Image not recoveredSquirrel.jpg
A warm but hopefully not sultry Western howdy to you, saddlepals. Sun’s coming up. It’s pleasant and cool. What say we beat the heat and head into yesteryear for a little snooping? We’ve got some interesting vistas ahead. There’s the Duke, Himself at whom to say, “Howdy.” We’ve got yet another unusual self-inflicted gunshot wound, bus accidents, bank robbers, Black Widows and some July rain.

What say we stretch a bit and vault up into the saddle to see what used to be? 

(CAPTION — — Plague Infected Squirrels is not a bad but angry rock garage band. A special County Health squad discovered ground squirrels were decimated by plague-carrying fleas in a campground dump north of Castaic. The entire dump was put to the torch and squirrels shot and poisoned by the hundreds. This happened on this date in 1941.) 

WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —

— There were no Democrats. No Republicans. No cement. No one spoke English. No one spoke Spanish. No one even spoke Tataviam. And things were eerily quiet. 

JULY 21, 1921 —

— A little girl, daring across San Fernando Road, caused a serious bus accident. A “yellow stage” swerved to miss the child, crossed the center line and hit a large truck head-on before flipping. Several people were injured. 

JULY 21, 1931 —

— The Great Depression was felt out here. Our Saugus Cafe cut their menu prices. Lunch was cut from 60 cents to a half-buck and dinner fell from $1 to 85 cents — and that was for a five-course meal with beverage.

— Speaking of eating out, Paul Lewis and Al Mahayig were arrested for dining and dashing.

JULY 21, 1941 —

— This one would have NRA president Charlton Heston shaking his head. On this date, 17-year-old Fritz Rodley shot the tip of his right index finger clean off. He said he had dropped the gun, some dirt got in the barrel and he was trying to get it out when the darn thing discharged, leaving him hard to fit for gloves.

— It had rained once in July back in 1884 (.02 inch) and again in 1913 (a little heavier with .11 inch). For the third time in that period, it rained in July in Newhall. There wasn’t any to measure. But it rained on a cold, cloudy, overcast day on July 24, 1941. I remember a few years back, when we started the Fourth of July parade, we had a nice little misting that was rather refreshing. Sure beats riding when it’s 142.

— Ecology is certainly nothing new. The Sand Canyon Ladies Aid Society, on this date, held an outing where they gathered frogs and pollywogs from the quickly-drying creeks and took them up to the east fork where water was more plentiful.

— Here’s some cocktail party trivia for you. The first-ever midnight movie in the SCV was held on Friday, July 26, 1941. It was Bela Lugosi’s, “The Devil Bat.” American Theatre manager Hal Hall (that really is his name) also helped the town free itself of litter. Every kid who brought an old discarded tire to George Bjornstad’s Union Oil station, got a free ticket to a Saturday afternoon matinee. 

JULY 21, 1951 —

— Duncan Daries, son of the local fire chief Pierre, was promoted to Air Force Major after a spectacular combat mission in which he fought off several Chinese aircraft and strafed 17 North Korean military targets.

— Horace Woodard, Newhall boy turned internationally famous wildlife photographer, was back in town to make a movie. The subject matter gave many of the locals the willies. Woodward’s documentary was on black widow spiders and he was using his parents garage as part of his set. According to Woodard, black widow venom, drop for drop, is the most poisonous of any creature on the planet.

— Three Newhall youths (and I was not one of them) were arrested for stealing 20 gas tank caps from various vehicles along San Fernando Road.

— How’s THIS for a double John Wayne bill at the American Theatre big screen — “She Wore A Yellow Ribbon” and “Fort Apache.” Wow. Betcha if Dick Flaherty was in town back then, we couldn’t have pried him out of the theater… 

JULY 21, 1961 —

— Honor is short-lived for journalists. Fred Trueblood, who had recently died, had a roadside park named after him in Castaic. A few years later, the park was torn down when Highway 99 was widened. It’s a CalTrans storage yard, now.

— Two bank robbers, who had escaped with $24,000 in cash in a blazing gun battle in Fresno, were captured by two local Highway Patrolmen. Despite the fact the bad guys had a car full of loot and ordinance, including two sawed-off shotguns, they gave up without incident in Canyon Country.

— In his Signal Tower column, editor Fred Trueblood II recalled being a boy and going to a local park concert with friends. The lads brought a bag of lemons with them and sat themselves in front of the trombone player and sucked on those lemons until the musician could play no more. Gotta remember that for the Concerts in the Park series…

— The old Happy Jack Ranch in Placerita Canyon was undergoing a drastic change. The Los Angeles Baptist College was getting their new campus ready for their first fall semester. Tuition was $180 per semester for those first 100 students, with housing $280. Medical and activities fees were just $30. Forty percent of the students were married, too. John Dunkin Sr. was the first dean. (His son, John Jr., was my best friend in 9th grade; and, John’s nephew would one day be Mike Penberthy, of the L.A. Lakers.) Today, LABC is called The Master’s College. 

JULY 21, 1971 —

— A survey at Hart High, taken of 338 students, showed the ASB overwhelmingly approved a dress code that would allow see-through blouses and no brassieres for the girls. Footnote. Most of the girls said they wanted the right to not wear bras but wouldn’t necessarily do so. Most of the boys said they wanted to wear beards to school. Well. Them what could grow ’em.

— Forty years ago this week, Valencia Glen Park opened. Seems like yesterday.

— House rentals in the SCV went from about $90 a month to about $250. 

JULY 21, 1981 —

— A local Hart boy made good — but it was out of state. Jim Lewis, class of 1961, was elected to the Washington state House of Representatives.

— It was the days of disco and bars were big. At the old Saugus nightspot, the Genesis Club, management put in one of those automated bull bucking machines.

— Loretta Lynn held a concert at Magic Mountain. They packed the place with about 50,000 folks. Loretta caused quite the traffic jam, with freeway traffic backed up for miles. 

Thanks again so much for the company, dear saddlepals. We’ll get together for another visit and trailride through time next Thursday, right here under the calming glow of The West Ranch Beacon, if that’s all right by you. Until then, drink your milk, say your prayers and, as Bill & Ted once said: “Be most excellent to one another!” Vayan con Dios, amigos!