I've lived in Southern California for 44 years, and I love history and exploring. Yet I keep learning about new places and stories at a steady pace. The world is big and marvelous beyond imagination. Thank you for bringing so much of it to us.
Thanks for posting this historic tidbit. It's sad that such important sites of the past are left to decay. You've done a fantastic job of researching and presenting this information...
It was closed off because the brass plaques were stolen by metal thieves. The old parking area with the plaques became a spot for illegal trash dumping. Therefore, it was fenced off.
West Texas oil guy here. Some remediation will need to be done on the site of the old refinery. But you'd be surprised: what comes out of the ground, Nature reclaims. The oil being one. Probably the worst thing to impact from oil production is the salt water that comes with. It's re-injected normally, but spills of salt water tend to be worse than oil. Since there was plenty of vegetation, doesn't appear there were any major spills of salt water, as it kills everything around and near it. Prevents anything from growing in the future unless you till and treat it. FYI!
Not forgetting La Brae. Early oil fields and refineries were built near surface pools and that's exactly what La Brae is. It wouldn't surprise me if what he saw was basically a well head that was ever-so-slowly hemorrhaging tar-like oil (heavy, sour crude is what abounds in California.) Combine this with the fact that the local vegetation doesn't seem to mind, and the sun doing a good job of solidifying it after a while, doesn't seem to be a significant problem. Just not ideal.
Rain may eventually wash the salt down into the ground, a wash and a rinse of the topsoil so to speak. But that can take decades in the desert, or perhaps never if the underlying soil is impermeable. There is a big wash north/northwest of Wink Tx. They built a dam and used it as a disposal for produced water as late as the early '80's, simply letting it soak into the ground. That practice had went on for 30 years and today you'd never know from looking. Conversely there are areas along the Pecos River near Grandfalls Tx where the soil has a high clay content and nothing will grow some 70 years later. Another West Texas oilpatch guy here.
@@dfirth224That's one of the main problems I see with California is they will allow a corporation to sell land that was destroyed. They allow corporations to file bankruptcy when they're supposed to be all about the environment. Because if they were all about the environment they would force the corporations to do clean up, they would put every single member of the business in jail until it was dealt with. And then you wouldn't have these problems because business men wouldn't want to go to jail so they would make sure they cleaned up their f****** mess.
Great job, Steve. I lived very close to the Cut from the mid '80's to '91 and remember the markers. It's also close to the hiding spot I used to duck into when (being young & stupid) attempting to evade the Sheriff for speeding on Sierra Highway. Got caught one day when the spot was blocked off and that Deputy was so excited he radioed other units excitedly yelling I caught her, I caught her. Apparently my Camaro & I had lost him a few times before.
I read and studied some traqic history about the Newhall incident. In 1970 four CHP Officer were gunned down during a car stop. This is a rugged area and has a historical significance some tragic. I don't know if you did a segment about the incident but it would be great to visit the sight and honor the fallen officers. Their sacrifice changed police tactics on car stops and is a big part of California's history.
I remember when they blocked this off and took down the markers, so sad. My oldest kiddo did a report for school about Beale’s Cut, my other kids weren’t able to access the area. Thanks for the video!
The efforts you put into your videos is appreciated immensely. And the travel time by foot is grand. Love learning about old history and trying to imagine how many people trekked rough country. Which makes us where we are today. Thank you dearly for your thoughtfulness ❤ ❤
My grandma grew up in Newhall. There was a railway but no real road to the San Fernando Valley at the time, so this was the travel path walking or by horse. She was in the crowd in 1913 when Mulholland opened the dam gates bringing Aqueduct water to LA.
Great video. We used to take Newhall Pass to visit my grandmother. We were all aware of Beale’s Cut growing up. We explored it after the 2/9/1971 Sylmar earthquake. The Cut had a lot of dirt and rock that had freshly fallen from the quake. The quake had knocked my grandmothers house off its foundation. It hit Newhall/Saugus, Sylmar and San Fernando very hard. Thanks again for your video!
I remember that quake. There was a VA hospital in Sylmar that was not very old but was completely wrecked. Before they tore it down they let Hollywood studios go in and film stock footage to use in future disaster movies.
That quake is one of my earliest memories. It woke me up way out in Torrance, and I still remember the dull thud of one of those christmas cookie tins falling from the top shelf of my Mom's closet. My Grandpa lived in Granada Hills barely a mile from Sylmar. His account was harrowing but a bit long for here. I remember neatly stacked cubes of bricks salvaged from the walls that toppled and got replaced by cinder blocks, that ended up completely grown over by shrubbery as I grew up.
I thought the world was ending. My house was towards the top of a hill that had a view of the VA hospital and the brand new County hospital that the entire hospital fell on top of the collapsed first floor. The night of February 9th, all power was out in the area and the only light came from the emergency lights at the VA as the search through the rubble for survivors and body recovery continued with large cranes. Very surreal and emotional times with over 60 lives lost.
Thankyou for reminding me, back in the early 80's, my mom, the adventurer took me up there, but I don't remember the refinery, most likely they had a way around it, hey! I was 10yrs old, but she took me all over Cali.
Thanks again for taking me back home to a place i used to go a long time ago. The place hasn't changed. Hiked over the mountains to Mission Peak down into the San Fernando Valley from there. Had a friend pick me up when I got down. Good Times.
My family traveled to the Los Angeles area in 1850, it's a surreal thought to think they very well may have known about the construction of the cut, and possibly traveled through it after its construction.
I grew up in the SFV then later the SCV. I took Sierra Highway many a time and passed the historical marker for Beale's Cut when there were still markers. If you know where to look and what to look for, you can spot Beale's Cut from Sierra Highway. It's a taste of home and childhood. Thanks for the video, Steve!!
Thank you once again for a nice sidetrack into history. Travellers back in that day didn't get out of there that easily. From Newhall, as I understand it, the stage went up one of the canyon routes to the desert, and then had to cut back toward Gorman and Fort Tejon. The Ridge Route cut miles and miles off that route. For those interested, a search of "Newhall Pass plaques" brings up photographs of at least one or two of the old plaques. You mentioned the highway US 6, too. From LA it traveled through this area, and on up the east side (currently US 395 ), turned right at Bishop, and went all the way (with different numbers occasionally) to Massachusetts.
The "canyon routes" you speak of is most likely Soledad Canyon which the 14 follows more or less to the Antelope Valley where you can then cut back west to Gorman. I think so as it is also the route of the first railroad connecting the SCV to the AV.
I took my 4 year old son up there, after showing him the footage of Tom Mix jumping Tony. He was super excited to crawl over some of the ruins there. Then I drove over to the giant "water tower", and actually pulled my SUV inside so we could shine the headlights on the interior. Out of the corner of my I saw a dark figure get up - prolly a homeless person or tagger - and I calmly made our exit. Freaked me out, tho. That car at the foot of the cut is "new" since I was there, though the camper isn't. There used to be other cars there too, so it looks like there was some cleanup in the last few years. Also, you can see the actual cuts in the "cut" where they dug it out. There are a couple visible in your video as you entered the cut. Tom Mix eventually built his own studio out there, incorporating the old ranch house where he lived. There are still a number of large filming locations in the area, including a 400 acre ranch recently on sale for a cool $35,000,000. Beautiful country out there...but yeah, that area in the old oil facility has bad vibes.
I lived SCV for 35 yrs. and have heard of this place. You have done the best documentary on this place. Just subscribed, love stuff like this. Great job.
Keep up the awesome videos, since I live up here in San Jose I would never of known about Beales Cut. I have a soft spot for Southern California since my dad's family has been in Ventura since the 1860's and every time we go down there it feels like home, Keep up the great work!
I'm 60 the last child. My parents moved there I was a sophomore. Came back to SJ in 2004. I'm a California kid you might say. So much fighting between "Nor Cal" and "So Cal" I appreciate both.
California is a very interesting place. I've always been impoverished by immigration best I can tell so I've really never had a chance to really explore it
Thanks Steve! I’ve been curious about the history of Beale’s cut for a long time. Glad you were able to dig up so many details. And thanks for braving the weeds to get the southern view! Good stuff, as usual!
Just one of the things I really admire about your videos Steve, it's your commitment to researching historical information. I love those awesome maps and the way you incorporated them into your video ... very cool! I recently read the book by Harrison Scott ... "The Road That United California" and it was a fascinating read about the Ridge Route. Reading it makes you realize how isolated Southern California was from the gold rich upper state because of the impassable San Gabriel Mountains. Beale's Cut, and other engineering feats, kept California a single "united state" as opposed to a divided two state California ... North and South.
Yeah, it's easy to forget now because everything is connected by freeways, but LA and San Diego were really isolated for a long time. San Diego was still struggling to connect to the east in the early 1900s.
Thanks for the information on the Butterfield Overland Trail. I have hiked this trail along Lee's Creek in Arkansas and have followed it in places all across the country. I need to make it down and check this spot out. Great history.
It's sad to see it caved in as it is now. I lived in Newhall in the late 70's and made the short hike to Beale's Cut from Sierra Highway (the oil refinery was still operational then). It was cool to see it when it was still in good condition. You might consider doing a video on the original/actual "Ridge Route". I believe you can still drive the complete route from Castaic to Hwy 138 near Quail Lake and I5 (north of Pyramid Lake).
That oil on the ground is not pollution it’s actually natural. Oil was discovered here as a natural oil spring. In January, 1865 Ramon Paria, a Mexican hunter, while hunting for deer he wounded, he followed a trail and found it dead near the spring. The quality of the oil in the spring attracted his attention. Per Wikipedia.
Not sure if the oil leaking from the pipe is natural or not, but there are natural oil seeps all over California. There are written records of this as far back as the 1700s.
That's the thing, people talk about this pollution and that pollution, but, they do not realize ( or know ) that at one time it was all in the ground to start with.
Great episode! My Grandpa took us hiking up to that in the late 70s, and called it "Fremont Pass." I remember a lot of trash and graffiti, it seemed to be a place where high school kids would go to party. I visited it a couple of times in the late 80s as well. Apparently the Northridge quake filled it in quite a bit. My Dad told a tale of an adventure my Grandpa took him on near there in the 50s. They walked into the Newhall side of the train tunnel from the valley. There are alcoves along the way for people to duck into if a train comes. Well, about 50 feet in, there came a strong blast of wind from a train entering from the valley side, and they ran like mad back to the mouth of the tunnel and that was the end of that adventure.
Thanks for this h8ke Steve! I've seen Beals cut, (like many of us) in multiple Westerns and until now, I had no idea this was an important piece of L.A./California history..... Another Historic Gem! Thanks for trooping through the weeds and snakes to show these! Next time I watch Stagecoach with friends, I can pause the CD and say "That's historic Beals Cut!"😁
Loved this. you are correct, most of the silent Westerns were thrown away and not saved. My grandfather appeared in a few Tom Mix films as a boy. He pained himself and rode bareback, playing an Indian. He made $3 a day, good money then. I buy every one of them I can find, but probably will not be able to see gramps.
Years ago i read a book called ' Blue Highways' by William Trogdon . He toured the entire US in a campervan taking the back roads of America using the 'B ' roads on a map coloured blue ..thus the title . The people he met , the sights and sounds and experiences of his epic journey has stayed with me vividly 40 some years later and every time I see one of your highly educational videos , it brings the memories flooding back . I am a big ,big fan of Hidden History and the fantastic entertainment provided by you Steve ...best wishes from Scotland .🌍🌎🌏
Sidetrack presents another really good travelogue- lots of research and a thoughtful host separates these from other less interesting travel vids on YT
Excellent as always. You're filling a good portion of the hole left by Huell Howser's passing more than a dozen years ago. This one gave me chills as I realized this must have been the route taken by my great grandparents when they moved from the Central Coast down to Los Angeles in the 1890's. This is now on my must see list for weekends. Thanks very much for the research and travel. I half expected aged derelicts left from the Charlie Manson Family to appear at the abandoned refinery.
I really enjoyed seeing this look at Newhall Pass and Beale's Cut especially the many films and television shows that filmed on location here and this was really nice hearing the history of it and until next time Thank You. 🤠🖖🇺🇲
Thanks! I live at the north end of the SF Valley these days and have been aware of Beale's Cut for years, but never have got over there. It's truly an important part of our state's history, as you pointed out. I'd like to organize a clean up of the area. And yes, I remember reading back in the 1990's that a landslide had closed/blocked it.
I grew up in the oil fields of east Texas long after the oil boom was over. I'm VERY much aware of what exploring old oil refinery and containment sites looks and smells like. I could almost smell this video.
The place is beautiful despite man's interference. The history too was amazing. Thanks for sharing. It is sad that it's too expensive to clean up, would make for a wonderful park and hiking trail. 😊
It's crazy when I heard you say in one of John Ford's movie's they were in Monument Valley then going through the Cut, not even in same State. I love when I can identify places and catch stuff like that. Thanks Steve for the very interesting history, never knew this. Somewhere in the past I've seen that still shot of the horse and rider jumping over the gap, now I know where it was taken.
Thanks Steve. I grew up in southern California and had never heard of Beale's Cut. As you were working your way through the brush, all I could think of was, "rattlesnake!".
I was just in Truxton AZ and stood on the corner of Beales Wagon Road and Will Rogers highway Nice to see where I would have wound up if I had taken a detour Thank you for your vlog lesson...
Before Beale and Pico cooperated with the cut, they found themselves on opposing sides during the US/Mexican War. Andres lead his Californio Lancers against a contingent of the Army of the West lead by Stephen Kearney at the battle of San Pasqual in 1946. Beale along with Kit Carson were scouts for the AofW. Excited for this episode since I grew up in the northeast region of the San Fernando Valley. We use to go crawling around that area.
I remember the 6.6 earthquake said to be centered in Newhall from 1971. They now refer to it as the San Fernando quake but it was a real jolter. Great video!
Steve! I don't know how you find so many interesting stories about early days in the West. Your historical perspective and honest presentation, not to mention humor (Newhall Oil Refinery, haha!), make Sidetrack Adventures one of my favorite channels. Thanks!
Thanks for reminding me of some time I spent looking around there decades ago now!! There was all kinds of trash back then too!! But at least I did get to see an historical marker still standing. I studied a number of California history books in the libraries and then would go see the sites myself. I went up and down and in and out of all kinds of 'back country' places either by vehicle (I once took my car on what was apparently a 'fire road' and not much of that either(!) all the way from the top of the Angeles Crest Mountains; highway 2, down to a place you'd normally get to from highway 138 near Pearblossom; I think it was back when 39 went all the way through to 2. No way I could have made it back up the way I got down though!!), cycling (Mt. bike) or just hiking up and down hills!!! Mission Point too many times to count, then back behind all the oil land up there!! Then hiking once from the valley all the way up to the telescope on Mt. Wilson; read a lot about how they got that huge mirror for it up there. Got a ride back down. All over the old stagecoach roads at the west end of the San Fernando Valley! The Bridge to Nowhere! All the dams in the Angeles Forest. Mt. Pinõs! Yeah, I know, not all historical sites, but seeing the stars and the Milky Way from up there was fantastic; star parties in the summer. Oh, the really great old stuff in the ground from the remains of a huge hotel in the mountains above Pasadena that you got to via an old steep train ride! Placerita Cyn. where gold was discovered. Old radar and missile sites. I used to go somewhere different almost every weekend as a young guy. Wish I could go back in time and relive the adventures it all over again. William S. Hart museum was a favorite stop after cycling all the way over the Sierra Highway... cycling down at over 50 mph! Sorry, but this really sparked a lot of memories!!!
We have 2 small communities north off the 14 and Sierra Highway. Acton and Augua Dulce. They are little Western Nuggets. Bedroom communities for folks working in the movie industry. We were part of the horse community. Augua Dulce boasts it's local vineyards and winery. Vasquez Rocks Park was named for Vasquez the notorious outlaw. We have a nature center there. Montie Montana entertained us with stories and roping tircks.
Another excellent video, and I’m glad to see you are in my stomping grounds with these latest videos. I feel like you might be going to the St. Francis dam disaster sight soon. Thanks for taking us viewers to all these interesting places. Keep up the good work!
Once, there were pics of these plaques in downtown LA. Its because there was so much vandals that it was removed and no longer replaced. The history of these areas are still on line and there are pics floating around for all to see. Great Video!
Thank you for bringing this history to life. I can remember seeing the oil refinery from the road as we drove up to the central valley when I was a teenager. The oil on the hillside looks like oil from a natural seep. You see patches like that in other areas of SoCal where there are natural oil or asphalt seeps.
I’m truly grateful for these videos you post. A few have hit very close to home. Others are in places I probably will never reach. It’s those ladder videos that I have such a fondness for. This is likely one such place. However, with the prior you still tend to provide information I didn’t even know.
On a motorcycle ride with a friend, I visited Beale's Cut in the mid 1970s. At that time it was significantly deeper than shown in your video, more like the images shown in the old movies.
Great video. Southern California has a great and wonderful history. I've seen that big tank driving along the 14 and been meaning to stop, explore, and photograph.
Hope you get a chance to visit the Santa Paula creek oil seeps / extraction caves as well as the Union 76 headquarters in Santa Paula, CA. PS - with all the natural oil seeps in the area, not sure to what standard they should spend money to remediate the land around the old refinery. Depends on future usage.
Great video Steve. I've lived in Santa Clarita for 50 years and didn't realize there was a Newhall tunnel which was apparently replaced by Sierra Highway that was built over the Newhall tunnel. When I was young, we rode our bicycles up Pine street to the railroad tunnel which is the active rail route to Los Angeles. Back then it was used primarily for transporting freight and we would ride our bikes to and out the South end of the tunnel. It is the only rail route I am aware of through the Newhall pass. I didn't realize I could get to Beale's cut via Elsmere Canyon Open Spaces trail where Newhall Ave. ends on the South side of the 14 freeway. I am going to make that hike with friends. Wish I knew you were out here yesterday, I would have driven out to meet you and thank you for your interesting, informative videos. And yes, I am subscribed to your channel.
My Dad was an oil field welder and he worked a lot up there in the 1960s. He worked a lot in Ventura too and in 1966 he rolled his white 1960 Ford F-350 off Sespe mountain above Fillmore one night while heading to a drilling rig. He was ok, but the frame was bent on the F-350 pretty bad. He was able to salvage the welding bed though and attached it to a blue 1964 F-350.
Great video. You always come up with the most interesting esoteric pieces of history. I always enjoy your videos and find them to be entertaining as well as educational. Great job!
My parents took us to Beale's Cut back in the mid 60's. We hiked the cut from the entrance with the plaques all the way through to the oil refinery that was still in operation. It's a shame the area has not been maintained.
Hey Steve! Thanks for another great episode. I used to live near Beale's cut. I remember the parking area off of "the old road" and the brass plaques. It was a short walk to the cut which was MUCH deeper. Locals told stories of how it was the perfect spot for Indians to ambush wagon trains from above. I stood in the middle of the cut once and imagined what that must have been like. One could almost hear the war cries. It was fenced off because it became a popular dumping site. Traveling south on the 14 freeway, you can look back and still see the cut, or what remains of it.
Thank you for posting this video. I hiked up to Beal's Cut many times starting in 1984, but never from the north because it would have forced me to walk through the still operating refinery. I started to go through it from the north in approximately 1994, but the refinery was just too spooky for me to pass through alone. I moved away from the area in 2020, and hadn't given it a thought until your video popped up. Best time to explore this area is after the temperatures cool down in the late fall, winter, or very early spring. Be careful, the rattlesnakes love the hills around Santa Clarita/Newhall. Cool temperatures and awareness are your best defense.
Terrific. I really enjoy your videos. I love these old routes. I always wonder about how people moved around back in the day. Often I've found that the old route is where the modern route is. I learned about the railroad that was Sunset for a couple of years during the 1860s. Started at Sister's Hospital, split at Sunset Junction (Silverlake), one went along Santa Monica Blvd to the 'Old Soldiers Home,' The Veterans' Cemetery in Westwood. The other through Griffith Park to the Ostrich Ranch. (This one I've followed on a bicycle, it's almost flat. There's a curious hump in the street behind Marshall High School that might be a storm drain. It continues on across Los Feliz Blvd, up a side street and then ducks into the scrub brush and into Griffith Park. In West Hollywood about 20 years ago they tore up and re did Santa Monica Blvd. I could see some of the old tracks buried about four feet below the current roadway. I see a lot of up and down 'roads' usually above modern roads, they parallel some of the main highways. I always wonder if these are the old roads before machines could knock down hills, in fill the hollows and level it out. There's one of these in the Tejon ranch along the 5. I've got some maps and things on the Pacific Electric Line if you ever do anything on it. You're welcome to them. I also have some old Map books for Los Angeles and CA. You're welcome to those as well.
My dad was born in 1922 in Van Nuys. I remember his stories of the "old" roads he traveled on. You've hit a few.... and luckily, at Santa Claus Lane near Carpenteria there is still some original US101 concrete he would have been on. 😉👍
“Side” note here Steve, lol, not far from there in the town of Newhall in the 1950’s, there was a tragic CA Highway Patrol shooting, I believe 4 troopers were killed and it sparked a huge training transformation in how police approach felony vehicle stops. Pretty sure there was a ceremony years ago and the passerby citizen who tried to assist the cops was honored as well. There is a plaque near the spot. Oh well when I saw the town I instantly thought of this incident. Cheers and go Padres!!!
Is the plaque still there? Down the street I saw where they had an acrylic marker up, I guess its less likely that would be stolen, but it was for something else that used to be in the area.
The actual crime scene is now covered by part of the Magic Mtn Parkway. The incident actually occurred in 1970. A nearby bridge over 1-5 is also named in the fallen honor. Governor Ronald Reagan had a quote on the plaque that’s in the memorial garden at the CHP office. Would be a cool sidetrack adventure Thanks again for all your great stories Steve ✌️
I drove right on by that place M - F for 13 years but never knew anything of it! Thanks for catching me up. Typical CA, oil just oozing out of the ground but still costs too much to make a business of it all. Glad I got out while I could.
Thanks! I know where this is! But I'll miss hiking there. Yes it's creepy. But I love the overhead shots and the old movies. I own stagecoach on dvd . I'll watch for that part again!
Steve, I really enjoy your tours. I love learning the history of these places. Your presentation is calm, witty and respectful. I can tell you really care about the subjects and places you visit. Keep up the great work!
Good bit of history Steve. I lived and worked in Calif. (San Diego, Fresno, Marin, Sonoma and Amador counties) for over 50 years before retiring in 2003 and moving to Arizona. I certainly would not go around those areas unless you are properly armed!! Here is AZ. we can carry openly, being a retired cop myself (Marin County) I do. Just saying. El Mirage, Arizona
Thanks for the video. I remember hiking out to Beale's Cut when I moved to that area in the 1980s. You added some great background to what I had learned back then.
The abounded camper by the bid storage tank can be seen on G-Earth birds eye view. Great watch. When we go there for a walk were in a group of 8 or more for safety.
Hey, I’m a Long Beach native. Don’t often comment on the tube. But I like what you do. It’s important.
@@saxhorn1508 Kool videos
I've lived in Southern California for 44 years, and I love history and exploring. Yet I keep learning about new places and stories at a steady pace. The world is big and marvelous beyond imagination. Thank you for bringing so much of it to us.
We moved here in '78 when I was 7.
I am still discovering places here just like you
I’m a retired truck driver. I loaded oil products out of that refinery back in the 80s. Very interesting video thanks for sharing
Thanks for posting this historic tidbit. It's sad that such important sites of the past are left to decay. You've done a fantastic job of researching and presenting this information...
Humans won’t inhabit this earth forever
@@Group_Anonymous And the earth won't inhabit the universe forever. Your point?
Thanks.
It was closed off because the brass plaques were stolen by metal thieves. The old parking area with the plaques became a spot for illegal trash dumping.
Therefore, it was fenced off.
@@SidetrackAdventures Thanks for showing this. How about showing us where gold was found in southern California in the 1830s.
West Texas oil guy here. Some remediation will need to be done on the site of the old refinery. But you'd be surprised: what comes out of the ground, Nature reclaims. The oil being one. Probably the worst thing to impact from oil production is the salt water that comes with. It's re-injected normally, but spills of salt water tend to be worse than oil. Since there was plenty of vegetation, doesn't appear there were any major spills of salt water, as it kills everything around and near it. Prevents anything from growing in the future unless you till and treat it. FYI!
Whoever buys the property has to pay for cleanup. That's why no one will touch it.
Not forgetting La Brae. Early oil fields and refineries were built near surface pools and that's exactly what La Brae is. It wouldn't surprise me if what he saw was basically a well head that was ever-so-slowly hemorrhaging tar-like oil (heavy, sour crude is what abounds in California.) Combine this with the fact that the local vegetation doesn't seem to mind, and the sun doing a good job of solidifying it after a while, doesn't seem to be a significant problem. Just not ideal.
Thank you for your insight.
Rain may eventually wash the salt down into the ground, a wash and a rinse of the topsoil so to speak. But that can take decades in the desert, or perhaps never if the underlying soil is impermeable. There is a big wash north/northwest of Wink Tx. They built a dam and used it as a disposal for produced water as late as the early '80's, simply letting it soak into the ground. That practice had went on for 30 years and today you'd never know from looking. Conversely there are areas along the Pecos River near Grandfalls Tx where the soil has a high clay content and nothing will grow some 70 years later. Another West Texas oilpatch guy here.
@@dfirth224That's one of the main problems I see with California is they will allow a corporation to sell land that was destroyed. They allow corporations to file bankruptcy when they're supposed to be all about the environment. Because if they were all about the environment they would force the corporations to do clean up, they would put every single member of the business in jail until it was dealt with. And then you wouldn't have these problems because business men wouldn't want to go to jail so they would make sure they cleaned up their f****** mess.
Great job, Steve. I lived very close to the Cut from the mid '80's to '91 and remember the markers. It's also close to the hiding spot I used to duck into when (being young & stupid) attempting to evade the Sheriff for speeding on Sierra Highway. Got caught one day when the spot was blocked off and that Deputy was so excited he radioed other units excitedly yelling I caught her, I caught her. Apparently my Camaro & I had lost him a few times before.
LOL...what do you drive now
@@chadhaire1711 Now, she has a chauffer. 😄
I read and studied some traqic history about the Newhall incident. In 1970 four CHP Officer were gunned down during a car stop. This is a rugged area and has a historical significance some tragic. I don't know if you did a segment about the incident but it would be great to visit the sight and honor the fallen officers. Their sacrifice changed police tactics on car stops and is a big part of California's history.
Thank you, Steve for taking me on your sidetracked adventures. I am disabled and can’t get out of the house much and I really enjoy your programming
I'm glad I can be of help.
Oil percolated out of the ground in many places in the LA region, the La Brea tar pits being the most famous. Really good video.
Yes, oil is a natural product from the Earth, like most everything. We tend to forget that.
I remember when they blocked this off and took down the markers, so sad. My oldest kiddo did a report for school about Beale’s Cut, my other kids weren’t able to access the area. Thanks for the video!
Forgotten Gateway to Los Angeles pretty much says it all,thanks for another historical video🤗😎🤗😎
Thank you.
The efforts you put into your videos is appreciated immensely. And the travel time by foot is grand. Love learning about old history and trying to imagine how many people trekked rough country. Which makes us where we are today. Thank you dearly for your thoughtfulness ❤ ❤
My grandma grew up in Newhall. There was a railway but no real road to the San Fernando Valley at the time, so this was the travel path walking or by horse.
She was in the crowd in 1913 when Mulholland opened the dam gates bringing Aqueduct water to LA.
Oh wow, so yeah she would have definitely travelled this road.
Ok segue to another movie Chinatown with Uncle Jack lol.
“There it is, take it”! Spoken by William Mulholland at the dedication in 1913….
Great video. We used to take Newhall Pass to visit my grandmother. We were all aware of Beale’s Cut growing up. We explored it after the 2/9/1971 Sylmar earthquake. The Cut had a lot of dirt and rock that had freshly fallen from the quake. The quake had knocked my grandmothers house off its foundation. It hit Newhall/Saugus, Sylmar and San Fernando very hard. Thanks again for your video!
I remember that quake. There was a VA hospital in Sylmar that was not very old but was completely wrecked. Before they tore it down they let Hollywood studios go in and film stock footage to use in future disaster movies.
That quake is one of my earliest memories. It woke me up way out in Torrance, and I still remember the dull thud of one of those christmas cookie tins falling from the top shelf of my Mom's closet. My Grandpa lived in Granada Hills barely a mile from Sylmar. His account was harrowing but a bit long for here. I remember neatly stacked cubes of bricks salvaged from the walls that toppled and got replaced by cinder blocks, that ended up completely grown over by shrubbery as I grew up.
@@dfirth224didn’t it get used in a couple of episodes of Emergency! especially one about an earthquake?
I was 9 when that one hit, we lived in Palmdale
I thought the world was ending. My house was towards the top of a hill that had a view of the VA hospital and the brand new County hospital that the entire hospital fell on top of the collapsed first floor. The night of February 9th, all power was out in the area and the only light came from the emergency lights at the VA as the search through the rubble for survivors and body recovery continued with large cranes. Very surreal and emotional times with over 60 lives lost.
Thankyou for reminding me, back in the early 80's, my mom, the adventurer took me up there, but I don't remember the refinery, most likely they had a way around it, hey! I was 10yrs old, but she took me all over Cali.
Thanks again for taking me back home to a place i used to go a long time ago. The place hasn't changed. Hiked over the mountains to Mission Peak down into the San Fernando Valley from there. Had a friend pick me up when I got down. Good Times.
Its great that even in Los Angeles county there are a few places that haven't changed in awhile.
Live about a mile from the cut, been there many times
We even had a restaurant called Beales cut.
Like your videos.
I used to go there too.i liked the food and the pictures on the wall of the cut
My family traveled to the Los Angeles area in 1850, it's a surreal thought to think they very well may have known about the construction of the cut, and possibly traveled through it after its construction.
I grew up in the SFV then later the SCV. I took Sierra Highway many a time and passed the historical marker for Beale's Cut when there were still markers. If you know where to look and what to look for, you can spot Beale's Cut from Sierra Highway. It's a taste of home and childhood. Thanks for the video, Steve!!
Being guided through Americas first settlers history by you is so amazing! Well done Steve-
Love from Denmark
🇩🇰 🇸🇪🇳🇴🇦🇽 😎✌️
Thank you once again for a nice sidetrack into history. Travellers back in that day didn't get out of there that easily. From Newhall, as I understand it, the stage went up one of the canyon routes to the desert, and then had to cut back toward Gorman and Fort Tejon. The Ridge Route cut miles and miles off that route. For those interested, a search of "Newhall Pass plaques" brings up photographs of at least one or two of the old plaques. You mentioned the highway US 6, too. From LA it traveled through this area, and on up the east side (currently US 395 ), turned right at Bishop, and went all the way (with different numbers occasionally) to Massachusetts.
The "canyon routes" you speak of is most likely Soledad Canyon which the 14 follows more or less to the Antelope Valley where you can then cut back west to Gorman. I think so as it is also the route of the first railroad connecting the SCV to the AV.
That original route is today's Highway 138, Pear Blossom highway. It uses the old Gorman Post Road, which happens to be the San Andreas Fault.
I took my 4 year old son up there, after showing him the footage of Tom Mix jumping Tony. He was super excited to crawl over some of the ruins there. Then I drove over to the giant "water tower", and actually pulled my SUV inside so we could shine the headlights on the interior. Out of the corner of my I saw a dark figure get up - prolly a homeless person or tagger - and I calmly made our exit. Freaked me out, tho.
That car at the foot of the cut is "new" since I was there, though the camper isn't. There used to be other cars there too, so it looks like there was some cleanup in the last few years. Also, you can see the actual cuts in the "cut" where they dug it out. There are a couple visible in your video as you entered the cut.
Tom Mix eventually built his own studio out there, incorporating the old ranch house where he lived. There are still a number of large filming locations in the area, including a 400 acre ranch recently on sale for a cool $35,000,000. Beautiful country out there...but yeah, that area in the old oil facility has bad vibes.
I lived SCV for 35 yrs. and have heard of this place. You have done the best documentary on this place. Just subscribed, love stuff like this. Great job.
Keep up the awesome videos, since I live up here in San Jose I would never of known about Beales Cut. I have a soft spot for Southern California since my dad's family has been in Ventura since the 1860's and every time we go down there it feels like home, Keep up the great work!
Thanks. I plan on it.
I'm 60 the last child. My parents moved there I was a sophomore. Came back to SJ in 2004. I'm a California kid you might say. So much fighting between "Nor Cal" and "So Cal" I appreciate both.
Thank you Steve for taking my mind off of Hurricane Milton
Stay safe if you are in it's path. This one looks bad.
You're a great narrator, you have the perfect voice for it. You're very pleasant to listen to!
I am nowhere near California, but find your well researched and well told stories very interesting to watch!
Glad you like them!
California is a very interesting place. I've always been impoverished by immigration best I can tell so I've really never had a chance to really explore it
Thanks Steve! I’ve been curious about the history of Beale’s cut for a long time. Glad you were able to dig up so many details. And thanks for braving the weeds to get the southern view! Good stuff, as usual!
Huell Howser did an episode years ago on it in his PBS "California's Gold" program.
Just one of the things I really admire about your videos Steve, it's your commitment to researching historical information. I love those awesome maps and the way you incorporated them into your video ... very cool! I recently read the book by Harrison Scott ... "The Road That United California" and it was a fascinating read about the Ridge Route. Reading it makes you realize how isolated Southern California was from the gold rich upper state because of the impassable San Gabriel Mountains. Beale's Cut, and other engineering feats, kept California a single "united state" as opposed to a divided two state California ... North and South.
Yeah, it's easy to forget now because everything is connected by freeways, but LA and San Diego were really isolated for a long time. San Diego was still struggling to connect to the east in the early 1900s.
Thanks for the information on the Butterfield Overland Trail. I have hiked this trail along Lee's Creek in Arkansas and have followed it in places all across the country. I need to make it down and check this spot out. Great history.
Thank you for posting such a wonderful video. Actually all your videos are amazing. I watch them all. Thank you for doing such an amazing job.
It's sad to see it caved in as it is now. I lived in Newhall in the late 70's and made the short hike to Beale's Cut from Sierra Highway (the oil refinery was still operational then). It was cool to see it when it was still in good condition.
You might consider doing a video on the original/actual "Ridge Route". I believe you can still drive the complete route from Castaic to Hwy 138 near Quail Lake and I5 (north of Pyramid Lake).
Great work, Steve and thanks for all the research you put into your adventures.
And yes, it does look unsettling in there.
It reminded me of a hideout a Batman villain would use.
That oil on the ground is not pollution it’s actually natural. Oil was discovered here as a natural oil spring. In January, 1865 Ramon Paria, a Mexican hunter, while hunting for deer he wounded, he followed a trail and found it dead near the spring. The quality of the oil in the spring attracted his attention. Per Wikipedia.
Plausible, because a lot of what we saw in Steve's video has that "raw asphalt" look. Probably the aroma too.
Yeah, I don't think that oil coming out of the pipe was a spring.
Not sure if the oil leaking from the pipe is natural or not, but there are natural oil seeps all over California. There are written records of this as far back as the 1700s.
That's the thing, people talk about this pollution and that pollution, but, they do not realize ( or know ) that at one time it was all in the ground to start with.
Is it related to the tar pits in LA?
Great episode! My Grandpa took us hiking up to that in the late 70s, and called it "Fremont Pass." I remember a lot of trash and graffiti, it seemed to be a place where high school kids would go to party. I visited it a couple of times in the late 80s as well. Apparently the Northridge quake filled it in quite a bit.
My Dad told a tale of an adventure my Grandpa took him on near there in the 50s. They walked into the Newhall side of the train tunnel from the valley. There are alcoves along the way for people to duck into if a train comes. Well, about 50 feet in, there came a strong blast of wind from a train entering from the valley side, and they ran like mad back to the mouth of the tunnel and that was the end of that adventure.
You and your channel have gotten consistently better and more interesting each episode. Thank you so much for an entertaining and informative video.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Thanks for this h8ke Steve! I've seen Beals cut, (like many of us) in multiple Westerns and until now, I had no idea this was an important piece of L.A./California history.....
Another Historic Gem! Thanks for trooping through the weeds and snakes to show these!
Next time I watch Stagecoach with friends, I can pause the CD and say "That's historic Beals Cut!"😁
Loved this. you are correct, most of the silent Westerns were thrown away and not saved. My grandfather appeared in a few Tom Mix films as a boy. He pained himself and rode bareback, playing an Indian. He made $3 a day, good money then. I buy every one of them I can find, but probably will not be able to see gramps.
It's a shame so many were lost.
Not all were thrown away. They were made on the old nitrate film and disintegrated before they could be copied to plastic film after 1952.
Oh, very interesting & I didn't know that. I wondered about their disappearance.
Outstanding information. Loved the history. I used to travel the 14 to visit friends in the mid 1980s. Never knew this existed! Thank you.
THANKS FOR THE HISTORY STEVE 😊
I'm glad I found this video and channel. I partly grew up further north in Saugus and I am proudly the SCV ❤🙏
Welcome aboard!
Years ago i read a book called ' Blue Highways' by William Trogdon . He toured the entire US in a campervan taking the back roads of America using the 'B ' roads on a map coloured blue ..thus the title . The people he met , the sights and sounds and experiences of his epic journey has stayed with me vividly 40 some years later and every time I see one of your highly educational videos , it brings the memories flooding back . I am a big ,big fan of Hidden History and the fantastic entertainment provided by you Steve ...best wishes from Scotland .🌍🌎🌏
Sidetrack presents another really good travelogue- lots of research and a thoughtful host separates these from other less interesting travel vids on YT
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Excellent as always. You're filling a good portion of the hole left by Huell Howser's passing more than a dozen years ago. This one gave me chills as I realized this must have been the route taken by my great grandparents when they moved from the Central Coast down to Los Angeles in the 1890's. This is now on my must see list for weekends. Thanks very much for the research and travel.
I half expected aged derelicts left from the Charlie Manson Family to appear at the abandoned refinery.
I really enjoyed seeing this look at Newhall Pass and Beale's Cut especially
the many films and television shows that filmed on location here and this
was really nice hearing the history of it and until next time Thank You.
🤠🖖🇺🇲
Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks! I live at the north end of the SF Valley these days and have been aware of Beale's Cut for years, but never have got over there. It's truly an important part of our state's history, as you pointed out. I'd like to organize a clean up of the area. And yes, I remember reading back in the 1990's that a landslide had closed/blocked it.
Thanks, Steve, another great adventure to a cool obscure place, , Bart
I grew up in the oil fields of east Texas long after the oil boom was over. I'm VERY much aware of what exploring old oil refinery and containment sites looks and smells like. I could almost smell this video.
The place is beautiful despite man's interference. The history too was amazing. Thanks for sharing. It is sad that it's too expensive to clean up, would make for a wonderful park and hiking trail. 😊
It's crazy when I heard you say in one of John Ford's movie's they were in Monument Valley then going through the Cut, not even in same State. I love when I can identify places and catch stuff like that. Thanks Steve for the very interesting history, never knew this. Somewhere in the past I've seen that still shot of the horse and rider jumping over the gap, now I know where it was taken.
Thanks Steve. I grew up in southern California and had never heard of Beale's Cut. As you were working your way through the brush, all I could think of was, "rattlesnake!".
I grew up a couple miles away from this spot. My home was just off Sierra Hwy. The entire area has changed so much.
I was just in Truxton AZ and stood on the corner of Beales Wagon Road and Will Rogers highway
Nice to see where I would have wound up if I had taken a detour
Thank you for your vlog lesson...
Thank you for being so diligent in gathering your information. Your videos are always wonderful to see.
Before Beale and Pico cooperated with the cut, they found themselves on opposing sides during the US/Mexican War. Andres lead his Californio Lancers against a contingent of the Army of the West lead by Stephen Kearney at the battle of San Pasqual in 1946. Beale along with Kit Carson were scouts for the AofW. Excited for this episode since I grew up in the northeast region of the San Fernando Valley. We use to go crawling around that area.
I grew up there also, but I usually walked around the area. Saw some odd kids crawling around one time.
@@whatsup7253 That was probably me and the Girl Scout troop I was crawling around with .😆
I remember the 6.6 earthquake said to be centered in Newhall from 1971. They now refer to it as the San Fernando quake but it was a real jolter. Great video!
It's been awhile since I've felt one. There was on Easter about 14 years ago I really remember though.
I believe it was centered in Sylmar.
@@leechjim8023 you could be right. I do remember when it happened that they mentioned it being Newhall in the initial radio reports.
Steve! I don't know how you find so many interesting stories about early days in the West. Your historical perspective and honest presentation, not to mention humor (Newhall Oil Refinery, haha!), make Sidetrack Adventures one of my favorite channels. Thanks!
Thanks for reminding me of some time I spent looking around there decades ago now!! There was all kinds of trash back then too!! But at least I did get to see an historical marker still standing. I studied a number of California history books in the libraries and then would go see the sites myself. I went up and down and in and out of all kinds of 'back country' places either by vehicle (I once took my car on what was apparently a 'fire road' and not much of that either(!) all the way from the top of the Angeles Crest Mountains; highway 2, down to a place you'd normally get to from highway 138 near Pearblossom; I think it was back when 39 went all the way through to 2. No way I could have made it back up the way I got down though!!), cycling (Mt. bike) or just hiking up and down hills!!! Mission Point too many times to count, then back behind all the oil land up there!! Then hiking once from the valley all the way up to the telescope on Mt. Wilson; read a lot about how they got that huge mirror for it up there. Got a ride back down. All over the old stagecoach roads at the west end of the San Fernando Valley! The Bridge to Nowhere! All the dams in the Angeles Forest. Mt. Pinõs! Yeah, I know, not all historical sites, but seeing the stars and the Milky Way from up there was fantastic; star parties in the summer. Oh, the really great old stuff in the ground from the remains of a huge hotel in the mountains above Pasadena that you got to via an old steep train ride! Placerita Cyn. where gold was discovered. Old radar and missile sites. I used to go somewhere different almost every weekend as a young guy. Wish I could go back in time and relive the adventures it all over again. William S. Hart museum was a favorite stop after cycling all the way over the Sierra Highway... cycling down at over 50 mph! Sorry, but this really sparked a lot of memories!!!
It is so good listening your stories at bedtime, helps me to unload. Thank you.
Thank you this video - I've heard about this for years. I'm born and raised in So Cal. Sad how everything seems to be trashed now.
You're welcome.
Great post. Great old California story. Well done. Thank you.
... Thanks again Steve, your videos are the main reason I set my alarm on Wednesdays...
Thanks!
Steve ... you sir, are a true historian! Another superfino video trip thru time - - most enjoyable!
A friend of mine’s grandfather helped dig Beale’s Cut.
Oh getting a little homesick. Miss my friends in southern CA. I lived in a small community 20 or so miles up the road.
Which town? Nothing seems so small in the area anymore until you reach Gorman.
We have 2 small communities north off the 14 and Sierra Highway. Acton and Augua Dulce. They are little Western Nuggets. Bedroom communities for folks working in the movie industry. We were part of the horse community. Augua Dulce boasts it's local vineyards and winery. Vasquez Rocks Park was named for Vasquez the notorious outlaw. We have a nature center there. Montie Montana entertained us with stories and roping tircks.
Another excellent video, and I’m glad to see you are in my stomping grounds with these latest videos. I feel like you might be going to the St. Francis dam disaster sight soon. Thanks for taking us viewers to all these interesting places. Keep up the good work!
Once, there were pics of these plaques in downtown LA. Its because there was so much vandals that it was removed and no longer replaced. The history of these areas are still on line and there are pics floating around for all to see. Great Video!
Not simply vandals but POS tweakers steal these plaques to melt down at scrapyards
Thank you for bringing this history to life. I can remember seeing the oil refinery from the road as we drove up to the central valley when I was a teenager. The oil on the hillside looks like oil from a natural seep. You see patches like that in other areas of SoCal where there are natural oil or asphalt seeps.
Another EXCELLENT exploration of our South Western United States.....so very, very well done.
Greetings from Sylmar! I’ve been here my whole life and never knew about this! Thank you for sharing this! This is amazing history.
Another fine episode, Steve -- thanks. Annnnnnnnd: Let's GO PADS!
Driven past there so many times, and never knew. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Steve ! I never knew about the Beale's pass .
The tires mysteriously return to the headwaters where they were spawned...
No matter how remote you get, tires will be there.
That’s hilarious. Do you see what he did there, cause tires start life as oil. Now they’re back home
I’m truly grateful for these videos you post. A few have hit very close to home. Others are in places I probably will never reach. It’s those ladder videos that I have such a fondness for. This is likely one such place. However, with the prior you still tend to provide information I didn’t even know.
Thank you.
On a motorcycle ride with a friend, I visited Beale's Cut in the mid 1970s. At that time it was significantly deeper than shown in your video, more like the images shown in the old movies.
The amount of research and editing of these videos is so appreciated. Thank you Steve for all of your hard work and dedication!
One of my favorite channels if not my favorite channel on UA-cam. Thanks for doing what you do Steve
Great video. Southern California has a great and wonderful history. I've seen that big tank driving along the 14 and been meaning to stop, explore, and photograph.
Always wanted to make this trip, but we wouldn’t have learned as much vs this upload. Thank you Steve!
Little known historic artifact about travel between LA and points north...Thanks for the update!
Hope you get a chance to visit the Santa Paula creek oil seeps / extraction caves as well as the Union 76 headquarters in Santa Paula, CA.
PS - with all the natural oil seeps in the area, not sure to what standard they should spend money to remediate the land around the old refinery. Depends on future usage.
Great video Steve. I've lived in Santa Clarita for 50 years and didn't realize there was a Newhall tunnel which was apparently replaced by Sierra Highway that was built over the Newhall tunnel. When I was young, we rode our bicycles up Pine street to the railroad tunnel which is the active rail route to Los Angeles. Back then it was used primarily for transporting freight and we would ride our bikes to and out the South end of the tunnel. It is the only rail route I am aware of through the Newhall pass.
I didn't realize I could get to Beale's cut via Elsmere Canyon Open Spaces trail where Newhall Ave. ends on the South side of the 14 freeway. I am going to make that hike with friends. Wish I knew you were out here yesterday, I would have driven out to meet you and thank you for your interesting, informative videos. And yes, I am subscribed to your channel.
My Dad was an oil field welder and he worked a lot up there in the 1960s. He worked a lot in Ventura too and in 1966 he rolled his white 1960 Ford F-350 off Sespe mountain above Fillmore one night while heading to a drilling rig. He was ok, but the frame was bent on the F-350 pretty bad. He was able to salvage the welding bed though and attached it to a blue 1964 F-350.
Great video. You always come up with the most interesting esoteric pieces of history. I always enjoy your videos and find them to be entertaining as well as educational. Great job!
Thank you.
My parents took us to Beale's Cut back in the mid 60's. We hiked the cut from the entrance with the plaques all the way through to the oil refinery that was still in operation. It's a shame the area has not been maintained.
Hey Steve! Thanks for another great episode. I used to live near Beale's cut. I remember the parking area off of "the old road" and the brass plaques. It was a short walk to the cut which was MUCH deeper. Locals told stories of how it was the perfect spot for Indians to ambush wagon trains from above. I stood in the middle of the cut once and imagined what that must have been like. One could almost hear the war cries. It was fenced off because it became a popular dumping site. Traveling south on the 14 freeway, you can look back and still see the cut, or what remains of it.
Thank you for posting this video. I hiked up to Beal's Cut many times starting in 1984, but never from the north because it would have forced me to walk through the still operating refinery. I started to go through it from the north in approximately 1994, but the refinery was just too spooky for me to pass through alone. I moved away from the area in 2020, and hadn't given it a thought until your video popped up. Best time to explore this area is after the temperatures cool down in the late fall, winter, or very early spring. Be careful, the rattlesnakes love the hills around Santa Clarita/Newhall. Cool temperatures and awareness are your best defense.
The refinery is very creepy for sure, especially with so many places people could be camping out in.
Terrific. I really enjoy your videos. I love these old routes. I always wonder about how people moved around back in the day.
Often I've found that the old route is where the modern route is.
I learned about the railroad that was Sunset for a couple of years during the 1860s. Started at Sister's Hospital, split at Sunset Junction (Silverlake), one went along Santa Monica Blvd to the 'Old Soldiers Home,' The Veterans' Cemetery in Westwood. The other through Griffith Park to the Ostrich Ranch. (This one I've followed on a bicycle, it's almost flat. There's a curious hump in the street behind Marshall High School that might be a storm drain. It continues on across Los Feliz Blvd, up a side street and then ducks into the scrub brush and into Griffith Park.
In West Hollywood about 20 years ago they tore up and re did Santa Monica Blvd. I could see some of the old tracks buried about four feet below the current roadway.
I see a lot of up and down 'roads' usually above modern roads, they parallel some of the main highways. I always wonder if these are the old roads before machines could knock down hills, in fill the hollows and level it out. There's one of these in the Tejon ranch along the 5.
I've got some maps and things on the Pacific Electric Line if you ever do anything on it. You're welcome to them. I also have some old Map books for Los Angeles and CA. You're welcome to those as well.
Great research in finds old stills and movie footage to our American history. I give you thumbs up 👍 for your homework.
Fascinating history. Thanks for the terrific episode.
My dad was born in 1922 in Van Nuys. I remember his stories of the "old" roads he traveled on. You've hit a few.... and luckily, at Santa Claus Lane near Carpenteria there is still some original US101 concrete he would have been on. 😉👍
“Side” note here Steve, lol, not far from there in the town of Newhall in the 1950’s, there was a tragic CA Highway Patrol shooting, I believe 4 troopers were killed and it sparked a huge training transformation in how police approach felony vehicle stops. Pretty sure there was a ceremony years ago and the passerby citizen who tried to assist the cops was honored as well. There is a plaque near the spot. Oh well when I saw the town I instantly thought of this incident. Cheers and go Padres!!!
Is the plaque still there? Down the street I saw where they had an acrylic marker up, I guess its less likely that would be stolen, but it was for something else that used to be in the area.
The site for the memorial is:
28648 The Old Rd, Valencia, CA 91355, the current CHP local office@@SidetrackAdventures
The actual crime scene is now covered by part of the Magic Mtn Parkway. The incident actually occurred in 1970. A nearby bridge over 1-5 is also named in the fallen honor. Governor Ronald Reagan had a quote on the plaque that’s in the memorial garden at the CHP office. Would be a cool sidetrack adventure
Thanks again for all your great stories Steve ✌️
“The Newhall Incident” is the historical name for this tragic event when you google/wiki it
I drove right on by that place M - F for 13 years but never knew anything of it! Thanks for catching me up. Typical CA, oil just oozing out of the ground but still costs too much to make a business of it all. Glad I got out while I could.
Thanks! I know where this is! But I'll miss hiking there. Yes it's creepy. But I love the overhead shots and the old movies. I own stagecoach on dvd . I'll watch for that part again!
Steve, I really enjoy your tours. I love learning the history of these places. Your presentation is calm, witty and respectful. I can tell you really care about the subjects and places you visit. Keep up the great work!
Thanks Steve!
Good bit of history Steve. I lived and worked in Calif. (San Diego, Fresno, Marin, Sonoma and Amador counties) for over 50 years before retiring in 2003 and moving to Arizona. I certainly would not go around those areas unless you are properly armed!! Here is AZ. we can carry openly, being a retired cop myself (Marin County) I do. Just saying.
El Mirage, Arizona
Thanks for the video. I remember hiking out to Beale's Cut when I moved to that area in the 1980s. You added some great background to what I had learned back then.
The abounded camper by the bid storage tank can be seen on G-Earth birds eye view.
Great watch. When we go there for a walk were in a group of 8 or more for safety.
Good idea
@@jamespell8091 It's about 3 or 4 adults and the rest kids. It's really a great place to hike...