Oh sleepy little saddlepals … time to wake uh-up. Starting to get light and we’ve got several thousand prime steeds saddled and patiently waiting down below on your lovely CC&R-maintained 2-inch-square lawn. C’mon. We need to get you out of bed and mounted (like, in the saddle, not like in one of those perverse Netflix flicks) before the sprinklers turn on. You can sleep in Monday when you get to work.  Once the fresh air hits, you’ll be glad to be alive as opposed to this present somnambulistic state. Don’t you want to see bad guys? Dumb government officials? Visit with one of our own and one of the richest people in America? An especially early September snow?  Let’s multitask, shall we?   My own experience with The Life Agrarian has proven one can yawn AND get into the saddle at the same time …  WAY, WAY BACK WHEN   ABOUT AS FAR AS YOU CAN POSSIBLY GO TO GET AWAY FROM MAINE — The climate of Maine sure is a bit different than Santa Clarita’s. On Sept. 24, 1855, twin brothers from the northernmost eastern state bought a stagecoach stop near where the Eternal Valley graveyard sits today. Henry Clay Wiley owned it before, along with a primitive ox-powered elevator called a windlass.  DRIVEN OUT OF THE STATE — Odd thing is, you could probably still pump oil out of historic Pico Canyon No. 4 — it just wouldn’t be economically viable. The operation at the western end of the valley was The West’s first successful oil well and started pumping out crude way back on Sept. 26, 1876. Funny. From that one well would spring one of the biggest companies in American history — Standard Oil of California. Eventually, it would be sold to Saudi Arabia and renamed, Saudi Aramco, though you can still see pretty much everywhere the red, white and blue Standard gas stations. Standard Oil acquired Standard Oil of Kentucky in 1984 and was renamed Chevron. That’s the company that announced just last month they’re moving out of California, claiming the anti-business practices of the state as the reason.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ORVON!! — One of the most famous cowboy stars of all time was Orvon Gene Autry. Of course, he dropped that first name and went by Gene. He was born on Sept. 29, 1907, on a little Texas farm outside Tioga. His father was a Baptist minister and, as a little boy, Orvon got his start performing by singing in his dad’s church choir.   MORE ABOUT ORVON — Gene would star in his first movie, the 1935 SciFi/Western serial, “The Phantom Empire.” Weird darn flick. The sort-of Buck Rogers story was about aliens (outer space) living under his ranch. It was filmed at his future digs in Placerita Canyon and later, Autry would buy the studio setting, calling it Melody Ranch.  ONE MORE ORVON — Autry would serve in World War II as a pilot. Life’s a funny darn duck. Just the two of us, we had a chat years ago for almost an hour and I nearly fell out of my chair when he confessed that his co-pilot was future Arizona senator and presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater. Gene did pretty good for himself. Besides being one of the most famous entertainers on the planet, he ended up being a real estate mogul, owning the California Angels and becoming a half-a-billionaire. He was one of the top 400 richest people in America.  A GHOSTLY FOLLOW-UP FROM LAST WEEK’S TIME RANGER  OUR HAUNTED LITTLE HOSPITAL — In our 1934 section of the last episode, I noted that our first doctor (a woman, Dr. Peters) owned the little valley hospital on 6th and Main. She sold it on Sept. 21, 1934, to Dr. E.C. Ennis and his wife, a registered nurse. One of our dear saddlepals, Janice Ashton, up in Idaho and formerly of Acton, called to comment on that Newhall medical center. She was born there in 1951 and passed along another story about the 6th Street hospital being haunted.   Jan shared that a former co-worker, named June, had a second job as the entire, “night crew,” where she cleaned up on the graveyard shift. June had been warned when she took the job that the long-dead “Nurse Ennis” walked the halls making a spooky ruckus.   Here’s Jan’s words about her friend June’s first and last night on the job:  “From the first night on, my friend heard footsteps walking down hallways, keys jangling, and yes, doors opening and closing. She was alone in the locked building, and she’d been told to expect such things, after all. It wasn’t until she saw the apparition of a woman wearing an old-fashioned white nurse’s uniform and cap walking quickly down the hall and heading directly toward her did June turn around and head for the door at a dead (sorry) run.  That was June’s last night on the job. She called in the next morning and quit. As she explained a few days later, ‘I didn’t mind hearing things, I just wasn’t prepared to SEE things.’”  Janny noted: “In the childhood stories told to me about the old Newhall Hospital and Dr. Ennis, the nurse who worked with him there was said to have been his old-maid sister, and not his wife. Now, I have NO idea whether that is true or not. After all, my own experiences with them happened when I was 0 years old, so I don’t have any personal recall there.  And, there’s just no one left for me to ask about it all …”     SEPTEMBER 28, 1924  GOES FOR WALKING, TOO — The speed limit through downtown Newhall in 1924 was 15 mph. That was for cars, bicycles and horses.  LITTLE DID THEY KNOW — The big social event of the summer was the Ruiz-DiRaggio wedding. The reception was held at the shaded patio of the bride in San Francisquito Canyon, under a huge canopy of grapes. That home, and many members of both families, would be washed to the Pacific Ocean a few years later in the St. Francis Dam Disaster.  NO OFFENSE TO ERNIE VILLEGAS OR FRED TRUEBLOOD III — My good pals and ex-Southern California Edison execs weren’t involved. But many local businessmen were cursing SCE. Seems after being encouraged to invest in all sorts of modern electrical equipment, including neon signs for night work, they were forced to shut down after dusk and not use lights. There was an electricity shortage in the state.  SEPTEMBER 28, 1934  SNOW!? HERE!? IN SEPTEMBER?!?!?! — Forget fall. WINTER came early to the Santa Clarita Valley. We had a nice dousing from a cold weather system and an early snow dotted some of the mountain peaks.  OUR AIRPLANE CATCHER — Workers came out to demolish the huge oil derrick at the north end of town. There had been several fist-shaking complaints by pilots who noted the structure was a pinch too close to the Newhall International Airport for comfort and that there wasn’t any light or beacon atop.  GOOD OLD NEWHALL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT — Speaking of NIA, the reason why local jokesters kiddingly gave it the handle of Newhall International was that it was the destination for three flights into Mexico every week, including a mail run. Mexican planes mostly didn’t have the luxury of lighted airstrips and by Mexican law had to land in daylight. They would land here to spend the night and take off early in the morning (sometimes as early as 2:30 a.m.) to reach their Mexican destinations before the sun set. A little trivia? California passed a state bond later in 1938 to build something called Los Angeles International Airport. It was supposed to be built here, near present-day McBean Parkway. World War II came along and, last I looked, they built LAX down in, technically, West Los Angeles, although it’s a blink from El Segundo and Inglewood.  PROBABLY SHOULD’VE OFFERED LIKE A REALLY, REALLY BIG MITT — Newhall’s baseball team lost to Canoga Park, 2-1, but committed five errors. A local businessman promised to donate a new mitt to the player who committed the fewest errors. Pitcher Bob Thompson grinned and said he liked his chances.  SEPTEMBER 28, 1944  AMEN BOY HOWDY, I HAVEN’T HEARD THAT NICKNAME IN YEARS — A brush fire consumed 500 acres near The Boiling Point. You old-timers might remember that nickname for the top of Sierra Highway, named so because of the steep grade caused some cars to heat up and boil over.  THE TRAGEDY AND INSANITY OF WAR — A young Newhall soldier wrote home to recall the hellish conditions of battle in the Pacific. They were still clearing out islands that had not heard of the Japanese surrender. In caves were rotting bodies of Rising Sun soldiers who had committed hari kari. His battalion was surprised when a beautiful geisha girl emerged from another hole, waving at the Americans and smiling. They dove for cover when her countenance changed and she came up with a live grenade, blowing herself up but taking no GIs with her.  BRUISED KNUCKLES. GOOD BAND NAME — Two out-of-town toughs drew six-month mandatory jail sentences for brawling and assaulting an officer. Local deputies broke up a fight outside a local coffee shop and were cuffing the assailants when one started pounding on him. The officer reared back and landed a haymaker on the perp’s chin. The officer was treated for bruised knuckles.  SEPTEMBER 28, 1954  THE CROOKED & THE CONNECTED — On this date, rancher, entrepreneur, politician and land baron “Big” Bill Bonelli published his controversial book, “Billion Dollar Blackjack.” It was a steaming indictment against the powerful Chandler family and their Los Angeles Times. Bonelli claimed the paper was a front for hundreds of illegal liquor licenses and shady real estate deals in which staff members were fronts for illegal enterprises. Bonelli, who owned thousands of acres here in the Santa Clarita, including the present-day Saugus Speedway, was also head of the state Board of Equalization, the agency that issued liquor licenses.  ONE PLANE. TWELVE FIRES. — A dozen fires flared up the same morning in the Santa Clarita, surrounding the valley in a series of brush blazes. Some of the causes were suspicious, but one was rather obvious. An Air Force C-46 transport crashed in Castaic. Luckily, all 18 crewmen parachuted to safety. The crash caused several brush fires in the north part of the valley. Overall, some of the fires burned for a week.  SEPTEMBER 28, 1964  FROM THE BIRTH OF BIG BROTHER DEPT. — On this date, Leona Cox Elementary participated in an experimental program in which classrooms were televised all during the school day and broadcasted into the homes of parents. It was meant for parents to monitor their offspring and to allow kids at home sick to keep up with school. And, dare I say, saddlepals, suck your little dogie brains out.  SEPTEMBER 28, 1974  THEY DIDN’T CALL IT ‘HUNGRY VALLEY’ FOR NOTHIN’ — Boaters and water enthusiasts complained about the newly opened Pyramid Lake. Seems it was illegal to sell anything there, from food to bait. You had to drive 10 miles to Gorman for something as refreshing as a Coke.  NOT A GREAT DAY AT THE LAKE — Only 29 days after it opened, Pyramid Lake had its first fatality. An 18-year-old El Monte man was seen swimming toward shore, went under, came up and went down again for the last time.  TREE KILLERS FROM THE COUNTY — Bulldozers leveled several oaks along Lyons Avenue to make way for the street widening. Also soon to feel the ax was a 400-year-old oak. Big surprise? The county swore the ancient flora was dying. After the rotters from Downtown L.A. cut it down, it sure as heck wasn’t dying. Of course, cutting down the magnificent oak didn’t exactly help its lifespan …  SEPTEMBER 28, 1984  DOESN’T GET MUCH LOWER THAN THIS — Five men were arrested for a string of church burglaries in the valley. The ringleader cased the churches during Sunday services. Stolen were microwave ovens, a guitar, sound equipment, hamburger patties, cash, and, alas, not a single Bible. On the bright side, the crooks were all from out of town.  SHORT WORDS, BODICES & HEAVY BREATHING — The romance novel, “Sarina,” hit the nation’s bookshelves. It was a bare-chested historical mush fest set in the Santa Clarita Valley and written by local author, Francine Rivers.  HOODLUMS OF SUBURBIA? — A state survey found out that the prestigious Lowell High in San Francisco led California in sending graduates to UC or state colleges with a whopping 239 seniors. (That’s just UCs or Cal State campuses, not other colleges across America.) Beverly Hills High was second with 196. WAY down the line was Hart, sending 22 to UCs or state colleges, followed by Canyon with 11 and Saugus with nine. The survey noted that the three local campuses were on a parallel with inner-city high schools. Locals were wondering about the poor showing, especially because of how high the elementary schools did in testing.  • • •   I’m still shaking my head. Snow. Here. In September. What’s next. Man dancing with wife. Cats playing with dogs. Thanks for sharing these vistas, experiences, your precious time and life itself, dear saddlepals. See you next week, back here at The Mighty Signal hitching post for another exciting Time Ranger adventure. Until then? “¡Vayan con Dios, amigos!”   Boston is working feverishly on launching his multi-media website and online store, johnlovesamerica.com. Its grand debut is Halloween but you can visit and see how construction is going …  The post The Time Ranger | Hospital Ghosts & September Snow in Newhall   appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.