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diff --git a/old/53500-0.txt b/old/53500-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1546409..0000000 --- a/old/53500-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1645 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Romance of the Ranchos, by E. Palmer Conner - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Romance of the Ranchos - -Author: E. Palmer Conner - -Release Date: November 11, 2016 [EBook #53500] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF THE RANCHOS *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, MFR and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - _The - Romance of the - Ranchos_ - - - _by_ - E. PALMER CONNER - _Chief Title Searcher_ - - - Title Insurance and Trust Company - 433 South Spring Street - Los Angeles - - _Reprinted by permission from the Los Angeles Times_ - Fifth Edition - - [Illustration: _Old Plaza Church_ - “_Where Los Angeles began_”] - - - - - Ranchos of California - - -Picture a map of California cut up into Ranchos like a crazy quilt, -dotted with twenty-one Missions and a handful of Pueblos. Picture a -people browned by the sun, happy, prosperous and carefree. Picture a -white-walled hacienda on each of the ranchos, every one open with a -never failing hospitality and welcome. That was California when the -Americans took it. - -With the advent of American ownership the tide of population turned to -California in a never ending stream. By sail, steamboat, covered wagon -and finally by train came a new people. The great Spanish ranchos soon -passed to new owners and took on a new character. There is a record of -Spanish ranchos traded for nearly every commodity and necessity. Ranchos -like the Malibu and the Centinela exchanged for wines and groceries, the -Los Alamitos bought with hides and tallow, the La Canada deeded for an -attorney’s fee, ranchos for horses, for vines, for surveyor’s fees and -many ranchos for mortgages. - -It was a period of rare honor. Don Abel Stearns refused to take -advantage of a technicality in his favor and lost a 29,000 acre rancho. -Juan Matias Sanchez to help his friends, William Workman and F. P. F. -Temple, signed their mortgage to “Lucky” Baldwin and lost his own rancho -in the San Gabriel Valley, wholly without consideration. - -With progress and development the ranchos gave way to the towns and -farming communities. Many of these towns, now grown to cities, were -named for the ranchos on which they were built. In Los Angeles County, -Ranchos Santa Monica, San Fernando, Azusa, La Canada, Puente and Tujunga -all gave their names to the towns founded within their borders. Santa -Ana and La Habra in Orange County likewise took their names from their -ranchos. Santa Barbara was an original Spanish Pueblo but still farther -north in San Luis Obispo County, Arroyo Grande, Pismo, Santa Margarita, -Atascadero and Paso Robles all correspond with the rancho of the same -name. - -Many names of roads and highways all over California can be traced -directly to the rancho over which they pass. Many others were named for -an illustrious owner, who perhaps in bright velvet and astride a silver -saddle, rode down the same road when California was a land of great -ranchos in the days of the Dons. - - - - - Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit - - -Among the ranchos of Los Angeles County Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit, -more commonly known as the Malibu Ranch, is outstanding. Not that it was -the first of the grants, although in fact it was one of the first, or -because it was the largest, although its acreage of 13,315 was exceeded -by few, but the historic rancho has in its almost intact state outlived -all others and today it stands as “The Last of the Ranchos.” - -The Malibu was first granted in 1804 to Jose Bartolome Tapia by Jose -Joaquin de Arrillaga, Military Governor of the Californias, acting for -the King of Spain. It bordered the Pacific for miles and extended back -into the mountains,—a princely domain unexcelled for beauty. - -The heirs of Tapia held the property until January 24, 1848, when they -granted the great rancho to Leon Victor Prudhomme of the Pueblo of Los -Angeles for the sum of $400, $200 to be paid in cash and $200 in -groceries and wines. As the heirs were uncertain as to the true name of -the rancho they gave four names under which it had been known and -concluded by reciting that it was bounded on the north by the high -mountains, on the south by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by the Rancho -Santa Monica and on the west by the mouth of the River of San -Buenaventura. The recital that the rancho was bounded on the south by -the Pacific Ocean is correct as the rancho faces the ocean more -southerly than westerly. - -Prudhomme also had a famous vineyard near Cucamonga and in order to -devote all of his time to the vineyard he sold the Rancho Topanga Malibu -in 1857 to Matthew Keller, known in Spanish days as Don Mateo Keller, -for $1400. Mateo Street in Los Angeles is named for Mr. Keller. - -In 1872 an agreement was entered into between Matthew Keller and Mrs. -Carrie S. Lewis for conveyance of the rancho to Mrs. Lewis for $35,000, -a little less than $3.00 an acre, but the buyer failed to complete the -deal and Matthew Keller remained the sole owner until his death in 1881. - -In 1892 in two conveyances H. W. Keller, son of Don Mateo Keller and -assignee of the other heirs, sold the property to May K. Rindge and -Frederick H. Rindge for approximately $10 per acre. Mrs. Rindge is now -President of the Marblehead Land Company, owner of the property, and it -is now being developed into a seaside residential district. - -From Tapia to Prudhomme, Prudhomme to Keller, Keller to Rindge—surely a -very brief history of a great rancho—yet today its value is figured in -tens of millions of dollars—surely a great advance from the days when it -was traded for the wines and groceries. - - [Illustration: _Twenty-Mile Shore Line of the Rancho Topanga Malibu - Sequit_] - - - - - Ranchos Los Cerritos and Los Alamitos - - -The lives of two persons seldom parallel themselves more strangely than -did the lives of two great California ranchos, the Rancho Los Cerritos -and the Rancho Los Alamitos. Both were part of the Manuel Nieto grant -made in 1784 by the King of Spain, each was partitioned to a Nieto heir, -each became the property of a New Englander and each owner naturalized -as a citizen of Mexico. They rivaled each other for the honor of the -finest sheep, the fattest cattle, the fastest horses. Together they -became the property of the Bixbys, jointly they shared the growth of -Long Beach and finally they divided the honor of Signal Hill—Los -Cerritos the northwesterly slopes, Los Alamitos the southeasterly -slopes. - -Juan Temple was one of the New Englanders who early settled in Los -Angeles when California was a part of Mexico. At one time Temple ran the -mint for the government of Mexico. Later he opened the first general -merchandise store in Los Angeles, advanced the City of Los Angeles funds -for Ord’s Survey, built the first theater, the County’s first Court -House and the Temple Block, recently wrecked to make way for Los -Angeles’ new City Hall. Temple Street is named for him. - -Not only did Temple naturalize as a citizen of Mexico, but he married a -Spanish girl of a prominent family. Dona Rafaela Cota became his bride -and by this marriage Temple acquired one-twelfth of the Rancho Los -Cerritos, then owned by Rafaela and her eleven brothers and sisters, -heirs of Manuela Nieto de Cota. The remaining eleven-twelfths was not so -easily acquired and it cost Don Juan “$3025 in silver coin and an equal -amount in merchandise at market prices” to complete his ownership of the -27,000 acre rancho. - -In 1844 the large hacienda, yet standing on the Virginia Country Club -grounds, was built and occupied by the new owners. Until a short time -before his death Juan Temple divided his time between his big Rancho and -his many interests in the Pueblo of Los Angeles. In 1866 he sold the -hacienda, the cattle, the sheep, the horses and the 27,000 acres for -$20,000 and removed to San Francisco where he died. Benjamin and Thomas -Flint and Llewellyn Bixby were the fortunate purchasers. - -Meanwhile, adjoining Los Cerritos on the East, Rancho Los Alamitos had -had a similar career. Another heir of Manuel Nieto to whom this 28,000 -acre Rancho was partitioned, sold it in 1834 for $500 to -Brigadier-General Jose Figueroa for whom Figueroa Street in Los Angeles -is named, and at one time Governor of California under Mexico. - -In 1840 the Estate of Figueroa sold the Rancho, composed of “six sites -of grown up cattle” to Don Abel Stearns for $5500 to be paid in hides -and tallow to be laid down at San Pedro or at Mazatlan. Don Abel Stearns -was the other New Englander who became famous as a Mexican citizen. Like -Temple he, too, married into a Spanish family and was equally prominent -in affairs of the Pueblo of Los Angeles. - -The same drought that caused a terrific loss of stock and forced Juan -Temple to sell Los Cerritos for $20,000 proved fatal to Don Abel’s -ownership of the Los Alamitos and eight months after the Flints and -Bixby bought Los Cerritos the Sheriff sold Los Alamitos to Michael Reese -for $31,000, approximately $1.10 an acre. In 1881 the Estate of Michael -Reese sold the rancho to John W. Bixby, who in turn conveyed a one-third -interest each to I. W. Hellman and Jotham Bixby. Under the Bixbys both -ranchos flourished. - -When the Bixbys purchased Rancho Los Cerritos and later Rancho Los -Alamitos nothing was farther from their thoughts than that they were -purchasing the site of the future City of Long Beach but they had the -good judgment to hold their land and California, oil and Iowa did the -rest. - -Four thousand acres of Los Cerritos were sold in 1880 by Jotham Bixby -Company to W. E. Willmore, who platted Willmore City, surrounded by the -American Colony Tract, composed of farm lots. Tremendous effort was put -forth by Mr. Willmore to make his city successful. He advertised all -over the country and even ran a special excursion from Chicago with -prospective Willmoreans. But the plan was premature and not enough -purchasers could be found to buy the city lots at $25.00 to $100.00 each -or the farm lots at $15.00 an acre to enable Willmore to meet his -agreement with the Bixbys and several years later he abandoned the land -to them. - -But Willmore had planned well—his streets were wide, 80 and 100 feet -being usual, and one, American Avenue, being 124 feet wide, and the -natural beauty of the land and ocean frontage made it attractive to -others. Soon a syndicate under the name of Long Beach Land & Water -Company took up the sale of the lots and Willmore City took the name of -Long Beach. - -Now the two families of the Bixbys, one from their hacienda, the former -home of Don Juan Temple on the Los Cerritos, the other from their -hacienda, the former home of Don Abel Stearns on the Los Alamitos, -watched Long Beach grow from a subdivision to a city. The Alamitos Tract -and the Townsite of Alamitos Bay were platted. - -In 1897, William A. Clark, Montana Copper King and builder of the San -Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, purchased 8,139 acres of Rancho -Los Cerritos for $405,000. This vast tract, known as the Montana Ranch, -has been held practically intact to the present day. Early development, -however, is planned for this property by the Janss Investment Company, -Los Angeles Realtors, who have announced that they will build a model -city on the ranch. - -In 1921 the secret of Signal Hill was discovered and an added impetus -given the development of the two ranchos. Soon the hill bristled with -oil derricks. There being then many owners there soon were many -millionaires. Oil flowed so fast from the hill that on several occasions -it streamed uncontrolled over lawns and flowers on the slopes of Signal -Hill. Daily the value of the oil taken from the hill equalled twice the -price the Bixbys paid for both ranchos. - -Slowly the oil fields have been extended—northwesterly toward the -hacienda of Don Juan Temple and southeasterly toward the hacienda of Don -Abel Stearns. - - - - - Rancho Aguaje de La Centinela - - -Traded with two barrels of wine for a small adobe house in the Pueblo of -Los Angeles, then in turn owned by a noble Spaniard, an ignoble -Frenchman, a famous Confederate General and a Scotch Baronet, then the -scene of one of the most spectacular boom subdivisions in the Land Boom -of 1886-1888 and finally the site of a prosperous and successful -city—such is the history of the Rancho Centinela. - -The rancho was granted in 1844 by the “Department of California,” -Government of Mexico, to Ignacio Machado by a grant which described the -land as “half a league more or less of grazing land.” Machado did not -prize his grazing land very highly and the following year traded the -property to Bruno Abila for a small adobe house “with vineyard fenced” -in the suburbs of the Pueblo of Los Angeles. But in the eyes of these -two traders, the small adobe was worth more than the great Rancho -Centinela and the deed provided that in addition to the rancho Machado -was to give as an added consideration two barrels of aguardiente (wine). - -Bruno Abila held the rancho until 1857 at which time he carelessly—or -desperately—borrowed $900 with interest at six per cent per month, or -seventy-two per cent per year, and, giving his rancho as security, -promptly lost it under the hammer. Hilliard P. Dorsey bought the -property at Sheriff’s Sale for $2000, or about $1 an acre. - -But Hilliard P. Dorsey paid too much for the land and two years later -Civility R. Dorsey, his widow, sold it out of his Estate for $930, or -thirty-five cents an acre. However, the deed to Francis I. Carpenter, -the purchaser, provided that he, Carpenter, was obligated as part of the -consideration to run off and dispossess of his own effort one Fernando, -a Frenchman and son-in-law of Bruno Abila, a former owner, who had -refused to surrender peaceable possession of the rancho. - -The next owner of the rancho was Joseph Lancaster Brent, a Southerner by -birth, but for many years a prominent citizen of Los Angeles. In 1860, -just before the Civil War started, Brent sold his rancho and at the -outbreak of the war hastened to make his way south and join the -Confederate Army. He was later made a Brigadier-General and was with the -last Confederate General to lay down his sword. The conveyance by Brent -was made for a consideration of $3,000 to Sir Robert Burnett, a Baronet -of Scotland, who on a visit to California had fallen in love with the -natural charm of the Rancho Centinela and purchased both it and its -neighbor, the Rancho Sausal Redondo. - -From this time on the value of the rancho grew rapidly and in 1885 Sir -Robert Burnett and Lady Matilda Josephine Burnett, both of Crathes -Castle in the Kingdom of Great Britain, sold the two ranchos for -$140,000 to Daniel Freeman, the founder of Inglewood. - -Then came the great Land Boom, the town of Inglewood was platted and -thrown on the market. Beautiful parks and plazas were planned and -dedicated and Mr. Freeman, with an insight into the future that now -seems uncanny, platted streets of unheard of width. - -Used as cattle land by the Spanish, sheep land by the Baronet and a Boom -Subdivision by Daniel Freeman, the Rancho Centinela has attained its -greatest period of usefulness and success today as the site of the -thriving City of Inglewood. - - [Illustration: _Ranch Home on the Rancho Aguaje de La Centinela_] - - - - - Rancho San Pascual - - -The Rancho San Pascual has always been a famous ranch. Its owners have -always been prominent in the affairs of California and in the Pueblo of -Los Angeles. It has always been famed for beauty and today within its -far-flung boundaries are the world famous cities of Altadena, Pasadena, -South Pasadena and parts of San Marino. - -The rancho was granted in 1843 by the then Mexican Governor, Manuel -Micheltorena, to Manuel Garfias and comprised 13,693 acres of land. -Manuel Garfias later became Los Angeles County’s first Treasurer. At the -time he was campaigning for the office of Treasurer he sold a portion of -his rancho for approximately $3.00 an acre for funds with which to -finance his ambitious plans. - -Manuel Garfias was a member of one of the finest Spanish families and -married Luisa Abila, whose family owned the Abila hacienda facing the -Plaza in the Pueblo of Los Angeles and where Commodore Stockton resided -while stationed in Los Angeles. History records that Manuel Garfias was -an excellent County Treasurer but as a ranchero he was very poor and bit -by bit he sold off parts of the rancho until in 1857, heavily involved -in financial obligations, he sold the remainder of the rancho to B. D. -Wilson, the famous Don Benito. Wilson Avenue in Pasadena, South Pasadena -and Alhambra, Wilson Lake and Mt. Wilson are all named for B. D. Wilson. -Under his care and under the guidance of Dr. John S. Griffin, who -purchased an undivided one-half interest from Mr. Wilson, the Rancho -progressed and the price of the land gradually increased. - -The early conveyances of parts of the Rancho in addition to the usual -indefinite ties of an oak tree, a little rock set on a big one or a pile -of bones or brush, tied in one of its courses “to a point on the side of -a hill North of the prickly pears.” Many of the descriptions tied to the -walled garden of Benjamin D. Wilson, called “Huerta de Quati.” - -Later the Rancho was settled by the Indiana Colony, Pasadena was -founded, then South Pasadena and San Marino and today within its -boundaries are many thousands of magnificent homes, carrying on the fame -of the famous Rancho San Pascual. - - - - - Rancho Santa Gertrudes - - -Seventeen thousand six hundred and two acres of California’s most -fertile land, bordered by a large river, divided by two smaller ones and -with a billion dollar oil pool beneath—the Rancho Santa Gertrudes sold -under the hammer for $3.40 an acre. - -The rancho was a part of the great Manuel Nieto grant made by the King -of Spain through the Spanish Governor, Pedro Fages. The Nieto grant was -divided among his heirs and Antonio Maria Nieto received the part -designated as the Rancho Santa Gertrudes and in 1834 the Mexican -Governor, Jose Figueroa, confirmed the title to Dona Josefa Cota, widow -of Antonio Maria Nieto. - -Later the rancho was conveyed to Lemuel Carpenter, born a Missourian, -but for many years a resident of California when it was a part of -Mexico. For awhile Carpenter and his beautiful wife, Maria de Los -Angeles Dominguez de Carpenter, lived happily on the rancho. They -prospered under Mexico but failed under the United States and on -November 14, 1859, the rancho was sold by the Sheriff. One week before -the day of the sale Carpenter committed suicide. - -John G. Downey and James P. McFarland, doing business as Downey, -McFarland & Company, were the purchasers at the sale, paying $60,000 for -the entire rancho. Both of these men were famous characters in -California history. Downey became the Civil War Governor of the State -and McFarland a leading State Senator. Together they opened the first -drug store in Los Angeles, and Downey, with Alvinza Hayward, organized -the first bank. - -In 1865 the rancho was leased for twenty-five years to the Los Angeles -Pioneer Oil Company for exploration and development of oil. But, -although the oil company diligently explored, no oil could be found and -the lease was finally abandoned. - -The Town of Downey was started in 1873 with a boom and predictions were -freely given that the new city would soon outdistance its sleepy -neighbor, Los Angeles. - -Toward the east boundary of the rancho the Town of Fulton Sulphur -Springs and Health Resort was platted. But few lots were sold until 1886 -when the Santa Fe Railway built its line through the town, bought up all -the lots and replatted them into smaller ones, planned a big hotel and -renamed the town Santa Fe Springs. How foolish the silver-tongued land -auctioneers made the purchasers appear when they bought lots, then at -$200 apiece. How foolish would the same auctioneers look today if they -could see their town of Santa Fe Springs—a city of derricks—a bonanza of -“Black Gold.” - - [Illustration: _Night at Santa Fe Springs on the Rancho Santa - Gertrudes_] - - - - - Rancho San Antonio - - -No horses so fast, no cattle so fine, no land so fertile, no rancho more -famous than the Rancho San Antonio. No family more prominent, no -hospitality more welcome or as freely partaken, no hacienda more lovely, -happy or prosperous than that of the Lugos. - -Antonio Maria Lugo received the grant of the rancho from the King of -Spain in 1810 and for fifty years thereafter this old Spanish Don and -his sons were the sole owners of its 29,514 acres, adjoining the -original pueblo grant of the City of Los Angeles on the southeast. - -The Lugos saw the rise of the Mission chain to the height of its glory, -then the passing of Spanish control and the rise of Mexico, the breaking -up of the Mission chain, the fall of Mexico and the coming of the Stars -and Stripes. Wars and governments came and passed and the Lugo family -stood them all and kept their rancho intact. They built a wonderful -adobe in the pueblo of Los Angeles facing the Plaza directly opposite -the church and there the social life of the city centered. - -But American ways and American prosperity they could not stand and as -the County grew, bit by bit they lost their vast rancho by sale, -foreclosure and litigation. - -In 1865 the Sheriff sold the home place of Vicente Lugo, one of the -sons, for a consideration of less than $1.00 an acre. With the -conveyance went a large wooden house constructed by the younger Lugo, -one of the first wooden houses in the County. In 1883 Jonathan S. -Slauson, founder of Azusa and for whom Slauson Avenue is named, -purchased the land constituting what had been the home place for $200 an -acre. In 1910 the heirs of Slauson sold the land for $500 an acre. - -In 1927 part of this land was sold for a consideration of $7,000 an acre -for the site of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company’s plant. Only the -cluster of trees now shows where the great wooden house once stood while -hundreds of workmen pass daily over the paths and gardens of the noble -Don Vicente. - -On other parts of the rancho have been built Huntington Park, Vernon, -Walnut Park, South Gate and Lynwood, all prosperous communities. The -original adobe house of Antonio Maria Lugo is yet standing on Baker -Avenue opposite the Southern California Edison Company’s Power Station -and near the Union Plant of the Consolidated Steel Corporation. - -The Lugos builded well and both the hacienda and the city home on the -plaza are still in good condition. Both should be landmarked and -properly preserved—testimony to the finest in life and honor in the days -of the Dons. - - [Illustration: _No Hacienda More Lovely Than That of the Lugos on - the Rancho San Antonio_] - - - - - Rancho Los Felis - - -North of the Pueblo of Los Angeles and adjoining the Los Angeles River -on the west is the Rancho Los Felis, 6,647 acres. - -The rancho was granted in 1843 to Maria Ygnacia Verdugo but it is -evident that she had been occupying the land for some time previous to -that date as on February 17th, 1841, the City of Los Angeles, by the -President of its Common Council, granted to her the “right to use the -water from the river of Our Lady of Angels for cultivating the lands of -Los Felis.” At that time there was so much water in the Los Angeles -River in excess of what the pueblo inhabitants could use that the city -felt free to dispose of part of it in this manner. - -In 1853 Dona Verdugo, signing by mark, granted to her daughters parts of -the rancho. These deeds recited that they were made for “the welfare and -progress of my daughters.” But the daughters failed to progress and soon -sold their respective parts for $1 per acre. - -Antonio F. Coronel, famous pioneer of Los Angeles, purchased the rancho -and subsequently he deeded it to James Lick, equally famous pioneer of -San Francisco, by this “more or less” definite description: “Commencing -at a point on Los Angeles River; thence Southerly 3,150 varas, more or -less; thence Westerly 6,200 varas, more or less, to a napalera (prickly -pear patch); thence Northerly 5,000 varas, more or less, to a calera -(lime kiln) and thence Easterly following along the right bank of the -Los Angeles River to the place of beginning 7,100 varas, more or less, -containing more or less one and a half square leagues of land.” - -In 1882, 4,071 acres were purchased by Colonel Griffith Jenkins Griffith -and in 1884 Colonel Griffith sold back to the City of Los Angeles for -$25,000 the valuable water rights donated 43 years previously. - -In the western and southern parts of the rancho development followed -rapidly. The Lick Tract, now part of Hollywood, was platted, then -Ivanhoe and the Edendale district. But most of the mountain and slope -land of the Los Felis Rancho was undeveloped except by hand of nature -until 1898 when Colonel Griffith deeded 3,015 acres of unsurpassed land -to the City of Los Angeles, one of the finest gifts ever presented to a -city—Griffith Park. - - - - - Rancho San Pedro - - -Within the boundaries of Rancho San Pedro was Nigger Slough, Rattlesnake -Island and the Salt Flats, and its own name was none too beautiful. But -the Rancho San Pedro overcame all such handicaps and developed into a -favorite child in the family of the Spanish Ranchos. - -This rancho, containing 43,119 acres, was one of the tremendously big -Spanish grants made by a Spanish King, who believed the limit of -population which Southern California could ever care for was represented -in the ten Missions, four Pueblos (San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara -and San Luis Obispo) and the comparatively few Ranchos. - -The grant was made to Juan Jose Dominguez of an illustrious family quite -different from the average Spanish family living in California in its -early days. The Dominguez heirs have each in succession adapted -themselves to every change and kept a large part of their rancho intact -to the present day. But much of the land was so strategically located on -the sea, around the harbor and on main lines of boulevards and railroads -between Los Angeles and San Pedro, that it was inevitable that intensive -development should take place on these parts. - -On December 22, 1854, the Dominguez heirs sold 2,400 acres at the harbor -to Phineas Banning, B. D. Wilson, John G. Downey and associates for -$20,000, or nearly $10.00 an acre, and on this and adjoining land -Banning founded the town of Wilmington, originally called New San Pedro. -During the Civil War Phineas Banning and B. D. Wilson in a burst of -patriotic enthusiasm donated a large parcel of land in their new town to -the United States government for Drum Barracks, and as such it served a -useful and vital purpose, not only as a supply station and barracks, -but, as well, to hold down anti-Union sentiment. It was easy to donate -the land but it took eight years and a special act of Congress for -Banning and Wilson to get the land back after the close of the War. - -Nine miles north of Wilmington but within the same rancho was platted -Comptonville, now Compton, originally planned as a temperance colony. -Ten miles westerly and also in the same rancho, Redondo Reach, platted -in 1889, became a famous pleasure resort. Between these far distant -points have been laid out the towns of Gardena, Moneta, and Torrance. In -addition to these there are now many hundreds of small farms, and -probably the world’s largest aggregation of oil tank farms, two or three -airports, an excellent and productive oil field, and there is plenty of -land left in the rancho. - -Such is the story of a gift from a King—a Rancho of success. - - [Illustration: _Patio of the Dominguez Home—Rancho San Pedro_] - - - - - Rancho Santa Anita - - -The Rancho Santa Anita, covered with oaks and on gentle, sloping ground, -was situated between Pasadena and Monrovia, and includes within its -13,319 acres the cities of Sierra Madre and Arcadia. Its title was -founded on a grant to Hugo Reid made in 1841, confirmed by Mexico in -1845 and by the United States in 1857. - -For 20 cents an acre Hugo Reid conveyed the rancho to Henry Dalton, an -Englishman who had for 25 years lived in South America. Subsequently it -passed to William Wolfskill, whose home in the Pueblo of Los Angeles -stood on the present site of the Southern Pacific station. Wolfskill -left the rancho to his son, Lewis, and the younger Wolfskill sold it in -1872 for $85,000 to H. Newmark & Co. Both Harris Newmark of that firm -and Hugo Reid, the first owner of the rancho, have perpetuated their -names in history by their writings of early Los Angeles. Mr. Newmark’s -book, “Sixty Years in Southern California,” has had a wide circulation. - -Three years later for nearly three times the amount paid by H. Newmark -and Co. the rancho was purchased by E. J. Baldwin. Lucky at the mines, -lucky in the markets, lucky with horses and luckiest of all with -land,—no wonder they called him “Lucky” Baldwin. - -Baldwin at this time was a San Franciscan and had made millions in the -Ophir mines of Nevada. He built the “fireproof” Baldwin Hotel, the -largest in San Francisco, later destroyed by fire. But the charm of -Rancho Santa Anita soon took Baldwin from his northern home and he moved -into the large ranch house, devoting the balance of his life to the -development of this rancho and the acquiring of others. Upon his death -in 1909, his daughters, Anita M. Baldwin and Clara Baldwin Stocker, -succeeded him in the ownership of Rancho Santa Anita. - -Baldwin’s greatest love was for horses and he developed a breed of -racing stock which became world-famous. Next to his love for horses he -loved trees and he bordered every road within his rancho with trees and -jealously fostered and guarded them. The towering lines of Eucalyptus -trees along Huntington Drive and Santa Anita Avenue through the Rancho -Santa Anita stand as evidence of the hand of “Lucky” Baldwin—those are -his monuments. - - - - - Rancho La Brea - - -For the inhabitants of the pueblo, later the City of Los Angeles, the -Rancho La Brea has always been one of the most useful of the ranchos. -The rancho derived its name from the La Brea Pits where the brea, or -crude oil, oozed to the surface to catch prehistoric animals and -preserve them for many thousands of years and to catch a few stray -cattle in the Spanish days, and also to furnish excellent roofing for -the adobes in the Pueblo of Los Angeles. - -The rancho was first granted January 6, 1828, by Jose Antonio Carrillo, -Alcalde of the Pueblo of Los Angeles, to Antonio Jose Rocha, and -comprised one square league of land. Early conveyances, however, -provided that the owners of the rancho, while they were to have complete -title, nevertheless were to allow the inhabitants of the pueblo -unmolested right to take such brea as they might need for the roofs of -their adobes. - -Antonio Jose Rocha built an excellent adobe in the Pueblo of Los Angeles -as his pueblo home and this adobe, later known as the Rocha House, was -purchased in 1855 by the Board of Supervisors and the City of Los -Angeles and used jointly as the Jail, the Sheriff’s Office, the Court -House and the City Hall. - -In 1860 the Rocha heirs sold the Rancho to John Hancock by a deed which -described the property as being a rancho “some 4 or 8 miles West of the -Pueblo of Los Angeles.” Cornelius Cole, then United States Senator from -California, received 500 acres of land in this rancho as an attorney fee -for services rendered the Hancock family and on these acres platted -Colegrove, now a part of Hollywood. However, much of the rancho was held -intact by Mr. Hancock and Major Henry Hancock, and later G. Allan -Hancock, and for many years the land with its springs, flowing streams -and gentle ravines provided excellent hunting ground for the people of -the town of Los Angeles. As late as 1892 there appears a conveyance, -executed by Mrs. Hancock, conveying 20 acres of land and reserving for -fifteen years the right to hunt for game. The subsequent platting of the -land following the completion of the Los Angeles-Pacific Interurban -lines soon ruined the land for hunting purposes. - -For years the Hancock heirs took immense quantities of oil from the -productive oil field and, as the oil decreased, the development and -growth of the city changed the character of the land and the black sump -holes gave way to green lawns and the tall, ugly (but profitable) -derricks to fine homes, as the Wilshire District, one of the world’s -finest residential sections, was built on the Rancho La Brea. - - [Illustration: _Famous La Brea Pits and Ranch House, Now in Hancock - Park_] - - - - - Rancho Cienega o’Paso de La Tijera - - -How differently the Spanish and the Americans viewed their ranches is -quite apparent from the names they gave them. The Americans dubbed their -ranches the “Diamond Bar,” the “3 X,” the “109,” or some other rather -picturesque but meaningless title. - -The Spaniards blessed their ranchos by dedicating them to Santa Anita, -San Rafael, Santa Gertrudes, or San Geronimo. They saw the many little -streams of water flowing from the springs on what is now Beverly Hills -and named that Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas—the gathering of the waters. -They loved the big oaks of the district along Ventura Boulevard between -North Hollywood and Girard and named it Rancho El Encino—the oaks. What -the Americans call the Baldwin Hills—they saw naturally formed a pass -resembling scissors and thus was named Rancho Cienega o’Paso de La -Tijera. - -In 1843 Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted Rancho Cienega o’Paso de La -Tijera to Vicente Sanchez, friend of the Mexican government, valiant -soldier and good citizen. But he did not live long to enjoy his rancho -and at about the time California became a state his heirs partitioned -his land holdings. Tomas A. Sanchez acquired the rancho—his sisters -taking property on Nigger Alley in the Pueblo of Los Angeles as their -share. - -Tomas Sanchez also had a well deserved reputation for extraordinary -bravery and was Sheriff of Los Angeles County from 1860 to 1867, a -period in which crime waves were permanent and the accepted order of the -day. - -Gradually the Rancho increased in value. In 1875 Sanchez sold a half -interest for $60,000, later he sold a fourth and finally another Sheriff -sold the remainder. E. J. (Lucky) Baldwin became the owner. Baldwin -found this rancho something of a white elephant. Sheep ranching became -unprofitable and the land was not adapted to orange groves and he knew -nothing of the oil beneath it. But he held the property and when he died -in 1909 his estate listed Rancho Cienega o’Paso de La Tijera as one of -its most valuable possessions. The Baldwin heirs sold large parts of the -rancho, and the Los Angeles Investment Company subdivided tract after -tract within its bounds. - -Seemingly no matter how fast this old rancho has been subdivided (and -the growth of Angelus Mesa has been phenomenal) the remaining -unsubdivided part grows in value by leaps and bounds directly contrary -to its diminishing size. Like the estate of “Lucky” Baldwin the estate -of his daughter, Clara Baldwin Stocker, recently deceased, lists as its -most valued possession the remainder of the Rancho Cienega o’Paso de La -Tijera. - - [Illustration: _Hacienda of the Rancho Cienega o’Paso de La - Tijera—now a Golf Club_] - - - - - Rancho Ex-Mission de San Fernando - - -The remark is often heard, “I knew the San Fernando Valley when it was a -wheat field.” Thousands of Angelenos recall the founding of Van Nuys and -Owensmouth and the platting of Tract 1000, the largest subdivision in -Los Angeles County. And even the newcomers have seen almost unbelievable -development. But what of the valley before Tract 1000; what before the -wheat? - -When the Fathers of the Mission of San Fernando completed their Mission -and looked out through its arches their vision could not include land -not theirs. The grant to the Mission described 121,000 acres extending -from mountains to mountains on all sides of the valley, and named the -rancho Mission de San Fernando, and as such it prospered. - -Spain encouraged and protected the Missions of California and granted to -them great tracts of land—Mexico plundered and destroyed the Missions -and seized their lands. Among these Mission lands seized by the Mexican -government was the prize of them all, the Mission de San Fernando. For -years chaos reigned at the Mission. The government drove off many of the -Indians, others left and the herds of cattle became legitimate prey -alike for “Gentlemen of Mexico” and Mexican bandits not claiming the -distinction. - -In 1846 armed invasion of California was commenced by the Americans. -Governor Pio Pico in a blaze of oratory declared that at any cost the -“Department of California” must be retained as property of Mexico -forever and asked for authority to sell Rancho Mission de San Fernando, -then known as Rancho Ex-Mission, for funds with which to equip an army. -In this emergency the San Fernando Valley was sold as a land bargain -never again equaled, $14,000 for the entire rancho—approximately eleven -cents an acre. Eulogio de Celis purchased the rancho at that figure and -not only did he get a Mexican land bargain but he at once stocked his -big rancho and before the war was over sold horses and cattle to both -sides. - -In 1854 General Andres Pico, brother of the Ex-Governor, purchased a -half interest in the rancho for $15,000 and in 1862 this interest passed -to Pio Pico himself. The land holdings of the last Mexican Governor were -equal to an empire. At one time he owned Rancho Paso de Bartolo, his -interest in Rancho San Fernando, his home place called Ranchito, near -Whittier in this County, and Ranchos Las Flores and Santa Margarita, -both tremendous ranches in San Diego County. In addition to his ranchos -he owned a home on the plaza in the Pueblo of Los Angeles and -considerable additional pueblo land in Los Angeles and San Diego. He -built the celebrated Pico House, yet standing, facing the plaza in Los -Angeles. His life was crowned with success at every turn. Under Mexico -he was California’s leading citizen. Under the United States the ranchos -he owned and the honors he had held gave him a prestige accorded few -men. - -For $2.00 an acre the Rancho Ex-Mission de San Fernando was sold by Pico -and the son of de Celis to Isaac Lankershim, Charles Maclay, I. N. Van -Nuys and B. F. Porter. Under the ownership of these four men Rancho San -Fernando became a great wheat field and four great fortunes were made -for its owners. - -While Pio Pico, who once counted his acres in hundreds of thousands, -spent his last days in abject poverty—his ranchos, his city property, -his hotel and his home all sold for a mortgage—nothing was left—nothing -but his medals of honor and his memories of the past. - - [Illustration: _Mission de San Fernando_] - - - - - Rancho Tajauta - - -Rancho Tajauta, sometimes called Rancho Los Cuervos, was like a dwarf -among giants. It could have fitted into one corner of its neighbor, the -Rancho San Pedro, or been lost in the San Fernando, and yet it was no -small plot of ground. It extended from what is now Manchester Avenue on -the north to the north boundary of the Rancho San Pedro on the south and -between Central Avenue on the west and the Los Angeles River and Rancho -San Antonio on the east. - -At the height of the cattle days there was only one house on the Rancho -Tajauta, a two-room adobe. Today it is estimated over 20,000 people live -within its boundaries, which include most of Watts and adjoining area in -the southerly part of Los Angeles—and a fourth of the rancho is yet to -be subdivided. The size of the rancho, however, was no criterion to the -number of its owners and changes in its title. Before California became -a state, its original owner, Anastacio Abila, died and left so many -heirs that it was necessary to divide the estate into seventieth parts -to properly partition it. These small interests in the rancho were then -traded in like second-hand Fords are today. - -Phineas Banning, passing the rancho in his stage-coach and eyeing it -carefully for bandits, noticed the soil was excellent, visioned the -railroads that would cross it and bought many small interests. O. W. -Childs, famous for the water ditch which he constructed and for which he -received most of downtown Los Angeles in payment, likewise bought a few -interests. So did Don Mateo Keller, who owned the Rancho Malibu and -Francis Mellus of Mellus Row. And among the owners was the entire legal -fraternity of that day—A. B. Chapman, Andrew Glassell, A. Brunson and R. -M. Widney, all famous names in Southern California history. A $50 gold -slug, the common medium for exchange in those days when small change was -unknown, often bought an interest. Enrique Abila, one of the heirs of -Anastacio Abila, in addition to his own holdings, gradually acquired -many of the interests of the other heirs. He made his home on the rancho -and lived to see the city reach and surround him. - -A little rancho was Rancho Tajauta, but a very active one. - - - - - Rancho Repetto - - -Rancho Repetto, as such, was not an original Spanish or Mexican rancho, -yet in character and size it was just as a Spanish or Mexican rancho -would be. Its history, although covering a period much shorter than the -life of the Spanish grant, is full of the romance of the ranchos of the -Dons. - -The rancho derived its name from Alessandro Repetto, later known as -Alexander Repetto, who purchased its five thousand acres shortly after -the Civil War. Some of the land had been found by the United States Land -Commission to belong to the Rancho San Antonio and this Repetto -purchased from the Lugos. Some of the land he obtained from the -government and forty acres came through state patent. - -Toward its west boundary ran a road recently widened and paved by the -County of Los Angeles. One of the deeds to Repetto refers to this as -“the Road used by the horsemen coming from the rancho of Juan Matias -Sanchez” (originally Mission land of San Gabriel). Later the road was -called Portesuelo de la Rosa de Castella, and still later it was -officially changed to Monterey Pass. It is commonly called Coyote Pass. - -In 1885 Alexander Repetto died leaving as his heir Antonio Repetto, a -brother who lived in Italy. The heir preferred Italy to California and -came here only long enough to collect his inheritance, sell the rancho -and return home. Harris Newmark, John D. Bicknell, Kaspare Cohn, who -founded the Union Bank & Trust Co., Stephen M. White, once United States -Senator from California, and whose figure in bronze stands in front of -the Los Angeles County Court House, and I. W. Hellman purchased the -rancho for $60,000—about $12.00 an acre. - -Out of the Harris Newmark and Kaspare Cohn holdings in Rancho Repetto -was platted Montebello, originally called the Town of Newmark. I. W. -Hellman, whose interest in the rancho equalled 1,500 acres, chose his -land in the northwestern part of the rancho and with that foresight -which made him the foremost banker in Los Angeles when he lived here and -the foremost banker of San Francisco when he removed there he held the -land for the future. This remainder of Rancho Repetto though closer to -Broadway than Hollywood has almost to this day remained just as it was -when it was the property of Alessandro Repetto, while to the south was a -view of intensive development, as Los Angeles industrially spread -eastward, and to the north was another view of intensive development as -Pasadena and Alhambra became cities. - -Recently the last of Rancho Repetto has given up its aloofness. Atlantic -Boulevard has been cut through from north to south and Beverly Boulevard -is to cross it from west to east. The Hellman heirs have conveyed a -large part of it and the J. B. Ransom Corporation has announced an -immediate subdivision program. The final chapter in the history of -Rancho Repetto is being written. - - [Illustration: _Early Ranch House—American Period_] - - - - - Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica - - -Most of the development on the ranchos of Southern California has just -happened—they, like Topsy, just grew. But not so the Rancho San Vicente -y Santa Monica. A careful plan, expenditure of great wealth and a -determination of purpose unequaled all sought to make a great seaport of -Santa Monica—and no city could have grown more contrary to the efforts -to guide it than has Santa Monica. - -The rancho was granted December 20th, 1839, by Governor Juan B. Alvarado -to Francisco Sepulveda, officer of the Mexican army, and comprised -31,000 acres of mountain, mesa and ocean shore land. In the following -thirty-three years many changes came over California. The rule of the -United States supplanted the ruin of Mexico, California became a state -and Los Angeles a city. The wool of the lazy sheep became more -profitable than the hides of cattle. - -In 1872 the heirs of Sepulveda, anxious to divide their inheritance and -believing that Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica had reached the peak of -its value, sold the same for less than $2.00 an acre to Colonel Robert -S. Baker, prominent wool grower of Kern County. Colonel Baker stocked -the rancho with herds of sheep and shortly thereafter sold an undivided -three-fourths interest in his property to Senator John P. Jones of -Nevada. Jones and Baker then conceived the plan of a great harbor at -Santa Monica and a harbor city on the rancho; the fortunes of both these -men were thrown into the project and Santa Monica was platted. - -The Los Angeles & Independence Railroad with its terminus at the new -city and running to Los Angeles was built and operated. It had been -planned to extend the railroad into the mining district of Inyo County -and part of its name was derived from Independence, the county seat of -Inyo County. However, the line was never built beyond Los Angeles. In -connection with the railroad a large warehouse was built in Los Angeles, -and a long wharf at Santa Monica. Every preparation was made for giant -ships of the sea—ships which were never to come. - -In 1886 the land boom which descended on Los Angeles and vicinity found -Santa Monica well prepared to receive it. Colonel Baker and Senator -Jones had hundreds of unsold lots and those previously sold when the -harbor city was budding were ready for resale. The Arcadia Hotel, a -handsome tourist resort located on the bluff, was built by Colonel Baker -and named for his wife, Arcadia Bandini de Baker, who formerly had been -Mrs. Abel Stearns. Mrs. de Baker, child of an illustrious Spanish -family, was famed for her beauty, and, as wife of Don Abel Stearns, -commanded an outstanding social position in Los Angeles. Upon Don Abel’s -death she inherited all of his ranchos. Shortly after the boom the -Estate of Colonel Baker, Senator Jones and the Santa Monica Land & Water -Company conveyed 300 acres of land along the east boundary of the rancho -to the United States and on this and adjoining land the Soldiers’ Home -was built. - -Then another effort was made to create a harbor at Santa Monica—this -time led by Collis P. Huntington with the wealth of the Southern Pacific -Railroad behind him. This last great attempt was given up only when -threshed out on the floor of the United States Senate and the United -States had decided that the Harbor should be at San Pedro. Perhaps it -was the guiding hand of destiny that kept Santa Monica unspoiled as a -residence city. - - [Illustration: “_The wool of the lazy sheep became more profitable - than the hides of cattle_”] - - - - - Rancho Los Palos Verdes - - -Rancho Los Palos Verdes has been the scene of some of the earliest as -well as the latest development in Los Angeles County. For more than -thirty years before Willmore platted Willmore City, later called Long -Beach, and before Jones and Baker laid out their harbor city of Santa -Monica there had been a thriving settlement at the port of San Pedro in -the Rancho Los Palos Verdes. - -The town of San Pedro, later city of San Pedro, and now part of the city -of Los Angeles, was built around that port settlement and almost the -entire district was carved not out of the Rancho San Pedro, as is -generally understood, but out of the Rancho Los Palos Verdes. - -The rancho was granted June 3rd, 1846, by Governor Pio Pico to Jose -Loreto Sepulveda and Juan Sepulveda, brothers, this grant being a -ratification of a previous one made in 1827. It extended from Redondo to -Wilmington and bounded on the north and northeast by Rancho San Pedro -and on the southeast, south and west by the Pacific Ocean, comprising -31,629 acres. Pico, however, reserved a plat of land along the beach, -500 varas square, for the use of the “Superior Government of the Mexican -Nation.” - -With the death of the original grantees and the passing of the ranch -title to their many heirs, Rancho Los Palos Verdes passed into a period -of extensive litigation and had it not been of such tremendous size and -of such constantly increasing value in all probability it would soon -have belonged to the attorneys. From 1865 to 1880, seventy-eight -lawsuits were instituted involving the rancho. The ranch title itself -was not confirmed until 1880. All of the heirs and their successors in -interest held undivided parts of the rancho and six partition suits were -filed before the property was divided according to the respective -ownerships. There were also a dozen suits to eject squatters, several -divorces among the owners, three condemnation suits by the United States -government for land for the lighthouse at Point Firmin, an action to fix -the boundaries of Timms Landing at the port, two foreclosure actions and -several complaints for possession. - -The commissioners in one of the partition suits platted the town of San -Pedro, composed of ninety-eight blocks and this plat filled the two-fold -purpose of making an easy method of dividing the property among the -partitioners and of providing for the growth of the settlement at the -harbor. - -In the years that followed the east part of the rancho progressed -rapidly while thousands of acres in the hills from Point Firmin to -Redondo were retained in a few ownerships and the land used only for -farming. Few people ever saw the rugged coast of Palos Verdes, although -Malaga Cove, Rocky Point, Point Vicente, Long Point, Portuguese Point -and Portuguese Bend were all known to fishermen. - -In 1913 for a consideration of nearly $2,000,000 the western part of the -rancho was conveyed to Jay Lawler and Frank A. Vanderlip, then of New -York. Palos Verdes Estates was conceived in 1922 to develop this part of -the property and to make a world-famous community of homes. The rancho -of the Sepulvedas is a perfect setting for this effort. - - [Illustration: _Verdugo Ranch House, Rancho San Rafael—the First of - the Grants_] - - - - - Mission San Gabriel Arcangel - - -In all California no land has been the scene of such triumphs and -defeats, such prosperity and poverty, such alternating fair fortune and -dire misfortune as the lands of the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel. - -The Mission San Gabriel was founded September 4th, 1771, by Father -Junipero Serra and land set apart for the Mission included nearly the -entire San Gabriel Valley. There was the usual struggle to establish the -Mission and convert the Indians. The first Mission buildings were -destroyed and the old mill—yet standing—built at a great expenditure of -toil and thought was a total failure. But within a few short years after -the founding Mission San Gabriel took its place as the Queen of the -Missions and the most prosperous of all. - -The title of the Mission Fathers to the lands had not been confirmed by -written grant from Carlos III, King of Spain, and the governors of -California under Mexico took advantage of this to grant ranchos within -the valley borders. In the northwest part Rancho San Pascual was granted -to become the princely estate of Don Manuel Garfias and later the sites -of Pasadena and South Pasadena. Farther east Rancho Santa Anita was -created and eventually became the property of E. J. (Lucky) Baldwin. -Beyond that rancho were Ranchos San Francisquito and La Puente. Along -the south hills of the valley Ranchos La Merced, Potrero Grande and -Potrero Chico were granted. By the severing of such large tracts of land -the property of the Mission San Gabriel diminished from tens of -thousands of acres to thousands of acres and then to hundreds. - -In 1846 Governor Pico asked permission of his government to lease the -remaining land of the Mission San Gabriel “to prevent the total ruin of -the Mission.” No lessee could be found to take the land under this act -and on June 18th, 1846, Pio Pico made the final grant of all the -remaining Mission lands to Julian Workman and Hugo Reid. The United -States government, however, refused to confirm this last minute disposal -of the Mission land and declared the property public land of the United -States, first setting aside to Bishop Alemany 190 acres surrounding the -Mission buildings. - -The public land was quickly taken up by many settlers, who were eager to -acquire homesteads in a country almost exclusively made up of giant -ranchos. Subsequently B. D. Wilson and J. De Barth Shorb acquired much -of this land and platted the present prosperous and beautiful city of -Alhambra. San Gabriel and Monterey Park also have been built on land -originally within the Mission boundaries. - -The 190 acres set aside for the Mission Church was the largest parcel of -land received by any one Mission out of the land it had formerly held. -At the height of the Mission glory in all a million and a half acres -were under the control of the Padres. When California became the -property of the United States twenty missions other than San Gabriel -held from four to seventy-six acres each—a total for all the chain of -less than 800 acres. Eight hundred acres out of the original million and -a half. - - [Illustration: _Mission San Gabriel Arcangel_] - - - - - Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres - - -Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres was not in South America, as its name -might indicate, but was an important rancho of Southern California. The -rancho was granted by Manuel Micheltorena, Governor of the Californias, -February 24, 1843, to Maximo Alanis and comprised 4,438 acres. Don -Alanis died shortly after he received the grant and his heirs conveyed -the rancho to Dr. Wilson W. Jones and Wm. T. B. Sanford, the former, one -of Los Angeles’ first doctors and the latter, an early Los Angeles -postmaster. - -But the doctor knew little about ranching and in 1852 he was glad to -sell his half interest in the rancho to Don Benito Wilson for $662.75, -or at the rate of 35 cents an acre. Don Benito’s interests were -extensive and widely separated. Jointly with Dr. Griffin he operated -Rancho San Pascual northeast of the Pueblo of Los Angeles. Jointly with -Phineas Banning he founded and developed the city of Wilmington at the -port of San Pedro, and west of the pueblo, halfway to the ocean, with -Sanford, the Postmaster, he raised cattle on Rancho San Jose de Buenos -Ayres. Between supervising trips to his ranchos and to the harbor he -found time to maintain a home in the Pueblo of Los Angeles—so large that -after he moved it was used for an orphan asylum—buy much city property, -ship wine to San Francisco and foster the development of the orange. - -In 1858 B. D. Wilson bought the interest of Sanford in this and other -property for $16,000 and subsequently sold the rancho. In 1884 John -Wolfskill of the prominent family of that name purchased the rancho for -$40,000. The purchase by Wolfskill was very timely as the completion of -the Santa Fe Railroad two years later sent land prices skyrocketing and -in 1887 he entered into an agreement to dispose of the rancho for -$438,700, or more than ten times what he had paid for the land in 1884. - -The Los Angeles and Santa Monica Land and Water Company was organized to -take over the land at that figure. This company built a railroad through -the property and platted the town of Sunset. But few lots were sold, -however, and in 1891 the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Land and Water -Company quitclaimed the land back to Wolfskill and the townsite was -restored to acreage. Then for many years the rancho was used only for -farming, although its neighbor on the east, the Rancho Rodeo de Las -Aguas, was subdivided into Beverly Hills, and on the west Santa Monica -grew into a thriving city. - -In 1919 Arthur Letts, Sr., Merchant Prince of Los Angeles, founder of -the Broadway Department Store, bought the rancho for an investment. -Since that time Westwood, Holmby Hills (named after Holmby, England, Mr. -Letts’ birthplace) and Westwood Village have all been platted on parts -of the rancho. The moving-picture industry has expanded into the -property and several of the largest studios are located there. Now the -University of California at Los Angeles is being built on the rancho, -and already opened as one of the greatest institutions of learning. - -B. D. Wilson, John Wolfskill and Arthur Letts all profited by their -farsightedness, but none had the vision and none could foresee Rancho -San Jose de Buenos Ayres as it is today. - - - - - _CONCLUSION_ - - -The priceless, romantic history of early California is everywhere being -more and more appreciated. It evidences itself in the names of our -cities, in our landmarks which are at last being preserved and even in -our architecture. - -If “The Romance of the Ranchos” can add its bit to perpetuating this -glorious chapter in California history the writer will feel the time and -effort well worthwhile. - - [Illustration: _Title Insurance Building_ _Spring Street between - Fourth and Fifth_] - - - - - Title Insurance and Trust Company - - - California’s Largest Title Insurance Company - -Title Insurance and Trust Company is the oldest and largest Title -Insurance Company west of Chicago. It is the oldest Trust Company in the -Pacific Southwest. It has been serving the people of Los Angeles County -for thirty-eight years. - -Although founded in 1893, the Company’s records are much older than -that, for they cover the period from the early Spanish days to the -present time. The history of every parcel of land in the County is -recorded in the books and maps of the Company’s title plant, and in its -old records safely stored in its archives vault. - -This great store house of real estate information, called the title -plant, is the Company’s most valuable possession. It is from these -invaluable records, many of which are originals, that the material used -in compiling “The Romance of the Ranchos” has been derived. - - -This real estate information has been indexed and classified so that the -Company’s examiners may find the necessary information in the least -possible time. Millions of dollars have been expended in creating this -great plant which is not surpassed by any in the nation. - -Great as has been the cost and the amount of labor expended—this title -plant is not finished—it never will be finished. - -Each business day of the year 1500 to 2000 documents affecting Los -Angeles County real estate titles are filed in the Recorder’s office and -by 11:30 p.m.—on the day of filing—all have been “posted” on the -Company’s books. - -Much of the “posting,” much of the map making in the title plant has no -connection with present orders. Some of the work done today may be used -tomorrow, some of it may not be used for many years. An important part -of the personnel in this great business machine, which we call the title -plant, is engaged solely in the preparation for future work. - -But when the call comes, the plant is ready. - - -This plant was created to give the people of Los Angeles County accurate -service in the searching and insuring of titles. It serves -owner—buyer—lender—borrower. - -From this plant, the Company issues policies of title insurance -protecting the ownership of real property. Step by step, these policies, -through a series of improvements extending throughout the entire history -of the Company, have been developed into the highest type of title -protection offered anywhere. - - - ESCROWS - -The modern escrow system was originated by this Company. It was designed -to make real estate transactions convenient and safe. A highly trained -personnel and complete and convenient facilities provide efficient -service to buyer and to seller. - - - TRUSTS - -The Company acts as executor and trustee under wills, as administrator -of estates, and in all other trust capacities. - -It offers at a nominal cost an “all-inclusive” declaration of trust, -which is exceedingly flexible. Life insurance policies may be placed in -this trust, thereby protecting the beneficiary from loss, and to this -trust from time to time there may be added real or personal property. - -The Company has had long experience in the management of estates. If you -name the Company as executor under your will, you will be assured that -your beneficiaries will receive considerate and courteous attention and -that your trust estate will be wisely managed and profitably invested. - - [Illustration: _Trust Department_] - - [Illustration: THE OLD SPANISH AND MEXICAN RANCHOS _of_ Los Angeles - County - High-resolution Map] - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - -—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook - is public-domain in the country of publication. - -—Corrected a few palpable typographical errors. - -—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by - _underscores_. - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Romance of the Ranchos, by E. 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