WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —
• Seventy nine years ago yesterday, William S. Hart, one of the biggest movie stars in the world, purchased the Horseshoe Ranch in Newhall from Mr. Babcock Smith.
FEBRUARY 11, 1920 —
• Newhall’s presidential candidate, Henry Clay Needham, returned from a Los Angeles hospital where a clotted leg vein was removed. It gave the Prohibitionist time to reflect. In a letter he wrote how he wished to return to Newhall, his “mountain camp.” Needham wrote of “Blessed Childhood” and enjoying it to the full, “…for all too soon the years go by and its pleasures become only memories as you meet the sterner duties of life. But it were a blessed thing that it were given to man and woman and to have been young, that the memory of its days may sweeten the shaded and barren years which come with age.”
FEBRUARY 7, 1919 —
• It certainly has lost a lot of swagger, panache and even size. But still. A birthday is a birthday. This week marked the 91st anniversary of the first issue of The Formerly Mighty Signal. (It was actually founded on January 1, 1919). Oregonian Edward H. Brown founded this newspaper in a little room in the old Swall Hotel in downtown Newhall. Interestingly, old Ed never lived to see his paper’s first birthday, dying right before its anniversary on February 3, 1920. I never knew much about Ed, or his bride, Blanche, who took over operation of The Mighty Signal until 1925. Any of you folks have any info on the gentleman, please send it my way. Interestingly, in that issue of The Signal, it was the first time they put an ad on the front page. Wonder if that’s what killed ol’ Ed?
FEBRUARY 11, 1930 —
• Stop the presses. On this date, “Midget Evangelist,” Nancy Beal, spoke at the Presbyterian Church while standing on a chair.
• The editor of the San Fernando News newspaper wrote a letter to The Signal threatening Signal editor A.B. Thatcher. Seems old “Dad” Thatcher had a bean in his craw about flying and wouldn’t go NEAR an airplane let alone climb into one. “(We’ll get Thatcher) up for an airplane ride and before he gets back he’ll be converted to flying or he’ll have to walk back,” wrote J.A.C. of the News.
• A movement started to raise money to buy the “Good Shepherd of the Hills,” Reverend W.H Evans, a house. Rev. Evans retired in July of 1930 to Vista, CA. He touched the lives of hundreds if not thousands during his pastoring of the Presbyterian Church in Newhall starting in 1914. It was Evans who had virtually no sleep for months after the St. Francis Dam disaster, offering everything from solace, muscle and funeral services for the hundreds who died and the more who survived the St. Francis Dam disaster.
• A few fine actors portrayed the title role of “The Virginian,” including Bill Pullman. Our own Bill Hart played the same character on Broadway. Oh. By the way. Gary Cooper played “The Virginian” in the 1930 version and Walter Huston played Trampas.
• Remi Nadeau got another delivery of deer to add to his game preserve (where North Oaks is today). The Canyon Country millionaire received a truckload of elk and, except for two that were trampled to death, the load arrived safely. It was Nadeau’s dream to build a deer farm with every breed of deer on the planet living in CC. He almost got there. An epidemic would later wipe out most of the United Nationsesque herd.
FEBRUARY 11, 1940 —
• Here’s one word that makes us Time Ranger saddlepals’ skin crawl – rustlers! This week 70 years back, three different cattle ranchers found dismembered cattle on their spreads. Someone who knew what he was doing killed and butchered the beef, leaving just skull, tail and hooves.
• Pass this one onto our amigo and banker, Johnny Reardon: seems they held a retreat for Los Angeles-area bankers up in Sand Canyon. One of the caterers working the gig complained that the bankers were roughing it by “…drinking champagne from tin cups.”
• Too bad we can’t fill up our canteens from some of that 1940 rain. We had nearly four inches in the first four days of February.
• Over 250 locals signed a petition, asking the Army to move their flying school out of Newhall. The constant flights were bothering both livestock and movie companies. John Wayne, Trevor Howard and a crew from Republic Pictures had to walk off a movie set because of all the airplane racket. You see, there weren’t too many airplanes during the Cowboy Days…
• Newhall folks started passing the hat for a fitting monument to Dick Lindsay, who passed on to other realities 70 years back. Lindsay spent years feeding and watering the town’s feathered creatures. They built a stone bird bath in his honor, complete with a plaque.
FEBRUARY 11, 1950 —
• The brain of Wm. S. Hart was center stage at the estate trial of the famed silent film super star. Hart’s son, Bill Jr., had earlier showed up at his father’s cremation with a court order for the actor’s brain. An autopsy was performed and there was no evidence of any mental disorder in the dad — a crushing blow for his son’s case.
• Four women were arrested at the old Rancho 49, a motel north of Castaic, and charged with prostitution. They must have not been very good at their trade. Not one had even spare change to make bail or pay a fine.
FEBRUARY 11, 1960 —
• Ed Duarte’s little Canyon Country market was burgled of cigarettes on this date. To set the record straight, and, with apologies to Scott Newhall, ol’ Ed NEVER owned a thoroughbred ranch, hamburger factory or dog-racing farm as Scotty had accused. In a famous front-page Signal editorial, the former publisher of the paper suggested that school board member Ed was feeding his horses to his dogs, selling the dogs to his hamburger factory, and selling the hamburgers to Hart High.
FEBRUARY 11, 1970 —
• Does this one sound eerily familiar? The Hart District reported the area’s three junior highs were terribly overcrowded. Of course, we’ve added on since then.
• The population of BOTH the Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys was 124,000.
FEBRUARY 6, 1980 —
• A report indicated that open lunch on the valley’s three high schools solved more problems than it created. The sheriff’s department disagreed, citing a big upswing on daytime burglaries. The district had 5,625 high school students.
• The U.S. Postal Service issued a new 15-cent stamp, honoring William Claude Dukinfield. You time travelers might know him better by his stage name — W.C. Fields. Why mention him? He used to live on 8th Street in the 1930s, leasing the home the silent film impresario, Charlie Mack. The home was called, Rancho del Rey and was eventually sold to Cynthia Neal-Harris’s dad. Want to guess Cynthia’s Dad’s name? W.C. Harris.
Thanks dear saddlepals, for the company. I’ll see you right here at The West Ranch Beacon 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.