Mel Phillips circa 1900 in Santa Paula by the Union Oil Building. Mel was who lived and ran a taxidermist shop across the street from Owen and would have fun stories about how Owens Chicken would end up in his yard.
Enlarge Photo

Everett Pyle.
Enlarge Photo

Courtesy Fillmore Historical Museum

In the article “Early Law in Fillmore” we wrote about various early lawmen and then followed up with specific stories such as “Jack Casner, Lawman, Cattleman,” and “Crime and Punishment, Parts One and Two.”

One early lawman we mention only briefly was Owen Miller, probably the most colorful of Fillmore’s constabulary. The following is a reprint from “City of Fillmore, Golden Anniversary Year, 1914 – 1964,” published by the City of Fillmore. It’s not clear who wrote this particular portion, but we know Lawrence Hinckley at least contributed to the publication.

Owen Miller’s Pepper Tree
In the early days there were a number of pepper trees in the business block of the town. Old timers tell the following story about one of these trees.

Owen Miller ran a hotel and livery stable in the center of town and one of the largest of Fillmore’s pepper trees grew directly in front of his hostelry. After Fillmore was incorporated, the first and second Councils ordered all pepper trees in the main block of Central Avenue cut down to make way for the installation of sidewalks. Owen had the reputation of being a pretty good man with a gun, and he passed the word around that he would shoot any man who chopped down his tree. Thereupon he sat on his front porch with a gun conspicuously between his knees.

One morning Everett Pyle, a member of the City Council, walked down the street and stopped in front of the hotel. He carried an axe over his shoulder.

“Good morning, Owen,” said Everett.

“Good morning,” said Owen. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to chop down this pepper tree.”

“Chop down that tree and I’ll shoot you,” said Owen.

“I have neither chick, nor child,” replied Everett. “If you shoot me, I’ll not be missed, and you will hang for murder, and this tree will be cut down anyhow, so go ahead and shoot.

With that Everett started chopping away. Owen Miller got up, went into his hotel and didn’t come out for three days.

[Editor’s note: Here’s different version of what happened to the tree:
Owen Miller, town constable and bootlegger owned the Central Hotel, south of where Sprouse-Reitz building is now. When the City dads decided in 1917 that the pepper trees looked countrified in a business district, they ordered them cut down. The crew worked north from the railroad track until only one tree was left, that in front of Owen Miller's Hotel. Dale King tells us what happened next.

Owen liked the shade on his front porch, and out he roared with gun in hand and told the crew to get lost or he'd shoot, and he meant it. The crew took off.

A few days later Everett Pyle, Fillmore's second mayor, came by with ax in hand and told Owen he'd come to cut down the tree.

"You touch that tree and I'll kill you," roared Owen,

"Well, “said Everett calmly, "look at it this way. You shoot me and you'll go to jail and somebody else will cut down the tree."
Owen just pointed his gun, and Everett went away. You didn't argue with Owen. (The west was still a bit wild in Fillmore.)

A week or so later Owen took his pack train up to Lockwood Valley to hunt, and while he was gone, down went the tree.

Owen was furious when he came back. He put a sign on the hotel's screen door that said, "Everybody welcome here but Everett Pyle. Everett Pyle keep out!"]

Owen’s Chickens
Owen was a colorful and unpredictable character and Mel Phillips, who lived and ran a taxidermist shop across the street from him in the early days, tells this story: Owen Miller’s chickens were constantly digging up Mel’s garden and helping themselves to the berry bushes. One day he saw an old hen and thirteen chicks in his yard. He watched the chicks grow until they were fryer size. By this time his patience was at an end, so he took a string, made a loop in it, and snared himself a couple of fryers. The fryers kept coming and Mel kept snaring them and living high off fried chicken. Finally, he had captured all thirteen so to top it off he stewed the old hen. He felt sure Owen had a pretty good idea what was happening to his flock, but his neighbor said nary a word. A few days after the old hen had landed in the stew pot, Mel was visiting with Owen over near the Miller livery stable. Just then some of Owen’s chickens walked by and he said, “Mel, I have more of these blamed chickens around here than I know what to do with. You look like a man who would enjoy a good chicken dinner so catch yourself a couple of fryers and take them home with you.

That ends the stories from 1965, but as was written in “Crime and Punishment, Part Two,” Owen Miller was not just the constable and hotel owner, he was supposedly the most successful bootlegger in the area, much to the ire of the County Sherriff. Edith Jarrett wrote: “Once when the Ventura sheriff decided that Miller had gone too far, he planned to sneak in unexpectedly and administer a little punishment himself. But someone had tipped off Miller, who removed the bottles from his little hotel and buried them all in the manure pile behind his stable. The sheriff searched the place in vain. No evidence. After he had gone, Miller went out to uncover his cache. It had been a hot day, with the sun shining on the barnyard. You know what happened. Every bottle had burst from the heat. Even Miller got a good laugh out of the story when he told it himself.”

Enlarge Photo

On Tuesday, December 27th, 2022, at 6:28pm, Ventura County Fire, AMR Paramedics, and California Highway Patrol were dispatched to a single-vehicle accident on westbound SR-126 at Sycamore Road, 5-miles west of Fillmore. Arriving firefighters found a single vehicle in the center divider with front-end damage. The occupant, Crystal Sandoval, 59, of Fillmore, was reported to be trapped in a 2007 Toyota Camry and unconscious. She had been traveling eastbound on the rain-soaked highway and for unknown reasons veered into the westbound lane, colliding with a concrete divider. Firefighters were able to extricate Sandoval from the vehicle by 7:00pm. She was transported to Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC) and was placed in a medically induce coma. On scene, CHP requested an evidence tow to respond to the scene; drugs/alcohol are not considered a factor in the crash. The accident is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol. Crystals friends have set up a GoFundMe account (www.gofundme.com/f/crystal-sandoval-car-accident-medical-expenses) to help defray her medical costs. According to the GoFundMe page, “As a result of the car accident, she has suffered swelling and bleeding of the brain, both of her ankles are broken, as well as her wrists, and a fractured pelvis. Crystal is currently in a medical induced coma to help with brain recovery where she will stay until the swelling goes down. She will need multiple surgeries once she is strong enough. The teams at VCMC are working around the clock to give her the best care possible. Crystal has a long road to recovery. With the recent loss of medical coverage our families are going to do everything we can to get her the care she needs. If you can find it in your heart to donate, anything you can give will be greatly appreciated.” The fundraiser is organized by Nicole Carroll, Erin Carroll and David Valenzuela. Photo credit Angel Esquivel-AE News.

Our Fillmore Shockwaves cross country has concluded their season 2022 with 2 Junior Olympics AAU in Tennessee and USATF in Texas. This Season brought too many challenges from our athletes with Covid 19, RSV, viruses, rain, wind and hot weather. Some of our runners did not make it to the Junior Olympics due to the challenges. The first Junior Olympic was AAU National Championship in Knoxville, Tennessee on December 3rd, 2022. This race took place in Victor Ashe Park, the athletes ran in rain, mud, and cold weather. The lows were 39F and the highs 60F. Our first athlete was Coach Isrrael Estrada running the 5K Master opening Race. Isrrael got 5th place overall out of 18 athletes. He got 2nd place on his group age 45/49 with a time of 21:59.99. Isrrael brought a silver medal to Ventura County.

The 2nd race of the day was the high school runners. We have Niza Laureano running a 5k. She finished 16th place out of 60 girls. Niza placed 10th on her group, age 15, with a time of 21:10.47 bringing a medal to Ventura County. The Boys high school athletes Joshua Estrada and Jirhet Cruz running a 5K. Joshua Estrada finished his race 53rd place out of 96 athletes. Joshua finished 13th place out of his group, age 16, with a time of 19:45.10, and his teammate Jirhet Cruz finished in 72nd place out of 96 athletes. He placed 24thin his group, age 15, with a time of 20:44.70. The next race was 13/14 girls running a 4K. This year, Paola Estrada fought the flu, the cold, and a knee injury. She finished 41st out of 150 girls. Paola finished 26th in her group, age 13, with a time of 16:57.95. Jorge Cruz was the next runner placing 151st out of 219 boys. Jorge placed 86th in his group, age 13, with a time of 17:03.50. The following race was by 9/10-year-old girls 3k. On this race, we have Leah Laureano finishing in 26th place overall out of 127 girls. She finished in 9th place out of her group, age 9, with a time of 13:58.86 bringing Ventura County a medal. Almost the last race of the day was 7/8 boys 2k. On this race we have Jesus Cruz placing in 41st place out of 88 athletes. He finished in 34th place on his group, age 8, with a time of 9:21.64. The last race of the day was the 7/8 girls 2k. On this race we have Kamila Estrada finishing in 56th place overall out of 70 athletes. Kamila finished in 13th place on her group age 7 with a time of 10:38.65. Her teammate Aniyah Hogains finished in 16th place overall out of 70 girls. Aniyah finished 15th place in her group age of 8 with a time of 8:55.88. This Athlete helped their team to place in First place bringing Ventura County 2 medals, AAU hat, and an All-American Honors. In this Junior Olympics we had several athletes that were not able not make it due to sickness or personal reasons, but we want to congratulate them for their amazing season. Hila Sasson, Hanna Sasson, Sarah Sasson, Naomi Sasson, Abraham Saldana and Isaac Saldana.

The USATF Junior Olympic took place in Dale Watts Cross Country Course in College Station, Texas. This time in Texas the weather was 80 F with 83% humidity and some rain. Aniyah Hogains was the first Shockwave runner to run. Aniyah got 26th place out of 189 girls 7/8. She took 25th place on her group, age 8, with a time of 8:11.2. The Second runner was Aaliyah Tarango. She ran sick but finished in 59th place out of 283 girls 9/10. She finished in 39th on her group, age 10, with a time of 12:30.3. Our last runner Paola Estrada running with a knee injury. She got 80th place out of 333 girls 13/14. Paola finished 53rd place on her group, age 13, with a time of 16:10.3. The runner has amazing coaches that taught them to run with their heart, to have fun, and to enjoy what they do. Thanks to the Coaches: Head Coach Temo Laureano, Assistants head coaches Isrrael Estrada and Juan Toledo and Coach Karina Estrada.

Pacific Coast Shockwaves Fillmore wants to thank everybody who supports the team. See you in our next season of 2023.

The Sespe River is flowing once again due to the 4.52 inches of rain Fillmore received in December, according to the Ventura County Watershed. In some parts of the Sespe the water nearly meets the sidewalk along the bike path behind Waterford Lane, taken the morning of January 1st, 2023. There was a flood watch in affect as of Tuesday, January 3rd to Thursday afternoon according to the National Weather Service. What - Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible. Where - Los Angeles and Ventura Counties.
When - From Wednesday evening through Thursday afternoon. Impacts - Significant flash flooding and debris flows are possible, especially in and below recent burn scars. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of creeks, streams, and urban areas. While the
risk of main stem river flooding is low, water flowing through normally dry rivers may be a threat to some homeless communities. Courtesy https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=34.398990000000026&lon=-11...

The train horn is something different for everyone. For some, it is a nostalgic memory, for others, an annoyance, but for railroaders, it is all about safety. The City of Fillmore has within its limits, 17 public and private grade crossings all of which must have the horn sounded.

Federal law dictates that the engineer must blow the horn with a sequence of blasts in the fashion of long, long, short, and long no later than 15 second prior to entering the crossing. Failure to do so could also bring personal fine(s) to the engineer of up to $30,000, per incident.

But putting law aside for a moment, something that is routinely seen in Fillmore and throughout the country, are cars, trucks, and busses going around lowered crossing gates; vehicles that stop between the gates and the track, and pedestrians and bicyclists that try to quickly cross in an effort to beat the train. According to Operation Lifesaver, a person or vehicle in the United States is struck every three hours, usually ending in a fatality. It is a well-established but misunderstood fact that trains cannot stop quickly. The combination of weight and momentum, even at 10 mph, will propel a train, with air brakes locked in emergency for thousands of feet before coming to a complete stop.

Is there nothing that can be done for Fillmore’s peace and quiet? Yes. It’s called a quiet zone. Quiet zones can only be implemented by a public authority or local government, which must then pay for the upgrades to the crossings needed to bring them up to quite zone standards. The public authority or local government then assumes the liability if a vehicle or pedestrian is struck by a train within a quiet zone. There are quiet zones in cities and towns through the country.

Next time you hear the train horn and think it’s loud and annoying, just know that the engineer is mandated to do it in an effort to keep residents and train crews alike safe by alerting every one of the approaching train. – Matt Blackburn.

Mr. Blackburn is the Ventura Division Manager of the Sierra Northern Railway.