For Nearly 30 Years. For Nearly 30 Years. Old Town Newhall Gazette, September, 1997. That We Know Today As Mentryville. Tough times never last.
Tough people do.
It's a message you might expect to find carved in granite, but in the case of Frenchy and Carol Lagasse, a note on the refrigerator works just as well. This is where Alex Mentry, the patron saint of Chevron field hands, brought in the first commercially successful oil well west of Pennsylvania. Most of what remains in Pico Canyon was preserved, restored and, on more than one occasion, rescued from the brink of dilapidation by the Lagasses. A quiet, self-effacing type who punctuates his bits of conversation with shy smiles, he's clearly more comfortable doing things than talking about them. So we made arrangements to take it over.