A warm and Western howdy to you, saddlepals. I’m estimating you know the drill by now. Hop out of those designer foam Valencia mattresses, throw on some jeans and something that will pass as a Western shirt. Don’t forget the boots and none of those square-toed Joe Namath numbers from the 1960s, either.
This morning, we’ve a most interesting trek ahead. We’ve got the biggest single robbery in SCV history — and that’s saying something seeing it was committed in 1929.
There’s a plot to dismantle horses for parts and a tale of how a baby fell off a big ol’ cliff and lived to goo-goo about it. We’ve got movie stars and an Italian-disparaging editor, plus — well.
Bounce up into the saddle and come see for yourself.
We can’t drink your lattes for you now, can we?
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
I ALWAYS THOUGHT CASTAIC WAS FOR THE BIRDS — Castaic used to be, and, somewhat today, a major stopover for migrating birds. Back this November week in 1849, famed wildlife and wilderness painter, John Woodhouse Audubon, was camped out at the foot of the Tehachapis in Castaic. The son of the famed ornithologist, John James Audubon, was here to sketch our fine feathered friends.
NOVEMBER 15, 1925
BIG COWBOYS & INDIANS BASH — Famed movie star Harry Carey had a big grand opening party for his outpost and restaurant up San Francisquito Canyon. Carey was such a big star, he even had his own jazz band called the Carey Orchestra. About 75 famed Hollywood couples and SoCal mucky-mucks attended the soiree for the Navahogan (which was not to be confused with Carey’s great old hardware and feed store — The Trading Post). One of the highlights was a series of Indian dances performed by real Indians. Carey employed an entire Navajo village to run his 1,000-acre-plus spread.
NOVEMBER 10, 1929
BUFFALO TOM & THE GREAT SAUGUS TRAIN ROBBERY — On Nov. 10, back in 1929, one of the biggest crimes in the history of the Santa Clarita Valley occurred — The Great Saugus Train Robbery.
“Buffalo” Tom Vernon, an unemployed trick rider and cowpoke, derailed the West Coast Limited at 7:45 p.m. right behind the Baker Ranch (which would become Saugus Speedway). Buffalo Tom had loosened several yards of track behind where Del Taco is today, watched the train flip over, then calmly walked aboard.
Posing at first as a train official, Vernon walked among the injured passengers, pretending to help. Then, he pulled out a pistol and proceeded to liberate them of their valuables. He disappeared into the night.
You might make the case that Buffalo Tom was (we’ll add a “possibly” in that BT was a pathological liar) the product of if not a broken home, a dead one. He was the son of a saloon owner and his mom was Cattle Kate, who ran a brothel in Carbon County, Wyoming (they and Buffalo Tom were part of the story in the box office bomb, “Heaven’s Gate”). Both parents had been hanged while Tom was a boy and he was brought up by Sioux. Again, take that all with a grain of salt.
Back to the train robbery — it wasn’t hard figuring out who derailed the 5000 series locomotive and the cars behind it. Sheriff’s deputies backtracked his trail to a rail equipment shed and they figured out he crouched while watching the train go by.
They also figured out it was Buffalo Tom who derailed the train because he left a piece of paper with his name on it. Tom was caught a few weeks later in Wyoming after derailing another train and dropping ANOTHER letter with his name on it plus his intentions to visit a girlfriend/hooker three weeks hence. He was arrested at the prostitute’s room without incident, tried, convicted and given life in prison. They let him out of Folsom in 1964, a frail and elderly man.
The train wreck site, by the way, became a large tourist attraction for the next week as work crews labored to remove the monster engine and cars and rebuild the wrecked tracks.
Interestingly, Vernon’s weakness — women — had been both the cause of his capture and the reason why he robbed the train in the first place. He later said he had derailed the old Owl to get money to pay for an “operation” for a Los Angeles lady friend.
NOVEMBER 15, 1935
WORLD’S GREATEST NAME FOR A POTENTIAL SMALL-TOWN LIBRARIAN — On this date, the Newhall Elementary upper grades put on a performance of “Dawn Boy — An Indian Operetta.” It was directed by Miss Mildred Frisbee. I’m not making this up.
ANTI-ITALIAN, PRO-SPAGHETTI — In his front-page column, Signal editor A.B. Thatcher called for the United States to end sanctions against the Axis power, Italy. “I’m afraid Benito Mussolini will shut off our spaghetti if we try to sanction him, whatever that means.”
BILL HART’S MAJOR DOMO — Those involved with history will remember the Japanese internment camps during World War II. But few may recall that six years before we went to war, legendary silent film superstar William S. Hart’s major domo was Japanese. Richard Ito efficiently ran the Hart Castle and took care of the actor for years. A little trivia: Ito was the son of the famous Admiral Ito, head of the Japanese navy and hero of the Russian-Japanese war.
PASS ON THE GOAT’S MILK, THANK YOU — Back in 1935, the SCV had five dairies. Three supplied cows’ milk (two were wholesale, one retail). The other two sold goats’ milk.
NOVEMBER 15, 1945
WILD WOMAN OF FRENCHMAN’S FLAT — On this date, the Female Tarzan of Frenchman’s Flats was arrested. Charge? Vagrancy. Two local sheriff’s deputies captured the wild woman, who had been living in the rugged terrain for months, sleeping in some brush under a bed of rags and living off fish and dumpster remains. Before the judge, she noted that she just liked to live by herself, outdoors.
THE LAST GRIZZLY SHOT IN SANTA CLARITA — On this date, the last brown bear in the Santa Clarita Valley, and, possibly, California, was shot. George Frownfelter, who worked for the county forestry office, was in charge of monitoring a program that had been initiated several years earlier in the Roosevelt Administration. They reintroduced the larger brown bears into the back country here. One big problem was that’s where many bee-men kept their hives. Bears like honey. You do the math. The bruin was quickly shot and trapped to extinction here. By the way. Same thing happened about a decade earlier, up in Castaic. About a half-dozen grizzlies were re-introduced here in the 1930s and killed within a few months. They navigated right to some commercial bee hives and ranches and without a single piece of government paperwork or mother may I, and were shot.
SQUIRRELS vs. BIRDS — More on animals: A plethora of ground squirrels was blamed on a shortage of quails locally. The rodents like to take the eggs from the nests.
LIKE, IN ‘HAPPY’ — The movie, “Gay Senorita,” was playing at the old American Theater. Nope. Not that kind of gay. The title role was performed by an actress with a great name — Jinx Falkenberg. “Jinx” was her nickname. On the birth certificate? Eugenia Lincoln. Here’s some cool trivia. She and her husband, “Tex,” pioneered the modern talk show format in the early days of TV. Jinx was also a world-class athlete.
NOVEMBER 15, 1955
HOW NOT TO USE A GUN — There is more than a smidge of karma going on in this one. On this date, Donald Showers shot himself — in the shoulder — with his own shot gun. Showers was rabbit hunting in San Francisquito. He bagged a little cottontail and went over to inspect his kill. The rabbit wasn’t dead. So, Showers decided to put it out of its misery by bludgeoning it to death with the butt of his gun. The gun went off, sending a charge of shot into his arm. He managed to make it to the local hospital. The rabbit didn’t make it.
BURN BABY BURN — Old Joe Baudino owned a few buildings in downtown Newhall. He also built a rather snazzy and huge commercial incinerator made of steel and brick. Before recycling, many merchants used Joe’s furnace to get rid of boxes and pert near anything that burned. On this date, someone backed a truck into it and there went the area’s only semi-legal venue for removing burnable trash.
MEDICINE MEN BUREAUCRATS — Adding insult to injury was the confusing problem with Los Angeles County’s new anti-trash burning ordinances. No one, including the county, seemed to know what was legal and what wasn’t. Wrote Signal editor Fred Trueblood: “Probably it will soon be cheaper to move your whole business over into Ventura County than have to conform to the fiats and ordainments of the medicine men who are running the anti-smog circus in Los Angeles.”
CONFESSION UNBURDENS THE SOUL — The little white Sheriff’s Sub-Station 6 was the scene of an odd encounter. A 43-year-old Norwalk truck driver randomly picked the police station to confess a murder he had committed — when he was 12. Oda Earl Joslin said he killed a 13-year-old playmate “on impulse,” then lied to police that it was an accident. He would not be tried after his confession. Local deputies said Joslin struck them as “a kind man.”
YOU SAY, ‘POTATOE,’ I SAY, ‘PO-TAW-TOE’ — Not too many people have heard of Jesse Butler. The elder agriculturist had worked with The Newhall Land & Farming Co. for years. Starting in 1936, he experimented with new crops for the area — like potatoes (the Saugus Spud variety) along with introducing a new, more efficient way to raise carrots and onions. On this date, he planted another crop to the area — cotton. Butler’s hybrid yielded about 30-to-60 bolls per plant — well above the San Joaquin Valley average.
NOVEMBER 15, 1965
MONKEY SHINES CONTINUE WITH THE ‘NEW’ SIGNAL — A front-page “investigation piece” asked the question: “Should a Horse Be Wrecked for Parts? — A Perplexing Local Debate.” The story pondered if a horse could be dismantled, like a car. This was all part of the wilder style of the new Signal owner, San Francisco Chronicle Editor, Scott Newhall. To set all your ponies’ minds to ease, the answer is: “No.” Boy howdy, “No.”
NOVEMBER 15, 1975
A SKYBLUE MESA CLIFF HANGER — Here’s a heart-stopper for you. On this date, Mrs. Rita Terena ran into the house to briefly answer the phone. She left her 16-month-old boy in the front yard. When she came out a minute later, the boy was on the other side of the fence of their Skyblue Mesa home. Little Derek took a few steps and fell over a cliff 35 feet before grabbing hold of a tumbleweed. A neighbor, Chris Knowles, rushed to the rescue, securing a rope and lowering himself down the embankment. Miraculously, except for some bumps and bruises, nothing was broken or damaged and Derek was OK.
WHEN CHURCH & STATE BUMP HEADS — The upcoming 1976 Fourth of July would be the town’s centennial and the nation’s bicentennial. Locals wanted to have the mother of all parades to celebrate. One problem? The Fourth in 1976 fell on a Sunday and an epic march would block access to several churches.
WHEN FELONS AREN’T DOING THEIR PART — There were exactly 80 crimes committed this week 50 years back. That was down from the 100-per-week average.
NOVEMBER 15, 1985
AND YET, 40 YEARS LATER, WE STILL HAVE CONGESTION — Led by bands, a parade, glad-handing, speeches and a ribbon-cutting, when Newhall Ranch Road opened.
SANTA CLARITA SHANTYTOWNS? — Signal editor/owner Scott Newhall went after the Los Angeles County Planning Commission with a vengeance on this date in one of his infamous front-page editorials. Scotty noted it was demeaning to get into a fight with the bureaucrats. “Strike them with your walking sticks instead.” The firebrand editorialist lambasted the county staff, noting: “They are granting developers a free pass to cover our good earth with a carpet of clapboard and knotty pine homes and are, in effect, transforming this once pastoral land into a residential jungle rivaling the shantytowns of Manila in sheer density of human flesh.” No offense, of course, to all you human fleshy newcomers along for this morning’s ride.
• • •
Before we go, a shameless history plug.
Today, Saturday, Nov. 15, 1 p.m., Rancho Camulos Museum is hosting an exciting presentation by author Deborah A. Fox. This award-winning graphic novel creator and historian will talk about the meaning of heroism and explore the connection between local history and the disastrous 1850 “discovery” of Death Valley. Her “Santa Clarita Heroes of 1850” presentation will be followed by a book signing of “The Man Who Beat Death Valley.” Museum docent-led tours of the Rancho Camulos National Historic Landmark will follow. The suggested donation is $10.
The museum is located at 5164 E. Telegraph Road, Piru. (About 10 miles west of Interstate 5 in Santa Clarita on Highway 126.)
OK-doke. Well, amigos and amigo-ettes. You might want to use the rest of the day to get some Christmas shopping done early (shop local). That aside, see y’all all next weekend 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 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 Sasquatch,” available now where books are sold online.
