ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

[Music] on this land Indians lived in unchanging patterns for 5,000 years Gaspar de pora Envoy of the king of Spain entered the area with a party of soldiers and priests in 1769 while passing through what is now Orange County they gave names to the important landmarks truko Mesa Santiago Creek the Santa Ana mountains Porto LA's expedition was the Prelude to change [Music] November 1st 1776 while the American Revolution is beginning to rage a continent away father yipo Sarah says a Catholic mass at a place he has named San Juan Capistrano the missionaries now begin to introduce patterns of Christian Living and European thought to the local Indians here in the Sarah Chapel of the Mission San Juan capestrano the oldest building in California the Indians Came To Worship in their new religion by 1806 the mission had over 1,000 converts and the Catholic Padres completed construction of a large new church the finest in California 6 years later during a morning Mass to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception a powerful earthquake split open the plaster of the giant walls the great tower fell to the ground the roed roof collapsed killing 39 Indians who could not [Music] Escape our romantic image of sanan cap asano with its Gardens and fountains was created in the recent past at one time the mission was a center for agriculture and Small industry which the Padres taught the Indians this was the heart of Economic and political power in Orange County but new forces were gathering New Visions and different dreams would soon transform this land [Music] Mexico gained her independence from Spain in 1821 California soon joined the new government trading ships from American and European ports were now welcome in the waters off California a booming trade in cattlehide and Tallow developed a young sailor and author of the book 2 years before the Mast Richard Henry Dana Jr described the color and romance of early California and of the dealings in cattle hides which occurred near a place we now call Dana Point looking at the territory we now know as Orange County we can see how quickly it began to change as massive grants of land were made to form Ranchos the Rancho owners or Dawn as they were called became a new center of wealth and power the first two land grants were actually made by the Spanish government a Spanish Soldier Juan Galva was granted 150,000 Acres on the east side of the Santa Ana River another Soldier Manuel nto was granted use of land between the Santa Ana and San Gabriel River approximately 300,000 Acres while the Galva Descendants the Yorba and the Peralta families kept their property in a single peace NATO's airs under the new Mexican regime decided to divide the property into to five parts four of these were located in Orange County the division of the land took place through surveys conducted by two men on Horseback carrying a Riata two long poles connected by a rope of specified length in a period of 12 Years the land was divided into the great Ranchos the private domains of the powerful families of the Rancho era Abel Sterns became the first American to own land in Southern California when he purchased the 25,000 acre Rancho Los Alamitos for $6,000 soon he owned five other Ranchos and was the richest man in Southern California Juan Forester purchased the 22,000 acre Rancho Trabuco in 1846 he quickly acquired other properties and became the area's second largest [Music] landholder the United States entered into war with Mexico in 1846 under the command of General Steven Kerney and led by Scout Kit Carson the American troops were ordered to secure the territories of New Mexico Arizona and California the California militia of mounted Lancers inflicted heavy casualties on the Americans in the fierce fighting which took place south of the present day city of Escondido Kierney was able to maintain control of the battlefield several days later the General and his troops marched North to take Los Angeles with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 California became part of the United States of America the Americans set up a commission to determine ownership of land the dawn had to rely on their cattle business in order to borrow funds necessary to hire lawyers and surveyors to prove their original ownership although most of the grants were approved many of the Dawn were financially ruined by the expense then a severe drought resulted in the collapse of the cattle industry and the era of the Dawn quickly came to an end in 1857 the Los Angeles Vineyard Society a group of German immigrants purchased 1165 Acres from Juan anos for $2 an acre in addition they acquired the right of way over Bernardo Yo's Ranch to build an irrigation ditch to the Santa Ana River in the fall of 1859 the first colonists arrived in this new wine making colony which they called their home by the Santa Ana River Anaheim [Music] as Anaheim grew during the 60s other major changes were taking place James Irvine founded the massive Irvine Ranch Columbus Tustin founded Tustin City by 1870 William Spurgeon shown here with his wife had laid out the first streets of Santa Ana Transportation began to develop along the California coast this coupled with the new state lines between San Diego Anaheim and Los Angeles encouraged further development AEL Sterns founded the Sterns Ranchos Chapman and glasel two attorneys from Los Angeles petitioned the Richland farmlands later to become the city of Orange by 1877 David W Webster was appointed postmaster of Garden Grove a town founded as a Temperance Colony 2 years earlier by Alonzo cook McFadden's land Landing was established with the coming of the flatboats which could navigate the shallow Waters of Newport Bay dreams of instant wealth swept through the territory in 1877 when silver was discovered in the Santiago mountains although coal had been found about the same time it was silver that brought Prospectors to the newly named Silverado Canyon unfortunately the veins of silver were short and the boom ended quickly [Music] Madame Helena moesa a famous polish actress arrived in Anaheim in 1876 with a group of Polish artists they were looking for a suitable location for a small colony of their countrymen after purchasing a Ranch in Anaheim they discovered how unqualified they were for Farm Life their dog ate all the chicken eggs and stray cattle devoured their barley Madame moesa quickly learned English and became one of America's most distinguished actresses she and her husband bought a piece of property near Santiago Canyon and established their home which Madame moesa called Arden by the mid 1880s a major price War developed in the western states between the Santa Fe Railroad and the Southern Pacific at one point the fair between the Mississippi River and Los Angeles was $1 thousands of people poured into Southern California stimulating the area second great land boom along the railroad routes which now extended through the soon to be Orange County boom towns developed overnight National City San Diego Oldtown delar inata Oceanside from there to Fall Brook is a very nice ride Riverside and golden to then we're riding to samue First Class E will send you through by California railroad guide all out for Anaheim [Music] [Music] sociable communities were now developing there was talk that a separate County should be created in the southern portion of Los Angeles Public Relations men from Chicago and Kansas City were being hired by land companies to boost the sales of new subdivisions largely as a result of their their efforts frenzied speculation infected everyone Farms were cut up into residential lots sometimes the same lot would be sold twice in a single day each time at a profit brass bands excursions barbecues auctions and free land prizes Drew tourists by the thousands to the new [Music] subdivisions oface to Earth First descended to bless with his presence the children of men may the fairest of sings his pathway a tended and unto his smile the Glad Earth smiled again he joyed in the fragrance of oranges and roses and loved their glances to linger or Roam and he said here is tus where Beauty reposes I also will linger or build me a home I also will linger or build me a [Applause] home on June 4th 1889 the citizens of the Southern portion of Los Angeles County voted to form their own government they named the their new County after a lush semi-tropical fruit which the snowed in citizens of the east coast and Midwest would surely find alluring orange this was a good place to raise a family the climate was ideal there was plenty of space and business was good small friendly towns dotted the landscape this was the new dream which had taken hold in the short 50 years since the American occupation and every day new people arrived to share in the joys of Orange County California not a single person who set up the new County Administration was a Native Son the colorful culture of the Spanish and Mexican Pioneers joined the Romantic images of the Old Mission San Juan as part of our history the new Orange County entered the 20th century with prosperity and Hope towards the turn of the century the Santa Ana Orange and Tustin Street Railway company replaced their horsedrawn vehicles with a steam-driven car originally known as The Peanut roaster because of its shrill whistle some of its passengers soon dubbed the orange dummy the combination of mechanization and industrious men accelerated the growth of small industrial colonies throughout the new County at Newport the mcfaden brothers constructed a pier out into the ocean and extended their Santa Ana and Newport railroad 1200 ft to its [Music] tip Edward elini a promoter for the Canon Oil Company in Brea boosted his company's production levels to 50 barrels a day toini then entered into partnership with the Santa Fe Railroad and opened up the rich Olinda oil District in 1903 railroad developer Henry e Huntington and His Brilliant engineer Eeps Randolph finished their experiments in Los Angeles with electric rail Transportation Randolph standardized the track and engineered the extension of the line into Long Beach Huntington's vision of a mass transportation system for Southern California was to change the face of the northern portion of Orange County Land Development companies purchased large tracks along the coast to attract more investors for new resort communities but success depended upon Huntington's Pacific electric trains developers would often sell or give Huntington large tracts of land in order to guarantee the rooting of the little red car the coast route extended out of Long Beach to Bay City a resort town and amusement park later incorporated as Seal Beach through Pacific City later Hunting Beach and on into the new developments of Newport and bboa through a series of lucrative land trades Huntington became the most powerful landowner in the area the Santa Ana line completed in 1905 ran between Santa Ana and Watts this line was the occasion for the founding of the cities of Cyprus and Stanton the third Pacific electric line branched off from the Whittier line through the new town of La Habra to Randolph now called Brea it was completed in 1910 in the next several years Branch lines completed the system Huntington's mass transit system changed the whole concept of time and space in Southern California before the red car it took a full day to make the round trip from Bay City or Seal Beach to Santa Ana now it took less than an [Music] hour a small colony of artists in Laguna Beach began in the late 1890s but it was not until the 20th century that major painters like William went Frank cuprien and Anna Hills began to settle along this beautiful Coastline in 1909 Aviator Glenn Martin built Orange County's first airplane in an old church in Santa Ana Martin had studied the plans and experiments of the Wright brothers and then produced a similar plane using a lighter and more powerful Ford engine when the airplane was completed Martin was forced to saw down one of the church walls to get the plane out to the field for takeoff Martin shown here with his adventurous mother received his pilot's license in 1911 and a year later flew his plane 37 mi from Newport to Catalina breaking the world record for crosswater flights [Music] about, 1600 Orange County men served in the first world war Santa Anna's company L of the California National Guard was ordered into service its Commander Captain Nelson M Holderman was the County's First Congressional Medal of Honor winner on the home front Red Cross chapters were organized in Fullerton and Santa Ana Liberty Loans were supported beyond their quota by Orange County Citizens and young men came to the Santa Ana courthouse to join the armed forces by the early 1920s oil and the automobile had formed their Inseparable Bond more Wells were sunk in Orange County stimulating the discovery of a tremendous oil deposit in Huntington Beach the industry grew so rapidly that small businesses gambling on the popularity of the auto often became successful servicing the needs of this modern Wonder businessmen like Walter knot capitalized on the new highway system and for all of Southern California the Sunday drive through Orange County became a form of popular [Music] entertainment the boom of the 20s began with thousands of Home Seekers who swarmed into Southern California following World War I government and private agencies put out pamphlets on the beauties of Orange County real estate Midway city was formed and oi Hansen sold a whopping $125,000 worth of property on his first day of sales in the new city of San Clemente citrus fruits had become a major industry and orange crates were now identified with distinctive colorful labels to own an automobile buy a home and smell the orange blossoms these were good times for Orange [Music] County many businesses which had ridden the Carefree economic way wave of the 20s did not survive when the Depression hit in 1929 Orange County accustomed to Boom following boom suddenly went bust jobs were no longer plentiful and unemployment Rose workers demanded relief then federal government programs like the NRA and WPA put some people to work and brought relief to others the one bright spot during these years was the birth of the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach as if to punctuate The Bleak economic reality a series of natural disasters occurred during the 10-year period which marked the depression first The Long Beach earthquake of 1933 caused serious damage in Anaheim and Santa Ana in 1938 the Santa Ana River flooded you could sail over land from Los Alamitos to Santa Ana 1939 brought a storm that damaged each of the six Resort Town peers along the coast and now voices were heard from Europe and the Pacific which spoke of more trouble to come December 7 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 Orange County had little in the way of military facilities within a year training bases were being built and work was begun on the giant blimp hangers which housed the Navy's lighter than air unit in Tustin here in these enormous hangers now in historical monument we are reminded of the sacrifice and bravery which occurred in the midst of international war and destruction every day the average citizen in uniform or not was affected by and participated in the war effort overcome this premeditated Invasion the American in the Panic that followed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the government ordered all Americans of Japanese descent to evacuate the coastal regions of the western states 1,850 Japanese Americans from Orange County were forced to leave their homes and reload locate in Arizona many of these people whose loyalty to the United States was unquestionable lost everything in the turmoil of the evacuation in 1944 the US Supreme Court struck down the relocation act and many Japanese Americans returned to Orange County to rebuild the lives they had left behind on the coast of France by troops of the Allied expeditionary Force this Landing is part of the concerted United Nations plan for the liberation of Europe Orange County National Guard units were sent to camp San Louis abiso 9 months before the attack on Pearl Harbor at the time few realized the possibility of America's entry into World War II under the harsh realities of the ensuing years these men forged Brave military records their aggressive often heroic actions were crucial to the capture of the Philippines in 1944 the first atomic bomb was on Hiroshima a military base we won the race of Discovery against war is at an end we we may allow ourselves a brief period sign the instrument of surrender at the places indicated With Victory and peace secure Orange County took a big breath and prepared to enter a remarkable future to peel away much of her simple past 1950 Orange County California the beginning of the greatest transformation in Orange County History the statistics of this great Plunge Into the Future are astounding between 1953 and 1955 the number of lots subdivided in Orange County Rose from 10,504 to 27,600 population of 216,000 soared in 10 years to 74,000 11 new cities were Incorporated for a while Garden Grove was the fastest growing city in the nation this wasn't a boom it was an explosion young families poured into Orange County and the county seemed to keep up with the enormous demand shopping centers churches mobile home parks a whole new way of life was being built for hundreds of thousands of people attracted to California living [Music] [Applause] [Music] in a 10-year period a massive School building program met the needs of a student population which had quadruple [Music] in 1955 the opening of Disneyland marked the realization of one of Walt Disney's fondest dreams the completion of a major new freeway connecting Los Angeles with San Diego and the concurrent dedication of the State College at Fullerton and the University of California at Irvine opened the door in the mid 1960s to the evolution of Orange County as one of the most significant urbanized areas in the [Music] country one of the keys to designing the road the way it's designed the development of the 19 had been in the flat Northeast section of the county the southwest of the county was dominated by the combined 175,000 open Acres of the Irvine Mission Vio Molton and star ranches by the 1960s new Concepts for development had begun to emerge Master planners proposed new communities for the massive ranches of the South County what about where the Sixth Lane Highway comb into a four lane Highway major intersection very possibly interchanged I see okay how's the character of the Coast Highway going to change development of the coast at one time they were going to move the actual alignment that's no longer possible just due to the cost so what we're talking about is probably six Lane approximately 7,000 the rapid growth of Small industry with special concentration in electronics and Aerospace field brought additional jobs and wealth to the [Music] area out in the ninth FIP Alo 0 for three MC mullum robbed him of a hit on one play the pitch curv line to fosi one hop he goes to Second for one on the first recreation activities soon became one of the area's major industries yearly Orange County now attracts millions of visitors from throughout the world for 5,000 years Indians lived on this land in unchanging patterns change began only 200 years ago with the arrival of the Spanish since that time generation after generation of people have arrived in Orange County seeking a more satisfying way of life each person brought a new dream and each dream became a new reality this is the history of Orange County California for [Applause] [Music]