What happens
In 1837, Ignacio Palomares and Ricardo Vejar, respected citizens of Los Angeles, take formal possession of the Rancho San Jose after Governor Alvarado grants their petition. Jose Sepulveda rides with them, but a warning from Dominguez about hostile Mojave Indians hangs over the new owners. Measuring the land and marking its corners with a wooden cross, the partners settle into their holdings. Their ranch becomes a great cattle empire, but financial troubles and the arrival of American creditors begin to reshape the valley. Part of the Romance of the Ranchos series, the drama was originally broadcast on September 21, 1941.
San Jose Valley, Southern California, from the 1830s onward
Characters: Ignacio Palomares, Ricardo Vejar, Jose Sepulveda, Dominguez, Governor Alvarado, Luis Arenas, Henry Dalton, Schlesinger
Listen for: The opening description of the valley and the boundary-marking scene at the black willow tree
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.