Well. So far, we’ve collected a nice little tea tray of inertia. Climb out of those condos. Get in the saddle and let’s be off into yesteryear…
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —
— We were compressed along with stars, planets, entire solar systems and the Anabaptists into a tiny eyeball size of matter packed so tightly, it’d give one a headache. Why is it you never see that on a Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society calendar?
MARCH 4, 1920 —
— You probably won’t see a real estate deal like this in modern times. Still, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask your Realtor. Judge John Powell, the same one who shot a state record 11-foot-long mountain lion, was getting rid of all his land in the SCV. The good judge was offering a 50 percent off sale on all acreage and lots.
MARCH 4, 1930 —
— We had nearly 4 inches of rain fall in a day, causing a flash flood through Placerita Canyon. It also snowed on this date and, folks in Honby were graced by a small tornado settling down, tearing up trees and taking away roofs. It was real Old Testament, too. We had epic thunder and lightning storms.
— A.C. Donahue’s hen was recovering nicely. She gave birth to a massive egg, nearly 10 inches around the long way, nearly 8 inches in circumference the short way. It weighed nearly 7 ounces.
— The Saugus Community Club held a second anniversary remembrance of the great St. Francis Dam Disaster of 1928. A memorial statue was erected, made from the concrete of the dam. A tablet containing the nearly 500 people who died in the disaster was forged into the cement edifice.
— Originally, the county of Los Angeles had authorized a Bouquet Canyon site for their new minimum security prison that would be called Wayside. The tract was supposed to include the Suraco, Rand, Biddison, Guido, Rollett, Scarcella and Haskell ranches. The county eventually condemned the A.M. Dunn dairy farm in Castaic, forcing him to sell. The day after Dunn signed the papers, oil was “discovered” on his property and the county took out millions in royalties. Dunn would later sue, 20 years after the forced deal. He would have won, but missed the statute of limitations by 13 years.
— Joe Englebracht complained of yet another trespass onto his Saugus farm. Seems some tourists were wandering through, eyeballing the rural splendor, which included a visit to Englebracht’s ranch. After a brief tour, they made a wide U-turn in his potato patch and vegetable garden. “If it isn’t the rabbits or gophers, deer, mules or thieves, it’s something else. Next thing, some tourist will drive his car into my kitchen and put water in their radiator.”
MARCH 4, 1940 —
— A.S. Jones of the old Paradise Garage up Castaic way suspected that a potato truck driver demolished his gas pump, valued at $150. Why? Jones found a potato stuck on the end of his pump. Let CNN top that one…
— The American Legion declared war on rowdies, both local and out-of-towners. Seems Post 407 kept having these fun dances and young hooligans kept crashing them, starting fights and being overall obnoxious.
— The old Monogram Ranch, today called Melody Ranch, was home to a couple of movie shoots. One was “Rip Van Winkle.” The other was “Tomboy.” They damned up Placerita Creek to form a small lake for the Tomboy pix.
— Hall of Fame cowpoke Andy Jauregui was busy putting together one of the largest rodeos ever to take place in the SCV. Part of Jauregui’s show was a wild horse riding contest in which cowboys roped a bronc in the arena, saddled, bridled and rode the beast for time with extra points divvied for survival.
MARCH 4, 1950 —
— I don’t know if this qualifies as a world record, but it’s got to be in the ballpark. During the trial for the estate of William S. Hart, attorneys read a question — a hypothetical question at that — into the court record. The question was 15,000 words in length and took up 72 pages. It took two days for psychologist Dr. Victor Parkin to read into evidence.
— How would you like to have been the mother and wife in this one, opening the front door to face a solemn highway patrolman? On this date, Bill Bentham accelerated to pass on Sierra Highway, near Davenport Road. He crashed head on into the grille of another car. Bentham and his two young sons, ages 3 and 9 months, were killed instantly.
MARCH 4, 1960 —
— Of all things, kids playing in the Santa Clara River found a pair of boa constrictors dwelling by the bank. The snakes were measured at 10 and 12 feet. They were dead when the boys found them. Sheriff’s deputies didn’t think the snakes swam up from Brazil, rather, some exotic animal rancher just dumped them after they were dead.
MARCH 4, 1970 —
— A young and upcoming singer was one of the headliners at a Boys’ Club concert up in the Mint Canyon Community Building. Admission was a buck. The singer? Linda Ronstadt.
MARCH 4, 1980 —
— Add another famous actor who lived in the SCV. Keith Andes made Valencia his home. He starred in several movies and TV series, including “Star Trek.” But Andes was most famous for playing “The Man of La Mancha” on Broadway.
— Gasoline prices had been fixed for a while, but not here in the SCV. Again we led America with some of the highest prices in the nation. Unleaded gas sold for an average of about $1.30 a gallon.
— Bernice Kalland, a Saugus postal worker, took top honors in the 50-mile Rancho Caballo race in Redlands. Kalland had plenty of practice. She lived in Agua Dulce and road her horse to and from work every day.
Until next Thursday, dear saddlepals, see you back here at The West Ranch Beacon and vayan con Dios, amigos!