Bonus: some very unscientific data supports that the SCV goes in and out of 10-year cold cycles. Will 2010 follow?
C’mon, saddlepals. Shall we mosey into the mystic?
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —
• Col. John C. Fremont and his men camped out at Rancho San Francisco on Jan. 10, 1847.
• Right about 153 years ago on this date, the few souls living here in 1857 were bounced around during what some scientists calculated was an 8.3 earthquake, centered at Fort Tejon.
• Two pistol fighters and entrepeneur/inventor Henry Wiley began drilling California’s first oil well in Pico Canyon on January 8, 1869. The two gunmen were Sanford Lyon and William Jenkins. This was the first known oil well dug in this valley and the beginning of the first commercial oil well in California.
• We’ve oft spoken of William Manly and John Rogers, the young pioneers who hiked 200 miles out of Death Valley to look for help for the stranded small wagon train party of 11 people, including four small children. Manly penned the famous “Death Valley in ’49” book about his adventures. He wrote about his near epiphany of seeing the SCV for the first time: “There before us was a meadow of a thousand acres, green as a thick carpet of grass could make it, shaded with oaks, wide-branching and symmetrical, equal to those of an old English park…” Manly went on to poetically describe this area, believed to be near the old Rancho San Francisco headquarters by present-day Magic Mountain. What happened to all those beautiful oaks? Much of the field was cleared for agriculture in 1870 by Newhall Land & Farming Co. Then, in 1910-1912, NL&F Co. cleared the remaining trees at a dollar a cord to a Los Angeles fuel company who turned the wood into charcoal to furnish charcoal for bakeries.
JANUARY 14, 1920 —
• Anti-Japanese sentiment was widespread across America, especially in California and certainly in the Santa Clarita Valley as evidenced by The Signal’s front page lead headline: “JAPS MUST LEAVE MRS. ANITA BALDWIN’S RANCH.” While Mrs. Baldwin’s huge acreage (estimated as the largest single property in Southern California) was centered in Arcadia, it drew local attention because of people of Japanese extraction living here. Mrs. Baldwin evicted 75 families leasing about 700 acres from here just because they were Japanese. Here. Check out this diatribe from Signal editor Ed Brown: “Let every true American paper come forth with something about the Jap situation. Let us send every Jap who is not Americanized, back to his native land. We can starve them out so they will want to go of their own accord. If they have no place to sell their wares, they can’t live. Let us try it for a short time and see what the difference will be. The Turks should also be included.” The Turks? Well. At least they didn’t plagiarize.
• In an interesting twist of positioning, The Signal ran a poem about tolerance and forgiveness right next to the large anti-Japanese story.
JANUARY 14, 1930 —
• The coyotes and bobcats were smiling 70 years ago today. A flatbed truck carrying 150 chickens flipped over in a Saugus accident. The driver had a few cuts and scrapes and all the chickens just sort of wandered into the woods.
• Citizens passed around a petition to rename the main route through Newhall up to Gorman. Instead of the half-dozen plus names the road took on (San Fernando Road, Spruce Street, San Francisquito Canyon, Ridge Route, etc.), locals wanted to call the highway, Fremont Boulevard, after the rapscallion bar-fighter, John C. Fremont.
• S.G. Johnson built a house on his Saugus mountaintop property. The project garnered much gossip in town. It was made of mud, or, as they call it in New Mexico — adobe.
• Signal editor A.B. Thatcher, in a Signal editorial, called for an re-opening of the murder case of the close personal friend of William S. Hart — Tom Ince. The juicy story was that Charlie Chaplin and Marion Davies were having an affair and Davies’ boyfriend/benefactor, William Randolph Hearst, had caught the lovers in a compromising position. The story goes that Hearst had a gun, Davies screamed and people started running in from all parts of Hearst’s yacht. Ince tried to intervene and got his brains blown out for his trouble. One eyewitness was supposed to be Louella Parsons and the story goes that Hearst signed her to a lucrative lifetime career as a columnist in exchange for her silence. Local angle? Ince was the producer who got Hart started in silent movies.
JANUARY 14, 1940 —
• Twelve Army planes and 25 pilots arrived at Newhall Airport on this date to start a training school for the Army. Like, ours…
• Long before there was the Internet, the Newhall Phone Company was providing the latest information. All you had to do was crank your phone, lift the receiver and say the magic words, “Information, puh-leaze.” On January 1, 1940, the local operators would give out, for free, telephone numbers, the time, the weather report, road conditions, movie times and titles and what time the school bus leaves. This new service idea was launched only in Newhall and LaBrea. You’re right. It didn’t last.
JANUARY 14, 1950 —
• It was called the Trial of the Century in 1950 and it still may be. All the legal shenanigans and posturing for the estate of silent screen superstar William S. Hart lasted nearly 10 years. On this date, lawyers for Hart’s son, Bill Jr., unsuccessfully attempted to bring his mother, Winifred Westover, into the case. Their grounds were that Hart’s sister, Mary, had used undue influence to keep Bill Jr. out of his father’s will. The courts would eventually uphold the movie star’s wishes and his massive holdings and ranch would eventually be left to the county.
• Local cowpoke Ed Yanez put us on the map by winning the national team roping championships in Denver. Ed won a $650 silver-studded saddled, a $100 belt buckle and $500 cash — big money in 1950.
• Ken Kazarian Sr.’s political clout was felt in the Board of Supervisors. Despite nearly unanimous opposition here, Kazarian was granted permission to start a massive hog ranch operation in Haskell Canyon.
• It snowed on this date. Not just up in the canyon hills, but in downtown Newhall. The snow came after the 5th major snowstorm in a row. The icy roads also caused several accidents.
• Deputy Joe Trout and his hunting dogs were called out to Val Verde to hunt down a giant bear. School custodian Lewis Gafford called the sheriffs after spotting some rather huge tracks with strange claw markings on the field. Besides being a lawman, Trout was the resident outdoorsman. He drove up to the little Val Verde school, inspected the tracks and gruffly identified them. The strange spores came from track shoes.
JANUARY 14, 1960 —
• Lots of death for one week in a small town. The CHP nabbed two Palmdale murder suspects. A plane crashed in Castaic, killing pilot and passenger. Another pair died when their car rammed into the back of a truck. And an elderly Newhall carpenter died of a heart attack.
• The Agua Dulce Trailblazers weren’t blazing many trails this week 40 years back. The mercury dipped down to 6 degrees so most of the riders stayed indoors.
JANUARY 14, 1970 —
• Folks in Placerita Hills and Friendly Valley had some big complaints. The ground was slipping underneath several homes. Ceilings started cracking apart and walls were being slowly torn from their floorings.
• Seems like this cold weather falls into 10-year patterns. On this date, the temperature dipped to the teens. Hart Park had a freezing rain that turned their flora into an ice portrait.
• On this date, Hart’s Ruben Franco was named All-CIF. As a place kicker. I’m sorry. I can’t do that to my amigo. He was a linebacker and one of the best to play in the SCV. Canyon’s Don Edwards and Jim Elford also made the squad.
• Another local football star made the headlines. Former Hart quarterback Joe Kapp led his Minnesota Vikings to a 27-7 trouncing of Cleveland to make it into Super Bowl IV. Cripes. I’ve got to call Joe and point out they’re sneaking up on Super Bowl a-Hundred.
JANUARY 14, 1980 —
• Margo de Seve launched the first Miss Santa Clarita Valley beauty pageant on this date. Tim Ben Boydson won. Just kidding, TBB…
• Ken Grossman was found guilty of gold mining on this date. Grossman had been cited by Placerita Canyon Nature Center director Frank Hovore for digging the heck out of the park, searching for gold. He had a pretty elaborate operation going and was found guilty of trespassing and defacing public property. Grossman fought the ticket, saying his civil rights had been violated. Feeling that Grossman wasn’t getting the idea, Newhall judge Jack Clark said, “It appears you need a big club to drive home this message,” said Clark. “Fortunately, I have such a club.” While Grossman had just taken just 1 ounce of gold, Clark wanted to send a message to his other prospecting friends who were digging up the state park. He sentenced Grossman to five days in jail, two years probation and the warning never to return to Placerita again.
• • •
Thanks so much for the company, dear friends. Surely appreciate all these years with you. See you next week with another exciting Time Ranger adventure, and, until then, vayan con Dios, amigos!
John Boston is the valley historian. Go out and buy his book, Images of America, The Santa Clarita Valley, published by Arcadia. It’s at bookstores and retail outlets throughout the valley and makes a dandy present. Also be on the look-out. He’ll be coming out soon with a brand new fresh web and blog site, thebostonreport.net very soon. No. Really. Swear.