Rancho Ex-Mission De San Fernando

The Romance of the Ranchos. San Fernando 1845. Armies prepare for Battle of Colinga Place. San Fernando 1874. Senator Byes Garden of Eden in Valet. San Fernando 1941. Movie star Byes Ranch in beautiful Valley of Home.

The title insurance and trust company of Los Angles 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 Vaquero Frank Graham.

The 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 hand-written, 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 that tested 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 Vaquero, Frank Graham. We're not no chess, cignoros, cícignoros. 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 Rancho. ["The Rancho of San Fernando," by the name of San Fernando, our story of the Rancho of San Fernando starts about the year 1790.