- Epic hitchhikers.
- A legend retires. And, gets born. (Time traveling is relative.)
- Really, really stupid steers.
- A Red scare at Hart.
- And all sorts of amazingly cool things about this valley we share…
By the way. How you doing on the New Year’s resolutions so far?
(Photo caption: Many communities claim Helen Hunt Jackson as their private property. The crooks at Hemet have their annual Ramona passion play every year. But it was here, in Santa Clarita, where the spinstress/author penned one of America’s most powerful books of the 19th century, “Ramona.” The little fruit stand about 8 miles west of I-5 on 126 used to be one of Southern California’s top tourist attractions. Visitors would pay a nickel to bounce on the bed where Ramona was born and, for a while, before it was Val Verde, that neck of the woods was called Ramona Hills. I think we should start taking to calling it Ramona Hills, again. Would someone please bring that up at a Castaic Town Council meeting, please?)
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —
— It’s still open for business today. Back on January 18th, 1899, Martin and Richard Wood purchased the old Tolefree’s Eating House. They renamed it, “The Saugus Cafe.”
— Happy birthday, Scotty. On January 20th, 1914, future and best-ever next to me Signal editor Scott Newhall was born in San Francisco. (Just wanting to see if you’re paying attention in Heaven, Mr. Newhall…)
— Antonio del Valle was a happy camper. On January 22nd, the governor of Alta California (we were the property of Mexico back then) deeded Tony the entire Santa Clarita Valley in exchange for some back wages. Nice settlement.
— It would become one of the most significant books of the 19th century. Author Helen Hunt Jackson stopped off at the Camulos Ranch on January 23rd, 1882, off present-day Highway 126. There, she interviewed Blanca Yndart and from those tales would be born the inspiration for the novel, “Ramona.” What made Ramona so important was that its descriptions of Southern California helped fuel a huge westward migration here. It also was the spearhead of the Romantic Period in America. After centuries of eradicating Indians, Ramona cast Native Americans in a different light and white America went from loathing savages to making the few remaining Indians into demigods of Nature.
— The Acton Post Office was founded on January 24th, 1888 by Rudolph Nickel.
JANUARY 20, 1921 —
— A Mrs. Ramsey and her daughter, Edith, bought the old Swall Hotel on this date. That used to be the world corporate headquarters of The Mighty Signal. The downtown Newhall building burned to the ground a year and change earlier and was rebuilt as a brick structure. The gals bought the hotel from Albert Swall. They came up from Santa Barbara to run the place. Guess they got sick and tired of all that pleasant weather and sea breezes.
— The Pennywit family moved to town and bought a parcel on the outskirts of town. On their oak-shaded lot, they opened a public campground and a gas station.
— Louis Mong and his wife passed through Newhall en route to Canada from Akron. This wouldn’t be terribly interesting except the well-educated couple was walking from Ohio to British Columbia. They weren’t hobos, either. Just pedestrians with a penchant to see North America first-hand. That must have been just one heck of an adventure. One wonders. In the days before Vibram soles, how many pairs of shoes they went through on their journey.
— Saugus cowboy and movie star Buck Jones (who would later own the Saugus Speedway) debuted his latest movie, “Just Pals” down at the Cody Theatre in San Fernando. I think I’ve mentioned that Buck died in the famous Cocoanut Grove Theater fire of 1942 in, ironically, Boston, with two of my uncles.
JANUARY 20, 1931 —
— I’ve known for a long time that cattle can be dumb but this story takes the cake. Rancher W.R. Cook lost three steers from his Oak Glen Ranch when they just walked over a cliff.
— More bad luck pursued SCV ranchers. C.H. Kellogg had a huge hay barn near where IHOP on Bouquet Canyon is today. Some hobos snuck in to spend the night, started a fire to keep warm and burned the ancient structure to the ground, not to mention 600 tons of hay and oats. Ouch.
— The Great Depression was upon us and many locals were behind on their subscription payments to this paper. As an inducement, The Signal offered to “forgive” 25 percent of the bill. Folks were given the special rate of $1.50 for a year’s subscription, down from two bucks.
— John Dunn Jr. and C.F. Peter, owners of the Atwood Addition tract in Newhall, were selling lots 50-by-100 feet. Asking price? Just $550. That was for the whole lot. House was a bit extra, but you could float a loan at eight percent for five years.
JANUARY 20, 1941 —
— One of this valley’s greatest philanthropists was movie star Bill Hart. In his day, he was constantly not just signing his names to checks, but helping out in big and small ways. One of our local pastors, Reverend Claude Rowley, made do by borrowing cars and just plain wearing out shoe leather taking care of his flock. One day, a brand, spanking new 1941 Dodge appeared in his church parking lot. It was a gift from Hart. When he took his surprised wife for a drive in their new vehicle, she couldn’t stop screaming. First, there was the lavishness of the gift. Second, Rowley was from England and had to get used to driving on the right side of the road. How about that Bill?
— L.A. County finally found some use for their old jail at the corner of 11th and Spruce. Today, it’s a flower shop. Back in 1941, the Ag Dept. used it to store poison.
— Back when it was funny, The Signal editorial warned against youths involved in “automobile petting parties.” Quoth The Mighty Signal: “The safest thing to hug is the right side of the road.”
— Angelo Cato closed up his shoe repair shop to help the war effort. Nope. He didn’t enlist. He went to work for Sam Browne to build Army and police belts.
JANUARY 20, 1951 —
— McCarthyism and the Red Scare surfaced in the farming community of Newhall 60 years back. A local Hart teacher was investigated because he showed a World War II documentary on Russia to his class. The film was produced by the Army (ours), but caused a huge furor locally because it cast the Soviet Union in a positive light (it was made during the war when Russia was our ally). A WWII vet and hero, the teacher was nearly fired. The film was confiscated and destroyed. Question. Can nostalgia be ugly?
JANUARY 20, 1961 —
— Russell Rueff was a salesman who wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, housewife Vicky Kelley painted him. It seems Rueff, who was tipsy, walked onto Kelley’s property while she was painting her house and asked if she’d go have a drink with him, if you get the metaphor. She refused, several times, while on a ladder. Rueff started shaking the ladder. Kelley stepped down and wiped her large brush across his suit. He finally got the idea.
JANUARY 20, 1971 —
— We hope, 40 years later, that times are better for this youth. A 15-year-old was arrested for attempting to return a coat he had not purchased. The boy took the tags off the jacket at Grant’s Department Store in Canyon Country. He brought it up to the front desk and tried to get the $28 cash value for it, saying it didn’t fit. Employees had spotted him removing the tags and he certainly didn’t have a sales receipt. It turned out the lad was from an impoverished family and wanted the money to buy food for he and his nephew.
— Here is just an amazing happenstance. Our dear saddlepal Tom Lee quit Newhall Land & Farming after 30 years of service in 2001. That was on January 17th. Same day, 1971, Scott Newhall quit the San Francisco Chronicle after 36 years. His note, in typical Scotty style: “To all my friends: acutely aware of the incipient onslaught of senior citizenship, and determined not to become a journalistic geriatric basket case, and hounded mercilessly by my doctor (who, I think, is a genuine M.D.) I find the day has finally arrived when I must retire the field of San Francisco daily newspapering.” He would, of course, work about another 20-plus years as editor of The Mighty Signal.
— Representatives from Newhall Land met with city-forming activists. The mucky-mucks from the development company said they would not support the formation of a city of Santa Clarita.
— On this date, Karen Horney got wed. Sorry. Just wanted to say her name out loud. It helps if there’s a long pause between the first and last names. Karen… — — — — Horney…
JANUARY 20, 1981 —
— An international drug ring was smashed at its Canyon Country headquarters. Five men were arrested and $250,000 in cocaine taken.
— Poor COC. Seems like they’re always besieged. Thirty years back, they had to make massive cuts due to Proposition 13. Everything from sports programs to teachers were cut.
— Funny in a painful, bittersweet way, how we bump into friends and family on these trailrides. Thirty years ago this week, Signal reporter Rich Varenchik, aka, Buck Drango, Outdoors Writer, had been the cops and crimes reporter for The Mighty Signal for eight years. My humble opinion, he was the best they ever had. Varenchik retired 30 years ago this week. He had been waiting and waiting for his longtime friends with the local law enforcement agencies to take him out for a retirement party or at least a final beer. Finally, his last day on the job, Varenchik got his farewell. A CHP officer stopped him making a milk man stop at 16th and Newhall and gave him a $31 ticket. Not exactly a gold watch. Rich died last year. A darn good man…
— — —
Well. Here we are. Back in the here and now. Sure appreciate the company, saddlepals. Look forward to meeting you right back here under the glow of The West Ranch Beacon with you next week with another exciting Time Ranger adventure. Until then, vayan con Dios, amigos!