Discover Green Valley by saraesc

Compiled by Jack and Louise Ameluxen

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Compiled by Jack and Louise Ameluxen

From Little Acorns...

Forward Green Valley is a very special place and tells a very special and fascinating story. She lies at the apex of San Francisquito and Dowd Canyons and is guarded on the northwest by Grass Mountain and on the southeast by Mt. Jupiter. The Valley is heavily forested by live oaks living up to her name as one of the few spots we know of that is emerald GREEN the year around. This is even more remarkable when you realize that just over the north ridge chaparral stops growing on the mountain side and a few miles further the desert begins. Louise and I shared a goal that one day when our working days were over we would build our dream home here in Green Valley. Living here has only increased our love affair with her. The story our Valley has to tell is as intriguing as its beauty. Toe story starts with the Indians who lived here, the carretas (Spanish for carts) with oxen, stage coach days at the Widow Smith's station, and the homesteaders and settlers. The tunnel to South Portal by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power brought the next influx of people, subdivision and three separate real estate developments bringing us to the present. We tried to draw a six mile circle with Green Valley as its center and limit ourselves to that area. We feel sure our friends and neighbors love this Valley as much as we do. Louise and I, in writing this book, hope it might help in developing even more pride and show that people sharing their talents can create an even better Green Valley to call home.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Indians in Green Valley Freighting San Francisquito C anyon Lake of the Devil San Francisquito Highway to the North Stagecoach at Widow Smith's School Angeles National Forest Homesteads Los Angeles Aqueduct through South Portal Highway Moves to Old Ridge Mining Developers Arrive La Joya Subdivision Spitzer Realty Isa Hahn and Jim Lott Moss and Leslie Community C lub Johanna Murchinski and The Inn Fire Water Rain Horses Save Our Oaks Topo Maps Heating with Wood Tour Guide Wild Flowers LA. County General Plan Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail Earthquake Faults Today in Green Valley Acknowledgments

1-21 22-27 28-30 31-33 34--43 54-55 56 57-83 84-95 97-98 99-100 101-102 103-107 108-113 109-111 114-121 116 122-123 124-136 137-142 143 144--146 147-149 150-151 152-153 154-155 156-157 158-159 160-161 162 163-168 169

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Grass i'vfounrain 4,605

Indians in Green Valley A Salvage Excavation of an Alliklik Cemetery

By R.W. Robinson Antelope Valley College, Department of Anthropology Archeological investigations were undertaken by Antelope Valley College on the property of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Seltzer during the last two weeks of May, 1971. This paper is a record of that work and a summation of its findings. The excavation was carried out by the filed archeology class at Antelope Valley College and volunteer anthropology students from San Fernando Valley State College. To all these and many Green Valley residents go the credit for the success of the operation. A special word of thanks is due Mr. and Mrs. Seltzer whose excellent cooperation made the work possi ble. The following is a brief account of the events leading up to and including the excavation. On May 25, I received a telephone call from Mr. Dean Hayes of Green Valley informing me that human remains had been discovered during the course of construction activities in the Green Valley comm unity. I visited the site that afternoon with Mark Sutton, a student at Antelope Valley College. On first examination it was quite apparent that emergency salvage excavation was necessary to preserve that data remained in the site. After confirmation of extreme age by the Los Angeles County 1

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Sketch of the Alliklik by Jerry Reynolds, longtime Santa Clarita Valley historian. Coroners Office, one human skeleton was removed, and an agreement was made with the contractor to leave the site undamaged until the owner could be contacted. On Thursday afternoon, May 27, I met with the Seltzers at the site and arranged to conduct an excavation the following weekend. An agreement was also made with a group of American Indians to reenter the human remains area after adequate study and examination. Excavations were carried out on May 30 and 31. Materials recovered at the site were taken to Antelope Valley College for processing and study. Re-burial of the human remains took place in July, 1971. Unfortunately, it must also be reported that at some time between the 27th and 30th, the site was severely damaged by collectors and "treasw-e hunters." Much valuable information was lost forever due to this activity. e Although this vandalism, combined with the construction activity and the emergency nature of th salvage excavations, placed a severe limit on the quantity and kinds of data which could be recov ered; a the work did prove worthwhile by providing initial data on burial practices in the area as well a� · foundation of suggestions for fu1ther studies.

The site lies within the mÂˇen defined by A.L. Krocber (1925) as being occupied by the AllikJik branch of the Shoshonean language group. The Alliklik are one of many small linguistic groups within the Sho honean language which entered southern California though the desert areas in a series of major migrations from the east beginning some two or tlu-ee thousand years ago. These migrations were relatively complete by about 1200 A.D., and by the time of Kroeber's ethnographical investigations (circa 1910) the Shoshonean speakers had become fairly well established and very well adapted to a variety of ecological zones ranging throughout the Mojave Desert, Antelope Valley, and southern California to points south of Long Beach and north oflmperial Valley. The Shoshonean peoples probably entered California first through the Mojave Desert; eventually reaching north to occupy the Owens Valley and the Tehachapi Mountains. Further movements occupied the Antelope Valley and the San Gabriel Mountains and followed the San Bernardino Mountains to the south, eventually crossing to the coast in the Los Angeles Basin and further south. The Shoshonean peqples were products of desert adaptation, experiencing much of their cultural evolution and development in the dry environments of Nevada and Utah. When they first entered California, they simply moved from one desert environment to another. They found their way of life quite suitable to the condition of their new homes. They were well adapted and they changed little. It was only later when some of them found the environment becoming even dryer than before, and others began to move into the more moist and more productive zones of the mountains and western valley, that they began to differentiate. Each local group began to adapt its way of life to the new conditions in its own area. These changes are reflected very well in the archeological remains. The older sites are quite similar from one area to the next and reveal a well established dry climate tra dition. Later sites often differ markedly and reflect new adaptive features associateďż˝ with special local conditions.

The site represents the Alliklik group at approximately the time of the transition described above.

lJnfon nately, the site contains only a cemetery and, therefore, poruÂˇays only one aspect of their u Culture to any great extent. Had it been a village site, where many different activities are represented, 3

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bably would have bee n more informative regarding the ch anges that were taking place during it pro period. Habitation sites must exist in this area, however, and perh aps the most this transitio nal

ult of the current work will be to provide a better overall frame in1porta nt res work of knowledge for th inv stigation of these other sites when they are discovered. A brief sketch of the general cultural pattem will be prese nted here before describing the actual site in question. Based on pr e vious ethnologic al and archeological data, we can accurately place most of the Shoshonean peoples in a general socio-economic category called "hunting and gathering." This means that agriculture and animal herding and breeding were unknown, or at least unused, by these people. They achie ved subsistence instead, by direct exploitation of the natural r esources of th eir environment. They hunted wild animals and gathered wild plant foods. Some basic descriptive statements can be made about "hunting and gathering" peoples which apply in ge neral to all such peoples and apply specifically to the California Shoshone. First, social groupings tend to be small. The food supply is generally not large enough or sufficiently concentrated to pernrit large populations to exist in small areas. S econd, social groupings tend to occupy large are as within which they move about in a regular migratory pattern. A limited food supply determines that the people not stay long in any one place, while the seasonal cycles of vegetable food sources requires that they return in season to the same places. They are not then, completely nomadic, nor are they completely sedentary, but rather they move in cyclical patterns from place to place; from season to season. Third, their material culture tends toward simplicity, efficiency, and portability. Since migration is not compatible with a cumbersome , complicated technology, migratory peoples must maximize efficiency and minimize bulk and quantity. In cultures of very orderl y migratory patterns, some larger less portable objects, such as milling stones, may be l�ft in place at sites which are frequ ently r eturned to during the cycle. The fourth g en eral Statement is that social structure and organization tends toward simplicity and is usually based land by relatively small numbers �;::�"i;n , man·1Yon kinsh.1p 1·1es. The 1·ntense full time exploitation of the ical and social systems. · nor, 1· 0 fact allow large scale complicated polit -, peoPIe does not require

J n All of these statements are, of course, relative and depend upon individual loca co ditions f

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� manifested in reul ecological settings. Many changes and va.riat'IO de0,....,.,,.e n, to which they are ns' ca n� . . . . patterns when one exanunes Shoshone cultu1e rn the context of both t1 seen in these general ... nie a nd spa e. it D

1iption:

The ite in question represents all Alliklik cemetery which probably dates from appr oxim

ately

1200 A.D. Although no absolute dating techniques have been applied to the material from the sit

t'IJPologically this material is very similar to that of another Antelope Valley site dated to 770 years before present by the C14 dating technique (radioactive carbon). The Green Valley site yielded at least fifteen bwials. These were found buried between 60 and 200 �,entimeters deep in a water-borne alluvial soil. An examination of the soil profile indicates that the burials were originally buried from 40 to 60 ceµtimeters deep, with the additional fill covering the area subsequent to the time of use. This fill showed no indications of occupation and yielded no

Students inArcheology Class at Antelope Valley College.

ambrtl Photo courtesy of Gary G

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Map of Green Valley Cemetery showing the location of construction backhoe trench, vandalism activity, and archeological excavation. All burials recovered in context are shown by burial number (b#) in proper position. Burials #3 through #11 were collected from area A and area C. Archeological excavation area B yielded no burials.

features other than the burials. Nine of the bmials excavated from the site were removed by backhoe and/or c

one ctor s at t iiflt . M ost o f th ese were even tua ll when the arch olog1sts were not present at the site. y recove rt:d 'i context was lacking or mixed. Six burials were recovered in position with at least P an1. a1 c . on�), pre erved. Refer to the map on the previous page for the locations and relationshi. p s of .

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e · avations and bUiials. Areas "A" and "C" were by backhoe and collectors, and on ly th reeor l ni probable twelve burials in these areas were recovered in partial context. These were burials nurn% 1, 2 and 12. All were partially damaged by the digging. Areas "D" and "E" (overlapping two rneiei squares) yielded controlled data involving three burials: numbers 13, 14 and 15. Area "B,"measun

2 by 4 meters, yielded no data. The following descriptions are presented for all buria ls by number. . Burial 1: This burial was recovered from the backhoe trench in area "A." It was partially damaged by the initial excavation. Burial 1 is the skeleton of a young adult female, approximately 18 to 24 years of age. The body was

ii Burial #15 shown . ' n. exact burial posino·u w1 tight fl.ex, sitting, the head down. mb1� ,Ga

Gary Photo courtesy of

placed in a loose flex position lying face down on the left side with the skull oriented north. An abscess of the three molars of the left side of the mandible was present. No artifacts were found in association with this burial. Burial 2: This burial, located near burial 1 but not in association, represents a young infant. It was severely damaged by the backhoe's excavation and little information could be recovered. No artifacts were present in association with this burial. Burial 3: This burial was excavated by collectors and recovered only after context was lost. The burial consisted of one almost complete post cranial skeleton representing a young adult male, and two skulls, both probably male and both falling roughly into the 25 to 35 age range. It is assumed that the additional skull belonged to one of the other burials recovered by the collectors and was not originally a part of this burial. No

View of Area D and Area E, looking south across the Green Valley site. Photo courtesy of Gary Gambrel

on this burial ex.cept for the statements of funh r (ifji;1 cnuld be obiaine<l L NO bl.acksilicate chipped stone blades had � 1-!rnl p r�n� indi.caling tha.t se was eventually recovered and n found In a�socl.aiton, One of the in �1idth by 0.9 cm in thickness. �fiMJr� 1 �,2 .,min Length by 2,7 cm

fludal 4 through 10: These burial numbers have been assigned to a n!mum b1Jrial �ount taken on a collection of bits and pieces recovered from the flll oft� backhoe trench and the collections of several Green Vf.iJley residents, Th� minimum number includes five adults, one adolesce nt, and,:me 'infant, Bothriexes were represented but accurate identification was n-'lt po�Blble, No artifacts can positively be identified as occurring in direct ��ciati.on with any of these burials, although, both sandstone bowl fra ment$ and haliotis or nament fragments were collected from the same rea,

B rial 11: Thi:; number has been assigned to one additional burial' p

i bl y an adult, which several people indicated had been found at the site.

Burial #1, west of the wall trench in Area A. ambrtl Photo courtesy of Gary G

This burial was n â&#x20AC;˘ver seen or re overed by the archeologists.

Burial 12: This burial was recovered from the north end of the backhoe tr nch (area C) and was badly damaged by the excavation. The skull was missing and the remaining parts were so badly damaged that age and sex could not be determined. The body was apparently buried in a tight flex position sitting up and facing south or southwest. One fragment of a sandstone bowl was found among the disturbed remains.

Bw-ial 13: Bw-ial 13 was the first burial to be discovered intact during the archeological excavations. It represents a female 18 to 24 years of age. The burial was found lying between 100 and 150 centimeters below the present swface of the ground. She had been buried in a tight flex position, sitting up. The skull had moved from its original position facing southwest, to a

SLt of the skulls recovered at the Green Val/eylndianburial site. Photo co11rtesy ojGary Gambrel

face down position. An abscess was noted of the second and third molars of the left side of the mandible. Three types of the shell artifacts were recovered in association vrith this

burial. These artifacts exhibited no apparent pattern and were probably scattered randomly over the body after it had been placed in the grave. Twenty nine clam shell beads were recovered of a tubular shape. These beads average between 0.5 and 1.0 cm in diameter, and between 1.3 and 2.0 cm in length. They were center drilled the length of the long axis. Five clam shell disc beads were also recovered. These are drilled flat discs averaging between 1.0 and 1.5 cm in diameter, and approximately 0.3 cm in thickness. The third artifact type was represented by two haliotis (abalone) ornaÂ ments. Both of these were of rather non-de script shape, and both appeared to be reworked fragments of larger broken artifacts. This fact is evidenced by the presence of refinishing work over portions of the edge containing recognizable drilled holes. Methods of stringing, attachment and display could not be determined as the arrangement of artifacts in the burial showed no regular pattern. It may be significant that all artifacts recovered from this burial were of types associated with decoration and personal adornment

Burial 14: This burial was that of an aged adult male forty years of age or older. The body was placed in a tight flex position, leaning slightly on the left side from a sitting position. The skull was facing southeast. The burial was lying 90 cm below the present surface so close to the lower level of the recent alluvium that the original depth could not have been more than a few centimeters to the top of the skull. The homogeneity of the alluvial fill is such that an exact measurement is not possible.

Burial 14 exhibited a variety of pathologies including a severe bone lesion involving the right orbit and temporal bones and the right margin of the frontal bone; and severe abscesses of the second and third molars of the left mandible and the first molar of the right mandible. No artifacts were associated with this burial. Burial 15: This burial, the deepest feature of the site, was located 160 cm below the surface immediately below and slightly to the southwest of burial 14. The body had been placed in a tight flex position sitting up and leaning slightly on the back. The body was facing due east. The burial represents an adult male of approximately 25 to 35 years of age. No pathologies were noted. Five artifacts accompanied the burial, all of which were located in the pelvic region. These artifacts may have been placed in the lap of the sitting body at the time of burial. The five artifacts included one obsidian projectile point measuring 4.37 cm by 3.27 cm by 0.51 cm and weighing 6.35 grams, one obsidian flake scraper measuring 3.38 cm by 2.99 cm by O. 73 cm and weighing?.52 grams, one piece of cut green steatite measuring 3.96 cm by 3.29 cm by 3.26 cm and weighing 26.34 grams, and two fragments of haliotis (abalone) shell. Both haliotis fragments are portions of the rim of the shell, one has a green outer surface, and neither is obviously modified. All of the known burials from this site are described above. It should be pointed out, however, that additional features may have been found by the collectors and vandals at times when the archeoloÂ gists Were not present to record the data. It is also possible, in fact probable, that more information remains in the site. With the possible exception of burials number 14 and number 15, none of the

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e appeared to bear any direct or meaningful relationships to one another Due to the ďż˝ s re c ov red ďż˝n'a)

us nature of the soil depos it, no grav e pits could be identif ied. Examples of the artifacts homogeneo may be seen in the drawings and photographs. ment ioned above

A summ ary of the above data is presented in the table on the following page. Burials 4 through 11

are not included in the summary since they provided little data for comparison. The word "none" indicate d a de finite absence, while a question mark (?) indicates a lack of pertinent data.

ORIENTATION

PATIIOLOOIES

POSITION

ARTIFACTS

SEX

molar abcess

AGE

none

No.

none

north

2 black chert blades

loose flex prone

1 gragmentary sandstone bowl

molar abcess

south

29 clam tube beads 5 clam disc beads 2 haliotis ornaments

18-24

tight flex sitting

southeast

tight flex sitting

0-2

18-24

young adult

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12 1

. 18-24

13'

none

molar abcess bone lesion of '-lrbit none

tight flex sitting

southeast

35-50

tight flex sitting

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25-35

east

1 obsidian point; 1 ďż˝bsidian flake scraper; 1 steatite fragment; 2 haliotis fragments page 16

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Indian bowls found in Green Valley. Photos by J. Ameluxen.

Bowl courtesy of Dick Dom.

Conclusion Drawing conclusions on the basis of the limited data obtained from the Green Va lley site is difficult, and at best, tenuous. The sample is small, and the methodology was less precise than wouJct have been the case under more ideal conditions. Some general conclusions and suggestions might be valuable, providing that these limitations are kept in mind. The Alliklik Shoshone peoples reflect quite well the pattern of cultural change and adaptation common to most other western Shoshone groups as they came into contact with the more traditional California cultures and the more congenial environments of the southern portions of California. The artifacts found at the site illustrate three general patterns to this adaptation\ The presence of obsidian indicates a pattern of trade relationships involving peoples to the north and east. Apparently a widespread network of trading activity is responsible for moving obsidian from the mountainous areas of the northern Mojave Desert near Little Lake, south to green Valley. The presence of marine shell artifacts would indicate that the Alliklik were also involved to some extent with other Californi a peoples, possibly the Chumash, in the western coastal areas. Finally, the presence of steatite indicates an adjustment to local resources not available further east into the Mojave Desert. Evidently, the Alliklik peoples responsible for the Green Valley site were well on their way to developing a new cultural approach to their environment involving both modifications of their original des ert background and the acceptance of new features introduc ed from the west. Comparisons with their nearest neighbors, the Kitanemuk to the north, suggest other interesting relationships. A major Kitanemuk site in the western part of the Antelope Valley has been excavated and provides important comparative data. This site represents a village or habitation site , and contains a small cemetery. An examination of the burials in the Kitanemuk site and their associated artifacts reveals a more orderly distribution than appears in the Green Valley material. The Kitanemuk site contained four burials, three of which (two adults and one child), exhi bited 18

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artifact associations. The fourth burial, that of a very small child (aged 6 to 18 months). only meager five thousand small beads made of olivella shell, a marine species. Such a great Contai ned more than valuable bead occurring with a small child definitely indicates the existence of quantity of a very as cribed status categories in the Kitanemuk social system. Ascribed status, (status which is fixed and not based on achievement), is highly correlated with environment and subsistence pattern. Purely achieved status categories predominate in cultures which must expand great amounts of personal effort as well as time directly related to survival. Such systems cannot support extensive ascribed status categories and/or favored classes of people. Ascribed status can develop only in these systems where the relationship between environment and subsistence pattern allows for a more varied and differentiated economic system. The Kitanemuk must have been a member of a high ranking status category to have possessed so much wealth, and that status must have been an ascribed form since the child was not nearly old enough to have acquired the wealth through his own efforts. Just how great a role ascribed status positions played in Kitanemuk culture is, as yet, unknown, but it is now certain that it was important. There is no evidence for the existence of ascribed status in the Green Valley site. It may be that ascribed status was not yet present in the Alliklik culture, or it may be that our data is simply not adequate to answer the question. The evidence that does exist, however, would indicate that the former explanation is probably the mere correct one. A brief glance at burial summary table is all that is necessary to see that no pattern exists in the distribution of artifacts and some do not. The presence or absence of artifacts placed in graves is apparently related to neither sex nor age (the only small child found at Green Valley possessed no associated artifacts). This is precisely the pattern one would exp ec t to find in a culture where individual achievement w as stressed and ascribed status, if present at all, played a relatively minor role. The fo rgoing statements are tenuous to say the least, and are intended more as suggestions to be

followed up by additional investigations than as definite conclusions. In summary, we might visuaJize the people using Green Valley cemetery as one small group of Shoshone speak ers .

und rgoing a great deal of cultural change and adjustment following their gradual moveme

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th ct sert into th, higher mountains to the south and west of the Antelope Valley. They have n otb.c � in th at 'ft lon n ugh to have developed an entirely new cultural expression and so they Sti ll re� man of th� original Shoshone "desert culture" features. They have, however, been in the area 1

nou h to have effected some changes. They are changing their subsistence patterns to adjust ·c to l al nvironment and have begun to make use of many of the local natural resources not avaiJ , a in the desert regions. They have become involved in a wide spread economic netw ork which brought them into direct or indirect contact with many other cultures, some quite different fr

themselves. Contact with the coast has made available to them new natural resources as well as ne-. ocial an cultural ideas. The fact that this process of adaptation is operating more-or-less indepec. dently in several closely related Shoshone groups, is evidenced by developments in social sta present in the Kitanemuk group but not yet present in the Alliklik area. Only further investigation and research can place the specific development in proper order ar.: establish a more exact temporal framework. The future excavation of Alliklik habitation sir1 yielding data comparable to the Kitanemuk and Kawaiisu sites to the north of the Alliklik area v..:.= certainly be helpful in answering questions concerning the broader areas of cultural change. Greaic quantities of data concerning the burial custom of both the Alliklik and the other Shoshone grour will certainly shed greater light on the results of this investigation. It is desirable, actually essentii. that this work be done in the future. As usual in archeology, this investigation has generated far more questions than it has answei-s Without questions, however, answers cannot be sought Only further research can provide rl:t answers to the questions asked here, and it is hoped that this work will provide some useici suggestions for such research. This report was published in 1972 by the Antelope Valley College, Department ofAmhropo/o.}· Lancaster, California.

Tataviam A.L. Kroeber recognized in 1915 that a definable linguistic group occupied the upper Santa Clarita Valley. By 1925, he referred to this group as the "AllikJik" a term by which this group was referred to by their Ventura Chumash neighbors, which means grunters. The more closely related Kitanewuk of the Antelope Valley called them Tataviam or "people of the sunny slopes." More recently, debate centered on the question of whether the inhabitants spoke a Chumash language with borrowings from neighboring groups or whether "Tataviam" was a dialect of Taldc Shoshone language. Most investigators working in the region today recognize a Tataviam ethnographic entity. This provides archaeology with a significant research focus in attempting to define the archaeological correlates of these ethnic identities. Tativiams who lived in the missions had intermarried and lost their distinct entity by 1834 when secularization took place. That ended the mission area as all land

was taken over and administered by the Mexican Government.

SAN RANCJSQUITO CANYON, R AD LOS AN.G LES & FORT TEJON O Alsoin18·4 lenernl.lohn .FrernontwilliKilCan;on,history tcllsus, established whatis1 r.no,r. as Los Ang"'l s nnd Fort Tcjon Road, pnrls of which i.lJC slill in use today. Wildlife was so pl entir th y reported, that three geese were killed with one rifle shot at Lake Elizabeth. Grass and de &;-

WinfieldMcNameewalks histeamthroughBealeeCutin 1907. There was a �·harge to travel thr�u�h the pass: "Team of 12 animals 2.75; 10 ammals 2.75; team of eight $2.50; of six $2; four $l.75· two $1.375; one 75 cents. Loose animals, cattle, et cetera 10 cents �ach. · ls 25 cents o,w man and horse 25 cents·' shee,J ,, ,· pack amma , 4 ce"tts ,, each. Photo courtesy of the OolJcamp M11m1111, RO$ll010nd, California)

wth was luxuri11nt 1tnd pools of water stood in places over the valley floor. They and desert gro wn what wus then called San Francisco Canon through Newhall and over the future trnv Âˇl d do

Frein nt Pass to San Fernando Mission.

Toe steepness of tt:1is pass made wagon travel very difficult

in later years. This is where General

E. F. Beale and his men in 1862 made the impossible 50 foot deep

"Beale's Cut", which can be viewed

and marveled today as the picture shows. This is east of Sierra High way and a couple miles south of Newhall. The plaque is missing but the rock base still stan ds.

Freighting San Francisquito Canyon

The story of the Lopez family is very much tied to the development of Green Valley when pioneered the freight trail up San Francisquito Canyon.

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Jose Lopez was born in 1853 and was the seventh generation of the family in this area. Wh e; he was twenty years old he became sheep and cattle boss also known the mayordomo of the Te jc:

Ranch, from 1873 until his retirement in 1926, according to the book "Men of El Tejon" by E arl Cro,

He frequently told tales he had heard from his grandfather of the weeks of travel by carreta fro t the ships at San Pedro to the Ranchos in &i mountains or in the interior valleys. The route th carretas led went by the San Fernando Mission, L� the San Francisquito Canyon, past Lake Elizabet:: then over Portal Ridge on Willow Springs (Mum Road into Antelope Valley and then toward Tej · Pass up the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. The father of Jose, "Jeronimo", freighted th· San Francisquito Canyon with ox cart in 1845. H

Ox-carts - carretas - were the only wheeled vehicles in early California. Carriages began to be imported into the Los Angeles area in the middle 1840s. (Historical Collection Securit y-First National Bank of Los Angeles.)

built Lopez Freight Station, where the Van Nonn� dam is now. Uncle" Chico" Francisco Lopez settl(: La Laguna de Chico Lopez (Elizabeth Lake) ari raised cattle there. He bought land near the ia11 from Don Pedro who had a land grant dating bad

to the mid 1830s. Chico also traveled Bouquet Canyon or as it became known, El Potrero de Chiei Lopez and Dead Man's Canyon. The present name is supposedly derived from a vaquero of Chico\ who told tales of "El Buque" the ship he sailed. Because of his story telling, he was called "Buque 24

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Elizabeth Lake

Photo courtesy of W estem A. V. Historical S...:i:

and thus the canyon he settled took his nickname that became translated into "Bouquet." Jose's grandfather told him many stories of freighting hides and tallow in San Francisqui1 Canyon. The earliest freighter he said was Claudio Lopez his great grandfather who is said to hav traveled the canyon with carretas on oxen in 1780. Estavo Lopez, Jose recalls, came to Alta California and settled in the San Fernando area in 160: He was a Boatswain on the Frigate Tres Reyes with Vizcaino. The book "Sage of Rancho El Tejon" by Frank Lata chronicles these recollections bringing to Iii the people and time they lived. In 1858 Jose was a boy of six years of age. He accompanied his father on his first trip up St Francisquito Canyon before the overland mail went over this route. It was a great occasion fathl had purchased a fine buckboard and had broken a fine pair of black horses to pull it. The horses weJ. Morgans and were truly beautiful animals, the finest to be had anywhere. This was the finest ouďż˝ the family had ever owned, and all were as proud as could be with it.

Jose's story continues, 'Father's family was growing and it was not long until father purch ased cruTiage for use as a conveyance for the family. However, I fell in love with the a high whe eled buckboard and have favored that type of rig all of my active life. On the Tejon, I would not trade a good buckboard for all the other kinds of outfits.' 'Fat her made this trip to La Laguna de Chico Lopez (Elizabeth Lake), I believe, to show off to his brother, Chico. He was on all sides of the outfit at once , showing Chico the harness, the buckboard and everything about the horses. I remember that I stayed in the buckboard and that I was so puffed up with father's talk that I could have sat on eggs without smashing them.' 'Following that trip, I was over that road at least twice a year until the automobile road (Grapevine) was built to Los Angeles. Through that contact, I became very familiar with the road and with the people who ran the stations on it. It should not be mistaken that this road was well established before the use of stages that carried the overland mail. It had been in use more than sixty years before the first overland stage passed over it. My father freighted with ox teams and carretas over the old road and his father and grandfather before him to the ranchos and the back woods settlements. From them I learned the routes taken by the first roads, those that had been in use since the first missions were built and the first land grants made.'

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Photo courtesy of Western A. V. Historical Society

'Lake of the Devil' Once Home To A Monster The following excerpts were taken from an article that ran in the Antelope Valley Press on S

Un�, unearthly and av Frightful no ... Hell of ises h e ern September 1984 by David Fry. "It is a mouth ilnatt from those depths. Screams, shrieks, groans as though Hell itself might live (there)." - Fro ·· mo the Old West Coast," 1930. The author of that passage was remembering Elizabeth Lake in the 17� nicknamed "Lake of the Devil" by early Spanish settlers.

Today, the lake is a prime attraction at the Lake Elizabeth Ranch Club, enjoyed by rnembe;: adjacent to the public golf course. But, according to legend, the lake was indeed created by Satan, and was inhabited by a hu i

monster until the great creature flew away in 1886 and was shot by ranchers in Arizona.

No one has ever really been able to verify the story, although judging from the book "On the()\ West" by Horace Bell, a lot of local people believed it. The book documents alleged eyewitness accounts of the monster, which was described by OL Spanish rancher as being "larger than the greatest whale, with enormous bat-like wings." Nowadays, it is treated as an amusing local legend. But for those who want to believe, check ix Bell's book, in the Lancaster library. It recounts a tale told by a Los Angeles resident, Don Guillerm Embustero y Mentiroso, descendant of a Spanish explorer who passed on the following story ofin creation of Elizabeth Lake: It was October of 1780 that a Spanish lieutenant named Pico was leading a search party throu� the Soledad Pass. Lt. Pico was searching for Father Junipero Serra and a group of the Christian missionaries wb were stranded somewhere in the desert. Lt Pico searched for three days without luck, and at one point the frustrated lieutenant saidD would sell his soul to the devil in exchange for a road directly to Father Serra.

ith� Lo and behold, the devil himself appeared and granted Pico his wish, building a road w

leadinďż˝ dire tly t wh re Serra , nďż˝ trande d. demon aides Just as they were approa hine Serra. h we er. Pi tri d

tum the table on the devil. He

stab the de\ il , and when tJrnt did not work. he cti played a crucifix. At this. the devil ran attempted to , a ' in fear. But as Lt . Pico turned toward the, alle) he saw the devil and his other demons "in the ) 8

that leaped out from a fearsome hole in the ground". light of flames Smoke arose, and a lake of fire spread around the devil and friends. In the morning , when Serra's partY returned to Mission San Gabriel, they saw that the fire in the lake was replaced by water. Toe lake, though beautiful, was not as wonderful as it may have seemed, Guillermo said. In the mid 1830s, a Don Pedro Carillo bought a grant of land at Laguna del Diablo, built a house and ranch. Within three months, a fire burned it down. The devil's influence was blamed. American squatters claimed the land in 1855, but later withdrew, saying "The whole region is haunted," Bell recounts. But the real monster legends started when a man named Chico Lopez bought the land near the lake and started a ranch in 1883. Guillermo said he was visiting Lopez one day when the ranch foreman excitedly summoned them to the lake. "A great whistling, hissing, screaming roar issued... so near to us that we could smell the nauseating, fetid breath of the monster emitting the sounds," Guillermo states. They fled on horses, then turned around and saw the outline of "a huge monster, larger than the greatest whale, with enormous bat-like wings" flapping in the water. The group came back later with rifles, but there was no sign of the monster. At least, not quite yet. Then cattle and horses started mysteriously disappearing. "One night a great uproar was heard in the con-al and by the time the vaqueros (ranch hands) reached the spot, IO horses were missing," the book recounts. "And against the night sky was seen an incre dible griff in (a mythological flying creature) winging avvay, heavy with feasting." By then, the monster rumors were hot and heavy. A Los Angeles newspaper (the book does not 29

say which one) stated "a python or at least a monster most terrible," had appeared ut Lake J�liz,ii )'l,i A local rancher named Don Filipe Rivera reported 11e rescued a Texas longhorn frorn th r, 1, J r 1 �te1 grasp. Rivera said it was 44 feet long and as large as four elephants, wit h the head of a bulldu� �, , six legs. Rivera shot it with his .44 Colt, but bullets just bounced off h. In addition, a group called Sells Bros., who wanted to sell the monster to a circus, offcred \Ui,ixi for the live capture of the creature, the book states. The monster stories ended in 1886, the book says, when a man named El Basquo Grande ;w, and chased the monster into the lake. The monster then flew out of the lake and headed east, out, site. According to Bell, the monster showed up a few days later in Arizona. A local newspaper, ·1 Epitaph, allegedly reported "a winged monster resembling a huge alligator with an extreme! elongated tail and immense wings" was found by two ranchers. The ranchers chased the monster and shot it to death, the story is supposed to say. They measure it at 92 feet and a width of 50 inches. It had two feet and boasted a beak eight feet long and studd� with sharp teeth. Wallace Clayton, editor of the Epitaph, however, says there was never any such story. "I've gone through every edition of the Epitaph in existence, and there's never been a story on sua a monster," Clayton said. "There was some rumor that in 1901 a huge bird was shot by a couple of prospectors, and th� spread the bird and it covered the entire Epitaph office," Clayton said. "They were supposed to ha11

taken a picture of it and it was widely printed in the nation."

"There's not an ounce of truth to it," Clayton said. "There was no bird, and there was no monstei We have no stories about them whatsoever." So maybe there was no monster. Maybe it was just the product of too many nights sitt ing arou� the campfire drinking tequila and telling ghost stories. Maybe so. But then again, maybe not. 30

Naming Elizabeth's Lake Elizabeth's Lake was named such in 1849. Charlie Wingfield was travel ing from Los Angeles to the Four Creeks Country, as the Visalia and Kaweah River locality was called at that time. He camped with his family beside the lake, which at that time was called La Laguna de Chico Lopez. Tuey used the lake water for cooking and drinking as well as for watering stock. A log lying on the bank extended into the water. They walked down the log to dip buckets of water from the lake. Elizabeth Wingfield went for a bucket of water, slipped off the log, and fell into the lake. She was not injured, for they pulled her out at once. There were several families camped nearby, and they made fun of Elizabeth for falling into the lake, calling it Elizabeth's Lake from that time on.

San Francisquito Canyon In June of 1854 the editor of the Los Angeles Star, William A. Wallace, accompanied by Lieutenant Edward F. Beale and his party traveled up Canada de Almos (San Francisquito) past Rabbit Lake (Elizabeth Lake) northward. From the book On The Old West Coast by Horace Bell "We started early and rode through the San Francisco Rancho to the mouth of Turner pass," Wallace, wrote in his diary (this was allowed, because in 1851, the Los Angeles Court of Sessions granted certain right of ways across Mexican land grants.) "Where we halted near a little arroyo ....there were numerous valleys going up into the mountains." About noon we left camp and traveled through to near the top of the pass seventeen miles." Through the whole length of it runďż˝ a little stream of clear water.... the road through the pass is very bad, winding through the sand bed of the arroyo, with many steep pitches and the wagons were much retarded." The next day the party reached the top of the pass where we came into a beautiful valley some th ree miles wide and ten mjles long ... this is the lovely valley of Elizabeth Lake just at the entrance of the Great Dese rt ... one of the most delightful spots in nature. Thousands of other travelers would 31

pUSII lhi

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way.

Phlnus 1Jun11i11g of'f'twecl WMC couch 1,·1.1v I u,id 1'r(';lµ,/Hl11u "P th,; WJ11Y'J11, J k d,l>v ' pa!'lsengcr In u wugon with ulx well fell, pominu und 1'01JJlli11� 1,iurswtt�f. the; di;HJ,Jn,� and d( the road op ·n. Tc, further cCHrnt,·ucl tlJe ,·ou{J uppr,1prfotiows fmfll 1r11;;rc:JJ:J11t;s imd b11Ni11,;;· forthcoming, This enabled u malJ army of' 1r1cn armctl witlJ t hcJvclt and pic.:k

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uring the next four years wif1 llful ncwwnc11 dcucril)f¼J the: t'l)cJtJ in cr.eclJ �m c0nditlon, l:IJ ' 1r, l still the original rutted tract. Wonit 1,pots gnuJcd with pick and 1s/Jc)vcJ:�. �J0pir1g chi;�;� dyg l!i

overly steep creek banks, and bog� corru1,Gat.cxl with bruHh or HilpJjng:t This was the road in J 858

w gain national pmrnincnr.:e af; the rout-e

cJf the I3utterfidc:J. ¼j

Transcontinental service.

Mail The postman's creed "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriersfrn the swift completion of their appointed rounds," might have started with the people who delivert mail to Green Valley and the Lakes area. In 1850 the first mail was carried from Los Angeles throui San Francisquito Canyon which was then officially called Canada Alamos (Cottonwood Canyor The road was described as a poor rough trail. In l 851 the Court of Sessions in Los Angeles gave, order to improve and extend the road up the canyon. 1855-57 saw Benjamfo F. Clayton drive hiso cart on this road to deliver mail as far as the lakes. The mail was delivered by ox cart until 1858 when the Butterfield Overland Stage was establishc following the same rough road.

Stagecoach

Visiting the Widow Smith's Stage Stop in Green Valley in May of 1992, Jerry Reynolds, curator and writer for the Newhall Signal, describes the stage coach area: The high-wheeled rocking Concord coach clatters and rattles up San Francisquito Canyon leaving great clouds of dust behind to diift through poppies, Spanish broom and lupine growing along the dirt roadway. A slight tug brings the neigh leader into a slow left tum up a curved drive. Pulling back on 45 pounds of leather reins, the diiver brings the stage to a stop in front of a long low adobe, calling to passengers below, "Fall out for Widow Smith's." No one knows how many times this scene was repeated in the mere three years that the widow had a contract with Butte1field's Overland Stage before the Civil War cut the line known as The Oxbow or Great Southern. But that was not the beginning nor even the end of this hotel/restaurant/ stables still standing ins Green Valley. The story actually started with Major Arnias Gordon, born in Scotland in 1817. No one knows how he got the title of Major, whether it was honorary, acquired through some service with the "Black Watch" or the U.S. Military. At any rate, the "Major" operated a ferry across the Kem River in the 33

r a early 1850s. moving to Pt. Tejon where he ,;upplicd game to the soldie a$ e<.mtrzLt r rai,; w About 1855 Gordon established hirmclf along San Franci�uito Canyon, hich II,», rr�: ;·)

rfne canyon had \iCeTI, :;r_ �··.r. 4 � northward out of Los Angeles to Ft. Tejon and the Kern River. Mexican ox carts and hunting parties headed to Laguna Liebre (Rabbit Lake. no ;,/ L� H1.y.1; ,.'· wa then bustling with activity.

Phineas Banning had the forwarding business to Ft. Tejon in his pock.et and wa.1 WJ!pl :,i:� · � :. Kemville miners. Major Gordon sold grain to the freighters to feed their stoc� then began pr- �. v

meals for the mule skinners and stage drivers that worked for Banning� It would not be fa:r-fo.s,.;1; to state that "General" Banning stopped by Gordon's � he made frequent trips along fut ·r himself. In one epic journey, Banning rode horseback 100 miles from Los Angeles to T� ::. single day (or so he claimed). The Overland was formed by John Butterfield, once a director of Wells-F a:rgo Co. as .. ,:, competition to his former employer. American Express Co. still with us in the form of a plastic <ZJ started as a private mail and package delivery system . Hurling a fleet of stage coaches through::: southern tier of states and territories, Butterfield set a land speed record of 21 days from SL L7.E to San Francisco. One stop on that historic run was Gordon's, the first Concord pulling in on Octrn. 8, 1858. The station was also visited by strange caravans of camels led by Lt. Edward F. � heading down to Los Angeles from Ft. Tejon. The U.S. Anny Camel Corps actually supplied j south-western. forts from Texas to California. Gordon described as a short thickly set man, must have been a bit reclusive, for he sold his proper,

to Luke Smith at the beginning of 1859. Smith promptly passed away, his widow taking overd management of the ranch - hence the Widow Smith. The outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 stopped the Butterfield Overland and the Camel Corps,03 brought in telegraph lines, young Tom Delano becoming the operator at Widow Smith's Stario; Another stage line, the Telegraph, started at that time, so named as it followed the wires up iii canyon.

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BUTl'ERFIELO OVERLAND MAIL STATIONS 1858

1861

Widow Sniith rnn u cl un and mornl establishment, according to her contract with Butterfield. S\ a care to for hostel a hor plus es, ses nd t u\ "inipplied fr sh Learn • nmpl corruls, feed und harness n ei The U1ge 1'LOpR on the line provided other refreshmen ts to the passengers and ofte n too rn� refreshment to the driver ... "ample food and separate rooms for gentlemen and lady traveler s clean bedding would be desirous."

She did not live in the adobe that had grown over the years, but in a stone cottage in back

kno,,

as Widow Smith's Sleeping House. Major Gordon reappeared on the 1870 census as ownerofQ

stop, but thjs time he was not alone, living with an Irish lass 20 years younger than he and hert� little daughters.

Describing the Station Ledger Gazette by Bettie Miller 3/1/60 Major Gordon built the adobe for the stage then sold to Luke Smith who promptly died. His widow hence "Widow Smith" ran the station. Time andu elements have taken their toll of the relic but persons with imagination the vision to be lived t hroui viewing it are beyond compare. Thickness of the adobe walls is evidenced at the doors and windows where the original lum� is still in tact. Square nails used in construction are obvious throughout the building. Two rooms make up the main section of the station, each with an adobe fireplace. In both m evidence of constant use and roaring fires in the adobe redness of the inner bricks. Adobe isi extremcJ ydurable material, would require excessive heat to bake red as it has in these two fireplac�

Leading to an attic room is a ladder from one of the main rooms. Speculation runs rampantasi

the reason for the two room and attic construction. It has been mused that possibly the station w1 an overnight stand and the rooms served as private quarters for men and women.

Ou tside the walls are riddled with what might be bullet holes. This is no mere speculation, it1

legend in the area Tri buco Vasquez and his men used the station as a hideout during his reign. Thi legend has been, if not authenticated, at least spuITed by the fact that in 1959 a cache of firearrJJS

the period was found by sheriff deputies only half m ile away near the springs which furnished watc 38

Soc1F.TY OF S0t:r1tEn::-: Hisro� 1c.1L

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The last 2dobe remaining in San Francisqt;ito Ca1icn. It was �lajor Gorman·s ,ta;;e post.

MAJOR GORDON'S STATION

Looked good :o srogt rraweltrs boc!< in :h e 1:Sv's

Major Gordon'! Over land Stage ii. San Francisquiu Canyon belo� Elizabeth Lake OJ it appeared i1 ]933. PhotobyFranir

LanaandBearState!jbo,\

Widow Smith'! Hotel, resraurarJ and stab/es, a 1 popular stop 1° l stagecoach.e 1 before the Cn': War, stil l stands� roo: Green Va/ley.. Ptll1 counesy of the A,

wr the T hl 'C. "his�h\i'-w 1 C\t\ionstt'W) d�)c�11ntco1npk1el •rierogethcrnsh�s lei th ,tmionin l858. Jose ope L z relt\teS th, t h kn w ''-'t\ic n wt'IL He used to tr 1de nt hi. fath r's. inti n n ar an Fernando. He sold hinurn\t\V m n1s. lodgin!! anrl keel for his driving team. He Inter moved to Santa Paula where he died in 1s1 \\ idow mith's lc-eping House. located at 38839 San Frnncisquito Road, Green Valley. was tom d wn, parts fit

'ng snlvnued for a shed. while the stables were bulldozed into a ravine to the south

ofth h tel. buried in th 1

Os. Artifacts keep popping up from that location. a link to our dramatic

past. n , th Inst surviving Butterfield Overland Stage Stop in Los Angeles County.

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The Telegraph Line During the years that the Butterfield Stage operated, a telegraph line was being built connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco. This line was completed in 1860. It followed almost exa ctly the route of the Overland Stages. It traveled from Los Angeles to Lopez Station, Lyons', Widow Smith's, Mud Springs, Gormans, Fort Tejon and on to San Francisco. When the Overland Stages had stopped running this route a new Telegraph Stage Line was established. The Widow Smiths' was taken over in 1861 byTomDelano who ran the telegraph and stage station. He lived there many years raising this family. The Archives show this mining survey receipt for 160 acres he and his brother Charles obtained. (FME 046871)

Reproducedfrom the holdings of the National Archives, Pacific Southwest Region. The following pictures were taken at Elizabeth Lake. The hotel mysteriously burnt about 1982. It was found to be built with round nails and since all construction in earlier years used square nails, the Butterfield Overland stage, which stopped running in 1860, could not have stopped here. The Telegraph Line and Havilah Coach Line however, could have used the house and barn until they too were forced to give up the route. 42

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The above photograph shows a stage coach stop located on Elizabeth Lake Road. The stagecoach stop mysteri ously burned down in the late 1980s. Local folklore claims the barn (be low), which is located across the road from the stagecoach stop site, housed the horses and hay for the stage coaches.

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The Ortiz Adobe The Ortiz adobe is located on the West Side of Lake Elizabeth Road 500 Feet Nonh of

Comers. In 1978, the Antelope Valley Press ran an article with information from the West A Valley Historical Society regarding what may be the oldest structure in the Valley.

nteJ0

It's barrel-shaped chimney is cold now, but it still stands like a concrete sentinel over the coiin.,

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itself overgrown with weeds. Inside, the cold November wind whistles through broken windows and doors broken down b y curious, the vandals, the burglars. Yet the crumbling mud-brick walls of the Miguel Ortiz Adobe, up to two feet thick in plaQ continue to defy the attempts of man and the elements to destroy them. It is as if the walls knew that only they could preserve themselves. It is as if they knew that they were part of the oldest - and possibly the first - permanent struc� in the Lake Elizabeth area, as well as the adjoining alluvial desert plain that came to be known ast Antelope Valley. Unlike many structures of lesser historical or educational interest, no plaque or marker denotesi Ortiz Adobe. Although not forgotten by local historical societies, no serious attempt has been made to preseri or protect it. It sits today in a state of desolate deterioration on a comer of a 20 acre parcel al01 Elizabeth Lake Rd., not far from San Francisquito Rd., awaiting the inevitable results of time andu elements. But it was not always so. As recently as 1968, the old adobe was occupied for a six- month period by Clarence and� Durrell, now of Leona Valley, who have owned the property since 1945. Just how old is the adobe? Records differ, but the earliest recorded date seen by Durrell is 1853, long before ot her pennaJJC 44

s were erected in the area. Other estimates run as late as l 86S. dwel ling rical records, it appears likely that th e adobe was built a couple of years prior fiowever, from histo

old est building in the general area, the famed General Edward F. Bealee adobe , built in to the next 1863.

The Bealee adobe, still in use as a dwelling, lies at the mouth of Las Osas Canyon off Lanc aster Rd. between Neenach and Gorman, and has a colorful history of its own. The Ortiz adobe also antedates the nearby Talamantes - Andrada adobe at the comer of San Francisquito Canyon and Elizabeth Lake Rds., which for many years was a stage station when San Francisquito Canyon was the main route north from Los Angeles. The library of Elise Johnson, long-time Leona Valley resident now living in Palmdale, brought forth a record of the Ortiz Adobe's building. In "Historical Spots in California," published by the Stanford University Press in 1948, author Hero E. Rensch briefly details the background of the structure. 11

"La Casa de Miguel Ortiz, writes Rensch, "a long, one- story adobe, stands at the left of the old stage road which came up from San Francisquito Canyon and passed by Lake Elizabeth (known to the Spaniards as La Laguna de Chico Lopez) on its way north to Fort Tejon. "It is said to have been the first building erected at the lake and was built by Miguel Ortiz, a muleteer, who was in the employ of General Bea.lee. The land was given him by the general.

"This region also comprised one of the grazing lands of Chico Lopez in the 1840's, and was a haunt of Tiburcio Vasquez, the bandit, during the 1870s, he writes 11

Re nsch and his co-authors also give brief accounts of the building of the Bea.lee Adobe, a large, commodious structure in which the leader of the Army's famed camel corps lived for several years, and of the Talamantes-Andrada adobe, which at the time of Rensch's Writing was still occupied by Lucy Talamantes, granddaughter of Pedro Andrada. Unlike the Ortiz Adobe, however, the Talamantes-Andrada adobe has been incorporated into a private home with extensions on either end and modifications to the original structure, so that it is 45

ORTIZ ADOBE

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sible almost impos

to discern the original adobe.

What Ortiz built, he built well. That the 45-by-20 foot structure even stands today is a tribute to his primiti ve but sturdy workmanship. The adobe was just plain local mud and straw, mixed on- site, and made into bricks six inches thick and up to two feet in breadth. Doors entered each of the three rooms from the north side under an overhanging porch, and small windows were cut in the north wall of the west room. An open doorway adjoined the fireplaces separating the west and center rooms. It is unknown what type of roof completed the structure, but a wood-framed roof of redwood beams was added some time later, necessitating some additional adobe patchwork to blend the original gable with the new roof peak. At some later date, a concrete floor was added in the east room, and wood and metal patchwork was done on the south wall of the same room where the adobe had apparently collapsed. A concrete walk was added along the porch and there was evidence of concrete patchwork inside, although the floors in the west and center rooms remain dirt, covered by a well-worn rug. False ceilings - one of canvas - were later installed in the west and center rooms, but the east room remained open, as was the original. Whitewash and plaster completed the structure, but with the exception of portions of the north wall, virtually all the plaster has fallen off - a tribute, perhaps to the proximity of the main fault line of the San Andreas Fault, lying less than 200 feet away. Durrell's first association with the adobe came in 1931, when his father purchased an adjoining 40acre parcel to the east. The owner of the adobe at that time was R. B. Burns, who lived in the adobe until World War II. Durrell's wife, however, has recollections of the structure dating back to 1918, when she first came to the area. She remembers two small wooden buildings on the property, one of which was used as a grocery store. The other, torn down several years ago, had various uses, including storage for the 47

fruit grown in the orchard.

a weekend retre at, along wi!h taking«-:, From 1945 to 1968, the Durrells used the adobe as

the fruit trees and the gardens.

ral structures, but sparing the o ac.r, In 1952, fire swept through the property, taking down seve · record the adobe as i � --. 1952 was also the year m which Mrs. Durrell set brush to canvas to of their comfortable Le-,... in better days, a painting which presently graces a wall in the living room Valley home. Durrell recalls with displeasure several instances of vandalism which plagued the 0 -d ci.IJ', during that period. In one case, neighborhood boys broke into the property and rampaged through the adr,_i Although the boys were identified and law enforcement officials contacted, Durrell said they,..... never prosecuted. Another incident resulted when a metropolitan Los Angeles newspaper ran a feature article ou !:r adobe in a weekend edition, suggesting to its readers that the property would be a good place to vi£ Readers did just that - when Durrell wasn't present - and proceeded to tear down doors, brea windows, steal furnishings and left the place in shambles. As a result, he is understandably relucrz: to allow visitors into the property now, especially since it is in the process of being sold. "You only have to own a piece of property like that, and not be able to be there all the time wi: a shotgun, and they'll tear you up," he angrily comments. On his retirement in 1968, Durrell moved from the Los Angeles area to Lake Elizabeth and settle: in the historic adobe. The installation of a water system, several appliances, plenty of wood for� three fireplaces and other creature comforts and the adobe was livable again . Outside garden: blossomed and the fruit trees showed good yields, while remaining acreag e was sown to oat ha)'· Durrell's plans for the old adobe were cut short, however, by the triple terrors of governmenti regulations and red tape, rapidly escalating property taxes due to nearb y residential development, aJ1(i continuing vandalism. 48

First, the county building department refused to allow him to make i mprove ments or modificaÂ tions to the old structure, since it did not meet current building codes and had only a dirt foundation. "They wouldn't even let us build a breezeway," he recalls. Durrell finally threw in the towel and put the 40 acres up for sale, and moved to his present Leona Valley home. Heavy rains and snows in 1969 damaged the structure, and although the adobe was rented to another occupant for a short time, deterioration again quickly set in. The property was sold in two 20-acre parcels to Frank Tunzi of Ukiah in 1970. Although Tunzi has paid off the first parcel, Durrell still hold a trust deed on the northern parcel on which the adobe is located. "He told me he was going to preserve it," said Durrell, "but it is getting to be in very bad shape now, 1

primarily due to vandals." Durrell opposes having the state or some other agency take over the property for a historical

1 monument or park, since it would create difficulties in access and subdivision of the remaining 1

property. He feels a simple historical landmark marker, such as appear in front of the old stage stop

across from the Lake Elizabeth Ranch Club's golf course or Lancaster's Western Hotel would be more appropriate. Meanwhile, the cold November winds whistle through the broken windows, rustling through the dry weeds in what was once an attractive garden. The doors, their locks broken by those of destructive bent, lie ajar. The well-worn floors that once knew the steps of the pioneers, now seldom feel the steps of man. Like Miquel Ortiz, his La Casa Blanca lies forlorn and forgotten, an anachronism in a society in which time and permanence have little meaning. The adobe was bulldozed around 1980.

ONE HUNDRED MILES ON HORSEBAcďż˝ Essay by MARY AUSTIN TRAVEL UP SAN FRANCISQUITO CANYON IN 1888 About nine o'clock next morning we entered the mouth of San Francisquito canyon. Tr < canyon walls rose higher and narrowed as we proceeded, sometimes spilling gently into the hills wen rounded to a perfect dome, covered with grease wood and enlivened by the dark red satin smooc stems, and olive green foliage of the Manzanita. Sometimes bare and rugged cliffs with the strat, turned and twisted, and folded back upon itself, bearing on its face the marks of primeval fire ar.: flood. It is not possible for the mind to conceive of a force that could throw the elements of solid eart into such confusion as is here display ed. Opening out of the main canyon are innumerable smaller cross-canyons. In each one of these som: Mexican or Indian has built his hut of adobe or tule, planted his grapevine and set up his hived bees. The houses are low and thatched, ornamented with strings of red pepper and skins of wil( animals fastened on the walls of the house to dry, and all over flowing with dogs and childrenďż˝ dirty but picturesque confusion. Occasionally, somewhat back from the house, a little white woodei cross gleaming over a mound of earth made pathetically human a scene that might have bee, disgusting or merely amusing. The greater part of the honey shipped from California comes from San Francisquito Canyon. All along the canyon we saw traces of gold seekers . About the middle of the afternoon we began the ascent of what is known as the long gr ade. Th' canyon becomes so narrow that there is no room for a wagon road at the bottom, consequentIY ' road is forced to climb the side of the mountain. For adistance of two miles it rises gradually, windiJli th

f the mountain while far below it, the suÂˇcam rushes and roars a nd tumbles , flashing s ab<>ut the ide o cad es or foaming in angry eddies. Up the roads winds a yellow line along the steep slope in ri nY cas on wall, every curve apparemly termfoating in a shee r precipice, but the point being of the cany on the rounded front of the next hill, the road lies far above. It rises this spiral line reached, behold only from the bottom of the canyon to a point one thousand feet above, where looking up one can see blue sky pierced by peaks more deeply blue, and down the almost vertical wall of the canyon one can scarcely see the tops of the tall trees that hide the brawling stream. There is something indescribably awesome, traveling thus in the fast deepening twilight through the narrow gorges where the mountains close in upon so silently and mysteriously that one unfamiliar with such scenes would declare that there is no outlet in either direction. On previous nights the petticoat members of our party had camped in the wagon, but tonight, wrapped in our blankets, Indian fashion, we lay peacefully down under the bright stars of California in the shadow of her majestic mountains and snore. The next morning being Sunday we rested a part of the day, but owing to the difficulty of finding suitable camping places we are obliged to break camp about three o'clock in the afternoon. The ascent known as the Tijunga Pass is long and steep and on account of the altitude and lateness of the hour the air was quite chilly, but the summit once reached we were fully repaid for our pains. Below us lay the green panorama of the canyon, while round about us peak after peak rose in view, violet, purple and rose, outlined against the flaming gold of the sunset sky. The whole arch of the heavens was suffused with glowing rose color save where the ridge on which we stood intercepted. The waning light, leaving a broad band of deepest blue along the eastern horizon, where the stars were already gleaming.

The complete essay, One Hundred Miles on Horseback, can be found in the County Library.

SAN FRANCISQUITO COUNTY ROAb William Osborne was chailman of the Board of Supervisors in L os Angeles County abo

uq�

when they reconstructed the county road up San Francisquito Canyon to Elizabeth Lake• The r0q had followed directly up the bottom of the creek. This was the route taken by the freight te ams, S and all other transport.

tagt

The road was taken from the canyon bottom about where Power Station I is now and routed alo·'< the north canyon wall which was affectionately labeled by locals as "The Goat Trail." Supervisor Osborne ran three freight teams of his own, and was much concerned that the road II: constructed properly. He came to Lopez Station and asked Jose if he would look over the work bei;. done. He felt that an opinion from someone outside of the Board of Supervisors would be best & particularly charged Jose to observe if the turns were being made wide and long enough, and if ar large rocks were being left in the road bed. Jose road up the canyon, on horseback, and looked over the work being done and at the complett: portion of the road. · In those days the men worked from sunup to sundown and had to walk aw or more up the grade in the morning, and down again after work at night. As a consequence, tht accomplished very little while they were on the job. But they were working hard and were makiP a road good enough for the traffic of those days, and Jose so reported to Osborne upon his rellJlii The U.S. Army Engineers explored a little to the east of Green Valley to find more level 1and

build a railroad. Their route followed an old Indian trail to the Mojave Desert and roughly follow�, Soledad Canyon up to the present Palmdale and Lancaster.

U On September 5, 1876 shortly after the noon hour, the railroad connection was made between led� Angeles and San Francisco with the spike driving ceremonies at the station of Lang in So

Canyon . This effectively ended the heavily used San Francisquito Canyon as a main rravel routl· ildin! The 1900s saw the Los Angeles Deprutment of Water and Power take over the canyon, bu 52

the owens River Aqueduct with its tunnels, power stations, transmission lines and dams. Through traffic was discouraged. Over one hundred years after the freighters and stage coaches had stopped, the County, in 1976, finished paving and straightening the last four miles of San Francisquito Road, opening it to through traffic. This completed road made Green Valley directly accessible to Santa Clarita. The route now poses a new concern with travel at almost freeway speeds.

School The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1869 officially designated Eli zabeth

laďż˝

School District for this area. This makes our schooling efforts here official for we're the oni established school between Los Angeles and Bakersfield.

A wooden structure was built which lasted until replaced in the 1920s by the adobe structure r, the east side of Lake Elizabeth Road and a quarter mile north of Andrada Corners. The Long B

ear:

earthquake of 1932 created the Field Act which condemned all school structures not reinfor ced 'li'ii steel. This two room adobe was used by our kids until the present school was built across from Mn Ranch house. Johanna Muschinske, former store owner, tells of her husband Martin talking the E li zabeth L31 school district into getting him a bus as the few families that lived here were care-takers of Couru kids and had no transportation. She said her son Marty attended school with only nine other kids an a great teacher, Mrs. Maxwell, who taught all eight grades. She said Margaret Barth took overm school bus when they sold the store.

The Elizabeth Lake School, which housed studentsfrom 1869 to 1931. The building was torn down when the new school building below was completed. The photo below shows the Elizabeth Lake School, which is made of adobe. The adobe school housed students from 1931 to 1959. Photographs and information courtesy of the West Antelope Valley Historical Society.

Angeles National Forest \.\'hen California became a state in 1850, a Board of Land Commissioners was se t up by Co to segregate p1ivate land from land considered unusable (desert, mountains. etc.) which bec�grt of the Public Domain. Today it is called the Bureau of Land Management. In 1862 Con gress ene�;· the Homestead Act, later revised and extended to provide a settler wi th 160 acres of free publica�� for cultivation, improvement, and eventual ownership. Records indicate there were seven ho steads that made up Green Valley. In 1898 the Pine Mountain Forest (Timberland) Re serve:) formed. Green Valley was in the Saugus area of that reserve. Santa Barbara was adde d in 1903. Mr. of the homesteads established before 1898 were allowed to stand. In 1925 Saugus was made � a of the Angeles National Forest and the homesteads of Green Valley formed a privately owned isJ: . in the forest.

Settling Green Valley - The Homesteads These records were obtained from the holdings of the National Archives in Laguna Nigel. Researching the Archives was very enlightening, you have very few secrets! The records included infonnation from the Census, IRS, INS, real estate records, genealogy, in fact, all federal documents are recorded and stored here. We thought that the best way to develop our story was to simply list the settlers with their contributions to the growth of Green Valley. Morton, Washington S. and Mary L. #4043 Purchased 80 acres 4-1-1902 N 1/2 of Sw 1/4 Sec. 18 South Side of Spunky Canyon Rd. Occupation: Fanner from Indiana Born: Washington S. 1860, Mary L. 1867 Children: Alice 1894, Walter J. 1897 Sold property in 1925 to Rimmers, who immediately sold it to Nina and Louis Fishbeck. The settler, Washington S. Morton, was of particular interest because he wrote for us his remembrances of Green Valley living. It was so interesting, written in the language of a bygone era, it has been included, with appreciation, exactly as it was written.

The Story of the Ranch by Washington S. Morton A short history of our homestead and ranch life in California beginning January 1897 to 1904 when we prove d up. When the Randsburg mining excitement broke out, I took my family and joined the rush but I never reached the gold fields as we got stuck on the ranch and gave up the notion of going farther.

kin fe!\Sin,g th flow of wnter. thnt grentest of nil treasures in California is conducted in a VÂ

slmpNl t.1 ,ngh to nn iron pipe hence on below. On this wooden trough birds love to sit and drink. But , n i r nntm-e ,iislt, he.re nlso .. \Vild cnts. coons. mountain lions. skunks and foxes lurk among the rocks t\nrl lenp npon tl\eir prey as tl1ey drink. Fear.hers can be found upon the ground any time. In the ars of our residence upon this ranch many a sanguinary battle did we listen to in the middle of the night. Loud 1 ells, crashing of brush and the unmistakable death cry of some animal. There used to be many bear in these parts but they are growing scarcer and wilder every year. The mountain Hon is quite plentiful yet, seldom seen. a quiet and reticent animal yet when they do howl it L dismal and ear splitting. They use to come quite close to the cabin and howl and wake us all up. Several times I left my wife for a week with the children only for company, the nearest neighbor two miles away. Once in going below I met Charley Cox, and after we had talked a while he said, "Samp, that was his brother) "Samp saw a mountain lion over by Dowds gate yesterday. Dowds gate was three-fourths of a mile from my cabin and as I drove along I began to think of Mary and the kids. Walt.er, a two year old, runs in the brush with bow and arrow and dog hunting lizards most of the time. H would hardly make a square meal for a hungry lion, but I must attend to business and trust to luck. This load of manzanita lumber must be sold. That night as I rolled up in my blankets by the lonely roadside in my bed of sand, the horses were contentedly grinding their hay away, in the distance a coyote was howling. My thoughts would go back to that lonely mountain cabin that held my dear little family. I could in fancy see that mountain lion stalking my children. I made a quick trip below and when I returned and came in sight of the cabin I began to halloo and yell and it was with great relief I saw all come running out of the cabin to meet me. Lions of California are larger than those of Colorado and other parts, yet not so fierce, seldom will he anack a man, preying mostly of deer, calves and colts yet they have been known to kill men. But the most dangerous enemy was the rattlers. Here they grow large and fat, sometimes six feet lo ng and six or eight inches around. They have a fixed smile that never looked good to me. O ur dog 59

was a small full blooded yellow dog. He was full of courage and good dog sense. His delight �'' ) he would Snakes keep tree. a at up them b run or them b ay kill to hunt all kinds of varmints, � and circling around them. If it was in high brush he would bounce above the brush looking anct barki·. t and I me wo call would uld s he hoot it!)., for me to come and kill it. If he had a wild cat up a tree he would have hold of it before it struck the ground. My how he would shake it. All had to fight wfti he found them or do some tall running. This little yellow dog's ears never drooped but stood up� like coyotes ears. He was the noisiest dog I ever knew. At night the least noise would rouse him e:; away he would go like a bullet out of a gun into the woods barking loud enough to wake the cb: The way I came to be possessed by this dog was this way. He came to our house when a small Pt; but would never let me touch him, nor would he mind anyone. One day I cornered him, grabbedh::; by the scuff of the neck and thrashed him good, from that time on I never could get away from hi: and he seemed to worship me. He had found a master and someone who took an interest in him & would lay and blink at me with his brown eyes, go hunting with me, with keen relish, capture all tl cripples. While hauling lumber I sawed in my little Saw Mill, he would watch the wagon and no oo dog or man dare touch it if I was away. He became so useful in the capacity of a horse for the ro drawing a small sled or wagon and seemed to enjoy it, if they did not carry a whip. I have talked qci:! a bit of my humble little friend Don, but if it should ever be my luck to reach the Happy Hunti:! Ground, I should like to meet this same little yellow dog. He met his death in Pasadena by poi% I afterwards came in possession of another dog, a melancholy shepherd. He looked to be old an: seemed to wish he were dead. Yet he was very much afraid of a gun. Once as I was passin g the Tue� ranch house I was firing at quail, the dog faded away in the brush. Soon I was hailed by a man at ti:t house to come up and take my dog out from under the bed. I tried in vain to coax him to come 01 and got a savage bite through the hand. I got him outdoors and when I let go he slid past us in trt doorway and crawled under the bed again. The rancher seemed struck with admiration of such a fine dog that he begged me to give hUJl

tl'J

dog. I hated to give him away as I wanted to give him his deserts but I let him assume 0wnershiP

the valuable animal which was brief. a I had not left fifteen minutes until here comes the dog after us. He probabl ' bit the man to get back to us. I shouted to the dog to go back, punctuating it with th barrels of the old shot gun. The dog became suddenly obedient and went back down in the road '"ith alacrity. We also had a large smooth haired dog we called Boone in honor of a very large smooth black man -we knew. They looked so much alike that you would almost take them to be brothers. Boone was not much account for anything except to laugh al He was very intelligent and in the right hands could have become a linguist He could warble and mumble trying to make us understand dog Latin he would wing up with a grin closing one eye in the most comical way. ow Boone could steal and eat a whole roll of butter in less than a minute, but the scream of a lion orwild catwouldfill him with great terror. One balmy summer night the distant cry of some mountain denizen came to us. Boone rose up on his hind legs, placing his fore paws one on each of my shoulders, he looked me in the face with terror stricken yellow eyes mumbling and talking, begging me to let him sleep in the house that night. We differed from most mountaineers in that way, as we never allowed any dogs, cats nor any of the live stock in the house. My little yellow dog never came into our house yet he never failed to go into any one else's house. No wild beast ever yelled around but what he would rush about to hunt them up. He never bothered around while we were eating, but Boone, my he was a caution, he had an immense mouth and while we were eating he would sit watching us and his jaws would keep working and dripping. He was always hungry as an alligator, yet he rud not like game very much. He had a queer habit of making high jumps in rapid succession higher than horses heads, barking with delight when we started out to go away. He would go frantic with delight when I took down the gun. He would lick and slobber over the muzzle of the gun, talking animals all the time. We often laughed at this dog until we would get tired. While I am writing about 1 w ill continue a little fanher. One day M , my wife, was admiring our beautiful field of grain, waving like golden billows. As ary

she stooped over to look under an oak limb to get a better view, a mountain lion sto od l o o i k ngC\J. riously at her. She came running to the house shouting, "Oh! Papa here is that nasty old lion." 1v; •

had noticed his tracks around on the ranch quite a while. I dropped my old guitar, grabbed the�

and tore out the wrong door and looked in the wrong direction. "No she said, not th at way", 11 ,

he was gone. But he left his tracks, large ones too.

�

In traveling to and from Pasadena over this fifty-two miles of mountain road, there was abouti

mile of steep grade in the San Fernando Pass. It is bad yet, but then it was terrible. No oiled ro¼ those days. This hill was a terrible trial for my horses. Many times I have been stuck on that oldhil) and I always approached it with fear and trembling if I was loaded with lumber or freight. I know the recording angel must have had several deputies at work over that hill, talcing downcllll words that were used to encourage the horses to supreme effort by anxious teamsters. I had all kW! of horses to deal with. Tony, a big Oregon Hamiltonian, a good everlasting old horse now, but young then. Fris� a well named horse, funny as a monkey. A most affectionate horse. I have seen him neip at a person he had not seen for some time if he saw them at a distance. Then we had old Charlie. He was a thorough bred invalid, seemed to have spells that lasted alwai1 of being sickish. Then Old Jerry, a white horse, you know there is something uncommon about a white horse. t you will notice whenever you see a white horse, if you will look around, you will see a red heaM woman. If you don't see her then, the next one you meet will be red headed. Then spit on your li� finger and you will have good luck all day. Try it. Now Jerry's master would not sell him although he had no use for him at all, but would hire]lil! to me very cheap. The reason was that Jerry had been bought and sold many times an d ev ery ti% the seller took sick and died in a very short time. Then I bought Ned, a black. Ned had grown old in a one horse delivery wagon and had ne�� • . 100! • worked double. When he was hitched up double, he balked. He never did it before m all 1115

e he life of hard work. He shut his eyes and his old parrot mouth would grin horribly . After a whil would come out of his trance and move off. I started from Pasadena for the ranch with a heavy load of pipe with the family on the seat with me. I thought I would teach Ned the art of stopp ing of a hill, take a short rest, then pull again. I took a short stop on a hill with a deep gulch on one side , but when we want to start up he lunged back with such force that the heavy wagon tongue bent like a buggy whip rolling the heavy wagon back. I managed to set the brake as the wagon was about to roll over the embankment. Mary, who is always quick to think in case of accident,jumped off the high seat and I tumbled both children into her arms. I then set the brake, cut the horses and let old Ned roll to the bottom of the gulch. We rolled the wagon to the bottom of the hill, by Mary holding the brake while I guided the wagon by the tongue. I hitched up the horse again and went on our way. In going up the long grade, where the road winds around hundreds of feet above the bottom of the canyon, a neighbor had spliced his team on ahead of mine. We were sweating over a rocky bed of road (called the devils washboard). Ned was pulling so hard he fell flat in the road. He rose to his feet and began suddenly to haul back the wagon. The wagon ran backward for about thirty feet, dragging all four horses. I managed to set the brake just as the hind wheels were on the edge of the road. If the wagon had gone six inches more, I would have had to jump and that would have been the last of the whole team and wagon. A short distance above here, a large freight wagon, it was the first wagon of a train of three drawn by eighteen head, in turning on the inside curve ran over the bank breaking away from the two rear wagons and what seems to be a miracle also broke off the tongue and draft rods, rolled down the mountain side spilling groceries and coal oil, leaving the team and the rest of the outfit safe on the road. They had a large new wagon, on the rear wagon. They oiled it up and set her up in place of the lost wagon and moved on. This outfit were returning to Inyo County from Los Angeles having taken ten ton of apples down. Now in the course of time, Ned became a good steady puller and did good service, but being city 63

bred and nlw lYS w 11 fed und stab! d, he soon left his bones to whiten in the sun. Th •n \ be om th own •r of Duisy, a little bronco of about seven hundred pounds, but

sht �,.

a dais . Th' form· r own r had just returned from a litlle drive of 2800 miles and she was inf'inc n.� -� an i spirits. H said that whoever owned her was sure of good luck, and 1 can't call him a lia r. (

lu • ha changed. We do not have to skimp and gouge as we used to. Now Daisy is true as Steel made of splendid timber. Many and many load of freight has she helped her big mate, Tony,

ar<

Y¼ to the top of New Hall grade. She would pull so hard that she would tremble all over. A few mo � rest and she would be good as new. This big Hamiltonian, old Tony, and Daisy made a comical team. He large and powerful with o{ feet. Her with small feet and legs and dainty way. But when out on pasture she abuses T0r. shamefully running him around biting and kicking him. But when he would craw 1 into the high� after chilacota vines, she would lose him. Then with a most heart rendering neigh, she would SIi: on a run to hunt him up, squealing. He would not show up for quite a while. Right smart, like son married folks a neighbor said. Now when I took up this land times were very hard. No work was doing in the country, al.so i drought with no crops. Consequently, a large ranch of 96,000 acres, now called San Fernando Vall� was planted two years getting nothing in return. This was in the lowlands. How is that for a IOi compared to what I lost. Only five inches of rain one year. Scarcely no wild feed, hay was shipped in from Arizona which cost $24 per ton of timoili!

Srarving horses picked at it gingerly. Many thousands of horses were killed as there was no sa]eia them. Over 5,000 head were sent north over the San Francisquito Pass. That year I planted 500 apple trees, 400 grapes, cleared acres of ground. work, well I guess I diJ Also my wife and every one I could get hold of. I fenced three sides of my land and the other�& was fenced by a mountain, a couple of thousand feet higher than the ranch. I planted corn ali . .I potatoes. We worked hard, wife and I. I grubbed up brush, she burned it. I plowed and b1dfaif

8 show up the best cultivated piece of ground in the country, but the drought set all I did at naught. � 64

oyed it. Those old days of toil and great expectations. A smile of delight always comes rnY bow we enj ce when she speaks of it. 10 rny wife's fa The grub stake must be paid for, so I would have to go back to Pasadena and hunt up work to pay for it. Many times we went to the ranch with no money to speak of. It al ways consumed two days to rnake the trip. So one night we would have to camp on the road, and if it was storm y or rainy, as often it was, it would take three or four days, if our wagon was heavy loaded, as the roads were seldom worked then. There were hills of slippery mud to climb, streams to ford and many other difficul ties. I often would get vexed and cross and go whooping and cussin around calling the horses insulting names. I would often include the ranch in this very effective discourse. Then when the camp work was done, I would go into the tent and Mary was as happy as a clam, cooking on the sheet iron stove, made from an old wash tub turned up side down with a stove pipe in one side. She would smile at me and this would drive all care away. I have often wondered what some women I have met would have done under the same circumstances, rain pouring down, wood wet, two small restless children climbing over everything, bed clothes, grub and harness in a hopeless tangle. Yet, this happened many times and she never once did she grumble. I did it all. We kept this up for three years. We can say we never lived a hum drum existence. We met so many interesting folks, as queer as ourÂ selves. Many things of much interest happened to us during the dry years. We met many people going to Oregon to get out of this accursed country where it never rains. Hundreds of them on the road, it looked like a mining boom. Let us see some rain again. I am going to a country where it always rains. Springs went dry that had never gone dry before. A great hydraulic mine that had worked for several years ripping down the mountain side had shut down for the want of water. At the intake you could not have found water enough to water a mouse. Cattle became mere shadows and browsed on brush that they never would eat before. Many died, bones strew the roadside, dropped fr om hurrying flocks and herds. 65

One great herd of sheep in crossing the mountains in cold drizzly weather d ied by t ho u saii Twenty skinners with wagons followed the herd skinning those that fell by the wayside. But� died so fast, the skinners could not get them all. Dead animals is an old st0ry to me. Thousan ds ha,;: I seen in droves and others that have succumbed to the blizzards of the prairies. Thousands di e-0 1 a strange disease in the San Joaquin Valley during my sojourn on the Carr and Haggin cat tle ranq

These cattle were skinned by pulling off the hide in a jiffy with a team of horses.

My apple orchard and vineyard succumbed to the drought. During my absence , of about ti.:

weeks, a man with a wife and seven children stopped in an old adobe house belonging to the ado.).

ranch. He turned his cattle into my ranch to eat my corn, which was doing fairly well, they dug� all of my potatoes and that is the last of one years crop. I was ranching alone, leaving my wife�

Pasadena now. One day I cooked my breakfast, hitched up my horse and went into Antelope Vall� to try to get a job picking almonds. I failed to get a job and returned that night to find that my hou..�

had burned to the ground, flat, during my absence. All that was left was the stone chimney ari

fireplace and a huge bed of coals. I had a good day in getting game and I cooked my supper over�< burning sill of my cabin.

It was with a heavy heart that I lay down that night. I lay, rolled in my blankets, watching the smo�

curling upward from the dear old cabin house. I slept poorly that night. I began to realize how mud

I had lost, all my tools, furniture, my old guitar so very old and sweet of tone, my new gold dry washer.

homers clothes farming implement, as I had a habit of hanging and leaning them against the si�

of the cabin. The fire had made a clean sweep of these things, but I was glad the fire had not gotten

into the hills and swept off the timber.

I went to Pasaden a and told my wife about it. She looked quite taken back and said, "Oh! Myain

that too bad." We held a powwow and we concluded to build another.

I had but one horse now, Ned the old black had died, but I found a man who had a good mate

fl'!

my horse, Tony. This man loved the mountains. I took a nip with him back to the ranch, canJin

lumber to build a new cabin. By tremendous pulling we got there. I found that the neighbOCS baa

had left, thinking I would never come back again, but I fooled them that time. carried off all I Now I will always remember this friend of mine, his name was O. S. Compton. He proved to be a most remarkable companion and splendid genius and a most undefataguab le worker, a man

who

had see n much of our country and capable of telling it. The old site was on uneven ground, he suggested to grade it off. One day's work with the team plow and scraper made this crooked bump as flat and level as a table. We tore down the old fireplace and set up our frame, 12 x 20 long way of the house east and west. On the west end we rebuilt a fireplace 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, 2 1/2 feet deep. Compton put up one jamb and I the south jamb, but his side looks the best. We used red adobe for the mortar and it is as durable as lime mortar. This fireplace afterward proved to be one of the greatest blessings to my little family. Many a cold winter night, how we sat before the glowing oak wood and read, told stories, talked, popped corn, roasted potatoes in the ashes. Outside, the wind howling, snow flying in the air, and in the surrounding hills, the cries and howls of wild nature. In knocking about the west, I have seen many remains of old fireplaces marking a once happy home. Probably, the children were young and love and contentment reigned there. It always brings sadness to one to contemplate these homestead ruins. Several miles down the canyon stands, on a high bench above the river, half of the wall of a ruined stone house. The other half is cut away by the river. In one of the walls is a good fireplace. Back of this, under a large oak, is an adobe and stone oven both in good repair. After working on the house for a few days, we cut a load of manzanita off a piece of ground I was clearing. This is one of the most beautiful woods in the world of a rich dark red and white, sometimes reddish brown, sometimes with streaks of green, it is very hard, takes a polish like ivory. The novelty workers made it into cones, napkin rings, collar buttons, gavels for lodges and hundreds of other thing s. These were sold to tourists from the east The name manzanita comes from the Spanish language meaning little apple, the berries look like a small green apple. The leaves are light green ,

the bark is blood red and smooth as polished leather, making a very striking and beautiful sllflib� It grew in this locality to the greatest perfection of any place I ever saw in the state, often 18.inc � � re f any value of exce as pt w wood the for i wo d in diameter. It was three years before I knew 0 ' 'li' procured more lumber and hiked back to the ranch, put on the roof, hung doors, put in windows

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cupboards ' shelves ' etc · By aid of the manzanita we sold, I rebuilt the house, put in sev eral acres� grain, graded approaching roads to the cabin, mended fences, worked on the spring tunnel, huntt: small game. Compton and I spent many pleasant evenings before our big fireplace. One board was a!W a supplied with good things to eat and plenty of game. Now I rustled around and bought an old steam engine, built a band saw machine. I took this ouc to the ranch with a great load of provisions. The load was so heavy I could not get to the ranch wr: it all. As the wagon began to straddle and showed signs of breaking down every minute, I left Mai-, and the kids and half the load at the Tucker ranch. I took the boiler to the home ranch and this: unloaded by myself. It was an upright. With the aid of three iron rollers, a block and tackle, lotscr grunting, prying, and lifting I got it down the skid, off the wagon, without upsetting it It was with much joy we began housekeeping in our new house. I had harvested some hay and ha: the house about one-half full, but we soon moved that out as it is not a good thing nor pleasant toli11 in a house half full of hay, as the snakes, bugs, lizards, mice and other vennin come in to shareou abode.· So I built a 3-wire corral and stacked that and other hay in it. I set up my little saw mill, under the shade of a large oak tree, near the kitchen door so I couldc� my wife when needed. My neighbor Juan Celis had 400 acres of land. I proceeded to cut manzani� off his mountain land and saved mine for the future. This cutting manzanita trees had all the elem�n� of excitement that belong to mining. You did not know until you f elled the tree if it was worth nothW �11 or $10.00 . So a days work was likely to be good enough to make a man feel good. I would cut

or three loads of trees, as much as the horses could draw, then I would stean1 up and saw for 1wo sd) three days. As I sawed, Mary would take it to a bin built in the corner of the house, stack it cJo

wn, as the rare m ountain air checked and cracked the lumber so it would become and wet it do wďż˝rth less . The limbs were sawed, then bored on the lathe, then packed in tin cans with saw dust wet ing the manzanita, uncut logs had to be covered with wet sacks to prevent cra cking. down. While saw boi ler, Ma ny plea sa nt days did we put in at this business, Mary and I. One day as she was fi.ring the

her quite th e water glass burst the glass tub e and cut her cheek quite bad and the escap ing steam gave uite a a scar e. As time rolled on, I learned how to sell, how to cut, what to cut, etc. and we made q spe ck of money out of it. Life on the ranch took on a brighter hue.

As the house and bin got full of lumber, I had to load up and haul it to market. It usually sold as fast as I could produce it. A wagon box full brought $50.00, the rings 3 cents a piece, so it was no trick to deliver $75.00 worth in one trip. I hauled back lumber, enough to house my machinery, as sawing in a tent in winter time, the heavy snow fall broke it down. I once camped with an old teamster who was anxious to know if my load was on fire as he saw me throwing buckets of water into the wagon. What are you loaded with he inquired. Napkin rings I said. Napkin rings! Yes and I am sure no one but me ever made a business of hauling napkin rings over this road before. Well pardner, I guess that's right. I once brought a load of 3660 napkin rings, these were worth 3 cents a piece. Another time a wagon box level full, worth $50.00, seven hundred napkin rings 3 cents a piece, $21.00, eighty cones worth 50 cents a piece. My little saw mill well housed made a fine place to work in when it snowed or rained. Those who know machinery will laugh when I say that I used no governor on the steamer, but governed with the load when she ran fast I fed fast and visa versa. I had a cord running to the throttle valve that I shut on and or off from my place at the saw or lathe. One day this cord got caught on the chuck and wound up and jerked off the valve stem, at the same time opening a full head of steam. Instantly I had a runaway engine and no way to shut her down. The belt flew off and away she went. 1 yelled for Mary and the kids get out and they disappeared like young quail when there is a hawk in the sky. The boiler and engine were bouncing around almost ready to fall on the side. The old machine 69

I !he music of the safety valve which kept bobbing up and down -,-,. l ue n Sb e :, . and cut a pigeon '"''ing. I did not know what to do, but m desperation r grabh_� Ul:Q, up. beam and jammerl it ber.veen the boiler and fly wheel. She slowed down and finallh!O) ,I •

tee.

Christmas came. Mary had provided for this and was supplied with many pretty little

me · rlren and I never knew she had, toys that delight the smaller children, strings of popcorn,

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lotS of small colored candles to illuminate the tree. I cut a small manz:ani ta tree .

portions, mounted it on a board. It proved to be quite a success and was quite a beauti f

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decorated iI:s pe.arl and pink blossoms help liven up the effect. Mr. and Mrs. Dow d, these we;,

nearest neigbors, almost like next door, they lived only two miles from us, we invited them to :'"· h

e often think of this as a very fine Christmas.

We cut manzanita when the weather would pennit But in the California Sierras the snow

drift and the wind blow, yet the cold is never very intense. Finally a great storm came. I was.: :rwenty miles away, at Palmdale, getting supplies. I had quite a time for two days getting

through the snow, over the divide, down to my cabin home and family. The storm lasted for 13 ·

without cessation. The snow drifted and covered my big wood pile, so deep in it, that I could nOi,

a stick out without much labor. So I pulled down dead limbs off the trees with my riota tied ro:

saddle, harnessing my saddle horse. I also blasted up dead trees and logs with dynamite. Myk

the wind did blow and the snow drift and fly. But inside the cabin, the fire place was burning bri� and we were happy.

�: Mary was always busy cooking something good to eat, the little children playing with their

about the floor. It was a picture I never shall forget. We were poor but happy. It is not moneY�

brings happiness as I have found out While the snow was on, I killed many quail, both rnoUJI� d00 and valley quail. They are both beautiful birds, especially the mountain quail. They are about mdof the size of the valley quail and much better meat. We killed so many that we had to sal t the for the future and they proved to keep well and were fine eating. 70

The snow had fallen in great drifts and the brush and small trees were weighted down, showing beautiful g reen cavern s. The average Californian misses this winter weather and I think their health

would be better if they could get a little of it to tone up their system and put some snap into them. After this great stonn, the ranch, lying in the north canyon of a great mountain, it looked awful wintery and I could do no work. So I loaded up a light load and floun dered out to the main road. Here the snow lay about two foot on the level. Three miles further, we were entirely out of snow and when we camped that night the winter had disappeared and the horses were knee deep in grass. An Indian strayed into our n eighborhood and I hired him to cut manzanita for quite a while. He had been educated in a Spanish Mission in Mexico by priests. He began teaching me Spanish and it looked odd to see this wild man paraphrasing and conjugating with the greatest of care. The brain power of some red men is great. He had not much knowledge of English, so we passed many pleasant hours teaching each other our respective languages. He had a small and very bright dog that he loved very much. Juan Garcia, me named same as great man in Cuba. Juan had the failin g that many of the children of the forest and plains have and it was with sad voice he related the following in part Spanish and part English. "One time me Juan, mucho reco, very rich." "Is that so, Juan? How much you have?" "Quatrente pesos, $40.00." "You did. How did you manage to get away with it?" "Oh! You know Juan, heap dam foot. Me go to Palmdale, got on one big dam drunk. Me wake up, din ero, mon ey vamose, all gone. Ceruda no mano Juan Campo mucho wano. Town not good for Juan. Country is good." He looked aroun d upon the brilliant mountain s with a contented air. He was remarkably strong and could carry squaw fashion an immense load of wood. I treated him like a man and he liked me very much. He would pat me on the back affectionately and say, "V un bean umbra." You good man. Once, in felling a large tree, it fell across me, pinning me to the ground. It did not hurt me, but I was fast and could not get up without help. But he was unable to help me for quite a while, as he had a fit of laughing. It struck him as the greatest joke of aÂˇlife time. The only thing that could have made it funnier, would have been for me to be killed 71

outright. He finally calmed down enough to pry me out The great peculiarity of the California Mexicans and Indians is the spirit of inde e P nctenc 1 e . \. would rather take aJ· ob of work for one-half by contract they could make by th e day Th . eyJilce to� I a short rest occasionally and roll a cigarette. Yet they are not bad workers a nd are sturct Y fllen Californ in lived ia for twenty Odd when they do work it is with a hearty good will. I have Years'�1, never received any ill treatment or unkind word, always courteous kind, and obliging and ct·1gn1f .., I have, since I quit the ranch and in the capacity of contractor, had to hire all breeds of la borer;., always take a Mexican in preference to any other.

We had some neighbors who were always a source of delight to contemplate. Ther e was Mr.;·, Mrs. Dowd. He had been a drummer in his younger days, but becoming infatuate d with

!ht-(

mountains while on a camping trip, had settled in here. They never leave except to haul off the farm products and get supplies for the home. He has� all over the great west and Alaska and loves to look upon his old prospect pick and shovel yet� is beyond 70 years, but can hop on his bronco and herd cattle like a hurricane or shoulder a rifleu walk lots of younger men tired. There was the Cox family. Mr. Cox and his fine wife, two boys, Robert and Charlie, a goo motherly little girl, Mable and long string of smaller brothers and sisters. Bow and arrows gal�'. about 15 guns of all sizes and bores and calibers. Dogs, there were in plenty. At one time theyh! 20 dogs on the place and one bitch brought forth a litter of 17 pups, this brought the total upto: dogs. The father and the larger boys worked assessments for prospectors and hunted de er most of

time, and the smaller ones, with bows and arrows, hunted snakes, rabbits, lizards , birds or any sit that could afford a mark. Many happy days were put in this way in company with these young

It was seldom that game of some kind did not grace the Cox's table.

. 11/o The father, when a boy in the state of Missouri, was dtiving home the cows in the evenwg. f theO� bushwhackers appeared and killed the father and then drew a bead on the boy, but one 0 72

little children. She is now buried where so many white wooden cros ses point to th e sky"' ·•1ark·101 : graves of the old pioneers of California, a race of people so brave, hospitab le ki d ' n and go • • !lrj One of the most beautiful scenes man can look upon 1s a view from the high mou . nta1n abo ut, miles north of the ranch. A view of the great Mojave Desert and Antelope Valley anct k n OV11nl . · I do, it is like looking into the face of an old and dear friend. On a clear sunny day colo , rs rarr¾ there to the north lies the desert range called Calico Mountain. Far to the no rth is the sn owyr;. of the Sierra Nevada, among them is Mt. Whitney, 15,000 feet high. Between, lies thousands ofi1r,.,. buttes in the bowels of which thousands of miners are digging those princes of metal s, gold and sill': Yonder rises Soledad Mountain and Aladin Palace, lined with gold. There is Hamil ton's Moun� whose history of mineral wealth and real romance was never equaled by fictitious pen. Years q I knew this bright golden plain when the horses, antelope and cattle ran in great droves andclo,r. of dust would be seen for miles. But no pen like mine can describe the flow of light across this great plain, varying as the co'.[ of some brilliant sea shell. Away yonder is the broad expanse that look like seas. These are the bono:. of dried up ancient lakes. Here are rock ribbed mountains of phosphory. There is black flowsoflav. If I were a writer, what tales I could write of. Tales told me by miners, cowboys, settlers a. adventurers around the magic camp fire. This little account, written by me, will be read by my children with probable interest years he� as I often read a diary, of two short duration, as it was kept up but a few days by my father longs� dead, written on the bloody battle fields of the South. This is but a sketch of our seven years on the ranch. It was not a humdrum existence by any in¢ etnn· .,eut· you get that in the city. A few hours of city life palls on the mountaineers. It is a case of g to a thing.

'd "Y� I once spoke to a city man who had bought a foothill ranch. He looked awful unh appy. 1 sai dse¢' have a beautiful home here, so quiet, such clean air, no more smoke, noise , dust, manure an ti/I u s t ist a his i,ea rM f k and air the beat went z a into shoo He fren y and yelled as he to poison the air." 74

hills, "Oh! I love the city! Oh! I love the city! Give me the noise, stink, and smell. Why did I e ve r come out here?" He was a corn doctor in the city too. I wish to speak more of my neighbors. There was Mr. H, a half breed Cherokee, his father being a German. He was a kindly old man, but swore every other word, uneducated yet in spite of his years, which were 80, he enjoyed a fandango and never missed a set. He was quite rich in cattle and land. His place had the picturesque look of a cattle ranch, old circular lasso pens built of round poles bound up with raw hide. And his boys were the most handsome and pleasant fellows one could meet, the mother, being of an old family of Spanish ,'

Californians. All splendid riders, it is a pleasure to see them on horseback. Then there was Mr. Fokes, an old time democrat from the South. He was also quite well to do in cattle and land. He had several sons, natural born gentlemen, all of them. He built quite a good house and prepared to move in, but it burned down. I know what is the matter, said he, I did not give a house warming. So he built another house and prepared for a great party, sending out invitations for everybody else to come. The.dance lasted all night and all the next day. There was a great spread and the tables were loaded with good things to eat They were eating all night. When it come our time to eat, we hauled out two small children out from under some benches where they were asleep and went to the table where there was only standing room. There had been killed a fine fat steer, 12 turkeys and 140 chickens to grace this supper board. There was a cake of most enticing looks, as large as a wash tub, on the table, pies, cakes of all kinds and delicious hot coffee. Among the guests about one-half Wf".re of Spanish blood, ranging on down into the Indian, (Now my good reader, if ever there is one, don't tum your nose up at the Indian as he is all right.) one old lame darkey, who was the owner of some rich mines out on the desert. He, in his younger days, was a cowman and a good rider until he met a little mild mannered pony who had the reputation of killing three men by jumping on them with all fours while they were down after throwing them. When you hear of a man who can ride anything and has never been thrown you can bet he has never ridden the real thing of a bucking bronco. 75

hol e. He would say, "They are beginning to buzz." Laying his ear to the tree, he would into the bee e fill ing up on honey, I can hear 'em dronin." He w ould keep a steady stream of smoke say, "They ar

or me to pouring into the knot hole for about fifteen minutes, then begin to chop, then call on poet blow smoke into the hole, or drive away irate bees that were outside. The poet would recite poetry very complimentary to the industry of the bee for laying away honey for t he futur e.

The End

ABOUT "THE STORY OF THE RANCH" Thefollowing postcript is from Morton's daughter.

In the year about 1925, Dad got the notion to sell the ranch. Mother begged him not to, as she always envisioned developing it into a beautiful home. Dad won out and sold it to the Rimmers. Later they sold it to Nina and Louis Fishbeck. Prior to 1925, the old cabin burned again. Mr. Fishbeck built a hunting lodge; but later he and Mrs. Fishbeck made it their home, raising lilacs and iris as a hobby. Since his death, it has become a wilderness again, of which there is so little left in California. My father wrote "The Story of the Ranch" many years ago. Several people have tried to rewrite it and correc t it, but in doing so, they loose Dad's style and humor that makes it. ... We are grateful!

HOMESTEADERS Dowd, Eugene F. and Melissa #4499 Purchased 158 acres, Jan. 1906 at $2.50/ acre (S 1/2 of SE 1/4 Sect 7) + (W 1/2 of SW 1/4 Sect. 8) Original App. #10945 From Pennsylvania Occupation: Sales (Drummer) Born: Eugene 1836, Melissa 1838 Located in upper Dowd Canyon, which was named after him. Left a fine apple orchard. Canyon appears in 1853 survey. Cox, Daniel and Susie E. #3272 (Daniel) Purchased 80 acres, Oct. 1898 S 1/2 of NE 1/4 Sect. 12, 6 & 15, NW of San Francisquito #4545 (Susie, widow of Daniel) Purchased 80 acres 3-2-02 S 1/2 of NW 1/4 Sect. 7, Nw of San Francisquito From Missouri Occupation: Farmer Born: Daniel 1857, Susie E. 1863 Children: Robe11 W. 1881, Charles P. 1885, Mable A 1888, William S. 1890, Lister A. 1892, Elmer J. 1895, Daisey 1897. Daniel died an early death. Before his death, he did some assay work for local prospectors.: this work, he met a Pasadena jeweler by the name of C.O. Arnold, the grandfather of Dick Doc Dick relates that his grandfather purchased the Cox homesteads and several more which werellI sold to the La Joya Club who subdivided them into 5,000 sq. ft. lots for summer vacation ca�i Arnold's daughter, Romaine, married Wa lter Dom and they moved into the Cox hous e from!�!; to 1928, where all of their children were born, except Dick, who was born in Pasadena in 1930. B 1��\ said the old house burnt twice and was rebuilt. Jim Lott and his father moved into the house in

. .

he remembered electnc1ty had been added by then. The Lindamens own the property now. o�JJI'; and Romaine Dorn started to build in 1941 on five acres of Cox homestead next to five acres �

. uitoRo� by Arnold's other daughter, Ethel (Evans) and her husband on the east side of San Francisq

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HOMESTEADERS They raised apples and pears. In 1947, the Doms moved back i:ruo Green Valley wh

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to Antelope Valley High School and ms dad Walicr, Pappy. Dom became our Forest Ran r.r c-er. \\' ¾ started our fust Volumecr Fire DepaiunenL Dick spem many years serving -with· e C0 .

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Department before retiring. His brotba, Warren, also seIVed thecomrrruniiy as a Los An l ge es Co S rrpervisor. Delano. Thomas #5641 (?) No boundary Included as 3x5 note added to 1878 HC>illeSte2d :-.,fap Took ovec Widow Smith's Station as relegraph.ei.

deCelis. Juan and A1tagarcia

:SlITT Purchased 80 acres. March 894 S 1n of. ffi l/4 Sea. 14 T� 5W So Portal and San Francisqnito mee l _ 9 (cash) & 1907 Purchased 60 acres. 2- -90 SE 1/. of Sect. 12 T6. �l5W Sp _ and San Franci.sqo.ito Canyons Born: Juan 1835, Ahaga:rci.a 1852

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IM An imdn. mnnuel und N:mcey #(_)J.t08 Pm\.·has d .tO t\t'l ·s N .1/4 of NE l/4 of Sect. 7 T6NR.I i\iV #J340 - urdrnsed 40 ucres N� 1/4 of NE l/4 of Sect. t T NR 15\iV Bom: Ema.nu l 1853. Nan y 1850 Children: Joseph 1884, Elizabeth 1887

Andrada. Jo #753 (cash) FHE038164 Purchased 160 ncres, Sept. 1895 NE 1/4 of Sect 4 T6NR14W, $2.50 /acre Andrada, Tadro and Jesse 1900 Census SW 1/4 Sect 33 7Nl4W Location of Andrada Comers From Mexico Occupation:Fanner Born: Tadro 1830, Jesse 1831 Granddaughter: Lusie born 1883 The Andrada adobe was built where SanFrancisquito ends at Lake Elizabeth Road, and was call Andrade Comers. The spelling is different from his signature on the census. His granddaug�u Lucie, married Felipe Talamentes and they lived in the adobe until 1948. Dr. Rand purchasedo property and added five rooms to the adobe before he sold it. The adobe is still occupied todl: The maps from the National Archives, shown, are very interesting. They show Dowd Canyon"i called Helena Valley, South Portal was Bear Canyon, SanFrancisquito was called San Francisco CJ(( and Canyon. The road was called Los Angeles and Tejon Road. The names and numbers of f11ll a� · showmg · therr · 1 ocat1on, m · · · T. Delano, Mrs. Cox, Vacant C · mcludmg homesteads are wntten

· the focrir. Martin, and Wm. Dowd - Orchard, where many people have told of picking apple s in onipJe1�\ Forestry surveyors have told us that many of the early lines were accepted and are not c accurate. They will be aligned in 1993 with, they hope, few problems!

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The Los Angeles Aqueduct On December 12 ' 19 8 2 Mr. Bill De Witt, of the West Antelope Valley Historical So. Ciety, % . us about the building of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Mr. De Witt, now deceased but formerl y of� Valley, was employed by the Department of Water and Power as was his father be for e him. Berw,� the two of them' their combined service covered the entire building project of the 226 miles �� from its inception in 1906 to the present. His presentation includes many stories and pictur es t special interest to Green Valley residents. He describes the building of the 26,803 ft. (5 mile) l oq

11 ft. wide Elizabeth Lake tunnel, which runs 200 feet below Munz Lake on its way to Southp� Canyon and from there to the surge tank above the drop pipe lines to Power Station I. The tunnel st-; at an elevation of 3030 ft. at Fairmont Reservoir and drops a little less than 1 % to 3009 ft. at itseil The following story is based on Bill De Witt's article, The Los Angeles Aqueduct. By 1905 Los Angeles had a population of about 200,000 and was already using more watert its major supplier, the Los Angeles River, could provide. This river drains the San Fernando Valk! one of the great natural basins surrounding the city, but its waters were already heavily usedfo agriculture, as were the waters of the other basins. The city fathers realized that the city notonlydi1i:' have the right to these waters, but in order to grow, it needed prosperous agricultural lands n� As with most politicians, those of Los Angeles could not bear the thought of "no growth", soe search for water went further afield. The next step still isn't completely clear, even after many court cases and thousands of wordsJ � probably will never be. Feelings were and are very strong, several times being expressed with namite and by Mr. Winchester.

chas�� Mr. Fred Eaton, ex-City Engineer and ex-Mayor of Los Angeles, obtained through pur werplaP options the water rights to most of the Owens Valley and several sites for reservoirs and po Id thatl . . ,fhese were later transferred/sold/? to the city. Mr. Eaton and The City of Los A ngeles ho andF°' r e t a w of Eaton was acting as a private citizen planning the private development and sale 84

-.., South Portal Tunnel

South Portal Tunnei !'hotc,s cwrte,y of D..,1 Kc,n, L.A. Deptanment oi Water and Power

to the city . Owens Valley residents hold that he was an agent of the city and misled them b

that the purpose was to develop a local irrigation district. Maybe yes, maybe no, ma

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ybe.

In any event the Los Angeles Board of Water Commissioners purchased these righ ts wnh o r,,, . ating funds before telling anyone about the project They were aided by President Roose Vej� 'J.t r. by Executive Order withdrew all federal lands which might be of use. The Congr ess h e! P passing an act allowing free right-of-way over public lands. The Reclamation Service, wh ed o did�..: an Owens Valley irrigation plan, abandoned it. The plan was announced in July of 1905 and the voters of Los Angeles were asked to apprOVq

$1,500,000 bond issue for the purchase of the rights already secured and for an enginee ring S tudt The bond was approved and following the study, another bond issue for the construction of� aqueduct, amounting to $23,000,000, was passed in 1907.

The overall plan called for 226 miles of aqueduct consisting of concrete lined canal, steel pi� concrete pipe, and tunnels. The intake to would be on the Owens River, about 35 miles nonha Owens Lake. Four reservoirs were planned, Haiwee in Owens Valley, Fairmont, Dry Canyon,aoc San Fernando. There would be two power plants in San Francisquito Canyon, many shon runne� and one very long one under Elizabeth Lake. The Chief Engineer was Mr. William Mulhollanii The Elizabeth Lake tunnel was started in the fall of 1907, but the construction of th e rest of 11.1 system didn't begin until October of 1908. It took a year to complete the accurate surveys, desigri and solving the tremendous logistic problem.

The most difficult and time consuming activity was the tunnel construction. In the first elevll

months of work, 22 miles of tunnel were driven. The Elizabeth Tunnel set the record for hardriY1 runnel driving, 640 feet in one month. At the beginning of the aqueduct construction, the BoanJd Public Works estimated that a reasonable schedule would be eight feet per day for each end of !ft tunnel. They initiated a bonus of 40 cents per man for each foot more than the sch edule. The boO� ,� increased the workers daily wages about 30 percent and saved the city IO to 15 perce nt o verall -� well as releasing equipment for use elsewhere. The average progress of the Elizabeth Tun nel cliJll 86

to 22 feet per day, 11 feet from each end. The estimated five years to complete the 26,803 foot tunnel was beaten by twenty months. Only a few roads, and none of those in good condition, existed. 215 miles of new road had to be built along with 57 construction camps with the necessary water, power and telephones. The existing railroad through Lancaster - Mojave -Tehachapi was extended north from Mojave to connect with the "Slim Princess" in Owens Valley. A nine mile temporary track was also laid to Jawbone Canyon. In order to furnish cement for the 1,500,000 cubic yards of concrete needed, the Monolith Cement Mill was built near Tehachapi. Drawn by the promise of a long good paying job, the laborers were a tough, hard-working mix of nationalities: Greeks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Swiss, and Mexican. They worked hard, many of them saving their wages against their eventual return to their homelands. In one situation, the loyalty of these men to their homelands actually caused a labor shortage in the 1912 aqueduct workforce. When World War I seemed imminent in the Balkan States, some 1500 Serbs, Bulgarians and Montenegrins left Mulholland's ditch and their $2.25 per day jobs to return home to fight. During construction, hauling was done by mule team, truck, and tractor from the nearest railroad to the job site. 16 to 20 mule teams hauled from the railroad at Lancaster, west to the pipeline and / Fairmont. In 1912 the Howard Bros. brought in a fleet of white trucks with hard rubber tires. Land trains, using tracked vehicles with large steering rollers in front, were tried, unsuccessfully. Of the 23 inverted siphons on the aqueduct, Jawbone, located about 25 miles north of Mojave was the most impressive. These siphons were made of curved plates that were made, rolled, and punched for rivets in the east, shipped to Los Angeles where some were riveted into short sections of pipe before going by rail to the nearest railroad site. Jawbone is about11/2 miles long and has a head of 850 ft. (365 psi). â&#x20AC;˘The pipe varies in diameter from 8 to 10 feet and in the lowest section is11/8 inch thi ck. The longest siphon, about 4 miles, is across the Antelope Valley. The maximum head is only 200 feet and the highest portions, about a half mile at each end, are made from buried concre te pipe, the 87

-South Portal Tram

. (·

Ii,

' •

< -

roda}·.

l.actll!ICS

hoczme a link � and

an �

con:ring limestooe and clay deposits 2lo g 15 miles of ill' �:"1 from _ r.:,

�e. Tne"f

instilling cmshas,dryeIS, bell mills, rmzry b1ns, aaiz1 m cy�. and a i:.ow'TI of 38 bmlrli:ngs ,n.ruT1v,

afret

plant became operational, private� fi12mlfZ£tmeIS fo d m2I iliey conld de

m:a tiA in fza �or aoom me same price ma iI was costing Bm they were too late. The CWJ engineers had found mar by arlding tnff�

Jr;ei" cemeiJ1 for somewhat Jess than they

city to make ir.s OWIL

okanic ash, the remlring c-0ncrere. though hardening slower wonld become mnch even further lowering merostat Monofub.. Tnffr.-lasqnarried andcmshed at the Fairmom B..:..ns. Til}e Fairrnc-rrt Reser. oir as oe.cessary in order to regulate the warer flow to the power plants in th': San Fid.."icisq ui to � ., on and enable m..,"'Ill to meet the changing demands for electric power_ The dam is of e<1Ith fill with. a concrete core all, 115ft. high and I500ft. long. Much of the fill V."35 from the EJa.abeth Lake Tunnel. The rest came from the bed of the reservoir. The outlet is from a gare tt;we,- directly into the E1izabe1h L.a.ke Tunnel A h,rge camp was bu1 It at the Fairmon, gi re to seive both the runnel and dam crews.. This was called

Camp #4.

When the w<;rk · as completed. lhe b ilrl.ing were sold. Two buildings went to the

Pitchfork Ranch and I believe se,. eraJ v.ent

The Elizabeth We Tunnel v.a

e cl Hefner Ranch in Leona alley.

the large ! i.ngle 89

OSln.l tion projecc on the aqueduct. It was

A tunnel crew working near Green Valley, which was made up of many natirmalities.

f Remanw1t,� 1, tunn,1 / r-rew camp /Jetwee 1, South Portal and SurJ<e Tank (now Posted). isMS· 5hfJwn ,� u ·up, ''(Jt bru · �, an (whl ·h wa.� ()JI �,1 1d with deaverla.xe), an enamal pa n and d"

( ()

firS and was one of the laSt to be finished. The tunnel was driven from both end . the north started t ont Reservoir and the south in Bear Canyon (now Porta l Canyon) ju t off Green porta l is at Fairm hin Val ley. This l l ft. wide tunnel was driven 27,000 ft. through solid rock and met in the center wit Work wa 11/2 inches in line and 5/8 inches in depth. It passes about 200 ft. below Munz Lake. around the clock and an average of 11 feet per day was made at each heading. In 1908 Judge Griffith 0. Hughes sold 10 acres to the city for a ventilation shaft to the tunnel. Electric power at Fairmont was supplied by a temporary line to Castiac. Power in San Francisqu.ito Canyon was taken from the Kem River line which already passed through the canyon. The three story concrete structure across from the old Elizabeth Lake school was a transform er station on t his line. At the southern end of the Elizabeth L ake Tunnel, water is delivered to the pens tocks of Power House #1 where it falls 940 ft. to the turbines capable of generating 50 MW. From there the water travels through tunnels and pipe to the penstocks of Power House #2 where it falls 530 ft. producing 30 MW. These plants did not go on-line until quite some time after the completion of the aqueduct, station #1 in1917 and #2 in 1920. From Power House #2, the water flows through pipe, tunnel, and siphons to the Dry Canyon Reservoir, which serves to regulate the varying flow from the power plants, and from there on to the cascades high above the north end of the San Fernando Valley. Thus the Owens River arrived in Los Angeles on November 5, 1913. Everything seemed to go along as planned for several years. Los Angeles grew and grew and opened the Owens River tap more and more. But the natives in Owens Valley were becoming restless. In 1924 things finally came to a head. The aqueduct was dynamited regularly, head gates were seized and held at gun point, and city employees were run out of town. Although these events didn't lower the overall flow of the aqueduct by much, they did stop the flow completely until repairs could be made. Since Los Angeles did not have adequate water storage capacity, Chief Engineer Mulholland decided to build a reservoir just north of Power House #2 in San Francisquito Canyon. It would be called the St. Francis Dam. 91

Construction had already been started, when in 1924, the final plans were submitted. The rna.i%;i. . . . was to be of concrete. It would be 185 ft. high with a berm along the ndge to the west. It Would S!i l' of blow the man softening -m thus ade or n atura1 . a years supply of water for Los Angeles disas ·: further up the line. No thought was given as to what might happen dow n the line. San Francisquito Canyon lies along an inactive fault with completely different rock f0

1'rnatfo gray greasy a is dam talc bearin g rru·c on the east and west sides. To the east and under the a scr� with a sharp dip to the west making the entire hillside susceptible to landslides. To the west.IS a�lii conglomerate sandstone with stringers of gypsum. Neither the best foundation ma terial. Construction progressed and water had been turned into the reservoir two months beforeQ completion in May of 1926. By April 1926 the reservoir was almost full. From the first there� been considerable seepage along the west abutment, the side with the red sandstone. Although lllaii; who observed this were concerned, none of the engineers were because they knew that, contrary� popular belief, all dams leak to some degree. The engineers also noted that the seepage was clea water indicating that the channels through which it was passing were not eroding. During the later part of 1927 two sections of the aqueduct in Owens Valley, one a large invertoJ siphon, were dynamited. Los Angeles was lucky to have such a large storage reservoir nearbyro handle the crisis. The water in the reservoir was drawn way down while the repairs were being ma& to the aqueduct By March 1927 the reservoir was again up to the spillway. For the next year things were normal, seepage increased, more people worried, the engineerssai there was no danger. In early March of 1928, with-the reservoir full, consumption well beJowtrt flow of the aqueduct, but power still needed, the full flow of the aqueduct was diverted into &l Francisquito Canyon just below Power House #2. This greatly added to people's fe ar, as mo� believed that the increased flow down the canyon was due to increased seepage. They were bothri� and wrong. The water that they saw was mostly what was being let out of the aqueduct, but tbl seepage had also increased sharply. . . . On the mommg of March 12, Chief Engineer Mulholland inspected the dam and was qu ��

WORST DISASTER IN OUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S HISTORY Before the Jail - This was how the 700-Joot long, 185-Joot tall collcr�te _ St. Francis Dam in San Francisquzto Canyon looked . Located about seven miles north of Saugus, the dam's tranquil reservoir held a year's supply ofwater for a growing Los Angeles.

After the Fall - When the dam si d if'nly crumbled ar both sides, rh c.. mammorh reserroir with rhe 11-mile shore/in mpried in a lirrlc· more 1ha11 one hour. Abour 1 � l i/liion gallons of warer swept mNe than .JOO residents of Los Ani:t'les ,md \ r11wrea ounries ro 1he�·,. tk,uhs. Later rhar year the d,lm's ct'nU'r monolith. which stc 1()d through the flood. was l>lt1srui away to help ca11yo11 rc·sidmts /i>rgt>t the.flood.

cerned about the increased seepage, which was now flowing out of cracks in thew streams and beginning to wash away the hillside. He believed there was no imm that something would have to be done. He was wrong.

es t abu

tin

ediat e,k

"<l!lgq

In the chill of the night on March 12, 1928, the two year old St. Francis Darn sto . oct l!lj grandeur some 50 miles north of Los Angeles. It had been hailed as William Mulh ollanct·s pregnable engineering masterpiece, a solitary keeper of 12 billion gallons of water. Sudden] Y.1 11 :57 p.m., the dam's 200 foot high concrete wall crumbled, unleashing all those billions of el down San Francisquito Canyon, leaving a staggering toll of 450 dead (and probabl y more). 0

avalanche of water swept 54 miles to the sea in Ventura. It ranks with the 1906 San F � earthquake and fire, which killed 452 people, as one of California's worst disasters. An investigating panel appointed by Governor C.C. Young, reporting just 12 days after the oz::: collapse, hastily blamed Mulholland's design. The public outcry left the once celebrated en� a forlorn, broken man. By the time he died, seven years later at the age of 80, the horror of the� Dam would be all but tucked away in history's graveyard. Some 64 years later, a Northern California geological engineer who investigates dam fail� Mr. J. David Rogers, has concluded that the dam collapsed because its eastern edge sat on an ariln landslide that he said plowed into the dam "like a bulldozer blade" causing a chain reaction. Gir:1 the geological knowledge of the time, Mulholland and his designers were not aware of the fataJfi.n or able to recognize it in the investigation later. Today, Rogers' conclusions, after a painstaking 15 years of "almost obsessive" research, a51)) colleague put it, not only largely exonerates Mr. Mulholland, but gives perhaps California's grear6 single disaster a dramatic and revolutionary face lift

'de!'° YI e no h wit , ally built partly on a giant landslide, which started moving natur The dam was 5(X)�1 of s s a m A of seismic activity, two to three hours before midnight on March 12, Rogers said. �1 end. · est w its cubic yards of land slid so far that earth at the dam's eastern abutment turned up at feet away, and even as deep as 60 feet below the dam's base.

"The mass of land that moved weighed 877,500 tons, more than three times the dam itself, which weighed 251,000 tons," said Rogers, 38, who holds a doctorate in civil engineering, and taught at UC Berkeley. " That put an enonnous amount of stress on the dam." In an interview, Rogers said almost no engineers of Mul holland's generation u nders tood the "uplift theory", meaning, he said, that "dams aren't as heavy as most people think." At the St. Francis Dam, Rogers said, the landslide's powerful force propelled the concrete base upward. And what made the dam all the more vulnerable, he added, was the enormous buoyancy of those 12 billion gallons of water. "Think of holding a cubic foot of soil weighing 100 pounds in your hands and then jumping into a swimming pool with it," Rogers said. "Suddenly, that same cubic foot weighs a lot less, only 37.6 pounds. That's how the pieces of concrete, one weighing 1,600 tons, carried so far downstream." Indeed , today, the dam site is a stark, lonely hollow where a few chunks of the dam's base lay scattered, like headstones in a giant graveyard. Bouquet Reservoir, built to replace the St. Francis Dam, was completed in 1934. With this construction, Spunky Canyon Road was built and later paved. The road up San Francis quito was rough and mostly unpaved. Travelers were discouraged from using it. In those days you had to go all the way around on Lake Elizabeth Road then down San Francisquito to get to Green Valley. As I remember, there was a sign posted on San Francisquito at the South Portal that read in part, 'Pass at your own risk. This road is not maintained beyond this point. Department of Water and Power., The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will take you on group tours of their facilities from Power Station #1. Call 297-3555, a couple of days in advance, and tell them you are from Green Valley and would like a tour.

THE OLD RIDGE ROUTE The Old Ridge Route, the first all-weather designed road between Castaic and Gonnan, , 11� was byp section assed and the rn. started 1909. Before the Ridge Route was completed this a1n r1rii north from Los Angeles went up San Francisquito Canyon, past Elizabeth Lake, over Ponai I\Jo,d

et,

and along the edge of Antelope Valley to Gonnan. Since 1854, when Ft. Tejon was buil� a tr

�

followed the bottom of the canyon near where the Ridge Route would be built. It was either actry wash or raging river depending on the season, usually impassable in winter and not much bette

summer. As Los Angeles grew, the need for reliable and fast road communications between the S Joaquin Valley and points north grew.

Construction of the Ridge Route was finished in 1915. It took almost six years and was a ve

massive undertaking for the time. Hundreds of men using steam shovels, mule- drawn fresnos,aoo

chain-drive solid-tire dump trucks. Large amounts of blasting powder was used to make "Sweed'i Cut" near the summit. To a large extent the topography dictated the route, whereas today entire

mountains are moved so a few houses can be built on level lots. The new route shortened the Loi Angeles - Bakersfield trip by 40 miles and it b ecame possible to make the trip in a day, a longda1 though.

After the road was opened in 1915 it took four years to complete the narrow concrete pavingth�

was hardly wider than a single freeway lane of today. At first the 8 inch thick pavement was just on

top of the roadbed - no shoulders. If one wanted to get off or on the pavement the first problem 11t . how to negonate the drop off. The curves, all 642, were very tight and the straight stretc hes werevel'i·

few. For much of the way a high cut bank was a few inches from the pavement on one side and!

steep drop off, protected by a white painted wood rail fence, of several hundred feet a few inchesfrOlll the other side. Woe to the driver who took his eyes off the road to admire the beautiful scener)'· 1 ca's!!l01 r i e Sh0rtlY aftents · comp1euon m · "TounngT · opics"described TheOldRidgeRoute as"A marvelous paved mountain highway, cutting and curlincr throucrh the peaks for twenty-nine rniJe5· · e e

to give a backache to a king snake." After on e drive over i t the Los Angeles County so tortuously as Sheriff set the speed limit at 15 mph. In the 1920's many of the sharp curves were eased by enlarging the cuts and fills and widen ing the pavement by putting down asphalt on the inside of the curves. This probably allowe d the speed limit to be increased to 20 mph. By 1930 this "marvelous scientific and technical wond er" of a few years before was being called an abomination. An old- time trucker remembers it as "... all twists and turns and climbs and drops. It was a nightmare." In 1933 the New Ridge was completed and the Old Ridge Route was abandoned. A few years after WWII a New Ridge Route was built. These new Ridge Routes aren't even on the ridge and have far less "character" than the first one. Of course one can drive the newest one at 65 mph and the driver can take a few quick looks at the scenery, and the Los Angeles - Bakersfield nip is just a few hours. Anyplace that offered a few square feet of level ground adjacent to the highway was commerÂ cialized. At the north end, near where the Pine Canyon Road intersects, is the site of Sandberg's, a famous inn that lived long after the Old Ridge Route was abandoned. These inns offered many services: food, lodging, gas, tire repair, water, drinks, and it is rumored that at times there were girls out back. The drinks must have helped a lot to ease the strain of driving the difficult road, and, as they were served all through prohibition, the inns became favorite watering spots for the "flappers" and the movie crowd. South of Rese rvoir Hill is Sweed's Cut, the largest earth moving project of the entire road. On south is the intersection of Templin Highway, a wide modern road built during the construction of Castaic Reservoir and the Calif ornia Aqueduct. A seven-mile-long 30-foot-diameter tunnel between Pyramid Lake and Castaic Reservoir runs almost under the intersection. The Old Ridge Route Story, which ran in The Lakes Gazette, July 1989, is courtesy of the West Antelope Valley Historical Society and was written by William H. De Witt, President.

MIRACLE OF MODERN ENGINEERING

Narrow concrete highway is a nostalgic challenge to motorists. Antique car club made drive in 15 hours.

MINING The P rince or California Mine, as it is called on National Geographic maps, was a prime gra phite mine operating in 1912. It produced material used in pencils and refrigerator insulation, but profits were marginal and it was closed. The operation was substantial, with cars and tracks laid. It was located off the west side of San Francisquito above the Widow Smith's. It is private land and posted. Many gold claims were filed in San Francisquito Canyon below Power Station #2, but none were worked for profit that we can find. A sign is posted there now, saying it is illegal to prospect without a permit. Gold was first discovered in Southern California . It happened in Placeritas Canyon, north of Mission San Fernando on March 9, 1842. This was six yea rs before Marshall's famous discovery at Sutter's Mill. Francisco Lopez, rounding up stray horses, stopped to rest beneath an oak tree. While doing so he took his knife and uprooted some wild onions to the roots of which was attached a nugget of gold. A gold rush on a minor scale lasted for several years but interest had ended before the great Gold Rush of Forty-nine. Bouquet Canyon Rock, also found in San Francisquito Canyon, has been mined for some time. This beautiful ornamental rock can be used to reface block and plaster surfaces.

of . Photo courtesy

100

Dick [)or1

FINE MOUNTAIN RE SORT ON EDGE OF ANTELOPE VALLEY by Mrs. Elias M unz

(Antelope Valley Ledger-Gazette Dec , ember 18, 19?....5)

One of the oldest sections of the valley is know"D as Elizabeth Lake_

cp ro rwo years ago mzr

included Elizabeth Lake and West Elizabeth Lake. Some two )ears ago. _9?-3. me name oi \\·esr Elizabeth Lake was changed to Lake Hughes, which has grow"D to be quire a resort ar.d nored for ii:s advantages both in summer and winter. Mr. C. A. Austin is deservin£ of much credit in promori:ng Lake Hughes. The lakes are located 60 miles north of Los Angeles via La Joya, 63 miles via San Francisqmro Canyon, and 85 miles via Mint Canyon or the Ridge Route. Many motor miYelognes srarri:ng from Los Angeles have been mapped out

make the round trip in one day with the hl-e c.oonu-y as

destination. At Elizabeth Lake there is hunting, wonderful shady groves for campers and picmcker-5,. and boating. Lake Hughes boasts of a bath house, swimming, boating, dancing, and hnnring in season; also a cafe and general mercantile company, open the year around.. The two lakes lie in a most fertile valley, some 3700 feet in elevation, which makes fruit growing one of its chief indusnies. At no place in the west will be found finer apples; apples from the �funz ranch and Maxwell ranch rook first prize at the Antelope Valley exhibit a.r the counry fair at Pomona and at Riverside last summer. This valley is also noted for the production of� both for hay and seed. Also cattle raising. At the Munz ranch you will find an up to dare slaughter house and icehoose where, winter or summer, the SUITounding teniLOI) is supplied with fresh home grown mears.. Dairying is also profitable. On the Johnson ranch you will find good dairy Stock. Besides shipping 101

milk, the Lake Hughes district is supplied with us fine milk and cream as can be pur chased

an YWhcre

No wonder people think of the lake country as a real place to rnn away to, where there is an. b « undano. , of choice fann products awaiting them when they aJTive. To Mr. Don Thompson of Elizabe th La.1;:

is due much credit for the "Elizabeth Lake Lodge and Gun Club," which he has promoted

· Mr.

Thompson has sold a large � u·act of land to a corporation which is subdividing and in the near fu�� many mountain homes will be built. "Elizabeth Lake Tavern," operated by Mr. Bert Clark is one or the most modem hotels to be found this side of Los Angeles. You won't find a more independent section than that of the Lake Country in the way of recreational purposes. We have good schools and our share of prosperity. Our slogan is "Live and Let Live." Just four miles south of Elizabeth Lake you will find La Joya (Green Valley), where a tract of some 300 acres has been purchased by a syndicate and is being subdivided. Many modern cabins have been erected there in the past year. They can boast of a beautiful adobe club house known as La Joya Lodge. A more scenic and picturesque nest in the mountains than La Joya would be hard to find. They have crystal clear mountain water running the year around, a lovely swimming pool, bath house.golf links, etc. Several hundred thousand dollars have been spent here already. The lodge, where wonderful special meals are served, is only a two hour drive from Los Angeles and is an ideal place to stage weekend parties, dances, etc. It will only be a matter of a few years when all of the Lake Country with La Joya on one side, Pine Canyon on the other, will be a most renowned mountain resort of which the people of Los Angeles County can boast.

102

I.A JOYA lODGI

''/,..,.l'o,,,, I',,,,,,,,,.,, ,,

//,, ,,�,,#',

. ,,

I /

PkttJrlal, Aiq>lane Ma1> Showing Location of La Joya J .LmJkinJ? eastwardfrom the o/dJtage station, La.Joya expands into a secona c-ircularvalley beyond the near m()untains, 2. Natural terrar:es, shaded and cool, with vlsras (JI mountain-tops,form ideal cahin Jltn;. 3. The mount/an summits b,1ar silent witness to the altitude of his new found paradise. 4. l,ookinl{ w<t.'il over th<1 histori<: .Hage Jlatlonfr om the clubhouse Sile. 5. In La Joya lie the head watas of b1 auti/ul San Frmu:l.w7uito Creek. 6. Visualize your adobe cabin se1 at the side of this spark/in}( .,·tream. (Takenfmm the /,a Joya Cluh l1ublica1io11) Hf 1

LA JOYA LODGE AND SUBDIVISION In 1924, the Country Reporter stated that much of the acreage that is Green Valley was pu rcha5ed by the Salisbury Sales Syndicate and subdivided into 5,000 square foot lots to be used as su rnm eranct vacation homes. The subdivision was called La Joya and the lots sold for around $200 to $300 each. La Joya was advertised in the Los Angeles Times and tours were arranged with prospective buy

who would enjoy days outing in a wilderness setting and be treated to a free barbecue dinner.

ers

A clubhouse was built with a swimming pool and was called La Joya Lodge. One newspaper account published in 1925 said of the area, "A more scenic and picturesque nest in the mountain s than La Joya would be hard to find. They have crystal clear mountain water running the year-r ound, a lovely swimming pool, bath house and golf links. Several hundred thousand dollars had been spent here already. The lodge, where wonderful special meals are served, is only a two hour drive from Los Angeles and is an ideal place to stage weekend parties, dances, etc." We felt the best advertisement for the La Joya Club was the brochure they printed. A picture of the club from the magazine, "The Country Club Magazine and Pacific Golf and Motor" is included with the map showing how to get there.

104

THE LURE of LA JOYA

Stepheo Wentworth, author of THE NEW INDUS TRIALISM wrote in "California": "A virgin mouo taio valley, wide :1od Bat floored,-Rich with the buu:y of the Bn•ariao Alp-, rich with a thouuod 1ubterranno spring,, a high-bung garden, colored by the sunbeams, great trees standing into the sky, a ta nglnl'ood of bough,, a California paradi,e lost -but. found :again, THAT. IS LA JOY A I'' It II the �ir9i.,. 111r11diu. It is truly LA JOY A, ,'the gem." _It is a great green bowl set down :among the moun t:un tops! Ov�r 3,0_00 feet abon lenl of the sea, its jagged purpling nm towen lSOO feet higher. A bowl filled with great oak trees, sunny green swards, cool sparkling strum,, a thousand ,haded glen1 and gently ,loping knolls. Rolling bills ia ,lowly rising terraces carry back to the mountains. The head waten of beautiful San Francisquito Creek lie in LA JOYA. Disco-rered in the earl:, fifties b :, General John C. Fremont, in 70 ye.an LA JOY A bu never been known to be dry. The cool, sparkling springt are fed by the sub terranean war,n of the High Sierras. Dream awhile of cool, silent night, broken only by the ,oog of bird1 or running brook; of the giury of mountain sun.sets and mountain dawn, I Do you feel the lure of LA JOYA?

LA JOYA and YOU

S,000 square feet of this paradise--• lot SOxl� tbe area of a residential city lot is waiJin� for JOS. Three months ago Fremont'• sreat green bowl wa, re-<iiscoYered. And it waa diTided into large lots. .Aad the Jou were ollered to desirable buyers at a low price. The pril:c was made to fit your poc:tetboo... It isn't .+- ••c.. ,ao1111 10• lt11v,, it's c,.. -., ii1"l of 11 ••• 1•• that counts at LA JOYA. .Aad cl,.t ii,.J •/ 11 l,oru, ,OU pin to build, not /,ov, 111•t°k it U #Oilll to CIII, The Fouaden of LA JOY A had an ao d an id,.J .. The was to ntabli1b • b,a.tif•l co.,.,...., ,,:at, 1 wbida_ "ould be owned ••I b1 0111 -,,,iJ/io1101r,, but

,,,,

id,•

by a community of culturtd_ and <ong�nio( /amifi ti, The idtal vns to m:1kc th,. commur11ty on, of !h e 1hovr place, of Southern C:1lifornia.

RESPONSE IS QUICK

Many cabim and country home, have alrudy �,r, built in LA JOYA. 95% out of every 100 prospect, that ha'fJt 1un L,1 JOY t1 have bou9ht. No other ule, record in S outhern California can match it. Nor can all of the ,uperlative, in the Engli,h Ian. guage match tho,e amazing figure, in de,cril,iog LA JOY A'S irre,istible lure. By iu ,hur b,auty LA JOYA ult, !luff. "I had ,carcely 3leppcd out of my car," nid Madg,. Bellamy, beautiful screen ,tar and one of the 1weet e,t characten in Filmland, "before I had made up my mind to buy a lot. LA JOY A i3 the molt buu11, ful spot I have ever seen for :1 week-end." Plan, of more than 100 buyers have .tlready been approved by the jury of architects. There bas been no lull of activity at LA JOYA.

LOTS LIMITED

All. around LA JOY A-;-complctely 1urrounding Ult high valley-lies the Santa Barbara National ForaL And this means that when the Jut cabin site in t1iu new-found paradise has �co sold, there will not be additional foot of land to offer on the market at any price. And that means that LA JOY A i1 a 90,d, 1afe inve1tment. The demand i5 incrta1in9. Tbt supply constantly is dim inuhin9. What that bappeoi, vo./u,, soar,

WHAT YOU BUY

Every lot you buy in LA JOY A I, vior //, ,.;tr1 c,nt 1ou ;ay for ii. bit B ut the same small sum that you pay 00 rt0 j"p" of ltrms for your lots buys PART OWNERS 8 of the picturesque, completely equipped Clubb tJC� ,, r, fine old Spanish Architecture and sup erb �0: e:urtl, 1 a db ha� the tennis courts, swimming pool, ov;ro,ofl water worlts, and all other LA JOY A ampr f tt ,/ r ty that will be turned over tl' the communi debt. · bi� ll tilt· 11.nd wat,r ,;,,, will b, laid fru lo 1ou r ca

106

•

SALES AGEN",I'S

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Please send me further parti\.-ulars �bout La Joya Lodge �

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107

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DEVELOPERS The La Joya sulxiivision was a first class operation. The clubhouse, swimm ing pool, area f or golf course, cabin sites and the promotion in general were well done as the enclosed bro chure sho w . "h_. s 'llis development was a true example of the Roaring Twenties, with a free barbecue bein g offer ect to prospective buyers. The drive up was not all paved especially up Spunky Canyon. The best road went all the way

Bouquet Canyon to Lake Elizabeth Road then west to San Francisquito then south to Gree n V

alley,

From South Portal on the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, discouraged the use of S Francisquito because of St. Francis Dam, tunnels and power stations.

Bad luck seemed to plague La Joya. The St. Francis Dam a nd lake, which was never ope n to the

public, was completed in 1926. The dams collapse in 1928, seemed to jinx the area. The market crash in 1929 followed by the Great Depression added to their demise, money seemed to dry up and

with it property sales.

The real end came in 1933 with the clubhouse burning down. The following year 1934 the land west of San Francisquito was offered for sale while the subdivision on the eastside and up Spunky Canyon Road were sold to Spitzer Reality. The Spitzer Realty Company moved the community center to a small lake created by an eanhen dam where our two stream beds come together along Shore-Line Drive.

A rustic log pavilion was built with tennis courts and boating. The enclosed sales brochures

indicate this was not the big monev operation of the previous realtor. The water rights were n ot sold. El Verde was our new name replacing La Joya, but it didn't seem to take so it was changed to Green Valley. The streets had their Spanish names which have remained. You were allowed to build only

log cabins to maintain the communities rustic atmosphere. Evidence of this era is still pre valent

throughout the valley.

Spitzer Company was still faced with the depression and vacation cabins weren't peoples number

one concern. This was not as great a problem as nature was to offer with the terrible flood of March l 2, 1938. �s �ashed out the da':1 and lake and damaged much of their assets, forcin Jr their sa ��y ay w About this tune Isa Hann and J1m Lott mov� to Green Valley. They tell their story of the remember it was.

108

ISA HANN REMEMBERS â&#x20AC;˘'fll tell h w I found this place. We were on a drive up Bouquet and topped at Camp #4 which now. I think. This one boy in the group. I called them boy when we were growing is alled Th Falls up ,,ith tl1 n. he w orked for the Telephone Company, well he led us on up the canyon over the ridge and to this beautiful valley. The road was dirt you know. It was Memorial Day, we had loaded the ars up for a day out. I really was looking for a place. I wanted to build a cabin. I thought this is or so I it There's tree here and if there are trees there must be water someplace. So the next year w nt to work at Juvenile School for Girls in San Fernando. The Superintendent was very good to m he let me have Wednesday and Thursday off. We had to work Sunday, visiting day. We came up here often and walked all over until I found just the right spot. The Spitzer Company was the sales agent then. They named the valley "El Verde" but soon changed the name to Green Valley. He felt people should build log cabins to maintain the rustic atmosphere. To build I had to buy these logs, they are over an inch thick you know. I guess that's the rea on it stays cool in here. This is a well built house. While I was working, we brought the whole JuÂ venile School on a hike up Bouquet Canyon. We told them not to touch the prerry bushes but you know kids we had over twenty cases of poison oak.

There were a lot of cabins around Bouquet Reservoir but the D.W.P. PUtdye in their leachfields and when they saw it seeping into the reservoir tbey made them gee out, leavin g beh 'md a good plum orchard. 109

I would tnko my friend up Dowd Canyon to an apple orchard where we would fill 0 . The Lister boys had dammed the streum bed with sand bags so we had a pond of water t�p�� . ts. 0 swim. in. ( cut woo I for the Fish becks who had bought the Morton homestead. I would cut fo� o c rds wood ea.ch winter for them. l was ambitious back then. I had a big 36 inch McCulloch s a . of W, lt Ion t and heavy. Mr... ishbcck would tell me what trees he wanted out. I had to cut them ju s t th Was . e nght height so we could sit on the stumps. They had beautiful flowers, especially tulip s. They hact 0Pen house and people could go see them. The La Joya Club subdivided the valley but they had tough luck with the Depression an d all . It

burned in '33. Mrs. Roberts and her daughter Margaret Roberts Barth bought most of the l and aro unct the lodge and the house and cabins. The cabins were turned into chicken coops. My cabin was finished in '38 when we had a terrible flood. It washed the dam out dow n by Cliff

Edge and our lake with it. That is where the Community Center was and it went too. This must have broke Mr. Spitzer because he sold to Elia Leslie and his son. Amos Moss bought into the de al. One day Moss and Leslie had a fight down there and one of them took a hoe and the other had a s hovel'

it was some battle, that broke up that company. It seems Moss owned some land in Twenty-nine Palms which he traded to Leslie for his share of Green Valley.

I didn't care for Moss, but he knew enough to stay away from me. I told him I would shoot him but I didn't have the guts. He sued me, you know, he was coming in to take my well. See, originally there was a 1/2 inch pipe that came up there for water. I was at the end of the line and about the time the water got here it was mud and I had to drain it into a tub, let the mud settle out to scoop off the water. You couldn't drink it and I wouldn't want to. Especially since its screens at the spring had rotted off and you had to scoop dead mice out of it. Moss was taking me to court for not paying for water I couldn't get. The county health man told Moss he better leave me alone because he couldn't

deliver enough water to flush the toilet so they would make everyone build an outhouse. I driJle<l a well then and it was pretty good but when they drilled at Fishbecks, the water was like sulphur, just 'like the Boyds at South Portal. We formed the Community Club in 1950, got our charter and everything. In '51 we built the Clubhouse, we were very active then. We had 20 acres at first and we had a parking area that was

ar down from the Clubhouse, it was roped off. There was a ball field in the back. It cost us $25 a ye l our to the Forestry. Now it cost many times that and they have cut us down to 5 acres. It seems al

old records were washed away in the '60s flood. g us Jack, would you and Louise go outside with me? I have some of the biggest oak trees shadin right here. This is the real beauty and peace of Green Valley. This is what I live for." 110

JIM LOTT'S STORY "I wanted to be a professional athlete in my youth. I tried many sports: boxing, baseball, footba ll an d golf , but couldn't give it the time it needed as I was moving back and forth between O klahoma an d Calif ornia. Remember I had no money. I had to hop a freight and ride the rails. I finall y settled in G reen Valley in 1936. My mom had just died when my dad and I move d to the Cox Homestead west of San Francisquito Road. Money was hard to come by and you sure couldn't make enough fanning. I rented a place in Reseda for $22.50 a month and got some snooker tables. San Fernando was all fanns then and there were a lot of farm hands to play. Got along good with the Mexicans. They used to get new born calves for me to raise and I took them to my dad in Green Valley. Once in '37 I think, a mountain lion killed one of the calves. Dad got the hounds and we chased the lion clear over the ridge where it doubled back on him. He was scared it might get another calf because they like to eat fresh kill. Dad got back in time, shot it and skinned it. I remember I had to keep the hide salted so it would cure properly. It seemed everyone in the valley had to stop by to see our prize.

I liked to go horseback riding. One day I met a gal who lived down the canyon. I asked her mother if she could go horseback riding with me and she said she would allow it if we watched out for rattle snake s and stayed on the horses so we wouldn't get bit. A few years back I met that gal in Lancaster and reminded her of our ride. I said I never met a person as afraid of rattle snakes as your mom. She said laughing, my mom wasn't afraid of rattlers. She was afraid of you getting off that horse! There use d to be a little lake over by Shoreline Drive and we got to go swimming in the sununer. It got pretty bad though, everybody left their trash. In '38 we had a terrible flood. It washed the earth dam away and with it the lake. It was never rebuilt."

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113

DEVELOPERS Eli Leslie had bought the water rights from La Joya in 1938. He and A m os Mo ss bou ghtlhc They too Green Valley. had subdivision and re-named it Rancho difficulty. wor 1ct war n

there was no gas to drive here or building material , everything was rationed ' p � retty We l l closing . . Green Valley. Dunng the war I spent over three years m the South Pacific, a lot of . tune to dr . I wanted to build a cabin where it snowed and be away from the ocean. Green valle y filled thet!aJn. �Q In 1946 lumber was hard to come by so I bought some used 2x3 's and drew the plans· I kn 8xl2 cabin looked small but I was proud. I even thought it might help me find a wife.

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A water system was started at this time. Because

of these shortages and cost boiler tubing was al lowed to be placed on all main lines. This plagued our community for the next thirty years. Moss and Leslie had a fight dissolving their partnership. As I understand it, Moss traded Leslie some land he had in 29 Palms for the water rights to the subdivision and his share of their Green Valley property.

Talking with people from this era, everyone had a "Moss" story, needless to say he was not well

liked.

bed We lived on the comer ofVerdad and ElJomado. To the west of us was a stream bed. Jwacc � bulldozers fill in that wash, level from side to side. That week-end salesmen with flags marked

sold all the lots on Calle Las Dos Huerfanas. They knew you couldn't build in the srrearn tJed,Y

were throwing your money away. I couldn't see how people could be so dishoneSt. ouo\\'11e<l Y r · i er mb The Mt. Jupiter Mutual Water Co. was the biggest scam, here is how I reme arel ht to w g · n ur o y ut a share of water stock with every lot you owned. The lot had no value witho 114

if you forfeitcd your wat.cr share you also lost your lo to Rancho Green Valley Company. o s e , r a sh re wou ld be a water meeting, Mr. & \1rs. Moss ow ned 51 % of shares. They v.-ould assess all The rs $50 ( I SOO lots) if you didn't pay' they took your lo Six months later there was another hare hold e r is time the assessment was S100 per share. Problems really multiplied when the lots were rnee ing th nd sold, if the new owner didn't pay, the lot was repossessed again and sold agai n. This repossess ed a happened so many times you weren't sure who owned what, it ended in a real mess.

Everyone pitched in and hired a lawyer Lucille Williams, a local realtor, who headed the fight

against Moss. !tend ed when the community won its suitand Amos Moss went to Mexico with our money. I heard he had a heart attack and died there. All of this does not reflect on the fine people here, they were a close group, that loved and enjoyed Green Valley. Saturday night during the summer really jumped. We had a beautiful grass park located in a triangle bounded by Ensenada, Primavera and Essential srreets. There were community picnic tables, swimming pool, a cement slab for dancing, and a clubhouse with fine f o od. Flags were draped across the street from the real estate office to the store. Horses were rented from Camp Habrinim. We understood as did most of our neighbors these were community facilities, this was not to be. When Moss left and Rancho Green Valley Realty folded all the "public property" was sold and the community was left with only a leaky water system that William Glore, a miner, took over. In 1950 the community club was formed and in 1951 it was incorporated. They were grant ed a 20 acre by forestry and in May of 1951 the community started the club house which was finished with great deal of pride, everyone contributed. The land was later cut back to five acres. Here is an ar ea that with concentrated community effort the forestry assured us (11/92) land could be found to work a tra de where we could acquire our own park with our clubhouse. Land for a kids play ground, ball field and parking. This would not be easy, but it is very, possible.

115

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Helen Hosler, Isa Harm, and Mrs.

Roy Talbot lift one of the i.11rerior

walls during the corism1crior1 of the Green Va/Jey Community Clubhouse.

116

D V L RFEN VALLEY INN

Th e Green Valley Inn was the rown's gathe1ingp_lace, Mark Davis, who worked for a movie studio, would bring us the latest film on Saturday night. With the help of his wife Virginia, they woul d set up in the Inn by the big rock fireplace, as shown above. Je an and A.C. Gordon built the hardware store in the 1970s. A.C. added a closed porch whe re you c?ul� hear all that was going on while having a "cool one." You could get some good deals as things didn t move too f ast and some of the prices marked were two or three years old. They are fine people. · to move on. A.c · sa1'd, "F'1shmg ' wasn't good anymore, so 1t· ,s ume 11

117

633 South La Brea Phone .... WEbster 4377

Evenin g by Appointment

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HORSEBACK RIDING . . .

Ther� an: wdl u�ined horsr:s availabli: ar rea.sonablr: ra«s ac ch,· clo.r·h )' resorcs. RANCHO GREEN VALLfY afford� man)' mik), of pinurt"!>que bridk paths.

FOR LOVERS

&fore you can start to plan that hou,r or ".-ahin of dreams' you are goini: to build after 1l1t· war ...you muse have a seleried homesiie thac meets your nre<l,. NO�' is the timt' to choO!-t' rhc· location uf your ncY. home; if you stare 1odar, the land will ht paid for by the time you arr rta<lr to huilJ. RANCHO GREF.N VALLFY i, the !ora tion you will low and cnio r. Prires todar ac RANCHO GREF.N \' ALLEY arc mosr anrac tive, but you cenainJr rannol c:ount on pr<:lieni Je\·<:ls remain ing for Jon,-:. You'll save n-wnL·r h� ,hoo�ing a honusiu.: a1 RANCHO GREF.N VAi.LE\' wi1hou1 ddai.

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· PRICES AND TERMS TI,ese rharmini: lots and rancho� arc prirecl as lnw as $250, and some hipier, payable on conv,nient ttrms. A deed with each 101 free ·and clear. All lots are no less than 50 x 100 feec and fronc on Countr roads. Qf. course; elercricitr, servire<l hr the Southern Cali fornia Edison Company, is provided. Thtr<, fresh sparkling mou pi�iri. spring water is piprd throui:hout the prnpert)'.

RESTRICTIONS Deeds contain protenive clauses insuring pleasanc and har monious building,. Ownership, use and orrupancy arc, of cours<-, rr-su:_jc1ed to thr Caucasian ran·.

'Nu outdoor counrrysidr within uvenr y.6ve mil�s of Los � ..,... l An�dn can offer the hiker a �rea[f'r ranJ:t' of wooded , '-\ -----------.:..1-------------- -- ---8slo�s. can)·ons and jnspirin� vicwJ..

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IMPROVEMENTS County maintained hard roads, ,-..·ater and electricit)" art alreadr _installed. Water for domestic use is plentiful, con· sining at present of two wells and several sprin p, a rtservnir havin,; a caracity of more than fiflr thousand i:allons and -------mani; milt's of pipelines.Fire hrdranrs au disrrihuttd in con· ------------r "'C -r-----l nnienr "T" loruion, in th< properrr, makini: pmsihle an ex· trcmely low fire insurance rate.

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RANCHO GREEN VALLEY

SPUNKY- ·LODGE

1948

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Climacil· ("\"lnJici,,ns .U<-' iJ ..,.11 :ill n'Jr ·cvunJ i{.indw Gr,,•n \'.ilk�\ h,:!I""" d,·, .l.k>n ,,; 5,�, in•r u�,urt·, ,>nl' ,,f .1 ,\,,•l t>r�-..·., ,,�1th, \\ .uni�·, J .1� s. ,, hilt- in th<' ,, tntl·r th,• .itr .._, l',r1.J. .. 11, invi�nr.11111:: "ich,,1H th<' dJ.ntf' (hill �,, ,•It<.": l,•, fdr in lh,· rit�. Tht· t·\ ,·nin�, l:,rn1:= ,vunt 1 J.lt�h �rar, "hu:h m.:1k,· dw h,·J\l'll> t-ctllt.111tl�

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can't help wanting to remain and build your "Cabin of Dreams."

*Bouquet Out through the San Fernando Valley to Newhall - 1hen Saugus - righ1 - lhrough beau1iful pic1urc·squt: Canyon - and on the West slope of Jupiter Mountain - just ahead is our d<Srinarion _ a spot whc·rc you

If you are a lover of the· great outdoors - the peace:, quiet and fre.-dom of 1b,· grc:at open spaces - and if you some day expect to have a week-end retreat - a nice litclc place of your own in the mountains - then come with u� on,r perfect highways-to Spunk) Lodge· in Rancho C.rrt·rn Valky-and tlw,,·-ahm, th,· fugs-;,r an aJritudc of 3,000 feet you will sec a spot, which for beauty of sc[(inl-!-rlta,ant and healthful dimaric wnditium-i, umurpa.< sc·d in all of our glorious Southland.

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MEMBER S: J HANNA NIURCHINSKI RE

. It was built in 1924 by Mom and Pop Woreste My husband Mm-tin und l bought the Inn in 1932 r . work the of They most a tho did u she g so , ht of it as th he was. the h ad waiter ut a fncy hotel ďż˝.' rma.n Inn in the mountains. I liked to work real estate on the side, looking for good bargains.

One morning about six, Martin had just opened the doors when a man pulled in for gas. He ask ect to use the rest room and was directed to the back. Well, as I lay in bed this guy comes t hro ugh the door toward me, unbuttoning his pants. I screamed. Martin came running, hollering, "not t hat d oor What a scare.

We had an ice house and hauled in ice, a thousand pounds at a time. During deer season w e would

keep up to ten deer for the hunters. When electricity came we acquired a walk in refriger ator. To get electricity, Edison had us sell refrigerators and washing machines. Everything we sold we had to haul in. Beer Companies would only sell by the truck load. It

bothered us when neighbors would ask us to get things for them, but didn't want to buy it at the store.

Mom Worester wanted some hay, when we got it , Martin said three dollars a bale , she said I know you only paid two fifty , your trying to rob me. Mr.Podes was not well educated he got under peoples skin, but he was rich, he owned some foundries. He liked his beer. He would buy a case and drink it at the Inn. One day a bunch of kids put a pound of limberger cheese on his Jeep motor, oh what a smell. Next day he showe d up in a

new Jeep, never said a thing. Mr. Podes was nice to us. One Thanksgiving he asked our son to come to his farm and he could have the biggest turkey he could catch.

re Martin became ill in 1950 and the store was sold in 1956 to Roy Bauer. On July 18, 1970, thesto ake burned to the ground, all that stood was the old fire place. The people really got behind Ro y with b e sales and raffles. Enough money was raised to encourage him to rebuilt, but it never seemed thesarn . . Green Valley was a wonderful place. We raised our family here and loved it ver y much 122

ALLEY I 1942

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·i.rc hui, ulwayg been our 11Lll'llber one fear. We have a flnc volurnc

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ncn IJ 157h e:iii.1. by Ron Gebo. ThcHe men and women give a grcut deal uf their time INro1,,,, ' 1.JrJg �,, J 11 th e 1il't rrr1 years this valley has never Jost a house to a forcl:Jt fire. WaJter "Pappy'' om founded our Volunteer fire department and was our Fore �tr u. nui,Cr f'1 '>rr1 Jrp �1, until his death. ln an article in the A. V. Press lie tells of problems fire create. IN\,

Accordfog to Dorn, the Angeles National Forest is the most valuable forest in thc

v1orld!

native of such heavily timbered states as Washington or Oregon to hear such a rem·ct rk. , -----.---

at the "forest" here, he might

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und then,, I

%�

be moved to chuckle a bit. It is the water-shed that holds soil and flood waters for six million persons; it prevents floods and slides that could damage more prope1ty in a sho1t time than any-where else on earth. Fire can do more damage here than in even the heavily timbered counu·ies of the world, not in actual loss to the growths, themselves, but as an aftermath of the loss of wate r holding pro pertiesther afford.

. huge fire Across the canyon from the Dorn home 1s an almost denuded hill that was swept by a . . . . urned over m 1950. It started in the mouth of Cherry Canyon by a carelessly flipped cigarette th'at b the including t no s, lar dol illion 12,000 acre before it wa br ught und r conu·ol, at a cost of $1 m damage it did.

124

.o, W� I �r J)()m �� ,d,, 1J:m y of t fit f/11,1;� f{1m:,,t fl rt;'} ,11,::,rt;. n;jrfl!',£J :, ft1;r f:i°,rn,;, perr>0n until o ne ycaffl a,,; �u,t aWJlnM th� cnuoty, f,tJ JI, v11J:-. diiJt:fJntinu�J, 'J hi� rmrtkuJ:;r burn h, 'tM'lm a:') the Cherr; IJ{OtJzJ1t hBP.tWfAt it �i.ar-t.td in 'fv;rry Canyon, J

J irt: '"""' 1 viat

ch� th e flre burn up tht W(;M,�l(Jc rl .,an Prand�v.JuilJJ Can:;on If) GrrJ.'�',. v1ounta.in. de')troying

istatlvn Jocatt<J on wp, the Jook out our Jar�it flr<: fWtrt.00 or, JuJy 3, J 9()3 in Dr:; CtJnynn. A hunwr. UJ-rget practicing. shot out Jn{}u1a.Wrf> on one of thi Ja.rge trttn�mit5�J(Jn thwer1', The fire cam� up the muth �ide of Jupiter over

on. the wp anJ down ro-ward Orun Valley the wind �hifred turning the fire ea.Et up the cany .R��moor hclicopteri weren't ut�d then, nnly bulldn7..ern a.nd hand crews. There hand crew s .set a d JlnehaJf down Jupiter, Seeing the ;sun reflect on their tihinny helmeti aJ,�urcd u s. The fire continue e�tt,uming behlnd the community club and Spunky campground on up r.o the saddle, the plantation thcrt n<JW wa� pJanted a� a refjUlt of the fire to help erOf�inn and flooding. The wind shifted again buming wward Bouquet and north through Spunky to Leona Valley, here it turned again along the n,,rth iideoftherkJge,finalJy beingcontmJJedatSan Prancisquito Canyon Road. We were told.flying

over it our valley was; Hke a ircen jewel s;urroundc<l by all gray and black desolation. Someone on hip.I, wa urcJy looking after us. Jt alway �med, after all Lhis destruction, like a mfracle how the land regenerated itself in about t'ivc; year , tea· e wood ha,; a growing nodal with its root:s that when all its branches have been burnt ,,t'l lt1 wru WJeW, TJ-d8 type of wood can a1moste:<plodeand burn in a rain storm. Our oaks are equally

im>ttetcd their root eyr,tem wiJl regenerate new trees. Pines, which are not native, will only tepmducc Ptom eed. Decausc so many of our plants and trees do come back, forestry will not allow ,rny cuttin

to,· at Jett t a year, afi.er a fire and then with a permlt only.

W 1,avc lncJ ud d the regulations, the county fire department and forestry recomm end to help us

JH1

Jti;x;t oun Jv r. 1<.· member thls lH not something you volunteer to do it is required in mountainous

urcu J, If any,,,J nf u r ru, c w maintain our property we not only jeopardize ourselv es, but more ir,ip,,,1H,11, w · J ·t ,,ur ocl. Ji t,orH clown. TeWng of these fires might make one aware of fire dan ger 111 irl 1111 ll t; r U111d tl l i 11. 1dt1tion d htlp. Even r.hough fires happen naturally we can minimize the 101 ow 1 · ' ·· I tand , ti1re1spart . of mountain living. vwor k wlll i nat111· r bulldm . A dirflcultastt1stounccrs l2S

Hundred s of Los_Angeles County homes serlous.uanger .or destructio n by fi are 10 e · because ·of the Ir proximity to brush� � areas. Any home· that has brush near over,o 1 in· danger.· �onies with wooden roofs P;rt . ·s larly are vulnerab_le to spread of fir/'cu.

FIRE H·a.zard Reduction

Your Los Angeles County Fir_e Oepa rtmerit inspect your property and upon·reQuest "111 suuestions. to help protect you r home ma., Despite efforts of your firemen. wildiano flres,:fanned·bY strong·wlnds, can destr ho'!'e�. I� ls.Y�UR legal responsibility t�y take action necessary to .reduce this poss I bi I it Y...

Requiremen.ts

For your Safety and .Protection The la"

reQuires that you:

1. CLEAR all hazardous flammable vegetation or a distance of 30 feet from any structu re. :ut flammable vegetation to a height or 18 ncnes for another 70 feet.

ne e d! e s and twigs fro,, iUtters ·and 11v1s. 5. POST ho use 11umb1rs clea rly so tney ina, be seen f r oin th• str11t. 4. CLEAN I eaves,

ro of

6,. CLEAR. flamm able vegetation ... ,tt11n 1 feet of liQulfi ed petr ole um gas stora21 tanks.

li mbs wit hin 10 feet of t he chimney. Cut away dead branches and I lmbs that ove r h a ng t he r-oo f. 2. REMOVE

7. STACK wood pl les·away from bu, ld1ngs

J. SCREEN the c himney outlet to prevent sp arxs from ign iting the roof or bru s h. Jse o ne-h a lf i n c h m e s h./

-,__

__ _

- -

To report a fire; dial 9·1·1 (emergency only). 1 r you have questions about how to better protect your property, s·top in at yo�r nearest Hre'·statlon.

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126

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ECTION AND PREVENTION FOR HIGH-HAZARD AREAS

r�S DWELLING MAINTENANCE {J

r1NVO urrou ndinQ property of brush, Qross and weeds. cot'I our s Cle"' y ewoys occessible to fir e equipment. J o ds ond drtv Moke ro 2 retordonl veQelalion. pJonl f',re '.l lrom sll'.Uclures ond. remove letovea from roofs. rirTl tree..• owoY T 4· our oddress Is cleorly visible from street. Jv!o ke sure y 5 hove O pool, you mlQhl conaider obtolnlnq o Qos-powered pump ond o fire hose 6 II you od piles should be located away from a:rry buildings. 7 wo 8

1 n Chimney with wire mesh no lorQer thon 1.i·. Scree ·

R AHEAD OF FIRE ONE HOU

Boc k cor into qoroqe, heodinQ out; close cor windows. windows ond doors in houae; don't lorqet to close the Qoroqe door ond disconnect the 2. Close oll eleclric qoroqe door opener. 3. Ploc e O ]odder (prelerobly o non-combustible one) OQoinst the house for occess to the rooi. 4. Alloch o 100' qorden hose to o aplQot Do not uae woter needleuly.

Seel oil ottlc ond boaement vents.

6. Remove combustible windo� curtolna, but pull down venetian blinds ond non-combustible ,hedea, such oa llberqloaa. ·1 8 9

Remove ond put into lhi, QoroQe oil combustible moteriols from oround your house: b<smboo shedes, qorden furniture, fence1, etc. Fill lorQe trosh con• with woter ond ploce oround house in cose your woter pressure diminishes

Keep

amoll ruqa or pototo soclcs hondy to dip in the woter ond extinquish spot fires.

Turn off propone tonlcs on the outside !I you hove them.

10. L"3ove JIQhl.l on in !lie houae.

Ploce voluoble docume . nta In your cor, dlonQ with photo ·olbums, pets ond other items tho! you v,ould wont lo tolce with you in cose ·of evocuolion. 12 Weor proper clothinQ: lonQ-aleeved shirts, lonQ ponta,-full ,hoes, Qloves. o bondono (wettened). QOQQles If ovolloble. · · ,' 13. Wet down your rool with o qarden hose only when the fire ia within 600', then Qet down from the roof. .-:, WHEN THE I

Enter your home with your fomily, closinQ but not loclcinQ the doors. Keep the entire fomily IOQelh er ond remoin colm. Remember: If ii qels ho! in the house. ii is 4 or s·tirries hotter outside .

AFTER

FIRE IS AT YOUR HOUSE

THE

nRE.PA

- - , SSES Go outsid e ond extinQuish s��ll spot fires on the roof ond oround the house with o Qorden hose b rr ls of w oter ond your smoll ruqs . 51111 keep the doors ond windows closed in the house � .o e 1 oin 4- hour vlQil oround your house. Be sure to check thol no embers..hove qonen into .,. nl 0 urottlc or \.._ uaaemen l Pia n now to survav• . · a f'ire I

127

FIRES LET'S EXPLOlIB A BYvVAY GREEN VALLEY llv. Russ Lendnbrand

. Reprint >d J1w11 a 1970 Wesnl'ays n10!!a:z11w, I //1·11"0 .f Ur\ a/1 y's T binh.

In 1963 A WlLDBRUSHandforestfire swept over the bulk ofJupiterMounta.in and.pushedanct whipped by angry winds, burned down to the back doors of homes in Green Valley· a community in the San Gabriel Mountains that edges on the western ann of the Antelope Valle ·. That same fire mouthed around and chan·ed out unimproved Spunky Campground, between Green Valley and Bouquet Reservoir. Some said the country would never come back. The wall of Jupiter Mountain and the confines of Spunky Campground we.re desolate vistas after the fire. Blackened hillsides were ankle-deep in the soot and the white ash of burned chaparral and oak. It was desolate and sad, and users of the areas mourned and lamented their loss. Today you have to look hard for scars of the fire. Jupiter Mountain is green again. The trees have come back in places; the chaparral is growing, putting out new shoots, making oxygen, doing its miraculous thing in nature's plan. It is a beautiful and reassuring testimony of rebirth, and it can be seen on a single-day by\, ay that loops through some of the lesser-known avenues in the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains. There is a spot along this byway, a special side adventure, where

you can drive offthe byway route

onto a good forest road and climb back into the heart of the bru shland Here warm and snug and . wind touched, is a place where there is no sound at all e ept the work of the wind and the exchanges ofthe birds. From such a place you can see onlythefaint est hi 128

nts of c1v1 · .1.1zanon, . the most pronounctd

l d that brought you there, and if you walk a little way from the road two min utes wil �� sig ns at all. (here are no . . do, . up m a resmous, aromat ic world of chaparral and sunshine, silent and sweet and t h ug a c e you ar You can sit on a rock and breathe or sing or recite poetry to the wind or teach your . reassunng. real solitude is, and still not be more than two hours away from the center of Los children what Angeles.

There is an outpouring of life here in Green Valley. Now there is a green wash, a green tint, a green statement. . In September you'll find tiny brilliant belly flowers shouting with mini-voices underf oot This byw ay starts at Bouquet Junction--the meeting of the Soledad Canyon road and the Bouquet Canyon road . To get there, take the Golden State Freeway, get off at the Newhall-Saugus turnoff and stay on San Fernando Road. Just north of Saugus, there is a shopping center at Bouquet Junction. The road you want runs farther north, across an old, wooden trestled bridge. A subdivision--Monteverde Homes--stands here and is bill-boarded. You turn left on the signed San Francisquito road, about a mile north of the shopping center junction. The byway angles to the northwest, past the Santa Clarita School and the channing outpost of Santa Clarita County Park with its ingeniously constructed and painted monster face expressing the joys of a climb-up-a nd-slide-down playground apparatus.

If you have small children, be sure to stop and let them unkink here. There are picnic tables and barbecue braziers on the greensward. More homes--Santa Clarita Village--then a short distance on, a road fork. The right hand course takes you up past a rifle range installation of the San Fernando Gun Club anct lh eBurb ank Muzzle Loaders Rifle Club. Beyond is the posted Los Angeles Water Department's

DrycanYon Instal

lation. The road is closed to further travel here. . . . Back on the ma.m byway course you pass a wrecked and abandoned drive-m movie. Off to the left is th e fi t v ew of the creek bed of San Francisquito Canyon. Close by are cotton wood s, rattling lIS i in e th Wind· A sig n now: "Entering the Angeles National Forest."

129

Down from the chaparraled hills on the right dJOp a trio of bright snakes, wate r pipes that

carry

Owens Valley watcrt the Lo Angeles Water Department's Powerhouse Number 2. Youc an hear the mufned thunder of water making power. This plant is not open to the public. On the left the stream of San Francisquito creek make a small waterfall. On up the avenue. Open country,peacefuJ,sunny,warm. Often on a weekend you cansee pli n.kers in the area an d hear the firing of their weapons. It is wise to drive on through this part of the canyon. History hides out here in the rubble of these fields: "I coul d hear it coming, could hear the trees breakin, and could hear a big pole snapping, could hear the wires on the electric poles going. I knew what was coming." It happened at midnight on the night of Tuesday, March 12, 1928. It was one of Los Angeles County's most terrifying disasters. There are still people around who lived through that sudden horror. It was the night the new St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon collapsed and allowed a wall of water more than a hundred feet high to sweep down the canyon, turn the comer into the Santa Clara River, scouring away pieces of Piru and Fillmore and Santa Paula and finally pouring out into the ocean just below Ventura. It was a nightmare disaster that killed more than 400 people in the inky night. The dam was 185 feet high above the floor of the stream bed, it held 38,000 acre-feet and it was sloshing full that night in 1928. "Tony Harnischfeger, while making his usual inspection rounds, had discovered a new leak on the controversial west abutment. The dam-keeper phoned the information to his superiors in Los Angeles, along with the distressing news that the leak was passing muddy water. Mr. Mulholland ,,. left at once for San Francisquito Canyon.... " It all happened in a few minutes before midnight. There were peopl e in the canyon, people at Powerhouse Number 2. A number of the dam tenders were already spooked by the "saturated" condition of the giant 22-month-old dam. It was full, and wind was causing water to slosh over tbe

rop.

130

to the south people wh hod not g ne lo bed <iaw the light<; of Los Angeles flicker I !TU ,fi� . otaril .... e darn ga v way in a roar. The wall of water, in the confined canyon had enormous front f th Powerhouse Number 2 without even pausing. Harry Caiey's T ·hed a.way , ra, d.mg post at · It' f the canyon, a landmark tourist site, was hit and swept away. i\ t it)\} power sources were swept away, an attempt was made to alert the communities ti

ireain, along the Santa Clara River course. But the Santa Clara was almost dry, and few people

u just where water from Saugus would meander. There were delays and confus ion, and '"fr re fusion the flood came and devoured homes and took its toll of lives. i, e on nt book, the above quotes are from it, entitled Man-Made Disaster, the Story of 'fhere is a rece Dam by Charles Outland, published by The Arthur H. Clark Co., of Glendale, that tells '..- St. prancis minute by minute, of that awful night. It is required reading for anyone interested � horror story, area history. ,., 11

reinforced rubble still sits off to the left side of the road in San Francisquito

A lonely pile of steel-

eanyon. Jtis impossible to photograph because it is j ust a lump of debris, it blends in with everything round it The boulders and ruined pieces of old concrete all look alike. But there is still a piece of

:ooring left, rubble, undistinguished except for the tale of terror that goes with it.

r think it should be marked with a plaque or sign or something; an interpretive sign would be

11luable (but liable to vandalism here). Perhaps this writing will interest the forest service or the

L-OsAngele s water department in putting up some such marker or sign. The disaster should be a part

0:living history. The dam was never rebuilt.

On with our exploration. A short distance beyond is County Detention Camp 17. The inmates of

tiscamp,early last decade, were working on a new road up this canyon to Green Valley. It has never � finished, w hatever the reasons. Such a r�ad would be useful, for, (Excellent paved road

�.

�leted n ow) from Powehouse Number 1, just ahead, to Green Valley , the road is unpaved, 'steep and w ndi : i ng - but still usable by those in passenger cars. If you are squeamish about

! �•Winding road s, better have a competent chiver at the wheel. 131

There is n smnll l'Ot\\pl � of roads 111 Pow l'hou, Numb r I und n 11n1nll

pow rhous workers and thrlr f1111illl s live, Th re is n pnrking nr n (with I st rooms) 1111d II mnrk cl p111h Lu 1h pow ·lio11

1 11 II I 'w l I I'

WI!

lli

Ii i

1111h11c is invited to om in unct see th ginnt. genernLors nt work. to pi k lip 111 r111,ur IWi tt t ·d Ii Y th I , ·0� N · An geles w Her depa11ment, to view the small museum in s1cle. The powerho11s i. sn· 1 1• <: k 1tnt1 • . P,111 . . and as freshly painted as a new navy ship. Spotless. A gntn, t I1e I·1 1unc I e, of wm ·r ro"«l'll1p . lh , rci11�11 the spinning wheels that turn the generators, and the thunder of the wn ter rushing out into th. . C g1a111 cement-walled pond where it is gathered up and hurried on to Powehouse Number 2. Be sure to stop there. The children will be awed and impressed by the hum and working of th generators and the flood of frothing water.

e grca,

Soon the pavement gives out. You a.re on a dirt road that crawls up the west side of the ca

Yon,

snaking and narrow--you might have to back down a bit if you meet a car coming the other w ay . Ordinarily cars going up have the right-of-way though. Then the dirt avenue levels a bit, widens, and off to the left is the side road into the South Portal

Campground.

Here is a happy land of great old oaks shading everything. The road, chewed by recent rainstonns'

and the campgrounds, groaning from overuse, need to be rehabilitated.

It is one of the older camps, where you may drive anywhere within the campground itself. Driving on such terrain has turned the ground cover into nothing but raw earth. There isn't even oak duffin most places. Still, for all these complaints, South Portal is happy, peaceful, shaded and enjoyable-one of the best in the Saugus Ranger District. Back on the westward-leading trail is the site of old South Portal, a construction camp a macrocosm city once, where people lived and dug the long tunnel from the Fairmont Reservoir out in the

Antelope Valley to just above Powehouse Number 1, a course for the Owens Valley wate r to speed. t of There are other little brushy trails to follow, and they are aromatic in summer with the raw scen chamise and ceanothus. And the belly flower proliferate here.

132

, n tht' b) WU) c urs" to pav · mctll, 011 om to ir n Vall y. Straight ahead, continuing 6. t. nd mrning into ircen nlk it. ·If. 'OU pnss n for . t. t:11 on ancl'a short distan e beyond i c ,H' i h ,1 \ ' th'.lun·ti)n fthe imssrvtountninrond. It isaclirtr ocl.nt1rrow an wi ding. d n You'Uhave "K " t() 'l , f !l titn if) u m""'t 'Omcon e . Someone for sure will have to back up; there are not a l ot (

. untl urs. ut on on bus Saturday we me t no one at all, so we drove safely up the road. t , ,-tin ,' rocks full down onto the road, and if your car is low you'll have to spot them, sto p the car ren v � th m. u'll find Gmss Mountain another sile nt, sun-baked, aromatic hideaway. Listen

�t rs

tis the, ind in the chaparra l and weeds and grass. That noise is the call of small birds,

als � ·hi :h n w ha e ou neatly surround ed. The scampering sound is from mice or smal ler anim running a ut in the grass. TI1is is a delightful, soaring spot to laze. To the south re-greened Jupiter ·, sentinel.

ou an look out into the western most ann of the Antelope Valley, usually hazy and

rained. Dri,e ba k down the narrow road, cautiously, back to the eastward road into Green Valley, then tSpunk.')' Campground, alive again, once a barren spot that is being replanted, where the 1963

fire chewed hardest at the canyon country. Beyond is Bouquet Reservoir--no recreation is this vast pane of water and it's a little sad. Water-oriented recreation has proved to be extremely popular in the Angeles National Forest, although there is a limited number of lakes and reservoirs. ow you run south, along Bouquet Canyon. Up on that ridge to the left is Sierra Pelona forest service lookout. When the wind blows in this country, usually the Santa Ana variety of bluster, Sierra Pelona catches the brunt of it Pieces of the lookout tower have literally been wrenched away by 100-mph winds. Down the narrow, winding road and canyon. Here is the Falls C ampgro und and a linle store, a popular site for campers and weekenders. Houses on the roadside are usually embellished in some way with Bouquet Canyon stone, a building stone of great chann that is quarried in the can yon. Earlier comers just helped the mselve s; now you pay and

check with the forest service station to find where the linear stone is offered.

The stre am winds back and fonh. More forest service cam pgrounds and picnic sites; Chaparral, Stre:in-.�· .... ,�1cte, Bouquet, Big Oak. The camps get a lot of summer--and wmter--use. There are picture 133

Here is the Big Oaks Lodge. The Texas Canyon forest service station, one of the largest in theare a. An outcropping of wild rock formation where swallows daub to nest. And then the excitement starts to run out. Horse ranches and green fields and orchards. The c an

widens, opens. We are out of the Angeles National Forest without fanfare. To the left, a ne w

Yon

Sid e

road runs east to the M int Canyon road. On past the Saugus Work Center, past Plum Canyo n, anct you come back to your original junction with San Francisquito Canyon (up here it's shonenect to S an

Fran Canyon).

It's been a loop, easy to drive in a day even if you stop and ponder the hiStory at the site of the o lct St Francis Dam and walk through the echoing hall of powerhouse Number 1. It is a green and dusty (sometimes) and unusual sort of route we've followed. There has bee n

exciting history, technology, peace and silence and rebirth along the course.

We usually stop at the little store in Green Valley and get a soda pop of some kind and park under an old oak and drink it, listening to the commerce of Green Valley. The people here are celebrating each day their deliverance from the tragedy of 1963 and the rebirth that rains and springs have brought since. In the little community you can hear hammering, sawing, dogs barking, children calling, the usual noise of a little mountain community at peace. It is the noise of these mountains in places--and the total absence of noise in others--that is the medicine that makes a trip here healing. Smog rarely bedevils Green Valley, and skies are as deep as anything on the desert's edge. It is a place we try to go each year, by spring or summer or fall, and the coming back is always generous and bountiful.

END

134

FIRES fire started on Calle El Capitain, north of Lomita, from a barbecue. It burnt all the ridge a 7 7 19 In of the undeveloped valley. It was stopped quickly above Calle Montana. and most rrun 1989 in a period of six weeks, we had three fires. On June 28th, the Antelope Valley su er of ed 2,250 acres were burned. Prosecutors charged an 81 year old resident of Green press report

f re code violation, for allegedly dumping hot ashes within 10 feet of combustible Valley, with a i materials. Toe fire started shortly before 2 p.m., near the intersection of Calle Manzanita and San Francisquito Canyon Road in the mountain town of Green Valley. The fire exploded north and north-

....

.·.·.;.·,·-··············-·.-,•.•·.···.•,•.y•,:,•,•.•.·,:,••,;.•,•;.•,•,••,:,·,·.·;.:,•

The fire started at Calle Manzanita and San Francisquito Canyon Road. It traveled northeast toward Elizabeth Lake Road . The fire continued spreading northeast toward Johnson Road.

,:Green ---'Valley

: ·>": 1 ·:,

135

temperatures. The fire raged uninhabited in inaccessible hillside terrain. Some 300 Los Angel es County and U.S. Forest Services fire fighters conc cnu·ated on the area, saving homes near Lake

Elizabeth. only one home was lost.

July 26th saw a small fire quickly extinguished where Calle El Baranco ends at the was h. August 4, 1989 in a heavy concentration of brush the Antelope Valley Press reported a frre started adjacent to a dirt road, Cliff Edge Drive, about 50 yards south-east of Rainbow Walk near the intersection of San Francisquito Canyon and Spunky Canyon Roads, matches were found. Wind blew it east, toward Bouqu et Canyon. It was stopped just east of the Mt. Jupiter water tank. One county inmate was injured. Estimates of the brush burned was 500 acres consumed, the county said. • • . • . • •..• ·• -- • � •.••• ��t. Regardless of the amount, the brush

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fire was an uncomfortable remi nder to Green Valley residents that they live in a tinder box where extremely dry brush can ignite at any time in the summer and fall. The community was very proud of the support our water district played and our

Calle Montan . Calle Chev Calle Casitas

volunteer fire crew. Our new heliport was able to supply water to the helicop ters as fast as they could land. In all we supplied 250,000 gallons for each frre, the forestry told us this doubled the amount to water drops possible and possibly saved much of the area. With a water storage tank capacity of 670,000 gallons, we were able to easily meet the needs of all emer gencies.

136

Green Valley

WATER IN GREEN VALLEY development. The live oak was the key that opened the valley for of w ater parallels o r)' t s 'fhe was noted early that wherever the live oak stood a good water aquifer existed. Their 11abitau. on. It ded food for the Indians and the many springs produced a ready water supply. The large acorns provi ifacts the Indians left behind, at the grave site, gave proof of their presence. nurnber of art San Francisquito Canyon for their highway north, followed by the Butterfiel d Freighters used at Widow Smiths. Homesteaders came next. They settled, in almost every case, Stage stopping his spring and how he where there was a good spring. In his diary, Washington Morton, wrote of shared water with the animals.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power used our canyon to transport Sierra water to

a thirsty Los Angeles. All of the sub-dividers that followed started with sp1ing water as their primary source and all of them found by late summer and fall this source became very limited. The La Joya Club used a spring coming out of the mountains, in a small oak filled canyon, on the west side of town. They were unsuccessful when they tried to increase production. This plus the drought of 1928-32, limited their growth. Spector Realty bought the subdivided acreage. Their development was centered along Shoreline Drive, a small lake was created by damming the canyon and collecting rain run off. They hardly had a chance to start when too much water, the flood of 38, washed them out. Spector Realty did not purchase the water rights, they were sold by La Joya in 1938 to Eli Leslie. Amos Moss now joined Leslie purchasing the subdivision. In 1944, Moss bought out Leslie's land Water rights and all. Moss developed a spring in a small oak filled canyon on Mt. Jupiter. And formed th e MtÂˇ J u pner M utual Water Company, with each lot sold, having a water share . The lots were subje ct t0 as sessment, which if not paid, constitute d a lien against the property. Under his manage en m t a water system of sorts was built and maintained with these assessments. A w oode n 137

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s built by the Jupiter spring and a distr ibution .8 ystem tank wa con.slT ucted of used pip . e and b01·1 er . h too t m to thr g ead rn b u , t so join ts were welde tubing ( d) th'is was allowe . d bccause World War II had . I ey c h t aimed d an . ' that ded w n as all e the pipe that was just . avail able· Also durin g this time at least . drilled. In 1949-50 ' Mr .Moss . were ls el w O w was prosecuted for fr t aud and illeg . al seizure of property icted. illia conv W m G as lor w e b o d ug ht the water compa ny from an . . the M oss Family rn 1955. His was mainly the tion patc hing of water le aks and supp opera I yrng . water to the residents with a . . nimum expense for a s mall profit. I . . mi went wit h him one day to try and slow the leaking from the . . · woo den tank. He used string soaked in tar and with a ham mer and screw dnver, he drove that string into the wooden seams that was mostly dry rot. If a pipe . was leaking too bad he would cut a piece of tire and with tar and pipe clamps it was repaired. · · During this time residents and week enders wh o 1·1ved m the higher elevations of Green Valley had no water during times of high demand , and during the late sumrner months. To get water to our house, we had to put in our own water main at our own expense, as did all residents. On March 19, 1963 the county water works and utilities division was asked to prepare a repon a petition on providing adequate water service in the Green Valley area . This order was the result of from that report: signed by more than 25 local resident freeholders. I shall quote made to determine the local water resources "A hydrological study of the Green Valley area was which they could safely support. It was fou nd the and relate them to the maximum population d to sustain the needs of 1,200 people. This is predicated underground water supply can be expecte v person per year..Figuring a system f ully de eloped per ot fo e acr an of 1/5 of on a modern water use 550 homes could be supported." 2 people per house, 2. g tin set d an t fee e we could produce 240 acr y dy the Ranch Green Valley Water Compan stu s thi on t ac uld co In 1966/67 before the community rs. This proximately thirty thousand dolla ap for y an mp Co r was sold to the Antelope Valley Wate d of buy out st in the state. With this kin ge lar the of e . on was. part of Dominquez Water C ompa ny, purposes. Lit tle we were purchased for tax d e em I se I t way· we thought our problems were solve d. No teriorate. On . P 1.ovements The system continued to de or no repairs were made and no real cap1. tal 1111 139

May 1975 the county was petitioned to review its study, for the fo1mation of a county water works district. June 10, 1975 they completed their report, it included a two phase proposal costing t he

comm unity $6,500,000 to be completed by 1992 including facilities for the transportation of an

imported supple mental water supply, this cost was impo ssible!

The community formed an ad-hoc committee who studied these reports and concluded: "l. Green Valley has had water troubles since its origina l sub-division. 2. These troubles stem from lack of proper development of a local water supply system. 3. A p rivate opera ted water company has not been able to develop locale water. 4. The formation of a county water works district is too expensive for this small community. 5. The only hope is to form their own water district and develop their own water." From these conclusions they found our water supply was adequate for the present population with some growth and that we could finance it Action was needed because we were losing 41 percen t of the water pumped compared to water delivered. Bill Tibbets experience, contributed a great deal to these findings. In 1973 a water moratorium was declared on new water services this was to continue until the Green Valley County Water District was formed on April 23, 1979 under division 12 of the state water code for the purpose of upgrading water service in the community of Green Valley. The district is governed by a locally elected Board of Directors and has the same power and effect of a City Council, but restricted to matters pertaining to water and water service, the founding directors were; Richard Williams, Pres; Martin Kelly; Michael Donnelly; Michael Sontag; James Hoag William Tibbetts , Gen. Mgr. On July 1, 1979, the district acquired operating control of the existing Antelope Valley Water Company. County records show all assets were inventoried and assumed with the purchase, including all springs and water rights._ The district made application for a loan/gra nt funds under the California Safe Drinking Wat er Bond law. Additionally, application for combination loan and grant funds under the counterpart 00 Farmers Horne Administration was applied for. We received a$400,000 federal grant and$500,0 140

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for which a prop rty tax wa.<l voted.

11. 1982, the state h alth dept. completed its study f well site<; and approved the project. MnJ h g is a summarization of a study by Avery A. Swanson, a Senior Engineer Geologist. The foll owin

of Green Valley is located in an alluvial-filled valley underlain by granite and The oinmunity similar to granite). At present, water is obtained from wells in the alluvium. gne1Âˇss (a banded rock Water flowing out of the valley goes down San Francisquito Canyon. Existin g wells are located in the lower valley, where the aquifers are the thickest and, therefore, where the maximum reliable water production is obtained from wells . The disadvantage of all lower valley well sites is that nitrate concenuÂˇations at the down-gradient end of the basin may reach the highest concentrations in the valley, and re-circulation of this water through the water system will accelerate the nitrate buildup and raise the ultimate nitrate concentration. Test the upper valley well sites before you test the lower valley sites. Seismic survey lines across the valley are the best method for locating the thickest alluvium at or near these sites. Maintain the lower valley wells as a backup system even if the upper valley wells seen capable of supplying the entire system. Due to the thin aquifer at the upper valley sites, yields of upper valley wells may drop during the dry season [end of study]. October 7, 1982 the long sought, much discussed and much needed water pipeline began. Eight inch transit pipe with the required fire hydrants were laid. Simultaneously, drilling of several new wells was taking place. June of 1983 the State gave the district the green light to proceed with the purchase and construction of three new storage tanks b1inging our holding capacity to 670,000 gallons. In the process of growing pains a recall of the board of directors took place in 1986-87. It is hoped the deb ate of who was right or wrong has been put to rest. The painful lesson we all learned was th at this Âˇ 1 s not the way to solve problems. We must be able to discuss, establish a consensus and then Work together. T he community can be proud of the water system it built. This should be our shirJing exa mple 0 f what working together can accomplish . 141

Mr. Joseph Aya, County Hydrology Engineer, who did the research in the 1965 and 1975 stuctÂˇies was asked by the Water Board to review all his studies. May 10, 1987 in a letter to the boar d he stated his estimates and that of the State of California Department of water resources in March of 8 2 , are

still valid, that is: "The local ground water supply underly ing Green Valley to adequately pr ov id

e water for a population of 1 200 (240 cubic feet)" A way to develop this capacity became a prio ri ty.

The California Regional Water Quality Control Board sets the standard for all state &in.king w r ate Yearly we send samples of our water to be tested so you can be assured of safe pure water. To contr ol pollution the Regional Board for the Antelope Valley has set a standard of no more th an two leachfield fields per acre in any subdivision. The Los Angeles Boa.rd allows only one leachfie ld per acre in new subdivisions. Using the A.V. standard it would allow our 300 acres to have a maxi mum of 600 houses. In 1987-91 we suffered another drought. Building was again stopped and water limited to fifty gallons per day, per person. Our pumping capacity was over 50,000 gallons per day for 1, 1 00 people (440 residences) The Boa.rd of Directors called on water geological specialist BCI to study the options open to the disa.ict. It was decided to mill a 1,000 foot deep bed rock well in a seismic fracture in the upper end of the valley above leach field contamination. This well proved successful. Continued efforts to solve these problems are paramount.

Green Valley County Water District Office, located at 39520 Calle Cascade. Board meetings are held the second Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Green Valley Community Clubhouse.

TODAY IN GREEN VALLEY HORSES Horse population and resident interest in horses are at an all time high in Green Vall ey. The se interests range from young buckaroos learning to herd Old Shep from ponies in the minia ture class, to the Racing Quarter horse breeding and training farm at Oak Glen Ranch. One of the more interesting activities is the Jim Lott Occasional Round-UP, at which Jim gathers up a group of local cowboys and moves his herd. Sometimes this requires moving cattle aJong Elizabeth Lake Road, intermingling cattle, local traffic and not a few tourists who want to take in the sights as long as it can be done at a high rate of speed. The various breeds are well represented in Green Valley, with the American Quarter Horse, Arabian, Peruvian Passol, Pony of the Americas, Paint, Pinto, Appaloosa, Shetland, Morgan, Thoroughbred, Standardbred and a smattering of cross breeds and draft horses. Activities include trail and pleasure riding, gymkhana, team penning, endurance, jumping, English, rodeo, riding instruction, driving and sleighing. Carriages are maintained by Jim and Mary Jo Steele for use in their Oklahoma Carriage Company operation and can usually be observed along the roads and fire roads during the summer, trainin g their grey (white) Arabians to drive. They also maintain a small petting zoo, which changes over time but currently displays a guanaco, goat, pony, chickens and horses. Organized activities include AVTREC, headed up by Field Representati ves Debra Dennis and Donna Kilby. This organization is dedicated to the acquisition and preservation of recreational trails and open space through green belt or linear parkways in the Antelope Valley. At the present time they are mapping trails for inclusion in the Antelope Valley trails system. The Green Valley Trail Blazers was formed to encourage good horsemanship, trail rides, trail blazing and repair, and to sponsor horse related social activities. Currently inactive but ind ividuals from the club are still actively pursuing the clubs goals, which includes repla cing washed out trails,

144

a mal clinics, cleaning I itter from the forest, reporting Ii ttcring and occasional rrail rides. sponsoring ni The foot bridge at the western base of Spunky Saddle plantalion was built and is maintained by

a maverick grou p of horse p ople who had been hurt or seen others hurt trying to cross deep and angular wash cros ing the trail. The wash posed a problem for horses, who had to make a forty five degree turn as they jumped the ravine, some refused to cross. Some would blindly jump straight across and land in the under brush. Some would slide down the muddy bank and kick out as they jumped acro ss. Alternate trails were scruTing the ruÂˇea as riders and hikers tried to avoid "the pit". Anned with retired Forester Bob Jacobs as the engineer, some power poled salvaged by Bob Garth from the DWP bone yard, a culvert that had been donated by Bob (Max) Witt, a lot of tools, sand bags, and about 20 volunteers, the project got under way but pulled up short when it was discovered that someone had appropriated the culvert. George Fulton was called upon for assistance and with his typical can-do attitude, located an abandoned culvert cut in the hinterlands. This culvert was much too long, but Roger Campbell was quick to b1ing in his welding rig, cut it to size and haul it to the trail head above the site. It was much heavier than the first and more of a challenge to get down the mountain side to the wash, than the first culvert had been. Undaunted

Nice day for a picni c-Mary Jo and Jim Steele of the Oklahoma Carriage Company are ready for a picnic in this Green Valley grove of oak trees. Bob McMahan/A.V. College

145

by the c hallenge, ropes were rigged to play out from a pine tree while the crew guided the culve

n down the steep grade. The stream bed was reworke d to accommodate the culvert and the bridge completed. The br idge was well constructed and stands today as a monument to what people can do when

t hey join together to solve problems. Bob Jacobs, who has completely retired and resettled, did the reforestation a.round the Green Valley Community Club and maintained many miles of local trails

each year. George Fulton has gone on to a heavenly forest , a just reward for his community service which spanned a lifetime and set an example for us all. It would be fitting to dedicate this crossing to these two gentlemen and is the reason why it is usually referred to as the Jacobs Fulton Bridge. George served the com munity by being president of every organization in town at one time or

another. His wife Jean, composed this poem telling of their feelings. GREEN VALLEY Green Valley is f ull of wonde1ful people, and the maj01ity of us are glad we have not been hiding at home; Else how could we ever witness kind deeds, caring neighbors, or be a part of the fun and fellowship here in Green Valley. Who cleared the snow from in front of the store, hardware and ca.fe so we could pick up supplies, mail, and have a cup of coffee with friends? Who worked hours clearing a street and a couple of intersections? Who dug out his snowed-in neighbor? Who helped friends and neighbors clear fallen nÂˇees and branches from buildings, fences and driveways? How about the fiiendly people that walk by The Valentine party, that was a lot of fun. Green Valley has been and is a fun loving community and has never lost its C ommunity Spirit. Maybe its time to search our own individual outlook on life. Look and dwell on the spoils of life and they will put a frown on your face, a sadness in your heart and a grumble from your lips. So each day look for the good---and you can't help but f Âˇ1 lild I. . and tell everyone of happy words and deeds that are hap ening in So each day smile p Green Valley. 146

As awareness of the plight of native oaks grows, citizens' groups are taking step s to prot ec t landmark trees--and plant new oaks--in their communities and in preserves. At the same time, homeownersiue Âˇ discovering the value ofoa.ks in la ndscaping. As the West fncts continu ing water shortages, we increasingly appreciate the ability of these graceful shade-,,ivers t

thrive with no summer water. Consider the valley oak. Homesteaders once called it the "water oak". Find a grove anct water would be nearby; clear the rich bottomland and you could grow almost anything. It's estimated thnt before 1850, the valley oak was the principal tree in a riparian woodland that cove.red as much as a million acres of interio r valley floor. Today, only about 10,000 acres of this natur al valley oak woodland remain. How many custom houses have been designed to feature a native oak, only to have the tre e die a few years later? A nd how many developments named for a stand of oaks have any (or more than a small handful) of the original trees remaining? Here are some facts of life about coexisting with native oaks. Oaks a.re highly adaptabl e. An acorn may take root on a dry hillside, next to a creek, in a lawn, or in a desert. Inclividual u-ees adapt to specific conclitions. But once they adapt, survive, and mature, their environmental tolerances become increasingly narrow. Dry-season inÂˇigation of a tree that's become accustomed to a century of dry summers can actually cause its death. Keep in mind that native oaks die slowly. It might take a decade or longer for an old tree to die after enduring construction around its base. A success story based on one tree's survival for five years or so doesn't prove much. The most vulnerable parts of a mature oak are the root zone and the base of the trunk. A native oak develops a deep taproot early in its life; the most important roots are relatively shallow, within the top 3 feet of soil. Figure that an oak's roots extend at least several yards beyond the outei most ed ::,oe of t h e rree's foliage. Ideally, you should keep this entire area free of disturbanc e. This means no grading, digging. 148

paving, landscaping, or summer inigation; no construction equipm ent near; not even trenching, much foot uÂˇaffic. If you comprorruse, assume that the tree's long -term survival is at some 1isk. But y ou can still preserve the root-zone area in as natural a condition as possible. Keep ground distur bances to a minimum, and keep them as far from the trunk as you can. Concern over the loss of he1itage oaks has galvanized efforts by individual citizens and groups throughout California. One of the oldest programs is in, appropriately,Thousand Oaks. Since 1972, more than a thousand oaks have been saved from the chainsaw. But the eff ort to preserve these trees has also brought other benefits. "It forces planners to be more creative with open space and natural land forms, and results more interesting urban design," says urban forest Bill Elmendorf. "Years of oak preservation have really contributed to the total character of our community." In a swvey of California communities, we found that the most effective local programs take place on one of three levels: ORDINANCES. More than a hundred communities have tree ordinances, many of which specifically mention oaks. EDUCATION. Some groups have concentrated their efforts on teaching children about the importance of oaks in their environmental he1itage. PLANTING. Throughout Califo rnia, thousands of acorns have been collected and planted in oak woodland preserves. To get help with oaks, call or write. The California Oak Foundation acts as a clearinghouse for oak resources and provides information on tree ordinances, educational programs, and planting. Write to the organization at 909 12th St., Suite 125, Sacramento 95814, or call (916) 448-9495. Membership ($25) includes a twice-yearly newsletter.

149

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·Heating Your Home With Wood More people arc heating homes with wood, but most h ave not evaluated the benefits and costs. This publl· • ration helps you estimate hea ting costs and shows you how to get the most heat from your wood.

cost of wood Is low enough. you wlll save money. Also, you will enjoy the warm fire and f eeling of self. sufficiency. For those who enjoy work, cutting. spllt tlng. and stacking can be a pl easant form of exercise.

Wood heat Is often not the cheapest heat source and H requires more work. It Is less convenient than heating wit h fuels fed automatically. Wood ts dirty. requires more planning to tuc, and wood burning systems re· quire more freqw;nt maintenance. However. If the

Cost comparisons between different woods and be tween wood and other fuels can easily be made follow. Ing the steps below. These steps �ume you purchase your firewood. and do not Include Installation costs or costs of Improving the efficiency of an existing he.ting system.

COMPARING COSTS OF HEAT To compare heating costs you.must convert costs of different fuels to cost per unit heat. Cords of wood, gallons of oil. kilowatt hours of electricit y, therms of n a tural gas. and cubic feet or L P gas must be con· verted to a common heat content unit for comparison. T h e kilowatt hour and the therm are precise quan· tit. Ies or energy. But the volume of wood In a cord can vary considerably and the potential heat In a cubic foot ·or wood Is different for different_ species. The heating value of wood, the stoves used. and frequently re· quired stove adjustments make wood heating calcula Uons less precise than other fuel sources.

Which Wood le the Better

Buy?

When different woods arc available. a value comparl· g son can be made using the appropriate fi ures from Table 1. Follow these steps to find out which of your choices Is the better buy. Step l: Obtaln from Table J the heat value per cord of the woods you want to compare. Step 2: Divide the cost you p ay for a cord of wood by the heat value per cord. The answer Is the cost of a mllllon BTU's of heat for that species.

152

Step 3: Compare the costs of the species. The cheapest cost per mllllon BTU"s Is the best buy. E:a:am plc: Both black oak at $130 and Incense cedar at S 120 per cord arc available. Assumi ng both arc.- dry, which Is the better buy? To find out. simply divide the cost per cord of each wood by Its heat per cord from T able l. to get the cost pe r million BTU's. Black oak S5.75/mllllon BTU 22.6 mllllon ; S 130/cord BTU/cord 1.Dcenae cedar $7.50/mllllon BTU 16.0 million ; S120/cord BTU/cord

Com pared In this way. It Is easy to see that black oak ts the less expensive heat aourcc. In fact, If black oak were as much asS 170 percord. lt would stlll be as good as Incense cedar at 8120.

Table l. Approximate He at n Uaed for .F'lrewoodCo i Per Cord o( Different Wood.a ln �� foru!a (Dry Bula)'

wOOD }Jder }Jmond { -Apple · Apricot Avocado Cedar Incense Port Orford Cherry Ch lnkapln Citrus Cottonwood Cypress. Monterey Douglas-fir Elm Eucalyptus Blue gum Lemon scented gum Mountain gum Red g,um Rose gum Fig Fir Grand Red White Laurel Bay California

HEAT VALUE PER CORD (million BTU) 15.7 32.9 27.5 28.3 20.7

HEAT VALUE PER CORD (million DTU)

WOOD Laurel (continued) Myrtle (Oregon) Pepperwood Madrone Mahogany, mountain Manzanita Maple Oak Black Blue Canyon live Coast live Tanoak White Olive Peach

16.0 17.6 2 7.0 18.9 33.8 14. 0 19.3 21.5 20.7 28.0 30.6 24.3 30.6 �7.5 23.3

Pear

Pinc Digger Knobcone ,-Odgepole Monterey Ponderosa Sugar Plum Redwood Walnut English Black

15.2 16.1

15.7

23.3 23.3

23.3 23.J 24.8 39.8 32.0 19.6 22.6 38.2 31.7 28.5 26.l 28.2 37.3 32.5 32.0 20.5 17.2 17.3 22.0 18.3 16.2 25.6 18.5 22.5 23.5

1Wood specific graulty and heat ualue are both necessaryjorcalculatl on of fuel ualue. Both haue �en determtnedf or most woods but data were estt matedjor a few uncommon •Pft:les. basftf on local laborato111 ucputence.

Why Wood Heat Value Varies The ratio between the chemical components o( wood (llgnl n. cellulose, and extractlves} makes wood heat values vary by as much as 20 percent. Wood cell walls. made of llgnln and cellulo se. have a heating potential of about 8,500 BTU per pound. depending on the species. Extractlves (resin and oils that give wood color, decay resistance. and odor) have a heat content similar to that of Ugnln. Bark has a higher heat value

than most wood .

ln addition to the ratios of chemical and·wood comp<>· nents. the dry weight per �ood volume (wood density) Is even more Important. California fuel woods weigh from 22 to 50 pounds per cubic foot. California law requires that firewood be sold by the stacked cord. well stowed and packed. A cord Is a volume of 128

153

cubic feet In a stack 4 feet wide by 8 feet long by 4 feet high (California Administrative C ode Title 4. Ch. 8 (21 l. Sec. 2892). Volume and weight combine so that In •3 cord of cottonwood there Is only half the energy con tained In a cord of white oak, while a cord of alder has only 60 percent as much energy as a cord of tanoak.

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l. RED ROCK CANYON and unique oreo · "Bryce Canyon In miniature" A ,pecto culor

2. TEHACHAPI MOUNTAIN PARK Scenic aettlng ot 6,000 ft.· camping ond plcnlckln11 3. GOLDEN HILLS COUNTRY CLUB

2�. LAMCl'.�TER CITY PARK SJ Acret ·playgroun d,• ,ohboll diamond,. picnic 1Mlter1. motocrott cour1e, soccer t ,eld,

25. El DORADO PARK Recreation building. playground and picnic area. ��501 · 5th StrHt Eoat

�. STALLION SPRINGS Hora• Thief Golf Courte

26. ANTELOPE VALLEY COUNTRY ClUB Goll, tennis. swimming and dining· (private club)

5. TWENTY MULE TEAM MONUM ENT Former termlnu, for t �• twenty mule team, from Death Volley .

27 . SAN ANDREAS FAULT Colilornio'a major fault ion•· 2 miles south of Palmdale

6. CAMELOT GOLF COURSE Mojave

28. PALMDALE RESERVOIR FIN AND FEATHER CLUB Fiahlng and booting on o membenhfp ba1l1 · 2 miln touth of Palmdale

7. GEM HILL MINERAL DEPOSITS O.po1it1 of petrified wood, polmwood, ogote and joaper

29. LOCKHEED Builder of the L-1011 . Sierra Highway ond Avenue P

8. WILLOW SPRINGS HISTORICAL MONUMENT Aulna of 1116,4 stogecooch station· North of Rosamond Blvd.

30. A.F. PLANT .C2 and AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL CENTER A hug• S 100 million aircraft assembly ond teating focllity

9. TROPICO MINE ANO GOLD CAMP 900 ft. shaft, gold ore in vein, and museum . open to public

31. DESERT AIRE GOLF COURSE 9 Hole· .COth Street East

10. FORT TEJON One of Collfornlo'1 hl1lorlc ormy poat, of the 1850'1 11. ANTELOPE VALLEY· CALIFORNIA POPPY RESERVE 12. FOX AIRFIELD 5.000 It. lighted runway· 50th Street West and Avenue G 13. APOLLO PARK Los Angeles County Pork. Playground, and Fishing U. SCENIC HUGHES & ELIZABETH LAKES REGION Activitie1 include comping, hiking. picnicking and hunting 15. ALMOND TREES Almond tr••• bloom each Morch· 60th St. West 16. VASQUEZ ROCKS COUNTY PARK Mossive rock formation· ideol picnic and hiking area 17. GODDE PASS SCENIC ROAD · 60th St. West Out,tonding view of Antelope Volley LEGE 18 ANTELOPE VALLEY COL 30th Street West ond Avenue K • Beautiful des ert ..111n9 ·

RCONTINENTAL AIRPORT . 19_ FUT URE SITE OF INTE airport est larg tion's be no To nuH 0 & M 17 .000 acre• between Ave

OF COMMERCE 20_ LANCASTER CHAMBER ,. 9 o.m. to 5 p.m. Open to the public wffkdoy

ORICAL LANDMARK 21. WESTERN HOTEL HIST ark· Lancaster Blvd. and C6ldor St. landm ical Histor rnia Califo

22. JANE REYNOLDS PARK Fig St. and Avenue J Lorge tree·lined pork wllh awimmlng pool·

23. INDUSTRIAL PARK Avenue K at Oivi1ion

32. ANGELES FOREST HIGHWAY A .cenic 32 mile route from the Antelope Volley to Lo Conoda 33. HISTORIC ACTON Gold Mining boom town of the 1870'1, Crown Volley Rood

34. PEACH and PEAR ORCHARDS Delicious fruit harvested in mid-summer· llttlerock on Hwy. 138 35. LITTLEIIOCK RESERVOIR and RECREATION AREA Fishing. booting and campsites · 3 miles south-st of Littlerock . 36. OEVll'S PUNCHBOWL Spectacular rock formations and hiking trails

37. ST. ANDREWS PRIORY Conducted by the Order of St. Benedict· Open to the public

· 38 . CRYSTALAIRE GOLF. COURSE 18 Hole championship . (privote club)

39 . BIG PINESIWRIGHTWOOD SKI & REC. AREA Picturesque picnic. hiking and comping areas at 6,000 ft.

.CO. ANTELOPE VALLEY INDIAN MUSE UM Museum housH Indian ortiloct, . Eo1t ol 150th

.Cl. SADOLEBACK BUTTE STATE PARK Over i,lOO ocrH. hiking and picnicking .

.C2. El RANCHO GOLF COURSE 9 Hole· 60th S1reet East

St. E. end Ave. M

170th St. c. .. 0nd ... ..v•. J

.C3. EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE AmMico·s largest jet-miuile-spoc e vehicle tell center .C4. NASA DRYDEN Tourt at 10:00 o.m. and 1:00 p.m, weekdays

45. U.S. BORAX OPEN PIT MINE World's largHt open pit mine. turn oft Hwy . 58, West ol lorOft .c6. ANTELOPE VALLEY FAIRGROUNOS/WILOFLOwtR CENTER .C7. LANCASTER CITY HALL

155

TODAY WILD FLOWERS The Golden Poppy, California's state flower, is abundant in the Antelope Valley, along with 75 to 85 other wildflowers that carpet the hillsides in spring. Although development has reduced large areas where wildflowers once grew rampant, poppies have been persevered on the 1, 175-acre Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, drawi ng thousands of tourists each year. The Poppy Reserve, at 15101 West Lancaster Road, is only open during wildflower season in th e spring, although the drive westward is still a pleasant journey in autumn, even though the buildin gs are closed. To find the reserve, go west on Avenue J, which becomes Lancaster R oad at 110th Street West. Entrance to the reserve is at 150th Su·eet West. Cost is $5 a vehicle in season. Those who tour the reserve are cautioned to watch for snakes and to hike only on designated trails. The prime wildflower season is usually from mid-March to mid-April.

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Poppies and Quail are Califomia's stateflo ...ver a, zd state bird. Both are often seen in Green Valley.

156

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Dalsyllke while flowers that grow from 4 to 16 Inches In height Aowef hood ltl about 1 1/2 Inches In dlo mote<. It grows In emall groups among the dostlt 1hfubs.

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There are approximately 12 apeciea of luplne In the Antelope Valley. The oolors range from whke, blue • pale purple 10 yenow.

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Wildflowers to look for Include:

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• Watch out for snakes • $500 fine for picking wildflowers

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'\ -------L.A. COUNTY GENERAL PLAN RE£ N VA l L. �--!

1986

158

. ,AN.. TELOPE VALLEY AREAWIDE GENERAL· PLAN JANUARY 1986 •

•I

. . .. . . - .. - . LOS ANGELES COU NTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION .

GREEN VALLEY*

Th� �ommunity of Green Valley is a secluded National Forest in ho�d1ng·_ located along San Francisquito Canyon Road a p proximate ly 2 mll es south of Elizabeth Lake Road. Most subdivision activity in the community took pla e in the 1920's, resulting _in the creation of about 1,800 fivec thousand square-foot lots. How ever, several hundred of these lots may not be buildable due to se wage disp6sal problems. For this reason, combinjng of As of 1984, the lots for development purposes is anticipated. community was home to approximat ely 850 persons in approximat e ·ly 310 dw elling units. Th e Plan for Green Valley calls for prot e ction of the existing development pattern. Commercial designations in the community recognize t he existing small e to a rural community. scale ' local se rvice uses approprivat . . Any additional future commercial uses 1n Green Vall ey shculd also b e of this nature. IV-�

u l Policies Pertaining To Designated Rura Comm nities Many of 'the commun ities listed above are designated as Rural As such '· they are not expe ct e d, in most inCor.imun 1, t.1es. to e xperience sign1'f'ican t ,gr��th b Y th: ye ar 20�0. stance s · sh ou ld _e of an "indoes occur_ Whe re f�rthe r de velopmentwith /1ng community x1s e e t h charact e r nt fill nature. consiste event should it exc ee d the d�nsi no in and a� d se rvic_ e '1 ve ls the Ant elope Valley Are awide Ge n e ral Plan ties spe cl f/e� 00' a Rural communities are defined· and general M p y Land,U� e Po ic deveiopment are enumerat ed in the Land Use Ele conditions for t ers and El ements of the County· e0 ntywide Chap ent of R ral Co h ment of mmunit ies shall u � e i e d eve lopm utur General P an. these with provis ent ions and the s ist ccn e r oc c r _in a mann elope Vall ey Areawide Gen Ant the hin wit u d e in provisions con ta IV-13 eral Plan.

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(see page IV-13). *A D e signat e d Rural Community 159

TODAY HIKING

THE PACIFIC CREST NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL PERMITS AND REGULATIONS 1. A pennit is not required for travel on the Pacific Crest Trail as such, but a permit is required for travel through some Wilderness and other special areas. In addition, a campfire permit is required for use of portable campstoves or building campfires in wildlands throughou_t the State. To make it simple, you can contact the National Forest, BLM, or National Park office at your point of entry for a combined permit valid for one continuous trip on the Pacific Crest Trail in California. 2. Pets and firearms are not pennitted in National Parks. Use of firearms is restricted to hunt ing season or designated areas in National Forests and BLM areas. A state license is required to fish or hunt anywhere in California. 3. Only water from developed systems at recreation sites is maintained safe to drink. All other water should be brought to a rolling boil for five minutes. 4. Campfires are not allowed in certain areas, always check. A portable camp stove is strongly recommended for backpacking. Never cut standing trees or branches of standing trees. 5. Be careful, rattle snakes are a natural pan of the environment. Generally, if you don't bother them, they will not bother you. Report and seek aid for any snake bite. THE ANGELES SEGMENT extends 185 miles from Highway 58 southeast to Wright Moun tain above Wrightwood. Trail elevations range from 3,200 to 9,400 feet. Except during winter and early spring, water is scarce north of Soledad Canyon and southward it is harder and harder to find as summer wears on. Areas above 7,000 feet may have heavy snow from mid-November to April. Spring is the recommended travel _season because temperatures are moderate (40 to 75 degrees F) and water is more plentiful. Summer temperatures even in the mountains reach the 90s.

Th� Pacific Crest Trail is �esi�ned _ and in�e�ded fo: travel on foot or with stock. Travel by _ motonzed vehicle or mountam bikes 1s proh1b1ted. Pnmaiy access is via Gorman' Palmdale' and Wrightwood. For permits and information write or call: Angeles National Forest 701 North Santa Anita Arcadia, CA 91006 (818) 574-5200

160

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TODAY EARTHQUAKES No pla in Calif min is ompl tely safe from earthqu ake damage but the degree of hazard to life, limb and I 1 p 11y d s dep nd somewhat on where you live. C.F. Ri hte.r. professor emerit us of s ismology at Caltech, says there are two chief things to n, id r in a sessing a location's earthquake risk. The first is the density of th e ground on whic: h buildings are situated. The less compacted the soil, th greater the potential for damage. In general. buildings in hilly or rocky parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties, and of all otl�er C;lifornia counti;s, are on safer ground than buildings on sedimentary soil or "fill". The second thing to consider is nearness to earthquake fault. Seismologists agree it is not wise to build across known faults, although unknown ones, of course, are impossible to avoid. Southern California has had during the past 500 yea.rs, five quakes measuring 7 to 8.3 The quakes happened in 1857, 1812 and very roughly in 1700, 1610 and 1470. Be prepared. Develop a family plan on what to do before, during , and after an ea11hquake.

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SAN GABRIEL fAULT· 418L&Etl F:PsWLT J SAN GAYETANO FAULT+ OAK RIDGE FAULTt LIEBRE FAULT ZONE

162

TODAY People in Green Valley support their local organizations. The Community Club wa' formed 1n 1950. It manages the clubhou se and our social programs The Town Council i our politic"J :;,.rm. working on community and county relations. Seniors GO-FER-PUN meet the 3rd Tue (�day, at J prn. at the Community Club. The Water Board resolves all issues relating to water. They give u� Hmited city status, having the power to pass ordinances and levy taxes. Many businesses serve us. The hardware store and post office, run by Gale Mortimer is open Tuesday through Sunday to serve us. The Green Valley Inn is managed by Alice O'Connor and the store by Mike Ja ber, drop in for goodfood and good service, they are open daily. The gift shop "Just Ducky", 15313 Spunky Canyon Road, operated by Ted and Miriam Noss, has many unique itemS. Ride at the Oklahoma Carriage Company , operated by Mary Jo and Jim Steele. There are many realtors to consult , this is still our largest business. The water office is located on Calle Cascada. The way we get convenient service is by supporting our neighbors. The only way Green Valley will continue to be the great place it is to live, is by our actively working together to make it so.

The Green Valley Bible Chapel, 15228 Sanluis Patotsi, withPastorMikeFinley, does a real serv· _zce to the communit. Give him a call at 270-1271. Sunday School at 9 a.m. and worship at 10:JO 163

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Mortimer's Hardware Store ( above), owned and operated by Gale Mortimer, also serves as the U.S. Post Office, located at 15475 Calle Ensendada. Green Valley Store (below), owned and operated by Mike Jaber, and the Green Valley Inn, owned and operated by Alice O'Connor, are both located at 15488 Spunky Canyon Road.

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164

Just Ducky Gift Shop, owned and operated by Mariam and Ted Noss, located at 15313 Spunky Canyon Road.

Green Valley Community Clubhouse off SpunA.y Canyon Road, east of town. The Community Club meets on the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 p.m.

Town Councii election. From left to riglitis Go-Fer-Fun Seniors helping on -the G1Âˇeen Valley Davis, Willie Atkins, Virginia Davis, and Edith Davis. He111y Philomena Ratzlaff, Vi rginia Walker, 110011. The Town Council meets on the second The club meets the third Tuesday of each month at Monday of each month. 165

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VICINITY MAP

167

TODAY Nestled in a quiet valley, surrounded by the Angeles National Forest, is a small community, no a mountain reso1t known as Green Valley, with approximately 500 homes in the greater area in 1992. 300 acres were subdivided long ago into 1800-50' x 100' lots.

Private acerage borders the

subdivision. Green Valley, often compared to the small towns in the high Sierras is surprisingly close to urban areas of the Antelope and Santa Clarita Valleys. Green Valley is 13 miles from Quartz Hill, l 8miles from Palmdale and 18 miles from Santa Clarita. Our zip code is 91350 and is served by the Santa Clarita Post Office while we have an (805) 2 70 phone number, tie us to Palmdale. The Hughes-Elizabeth Lake Union School District educate the kindergarten through 8th-grade students of Green Valley and their high school students attend Highland High. The local Little League plays in Quartz Hill. Churches serving us include the Green Valley Bible Church, located at San Luis Potosi, and includes a Sunday School. Saint Elizabeth Mission Catholic Church located at Lake Elizabeth and Johnson Road. Besides the convenient location between to two valley urban areas. We set at a elevation of 2800 to 3 000 feet, have an average summer temperature of 85 degrees and average winter temperature of 45-50degrees, allowing all four seasons. An unobstructed ocean breeze cools us, when low pressure develops as the desert heats up. We admit being prejudice, this is the only place to live. Our community has continued to grow since the big developers left us. Toe guide we are following now is dictated by the quantity and quality of water we produce and our environmental concerns. Two factors has dictated the speed growth. One has been the completion of our new water delivery system and the wells to supply it. Finding the 24 0acre feet of water the county hydrologist estimate is here has not been forthcoming. The second factor has been the opening of San Francisquito Road to Santa Clarita. This allowed through traffic to flow, to many of us there are mixe feelings. d

168

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book was started when members of our GO-FER-FUN (seniors) club were reminiscing about the "good old days". It was suggested that maybe we should get some of these stories written, while we were able to. The stories presented are the gifts of many peoples treasured news paper clippings, magazine articles, interviews, and excerpts about our area in many books. Pictures were also provided by many, many people. We hope all have been given proper credit. Providing information to help our neighbors discover, appreciate and love Green Valley has been our guide. No profits sought. We hope we haven't forgotten anybody please accept our good intensions, Thanks to; Isa Hann, Jim Lott, John & Dorothy Mays, Gary Gambrel, Dick Dorn, Orie & Phil Ratzlaff, Eileen Hoenshell, Mary Jo & Jim Steele, Jean Fulton, Helen Mcgill, Jane & Phil Byrd, Johanna Murchinski, Dan Kott (DWP), Mike Wickman (Forestry), Jim and Carolyn Bielesbach, John Bullaro, Bob McMann, Jeane Nelson, Jerry Reynolds, Milt Stark (West Antelope Valley Historical Society} A very special thanks to our daughter, Maryann Taliaferro, Doris Ferguson and Terry Kaldhusdal. Louise and Jack

169

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