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ble operation began in 1863. Its sale in 1868 reportedly returned Newhall a
net profit of over half a million dollars. Loaded with money and superb faith
in California's future, Newhall bought up several land grants including
Rancho San Francisco.
At that time the Southern Pacific railhead was at Caliente, and construc-
tion had begun on the San Fernando railroad tunnel. As a railroad director,
Newhall knew of the railroad's plans, which included the development of a
townsite at Rancho San Francisco.
Across the crest of the San Fernando mountains camps were established
on the tunnel route. From each camp, an incline shaft was sunk to the tunnel
level. Costing over three million dollars, the tunnel presented new engineering
problems nearly every day. Contemporary newspaper reports were punctu-
ated with cave-ins, explosions and mortality lists. A number of the victims
were buried in Lyon Station Cemetery.
SANFORD LYON,
Town of Newhall Founded
EARLY AMERICAN SETTLER
With a work force of 1,500 the railroad tunnel eventually "holed through"
on July 14, 1876 and the first train passed through on August 12. The coming
H. C. WILEY, PIONEER OIL MAN of the railroad made a great change in the lives of the people at Rancho San
Francisco, and on October 18, 1876, an era came to an end with this
During the boom days of the Soledad mining camp, Lyon was involved announcement:
with George Clark, then Postmaster of Los Angeles; Christopher Leaming,
the mining district recorder; George Gleason, General Andres Pico, and
Wiley. Active together in Soledad mining, livestock and politics, this group's
personal holdings formed the nucleus of the California Star and Pacific Coast
Oil Company's properties - known today as Standard Oil of California.

Then Came the Railroad

At the time when Sanford Lyon was bringing eastern culture to the
region smrounding Eternal Valley, Henry Newhall was becoming a financial
tycoon in San Francisco. Newhall's life was an Horatio Alger classic of rags-
to-riches. One of eight children, he was raised on a farm in Saugus, Massa-
chusetts. He shipped out as a cabin boy on a sailing vessel when he was
thirteen years old, but not liking the sailor's life he settled in Philadelphia
where he mastered the auctioneer's trade. Before he was twenty he had his
own firm in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1849, he profitably sold out that business
to join the Gold Rush and the rest of his life was spent in California.
In 1857 he backed a friend with several thousand dollars - a transaction
which ultimately involved him in the building of the San Francisco & San Jose
Railroad. That was California's second railroad and its tremendously profita-

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