Plates: the complete visual record
Every image assembled in this investigation, combined here as five reference plates: the dipping
program and its vats, the ranch as it was photographed, and the historical aerials of each study
area. Full-resolution originals of every frame are held in the project repository
(evidence/images/, research/*/imagery/); each caption carries its source and grade.
Plate 1: The dipping program and the vat
The government's engineering and the process itself: the California circular, the swim-, cage-, wade-, brick- and concrete-vat plans ranchers built from, the poison warning posted at every vat, and a photograph of cattle going through a fever-tick dip (USDA, present-day, same program and vat design, shown illustratively).
research/plates/plate_1_dipping_program.jpg
Plate 2: The ranch this land was, 1886-1972
The O'Neill / Rancho Mission Viejo / Santa Margarita operation: cattle at the stream and grazing the open range c.1900, the vaquero, the 1972 roundup and corral, branding and a hand-dowsed stock well, the ranch vineyard, the Trabuco adobes, and the ranch headquarters.
research/plates/plate_2_ranch_photographs.jpg
Plate 3: Ladera Ranch footprint: historical aerials, 1929-2022
Open cattle rangeland in every pre-development frame; the 41 surveyed water bodies; the demoted "node A" structure; and the best-guess siting analysis. No dip vat is resolvable in any frame.
research/plates/plate_3_ladera_aerials.jpg
Plate 4: Bell Canyon / Coto de Caza / the Joplin dip ranch: aerials
The one documented dip ranch across a century: the 1929 and 1938 valley, the canyon-mouth node, the 1909 patent pinned to the survey section, the 1938 Bell Canyon ranchstead, and the same ground today.
research/plates/plate_4_coto_joplin_aerials.jpg
Plate 5: Other study areas: Irvine, Newport Coast, Upper Newport Bay
The Irvine Ranch core and Bommer Canyon complex, Newport Coast before grading, and the Upper Newport Bay communities, each shown pre-development and today.
research/plates/plate_5_other_areas_aerials.jpg
The reported pattern warrants investigation; the available evidence does not yet establish causation. No soil has been tested and no contamination is asserted for any community, school, home, or parcel shown in these plates.