Beautiful first weekend in December here in the riparian Santa Clarita. Perfect light blue skies, dotted with fluffy clouds, cool not cold. What a treat for all the blessings, from drawing a simple breath to having eyes to see uncountable miracles.
We’ve a most interesting trail ride into the Santa Clarita Valley’s back trails — one that links us to Catalina Island. We’ve got an entire passel of firsts — from ice cream parlors to the Newhall Boosters, the precursor to the Chamber of Commerce. We’ve got clowns, women jockeys, ghosts and yuppies.
Shall we mosey into the mystic and see for ourselves?
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
OUR FIRST STAGE ACCIDENT — On this day in 1854, young Phineas Banning drove a bright red and yellow stage down a treacherous mountain road. Later, they’d dig a pass and call it Beale’s Cut. That original road was so steep and rough that Banning rolled and wrecked the stage on the descent.
RE: THE ABOVE & OUR CONNECTION TO CATALINA ISLAND — Here’s some atomic gee-whiz info for you saddlepals. Phineas Banning was one amazing human being. As a young man, he owned just about every for-hire horse and wagon in Southern California. Years later, he’d end up buying Catalina Island and, with his brothers, turning it into a beautiful tourist destination. In a mysterious 1915 fire that destroyed the community of Avalon, the Banning boys couldn’t afford to rebuild and ended up selling the island to William Wrigley Jr. of the chewing gum fortune.
BACK WHEN YOU COULD HOMESTEAD — Frank LeBrun got himself a rather nice piece of real estate on this day in 1890. A good chunk of lower San Francisquito Canyon was deeded to the pioneer.
BILL!! A WARM & WESTERN HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! — When you saddlepals drive by Hart Park, tip a Stetson and whistle a few bars of Happy Birthday. One of the top silent film stars of all time, William S. Hart, was born on Dec. 6, 1864. He was also, easily, the most influential soul in SCV history. All that for another column …
CHARLIE THE INVENTOR — Local farmer Charlie Kellogg invented a big gas-powered alfalfa bailer in the early 20th century that became popular with ag-men all over America. It was called a bull rake, or hay bucker. In the early 1940s, Charley would improve his invention, making it easier to both bale and unload the hay.
WHEN WE HAD BOTH KINDS OF CARS — All you local car dealers and those associated with the auto business locally can tip a hat to Albert Swall. In 1919, he built the second auto dealership in the valley for Jesse Doty. Jess sold Fords. Just to cover his bets, Swall built a garage in 1918 for Fred Lamkin. Fred sold Chevys.
A MOST IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FIRST — And for you ice cream slingers out there, tip your hat to Bob Woodard. He opened the first soda fountain in the SCV in 1913.
MORE FIRSTS — Mrs. Frank Shaffer founded and served as first president of the Saugus PTA. They chartered on Nov. 16, 1917.
AND YET ANOTHER — The precursor to the Chamber of Commerce was a business club formed in 1913 called the Newhall Boosters.
IF ONLY WE COULD STUFF ACREAGE INTO OUR SADDLEBAGS — You speculators in the posse I’m betting would love to buy some property at 1919 prices. Back then, you could get frontage property on what would be Main Street today for about $10 a square foot. Residential lots in Newhall sold for $200. That’s like — total.
GOING WAY, WAY, WAY BACK IN THE SCV FAMILY TREE — My pal Bob Jauregui still cowboys up on his spread in San Francisquito Canyon. Bob’s roots go WAY back. The Jauregui family has been herding cattle and sheep in these parts dating back to 1849. THEIR grandparents were sheepherders in Spain before that. Bob’s dad, Ed, used to earn spare change as a stunt double for Clark Gable and John Wayne (not at the same time, by the way.)
THE SIMPLE LIFE — The LeBrun family ranched much of San Francisquito Canyon in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Several years back, George LeBrun recalled the simple life of being a boy and riding a burro to school. He noted that in those early days, they were so poor, they didn’t have a Christmas tree, rather, the children hung their socks above their beds.
DECEMBER 6, 1924
OUR LONG-FORGOTTEN NAVAJO REST STOP — Harry Carey was famous for being one of the rare actors who successfully made the transition from the silent screen to the “talkies.” He had a huge ranch at the mouth of San Francisquito Canyon that was a nationally famous stopover. Carey even boasted of a trading post that had an old-fashioned (and this is in 1924!) feel to it. Bobcat pelts and real Navajo rugs adorned the walls. There was a barroom and card tables abounded. You could even get great meals there. Carey had a motel and lodge there for the weary traveler. Extended stays could be arranged at his “dude” ranch.
YOU KNOW THAT OLD SLOGAN, ‘IT AIN’T HAY?’ WELL. THIS TIME, IT WAS … — Not that you yuppies might be interested, but hay went for $27 a ton back in 1924.
WAR PRISON. GOOD BAND NAME. — We’re always ahead of the curve in The Mighty Signal’s editorial department. On this date, we suggested that Los Angeles build a “war prison” for speeders racing through the SCV.
DECEMBER 6, 1934
MISSING A SWEETHEART — Mr. and Mrs. Albert Nelson motored up to Castaic for a hunting trek with friends. After going off by himself, Al decided hiking in the Santa Clarita hills was not for him. He walked back to near where the cars were parked, found a barranca and fell asleep. His wife and pals looked for him and fired off all their ammo, trying to get a fix on Mr. Nelson. Frantic that perhaps he had injured or shot himself, the wife and pals drove off in the cars to get the gendarmes. Al woke from a four-hour nap, found the cars missing and started hiking toward L.A. The cops and Mrs. N found the Rip Van Winkle safe, sound and rested. The couple had only been married three months.
TEDDY DOESN’T PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS — Transient Theodore Teska earned several extra months on top of his overnight stay for a drunk and disorderly. Back then, the sheriff’s HQ was at the corner of 6th and Main Street, in the present-day outbuilding of the Canyon Theatre Guild. Teska took off his shirt, set it on fire and added four jailhouse blankets to the blaze. The cops made him sleep in his underwear after that.
DECEMBER 6, 1944
THURSDAYS. FRIDAYS. WHATEVER IT TAKES … — Wasn’t always that we were Your Mighty Daily Hometown Newspaper. The Signal used to come out on Thursdays, then moved to Fridays during World War II. It went back to Thursdays on this date.
DECEMBER 6, 1954
GHOST OR LOST UNDERWEAR MODEL — Was it a bona fide ghost sighting, sleepy imagination or had Roy Baxter been drinking? He was coming down the 5-mile grade when he slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting a woman in a negligee, lying in the middle of Highway 99. He ran out to give assistance, but was distracted for a second when a car locked up and smacked into his car. When Baxter turned to see if the woman was OK, she had disappeared.
SADDLE-CHALLENGED — Character actor Chill Wills was in town, filming a movie. One pal on the set noted the cowboy/actor was so bowlegged from all that time in the saddle, he’d have trouble catching a pig. Think about it …
DECEMBER 6, 1964
I THINK THERE’S ABOUT A BILLION-SIX OF US NOW — Sixty years ago, the entire Northwest Los Angeles County, a stretch of land of about 1,000 square miles, reached the 100,000 population mark for the first time. The L.A. Planning Commission issued a report citing the exact number as 100,194 — that’s from Lancaster, over to Gorman and touching the San Fernando Valley with us in the middle. The SCV’s population was 25,983.
OUR ANTI-WOMAN PARAGRAPHIST — Our one-of-a-kind male chauvinist columnist, Count Marco, called for an end of democracy and the establishment of a benign monarchy. Count Marco also breathed a sigh of relief that more women weren’t elected to public office in November of 1964. The Count addressed his feminine readers thinking of running for office: “You belong at his side, not leading him.” Any of you male saddlepals reading this with your significant other looking on, make sure she don’t catch you smirking …
DECEMBER 6, 1974
YET ANOTHER SASQUATCH SAFARI — The hunt for the Santa Clarita Bigfoot continued. Peter Guttilla, a paranormal expert and Sasquatch hunter, had been combing the local hills in search of the legendary 10-foot-tall hairy humanoid. He said he found evidence of the creature here in the form of stone pyramids in the wilderness. According to reports, the northern California Sasquatch builds these little mounds, possibly as border markings. Guttilla collected samples of the rocks, then turned them over to ESP experts who would examine them to see if they gave off any “Bigfoot vibes.” Nice band name.
NO CLOTHES IN NOVEMBER — Newhall may have been the site of an impromptu, and very small, nudist colony. A motorist reported seeing a naked woman and a small girl walking by Newhall Pass, sans clothing. Sheriff’s deputies investigated and found a stack of neatly folded clothes by Beale’s Cut. The woman picked the darndest, and coldest, time a few weeks before Christmas to catch a few rays and some vitamin D.
OUR VERY OWN LOCAL CLOWN FAMILY — A certain family in Newhall was just about a regular feature in this paper. Month after month, year after year, members kept getting arrested, for everything from drunk and disorderly to assault and battery and then some. The matriarch and patriarch of the clan were, again, dragged before the bench. Their attorney tried to get the jury trial moved out of town. He brought in a stack of Signals taller than a man, and complained that the jury pool would be tainted by our reporting of their non-stop arrests. This particular pretrial was rather humorous. The perps’ attorney asked the jury if anyone would be inconvenienced if the trial went for six or seven days. One hand under chin, Judge Jack Clark raised his other laconically in the air. That’s not a good sign.
RE: THE ABOVE? — I’m guessing the mom has to be 3,000 years old now, but, earlier this year, I penned a passage in the Time Ranger about these nightmare neighbors and the grief they caused. Got a call a few months ago, laced with obscenities, threats and promises of retribution and lawsuits. It was pretty much hilarious and made my day (I still play it from time to time when I need a laugh …)
YAY FOR US!! — I tend to pick on the yuppies, so this one’s for you. On this date, a survey out of the University of North Carolina was released. It showed that residents of Valencia were happier with their community than most people in America with theirs.
DECEMBER 6, 1984
ELEVATING WOMEN — When people asked Kristyn Goddard what she did for a living, her answer frequently shocked. “We give women a leg up,” Goddard would quip. The Newhall woman was president of the National Women’s Jockey Association. She also ran a school teaching women how to be jockeys.
• • •
Well drat. I’d rather not return to the oft-problem-filled here-&-now. It’s your fault. You saddlepals are way too much fun and good company. What say we meet next Saturday in December and head out for another trek into the rich history and lore of Santa Clarita? Show of hands? Eerily strange, but what do you know. It’s unanimous. “¡Vayan con Dios, amigos!”
Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist just launched his multimedia website and online store, johnlovesamerica.com. Check it out! Tell others. Buy stuff, like — JB’s two-volume set of “MONSTERS” on local horror and macabre …
