San Pedro Stories: The Romance of the Ranchos

San Pedro Stories: The Romance of the Ranchos

The Old Time Radio (OTR) program The Romance of the Ranchos includes several San Pedro related stories. While every story is based on actual characters and events, historical accuracy sometimes takes a back seat to entertainment in these early infotainment productions. Each episode is a 1940s dramatizations of a 1930s romanticized short story by Palmer Conner derived from the land title records of the Title Insurance and Trust Company of Los Angeles (the same company which published the stories and sponsored the radio series).

The first land grant in modern California was Rancho San Pedro, awarded in 1784 to Juan Jose Dominguez, a career soldier who served for nearly 30 years in the Spanish military. Today this land includes the cities, in whole or in part, of Carson, Compton, Gardena, Lomita, Palos Verdes Estates, Redondo Beach, San Pedro, Torrance, Wilmington, and West Carson. Rancho San Pedro was also the only Spanish Rancho to survive through three governments relatively intact. Only about 25 grants were made during the Spanish era (1697-1821), and the rest, some 480 of them, were granted during the Mexican era (1821-1847). After California became a state in 1850, grantees were required to submit legal documents to prove their ownership. This process took more than three decades, and it ruined all but a few. (Curtright)

An excellent set of contemporary maps showing the final boundaries of the ranchos after the surveys were complete and the U.S. patents issued are available online from cartographer Jack Curtright.

The Romance of the Ranchos starred the “man with a thousand voices,” voice actor Frank Graham (IMDb page), as the narrator/host. Graham did numerous radio programs, but today is best known for his animation work (filmography)—such as 2 of Tex Avery’s 1943 classics, Red Hot Riding Hood (narrator and wolf) and Dumb-Hounded (mayor and the killer hounded by “Droopy Dog”).

All of the episodes in the series are good old fashion fun (I like OTR). So kick back, pick an episode, close your eyes, and visit the adobe days of California:

Use the next and back buttons on the player (above) to toggle between episodes or click on a specific title (below) to download the mp3 file from the Internet Archive and open in your own media player (the mp3 files are 6.3-6.7 MB each).

No.	Episode Title	Date
01	Rancho San Rafael	1941-09-07
02	Santa Fe Springs	1941-09-14
03	Rancho San Jose	1941-09-21
04	Aquaje de La Centinela	1941-10-01
05	Rodeo De Las Aguas	1941-10-08
06	San Pedro & Palos Verdes	1941-10-15
07	Paso De Bartolo Viejo	1941-10-22
08	Ex-Mission De San Fernando	1941-10-29
09	Los Cerritos & Los Alamitos	1941-11-05
10	Tiburcio Vasquez	1941-11-12
11	San Vincene y Santa Monica	1941-11-19
12	San Francisco	1941-11-26
13	San Antonio	1941-12-03
14	Benjamin D Wilson (1 of 2)	1941-12-10
15	Benjamin D Wilson (2 of 2)	1941-12-17
16	Christmas at San Gabriel	1941-12-24
17	San Jose de Buenos Aires	1941-12-31
18	Joseph Chapman	1942-01-07
19	Azusa Dalton	1942-01-14
20	Jedediah Smith	1942-01-21
21	Rancho La Puente	1942-01-28
22	Santa Catalina Island	1942-02-04
23	Hugo Reid	1942-02-11
24	La Ballona	1942-02-18
25	Juan Fiaco	1942-02-25
26	Phineas Banning	1942-03-08
27	Rancho San Francisquito	1942-03-15
28	Water Development	1942-03-23
29	Joaquin Murietta	1942-03-29
30	Rancho San Pasqual	1942-04-05
31	Don Juan Temple	1942-04-12
32	Rancho La Brea	1942-04-19
33	Pueblo of Los Angeles	1942-04-26
34	Transportation	1942-05-03
35	The Carrillo Family	1942-05-10

All 35 episodes are available at the Internet Archive for listening or download (Location 1; Location 2). You can read much more about the original OTR program at the excellent Digital Deli page (or get the bare facts from the RadioGOLDINdex page).