(Photo caption: Camel handler Hi Jolly (left) and his boss, the infamous Edward Fitzgerald Beale, wrote an arcane page into Santa Clarita history. Back when he was a lowly colonel, Ed Beale drove a team of brightly-festooned camels through downtown Los Angeles January 27th, 1858 toward Newhall and on to Fort Tejon. They were part of his legendary Camel Corps. 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. But the real reason why the camels couldn’t cut it was that their feet were soft for navigating sand, not the razor-sharp terrain of Southern California.)
JANUARY 27, 1921 —
— Poor Newhall Land & Farming. Somebody’s always after them for something. On this date, 90 years back, their cattle tore down the fence at Newhall Elementary and trampled all the flowers. The cowboys rebuilt the fence and replanted the flora. But it was the second time it had happened in a short period of time. Back then, the grazing land was so plentiful, it wasn’t fenced. People’s houses were.
— They were making improvements on the new Ridge Route paved highway. A few problems stalled reopening. First, it took seven days for the cement to settle. Second, we hit a big freeze and the water pipes up there froze.
— We were enjoying a healthy dose of rain — blessings to the farmers and ranchers here. A bonus was a rare wet snowfall, drenching the valley. It stuck all around the foothills though.
JANUARY 27, 1931 —
— Charles Viegel had a surprise waiting for him when he opened up his Newhall Ice Company freezer doors. Someone had snuck in and left two elk (dead) hanging from meat hooks. Turned out an employee had let a Bakersfield game warden store them there overnight. They had been illegally poached from the herd in San Joaquin.
— Arthur Lapsley bought the old Shuler Ranch up in the Sierra Pelonas, where the Bouquet Reservoir sits today. The place had a dark history. The Shulers had homesteaded there in the 1800s. Most of the Shuler brothers met terrible deaths. One committed suicide, blowing his brains out in the barn. Another was killed by a hit-and-run driver. Henry Shuler was killed while digging a well. He was at the bottom of the pit when the large, heavy wooden bucket fell from the lip and landed on his head, killing him instantly.
JANUARY 27, 1941 —
— War was around the corner and our local draft board was called upon to fill their quota — 28 young men from Chatsworth and the Little Santa Clara and Antelope Valleys.
— It was called The Negro Academy and opened 70 years ago. The place was a military/agricultural school for black youths ages 10-18. At its peak, it housed nearly 100 students and was just off old Highway 99 in Saugus.
— The historic Newhall-Saugus Rodeo returned to its home at Bonelli Stadium (Saugus Speedway today). The floods of 1938 caused the Wild West show to move into first, Placerita, then Newhall. The 1941 world-famous rodeo drew tens of thousands of visitors to the sleepy little valley. Talk about traffic congestion…
— The American Legion donated almost 1,000 cypress and pine trees to local schools from Acton to Newhall.
— Rev. Bradbury of the Mole Hill Baptist Church in the Sand Canyon area had quite a sense of humor. He was being kidded by some local cowboys about how strict Baptists don’t dance. The good reverend replied: “Someone can not participate in parachuting, but that doesn’t mean they can’t find joy in someone parachuting.” An enlightened answer, Dr. Bradbury.
JANUARY 27, 1951 —
— A small storm passed through, dumping about an inch of rain. It helped the drought. That upped our season total 3.5 inches. Mighty dry. Mighty dry.
— The old Saugus Hotel was a rough and tumble place. A poker game broke up after one of the players, a local oil worker, thought he was being cheated. He returned with a shot gun and chased on the suspected card shark to the communal bathroom down the hall. The petroleum removal engineer was wrestled to the ground after he blasted the door off its hinges. Luckily, the card player inside wasn’t hurt.
— The Newhall Water Company raised its rates for the first time in 28 years. NWC held the line since 1923, then asked for a modest 25-cent raise on their minimum accounts. That raised the average bill to about $1.50. Newhall Water pumped an average of 1.4 million gallons of water per day from six wells.
— Here’s some more utility trivia for you. In the year 1950, Newhall gained 128 new telephones, bringing its grand total to 1,291 phones. Santa Claritans made a daily average of 5,252 calls. (I think I make that in a morning.) In 1945, the average daily amount of calls was just 2,890.
JANUARY 27, 1961 —
-John Phillip Arman, Newhall farmer, died. He was 91. He left behind him — get this — 96 descendants.
JANUARY 27, 1971 —
— If any of you saddlepals are moseying down Highway 126, you and your pony might want to steer clear of a suspicious-looking capsule. Some teamster pulled a Homer Simpson and dropped a package out of the back of his open truck. The lead-lined capsule was filled with radioactive material. May we all have a chorus of, “Dohhhh!”
— Locals were scratching their heads over the recently-released census figures. Before, we had a good estimate from utility hook-ups that about 60,000 people lived here. But the U.S. Census had us at just a tad over 20,000. Somewhere, we were missing about 40,000 souls.
JANUARY 27, 1981 —
- Folks by the Oasis trailer park up Soledad Canyon had a rude awakening. In the middle of the night, a Southern Pacific freight train derailed, sending cars and cargo all over the place. No one was injured.
— Kurt Freeman was the founder of the local Alcoholic Olympics, an annual fundraiser for reformed drinkers. Kurt was speaking before the Chamber mucky-mucks at a rubber chicken fest and started speech with: “Contrary to popular belief, I am not here recruiting…”
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Well saddlepals. The past is fading and I see we’ve come full circle to modern times. Best we brush down the horses and clean most of the trail dust off before we sit down in the recliner and ponder chores. See you folks next Thursday under the warming glow of The West Ranch Beacon with another exciting Time Ranger adventure. Until then, vayan con Dios, amigos!