A warm albeit not a debilitating Newhall killer summer heat wave warm and Western howdy to you, saddlepals. We’ve got a mighty interesting ride through time this morning. There’s railroad building to inspect. We’ve got to salute some kind and creative Sheriff’s deputies. There’s city formation meetings from 90 years back, epic blazes, a heart-breaking traffic accident and an invasion of ants.

I don’t like ants.

My horse doesn’t like ants.

So, you see, this morning’s ride will be an act of courage… 

WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —

— Just a few days after thousands of Chinese laborers dug through to complete the Newhall Tunnel, a few more thousand Chinese laborers working up in Canyon Country finished the east-west link-up, finishing the Soledad Tunnel on July 27, 1876. 

JULY 22, 1920 —

— It sure took a long time to form a city. Exactly 90 years ago this week, local mucky-mucks got together under the shady oaks at Judge Powell’s place in downtown Newhall to vote down a proposal for the SCV to incorporate into a city. Several hundred citizens, in a show of hands, voted down incorporation, feeling that it would be too expensive. In a rather humorous note, there was supposed to be a lawyer present at the meeting, to answer questions. He didn’t show. In the public record, one citizen noted that we still had a lot of beautiful oak trees to be proud of and that by being a city, we could save and advertise their beauty to tourists (pass that on to COC). Likewise, he noted, every moving picture made in the SCV would carry the disclaimer: “Filmed in Newhall.”

— We were in the middle of a drought and some ranch hand got blamed big time for leaving an irrigation pipe open for 24 hours, spilling out thousands of gallons of precious water in the farmland of Happy Valley.

— About 100 people — 20 percent of the valley’s population, showed up at the Doheny Ranch in neighboring Piru to help with the fruit harvest. There were also another 200 ranch hands and migrant workers there picking the crop. It was hard work, but pretty romantic. A tent city was set up for braceros and locals. Peaches and plums were harvested, some jarred on the spot. Average work day for pitting and jarring was about 8 to 13 crates per day. At night, there would be guitar-playing, singing and dancing by the campfire.

JULY 22, 1930 —

— On this date, the Saugus Train Depot added a modern convenience — a telephone. The number was Newhall 77. Believe it or not, the train station didn’t have electric lights until 1930.

— Local rancher and patriarch Helm Schmidt died 70 years ago. He made a small fortune in the restaurant business, then retired to be a rancher in Canyon Country, owning a spread so big, it had its own airfield. His 6-S Ranch (named after the six Schmidts in the family) would later become a World War II military base and then a drag strip. Whites Canyon today would be the airstrip. He was survived by his daughter, Helma, and sons Helm Jr., Homer and Earl.

— On this date, the St. John’s Auditorium held its grand opening with a 3,200-square foot dance floor, boasting of “no posts.” It was six miles east of Saugus on Mint Canyon Road.

— A mini oil boom hit on this date. Standard Oil was doing most of the pumping and shipping. But Andrews Oil sent out four railroad cars of goop to be refined.

— Mr. Viegal ran the Newhall Ice Company. Problem was, business was so good, it was hurting him. He kept trying to shut down for a few days to make needed repairs, but the demand for ice was so high, he was running around the clock.

— Newhallian A.J. Scheider earned the distinction of owning the oldest Ford in Los Angeles County. His 1915 flivver, at 15 years, was considered ancient. Scheider said his car had one valve job and some oversized pistons put in, but ran good as new.

— A little auto trivia — alas, none local — In 1896, there were only four cars in all of America: a Duryea, a Ford, a Haines and a Benz (which holds the distinction of being the first import). The first car purchased in the U.S. was a 1-cylinder Winton on April 1, 1898. S.H. Roper set a speed record of 80 mph in 1894 with a steam-driven car, then died shortly thereafter from the vibration of the ride.

JULY 22, 1940 — 

— A huge fire stretching from Highway 99 to the Orcutt Ranch on Oat Mountain burned over 8,000 acres. The fire started at an oil well in Towsley Canyon. A miraculous mid-summer heavy fog helped douse the blaze. Thousands of creatures, from deer to rabbit, were killed in the blaze. Forest Service workers wandered the hills, spreading grain for the wildlife and seeds for replanting.

— A stunned wife woke in Newhall Hospital to discover most of her family had been killed in a head-on accident on Highway 99. Mrs. Gladys Yount rose from her coma to learn only her 2-year-old survived. She lost her husband and six other children when a truck driver, James White, crossed over the center line doing 90 mph in a large truck carrying grapes. He was booked on manslaughter charges.

— Harold Carey, 42, committed suicide via monoxide poisoning at the base of the Oak of the Golden Dream in Placerita Canyon. The historic tree was where gold was supposedly first discovered in the SCV in 1842 — seven years before the big northern California rush of 1849. Carey was despondent over a marriage break-up. He was a tree surgeon, hence the choice of location.

— Deer season opened. You could get hunting licenses at the Saugus Liquor Store. No comment.

JULY 22, 1950 —

— Farmers built a 7,000-cubic yard earth dam up in Hauser Canyon. No relation to Doogie, it’s off Sierra Highway.

N Kids from the Lazy D Ranch in San Francisquito Canyon found a rather inappropriate toy — 10 sticks of dynamite left in an old mailbox. The playthings were confiscated and no one died.

— Armies of ants invaded hundreds of houses and businesses a half-century back. Everything from DDT to diesel fuel to lye was used to combat them. With rationing from the Korean War a factor, one Newhall woman found her box of sugar cubes invaded. She took the sugar outside and dusted off each ant personally, saving the rationed sweet stuff.

JULY 22, 1960 — 

— They really got their use out of Newhall Park 50 years back. At the same time, they held a polio shot clinic, a rabies clinic and a swim meet.

— On this date, it was 115 lousy darn degrees.

— It was dubbed the worst fire in Santa Clarita history (barring that one in the 16th century that stretched from Newhall to Palmdale).  Triple digit temperatures and 60 mph winds fanned a fire that hopped over 30 square miles. Started by lightning near Magic Mountain (the one up Sand Canyon), the flames spread to cover 30,000 acres. More than two dozen firefighters were injured, including two flame spotters who died in a plane crash. Houses and structures were turned to ashes throughout Sand Canyon.

— An elderly couple beset by overwhelming medical and financial problems ended their lives up Bouquet Canyon by running a rubber hose from the tailpipe of their station wagon to the inside of the car. It was the pair’s third attempt.

JULY 22, 1970 — 

— Forty years ago, the telephone company began removing all the telephone poles on Lyons Avenue, on the Newhall side.

— On the front page of The Mighty Signal was a picture of a skinny basketball coach doing his summer job, lifeguarding at Castaic Pool. Head lifeguard Leff Smelser’s assistant manager was yours truly.

— Someone pointed out the Civil Defense folks that there wasn’t a single public nuclear fallout shelter in the SCV. Still isn’t. 

JULY 22, 1980 — 

— Reggie Ogburn, one of the best players ever to put on a uniform at COC, lost his full ride scholarship to Oregon. The quarterback was busted by the NCAA for accepting a plane ticket home.

— Another July. Another big brush fire. This one consumed 2,000 acres in Texas Canyon. Same day, firefighters were battling a 7,000-acre blaze on the outskirts of Palmdale.

— No war but 18-year-olds still had to register for the draft. Saugus High graduate Eric Shulman brought a bb gun and dressed in military garb as a protest. But he registered…

—So many kind and creative deeds go unheralded, especially from our hard-working law enforcement pals. Case in point was when a 59-year-old man, despondent over medical problems, sat near Denny’s in Sand Canyon on a curb, pistol pointed to his head. Officers Ron Card and Sandy Crawford responded and were soon joined by officer Richard Bricker. Bricker sat down next to him offered the man a cold beer if he’d put down the gun. The suicide attempter agreed and the other deputies rushed to a 7-11 to get a cold one. Simple act of kindness and resourcefulness 30 years back…  

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I always appreciate the company, saddlepals, and this Thursday is no different. See you next week under the glow of the West Ranch Beacon with a brand new Time Ranger adventure, and, until then, vayan con Dios, amigos!