PST. Saddlepals. You’ll pardon me for whispering in the pre-dawn rays, but I do have concern that some of you with those pesky CC&Rs might get in trouble when the governing boards see all these horse presents we’ve left in the parking lot. C’mon. Drag yourselves out of bed. We’ve got some time riding ahead.

This grand Thursday morning, we’ll be inspecting interesting vistas. First and foremost, there is the absolute most interesting tale about how possums came back to this valley in the early 20th century. It still astounds me.

We’ve got record heat waves and self-inflicted gunshot wounds. There’s also an interesting FMS (Former Mighty Signal) editorial about how the American Legion never really ever saw the inside of a decent saloon. Top that.

Don’t look so surprised. That creak you hear is the saddle and probably not your lower back. Shall we ride into another adventure into yesteryear?

(CAPTION: — Did you know that possums were nearly extinct here locally? Seems that in September of 1931, former presidential candidate, the Prohbitionist Henry Clay Needham, spotted a couple of opossums near his home. Other locals echoed the sightings. According to some oldtimers from the 1930s, possums were hunted out to near extinction in the SCV prior to the 1930s. After the turn of the century, a family had special ordered a cage of six live specimens, to be used as a REAL traditional Thanksgiving dinner entree. But the cage broke, the possums escaped to the woods, were fruitful, multiplied and that’s why we have a suburbia full of opossum today. A footnote on that opossum’s tale was that Mrs. Walter Cook reported that as a young girl, she was visiting relatives in Texas when she saw a very strange creature — the possum. Seeing that they didn’t have any of these creatures in California, and Mrs. Cook heard they made good eatings, she wanted the beast cooked. The chef at the ranch said “I’d rather cook a cat than a possum,” and refused her menu request. Mrs. Cook then took the possum back to Newhall where she kept it as a pet. Mrs. Cook was sister to Vernon (Bob) Walk, who had that station at the foot of Newhall Pass (the remains are still there today; also, Bob Walk IV would attend Hart, play Major League Baseball and pitch in the World Series). People from all over Southern California were reported driving up to see the rare creature in the late 19-teens. It eventually escaped by breaking its small cage.)

WAY, WAY BACK WHEN —

— Happy darn birthday to Sulphur Springs. The third-oldest (L.A. Unified is #1 and Acton #2) school district in Los Angeles County was founded on September 16th back in 1872 by the Mitchell and Lang families. Many of their descendants still live in the valley today.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1921 —

— Union Oil held their grand opening for the new location of their refinery on this date tomorrow. The new plant was in downtown Newhall (which made some residents happy and others not so). It carried 40,000 gallons of gasoline, 20,000 gallons of coal oil and 20,000 gallons of something called distillate. They also had a large and varied supply of lubricating fluids. Mr. E.T. Sims was in charge of the station then.

— Newhall continued to grow. Opening day at Newhall Elementary found 30 kids in first and second grade, 51 kids in third, fourth and fifth grade (for you proponents of halcyon times, that’s one class, by the way) and 31 students in grades 6-8. Grand total of, ding-ding-ding: 111 students.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1931 —

— Signal editor A.B. “Dad” Thatcher wasn’t the first newspaperman to switch positions. He won’t be the last. Thatcher had once called the 18th Amendment and Prohibition, “…the greatest travesty ever to befall this nation.” On this date, 80 years back, Thatcher switched positions. In an editorial, Dad noted that big business was behind the repeal of the 18th Amendment (which made the consumption and production of drinking alcohol illegal). He also went after the American Legion, which was in favor of legalizing booze again. “Practically none of the members of the Legion ever saw the saloon in all its vileness,” wrote Dad in his editorial. You’ll pardon me if I sort of bite my lower lip and stare at the tips of my boots on that one…

SEPTEMBER 15, 1941 —

— The Newhall Civilian Mounted Patrol was getting ready for the upcoming World War II. Membership swelled to 20 riders.

— Rental prices were certainly cheap. You could rent a small cottage in downtown Newhall, all utilities paid, for just $16 a month. A big five-bedroom house on a few acres in town went for just $35 a month.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1951 —

— There were many obituaries this week a half-century back, including that of young Jim Mason, who was reported killed in a car accident during his vacation in Colorado. Locals were rather oval-mouthed when they spotted Jim walking around town Monday morning, unscratched and quite healthy. Wrong darn dead Jim Mason.

— The fate of Robert Lewis’ big toe was not as rosy. The hunter was carrying a .22 caliber pistol in a holster while traipsing through the back woods of Bouquet. He jumped onto a large rock, the gun went off and a bullet went through his boot, taking off his right little toe.

— Wonder if they’re still offering those 1950 prices. On this date, the Big Oaks Lodge was advertising an all-you-can-eat buffet for $1.50.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1961 —

— On this date, Jesse Doty, famed Newhall pioneer died. Doty worked at Newhall’s first garage in 1914 (where Newhall Jewelers sits). He later opened the first auto dealership here — Doty’s Ford Garage (that was sold in 1940 and became Clymore Ford). In the late teens, Doty raised eyebrows by employing two of the prettiest girls in town to serve gas to locals and tourists. Back then, gasoline wasn’t pumped, it was ladled out of a wooden barrel.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1971 —

— Yee-ouch. On Sept. 12, 1971, the daytime high for Downtown Newhall was 111. Next day, it hit 118 en route to a week-long heat spell where the highs didn’t dip below 110. Nearly 8,000 local students were dismissed from school. One person died from the heat, an elderly woman visiting her daughter in Saugus. Newhall Ice was selling about 8 tons of ice per day.

— Hey! Why didn’t I think of that!!???? On this date, former owner of the Potpourri newspaper, Jackie Storinsky, was taken to court. Margie Ingham claimed Ms. Storinsky owed her $500 in back wages. I was managing editor of that paper for about 20 minutes when I was 20. Darn woman still owes me a couple months wages…

SEPTEMBER 15, 1981 —

— They don’t call the SCV a bedroom community for nothing. A survey discovered that in the past 20 years, more and more local teens were having sex, getting pregnant and catching sexually-transmitted diseases. Girls, some as young as 12, were starting to show up at the new Valencia Health Clinic with “implications.” One such “implications” was a 16-year-old local girl who terminated her pregnancy after five months.

— For decades, he was a legend as a local Los Angeles Sheriff’s deputy. On this date, Frank DeBernardi retired. With arms the size of telephone poles, officer DeBernardi patrolled the SCV for more than 30 years. A decorated war hero, DeBernardi came back after WWII, joined the Sheriff’s department and designed their first obstacle course at the academy. He was also the strength coach at Hart, training his own son, Fred. Fred would become one of the few people on the planet to throw the shot over 70 feet.

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As always, I am most grateful for the Thursday company, saddlepals. What say we try another one of these time rides again next week? Meet you back here under the warming glow of The West Ranch Beacon. Until then, vayan con Dios, amigos!