Boy howdy, what with predatory black panthers, a Ripley’s local Believe it or Not oak, ghost camels and your usual smattering of crooks, nuts, bunglers and gee-whiz info, we’re going to be hitting the history trail running, amigos.
Hop up in the saddle, pull down your hat and just ride like heck toward the vortex up yonder …
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
I’D WALK A MILE FOR A CAMEL — Back when he was a lowly colonel, Ed Beale drove a team of brightly festooned camels through downtown Los Angeles Jan. 27, 1858 through Newhall and on to Fort Tejon. They were part of his legendary Camel Corps. Reportedly, the odd battalion received a 100-gun salute when they hit the Santa Clarita Valley. I always found that interesting, because there were maybe 50 people in the valley then and a couple of them were infants. A failed experiment, the dromedary squads were to patrol the badlands and deserts of Southern California. They didn’t get along very well with the grizzled muleskinners of the 19th century or the rocky terrain on their soft feet, which were perfect for sand and not razor-sharp volcanic rock and thistles. Beale had petitioned Secretary of War Jefferson Davis to try an experiment using camels to patrol the vast stretches of California. But, soon, the Civil War would start and Davis (who would later resign to lead the Confederate armies) and Beale would have other things on their minds.
THE LITTLE CAPITALISTIC SCHOOL DISTRICT — Tiny Castaic was, at one time, one of the richest per-student districts in Los Angeles County. What with subsidies coming in from cattle herds and oil wells, the superintendent wasn’t chosen so much for his educational abilities, but rather, for his ranch management skills.
ROBLES DE NADA — We used to have oaks numbering near the million mark, if not over. Most were cut for firewood and charcoal around the turn of the 20th century. We still see thick bushes where great trees once towered. These bushes are called secondary trees. Historian A.B. Perkins theorized another reason why the creeks stopped running year-round was because of the tree loss.
JANUARY 31, 1926
HERE CHICKY CHICKY CHICKY — Boy howdy, I can’t remember the last time this happened in Newhall. Certainly it wasn’t in the last five decades. But, on this date, R.B. Easson, poultry expert, spoke to a packed house on the proper methods of brooding, feeding and caring for chicks. That’d be baby chickens, not — well. You know.
TREATED BY A SAVAGE — This isn’t too terribly important from a historical standpoint. But, a century back, a man named Heran who had been hitchhiking along the old Ridge Route was robbed and thrown from a moving car by a man and woman reportedly headed for L.A. Mr. Heran had a dislocated shoulder and was treated by Doc Savage. I just wanted to throw that in because our local physician WAS named Dr. Savage.
STOP THE PRESSES! SOMEONE BOUGHT A CAR!! — Movie location impresario Frank LaSalle made the paper. Owner of a large ranch that was also a major movie studio and location (near the Calgrove off-ramp today) Frank had managed to locomote through most of the valley via horseback. Finally, this month in 1926, Frank finally bought his first car — a Dodge.
JANUARY 31, 1936
BEFORE OVERCROWDING — There were 229 kids enrolled in Newhall Elementary, grades kindergarten through eighth. I think that’s the average class size today.
JANUARY 31, 1946
THINGS THAT NEVER CAME TO BE — One of my favorite historical times is the post-World War II era here. All manner of projects were proposed. Most never saw the light of day, including this one. On this date, the state of California proposed digging a 26-mile tunnel, from Castaic to the San Joaquin Valley. It would bore through the Tehachapis and be three-tiered: passenger cars on top; big rig trucks in the middle and trains at the bottom. It would have run a smidge east of the present-day Interstate 5. Bonus, it would have been a toll road and would have saved about 11 miles on the commute, plus, be impervious to the weather. Also, with the Ridge Route being perhaps the most accident-prone road in the entire West, it was touted as being much safer. Of course, imagine a big fender bender in a two-lane tunnel 37.56 miles long.
JANUARY 31, 1956
OUT WITH THE OLD BUMS, IN WITH THE NEW BUMS — For some odd reason, the races for local water boards are more barbed, controversial and acrimonious than almost any other office — and I’m not talking 2026, either. On this date, the citizens of Val Verde threw out EVERYONE on their water board, then voted new folks in by a substantial margin. For nearly a century, poor Val Verde suffered from water shortages.
JANUARY 31, 1966
BURN BABY BURN — Dozens of blazes were set — by The Newhall Land & Farming Co., no less. We’ve chatted about the epic tumbleweed problem here of 60 years back. (I remember being a kid and teen, it was sometimes dangerous to ride a horse or walk on a really windy day because 10-foot-wide weeds would be rolling at you at 30 mph.) NL&F solved the problem by corralling them and burning them by the thousands.
FLOOD BABY FLOOD — It’s such a — no pun intended — dry phrase. But flood control was of major importance to this valley. Finally, a large project started to tame the rampaging waters of storm-fed Wildwood Canyon and Bouquet. The sum of a half-million dollars seems paltry by modern standards. But, had not the Army Corps of Engineers began channeling the torrents that were cascading down from our steep and surrounding mountains, we’d be Atlantis today.
BIG BAD BILL — “Big” Bill Bonelli, one of the Southland’s and SCV’s most controversial and colorful characters, was one of America’s rare individuals. Not only was he cleared of income tax evasion charges, he would be one of the few people to get a personal letter apologizing for the inconvenience. Some inconvenience. Bonelli had been in charge of the powerful State Board of Equalization — the agency that issues and regulates liquor licenses. Bonelli reportedly uncovered a huge web in which a certain major Los Angeles newspaper owned hundreds of licenses to clubs, stores and restaurants, under the names of photographers and cub reporters. When Bonelli went public and named names, he made many powerful enemies, in the private and public sector. They, in turn, accused him of receiving bribes and his son, Bill Jr., of being a mafia boss (the charge, made a couple of days before the election on the front page of the L.A. Times and later recanted, cost Bill Jr. a seat in the California Assembly). Bonelli, one of the largest ranchers in America, went into “hiding” for 11 years, moving from ranch to ranch, including a million-acre spread in Mexico. On this date, he was cleared of all federal charges. He would be cleared of state charges and, in 1967, finally return — legally — to the U.S.
JANUARY 31, 1976
WOES OVER AT HANK’S HOSPITAL — One of the most unusual deliveries at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital had nothing to do with babies. Pranksters left an overturned, full-sized airplane on the front lawn of the hospital. Some thought it was a joke to depict the health care unit’s financial problems. Of course, it wasn’t like the craft was a Boeing 747. The plane was just a small, handmade Whitman Tailwind. The financial woes were caused by a doctor’s slowdown. The physicians were protesting skyrocketing malpractice insurance rates. For a while, the hospital was losing $100,000 a month and 80% of the staff had, at one time, been laid off. It was questioned whether Henry Mayo would even stay open. It got pretty ugly. Legal advisers said that many doctors, who couldn’t afford the ridiculously high premiums, could be sued for not treating patients.
CANYON COUNTRY TSUNAMI — Several people were injured when a metal water tank overlooking Sky Blue Mesa burst, sending 250,000 gallons and a 12-foot wave down the hill and down Camp Plenty Road. One woman was knocked out of her moving pickup truck. Another, who had been walking right in front of the tank when it ruptured, was washed downhill and halfway down into a storm drain. Fortunately, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy was nearby and heard her cries for help. He literally grabbed her by the hair so she wouldn’t be washed into the drain and held her for 15 minutes until paramedics could arrive to help. Despite a punctured lung and many abrasions, she was lucky to be alive. One resident reported seeing a wave of water and debris as tall as her house wash into her back yard.
LOCAL FOOTBALL LEGEND? — The William S. Hart District Boy Scouts announced their new fundraising coordinator. It was the UCLA Bruins’ head football coach, Dick Vermeil. Hm. Someone must have known someone …
JANUARY 31, 1986
OUR NATIVE AMERICAN FREEWAY OFFRAMP SIGN — One of the still visible landmarks of the SCV is the 200- to 300-year-old Horseshoe Oak. Located on Pico Canyon and surrounded by homes and shopping centers, the flora started as a sapling. The story goes that it was bent by Indians as a trail marker. Such practice wasn’t unusual in early history. But rarely, the trees survived. For a while, the tree was called the Ripley’s Believe it or Not Oak because of its fame in a 1948 strip. Two decades back, the tree was slated to be axed by a hotel developer. The Abco Construction Co., however, agreed to spare the oak.
RAILMEN: SPARE THOSE TIES — On this date, workers from KC Earth Co. spent just a few days removing the original railroad ties that had extended from near the Saugus Cafe along Magic Mountain Parkway to where Nancy Roatcap’s Christmas Tree Farm used to be. The line was the last of the old Southern Pacific Coast Route that stretched all the way to the Pacific Ocean. I hear talk from mucky mucks every once in a while that someday, they’ll reopen that Newhall to the Pacific line and that you’ll be able to hop on board at the Newhall Metrolink and chug, chug, chug along, through Fillmore, Santa Paula and all the way to Ventura.
TELEVISED CLASSROOM HORROR — What started out as a simple good deed and a teacher trying to add a little extra to the classroom ended in horror. A philanthropist brought in a large TV set and a special satellite hook-up so a local elementary school could watch the space shuttle take off. The children, teachers and parents were shocked when the Challenger exploded after take-off, killing all aboard in the worst disaster in American space exploration.
IN THE KEY OF R-RUPTURED FLAT — One thing I remember about Bobbi Fiedler. She couldn’t sing. On this date, the congresswoman and her aides were indicted for trying to bribe state senator and former LAPD chief Ed Davis with $100,000. Why? Charges were she didn’t want to run against the guy. Ed would later marry the widow (Bobbie Trueblood) of former Signal publisher and owner, Fred Trueblood II. Quoth Ed of the bribe: “I do understand desperation. It is the father of many foul deeds.”
BLACK PUMA MYSTERY SOLVED — For weeks, reports of a 200-pound big cat predating on the domestic zoo in Hart Park abounded. Ducks, geese and sheep had been killed. All manner of folk in various shades of brown uniforms were debating: Was the creature attacking the animals a big dog or a mountain lion? A few days earlier, sheriff’s deputies spotted a greyish mountain lion in the park. The big cat disappeared into the hills when they aimed a spotlight on it. Still, some animal experts didn’t believe it was the cougar responsible for all the mayhem. Finally, park superintendent Mike Dortch and his son were visiting the caged animals. They spotted three dogs in the sheep pen and captured two large black mix-Labrador retrievers. A collie (and all three are supposed to be GUARDING sheep, not eating them) escaped. The canines had injured several animals that night.
• • •
Hope to see you soon at Rancho Camulos off Highway 126 just west of Castaic where I’ll be lecturing on the Ruth & Scott Newhall history days at The Mighty Signal. The event’s Sunday, Feb. 22, and starts sharply at noon. Be there early to park and register. There’ll be a volunteer $10 donation fee and do stay tuned to these paragraphs for more details. That shameless plug aside — ¡Vayan con Dios, amigos y Feliz último día de enero!
Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist John Boston has launched his new eclectic bookstore — johnboston-books.com. His hilarious adventure/family/supernatural sequel to the national bestseller, “Naked Came the Sasquatch,” — “Naked Came the Novelist” —is on sale now. Ditto with his two-volume “Monsters” series about the supernatural in the SCV.
