Schindler “The Swindler” was arguably the Santa Clarita Valley’s greatest con man.
We’ll be saying howdy to him.
John Raggio couldn’t take it with him, the “it” being a fortune in gold.
We’ll be saying howdy to him.
Ever heard of Sheepskin John, the elephant toter?
We’ll be saying howdy to him, likewise.
Interesting trek ahead into the backroads of SCV history, saddlepals. Check the cinches. Lovingly remind your mounts no pulling the ears back or anti-social behavior. We’ve some tall riding ahead this fine Signal Saturday morn …
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
WHERE MY DESK USED TO BE — It sat at the corner of 6th and present-day Main Street and for years, was one of the cornerstones of the SCV. On Aug. 26, 1926, the Newhall Sheriff’s Substation was dedicated. The building is still there and is part of the Canyon Theatre Guild. Back in the day when it was part of The Mighty Signal, the front part used to be my office.
THEY SHOULD MAKE A ‘PEZ’ DISPENSER IN HIS HONORABLE LIKENESS — He was wrongly credited for making the first gold strike in California in 1842 (monks and Indian miners were reportedly pulling gold out of the Lost Padre Mine in the Castaic/Lake Hughes area as early as 1797). Still, Francisco Lopez’s discovery of gold sticking to a wild onion at the base of an oak tree is the stuff of legend and a state historical landmark at Placerita Canyon Nature Center. It was a good year for Don Francisco. Back on June 9, 1842, the governor of California gave Francisco Lopez the Rancho Temescal for his kind gift of making the first OFFICIAL and documented gold discovery but more so, for handing it over to the governor. On Oct. 2, 1843, he was granted the Rancho Los Alamos by the governor. How’s that for early Republican welfare? Two huge estates, for being the governor’s pal?
A FAULTY DAM DESIGN COST JOHN A FORTUNE — Speaking of gold, what every emperor and hoarder knows — you can’t take it with you. Around the turn of the century, San Francisquito Canyon resident John Raggio had a thriving business as a gold merchant. He would frequently drive around in his buggy with as much as $150,000 in coin and dust. One day, he stopped at the Campton Store and left his infant son sleeping on the seat. No one swiped the carriage. It was estimated that Raggio had as much as a half-million dollars buried around his homestead up the canyon. When the great St. Francis Dam burst in 1928, his spread was in the path. The nearly 200-foot-tall wall of water not only washed away his home, but his treasure as well. For years, people were finding gold coins as far away as Ventura. With some rough ciphering, that $500,000 worth of 1925 gold would be worth three-quarters of a BILLION DOLLARS today.
NUTS TO JOHNNY — Back in 1900, Newhall’s John E. Frazer, aka, Sheepskin John, got the job of transporting a 100% scale model of an elephant made only from walnuts. It was a publicity stunt for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. Sheepskin, an employee of the Pioneer Trucking Co., had the Laurel and Hardy task of moving and unloading the elephant. Well. Bottom line, he dropped it. It fell to pieces, Frazer had to pay for it and he recalled that his family ate walnuts for dinner for two full years after that.
AUGUST 30, 1925
POSTMAN SELLS SIGNAL OWNERSHIP — Unless you’re William Randolph Hearst, the newspaper business’ profitability can be questionable. On this date, the management of The Mighty Signal changed. W.T. Stonecypher quit as co-publisher and owner. Seems his rural mail route changed and he had to devote more time to the paying job. He quit, leaving A.B. “Dad” Thatcher as sole owner.
THE MIGHTY SIGNAL’S THANKFULLY BLESSED SHORTEST OPED — I think this may have been the shortest editorial ever written in The Mighty Signal. Here it is, in its entirety: “Auto prices are lower. The saturation point must be near.” We wrote the second-shortest one in 1965, a 24-word piece on how someone should open a car wash. I’m thinking Renaissance Man, barrister and former car wash entrepreneur Rick Patterson will still do a bang-up wash-&-rinse if the price were right …
BURMA SHAVE? — I am distantly related to Mr. H.W. Russell and on this date, he penned a rather clever real estate ad that began with this poem:
A dollar saved becomes a slave,
It works both night and day.
It never eats, it never sleeps
And never asks for pay.
Señor Russell was selling real estate and noted how good land was as an investment. Amen boy howdy ain’t that so …
AUGUST 30, 1935
OH YEAH SURE. NO MORE TRAFFIC JAMS. — You know, maybe we should take old “Dad” Thatcher, editor of The Mighty Signal, back home with us through the time portal so he can eat his words. Quoth ol’ A.B.: “The Bishop Co. has the bridge widening almost completed … There will be sidewalks in addition to the 40-foot bridge. This is the last of the bottleneck obstructions here.” A.B.? You must be turning over in your grave …
THE WET & YICKY PART OF SUMMER — Thunder, lightning and flash floods pelted the higher ridges and it rained in Downtown Newhall 90 years ago. The heat and humidity were almost unbearable, with triple digits in the day and 80s at night. Back before air conditioning, people slept out on screened porches. And some just slept outside, period. Old-timers couldn’t recall a hotter stretch and noted that this kind of weather means a dry winter.
AUGUST 30, 1945
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES — With VJ Day (Victory over Japan) a week old, traffic doubled in the SCV, as did accidents. With five days left in August, there were 40 major accidents, 56 people injured and four killed.
AHHHHH! MY KIND OF AUGUST! — After temperatures in the 90s, the mercury dipped and we had a daytime high of 76 degrees. That’s a rare one …
THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS CHILD STAR A PENNILESS COWPOKE — The 45,000-ton battleship Missouri was getting ready for the official surrender of Japan. On deck to witness was a sailor from Newhall, William Andrew Lamoreaux. Just a few years earlier, he was one of the most famous people on the planet. The child star and Newhall Elementary student went by the screen name of Buzz Barton, was the star of rodeos and made 50 films. He was so popular, they had a series of toys, memorabilia and BB guns named after him. His career faded with the advent of “talkies” and after the war, he did bit parts, rode the rodeo circuit and ended up back as a wrangler in his old age at the Randall Ranch in Newhall. Seems while he was away at war, fighting for America, his parents stole all his money. I remember seeing Bill as a middle-aged ranch hand working over at Corky Randall’s ranch. At the time, folks whispering, “That’s Buzz Barton!!” didn’t mean much to me. He died in 1980 and was just 67.
YOU DON’T NEED TO SALUTE HART’S PRINCIPAL — A special petition was made to the Army to release Russell Johnson from his assignment at a convalescent hospital in San Diego. Johnson would get the paperwork through and rush all the way up to Newhall to start his new job as principal of Hart High. That first year, it was all ninth graders. Russell showed up to work still dressed in his military uniform. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe Gwen Gallion out there in Castaic was in that first class. School colors were maroon and grey. Mascot? Yup. The Mighty Indians.
AUGUST 30, 1955
HE WHO HESITATES IS LOST — I always scratch my head over this one. A.M. Dunn was a millionaire print shop mogul in Los Angeles who owned an amazing and pristine 1,400-acre farm in Castaic. He was forced by the county under eminent domain to sell so they could build Wayside Honor Rancho in the 1930s. (He was paid $148,000 for his ranch.) Just about the very next day, the county comes in and starts drilling for oil. Bingo, they hit a bonanza. In royalties alone, the county pulled $60,000 a month for years from the black gold. Dunn sued for $50 million. Up to 1955, Wayside pumped out $21 million in oil revenues. The judge would later note that Dunn probably had a great case, but why did he wait until the statute of limitations ran out?
‘WE GOT A DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE REPORT AT — OH, HECK! WHO KNOWS!?!?!’ — All right. I know I’m harping. But this is important. We’ve been following the past month the saga of when the SCV was forced to change many of its street names and ALL its addresses by the county. Last week I mentioned what an 84-pound headache it was for the Post Office. You know who else was having a devil of a time trying to bridge the old three-digit addresses with the brand new five-digit ones? Yup. Sheriff’s and firefighters …
THE ‘YUP’ SILENT BUT IMPLIED — In charming small-town style, Signal Editor Fred Trueblood apologized to everyone for not having the week’s weather report. On the front page, he succinctly noted: “It was hot.”
AUGUST 30, 1965
BEAUTY & BRAWN — The 20th annual Mr. and Miss Val Verde Muscleman and Beauty contest had been postponed because of the Watts Riots. Florence Larue and Bradley Polk were crowned Queen and King. The Signal used to get frequent death, bomb and general mayhem threats from some of our more, ahem, enlightened dullards who objected to other races being featured in this paper. (Interestingly, the last Ku Klux Klan rally in Southern California was in Canyon Country around this time.)
I MISS MR. MYERS — One of the dear gentlemen of the Santa Clarita was Eddie Myers, who wrote the weekly Val Verde column for this paper. He polled dozens of African-American residents in the quiet little community. The vast majority of his sample noted that in their interactions with the sheriffs and California Highway Patrol, they had been treated fairly and with courtesy (although many said the ticket-happy CHP could use a little improvement).
AUGUST 30, 1975
MR. UN-FIX IT — On this date, Friendly Valley alleged repairman Fred Bennett, aka “Jack,” went to Greg Hollman’s house to fix his washing machine. After “Jack” left, Hollman put in a load of clothes and the machine ate them. Hollman called “Jack” back and asked rather firmly for him to come back and fix the machine properly. “Jack” returned. Hollman ran out to do a quick errand and when he came home, “Jack” had taken his washing machine and later, sold it. A ruling by Judge Adrian Adams ordered “Jack” to pay about $500. Although “Jack” owned a new truck and house, he had them listed in other people’s names and had no assets.
MEN’S QUIET LIVES OF DESPERATION — A Valencia housewife thought her husband kept visiting the garage to work on his motorcycle. When she went to check on him, he was hanging from the rafters via some nylon ski cord. She ran into the street, screaming. Help came and the spouse was taken to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in critical condition. He’d later die. A few days earlier, another Valencia man committed suicide by blowing his brains out in his living room.
AUGUST 30, 1985
MOVING TOWARD A MILLION? — Locals were shocked when the L.A. County Regional Planning Commission predicted that by 2010 — 15 years ago — the greater valley would hit the 218,000 mark. We’re at an estimated 231,000 but I’ve got a hunch from Castaic to Agua Dulce, we’re closer to 350,000.
THE DUKE WOULD’VE LIKED THAT — Dr. Jody Stowitts made it a regular habit to scrub the sidewalk in front of his Newhall dental office. Actually, “The Big Mick” was cleaning off the bronze Western Walk of Fame saddle of John Wayne, part of Jody’s weekly regimen.
THE SWINDLER RETURNS — In recent weeks, we’ve been taking a gander at a scam artist named Richard Schindler. Back in the 1970s, the fraudulent investment counselor had various scams going, from gold mines to pyramids, and bilked locals out of millions of dollars. Oddly enough, he was arrested in Florida for failing to return a rental car. He was convicted of various felony fraud charges in 1979 and served time in prison. On this date, Schindler “The Swindler” murdered his wife in their middle-class townhouse in Cathedral City, outside of Palm Springs. Why Schindler really strangled Sharon Jane no one will ever know, but he left a note to his children, citing health and financial reasons. Then, he committed suicide with a gunshot wound to the head. In a five-year period, he took a staggering $12 million from about 1,000 investors, most of them local. A former Washington truck driver, he set up his office in the Plaza Posada on Lyons Avenue.
• • •
Thanks for the company again. You dear people lighten my heart. Take care. As the ancient movie stars, Bill & Ted, used to say: “Be most excellent to one another.” See you next Saturday, saddlepals. Until then — vayan con Dios, amigos!
Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist John Boston will be soon launching a new eclectic bookstore and multimedia/commentary website on writing — johnboston-books.com. Look for “Naked Came the Novelist,” his long-awaited sequel to “Naked Came the Novelist” coming this fall.
