APRIL 14, 1920 —
— The Automobile Club, which used to run the registering of drivers and cars back then, announced that various fines would be increased. It cost an extra five bucks — up to $10 — if you were caught without a driver’s license. Ditto for passing a stopped bus…
— Our local boy William S. Hart had another movie debutting over the hill in San Fernando’s Cody Theatre. Bill starred in the romp, “John Petticoats.” Admission was 18 cents for adults, a dime for kids. Add a couple of pennies for the War Tax. That would be World War I, or, as they called it then, The Great War to End All Wars.
APRIL 16, 1930 —
— Long before we packed Melody Ranch with tourists for the Cowboy Music and Poetry Fest, we had the world-famous rodeos at Baker Stadium — today, where the Saugus Speedway sits. We had 33,000 people cram into the seats and onto the hillsides. Another 25,000 more were turned away at the gates. Today, we give our cowboys eight seconds to ride a wild horse. Back then, you had to stay on for two — count them — two minutes. A cowpoke named Pete Knight (no relation to our former state senator) stayed on a renowned sunfisher named Tumbleweeds for the full 120 seconds. The widowmaker was named after our own Bill Hart’s epic Western film of the same name. Traffic jams aren’t anything new to the SCV. Roadblocks were set up by the state police to turn thousands of motorists away north and south of the valley.
— We had an eclipse of the sun 80 years back and Rosanor Friels nearly went insane from it. Her neighbor, described as a “religious fanatic,” knew of the eclipse beforehand and went over to her house to preach. He said the world was coming to an end and that she needed to repent. As a sign, the good Christian said he would make the sun disappear. A little Old Testament reciting and wave at the sun at just the right time and we had a Connecticutt Yankee Moment. The eclipse started and Mrs. Friels started running around, hysterically screaming. Other less-Christian neighbors showed up to calm down Mrs. Friels and threaten the faux evangelist with a punch in the nose if he didn’t desist.
APRIL 14, 1940 —
— Construction company owner Frank Silva was nearly killed while working on the Sierra Highway-Placerita intersection. A large boulder rolled down a hill and crushed several vertebrae. Painful part they were his.
— Frances Fryer died on this date, missing her 94th birthday by a month. She had come to the SCV via wagon train from Waco, Texas in 1858.
— It wasn’t a great day for the Beauregard family of Saugus. While driving down Mint Canyon, a hornet flew into the mother’s car, stinging her daughter. Trying to swat the insect off her offspring, Mrs. B lost control of her car and rolled it into a ditch. Mother, daughter and hornet all were reported healing nicely.
— Another huge rodeo was in the planning stages for the SCV. Grins abounded as one of the feature special events was a chariot race between two of the biggest names in Western movie history — Tom Mix and Buck Jones (former owner of the Saugus Speedway). Both men were 60 when they would eventually race. Mix edged Jones out in the race, “…cutting corners,” according to Jones. Mix would later be nearly decapitated in an Arizona traffic accident. Jones would die in the famous Coconut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts, along with, ironically, two of my uncles.
— Oddly enough, cowpokes are as silly as starlets when it comes to procuring stage names. One of America’s top steer ropers in 1940 was a Sand Canyon boy named Malden Wilts. His rodeo circuit name, however, was Buck Laredo.
— A young fellow by the name of Tommy Frew was the Newhall Elementary 5th grade columnist for The Formerly Mighty Signal. Tom. I don’t think they’ve got a check waiting for you, Tommy me boy…
APRIL 14, 1950 —
— The county Board of Supervisors were overturned by a Superior Court judge when they okayed a controversial giant slop hog ranch in Haskell Canyon. (Hogs were used to consume garbage.) A suit by the local Chamber of Commerce and our congressman stopped Ben Kazarian from starting a highly stinky and toxic pig farm that would have contaminated the water table throughout the valley. Seems some of the supervisors had been the recipients of several large cash donations from the hog farmers. Hmmm. Bribes and county supervisors. What a novel idea.
— One of the best headlines TMS ever ran was this one: “MAN WITH BLOODY HEAD VANISHES INTO THIN AIR.” Seems a man showed up at the old Walk service station at the base of Beale’s Cut with blood streaming from his noggin. He said three men were trying to kill him. Then, he got into his car and drove off. Which is a might different than vanishing into thin air.
APRIL 14, 1960 —
— This is only kinda/sorta technically local. In 1959, Californians ate over 5 billion eggs. That works out to 337 per person, or, about one a day. Heck. I do that in a week and my cholestoral’s 138.
— About 150 mucky-mucks were at the groundbreaking ceremonies of Golden Triangle Industrial Park. Among the celebs was some fella who owned a ranch in Placerita Canyon. His name was Gene Autry.
N Carolyn Komant was named queen of our local rodeo. She had a ways to travel. She was Miss Maine. Guess we couldn’t find anybody pretty for 3,000 miles…
APRIL 14, 1970 —
— The ultra-arch conservative John Birch Society held a recruiting meeting out here. They showed a free movie on the JBS as an incentive for membership. Mrs. Lewis Winokur was the president. She said there were, “…fewer than 25 members in the Saugus chapter.”
— One of my best pals, actress Lesley Ann Warren, was out at Old Orchard Shopping Center, filming a movie with Ryan O’Neal entitled, “Love, Hate, Love.” Joke goes, they had to use a stunt woman for Ms. Warren’s grocery shopping scenes. Howdy, Do-Les.
— We had a wildlife census. There were an estimated 50 condors left in California, most within 20 miles of the Santa Clarita Valley. The great vultures can be five feet long from beak to tail, with a 12-foot wingspan.
— Five members of the Ralphs family (the same one that owned the market chain) ran for five open seats on the water board for Gorman. The family owned all the buildings in Gorman and made up most of the population of the 24 people voting in the election.
APRIL 14, 1980 —
— On this date, the various local chambers of commerce united to call themselves the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce. And world peace reigned for a thousand years…
— Frank Hovore was awarded The Medal of Valor for saving Placerita Canyon Nature Center from a raging forest fire. The park director stayed at the museum, dousing flames with a fire hose. Frank was a rare silent and great gentleman who died much too young…
Thanks for the company, saddlepals. Hope to see all of you at the Cowboy Fest the weekend of April 24 and 25. I’ll be selling my history book, “Images of America, the Santa Clarita Valley” along with collector’s editions of “Naked Came the Sasquatch” AND my newest book, “Honey, I Did Not Sleep With Sarah Palin.” See you back here under the warming and protective rays of the West Ranch Beacon next week with another exciting Time Ranger adventure. Until then, vayan con Dios, amigos!
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