We’ve got mystery beasts roaming the streets of modern Newhall. We’ll bid farewell to Jack Daniels’ wife and check out how some Fish & Game folks saved a teeny-tiny fish —the spiny stickleback — from extinction. We’ve got murders, high-speed chases, the birth of North Oaks, Abbott AND Costello and even some gophers.
C’mon, you Yuppies. Hop on up. A few miles in the saddle and you’ll be either feeling no pain or excruciatingly paralyzed…
(CAPTION: Thirty years back, someone called a local paper to complain that heartless pet owners had abandoned their “starving, skinny dogs” in Downtown Newhall. Investigation proved the mystery mutts were actually coyotes. Yuppies. Dah … !!!)
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —
— Back on July 27, 1876, the Soledad Canyon Railroad Tunnel was completed. Pretty much before that, you had to walk around and not through the mountain.
— Speaking of tunnels, on July 28, 1938, the Newhall Tunnel was replaced by Newhall Pass. Let me make this one crystal clear. Starting in 1910, there was a car and truck tunnel linking Newhall with the San Fernando Valley. For nearly 30 years, that tunnel was the main road in and out of our valley. The tunnel was eventually filled and a cut in the hill was dug and that’s where Sierra Highway ends today.
— While Newhall and Sulphur Springs elementaries were in their infancy, the Presbyterian Church held an evangelical school in the old Southern Hotel by a Mrs. Hubbel.
JULY 28, 1921 —
— A work gang of 14 labored to complete the Union Oil distribution plant just south of Newhall. It was a 98-by-26-foot building.
— On this date, a big community meeting was held at Newhall Elementary. The purpose? To discuss starting an American Legion post here. State Commander Burton Fitts showed up to speak passionately in favor. The vets decided to think about it…
— Mrs. Jack Daniels died on this date. Nope. No relation to the whiskey. Her Christian name was Della Biscailuz and she was born in Newhall in 1903. Her uncle would eventually become L.A. County High Sheriff.
JULY 28, 1931 —
— One of our Hall of Fame cowboy, Andy Jauregui, added another honor to his resume. He took first place and a $150 saddle home for steer roping in the Salinas rodeo.
— We had four different brush fires started this week, 70 years back — all by lightning.
— On this date, the Webb Production Company leased the Dubin Ranch in Placerita Canyon and started building movie sets.
— The hot spell of July, 1931 continued. It was the hottest July in the past 50 years, according to the oldtimers. Odd thing, it snowed that year.
— The heat dried up brush and the sparks from a passing freight train started a fire in Honby (the community where Home Depot and Metrolink rest). Some local cowboys spotted the blaze and quickly used their horse blankets to put it out.
— Betcha Newhall Land & Farming Co. is fuming about this one. On this date, because of the record heat, special fish rescue crews were formed by state Fish & Game. One of the creatures they saved? The spiny-stickleback.
JULY 28, 1938 —
— Fred Trueblood bought The Former Mighty Signal from A.B. “Dad” Thatcher. Trueblood would be both editor and publisher until his death in 1960.
JULY 28, 1941 —
— Silent film star William S. Hart didn’t have a big a soft spot for critters as some of the Fish & Game folks. He hired some exterminators to eliminate an Old Testament plague of gophers on his ranch. Hart had to ship his beloved Harlequin Great Danes, Prince and Hal, to friends so they wouldn’t eat the dead poison gophers.
— Abbott and Costello were in town, filming a movie at the B-Bar-A Ranch. Owner Jerry Lohman said he’d like Universal to shoot more movies at his home because the clean-up crew made the place prettier than it was before. Lou Costello had Lohman going in between takes. The portly comedian said he once saw a horse bite himself on the forehead. Lohman asked how that was possible. Costello answered: “He stood on a box.”
JULY 28, 1951 —
— Some of you would have to be REALLY oldtimers to remember this — the Mecca Cafe, at 6th and San Fernando Road, closed its doors and sold all its goodies at auction on this date. The Mecca had opened during World War II and was a popular eatery amongst the locals.
JULY 28, 1961 —
— The State Highway Commission sent some engineers to the corner of San Fernando Road and Market to study traffic patterns. While there had been seven accidents at the intersection in three years, the SHC felt Market didn’t need a traffic light yet. It would be a few years before the SCV would get one, too. (I know. I accidentally ran it.)
— On this date, the third unit of a new housing project called, “North Oaks” opened. Houses started at $12,995 and $295 moved you in. Built by Signature Homes and Pacivic Coast Properties, the first two units earlier sold all 400 homes in just a few weeks.
JULY 28, 1971 —
— Here’s one for Jim Ventress. Forty years back, the Boys’ Club (they added girls a few years later) held a fundraising telethon on local cable access TV. Master of ceremonies was radio personality, Larry Van Nuys.
JULY 28, 1981 —
— High-speed chases on the freeway are a thing of life in 21st century America. We had one 20 years ago today that would have made a top 10 list. A 16-year-old Oxnard youth filled up his car with gas in Gorman, then dashed off without paying. The attendant got the boy’s license number, called the CHP and the chase began. Quickly, Highway Patrolmen found the car, rolled up next to it and ordered the kid to pull over. The youth calmly took a last puff off his cigarette, flicked it out the window (adding littering to his future list of woes) and punched it into high gear. The chase reached speeds in excess of 120 miles an hour and at one point, the felon was driving on the wrong side of Interstate 5 — doing over 100 mph. Chased by two helicopters and a squadron of local police, the boy finally ended the pursuit by flying 200 feet through the air off Lake Hughes Road. Miraculously, he was saved by landing on a chain link fence. Unharmed, the boy then took off on foot, where he was eventually tackled from behind by officer David L’Heureux. Dave, by the way, was one of the helicopter pilots. How’s that for a chase?
— Some bragging in a crowded Tulare bar proved to be the undoing of murderer Jay Morgan. The 18-year-old had been overheard boasting about how he had stolen the car and wallet of Roger Baldwin, then killed the man in the Newhall area. The body of Baldwin had been found after it had laid in a dry riverbed north of Castaic for over a month. Morgan was found with the wallet and car.
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Well. If I may be allowed one unasked-for piece of advice — don’t any of you bring any of those “starving, skinny dogs” into your homes. They don’t mingle well with lap dogs or kitties. That frontier wisdom aside, sure hope you all — or, as my cowboy pals in Texas say for the plural, “Y’all all” — have yourselves a good week. Unless I’m imposing, sure would like to see you next Thursday back here at the West Ranch Beacon for another time ride throughout SCV history. Until then, a tip of the Stetson and a heartfelt, vayan con Dios, amigos!