This is a Santa Clarita weekend where I shall not stop smiling. I’ll tell you why at the end of this morning’s trail ride.
That teaser aside, happy Early January, dear saddlepals. We’ve a most interesting trek waiting for us.
What with epic earthquakes, the craziest of horse accidents, movie stars, Hart Park black panthers, Halley’s Comet and lost soul prospectors, there’s many amazing vistas ahead.
But, they all pale in comparison to a most magical event that occurred not that long ago.
Friends. It’s good to be riding with you. Shall we mosey into the Mystic …?
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL — A massive earthquake centered at Fort Tejon hit the Santa Clarita Valley like some gargantuan shaking out a picnic blanket. The Jan. 9, 1857, quake, which was measured after the fact, registered 8.3 on the Richter Scale. Check this out: That made the quake of ’57 approximately 150 times greater than our 1994 Northridge quake. My former CalTech pal and forever Time Ranger saddle buddy, Skip Newhall, shared once that the Tejon rattler was either the second or third largest quake in California history. Skip advised us not to worry. The way California is set up geologically, we probably would never suffer one of those continent killer shakers and 8.3 might be the worse we’d suffer. Some consolation. Back in 1857, by the way, many of the few structures in the SCV fell over or were damaged.
GUNMEN & OILMEN — Two pistol fighters and entrepreneur/inventor Henry Wiley began drilling California’s first oil well in Pico Canyon on Jan. 8, 1869. The two gunmen were Sanford Lyon and William Jenkins.
OUR MOST FAMOUS HIKERS — We’ve oft spoken of William Manly and John Rogers, the young pioneers who hiked 200 miles out of Death Valley to look for help for the stranded small wagon train party of 11 people, including four small children. Manly penned the famous “Death Valley in ’49” book about his adventures. He wrote about his near epiphany of seeing the SCV for the first time: “There before us was a meadow of a thousand acres, green as a thick carpet of grass could make it, shaded with oaks, wide-branching and symmetrical, equal to those of an old English park …” Manly went on to poetically describe this area, believed to be near the old Rancho San Francisco headquarters by present-day Magic Mountain. What happened to all those beautiful oaks? Much of the field was cleared for agriculture in 1870 by The Newhall Land & Farming Co. Then, in 1910-1912, Newhall Land cleared the remaining trees at a dollar a cord to a Los Angeles fuel company who turned the wood into charcoal for bakeries.
OUR LOST TOWN OF GREEN OAKS — In the late 1900s and early 20th century, the area of Honby (near where Home Depot on Soledad is today) was also called Green Oaks.
JANUARY 10, 1926
DEATH ON THE RAILS — Railroad man Leo Layo lost his life. He was a brakeman on a Southern Pacific freighter when it jumped the tracks 2 miles outside of Saugus. Layo was crushed by a boxcar.
NOT A GOOD DAY FOR BLUE COLLAR MEN — A few canyons away, Harry Stewart lost his life when he strayed too close to a live high-tension wire. Stewart had been doing some high wire work when a massive spark arced and killed him instantly. For a while, he hung, suspended by his work belt. A co-worker was seriously burned trying to rescue his comrade, who was already dead.
COWBOYING IS A TOUGH BUSINESS — And there are days it’s tougher on the livestock. Rancher A. Donahue probably felt he was in the wrong business. At the end of 1925, he lost a mule when it fell to its death in a steep barranca. First week of 1926, he had two prize thoroughbreds who pulled his buggy. For some odd reason, the two high-spirited creatures ran at each other in a mad sprint in their pasture. The collided at full speed and killed each other.
OUR WORST BASEBALL DEFEAT? — Back in the 1920s, what is Canoga Park today was called Owensmouth. Our local baseball team motored down in fierce weather to play nine innings. They shouldn’t have gotten out of bed. After four innings, it was 20-0 in favor of the bad guys and the ump called the game on the count of it being cold, wet and that Newhall was on pace to get trounced 60-0.
JANUARY 10, 1936
KIT CARSON OF THE SCV — The SCV was home to perhaps more Western superstar actors than any place on the planet. On this date, Harry Carey was finishing up two movies — “Prisoner of Shark Island” and “Sutter’s Gold.” The former took place during the Civil War and in the latter, Carey played legendary scout, Kit Carson.
JANUARY 10, 1946
THE MILLIONAIRE PAUPER — His family was filthy rich, but Ed Rollert left comfort, wealth and Colorado at the turn of the 20th century to hunt for Saugus gold. A member of the sheriff’s posse found the body of the 86-year-old miner near his shack in Haskell Canyon. Rollert, 86, apparently just went outside, snuggled into an embankment and had his final slumber. He died of exposure and malnutrition. A loner most of his life, miner Ed weighed but 75 pounds when they found him. Funny. He was worth a fortune and died a pauper.
JANUARY 10, 1956
A WRECKING YARD IN HAPPY VALLEY? — In a rare display of intervention, the Board of Supervisors stepped in to stop a giant eyesore. Businessmen were just about to open the Happy Valley Industrial District — fancy words for a giant auto wrecking yard between Valley and Apple on Lyons Avenue. The owners had just slipped in an OK from L.A. County Regional Planning to construct the yard in the primarily residential/ranching neighborhood. The concept of zoning was brand new and had just been enacted on Jan. 1, 1956, in unincorporated areas like Newhall.
JANUARY 10, 1966
THE TRAILER PARK IN THE BOTTOM OF THE CREEK — Those of us who have lived here long enough can attest to a fact of Nature: the Polynesian Trailer Park is essentially a teacup built underneath a faucet. Raging floodwaters filled up the park, ripping out the road and turning it essentially into what it was originally: Newhall Creek. Greeting the New Year of 1966, the park was evacuated.
OLD TESTAMENT FLOODS CONTINUE —The rains were so epic, it wasn’t just the Polynesian that was affected. The new Old Orchard shopping center looked more like a lake and EVERY canyon road in the valley had been wiped out in spots. In about a day, we had 8.3 inches of rain fall in the downtown Newhall area. Adding ice to injury, a freeze coated the area when the storm left, leaving the roads icy and dangerous.
WASHED AWAY TO A WATERY GRAVE — The bodies of two Ventura County Flood Control District workers were discovered two days after the flood. They had been washed all the way to the ocean by the waves. The pair had been in a bucket, trying to measure the flow of the Santa Clara River. The cable snapped and the muddy waters claimed their lives.
DON’T SHOOT BRUNO — The owners of Africa U.S.A. (the original location where wildlife preserve Shambala is today) offered a sincere plea: Please don’t shoot Bruno. More a pet, the 400-pound black bear escaped during the epic rains and was wandering the canyons. He returned of his own volition a few days later, hungry, wet and lonely. You see, Bruno left his girlfriend, Toby (I know; heck of a name for a girl) back at the compound).
JANUARY 10, 1976
LICKING IN THE NEW YEAR — Hard to believe, but folks were grumbling about an increase in postage that started New Years 50 years back. It had cost 13 cents to mail a first-class letter — up from a dime on Dec. 31, 1975.
DUCK SEASON? OR, WABBIT SEASON? — Duck season. Seems hundreds of coots, those brown, foul-tasting ducks, ran — warning: pun alert — afoul of Parks and Recreation. They had been multiplying by the thousands, dirtying lake water and eating tons of grass seed. A special hunt was scheduled to bring the numbers down. Several locals began a petition to save the birds, also known as mud hens. Even The Mighty Signal launched into the fray. Editor Scott Newhall penned yet another infamous front-page editorial. Quoth Scotty on the blood to be spilt at Castaic Lake: “No war is an artistic triumph … And a lopsided death struggle between man and birds at Lake Castaic will indubitably be very poor material for the troubadours of tomorrow.”
JANUARY 10, 1986
THE LORD OF STEALTHY MURDER — That was the name that President Ted Roosevelt (he hated the unasked-for nickname of “Teddy”) gave pumas. Neither the old-fashioned mounted posses with hunting dogs or the newfangled sheriff’s helicopters could capture the 200-pound black panther stalking William S. Hart Park. The “Lord of Stealthy Darkness,” as Roosevelt once called the puma, continued to use the park as its kitty feeding tray, hopping the fence and depopulating the zoo of all but one pet duck. Added to his dinner were five goats and two geese. Of course, not everyone believed the predator was a mountain lion. Judy Orosco, of the Castaic Animal Shelter, suspected it was a giant dog because the animals were mostly uneaten. But other Fish & Game greybeards voted for the panther. “I’ve never seen a dog who could leap a fence like that,” said one.
MOST PROPHETIC — These words were uttered by L.A. County Sheriff Sherman Block: “It is only a matter of time before terrorism afflicts the United States.” Block was talking about having his department gear up for fighting terrorism and noted that there were already terrorist cells operating in the Los Angeles area.
DeLOREAN WAS A NO-SHOW — John DeLorean, the controversial former GM wunderkind who veered off the mediocre factory lines to start his own car company, had been steeped in legal troubles over the years. He had just beat drug smuggling charges but then was indicted for fraud. Adding insult to injury, on this date, the little Newhall Municipal Court issued a warrant for his arrest. Seems DeLorean was pulled over for speeding as he passed through town. He never sent in his fine nor showed up to defend himself.
DOUBLE FIRST ARRIVALS — The first New Year’s Eve baby of four decades back was/were actually TWO New Year’s Eve babies. Aurea and Kevin Jester welcomed twin sons, Kyle and Thomas, into the Santa Clarita Valley at 4:35 a.m., Jan. 1, 1986. Goodness me. Today? Those little bundles are 40 years old …
COMET WATCHER — Lillian Obriecht was one of America’s rare individuals. She was one of the only people to see Halley’s Comet — twice. As a 10-year-old, she witnessed the famed “broom star” speed across the Wisconsin skies. Then, at 86 and living in Newhall, she got to see it as it flew over the SCV. Heavens, no pun intended. I’ll be — I’m going to need some extra fingers and toes to count this one off — 111 when Halley’s Comet passes by again. Best I eat my carrots.
JANUARY 8, 2003
BEST DAY IN THE HISTORY OF EVERYTHING — As far as my money (and heart, body and soul for that matter) goes, this date is THE absolute most important day in not just Santa Clarita Valley history, but the universe as well. My daughter, Indiana Boston, was born 23 years ago on this date. Happy No. 23, my friend, my charge, my joy, the smiling little face who sits opposite me at the Way Station, the little angel just 20 years ago who used to laugh wildly while running down the hallway trying to escape a bath. Many adventures and much laughter to you, amiguita. Your daddy loves you hugely. Always will.
• • •
That spinning vortex up yonder? That’s our particular time portal back to the Santa Clarita of the eternal Here & Now. Thanks for the company, dear friends. See you next weekend, back here at The Mighty Signal hitching post, to ride off for another, exciting Time Ranger/SCV history adventure. Until then? ¡Vayan con Dios, amigos!
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 historical two-volume “MONSTERS” series about the supernatural in the SCV.
