Don’t blame me for your steed giving you that contrary and sideways stare. He or she is sizing you up to see if you put on 20 pounds since last weekend’s trail ride through local history.
We’ve a most interesting trek ahead, what with bisected banditos, a four-time loser and piggy bank robber, and airplane races at our very own Newhall International Airport.
You folks give me a minute. While most of you will have to loosen a post-Thanksgiving belt a notch or two, I better cinch up these saddles an extra hole so’s we don’t lose anyone back in the 1930s …
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
WHEN BIG OL’ CLEO GOT HIMSELF BISECTED — When his boss, the legendary pistol fighter and womanizing bandito, Tiburcio Vasquez was captured, Cleovaro Chavez swore a blood oath. The outlaw promised he would kill every white person in California unless his friend was released. Chavez fell short of his goal. On Nov. 25, 1875, two years after his boss was hanged, bounty hunters caught up with Chavez. Two gunmen found the 6-foot-tall, 200-pound Chavez breaking horses in an Arizona corral. They walked up to him with a wanted poster bearing his likeness and held it up to his face. They asked if he was Chavez and he said no. They didn’t believe him and, using a pair of shot guns at close range, nearly blew him into two pieces. The reward was for wanted, alive or dead. I guess you could say — ahem — the bounty hunters both split the reward, and, the outlaw …
THE BIRTH OF HAPPY VALLEY — In 1914, the Newhall road tunnel was completed, bypassing Beale’s Cut and giving Santa Clarita somewhat easy access to the San Fernando Valley. Right around the same time, A.W. Atwood and partners started an ambitious real estate development that would later be known as Happy Valley. To make the 5- and 10-acre ranchettes appealing to the new buyer, Atwood and friends had to add a somewhat new concept to their homes: running water. The first water mains were 4 inches in diameter and installed in 1916. Newhall is still cross-crossed to this day with hundreds of miles of underground pipe, from oil to water. I’d be surprised if there’s any dirt left under the pavement.
NOVEMBER 30, 1924
TOO SMALL FOR A BUS? — We were small but feisty. There were only 500 souls in the valley 100 years back. The buses refused to stop in Newhall because it wasn’t worth their time. A petition was circulating, asking that the transit reconsider. It took them a while, but, eventually, they started picking up passengers here and dropping them off. Ah, civilization …
VAYA CON DIOS TO AN OLD PROSPECTOR — West Harris McKean, the valley’s oldest resident at 92, passed away. He had worked the gold fields here in the 1840s and moved here full time in the 1870s.
THE POETRY OF WEATHER COVERAGE — I always love the small-town style of The Mighty Signal. Back 100 years, our weather report noted that a “… northern soaker drenched the just and the unjust.” That “soaker” accounted for a third-of-an-inch of rain. That hardly qualifies for getting out a hat.
NOVEMBER 30, 1934
YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE — Very few people realize Newhall had its own airport for several decades, near where Granary Square is today. On this date, ALL the students from Saugus Elementary took a field trip to the little airport affectionately known as Newhall International (it made a mail run to Mexico once a week). Eighth grader Juanita Burrows wrote this report on their trek: “It was a very interesting trip. Going over there we walked down through Saugus and went across the wash, then across a field of weeds and across another wash and soon arrived there.”
THE BEST PILOTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD — Speaking of Newhall Airport, famous racing pilots from all over the world descended on our sleepy little village. They were here to compete in the 1934 National Speedway 200-mile Championship air race. First prize was a staggering $10,000 — a goodly fortune in Depression-era money.
NOVEMBER 30, 1944
THE BIRTH OF ‘SANTA CLARITA’ — As World War II was coming to a close, the residents of this area were talking about a valleywide identity. At the forefront of this movement was Signal owner Fred Trueblood. He was talking with some friends about what to call the area. Here are Fred’s thoughts, 60 years back: “The more we think this over, the more we like the name, Santa Clarita — it goes trippingly on the tongue — it means little Santa Clara, but it just implies that we are little — it doesn’t come right out and say so. Santa Clarita has the right flavor of Spanish. If the name commends itself to enough residents, maybe we can find some judge that will listen to our plea.”
EARLY SANTA CLARITA, PART II — The earliest mention of “Santa Clarita” I’ve come across was from Signal Editor A.B. “Dad” Thatcher, in the early 1930s — 1932 but I’m just going from memory. Because there was a Santa Clara way up north from here and we had the Santa Clara River running through the valley, there was sometimes minor confusion. Dad Thatcher would sometimes refer to the Newhall-Saugus (one of our many names) in the poetic, Santa Clarita — or, Little Santa Clara.
THE EASIEST ARREST IN SCV HISTORY — Before the Three Strikes Law, there was John Perry. The 32-year-old three-time felon had served stints in three different penitentiaries. Perry broke into the Golden Rod Cafe up Mint Canyon, via an air duct on the roof. Then, he cut a hole in the ceiling and slid into the kitchen. There, he robbed a child’s bank of four dollars, then helped himself to a quart of milk, some Canadian bacon and two packs of smokes. Old JP wasn’t the brightest of crooks. After he left the cafe, he hung around the grounds, got drunk and fell asleep on the Golden Rod porch. Deputies were called. Perry vehemently denied having anything to do with the break-in, that is, until the officers pointed out he had plaster all over his pants and jacket, and cobwebs on his hat. He confessed and went back to the pokey.
FOR THE FOODIES — Since its birth in 1919, The Mighty Signal has often found a way to sneak in recipes for the readers. Like they don’t know how to cook already. On this date, we ran a World War II recipe for chili con carne, made with leftovers. After going through excruciating detail how to prepare the cheap but filling meal, the chef placed the following disclaimer at the end: “P.S. Just skip this dish when he comes home on his next furlough.”
NOVEMBER 30, 1954
WHEN HITCHCOCK TOOK SECOND BILLING — There was an extra treat for local residents on this Thanksgiving weekend. The Frank Sinatra movie, “Suddenly,” had its debut here at the American Theatre. The flick was shot entirely in Newhall and Saugus and was about how Sinatra was going to assassinate the president at the Saugus train depot. “Suddenly” was the name of the town in the movie. Underbill for the double feature? Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window.”
THANKSGIVING HEAT WAVE — It’s been pleasantly brisk lately, hard to believe that we get summer in autumn in Santa Clarita. On this day, 70 years ago, the daytime high was 87. That’s pert near close to 90.
NOVEMBER 30, 1964
THANKSGIVING COLD WAVE — And then, weather being the capricious creature it is, a decade later and 60 years back, we had a daytime high of 43 and a low of 30.
I GOT A LOT OF PALS WHO’D BE CALLING ME TODAY FOR RIDES — Well. If someone had listened to him, the freeways would be empty. On this date, Signal male chauvinist and advice columnist, Count Marco, came up with the idea that no one should be given a driver’s license unless they had a high school diploma. The more I think about it, the more I like it …
NOVEMBER 30, 1974
OUR OWN VERSION OF THE BOSTON TEA PARTY — Nov. 22, 1974, was one of the most historically significant dates in local history. The first meeting on forming a separate county was held here. About 100 citizens attended. The seeds of rebellion were sown decades earlier. Over the years, the case of Santa Clarita being the red-headed stepchild of Los Angeles County was proved over and over again. There were many anecdotes about L.A. County being inattentive to our needs. One was about a local woman whose husband had died. She tried, unsuccessfully, for three months to get his death certificate from downtown. Finally, a county bureaucrat made an appointment for her to come to L.A. to settle the matter. When she got there, she was informed the man she was supposed to see was on vacation and wouldn’t be back for a month. We never did form Canyon County (its borders would have stretched from Gorman to Palmdale and touch the San Fernando Valley). But the movement for local government was victorious in the forming of the city of Santa Clarita in 1987.
GOLF. SUBURBIA’S MOST DANGEROUS GAME — Here’s a duffer story to just about end all golf stories. Two San Fernando Valley men were playing 18 holes at Vista Valencia when they were robbed at gunpoint on the third hole. The robber escaped with cash and credit cards. The two men reported the theft to local deputies, then went back to finish their game. Vista Valencia also gave them a free tee fee for their next visit.
NO LOVE AT BUNNY LUV — Another local ag business pulled up stakes and left the Santa Clarita, never to return again. Mike Yurosek and Son, better known as Bunny Luv Carrots, closed down their valley operation and moved it to the San Joaquin Valley. More than 100 people were employed at their plant.
A MAJOR THANKSGIVING GROANER — This sure ain’t history, but I had to include it because it’s technically still the Thanksgiving weekend. Gossip columnist and Signal Editor Ruth Newhall printed this holiday recipe submitted by an 11-year-old. Here goes: “ELEPHANT STEW — 1 Elephant; salt and pepper; 2 Rabbits. Cut elephant into bite-size pieces (this usually takes two months). Add enough gravy to cover (about 500 gallons). Cook for 5 weeks at 450 degrees. This will serve about 400 people; if 410 show up, the rabbits must be added. However, you have to be careful, as most people don’t like hare in their food.”
NOVEMBER 30, 1984
ADIOS TO THE NUTS — Forty years ago this week, The Newhall Land & Farming Co. gave a buzz cut to their walnut groves along Highway 126. It was painful to see the old trees go. Walnuts just weren’t selling, so, the Farm razed the trees, pulled the stumps and planted a more profitable crop.
WHY WE LOVE THE DEEP STATE — Ah, modern life. Barry Hogan had just about enough of it. The California Highway Patrol officer had been living in his Seco Canyon home for more than three years. He and his neighbors STILL didn’t have a street sign. The developer had scrawled, “Calvello Drive,” in paint on a curb, but hadn’t put up an actual sign. Reason? They hadn’t complied with some county building rule yet, but the county wouldn’t tell them what the rule was and wouldn’t give them the permit to put up the sign. Yeesh …
• • •
Well dear saddlepals. You folks are good company and good medicine. Stay sane, or, at least crazy but pleasantly interesting, over the holidays. Don’t be staring at your cellphones whilst walking in traffic or a field rich in abandoned oil well holes. See you next weekend back here at The Mighty Signal hitching post, and, until then? This Thanksgiving weekend, I fondly wish you all — “¡Que tengas un bendito dia de accion de gracias y vayan con Dios, amigos!”
If you love local history and reading about ghosts, myths and monsters, visit Boston’s website at www.johnlovesamerica.com. Pick up JB’s two-volume set of “MONSTERS” on local horror and macabre…
