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A happy first Thursday in February, 2011 to you, saddlepals. That date, 2011- almost sounds like we’re in our own science fiction movie. We have a most interesting time ride through Santa Clarita history ahead. (CAPTION: On this date in 1931, J.L. Deering rescued a bald eagle up Soledad Canyon. The national bird had caught a rabbit and had become entwined in a barbed wire fence. Deering took the bird home with him and kept it as a recalcitrant pet.) 

There’s an old Signal editor scolding Albert Einstein. We’ve got an oddball CHP high-speed chase, trout in the oddest places, floods, bald eagles and back when The Signal was Mighty, its first edition.

Light hands, firm legs and a satisfied feeling, amigos. We’re time traveling… 

WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —

— Abraham Lincoln dryly referred to him as, “Master of all he surveys” and refused to name him Surveyor General of the United States. He was a controversial character who massed a fortune in crooked real estate deals and one of our state historic monuments is named after him. General Edward Fitzgerald Beale was born on Feb. 4th in 1822, back in Washington D.C. He had lived, he would have been 189.

— On February 7, 1919, Ed Brown and his wife, Blanche, published the very first edition of The Mighty Signal. That grand old paper is 92 this weekend. Wonder what Ed and Blanche would think of the paper today? Maybe that in a century, it’s almost the exact same tabloid size… 

FEBRUARY 3, 1921 —

— It was early February, maybe late January, 1921. Bill Hart bought the old Horseshoe Ranch from Babcock Smith. A.C. Swall was the real estate agent. Prior to that, the place had been a livery stable for Henry Mayo Newhall. Smith had what was described as a “…large, rambling bungalow of the rustic design, covered with vines and surrounded with beautiful oak trees and nestles up closely to a low but sharply rising elevation at the rear of the place, this giving way to higher elevations which lend a truly woodsy atmosphere to the surroundings.”

— A Signal editorial took physicist Albert Einstein to task. Editor Blanche Brown scolded: “Dr. Einstein is coming to the United States to lecture on his theory of spatial relativity and the curves of so-called straight lines. He might learn something about curved straight lines by watching any competent baseball pitcher.”

— One of the canyons off Soledad was called Cherry Canyon in 1921. It was home to the Cherry Canyon Goatery, a 720-acre farm which bred purebreds. It was about 7 miles due east from the Saugus Cafe. Another service they provided: “Goats dehorned for $2.” Our resident Scotsman, Tom Frew, notes that he’ll do it for a buck. 

FEBRUARY 3, 1931 —

— Silent film superstar William S. Hart was in Chicago, coming back from New York where he had been visiting his book publisher. The eastern media wondered why the man who virtually created the modern movie cowboy dressed like a regular dude. Quoth Hart: “I always wear my western clothes at my ranch at Newhall, but I haven’t the courage to wear them when I’m East. People would think I was posing, though I’d like nothing better than to appear as a cowboy all the time.” Sure know how he feels…

— The County Forestry Department was giving away free trees. They were used for soil conservation and shade. All you had to do was pick them up, take them home and plant them. 

FEBRUARY 3, 1941 —

— For the third time in a few weeks, the western part of Newhall was severely flooded, especially in the Atwood Addition part of Happy Valley. A big, 10,000 acre brush fire in Towsley and Pico Canyons from last summer helped the flood waters rage. Residents begged county, state and federal governments for some sort of flood control. Their Old Testament woes were just beginning. The early 1940s were the setting for record rainfall and flooding in the Santa Clarita.

— Paul Kroatch had asked to be released from a veterans’ hospital so he could die in dignity. The invalid rented a room with his little dog at the Sleepy Valley Inn up Mint Canyon and asked neighbors to check on him if they should not see smoke coming from his cabin’s chimney. One morning, there was no smoke and Kroatch had died peacefully in his sleep. He was a veteran of the Spanish-American War.

— The Chamber of Commerce started a massive planting program called “Wild Flowers For Weeds.” It was a valley beautification program where the business community yanked weeds and replaced them with wildflower seeds. Wouldn’t hurt to dump a few tons of poppies and other flowers in the hills today.

— Joe Blitz, who was chairman of the Sand Canyon Improvement Association, saw a government notice that the federal government was looking for a place to store 5,000 brand new bathtubs in San Diego. Blitz wrote the feds, saying that he knew of 37 houses in the Sand Canyon area that wouldn’t mind storing them for a long period of time. 

FEBRUARY 3, 1951 —

— Hart High überathlete Wayne Hamaker, 18, signed with the Hollywood Stars baseball squad.

— A huge landslide at the top of Newhall Pass pinned a double oil rig against the other side of the mountain. The driver was unhurt. It took some time to reopen the road.

— The Mint Canyon Lions Club stopped having meetings at their old digs. Members complained it was a bit drafty. Said the press release: “Spurred by falling attendance due to near zero temperatures in The Hangar Room, the club members anticipate a happy home at the new Frontier Cafe.” 

FEBRUARY 3, 1961 —

— J.J. O’Brien was off toward an interesting day when he got this call 40 years back. The officer was sent to investigate a report that a woman was sitting in a car a few yards away from J.J.’s CHP headquarters, throwing beer cans out the window and honking the horn. When J.J. arrived, the woman rolled up the windows, locked the doors and peeled rubber. J.J. and other officers hopped in their muscle cars and gave chase. Adding insult to injury, the woman eluded the CHiPsters — IN A CORVAIR — while continuing to throw empty beer cans during the high-speed chase. They finally pulled her over and this time, while Officer O’Brien was trying to reach in an open window to unlock the door, she rolled the window up on his arm. She did some serious jail time. 

FEBRUARY 3, 1971 —

— A week after they were run out of Hollywood for creating a public nuisance, Tony and Susan Alamo moved their L.A. operation up Mint Canyon. Locals were surprised when the population of the “Hippie cult church” compound doubled.

— The census confusion continued. We still didn’t have any accurate population count and census officials couldn’t shed any light on why Saugus wasn’t added to the valley’s figures. Also, folks wanted to know just where was this place called Rancho Santa Clarita the census people came up with.

— Some folks were sputtering and some had a sheepish grin. A large sign on the front of the American Legion Hall on Spruce boasted: “Exotic Adult Films — XXX!!” The Legionnaires weren’t being randy. They just rented out the hall to CBS for a TV serial location. CBS was the group being randy. 

FEBRUARY 3, 1981 —

— “I have lost an engine” were the last words heard from the small plane. Valencia resident Eric Anderson was one of three people to die in Elsmere Canyon when the light-weight Beechcraft crashed into a mountain during bad weather. Compounding rescue attempts was a veritable airborne circus of media helicopters, circling the wreck. One sheriff’s helicopter pilot, hovering over the wreckage, noted of the confusion: “It’s a dogfight up here!”

— State senator Ed Davis chose wisely. Twice. On this date, he picked former Signal columnist Bobbie Trueblood as his field representative. Later, Davis would ask Bobbie to be his wife. And she said yes.

— President Ronald Reagan deregulated gas prices and overnight, prices locally jumped 30 cents a gallon to an unheard-of $1.52 for high test. Gasoline prices had jumped so quickly, most of the local service stations didn’t have modern signs to accommodate the increases. Owners had to physically paint a “1” in front of the cents. The Randy Wicks cartoon on the editorial page was of a long gas nozzle and hose encompassing the world like a python. The caption? “Still Hostage…”

— The CHP set up a sting operation on the western part of Placerita Canyon Road. In a 4-hour period, they cited 58 speeders on the windy little rustic road. Today, Placerita is a closed-off private highway. Twenty years back this year, they had 43 major accidents with one fatality — one of the major reason why the homeowners closed the road off to through traffic.

— We had a pretty good rain storm 30 years back. But local Richard Leon had perhaps the ultimate bad weather anecdote. His front yard flooded and he found a four-pound trout swimming in a newly-formed pond. 

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Thanks so very much for joining me on this time-bending expedition. Surely appreciate you dear Santa Claritans and we simply have got to do this again next week, saddlepals. What say next Thursday? Right here under the warm glow of The West Ranch Beacon? Vayan con Dios, amigos!