OK you Santa Claritanites, yuppies and grizzled cowpokes and all beloved betwixt. I know there’s a you somewhere underneath those turkey tummies rising and falling on the couches and beds.
Day’s breaking.
We’ve some time traveling to do and guaranteed. Once you get up in the saddle and get a whiff of the pure air of yesteryear, you’ll feel fit.
This is what we’ve got ahead this fine Thanksgiving weekend morn: 1 (one) bisected bad man; 2 (two) oddball hunting “accidents”; 1 (one) dognapper; 2 (two) shot-up biker brothers; a whole passel of last Thursday in November trivia, AND the unluckiest Thanksgiving drunk.
Boy howdy, let’s head out …
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
HMMMM. I’M FEELING MORE THAN EMOTIONALLY BISECTED — Thanksgiving wasn’t very pleasant for Cleovaro Chavez. He had been the right-hand man for legendary road agent Tiburcio Vasquez. When Tibby was arrested in Los Angeles earlier, Cleo vowed to kill every white person in California unless his friend was released. Chavez fell short of his goal and authorities hung Vasquez up in Northern California for his part in taking over the town of Tres Pinos and murdering one of the citizens. Chavez retired from his life of banditry to break horses in Arizona. On Nov. 25, 1876, two bounty hunters walked up to a corral where Chavez was working, held up a wanted poster next to Chavez’s face and asked if he were, indeed, Cleovaro Chavez. Cleo said no. They didn’t believe him and pert near blew him in half at point blank range with a pair of shotguns, collecting a rather sizable reward for his remains. Foof. Talk about a two-for-one sale …
JOE’S PLACE — On Nov. 22, 1843, the Rancho Castec (Castaic) was granted to Jose Covarbias. Betcha he’d turn over a few times to see what the place looks with all those homes there now.
PIPE DREAMS — Improvements to the Newhall road tunnel were completed in 1914, bypassing Beale’s Cut and giving the Santa Clarita Valley 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 crosscrossed 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.
TURKEY TRIVIA — We’re expanding our concept of “local” this Thanksgiving weekend to share a few gee-whiz tidbits on the holiday.
The original Pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving on Dec. 13, 1621, might have been shocked to learn we honor the feast nearly four centuries later. They refused to celebrate annual holidays — including Christmas and Easter, calling them “Roman corruptions” from the Church of England.
History is indeed repetitive. In 1789, the newly formed Congress passed a resolution for a day to be set aside to celebrate the Constitution. Many opposed, saying the federal government was meddling in an individual states matter.
Thomas Jefferson ignored Thanksgiving his eight years in office, calling it a “monarchical practice.”
We have Mrs. Sarah Hale, editor of “Godey’s Lady Book,” to thank for our modern Thanksgiving bingefest. She spent 30 years lobbying to recognize the last Thursday in November as a national holiday, tempting the nation with tasty recipes in her periodical and fiery editorials.
Abe Lincoln finally caved in, proclaiming that last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving and a federal holiday. Franklin Roosevelt pushed Thanksgiving back to the THIRD Thursday in November during the Depression to give people more time to shop before Christmas. Three years later, Congress returned Thanksgiving to the LAST Thursday.
And best as we know, none of the above-mentioned ever set foot in the Santa Clarita Valley.
NOVEMBER 29, 1925
NOT SO MUCH YOUR MIND BUT YOUR FEET ARE IN THE GUTTER — Ah, the advent of civilization. On this date, Los Angeles County OK’d the funding of a road improvement project up here. They brought in the first paved gutters and sidewalks to the major road, Spruce Street.
SPEEDING IN THE RAIN, NOTHIN’ NEW — Funny how no amount of editorializing and finger-shaking can seem to stop stupidity. A Signal editorial pointed out that during and after rains, the roads get slippery. “If some men lived as long as Methuselah they might possibly learn that slippery pavement is not a good speedway,” wrote Signal owner A.B. Thatcher. Some 100 years later, seems nothing has changed …
NOVEMBER 29, 1935
THE DEADLY QUAIL HUNT — This certainly ranks up there as one of the oddest hunting expeditions in local history. Three alleged friends started out on a quail hunt in a local canyon. Two came back alive. For most of his life, Henry Baer, 36, had lived with Orzo Christensen, 54, and his wife. Apparently, the older man thought Baer was having an affair with his wife, who was also 54. During the quail hunt, the three men separated. Baer reported coming out of a thicket and hollered to Christensen. Baer saw the man taking careful aim toward his head and dove out of the way, but not before his friend shot him partially in the face. Baer ran into the brush with Christensen chasing him. Baer turned, fired at close range and nearly took the man’s head clean off.
TWO-FOR-ONE CRIME — Howard McCollough was in jail for dog and auto theft. He swiped a pickup of his employer, a local rancher. Not only that, he took the cowboy’s prized police dog. Noted Signal editor A.B. Thatcher: “The dog was probably worth 15 cents to anybody else but priceless to its owner.”
CAR WAX INVENTOR — Local Bob Prickett discovered a soft white rock. He used it in a mixture to create a brand new auto polish and sold his recipe to a Long Beach manufacturer.
RUSTLERS AT THE SPEEDWAY — Rustlers were driven off the Hoot Gibson Ranch (the former Saugus Speedway today) by the foreman. The cowpoke fired several shots at the horse thieves, driving them off into the night.
NOVEMBER 29, 1945
FROM THE DON’T DRINK & WALK DEPT. — On this date, Alfred Winsett was staying at the Highland Oaks Auto Court. He had a two-whiskey-bottle evening and, at about 1:45 a.m., stumbled out of his cabin for some fresh air. He fell down a small embankment, hit his head and died.
ART, OUR JUDICIAL HERO — Judge Art Miller lent a hand to the little guy. Actually, three of them. County health inspectors tried to close down three local eateries, claiming they had unclean drinking glasses. The owners grumbled, complaining they were the victims of a careless county inspector, but were going to plead guilty just to get the thing behind them. Miller wouldn’t let them plead guilty, provided an attorney, and grilled the food inspector unmercifully. The bureaucrat confessed to shoddy techniques, including rubbing his fingers all over the clean glasses before testing them. The inspector had earlier boasted that he would “get” the three cafes, even if he had to keep taking them to different courts. A jury found the trio not guilty.
NOVEMBER 29, 1955
AHHHH, SHOOT! — Back in the 1950s, the biggest sport in the Santa Clarita Valley wasn’t baseball or basketball or even our beloved football. It was shooting. On this day, 39 Thanksgiving turkeys were passed out at the annual 20-30 trapshoot competition. Alas, while there were 39 birds passed out, a few sharpshooters took home more than one.
YOUR NUMBER’S UP — The Department of Motor Vehicles announced that, for 1956, folks would be getting a brand new type of California license plate, one involving three letters and three numbers. The new system avoided words that might be offensive, like BUG, RAT, BUM, ASS, JUG, BRA — and, the dirtiest word of the 1950s: RED.
NOVEMBER 29, 1965
THINK THIS RECENT RAIN WAS SOMETHIN’? IT WAS — NOTHING!!!! It was a downpour of Old Testament proportions and one of the biggest single-day drenchings in valley history. On this date, 10 inches of rain in one 24-hour period paralyzed the valley. The new Old Orchard Shopping Center (which old-timers will recall was suspiciously built like the bottom of a reservoir) flooded. Power was lost. People were stranded. Thousands of tons of mud and debris came roaring down our countless canyons. L.A. County declared the SCV in a state of emergency. There was hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, from crops lost to soaked carpets. We did have a bigger drenching from a single storm front. About 13 inches of rain fell in 1938, but that was spread out over two days. It got worse. After a brief clearing, another 4 inches fell in this 1965 storm. On the bright side, kids got an unscheduled week off for Thanksgiving as all the schools were closed.
A YOUNG SOCIOPATH — A 20-year-old murderer led sheriff’s deputies on a grisly hike. The San Fernando man, Rodney Welborn, admitted to killing his friend during a hunting trek. Welborn led deputies to the corpse of his friend, left in a desolate canyon. He shot him in cold blood and calmly gave no reason for the murder.
TWO LESS OUTLAW BIKERS — Older brother Richard, part of an outlaw motorcycle gang, was killed by an insurance agent late in 1964. His brother, Andre, reported to be a member of the Hell’s Angels, was wounded while he and his friends were, “rabbit hunting.”
CAMPER KILLS OUR WORLD’S BIGGEST OAK — It took over a year, but the death verdict finally came in for the “Big Oak Tree” up Bouquet Canyon. The epic fauna, recognized as the world’s largest oak tree, burned in a horrific brush fire, despite valiant efforts by Forest Service and Fire Department crews. The district forest ranger closely watched the ancient giant over the months and on this date, sadly declared it dead. The tree had been measured at 36 feet, 3 inches in diameter and had a shade diameter of nearly 50 yards. It was about 70 feet tall. Experts from many local and national concerns kept visiting the Quercus chrysolepis over the year, trying to heal it. The fire had been accidentally started by a careless camper.
NOVEMBER 29, 1975
A CASE FOR BRINGING BACK SERIOUS CORPORAL PUNISHMENT — It just gives you all the confidence in the world in the educational system, public or private. On this date, a sophomore at Saugus High was attacked by a gang of girl “loadies” (individuals who take drugs) and was wrestled to the ground where she was forced to swallow two hallucinogenic pills. She suffered no lasting physical effects from the attack and, sadly, the loadies were not lynched.
THE DISCO-CRIME CONNECTIONAL — Here’s a felony that doesn’t appear in the local Sheriff’s Department statistics log. On this date, five cars at College of the Canyons were burglarized and their eight-track decks boosted.
KING OF THE BUREUACRATS — L.A. County did a little census work in its own back yard. The Board of Supervisors found that they had appointed 108 commissions with 1,178 commissioners at a yearly cost of $2.5 million a year. The commissions oversaw everything from checking historical landmarks to testing the water temperature in Laundromats.
NOVEMBER 29, 1985
BOY, AMEN HOWDY, A SALE TO REMEMBER — On this date, the Randall Ranch Motion Picture Livestock & Equipment Co., which had been leasing animals and gear to the movie business here since 1957, held the mother of all garage sales. The historic Pine Canyon spread held an auction on the scaled-down 10-acre ranch, selling everything from stagecoaches to saddles. About 1,000 people showed up for the sale. The company had closed shop back in 1983 because, simply, Hollywood wasn’t making Westerns anymore.
• • •
Wishing you a splendiferous Thanksgiving weekend, dear saddlepals. Thanks for the company and friendship. See you next Saturday at The Mighty Signal’s hitching post with another exciting Time Ranger adventure. Until then? Vayan con Dios, amigos!
Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist John Boston has launched a new eclectic bookstore and multimedia/commentary website on writing — johnboston-books.com. You can pick up his various local history books there, as well as “Naked Came the Novelist,” his long-awaited sequel to “Naked Came the Sasquatch.”
