Top of a wintry morning here in one of the absolute best spots on the entire globe. I chat with friends across the country. They’re shivering or shoveling snow. Here? The sky’s blue. It’s T-shirt weather.  We’ve a most interesting trek into yesteryear ahead. There’s more Bigfoot sightings, a sheriff’s deputy running amok and a peek at one of the things we used to be famous for — the world’s largest oak. We’ll visit with our local governor, lend a hand to one tough outdoorsman and wave howdy to some Zambians on the moon.  Saddle up, compadres. If you’re facing the right direction, there should be a horse’s head and couple of flicking ears in front of you …  WAY, WAY BACK WHEN   OUR OWN, PERSONAL GOVERNOR — Henry T. (for Tifft) Gage owned several gold mines in the Santa Clarita Valley during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He operated one that is smack dab at the bottom of the Bouquet Reservoir today. He also ran a couple of pits in the Agua Dulce/Acton area, one of which would later be renamed  Governor Mine. Back on Jan. 5, 1899, old Hank became governor of California. He’d serve just the one term, then become ambassador to Portugal. Gage was born on Christmas Day in 1852 in Geneva, New York (where my daughter goes to college!). Besides owning gold mines, he raised sheep. He was also a high-powered L.A. attorney who left a legacy of being a pawn of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  JANUARY 11, 1925  GOING OINGO BOINGO FOR LOVE — They said he “ran amok.” Deputy Sheriff Eric Mason was arrested by fellow law officers in a Los Angeles apartment. Mason had been reportedly spurned by a woman and held her hostage. Mason kept several deputies and several women at gunpoint. The distraught lawman was held for psychiatric testing.  OILY OILY OXEN FREE-EEE!! — Construction crews from Pan American Pipe Co. were adding the finishing touches to their 28-mile oil line. It stretched from Castaic into the San Fernando Valley. The pipe itself back then cost just about $2 a foot.  LOOKING FOR BOOZE, IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES — Prohibition was the law of the land and it was illegal to buy or drink alcohol. Newhall’s nationally famous lawman, Jack Pilcher, went on a 120-mile-long goose-chase. He had acted on a tip that a big moonshine operation was running in the Frazier Park area. He took off for a winter’s drive. No still. No moonshiners. Nice scenery.  FROM DIRT TO BETTER DIRT — The upper Soledad was getting civilized. County road crews were working to improve what was essentially a rough horse-and-wagon path between Lang and Acton. Now, it was a modern dirt road.  DARN DRY DECEMBER — Just spotted the rainfall record for December 1924. They had 1.5 inches for the month. Seems like our 2024 December, it didn’t rain enough to moisten a cocktail napkin.  JANUARY 11, 1935  I’M BETTING WILE E. COYOTE WOULD HAVE DONE THE JOB FOR NEXT TO NOTHING — On this date, the State Highway Commission authorized $100,000 to remove the Newhall Tunnel. It was built in 1910 and was the main route to the San Fernando Valley from Newhall. California used federal funds to create the present-day Sierra Highway. That Newhall Tunnel, by the way, is not to be confused with the present Newhall TRAIN tunnel, which is still in use.  THE GIANT OAK OF BOUQUET — Civilian Conservation Corps crews spent a couple of weeks, clearing brush in upper Bouquet Canyon leading to one of the largest oak trees in the world. It was simply called The Big Tree by locals and had a shade diameter of over 50 yards. It was over 100 feet tall. It would burn down in the early 1970s after a careless camper started a brush fire. Helicopter crews worked valiantly to save the giant, which was estimated to be over 1,000 years old.  JANUARY 11, 1945  THE FRIENDS OF BILL HART — In his last years, William S. Hart watched as those closest to him died. Before he went on to his reward in 1946, Hart saw his sister and best friend pass away. He lost Fritz, the wonder horse, earlier. On this date, he buried another of his favorite ponies, Yucca Sal. She was 22.  JANUARY 11, 1955  WE DON’T WANNA SET THE WORLD ON FIRE. WE JUST WANNA START, A FLAME IN YOUR HEART — This was true in 1955 and it’s true in the 21st century: DO NOT USE THE MIGHTY SIGNAL FOR ARSON. In a tongue-in-cheek report, Editor Fred Trueblood ran this headline: “Copy of Signal Used Without Its Consent in Arson Attempt at Val Verde.” Seems someone used your hometown newspaper to burn down a house. Quoth Fred: “The Signal would like its readers to know that while it tries to print some hot news occasionally, it frowns on any attempt to use it for incendiary purposes.”   THE SCV AT WAR — Normally, this time of year they close the Santa Clara Divide road to Mt. Gleason. Why? Snow, usually. This time, it was for national security. The Army was building what they called a Military Defense Zone around the area and the road was locked off at both ends.  CHP SAINT WAYNE —  CHP officer Wayne Hopkins pulled a good deed Christmas day and then he kind of didn’t. Hopkins found an older woman broken down along the side of the road in a heap of a car. The woman had no driver’s license and not a cent on her. She was out of gas, too. He wrote her up for not having a license, but then took her to Tip’s Christmas morn to buy her a hearty breakfast.  JANUARY 11, 1965  UNSCHEDULED LANDING, UNSCHEDULED DEPARTURE — United Airlines was still figuring out just how to remove a crashed passenger airplane from an agricultural field in Saugus. While 43 people walked away from the crash with only a few minor injuries, the plane was stuck in the ruts of a Newhall Land plot. UA pilots and engineers came out to study the situation and decided they’d do the simple thing: plow the field flat, fix the plane and fly it out.  ZAMBIANS ON THE MOON — The Newhall family who had recently bought The Signal continued their front-page spoof series, telling local readers that the tiny African nation of Zambia was just about to land an astronaut (and an astronaut-ette) on the moon. The satire was never labeled as such and some SCVians actually though Zambian astronauts had been launched into space crouched in open 55-gallon oil drums via giant sling shots and were soaring above.  JANUARY 11, 1975  HOMO SASQUATCH SANTA CLARITUS — Our Bigfoot sightings continued. A group of five children, ranging in age from 5 to 14, said they spotted a 9-foot-tall hairy hominid near Camp Plenty Road while playing at dusk. The Sasquatch spottings had started in June 1974 and reports continued to trickle in for nearly a year. Even an expert on paranormal activities admitted to the possibility that the eyewitness reports came after the kids saw someone in a gorilla suit. A few Canyon High students had earlier been roaming around the valley in an ape costume, petrifying the locals.  A JOG FROM THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE TO VALENCIA — Speaking of Canyon, a group of cross country runners finished their last leg of an epic jog. It started at Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and ended at the Valencia Civic Center. Of course, they didn’t complete their 437-mile jaunt in one sprint. They camped between, along scenic Highway 1 and even 126.  HAIL, O MIGHTY CENTURIONS — On this date, parents of kids going to the new Saugus High School came up with a mascot. It was 50 years ago this week when the Centurion was born. Wonder if the William S. Hart Union High School District is going to move to destroy the Centurion because of how Ancient Rome treated its neighbors.  JANUARY 11, 1985  SLEEPING IN THE SNOW WITH A BROKEN HIP — Usually, Raymon Sharbutt trekked to Frazier Park with his family. This time, he went alone. It nearly cost him his life. Sharbutt was headed back to his car after a cross country skiing trek. He fell down a ravine, broke his hip and shattered his glasses. Family frantically called the police, but sheriff’s deputies could not arrange a search and rescue so late at night. Sharbutt remembered from a friend that Southern California Gas had a pipeline in the area, dug down 16 inches in the softer dirt and covered himself with leaves and dirt to insulate him from the near-zero temperatures. Next morning, he heard a rescue helicopter fly overhead, only to miss him. Those good souls at the Sheriff’s Department kept looking and, by 4 p.m. the next day, recovered the skier. Amazing thing, except for some second-degree frostbite injuries on his feet and a busted hip, he returned to work three days later.  A TURNING OF THE HISTORICAL RETAIL PAGE — Most of the people don’t even know they existed. But, for many old-timers, they still remember some old business landmarks. Within about a month of one another, the following establishments closed their doors forever: Bill Martin’s “Hey Charlie Brown” pub; Dillenbeck’s Canyon Market at the corner of Soledad and Sierra Highway; Phil’s Country Cousins on Lyons and the old passion pit — The Mustang Drive-in Theater on Soledad.  GETTING THE BUSINESS NAME OUT THERE — My dear old pal Andy Martin hasn’t been with us in a long time. The lovable town character and lifelong Democrat was on the wrong end of an epic political landslide when he lost to Ed Davis in November for the state Senate seat. Andy pointed out that at least he had a moral victory. He only spent $2,500 on his campaign and Davis kicked in $400,000. Andy noted that he never wanted to be elected to any office, even though he ran for something every two years. Martin noted it got his name and “Andy Martin Insurance” on the front page of The Mighty Signal every issue for months around election time.  JANUARY 8, 2003  THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME — I surely hate to play favorites, but I can’t help myself. I’ve got to say a special howdy and Happy Birthday to that fetching little strawberry blonde gal whom you might notice rides right up here in the saddle with me, then, when that time came she could ride her own steed. A few days ago was Indiana “Indy Pie” Boston’s 22nd birthday and I picked her up from LAX for winter break from college. I am beyond lucky to have her as a daughter. Many happy adventures in 2025, my treasure.  • • •   Well this trek was just a complete treat. Sure thank you dear Santa Clarita saddlepals for the kind companionship, laughs and shared wonder. What say I see you folks back here in seven with another exciting Mighty Signal Time Ranger adventure? Until then? “¡Te deseo buenas adventuras y vayan con Dios, amigos!”   Local historian and the world’s most prolific satirist/humorist John Boston hosts an eclectic online store, bookstore, YouTube channel and multimedia website at johnlovesamerica.com.   The post The Time Ranger | Happy Birthday to the Centurion & The Pie  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.