Well. The soul cleansed thusly, shall we set off on another time ride through local history?
This wonderful Thursday morning, we’ve got plenty of old vistas to explore — cops, pistol fighters, actual war games at Melody Ranch, overturned tractors and a local farmer who gave everybody the raspberry. Well. In the plural…
(Photo Caption — This is the area around Saugus High, from an aerial shot. On this date in 1972, the county engineer ordered that several abandoned gold mines nearby in the Seco Canyon/Galaxy Highlands areas of Saugus be eliminated. One thing, kids were exploring the dangerous holes and for another, some residents were worried that their homes were sitting essentially on Swiss-cheese foundations. That area of Saugus, by the way, used to be called, “Ratsburg.” It seems around the turn of the 20th century, Newhall Land foreman Jon Arnett would ride up on horseback to collect the monthly rent from the miners. When they spotted him, many would scurry into the mines — “like rats.” Arnett started calling the tent and clapboard shack mining community, “Ratsburg.”)
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —
––––––– On March 19th, 1875, 1:35 p.m., the Mexican pistol fighter, womanizer and road agent Tiburcio Vasquez was hanged in San Jose. Story goes, his last word on the gallows was: “Pronto.” Me, I’d prefer if I were to be lynched, there would be little pressure around the noose and I could stretch the ordeal out for 30 or 40 years.
MARCH 15, 1922 —
––––––– Farmers started planting fruit trees on a large scale in the Soledad Canyon area. Agriculturist Logan Goodknight planted around 600 fruit trees on 139 acres. That went along next to their large vineyard and strawberry farm, which held around 10,000 plants. The Goodknights were wise beyond their time. They also planted thousands of black raspberry plants. Just last week, in our 21st century, a report was released that moderate consumption of black raspberries cut down prostate cancer by about 50 percent. That’d be in lab rats. Not humans yet.
––––––– Housewives were abuzz about a big sale at San Fernando Hardware. For $25, you could buy something called The National Motor Washer. It was basically a wooden tub with an electric motor attached to a ringer. The motor replaced the hand crank. Sure must have been a lot of women walking around with really powerful right forearms…
––––––– On this date, the old Newhall Opera House was showing off the work of a local actor. Tom Mix starred in the silent flick: “The Foreman of the Bar-Z Ranch.” Yup. It was a Western.
MARCH 12, 1928 —
––––––– When the St. Francis Dam burst on this date, it was noted by local historian Jerry Reynolds that 12,441,647,600 gallons of water escaped down San Francisquito Canyon, killing around 500 people. Reynolds noted there were 130,446 cubic yards of cement in the dam and the reservoir covered around 600 acres.
MARCH 15, 1932 —
N This was a red-letter day for the local Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, Newhall chapter. On this date, the first radio was installed in a local patrol car. The way it worked was Captain Stewart of the Newhall HQ would teletype a message to downtown Los Angeles dispatch and they’d broadcast it from L.A. to the patrol car in Newhall. Sure saved the local cops a pants-full of nickels for the pay phones.
MARCH 15, 1942 —
––––––– Mid-March and the SCV was blessed with a dusting of snow all around the valley at about 2,000 feet. It didn’t stick long, but made the place look like Switzerland for a bit.
––––––– The Placeritos Movie Ranch, which later would be Melody Ranch, was the used for actual, real Army maneuvers 60 years back this week. Around 200 troops from the 3rd Battalion used the Western lot to practice war games.
MARCH 15, 1952 —
––––––– Farming can be a dangerous business. In the case of Harvey Myrick, it was fatal. Myrick was using an old tractor to remove some irrigation pipe from the Santa Clara River. He maneuvered the old Minneapolis-Moline tractor into the stream. As he started to locomote out and up the bank, the tractor flipped over, pinning Myrick underneath. He drowned in two feet of water.
––––––– World-famous lady aviator and Antelope Valley dude ranch/cafe operator Mrs. Florence Lowe Barnes, aka “Pancho” Barnes, stood tearfully before the Newhall magistrate on this date. She was fighting a traffic ticket. Seems Pancho was driving through Newhall with three 500-pound hogs in the back of her Studebaker pick-up. Pancho was pulled over for driving with her high beams on. Pancho tried to explain to the officer that she had to have the high beams on because the hogs were weighting down the truck in the back and the regular lights weren’t working. Pancho refused to sign the ticket and was arrested. She demanded a jury trial in the Newhall Courthouse, got it, lost and was assessed either a $40 fine or eight days in jail. Pancho said it was a matter of principle and wouldn’t pay the fine. Judge MacDougall said she could either appeal or show up in 30 days with a set of pajamas and a toothbrush to start serving her eight days. She ended up paying. A small part of Pancho’s life was saluted, many years later, in the movie, “The Right Stuff.”
MARCH 15, 1962 —
––––––– A whopping school bond passed for Hart High, allowing the district to raise $2.5 million for future expansion. The final tally? It was 1,228 votes for, 395 against. Of the seven precincts within the district, Val Verde was the smallest with just 47 votes cast.
––––––– On this date, local businessmen broke ground on the valley’s first luxury apartment building. The huge complex (huge by 1962 standards with 39 unites) had a sun deck, rec room and swimming pool — all fairly new amenities for apartments in the SCV. The place still sits there on Newhall Avenue today. It’s called, “The Californian.” One of the glamour features was a huge waterwheel at the entrance. It was a really neat waterwheel, too. Problem was, it was also an attractive nuisance (kids used to climb up it) and a magnet for pranksters (practical jokers used to dump soap suds in it and there would be foam a half block down the street.
MARCH 15, 1972 —
––––––– My best friend was hired 40 years ago as sports editor of The Mighty Signal. On March 15, 1972, he wrote his first newspaper column, “Sports Editor’s Corner.” It was about sports and the rites of passage of young men in the Arunta tribe of Australia. Señor Phil Lanier is a darn fine writer, still.
MARCH 17, 1982 —
––––––– One burglar was penny wise. He broke into a Valencia home and made off with a big Sparkletts water bottle filled with 15,000 pennies. Must have been a pretty strong robber, too.
––––––– Two more prisoners escaped from Wayside on this date, making the total for the week a staggering 10. If one were to extrapolate to the ridiculous extreme, that would mean 520 inmates would escape every year.
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Well. That about brings us full circle to the highly overrated here-&-now.
Y’all all have a good week and until next Thursday when I see you back here under the warming glow of The West Ranch Beacon — vayan con Dios, amigos!
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