She dismounted, with her red hair, black leather, windblown with mascara and pearls intact. She unstrapped her Kaiser Wilhelm-style half helmet. Naturally, I tried to make conversation.
“Do you know the two rules about riding a Harley in La Cañada?” I asked.
She was nonplussed.
I went on despite her lack of interest.
“Rule number one: red bike, red leathers. Rule number two: blue bike, blue leathers.”
She smiled briefly, dropped the file on the table and left. I opened the file. I Inside, there was a news clipping, yellowed with age. It was a column called “Neighborhood News.”
The date was April 19, 1885. The column was written by an anonymous correspondent from “La Canyada.”
I began to read:
“This settlement has improved much in the past few months. A public school has been opened. The post office has assumed so much importance that the government has advertised for bids for the carrying of a daily mail to and from Los Angeles.”
The correspondent then described the amenities of the Foothills. She said, “the La Cañada store really exists and the proprietor claims to be doing a paying business...We are soon to have telephonic connections with Los Angeles.”
The columnist went on to report that “together with the settlements to the west, Crescenta Cañada and Monte Vista, we have for our mountain colonies over 500 inhabitants, being ten times what were there two years ago. New houses are continually going up and so are the prices of land. That which sold for $60 per acre two years ago...being in demand now at $126.”
