Of all things, we’re going to be doing some spying on varmints this fine Saturday morning. It’s just an old-fashioned way to predict the weather.
And if that doesn’t get you pajama-wearing, plastic fence post yuppies out of the bunks, I’ve got some more tantalizing tidbits to get you into the saddle.
Those with the adventurous hearts will be visiting the Santa Clarita Valley’s own accident-prone presidential candidate, local cave men, beer-guzzling grave robbers and when John Landis nearly drowned in Placerita Canyon.
Shall we take a small mosey into the quieter times of yesteryear, dear saddlepals?
WAY, WAY BACK WHEN
WE AIN’T LYON — Back on Sept. 24, 1855, the twin Lyon brothers from Maine, Sanford and his gunfighting brother Cyrus, bought the old Wiley stagecoach station near where present-day Eternal Valley sits today. A historical monument marks the place. Funny thing? All these years of historianisms, I couldn’t tell you if Cyrus and Sanford were identical or fraternal. I do know one of our oldest typographical errors involves them. Lyons Avenue should be Lyon Avenue. Who do we see about that?
AND IF GIANT DINOSAURS CRAWLED OUT OF THE EARTH, IT WAS THE 8TH SIGN OF THE IMPENDING APOCALYPSE — The Tataviams had an interesting way to tell in September if a wet winter was coming. They monitored the smaller burrowing creatures and rodents. If they dug their dens higher, rain was coming.
OUR GOVERNOR FROM UPPER CANYON COUNTRY — We’ve all motored up Highway 14, toward the Mojave Desert to the northeast. Just coming out of Canyon Country, there are still a string of mines along Soledad Canyon with names like Red Rover, Union, Puritan, Emma and Governor. Many of them were owned by one man — former part-time Santa Claritan, Henry T. Gage.
He was born in 1852 back east and transplanted to L.A. where he was elected city attorney of Los Angeles. One historian noted that Hank collected mines like some men collected pocket watches. He was the owner of the most profitable gold mine in L.A. County — for a very short time. Prior to his purchase of what he would rename “The New York” mine after his home state, that pit had been the richest gold mine in L.A. County. From 1895 to 1897, the owner pulled out a fortune from a fabulously wide vein.
Gage bought the land for $1.5 million and a short while later, the gold dried up. You can’t say there were profits, but Gage was a rich man and used some of the profits from other holdings to finance his successful campaign for governor of California. (He served 1899-1903.)
Gage pretty much alienated everyone in politics during his term, battling bureaucracy, newspapers, lobbyists and deficit spending. While he was good friends with Teddy Roosevelt and spent many days with the president at the Acton Hotel, he alienated himself from higher office. Roosevelt appointed him ambassador to Portugal, but Gage resigned when his wife Emma’s health declined.
He came back to L.A. and died in 1924. His son reopened the old New York Mine in 1932 and renamed it Governor, after his dad. Digging a bit more, they rediscovered the rich lost vein at 400 feet down. The ore assayed out at $40 a ton — big money in the Depression. The vein was lost again and the mine was closed forever in 1942.
BLACKSMITH. WHITESMITH. WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? — Down Soledad Canyon in the 1880s, next to the Saugus Speedway and the Bouquet Junction, was the site of the original Newhall Ranch blacksmith shop.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1925
SMOOTH AS A BABY’S BEHIND — Stop the presses. On this date, The Mighty Signal announced that the main drag of Spruce Street (Main Street today) might be paved. About 75% of the valley’s business owners (two people — just kidding) signed a petition, asking the state highway department to slap on a coat of asphalt.
NOT IN THE SACK SANDERSON — Jack Sanderson was appointed deputy constable on this date. The young fellow drew the midnight shift. Back then, that meant checking a few doorknobs and about twice as many winks.
OUR ACCIDENT-PRONE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE — Newhall’s very own son, Henry Clay Needham, ran for president — a lot. The Prohibitionists’ candidate was also rather accident-prone. He suffered a bout of food poisoning one year and couldn’t accept his party’s nomination. For the second time in his life, he was severely butted by a Billy goat. The farm animal hit Hank in an already-damaged leg and H.C. spent some time both in hospital and home recuperating.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1935
AND NO. YOU COULDN’T WATCH IT ON YOUR CELLPHONE — The weekly movie at the French Village night club and dance hall was postponed. They had to go into the city to get a new projector bulb.
HOW COME NOBODY NAMES THEIR KIDS, ‘SATCHEL’ ANYMORE? — Some of you might want to hop out of the saddle and stay a while to dance. On this date, Satchel McVey’s Orchestra of Optimistic Doughnut Fame was playing at the American Legion dance at the Saugus Clubhouse. Admission was a quarter.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1945
A TRAGIC ACCIDENT FOLLOWED BY A TRAGIC ACCIDENT — In two separate military plane accidents, three servicemen were killed in the hills north of Castaic. A mounted posse had to help bring the bodies out. Ironically, the second plane crashed looking for the fallen first one.
LOCAL CHICKEN THIEF. GOOD BAND NAME. — Someone was enjoying the life primitive in the hills of Agua Dulce. A search for a local chicken thief unearthed someone keeping house in a cave near Vasquez Rocks. The tenant was believed to be the same party liberating ranches of their poultry, vegetables and particulars.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1955
A SIGNAL EDITOR & THE STRANGEST CASE OF KARMA — On this date, 65-year-old Signal editor Fred Trueblood pulled a 7-year-old boy from certain death from a makeshift watering hole on Melody Ranch. The pool had been built for a redo of the old “Our Gang” comedies and was enlarged for the film, “Black Gold.” The boy’s name? John Landis. Nope. Not THAT John Landis. You wonder if there are such things as fate or karma. About a decade later, 17-year-old Landis would die in a motorcycle accident.
ONE OF OUR BETTER, & MORE COURAGEOUS, EDITORIALS — Trueblood penned one of his better editorials a half-century back, taking on the U.S. Air Force. Trueblood condemned them for creating torture schools to see how long it would take to crack a human being. The Signal editor noted that that was not what America stood for and noted that even Galileo cracked under torture, only to recant his confession later.
THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS — A 43-year-old North Hollywood woman and minister called local sheriff’s deputies, claiming she had been raped by a 25-year-old man. Deputies arrested the local. Upon further investigation, it seemed that it was the minister who lured the man to a lonely wooded road. Pressed under tough questioning, the woman said she would initiate her Christian prerogative and not press charges. Wonder why the gal wasn’t arrested herself …
SEPTEMBER 27, 1965
NOT THE BEST PLACE TO WORK WHEN YOU HAVE A HEART CONDITION — Over the years, the famed Bermite Powder Co. had its share of accidents and explosions. Perhaps none was stranger than this. Two bunkers blew up at the end of the day shift. No one was injured in the blast, but an executive, Roy Wolcott, slumped over at his desk and died of a heart attack immediately after the explosion.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1975
ANOTHER BIG FIGHT AT HART — The William S. Hart Unified High School District was much beleaguered in the 1960s and ’70s. Meetings were the scene of everything from murder threats to shouting matches. On this date, 300 sign-carrying teachers picketed the board. It seems the district’s computer failed to notify anyone of a $500,000 shortfall that left instructors without a promised raise.
AND MORE PROTESTS — And a few miles away, people were up in arms against the Newhall Water District. It seems they upped their rates drastically, doubling them in some cases in the current monthly bill. Folks found out that a $50 monthly water bill at Newhall would be half that in neighboring Valencia for the same usage.
I COULDA SWORN I SPOTTED PATTY OUT JOGGING — Heiress Patricia Campbell Hearst and her kidnappers, Symbionese Liberation Army terrorists Bill and Emily Harris, were arrested in the Mission District of San Francisco by the FBI. Local angle? Patty and her supposed captors had been spotted staying briefly in Placerita Canyon months earlier.
WHEN WENDT WENT — On this date, Hart High football coach Dennis Wendt missed the Quartz Hill game. Dennis collapsed from the fatigue of 20-hour-days and worry. Poor guy had more to worry about when he returned. Seems Hart beat QH 11-8 —without him.
LAKE LYONS — Bulldozers struck a big cast-iron water main at Newhall and Lyons, creating a lake 50 yards wide. No drownings reported.
SEPTEMBER 27, 1985
FROM THE WELL-DUH DEPT. — Local alleged educators noted that there were too many students and not enough classrooms. An administrator pointed out the last campus built in the valley was Meadows Elementary — seven years earlier.
ANOTHER GOOD BAND NAME: ‘BEER-GUZZLING IDIOTS’ — Well. They were. Beer-guzzling idiots were blamed for trying to disinter the remains of Paul McIntyre. Paul had been dead since 1922 and rested in a gravesite overlooking Lake Hughes. Forest Service agents discovered that a few drunks, for some odd reason, spent hours littering his private graveyard and trying to dig up his coffin. They had displaced about 5 feet of dirt when their shovel broke.
CROOKED L.A. POLITICIANS? NNNAAAAHHHHH!!! WHAT’RE THE ODDS? — The L.A. County Board of Supervisors, most of whom accepted campaign donations from the trash industry, voted 5-0 to use eminent domain to acquire land in the SCV to build a giant hazardous waste dump. The valley united to stop L.A. and BKK Industries and the hazardous waste site, which would have held a half-million tons a year of toxic junk, was finally foiled.
• • •
I find it simply amazing how many thousands of miles of local trails we’ve ridden over the years, dear saddlepals. Doggone if I just don’t want to just go back in time with you all and do it again. What say we meet next weekend back here at The Mighty Signal hitching post for a brand-new Time Ranger adventure? Until then — vayan con Dios, amigos!