Oh well. We’ve got about 48 lungfuls of air to lend to Newhall Land & Farming. There’s a visit from Al Jolson to report, along with Newhall International Airport, Antonovich Lake, some state baseball champs and — near and dear to pal and banker Johnny Reardon’s heart — The Day They Turned Newhall Into Oklahoma.
Come on, saddlepals. Shall we mosey into the mystic?
(Image Caption: — On this date in 1921, Al Jolson and the Allan Players held a fundraising vaudeville show in Newhall. They brought their own tent, too. Ten percent of the gate went to help build a forest ranger station in Newhall (for a total of $550). Al Jolson, by the way, would later star in the first feature talking (or “talkie”) motion picture — “The Jazz Singer” in 1927. That film would make Jolson the biggest star in the world. He made 11 films and became famous for being a white, Jewish chap who portrayed black heroes.)
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —
— Happy belated birthday to Newhall Land & Farming Co. They were incorporated back on June 1, 1883 and have been doing rather well for themselves since.
JUNE 2, 1921 —
— Union Oil of California bought an acre of land from Annie Hume in downtown Newhall. They would build an oil distributing plant in downtown, with four 20,000-gallon holding tanks. Folks were at first rather excited about the new business, but then weren’t so hot on the idea of four 20,000-gallon tanks going ka-blooey next door.
— Speaking of movie stars, our own sullen Hamlet of the Hill, William S. Hart, starred in his latest flick, O’Malley of the Mounted. With its majestic forest backdrops, Hart couldn’t fake it by filming it locally. “O’Malley” debuted at the Cody Theatre in San Fernando.
— On this date, Newhall took delivery of their brand new “fire trailer.” It was a horse-drawn wagon that carried eight 10-gallon water cans and six 3-gallon chemical cans, plus “… a generous supply of fire-fighting tools.” Locals passed the hat to buy the wagon, which was stored next to the Butler building with the old fire hose wagon and manual pump.
JUNE 2, 1931 —
— A distant Tom Frew relative from the caveman days made The Former Mighty Signal 80 years back today. Editor Dad Thatcher noted: “T.M. Frew Sr. was seated in a parked car the other day. A passer-by asked him what he was doing. ‘Taking a Scotsman’s joy ride,’ he said, with a happy look on his face.”
— For you aerial minutia fans, here’s some cocktail party stats. For the month of May, Newhall International Airport (where Granary Square is today) had 67 plans land here, dropping off 87 passengers. Some state mucky mucks were also part of the passengers and noted that Newhall would be a perfect place for something that would later be called Los Angeles International Airport. In the early days of World War II, a state bond was passed to fund construction to make the little Newhall airport into the Southland’s international air hub. But, those darn folks from Inglewood stole the project from us. Perhaps we should be most thankful…
— The old Jones Ranch in Placerita Canyon had become the new mecca for filming Westerns. It was right next door to Andy Jauregui’s place. Cowboy Jones leased his spread to the Trem Carr Company for five years. It would later become the Disney Ranch.
— By the way. That lanky cowpoke Jauregui made a respectable living training and supplying horses and livestock for the movies. But, on this date, he made a few extra bucks, no pun intended, being Richard Dix’s stunt double in the Western classic, “Cimarron.” The flick storyline was centered in Oklahoma, but much of it was filmed here in Newhall. Hm. Oklahoma. Wonder if Johnny Reardon had a bit part in it as a child star?
— The local newspaper had a rather trenchant observation of being in the middle of the Memorial Day traffic jam mess. “As usual, the folks in the mountains wanted to go to the beach. And the folks at the beach wanted to go to the mountains.”
JUNE 2, 1941 —
— We were — and still are — in the middle of one of the world’s busiest transportation routes. Seventy years back, on Memorial Day weekend, seven died and 18 were injured in various traffic accidents in the SCV. There were drivers falling asleep at the wheel and terrible head-ons. One young driver was held for vehicular homicide for crossing 99 at over 100 mph and clipping four cars, killing one person. Two others died when another speeder crossed the median and hit another car head-on. The collision was so fierce, the engine from the first car went airborne over 100 feet and landed in the windshield of another car, killing the two passengers.
— Dora Taylor of Newhall received crippling news. Six of her relatives went off to San Luis Obispo for a weekend of boating. They all drowned when their boat capsized.
— On this date, Tugboat Smith retired. He was a Canyon Country ranch boy who was famed as a local heavyweight boxer. Tugboat did rather well in the beginning, ‘punking up’ on a few ham ‘n’ egg pugilists. It was his dream to become heavyweight champion of the world and Smith traveled America, trying to reach his goal. He never did. Smith figured that he had fought in 32 states and got the tar beat out of him in all 32.
JUNE 2, 1951 —
— Kids playing with fire certainly isn’t anything new. But of all places to fiddle around with matches, some Canyon Country youngsters picked The Mox Lumber Yard. Luckily, they ran quickly home to their parents and reported their sin. The fire was quickly put out with little damage.
JUNE 2, 1961 —
— A decade later, another fire in Santa Clarita, but this time, with a slightly more bizarre flash point. Three visitors from Hawaii motored out to faraway Clearwater Canyon (off San Francisquito) for some target practice. Nothing out of the ordinary. Folks took target practice all over the valley’s lonely barranchas. This trio, however, were using a 20 mm anti-tank gun with tracer shells. They started a 300-acre blaze that took hundreds of firemen to douse. Besides the $100 fine for each, the three Hawaiian tourists were presented with a $38,500 bill for putting out the forest fire.
JUNE 2, 1971 —
— Bobby Batugo took top honors for creating the best cocktail in America. Batugo competed against 81 mixologists from all over the country. His “Tipsy” drink of rum and orange was voted best. Bobby ran the bar of the old Tip’s restaurant, where IHOP is today at the top of Lyons.
— On this date, Dorothy Esser married Jack Threet. What made the union unusual was the couple was married on horseback at 3T Stables in Canyon Country.
— On this date, minus a day, Castaic Lake opened.
JUNE 2, 1981 —
— Long before there were Beanie Babies, there was a popular doll line called “Satin Creatures.” They looked exactly like Beanie Babies, except they were made of satin. The collectibles were hot items at the Saugus Swap Meet.
— On this date, my dear, dear pal, Mike Gillespie, led the COC Cougars to the junior college state championship in baseball. They whupped Harbor College, 4-1, putting together a 3-run 9th inning. Mike still lives in town, but has gone on to USC and now is at Irvine.
— Here’s a funny one for you. A group against urban sprawl calling themselves the Coalition for Los Angels County Planning in the Public Interest filed suit against the county Master Plan to limit growth in the SCV. Guess it didn’t stick, huh?
— On the topic of sprawl, on this date, L.A. County supervisor Mike Antonovich suggested that Castaic Lake be renamed to Warren M. Dorn Lake. Dorn was a former 5th District supervisor. Castaic comes from the old Tataviam word, pronounced, “Kash-tuk,” meaning “Mine eyes.” Needless to say, Mike got a lot of flack for his idea and the lake’s name is still, well. You know… BY THE WAY. Do not. Repeat. Do NOT pronounce the place with three syllables: Cass-Stay-ICK. It’s pronounced: Kas-STAKE.
— — —
Thanks so much for the companionship, saddlepals. And don’t forget. The big Fourth of July parade is coming in a month. Start getting those umbrellas and lounge chairs ready. Look forward to seeing you all next week right here at the West Ranch Beacon with a brand new Time Ranger adventure. Until next Thursday, vayan con Dios, amigos!
Comments
1 · as published