I just might be the only galoot in town who notices that every year, we have just almost exactly 100 days of hot weather. It usually starts on July 4 and goes to about Oct. 15.
Of course, some years, the heat visits a little earlier or a little later. But it almost always works out to 100 days. That smidgen of meteorological cocktail party trivia aside, we’ve a most interesting trek ahead, dear sadddlepals.
There’s a presidential daughter marrying poorly, a visit from Jim Rockford and a look at some wascally wabbits who ended up in a pickle. We’ve got murderers, movie stars and mayhem ahead, so make sure those saddles are cinched properly as we head into yesteryear ..
. WAY, WAY BACK WHEN POLKING AROUND — It’s funny how a breeze can affect something thousands of miles away. In the 1840s, James K.
Polk ran for president on one issue and one issue only: Manifest Destiny. Polk said that if elected, he would bring much (if not all) of the North American continent under American rule. He essentially annexed a good chunk of Canada (he wanted more, up to the old 54/40 line) and Mexico.
He also set out to obtain Mexican-owned California. Eventually, Polk would send the rapscallion adventurer, John C. Fremont, to help conquer the western slice of the land mass.
The explorer and his 100 “geographers” were sent to start a rebellion here. Fremont even passed through Newhall several times (the Newhall Pass for nearly a century was known as Fremont Pass). Polk never liked Fremont, even though they shared the same politics and appetite for empire.
Polk liked him even less because Polk married the apple of the president’s eye, his daughter, Jessie. Fremont was 11 years older than his girl. A BUNCH OF PHONIES — In 1896, a relatively new company called Pacific Bell made a deal with The Newhall Land & Farming Co.
for a right-of-way easement through the ranch property. Those first phone lines went from Newhall and stretched into Santa Barbara. On July 7, in 1900, they installed the first telephone in the Santa Clarita Valley.
It was hooked up at Campton’s General Store. Up to this point in my study, I had read that Campton’s had the only phone in the valley. Possibly the confusion rests in semantics on whether the original transcriber confused Newhall with the greater Santa Clarita Valley.
According to a Signal article, the Newhall Ranch field office in Castaic also had a phone installed in 1900. That old article also noted that Ralph Carr, a telephone company employee, was the first private resident in Newhall to have his own phone. He lived on Kansas Street and that was in 1910.
Apparently, a second, separate line belonging to the United States Long Distance Telephone Co. ran from Santa Maria to San Diego and passed through the general store. That was in 1898.
Pearl Russell worked in that store and part of her job was to answer the rare phone call, and physically walk or ride a horse over to a person’s house to tell them they had a long-distance call. By 1959, there were only about 6,000 phones in the entire valley, including Castaic, Acton and Agua Dulce. Back then, we still had the old-fashioned operator-assisted phone system and telephone numbers like “1” and “2.
” A TON OF TUNNELS — At the time, it was one of the modern engineering wonders of the world. On July 14, 1876, construction was completed on one of the planet’s longest tunnels. That would be the 6,940-foot-long Newhall train tunnel, which is still in use today.
Originally, we had 11 tunnels in the SCV. Correct me if my counting’s off, I think we have three. The railroad was a big business boom to small Newhall.
There was a payroll of around 350 white workers and 500 Chinese at the start of construction. Eventually, that payroll would grow to 1,500. It was extremely dangerous work.
The ground was saturated with oil and water and it kept caving in and killing folks. Hauling out the muck was more difficult than boring through granite. A good day was 4 feet of progress.
On July 14, 1876, a Chinese laborer in a rubber suit stuck his pick through a wall. What did he see? Another Chinese laborer. They shook hands and the first air was exchanged between the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys — underground.
By the way. Working from both sides of the mountain, the tunnel was only off by a half-inch. How’s that for old-time math? JULY 13, 1924 THE LOCAL BUZZ — Back in 1911, Southern California Edison launched a big campaign to get locals hooked up to the state’s electrical grid.
After convincing the valley (and the rest of SoCal) to modernize, SCE was faced with an embarrassing situation: a shortage of electricity. So, they initiated a series of voluntary power cuts. This especially ticked off the Newhall merchants, who had all passed the hat to pay for a nifty giant “NEWHALL” neon sign, which could only be turned on Sunday nights.
KING OF MONTANA — It got too crowded here for Walter King. He had been the manager of Bill Hart’s ranch. Walt went to ranch in Montana — Hart’s boyhood home.
JULY 13, 1934 AMAZING! THERE’S STILL POVERTY IN CALIFORNIA!! — On this date, Dr. Evan S. White organized the local Upton Sinclair support group.
White and much of the SCV were in favor of electing the crusading novelist as governor of California. Sinclair promised to end poverty in the state. STAMP OF APPROVAL — On this date, the post office moved to the front part of The Mighty Signal, back when it was on present-day Railroad Avenue (Spruce Street then).
THE LOCAL BUZZ — Famed child cowboy star William Lamoreaux came back to Newhall to visit his parents and friends. The actor had been on a lengthy East Coast tour, showing off his horsemanship and gunplay. Not bad for a kid who also attended Newhall Elementary.
By the way. Bill’s stage name was Buzz Barton and, in his day, he was one of the most famous thespians in America. JULY 13, 1944 AN ABSOLUTE BLIGHT TO THE NAVY AND THE HUMAN RACE — We were still fighting in World War II and a pair of sailors on furlough never made it back to their ship.
After an all-day drunk, they kidnapped a North Hollywood mechanic, robbed him, beat him to death and left his mangled body in a lonely Soledad Canyon. Both young men blamed the other for the crime. Both were given life in prison without the possibility of parole.
DEATH VISITS IN THREES — Famed actor and San Francisquito Canyon resident Harry Carey stopped by The Mighty Signal to say howdy. The actor had returned from New York where he had been in ill health. Poor Harry.
He collapsed on stage during his play. Then the hapless fellow was bit by a black widow spider, hurrying his decline. The actor, along with Newhall oater thespians Bill Hart and Tom Mix, would die in 1946.
SO HOW DO YOU SNEAK A FULL-GROWN RANCH INTO YOUR SADDLEBAGS? — Here’s another one of those swell real estate deals I’m betting all of us would like to squeeze into our saddle bags and take back with us into the present. Carr Real Estate was listing a 900-acre ranch outside of town with two large houses, barns, wells, sprinkling systems, hundreds of oaks, pastures, electricity, etc. If you couldn’t swing the entire $4,800 asking price, you could pay $1,000 down and $25 a month.
AT LEAST WE DIDN’T SNEAK IN A ‘U’ — How embarrassing. The Mighty Signal misspelled the word, “Newhall” in one of their ads. Maybe it was just that times were tough.
They left out the “H.” JULY 13, 1954 AS ELMER FUDD ALWAYS SAID, ‘CWAZY, SKA-WOOEY WABBITS’ — The Mayfair Market in San Fernando ran a quarter-page ad in The Mighty Signal, listing their specials for the week. Fresh-dressed local frying rabbits were selling for 49 cents a pound.
Around the world, species of rabbits can weigh between 1.5 and 6 pounds. Mexico’s rare Omilteme hare can tip the scales at a staggering 7 pounds.
NOT OUR FIRST HEAT WAVE — We sure are going through one of the ickiest Julys in local history, what with those 112-degree-plus days last week. Seventy years ago? It was pretty darn miserable — 102 and partly cloudy. JULY 13, 1964 WELCOMING THE SIGNATURE EAGLE — The July 9th, 1964 issue of The Signal was an important one.
On that date, owner Scott Newhall changed the masthead. The week before, we were The Newhall Signal. In the first-ever front-page Scotty Death to Traitors editorial, he said he was changing the masthead to help unify the entire valley.
I think it worked. That’s when we added the American bald eagle. JULY 13, 1974 LET’S JUST NOT ASK ALICE, OK? — Just an hour after speaking before the William S.
Hart Union High School District board, a 30-year-old Saugus woman died of a heart attack. The mother objected to foul language in the book, “Go Ask Alice,” which was required reading at Arroyo Seco Junior High. THE PRETEND TREASURE UNDER CASTAIC LAKE — Actor James Garner was at Castaic Lake on this date, filming an episode of “The Rockford Files.
” The drama’s storyline was about how a bank robber returned to the site where he buried a fortune in bank loot, only to find they put a lake in the spot. Hate when that happens ..
. JULY 13, 1984 TO NEVER MAKE IT BACK HOME — A Signal photographer snapped a tragic photograph 40 years back. Very early on a Sunday morning, an Oxnard woman was headed east on Magic Mountain Parkway.
That’s when Dennis Hernandez, speeding the opposite way in his Cadillac, lost control of his vehicle, crossed over into her lane and smashed into Mary Babineau’s smaller car, killing her instantly. TAPPING OUT — On this date, the Tapia Brothers moved their farming operation out of the SCV. The old produce growers, long a landmark in the valley, had to move.
The land they leased for decades from Newhall Land was going to be developed into a shopping center. While the über developer later offered the brothers a new site, in the meantime, the Tapias went, of all places, to the San Fernando Valley to plant crops. I THINK I SHALL NOT SPY, A POEM AS LOVELY AS A WHOLE MESS OF EUCALPTI — Highway 126 used to be one of the state’s most beautiful corridors.
It was also one of the most dangerous. On this date, 27 giant eucalypti were removed from a 2.1-mile stretch.
In their place an asphalt shoulder was installed. Originally, 500 of the saplings were planted to commemorate the approximate 500 souls who lost their lives when the St. Francis Dam burst in 1928.
• • • I think the lot of us have more than earned a tall glass of the liquid of our choice along with the wonderful invention of ice cubes. You folks are good medicine to join me these weekends in these time traveling treks. What say we meet back here at The Mighty Signal hitching post in seven days and wander back to less complicated times? Until then — “ ¡Vayan con Dios, amigos!” If you do love local history and reading about ghosts, myths and monsters, visit Boston’s bookstore at johnbostonbooks.
com . Pick up JB’s two-volume set of “MONSTERS” on local horror and macabre ..
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