Surely hope you are all well rested from your Saturday night bacchanals. You’re going to have to focus on this morning’s trail ride through local history.
We’re going to have to be on the lookout for our own version of 20th century Neanderthals.
With housing prices going the way they are, some of us just might be following the lead of the Stonehatchets. That father-son team might be the last of the Santa Clarita cavemen.
We’ve a most interesting trek ahead, saddlepals, filled with all manner of gee-whiz trivia, blizzards and the triumphs and tragedies of our valley.
Beautiful day for a trail ride into yesteryear, dear friends …
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
OIL BE SEEING YOU, IN ALL THE OIL FAMILIAR PLACES — On this date, back in 1874, the oil refining operation at the old Lyon Station near Eternal Valley moved to Pine Street. THAT must have been one gooey messy move.
OIL WAGONS, HO!!! — The oil business wasn’t always a cash cow. Early refiners in Pico Canyon initially carted huge barrels of oil to the Newhall Oil Refinery via wagons. On the bright side, it was mostly downhill for the 7 miles. Cost of moving one 40-gallon barrel back then? A buck. Pico No. 4, the first commercial oil well in California, was pumping out about 10 barrels of crude a day in 1876.
SPRING POLE BUT NOT SPRING POLISH — We’ve often talked about how the pioneers used an old-fashioned “Spring Pole” method to pump oil out of the ground. It was basically a large pole on a fulcrum with a bit on the other end, pounding into the ground and operated by brute strength. Know where we got the method? From Chinese railroad laborers who stuck around Newhall after the railroad was built.
IMPORTING ROCKS? — Le Chene is not only famous around the valley as a top-notch French restaurant, but also is known all throughout Southern California. It’s way up Sierra Highway and recognizable by its beautiful rock structure. The place was originally a gas station called Castle Rocks Service. Owner Bill Dodrill had the signature rocks hauled all the way up from Little Rock in the 1920s by horse and wagon. It was a two-day trek — one way.
OUR LONG-FORGOTTEN AGUA DULCE CAVE MEN (and women) — Agua Dulce is an eclectic spot as any on the globe. On the old Johnson Ranch in 1914, they held their own school of nine students — including a large water spaniel. Around the same time, the father and son family called the Stonehatchets had an appropriate name. Long before “The Flintstones” movie was filmed up there, the Stonehatchets lived in a cave up there from 1906 into the early 1920s. Then, there was Claude Ellis, an artist who lived in a little lean-to shack on the current park property. He painted faces and landscapes on the rocks up there.
ADIOS, DONS — Remember this date: Aug. 10, 1924. I guess you could say that was officially the last day of the reign of the dons of Santa Clarita. That’s when the Camulos family bid farewell to their beloved Camulos Ranch off what is current Highway 126. From terms of an earlier deed of Ignacio del Valle, Reginaldo del Valle was forced to sell off the plush ranchland. A huge picnic and barbecue was held by friends and relatives and included several famous people, including Charles Russell. While he was there, using a cardboard shoe box, Russell sketched two horses. It hadn’t been published until appearing in The Mighty Signal on April 7, 1985. That picnic was the last meeting on the ancestral homeland of an old Californio family.
APRIL 12, 1925
SAUGUS AM BUT NO FM — W.W. Penherwood owned the Saugus Cafe and the Saugus Confectionery Store. He added to his empire by starting the Saugus Radio Shop where he sold, well, radios. AM radios, that is. AM was introduced for public use in 1906, FM came along in 1933.
ANIMALS GALORE AT THE HAP-A-LAN HALL — A late and unusually heavy April rain pummeled the valley, muddying the roads and making it difficult for locals to get to the big baseball dance at the Hap-a-Lan Hall. We had many mammals represented. The local semi-pro team, the Bobcats, sponsored the event. They invited all the “chickens” (slang for beautiful girls then) in town, and, the Polar Bears were the featured live band.
APRIL 12, 1935
NOT ABLE TO PUT DOWN ROOTS — Normadine Cole made The Signal headlines 90 years back. Her father worked on a variety of oil pipelines and his daughter Normadine held the distinction of living in almost as many states as months she had been alive. The baby had actually held residences in 17 states. She was 20 months old. Hope she eventually got to settle down.
AS DEVO ONCE SANG, ‘YOU GOTTA WHIP IT GOOD!’ — I love looking over the old classified ads in our Mighty Signal. From yesteryear, 1935: “NOTICE: Party who took buggy whip from a car in Newhall Monday morning was seen. If returned to Signal office, no further trouble will be made.”
AND FOLLOWING THE ABOVE: ‘FOXY LADY!’ — Here’s another interesting classified, right under the one above: “DID I put a silver fox fur in the wrong car in Saugus Friday noon, March 29? Please call Mrs. Reed.”
APRIL 12, 1945
WARS OFTEN TAKE THE BEST OF PEOPLE — Fritz Truan did a lot of cowboying here in the Santa Clarita Valley, competing in many of the Saugus rodeos. He was the 1939 and 1940 world champion bronc rider. He enlisted on Dec. 7, 1942, and just about made it through World War II. A Marine sergeant, he died in Iwo Jima on this date. His widow was the beautiful trick rider, Norma Holmes. A special moment of silence and empty saddle on the rodeo gate at the Saugus Stadium was offered in his memory. He was 27 when he died. While on leave in 1944, he entered the San Francisco Rodeo, where he rode a bronc for the 8-count. The horse’s name? Mussolini.
APRIL 12, 1955
THE COMPLETE LACK OF CLASS OF SOME PEOPLE — Nature hollowed out an old stump in Bouquet Canyon and humans used it as a trash can. A careless camper tossed a cigarette butt into the log, which measured 8 feet in diameter. It started a brush fire that was quickly put out. The Forest Service had a little more trouble putting out the stump. It smoked for over a day, despite constant dousings.
CHUCK HAD THE WHEELS — For years, former Hart High spiker Chuck Kirkby held many of the valley’s high school track records. He set a new national junior college record on this date, running the half-mile in a blistering 1:52.6 at Chaffey College. Kirkby knocked a full second off the old record.
COULDA BEEN A COLUMNIST — Oil field worker Albert Earl Head committed suicide on this date. Hate to say, shot himself in the — well. You know where. Head left a 13-page suicide note.
BEST TO JUST STAY INDOORS AND TAKE A NAP — Here’s an odd tidbit. The L.A. County Department of Health notified us that most dog bites occur between 1 and 5 p.m. Wonder if that’s when the mailmen are out …
APRIL 12, 1965
BETTER BE SHINY, BETTER BE DULL — Retired Newhall shoe cobbler Lester B. Dull got married on this date to Rosa Doke. Other than the fact their ceremony was the Dull-Doke affair, the interesting part of this social note was Lester was 89 years old. He was kidded for years for polishing shoes with a last name of “Dull.”
YUP! SNOWING HERE IN APRIL!! — Hard to believe, but a storm rolled through, dropping the snow level down to 2,000 feet — in the first week of April. Residents in many of the canyons were snowbound for a day. At the higher elevations, snow piled up 15 feet in spots. We had a week of subfreezing lows and a storm that dumped 7 inches of rain on the valley. We lost several trees in the higher canyons above 1,500 feet. The branches couldn’t bear the brunt of a heavy, wet snow that fell. Trees blocked many of the roads around town.
A LONG-FORGOTTEN CLUB FOR THE ‘BOIDS’ — Hard to believe, but we actually had something called the Newhall Pigeon Club. They competed with other area pigeon clubs and on this date, Paul Stevens’ feathered friend won a race that started in Delano and ended here in the SCV. Steven’s bird flew an average of 1,135 yards per minute.
APRIL 12, 1975
SIGN OF THE TIMES — Phil Demosthenes was the enemy to both Realtor and developer. The Newhall resident continued his reign of terror — quite legally. Phil would motor about the SCV, yanking illegal subdivision placards out of the ground. His partner? Future mayor, Carl Boyer.
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, VISTA VILLAGE — This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Vista Village shopping center, across from CalArts.
BACK WHEN WE STILL TILLED THE LAND — Farming was still big business here in the SCV. Fifty years back, there were about 3,000 acres locally used for agriculture. That worked out to about $6 million in food produced, from watermelon to alfalfa. Back then, we had 17,500 acres available for grazing and planting, which included Christmas tree farms. They accounted for $150,000 in sales in 1975. In 1958, more than 8,000 acres were harvested and income was $3.9 million.
WHEN WILL THE BOZO BECOME EXTINCT — This isn’t exactly fun with numbers. But, a half-century back, vandalism totaled $200,000 in the Saugus portion of the Angeles National Forest. Bozos did everything from shoot up trail signs to light picnic tables on fire.
AND SLO-PITCH SOFTBALL GAMES WOULD TAKE FOREVER — There was yet another plan to use the old Nike missile base up at the top of Bear Divide. Los Angeles County Parks Department was looking into the feasibility of putting up a 33-acre park. They never did. Sure would hate to go chasing after a ball bouncing downhill …
SNOWBOUND IN SPRING — It was a strange April, weather-wise. The first part of the month, it snowed in the local mountains. Both Highway 14 and Interstate 5 were closed for a while with drifts piling up.
APRIL 5, 1985
A LONG GETAWAY — Terrence Liddell escaped from Pitchess Detention Center earlier and eluded police for over a month. He was finally captured outside a 7-Eleven in Reseda. Liddell had been hiding out in the area and would ride on a Stingray bike with a police scanner attached. The 7-Eleven was being watched by police and yes. The bike was stolen.
AS COUNT CHOCULA WOULD SAY: ‘AH-BLAH! AH-BLAH!’ — On this date, Jess Hudec, a Pacific Bell workman, made headlines for donating 20 gallons of blood to Red Cross. Relax. Jess wasn’t overly large or a vampire. The 20 gallons was given at one-pint increments over a long period of time.
• • •
Thanks so much for sharing the fresh air with me on this Signal Saturday morn. Looking forward to being with you all next week with another exciting Time Ranger adventure, and, until then — vayan con Dios, amigos!
Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist John Boston hosts an eclectic bookstore and multimedia/commentary website at johnlovesamerica.com/bookstore. Also? Pick up a copy of Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America — The Santa Clarita Valley” there. And you know what else? Thanks!
