Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1902-08-28
PEACEFUL IN CALABASAS.
how Once VIGOROUSLY Wicked Town
Was Reformed.


Ii Bret lIarte could return to
earth long enough to visit talaba,as
BE- would not know the town Time
vl. when to call q man liar IN Gala
ba-a, was a short and not altogether
painless method Of suicide. II you
didn't hold the card, square the un-
dcrtaAer had job, aud when you got
into an argument with your neigh
Dor. your health Was likely to bc
shattered uulc,. you could draw
your gun and shoot irst
That vas IN the good old days of
southern California. when lynch law
ruled. and Blackstone and the code
Of civil procedure were unknown.
In those days Calabasas was the Last
refuge of the old frontier dc.pcrado,
Of the blacklcgs Of the mining camps.
OF the brokcn-down and discrcdltcd
gambler An of the oiTscourings Of
thr Pacific coast humanity pcrco-
lated down through the mountains.
canyons and redwood forests Of Cali
iornla and found Judgment IN the
town of Calabnsa.
But times have changed Gala
basas has reformed. Prominent citi-
zcns do not Kill each other for
pastimc. Everybody i, good-so
good that Judge Jams. the Calabasas
yu,ticcofthc peace, ha, resigned. and
the board Of supervisors ha. decided
not to appoint his successor
Many are the stories told Of the
Calaba.as Of old. Most Of the quar-
rcls. which usually ended in sudden
death. we're over boundary lines be
tween farms and ranches Every
man claimed the other mans land
There used 10 be- two farmers who
neglected their crops and left their
place, oycrrun with weeds while they
amused thcmsclye, by sitting out
behind trees or hiding behind rocks
and shooting at each other.
One day. SAYS the ST Paul Globe,
a prominent citizen of Calabasas
named Dominique wanted to water
ms cattle at a spring. II 80 hap
Pcucd that another prominent cltl-
zen named lturaldc, wanted TO
water his sheep AT the same spring
and AT the same time. I'm those days
Calaba,as had only one way Of adj
lu,tlng a little dispute like that,
Dominique shot lturaldc and the
latter, MORALLY wounded. took the
gun away from Dominique and beat
him 10 death.
Here's another: An old man
named Human had an argument
with two mountalnecrs over a little
matter of road. They wanted to
rlde over the road, and he shut them
of with barb wire fence. When
they got tired of tearing down the
fence every time they wanted to ride
along the road, they took a day off,
called at his place. and the under
takcr buried him the next day. -
The sheriff decided to arrest the
two mountaineers and did so, Much
to his surprise, they went with him
as doclle as couple of sheep. The
secret of their docility was explained
later. Rough-looking men from all
parts of the mountains thercabouts
gathered at Calabasas. and when the
prisoners were arraigncd before the
justice of the peace for preliminary
hearing, his courtroom was lined with
big husky mountaincers armed to
the teeth Every man carclessly
toyed with huge revolver, and the
justice of the peace, well yersed in
the traditions of Calabasas, under
stood the situation only as man of
inc discretion could. lie promptly
discharged the two prisoners and re-
celNcd the hearty congratulations of
al! their friends.
One day little sawed-oif man with
surveyors chain went to Calabasas.