle of Cahuenga Pass Lasted half a day Until after sundown, that 20th of February, 1845 The Americans on both sides took no part But preferred to fraternize among themselves Total casualties of the battle Two horses killed One mule Injured The next day, the two armies continued on to the Verdugo Rancho Where they fought another brief skirmish Looks like a lot of their men have deserted them General Castro Any casualties yet? Oh, not at all Probably not on theirs either Look, look! They are running, they are retreating Hey, the battle is over! We have won! Got a white flag, I see See the white flag? Missa Correna surrenders California is ours And Pio Pico is governor The huge system of records in which the Title Insurance and Trust Company of Los Angeles accumulates And classifies the information it requires For the issuance of title insurance policies Is called its title plant Operating this title plant is much like Operating a large bank with more than a million And a half depositors There are over a million and a half separate parcels Of assessed real estate in Los Angeles County And the Title Insurance and Trust Company of Los Angeles Maintains a separate account on each one of them Even though the company may never be called upon To ensure the title on a particular piece of property The account on that property must be kept always Up to date In this county, there are some 1,500 legal recordings Filed daily that affect the ownership of real estate Each of these must be entered in the account To the particular property it affects And the entry must be made the same day The instrument is recorded All this record keeping entails a great deal of hard work By a large number of trained personnel But its net result is that when you want Title Insurance on property anywhere in the county The Title Insurance and Trust Company of Los Angeles Can serve you without delay And the rate you pay is very much lower Than similar service and protection Would cost you almost anywhere else In the United States The same year which witnessed Mitchell-Tarenis surrender Saw the Valley of San Fernando pass into private hands For the first time Andres Pico, brother of Governor Pio Pico Joined with Juan Manzo to lease the land But California was not to no peace for some time yet And in June of the next year, 1846 Don Ulogio de Salas stood before Pio Pico You are a native of Spain, senor? We, I come here straight from 1836 And you want to buy this rancho Ecstasy on de San Fernando? See, that is why I'm here Well, you understand that ranchos are not usually sold But granted upon application to the government See, I know, but I heard that this one was to be I do not know why, I will tell you You know, of course, if there is talk of war Between Mexico and the United States See, you said The armies of the United States Would probably try to occupy California And many people, Californians as well as Americanos Will welcome them, that may be But I have orders from the Minister of War And Marine to raise the necessary funds for our defense In any way that I can This is one way See, that my money will help, hm? The price is agreed 14,000 pesos for 13 square leagues of land Very well I shall give you the deed But only on one condition What is that? That you shall agree to care for the old Indians Living there And respect their right to plant crops Oh, see, I agree There's plenty of land for that Also, the church and its grounds They have to be reserved Together, with sustenance Send lodgings for the Father Minister That too Then, Rancho Exmision de San Fernando Is yours, Señor Sales And may this sale Help us to do what we must But the Americanos see Whether it is the right thing to do or not I do not know But as governor of this province I cannot fail to do my duty to the Constitution We must prepare to fight War broke out In January of 1847 Stopped in Incarnia again At Los Angeles After the battles of San Gabriel and La Mesa The Californians camped on Julio Verdugo's Rancho San Rafael to the east And debated what to do It was there That word came of Colonel Framant's arrival At the mission of San Fernando We remounted San Fernando and the others At Los Angeles We are trapped in Oropico See, Herr Castro It looks like our course is over You do not propose to surrender And accept Commodore Stockin's terms No But our men are deserting us They say it is no use On the Americanos There are too many of them I see I do not know what to do I can only hope that somehow Somewhere we will find the way out And the way out for the defeated Californians Was being prepared At Mission San Fernando Where Colonel Framant spoke with the young Californian Pesos Pico I told you in time to push on after your Rested country for a month Hold on, Azuz She no need for further fighting It looks to me like it's all over I am glad to hear that But my countrymen are still you know As they expect to be attacked I know They know they are beaten But they do not know what to do about it There is something pretty gallant about They are holding out to the bitter end See, they are fine people Colonel Framant Not rebels I know that in your I want to avoid any more trouble For them if I can I want to give them a chance For an honorable surrender Commodore Stockin has given them Terms of surrender I know How can they ask them To deliver up their lead To be tried and sentenced Like a common criminal I know how you feel, Dona Azuz I think I have the answer I think that I'll offer them Terms too My Terms Colonel Framant Your Terms? They won't be the same as Stockin's Senor I want to see this thing ended With a little bad feeling as possible I know that you Californians And we Americans can get together Make something of this country I want to see that Oh, see, Colonel Framant You are a good man Would you do something for me, Dona Azuz? Oh, anything You have saved my life I will do anything I believe you are the man To talk to your country I do not like to ask it I know that they may have Real feelings toward you Because of your friendship with me Ah, it does not matter If I can help you Unto I shall be helping them And my country That is right And I ask you to carry My Terms to General Tico They shall be in Armistice Ending the war in California Then everybody May return to their homes as before No one shall be arrested Foral will be forgotten Oh, senor My countrymen will listen to me For I bring them peace with honor The Californians did listen And on the 13th of January, 1847 Colonel Framant and Andres Pico Met at the old Cahuenga Ranch House Now a park opposite Universal Studios There, the Cahuenga Capitulation was signed General Pico, now your signature here Gracias, Colonel Is that all? Yes, except my hand, General Gracias May this be the beginning of friendship And prosperity for all of us together in California Peace and prosperity did come to the Southland And to Rancho, ex-mission of San Fernando Its original owner, Don Ulochio de Salas Returned to Spain before he died But from his estate in 1854 Andres Pico bought a half-interest In the great trap Gradually, the title to the lands Of San Fernando Valley went through many hands And a huge area was broken up into different tracks The southern half came under the control Of Isaac Lancashire and Isaac Newton Van Nuys And in April of 1874 Senator Charles McClay of Santa Clara Rowed out to look over the northern half Your idea was to buy this land, eh, Senator? Yes, Governor Leland Stanford recommends I look it over Well, now that you've seen it, what do you think? All I can say is, this is the Garden of Eden With George K. Porter Senator McClay bought his Garden of Eden And within a few months, he paid a visit To the county recorder's office in Los Angeles To record a subdivision Its name was the city of San Fernando Town lots were offered at $10 to $25 A hotel sprang up, seven saloons came to life Senator McClay opened a store In residence plot to the new town Then, on September 5th, 1876 Today at Lang Station, the Golden Spike Was driven in the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad North to San Francisco Los Angeles has a direct rail link With the rest of the United States The land was petitioned, and the valley grew Town sprang up, Toluca later called Lancashire And today, known as North Hollywood Chatsworth Park, Owens Mountain Now Canoga Park, and many others Then, in 1903, the Pacific Electric Came to San Fernando today Linking the whole valley with Los Angeles And more settlers flocked to the Green Plain LC Brand led the race To subdivide the land into more lots More homesites, Brand Park was established Opposite the old mission buildings Then, in 1913 Today, the people of San Fernando Saw mountains of water brought from 250 miles away Cascade into their valley As the Los Angeles Aqueduct, one of the Greatest engineering feats of all time Was completed Water and transportation had come To San Fernando Valley, and nothing Could stop its growth Thousands more poured in to fill its towns And cities In 1915, the greater part of the valley Was annexed to Los Angeles And the lands of the Franciscan fathers Had now become part of one of the world's Great cities Today, almost 120,000 of Southlanders Call it home And find all the necessities of good living In the towns of San Fernando North Hollywood, Van Nuys Studio City, Universal City Canoga Park, Recida Folks, Chatsworth Park, Northridge Tarzana, Granada Pacoima, and Roscoe Such is the romance Of the ranchers Frank Graham will be back in a moment to tell you The subject of next week's story Officials and staff of the title insurance And trust company of Los Angeles Take a great deal of pleasure in presenting These true stories of early California They sincerely hope that few are finding Equal pleasure in listening to them Their company's primary job, of course Its most important service to you and to the community Is providing protection against loss Due to title defects when you buy or lend On real estate Land, usually considered the soundest Of all investments, cannot be picked up And carried away But ownership of land can be lost For its value depreciated through forgery Or falsification of records Or by prior claims due to mortgages, trust deeds Leans, judgments, property rights Determined in divorce cases When title insurance and trust company of Los Angeles Issues of policy of title insurance It stands between you and possible loss of your property Due to such causes Now Frank, what's the story for next week? One of the greatest cities of our south land Long Beach Stands on land which was once Part of the first and largest ranch In Southern California Its fascinating story will be told next week Until then, this is your wandering Barquero, 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 Featuring Frank Graham as the wandering Barquero comes to you each week At this same time Bob LeMond speaking This is the Columbia Broadcasting System