Before we head off through a time vortex draped by tinsel and mistletoe, I doff my oversized O’Farrell and offer a humble thank you.
There are Santa Claritans I have known for a half-century plus and some who have moved here with out-of-state mud and bugs still on their license plates.
Just wanted to say thanks to all of you saddlepals for all these rides in 2025 through the vistas of one of the richest historical spots on the planet.
Thanks for being with me to witness fires and gunfights, kind acts and the boundless humor of our species.
I’ve said it before and I’ll reiterate. You valley folks are good medicine. Bottom of my heart, Merry Christmas.
Presents unwrapped, a breath released, this most serene and holy day (and shouldn’t they all be?), what say we mosey into yesteryear?
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
AND, IT’S BEEN AROUND LONGER THAN THERE’S BEEN A NAME FOR IT — On Dec. 20, 1892, the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve was founded with a federal splash of ink. Shortly thereafter, it would be called the San Gabriel Forest Reserve and soon after that, it was renamed the Angeles National Forest. The boundaries included 691,000 acres, stretching from Ventura County to Mount Baldy and from San Fernando to Claremont. It was one of those gifts that keeps on giving.
TIMBERLAND, II — A little cherry on your historical sundae for you about the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. The first U.S. Forest Service station built with government funds was constructed on the west fork of San Gabriel Canyon, on the north slope of Mt. Wilson. This little log cabin was built in 1900 for a cost to taxpayers of $700. Rangers were paid just $50 a month at the outset, but had to pay for their own expenses, including food and tack (for you yuppies, that’s like clothes and accessories for the horsey).
OLD-TIME CHRISTMAS — Might darn hard to believe, but prior to 1768, no one was celebrating Christmas in the Santa Clarita Valley. I don’t even think we had a lighting — official or not — of any community holiday tree.
JUDGE POWELL, OUR FORGOTTEN HERO — A wee little baby, John Powell, was born on Dec. 17, 1839, in Galway, Ireland. He would become a Civil War hero, leading troops in seven major battles for the north. Afterward, he would become the Santa Clarita Valley’s first major justice of the peace and serve for nearly four decades. (There are reports of records stating that a couple of men served briefly before Powell; one was elected, getting two out of three votes cast.) He would die in December, too, on the 29th in 1925. Judge John Powell led simply an amazing life. In 1859, he and the famed Dr. David Livingston freed 705 men, women and children from an African camp bound for slavery. On his death bed, Powell confessed that of all his life’s accomplishments, that one act was the one he was most proud. Powell was a famed big game hunter and shot a rare white wolf in Bouquet Canyon, called Dry Canyon back in the day. The good jurist (after whom Powell Street is named in Newhall) still holds the record for bagging the largest mountain lion in California. The creature stretched 12 feet, 6 inches from nose to tip of tail.
QUIET TOM — Day before Christmas, in 1827, Thomas F. Mitchell was born in Tennessee. He would later move out West and become one of the founding fathers of the Soledad Canyon area. Interesting, Mitchell came out here to be alone and quiet. An epic gold and mineral rush boomed around him from Canyon Country to Acton.
DECEMBER 20, 1925
SPEAKING OF BIG COUGARS — An enormous mountain lion was spotted prowling along the road by the old Newhall road tunnel (today, Sierra Highway). The Mighty Signal had a rather cute way of describing the sighting, which was reported by a “Mr. A. Lane” — “As Mr. Lane hadn’t lost any lions this season, he went on without trying to find it.”
PLUCKY THE PESKY HOLIDAY PARASITE — A steady stream of out-of-town cars (and more than a few locals, too) motored up and down Bouquet Canyon Road. Their mission? Looking for mistletoe and holly. Holly was in short supply (and, as a native plant, illegal to harvest) but residents said anybody could take as much of the pesky tree-killing parasite mistletoe as they wanted.
ANOTHER SIGNAL TYPO — I love this old ad in our hometown newspaper: “Fordson Tractor — $578 with fenders. $613 with fenders.” Hmmm. I think I’d pop the $35 less bucks for the “WITH” model. Back then, they sold about as many tractors at J.W. Doty’s dealership as they did new Fords.
A-DOODLE-DOO? — I’m not making this up. There used to be a Mr. K.W. Kock who lived up Agua Dulce way. His profession? Chicken rancher.
DECEMBER 20, 1935
THE SUN NEVER SETS ON THE FARM BIZ — Hard to believe, but The Newhall Land & Farming Co. was behind. They were working in around-the-clock shifts to get the fields ready for winter planting before the first rains hit.
DECEMBER 20, 1945
THANKS FOR THE PARK, YOU FARMERS — Speaking of Newhall Land, they pert near stunned the valley 80 years back with an announcement that they would be donating both land and money to build something called Newhall Park. Heir to the Newhall family fortune, Peter McBean, made the announcement to a room of oval-mouthed Kiwanians. The big farming co-op also said they’d throw in a swimming pool and $30,000 cash. The pool is still there on Newhall Avenue today. I wonder how many folks have enjoyed the gift over the decades? It has to be in the millions by now.
GROWING PAINS — Same week, the Newhall School District promised to build a new wing to their main campus at a cost of about $50,000.
BEAUTY SUFFERS — There are these small, innocuous tidbits that speak volumes. On this date, 80 years back, a long line of women stood outside in subfreezing weather to wait for the local drug store to open at 9 a.m. Reason for the wait? With World War II over, women’s nylon stockings went on sale for the first time since 1942.
BEAUTY SUFFERS, PART II — To give you an idea of just how brave those women were, the mercury at Fire Station No. 73 was shivering at 17 degrees by sunrise.
THE HAT TRICK — Hattie Madden sold her holdings at the old 99 Oaks motor court in Castaic. The 84-year-old retired to a small bungalow. She was noted for also inventing and patenting several sewing machines and her work on costuming for operas and circuses. Hattie’s other claim to fame? She was a girl attending a play at Ford’s Theater the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
DECEMBER 20, 1955
A WEIRD CHRISTMAS — The week before Christmas more than a half-century back was a bizarre one. Do note these bizarre happenings …
• A pair of 6-month-old white-faced heifers wandered through a hole in the fence of a neighboring ranch, fell into an oil sump and drowned.
• Three old-timers were killed in a car wreck after a pedestrian was hit. The auto hit the walker near Solemint Junction so hard, he was decapitated and his head landed in the front seat of the Dodge.
• Before the days of car seats, a toddler managed to unlock the back door of his father’s car and tumble out as it was going full speed down Soledad. Miraculously, the child suffered only minor bruises and scratches.
• A California Highway Patrol cruiser, a sheriff’s prowl car, two potato trucks and a fire engine somehow managed to all crash into one another on old Highway 99. No one was seriously hurt but can you possibly imagine the intra-departmental paperwork?
• And, a local sheriff’s deputy had a wooden projectile go clean through his leg. John Aiken was in the wrong place at the wrong time when, somehow, a piece of wood lodged in a 2-inch air gun used for road construction went clear through his thigh.
WELL, ALICE. WE STILL REMEMBER YOU. — Someone once said you only die after the last person remembers you. On this date, the Benjamin Memorial Park was christened in Castaic. It honored beloved educator Alice Benjamin, who served as that community’s principal. Best as I know, Mrs. B’s park is long gone.
DECEMBER 20, 1965
PRE-WOKE FABLES — The local chambers of commerce banded together to bring the San Fernando Valley Symphony to the Santa Clarita Valley. The troupe put on “Hansel & Gretel.” Both parts were played by women. You know, that answers a lot of questions for me …
DECEMBER 12, 1975
KEEPERS OF THE COBWEBS — Happy 50th anniversary to those hard-working lovers of things Santa Clarita. On this date, the SCV Historical Society was founded. Art Evans was the first president. (Art’s first wife, Betty, made the history books. She was shot by Sirhan Sirhan the night he killed Sen. Robert Kennedy.) I’m still trying to get those rascals to make a historical marker out of the Del Prado units — the valley’s first condos …
DECEMBER 20, 1975
YOUNG ESCAPED CONS — An engineer with the county Flood Control District was kidnapped by three youths. While checking a culvert, the trio walked out from the brush. One grabbed a shovel and threatened to beat Mark Reece to death unless he drove them to Pacoima. They changed their minds and demanded to be taken to downtown L.A., where they robbed Reece of $6 cash and his boots. Otherwise, Reece was unharmed. The youths had escaped from Wayside Juvenile by using plastic forks to overpower a staff member. All three were eventually re-captured.
AND YET MORE YOUNG ESCAPED CONS — Wayside’s juvenile detention center didn’t exactly bask in the positive ink. A second escape and kidnapping occurred there when troubled youths took two prison secretaries, one of them a Valencia woman, at knifepoint and held her hostage in a day-long stand-off.
CRIME ON THE HIGH SEA? — Power corrupts. The Harbor Patrol at Pyramid Lake pulled over a pair of elderly boaters and cited them for being on the water after curfew. The two fishermen were headed back to the dock — with the sun still way, way up in the sky — when they were pulled over by the official speedboat and ticketed for being on the water after sunset. They complained that they would have made it back to the shore LONG BEFORE sunset had the water cops not stopped them.
DECEMBER 20, 1985
MAYBE THE SUPES WERE JUST HOPING ALL THE NEWBIES WOULD HOME SCHOOL — The Board of Supervisors OK’d 4,000 more homes to be built within the SCV, despite pleas by William S. Hart Union High School District superintendent and my pal, Clyde Smyth, and others, to address serious school overcrowding before rubber-stamping more units.
THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN, IF’N IT HAS ENOUGH MEN — Who said the SCV isn’t famous for anything? The old Dixie Diesel Truck Stop in Castaic used to fly the world’s largest Confederate flag. The big cloth was valued at $1,500. On this date, two skin-headed youths swiped it.
ADIOS, UNCLE MILTIE — Only you old-timers will remember Uncle Miltie. Milt Diamond, who ran the Newhall General Store next to Newhall Hardware for 18 years, called it quits. The valley’s premier place to buy boots, jeans and the same, basic polyester cowboy shirt, shut its doors on this date.
NO. IT JUST SEEMS LONGER — And on this date, The Mighty Signal made The Reader’s Digest. It wasn’t anyone’s inspirational column or a thought-provoking editorial. It was merely the following calendar item: “The one-hour program lasts one hour and 45 minutes.”
• • •
Merry Christmas to you, dear friends, neighbors and saddlepals. See you back here at The Mighty Signal hitching post with a special Christmas present Time Ranger adventure. Until then? ¡Vayan con Dios, amigos y Feliz Navidad!
Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist John Boston has launched his new eclectic bookstore — johnboston-books.com. The long-awaited sequel to the national bestseller, ‘Naked Came the Sasquatch,” — ‘Naked Came the Novelist’ — is available for sale now. Ditto with his two-volume “MONSTERS” series about the supernatural in the SCV. Makes a great Christmas gift …
