Any time of day or night, we have that ability to just rein our pony to a halt and just lean on the saddle horn, sit on our own personal ridge and take it all in from a safe distance.  I vote that we all take some well-deserved hooky and disappear through time.  We’ve a most interesting trail ahead in Santa Clarita Valley lore and history. We’ve got an old-fashioned Bonnie & Clyde shootout, bozo hunters and some snow, so take a duster and scarf. The mystic is smiling, waiting patiently for us …  WAY, WAY BACK WHEN   PERT NEAR DARN CLOSE TO A MILLION ACRES — Back on Dec. 20, 1892, the massive San Gabriel Forest Reserve was founded. It would later be renamed the Angeles National Forest. The boundaries included 691,000 acres, stretching from Ventura County to Mount Baldy and from San Fernando to Claremont. This close to Christmas, it’s one of the best gifts ever.  A PEACEFUL BUT THANKLESS JOB — A little more trivia for you about the San Gabriel Forest Reserve. The first U.S. Forest Service station built with government funds was constructed on the west fork of San Gabriel Canyon, on the north slope of Mt. Wilson. This little log cabin was built in 1900 for a cost to taxpayers of $700. Rangers were paid just $50 a month at the outset, but had to pay for their own expenses, including food and tack (for you Yuppies, that’s like clothes and accessories for the horsey).  CANDLELIGHT ON CHRISTMAS TREES. BETTER THAN FIRE CRACKERS. — The guys at the Fire Department would be rolling their eyes if we still decorated trees the way they did in 1900 Newhall. Instead of electric lights, they used either candles or tin lanterns clipped onto the branches with clothes pins.  DECEMBER 21, 1924  THE 20-MINUTE CHRISTMAS VACATION — Our local schools weren’t so lavish with the Christmas days off. Newhall Elementary got out at noon, Dec. 24.  PUT ME DOWN FOR 8 BIRDS — It’s amazing the difference in prices from the Roaring ’20s and the Depression-era 1930s. Witness the turkey. In 1924, a 20-pound Thanksgiving bird went for $8. A decade later, in 1934 in Newhall, you could get the whole creature plucked, stuffed and cooked for $1.50.  DECEMBER 21, 1934  OUR LONG-FORGOTTEN MOVIE HOUSE — Long before we had the American Theatre in the 1940s, there was a little movie house up current Sierra Highway. It was called the St. John’s Theater Mint Canyon Picture Show.  OUR ANGEL ON EARTH, HERE IN THE SCV — One of the valley’s most beloved citizens, The Rev. Wolcott H. Evans, died on this date. The Minnesota-born man of the cloth passed away after a long bout of paralysis. Evans was named pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Newhall on July 5, 1914, where he served in spectacular ordinariness for decades.  Pastor Evans was perhaps one of the most influential people in the SCV — not for donations he made or political office or his social résumé.   In 1921, he was given a gift of one of the first telephones in the valley so he could help parishioners and even those who didn’t attend his Newhall Avenue church.   Evans was simply a kind and tireless comforter. He worked himself into a state of exhaustion, consoling the hundreds of people who lost relatives during the St. Francis Dam Disaster of 1928.  Much of his life was a testament of manna from the heavens. Into his old age, he used to call on people via his rickety old buckboard or just ride a horse. His flock gave him a brand new car.   Working in simple poverty his entire life, his parishioners raised $1,300 to buy the man his retirement home.   One little bit of trivia: The “Shepherd of the Hills” once bumped into President Theodore Roosevelt while he was hunting in the woods of North Dakota.   DECEMBER 21, 1944  BONNIE & CLYDE-STYLE SHOOTOUT IN CASTAIC — Three murdering bandits fleeing a crime spree in Los Angeles were trapped at a roadblock north of Castaic in a spectacular firefight. After a high-speed pursuit with revolvers and rifles blazing, California Highway Patrol officers and sheriff’s deputies used the help of two big-rig drivers to corral the three men into a roadblock. It was a scene out of Bonnie & Clyde. CHP officer Court West opened fire with several hundred rounds from a Riesing machine gun. Bullets wounded two of the thugs in the stolen LaSalle roadster.    HANG THE PERPS — One of our constant woes for years was the fact that the SCV was a magnet for bozo hunters. On this date, Mother Sloan rode into town to warn the sheriff’s deputies that she was loading up her shotgun and it was open season on trespassers on her Sloan Canyon ranch. Speaking of angels, seems some yahoos shot the tail off one of her milking cows out to pasture. Mrs. Sloan brought dozens upon dozens of orphans into her home over the years.  DECEMBER 21, 1954  THOSE GOOD OLD GAS STATION DAYS — About 20 years ago, the old gas station at the corner of Lyons and Railroad (today, the library parking lot) closed down. It first opened in 1954. Back in the days when they were called “service stations,” guys used to literally come out to fill your tank, check your oil, clean your windshield, check your tire pressure and have a nice conversation about the weather. Jim Salmand, Bob Lagerberg, Bob Gibson and Matt Murphy opened up Murphy’s 76 station. Their uniformed employees were called The Minutemen.   COULD ALMOST PUT EVERYONE’S NUMBER ON A POST CARD — The phone book came out. Back then, it had all the numbers for the Santa Clarita AND Antelope valleys, along with everyone from here to Frazier Park. There were just 4,400 phones for an area that covered nearly 1,000 square miles.  DECEMBER 21, 1964  GOOD OL’ SCOTTY BIT ANOTHER BUREAURAT — Signal Editor Scott Newhall went after the bigwigs in L.A. County and the various utilities. Scotty thought it atrocious that five-digit street numbers had been forced down the throats of residents and noted that it was easier to “dial a department store in New York City” than get ahold of the information operator. I wonder how Scotty would feel about being put on hold for 20 minutes and talking to robots in Ceylon for things associated with most things in modern everyday life?  STILL DIDN’T HELP THAT PHONE ISSUE — By the way. Mr. Newhall’s solution for all these problems was for us to form our own city. By the time we got around to it in December 1987, 23 years had passed. Change can come slowly. We had been talking about forming our own government all the way back into the 19th century …  DECEMBER 21, 1974  JUST SAY “WHOA …” — The Newhall-Saugus-Canyon Country Chamber of Commerce briefly flirted with the idea of closing down Canyon High. The reason? The dangerous Nadal Street in front. Too many accidents and near-misses on the treacherous narrow road.  THE STEVENSON RANCH WORLD’S FAIR — The idea of hosting the 1980 World’s Fair in Pico Canyon gained popularity here. The merchants sure liked the concept. It would have brought an estimated 6 million visitors to the valley. The expo would eventually go to Knoxville, Tennessee. No fooling.  I THINK THE BURGERS TASTED BETTER BACK THEN — This was one of those benchmark announcements and after that, we were truly civilized. On this date, McDonald’s announced they were going to open a franchise on The Old Road, right next to Denny’s.  DECEMBER 21, 1984  WHITE CHRISTMAS WITHIN A ROCK’S THROW — Brrr! The mercury dropped into the 20s and the snow fell below the 2,000-foot elevation. The Grapevine was closed and the valley thought they were getting an intro to a White Christmas. The snow stayed on the higher peaks, but it warmed and the valley would be pelted with a 5-inch rain storm that would run for four days.  • • •   That about takes care of our trek into the back trails of yesteryear, saddlepals. Truly wish all of you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I’ll see you next Saturday morn, fresh after Christmas and the day before Chris Allensworth’s birthday. Currently? We estimate Mrs. Allensworth to be about 16. Emotionally. (Love you, doll!) Feliz Navidad y vayan con Dios, amigos!   Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist just launched his multimedia website and eclectic online store, johnlovesamerica.com. Check it out! Tell others. Buy stuff, like — JB’s two-volume set of “MONSTERS,” about the Most Haunted Town in America — us — the SCV…   The post The Time Ranger | Our Forgotten Angel on Earth, The Rev. Evans  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.