WEBVTT

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(dramatic strings)

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(dramatic drumbeat)

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- [Narrator] Looking around Camp Pendleton,

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it's hard to miss the T&O logo adorning everything

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from government vehicles to chow halls.

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But what does the symbol really stand for?

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^In 1841, Pio Pico was the governor of Alta, California.

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^He and his brother Andre were awarded a land grant

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for 133,441 acres

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^which became a working cattle and horse ranch

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^known as Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores.

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It is customary in the cattle industry

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for ranchers to brand their livestock with a unique symbol

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for easy identification as their herd grazed

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vast areas of land, it could not always be supervised.

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There are many local legends depicting how exactly

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the flying T and hanging O became the brand for the Rancho.

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Some say Pio Pico modified a neighboring ranch's brand

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to claim its cattle as his own.

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(cow moos)

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For the next century, the Rancho changed hands many times

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but retained the same brand for its cattle.

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(cow bellows)

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In 1942, the United States Marine Corps purchased the land

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and everything on it for $4,239,062.

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(cash register rings)

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Although the Rancho would be repurposed as a training base,

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the Corp vowed to maintain visible ties to the past.

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They received permission to use the T&O as their base logo

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and as they say, the rest is history.

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(saxophone)

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(brand sizzles)

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(rushing noise)

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(deep explosion)