This color film about Rancho Las Salinas (once located in the present day Monterey Bay area) was made in 1949. It is narrated from the standpoint of Don Solis, who explains how he surveyed and laid out his ranch, tilled the soil with wooden plows, raised and herded cattle, and traded tallow and hides. As the film explains, this ranch was part of the Mexican land grant of four-square-leagues (17,713.6 acres) given in 1839 to Gabriel Espinosa by Mexican governor Nicolas Gutierrez to help settle the land they called Alta California, which was shortened to simply California. The film opens with a band and Flamenco dancers outside of a hacienda (:08). Dressed in vintage clothing, (:31) the story begins with Gabriel seeing the land for the first time (:38). To measure the boundary lines, a vaquero (cowboy) begins by tying the rope to the shaft of a lance (1:09), as is the other end of the rope to another shaft. The lance is put next to a skull (1:32) to mark one corner. The rider goes the distance of the rope and puts the lance in before returning to mark out the other three sides. A map shows the layout of the future ranch, which is submitted to the Governor for approval (1:58). Poles are used to build a large corral to hold the cattle (2:51-3:21). Oxen (3:37) plowed the first fields of corn with hand-crafted tools (3:51-4:25). An Indian turns cow hides into a riata, which is a very strong lariat. The entire complexity of making this braided rope is shown (4:35-10:00). A colt (10:13) prances. Rodeos were held in May. The men rounded up the wild cattle to the rodeo area, branding the calves (10:42-14:44). He kept count by making a notch on a tally stick for every ten branded (14:46). Hides from older cattle are staked on the ground to dry and the hair and meat removed (15:20-16:34). Tallow from rendered animal fat is poured into holes and hardened for later use as lard or candles (16:35-17:00). These two products were sold to merchants who arrived by ship, who also delivered items previously ordered; the value of each is assessed by weight (17:15-20:15). A fiesta celebrates this activity (20:41-21:17).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com