Walter H. Righter (1905 - 1982) - Aviation Engine Pioneer

Walter Hammond Righter (1905 - 1982)

Chapter 1. Home Home on the Ranch : Part 2

Last Updated : July 20, 2005

Walter Hammond Righter, a native Californian was born on Good Friday April 14, 1905 on a ten acre orange ranch at 12751 South Tustin Ave. in Orange, California.

He really lucked out. Not only did he acquire all the fine traits that his Righter ancestors were noted for, but he also inherited all of the best qualities from both of his parents.

Walter Righter, 3 months old

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Walter Righter, 3rd birthday, April 14, 1908

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Walter Righter c.1910

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Walter Righter and friends, 1911

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Walter with the family cow who also served her purpose

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Walt was a very curious and precocious child. His first invention was made at age seven. His 'car' was quite a contraption complete with three wheels, steering wheel, a chassis with a roof and foot peddles to make it go. He was off to a good start.

Walter Righter's first car, 'Orange Ranch', 1912

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Dad was always a good student all the way through the grades. At Orange Union High School, he was an honor student. He was on the baseball, football, and track teams, was the school bus driver and in the senior class play.

Walter Righter, 'Orange Ranch', 1912

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There were fun days when they hitched up their horse to the wagon, packed a picnic lunch and went to the beach. It was a long, slow, mile ride one way! Grandmother's sister, Anna, had a cottage at Laguna Beach, so they could spend a night or two and have a visit with her.

Walter Righter, Laguna Beach, c.1910-12

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When Walter was about twelve, it was decided that a bathroom would be installed in what was then the clothes closet. So the doorway was moved from the kitchen to the rear bedroom, and they were ready for the plumber.

Walt was already handy with tools and this father made a deal with a plumber to use Walter as a helper, and at the same time teach him what he could about plumbing.

He became an over-night expert at cutting threads on galvanized pipe, and learned to calk the joint in a cast iron sewer pipe by driving in oakum and how to seal the joint by running a molten lead ring.

Twenty-two years later Walt's daughter watched him add a second bathroom to his Father's old house. Through his young years Walt built a porch, added more rooms and a guesthouse out back plus a garage for his grateful Dad.

Life on a ten acre orange ranch was not easy. It required constant attention and a lot of hard work. Walt and his father were very strong because of it. When the ranch was first purchased it was mostly planted with English walnut, apricot and some orange trees.

The walnut trees were enormous with huge trunks. The local nut and fruit markets had changed and his father was convinced that it would better to replace the walnut trees with Navel and Valencia oranges.

First the branches were sawed off by hand, then the stumps were dug by pick and shovel and the roots cut off with an axe. The stumps would be pulled out using a team of horses and a capstan as a stump puller.

The wood was chopped, split and burned in the old wood stove for cooking, heating bathwater, heating heavy clothes irons, plus it was the only heater in the house.

Whenever a walnut tree went out an orange tree went in. There were hundreds of trees perhaps a thousand on the ten acres. They also had to surround the property with eucalyptus trees to protect the fruit trees from the wind.

They were very tall and rather messy. Branches would break off or had to be sawed off and trimmed up. There were tall date-palm trees along the front of the property that always had old fronds to trim. Walter's other responsibilities also were to take chop the woodpile, split the logs and feed the stove.

The Ranch House in later years, c.1920

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The Righter's orange grove was a beauty and the scent of the orange blossoms that floated through the orchard in the spring was heavenly. The trees eventually grew to be very large and the fruit was delicious!

"Will" Righter in his orange orchard, c.1930

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There were plenty of times when "smudge pots" were needed to ward off the frost that could ruin an entire crop overnight. If the temperature dipped below a certain temperature, it was a frantic time going through the orchard setting out the pots and firing them up and keeping them going through the night. Some times this lasted for days.

Smudge Pots in the Orange Grove

Then there were certain times each year for irrigating and other times for picking. It was a wonderful day when a cistern was finally completed, a pipe was laid to the house and a hand pump was installed on the back screened-porch!

The Valencia oranges and Navel oranges were picked at different times. Picking oranges called for a certain type of small clippers to clip the stem close to the orange. The fruit wasn't just pulled off the branches.

William Jay "Will" Righter, c1940

The orchard was surrounded by Ecalypts to protect them from the Santa Ana winds

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and from the same photo session

William Jay "Will" Righter in his orange orchard, c.1940

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Walter in the irrigation weir, July 1917

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Walter in the irrigation weir, July 1917

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September 1911 to June 1919 Walt attended the Orange elementary and intermediate schools. He was an excellent student even then.

The pickers had a large canvas bag to put the oranges in. Both the top and bottom were open. There was a long wide strap that was attached, one end at the bottom edge and the other end at the top. It was placed over the head on the right shoulder and under the left arm and the bag hung in front of the picker about waist high.

By pulling up the strap attached to the bottom edge of the bag about 10 inches or so, the bag would be closed. This folded bottom held the oranges in the bag until it was full. To empty the bag of oranges into the large crates, the picker just slid the strap down and the oranges slid out of the bottom and filled the crate.

The crates were placed on a horse drawn wagon and stacked layer by layer, while the horses waited to move up the row to the next set of trees. The stack of crates would get higher than a man could reach and a crate full of oranges was very heavy.

Walt was the only one who could toss a crate up above his reach. By adding an extra layer or two on top, cut down on the trips to the Sunkist packinghouse and time waiting for the horses and wagon to return for another load.

Ruth and friends, c.1920

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Walter, Ruth and friend, c.1920

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Ruth, c.1920

Walter Righter, High School football hero, c.1920

He also played basketball, and was on the track team, 1919-1923

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My husband 'Del' remembers ... "Sometime in the late fifties, I went to a Masonic Baseball game with Walt at Verdugo Park in Glendale. Walt was rather bald, a little chunky, had thick glasses and was not very athletic looking to me. I was unaware or unappreciative of his earlier athletic achievements. I was playing deep centerfield on defense.

Walt came up to bat and the pitcher pitched one right down the center over the plate. Walt took a perfect and powerful swing and blasted the ball about fifty feet over my head and out of the park.

I turned around amazed and watched Walt jog around the bases accompanied by cheering from everyone, in including me. That one blow changed my view of Walt's athletic abilities 180 degrees!"

Walt the Archer c.1921

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One of his hobbies was archery. He made his own bow and also each arrow feathers and all. For the target, he used a bundle of hay out of the barn, and then mounted an old sheet he had painted a target on. He was a very good shot with a bow and arrow or a rifle.

Walt the Hunter and friend c.1921

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He and some friends went hunting from time to time.

Walt graduates from High School

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Walt had a talent for making things out of wood and carving. He made his bride to be a hope chest with beautiful carvings on it among other peaces of furniture. Just for fun he carved a chain out of a single piece of wood, and liked to carve birds.

Continue on to part 3

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