Upon Glen's return yesterday I told him of your call requesting Settle's days in Palmdale. I had forgotten, but he had been working off and on, on a history or reminiscence of his life in Antelope Valley. Fortunately he had pretty much finished the Palmdale era. So, enclosed is a rough chapter about Palmdale.

   You are welcome to use all or parts of it in your Palmdale history. He does however, reserve the right to use this material in future publications by him. You are to be congratulated on your project and for carrying it through. We will look foreward to obtaining a copy of your publication for our files. If you will have them for sale we would like to carry them in our Museum gift shop too. Most sincerely yours,

Dorene B. Settle (Mrs. Glen A.)

   For as long as I can remember, my father worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad. At the time of my entrance into this world (1911) the family consisting of my father William E. Settle, my mother Marion Ruth Allen Settle, brother and sisters Ruth, Bill (Wm. B. II), Maude, Earl and Irving were living in Palmdale near the Railroad Station. However, my father who was a great sportsman, decided he wanted to be closer to better hunting and fishing areas and so transfered the family to the R.R. Station at Lone Pine. Here my sister Mildred and brother Mark were born.

   However, we soon returned to Palmdale, Mom had finally convinced Dad that the schools in Palmdale were much better than in Lone Pine and besides the kids had to walk about four miles each day back and forth to attend school come rain, snow or what have you.

   Palmdale at that time probably had a population of about three hundred residents with all of the children attending the old two story brick school house on the west side of the railroad. The town seemed to center around the life of the railroad, because most of the employment at that time was offered by the railroad. The Southern Pacific kept many large engines there to help the heavy freight trains up and over the then steep grade at Vincent. They had built a "Y" at Vincent where the engines would then leave the freight trains and head back for Palmdale.

   Many times the railroad engineers and firemen would let the Settle kids take the trip with them in the engines up to the top of the hill and back down. (Somehow I just can't see a railroad employee doing this today if he wants to hold on to his job.) Most of the kids that we played with at that time also lived in our vicinity as their fathers also worked for the railroad. However some of the other children in town at that time that I remember were the Blanchards, their father owned the soda fountain) Mildred Ikler, her father Frank owned the grocery store; and the Saddlers. A few years before we moved from Palmdale, the Carl Fischer family moved in with three more children, Carl, Alvin and Marie, for us to play with.

   John Stinson was the station agent and Stinson family lived in the old S.P. Depot second story. Jack was also the Manager of the Palmdale Baseball team and I remember that at a Sunday game I could make 25¢ for chasing foul balls and returning them to the game. Also, sometimes when the team would travel, I would get to go along as a bat boy and it was quite a thrill when we would stop at the Harvey House in Mojave for lunch. They even had linen table cloth's and linen napkins which was quite impressive to a yound desert boy. The Palmdale Baseball diamond was about three blocks west of where we lived in the railroad quarters.

   Childhood life in Palmdale in those days for the most part was happy and we had much fun. During school time, school life and chores took up most of the time. With eight children in the household, each child had their chores to do. My chores, along with brother Irving was to help bring in the wood for the front room pot belly stove and the big wood cook range which seemed to consume piles of wood for the three meals a day that it took to feed our large growing family. It seemed that Mom was cooking all of the time, either ending up one meal or getting ready for the next. Then of course, on Saturday night when everyone had their weekly scrubbing, the fire was kept going constantly to heat the gallons of water that was necessary.

   Some of my extra special memories of Palmdale were when brother Willie went to Lancaster and won a blue ribbon in the Valley track meet, and all the little brothers had to feel the pretty silk mat-erial. Also, when sister Maude became the Queen of the Palmdale Ball and looked so elegant in her specially made costume. Also on a certain Sunday after World War I, when the announcement was made that some aeroplanes were to land in Palmdale. (This was to be the first time an Airplane landed in Palmdale.) Of course, all of us kids could hardly wait for Sunday to come. Then of all things to happen, I fell and cut my eye, so when the planes arrived, swooping down low over our house to make a landing at the Baseball field, I was on the kitchen table with Dr. Savage from Lancaster putting in stitches to close the cut. Dr. Savage said it was much harder to hold me down than it was to put the stitches in. Soon, I was patched up as good as new and along with all of the rest of the kids in town and their parents, we ran at full speed to see the Jennys which had landed and were being re-fueled to soon leave again. On another Sun-day, with all of us kids in Sunday School, someone discovered that a Circus Train was coming through Palmdale and the engines were stopping to take on water. What a mad scramble that was to race the three blocks from the Church to view the colorful circus cars. None of our parents appreciated this mass exodus too much, but I believe that most of them understood the excitement that was caused by this seldom offered view of a circus train.

   About two miles south of Palmdale was an old Olive orchard. We would tell the newly arrived kids in town to prepare themselves for the big treat when the olives would become ripe. Our stories had them eager to test these great delicacies and, of course, we would all be intently watching the expression on their faces when they tasted those untreated olives from the trees. We had no formal play grounds and had to make our own amusement, so some of the little things became lifes greatest enjoyments.

   Summer time brought on added excitement for the kids. The big flat bed trucks hauled in the pears from the Littlerock Pear orchards and this gave us the new enjoyment of watching them load the lugs of pears into the railroad cars. Sometimes the truck drivers would let us ride the rear of the truck back to our house and would slow down while we jumped off. However, once the driver forgot to slow down and we all ended up at Littlerock with Mom wondering what happened to us . The Blanchard Ice Cream Parlor was a really popular place in summer, for when we earned an extra pickle, we indulged in luxury of a big ice cream cone. Some days we were allowed to venture south to the Palmdale reservoir and take a swim in a cement ditch near there.

   The older brothers would try and find outside work and one summer when brother Willie was working in Frank Iklers Grocery Store, great excitement entered his life when a lone bandit came in and held up the store. He did not get far, however, for he was soon captured south of town. Another summer, brother Earl, became the town hero when a bandit entered town, on the lam, with the law in fast pursuit. Earl noticed the man run by our yard and cross the tracks in front of a parked train. The bandit told Earl to keep his mouth shut about seeing him, however, when the Constable came by, Earl told them where the bandit had gone. In fast pursuit, they soon captured him and when he came back past Earl, he remarked 'Kid when I get out of jail, I will come back and get you for squealing." If he ever came back, Earl never knew, as we had moved from Palmdale by the time the prisoner had served his term.

   Another exciting event in town was when car loads of gypsies in their colorful costumes would come to town. We kids were afraid of them as we had heard some exciting tales from older brothers and sisters. The store keepers kept an extra eye on their merchandise, as sometimes several of them would enter and when they left, much of the stock left also, unpaid for. One of my exciting thrills was when I had my first ride in an automobile. A man from Lancaster, whom we called "Steamboat Bill" because of his Stanley Steamer car, stopped one day while my brother and I were walking down the road and offered us a ride. Of course, we jumped at the opportunity and took off in a cloud of dust for a short ride. Later when we moved to Lancaster, we went to his place to see if he still had the Stan-ley Steamers but he had sold them the week before for twenty-five dollars each. He owned two of them which he kept in his barn south-east of Lancaster.

   My parents did not have much spare time for recreation, what with raising a large family and no transportation except the train, so when Carl Fischer moved to town and started selling automobiles, he soon convinced my dad that our family should have a car. I always did think Carl Fischer was a great salesman as he sold my dad a small Saxon for a family of 10. Of course, the price may have en-tered the picture, as Dad did not make the highest salary working for the Southern Pacific. Dad never missed many days at work, even with our large family we always seemed to have plenty to eat. The Saxon changed our lives in many exciting ways. Once a year Dad would take a little time off and with some of the Ritter boys from Leona Valley, they would make their annual pilgrimage to the High Sierras during deer season. It was hard to keep meat in those days, but Dad would always bring back a good supply on Venison Jerkey which would help replenish the kids lunch pail when school woud start. Every so often on a holiday, the family would all pile into the Sax-on and head for the Ritter Ranch where they had a hoe-down dance. Friends of the Ritters would come from all over the Valley and it seemed like they danced all night, but then we kids would soon fall asleep on the benches around the dance floor.

   When Dad would head for his annual hunting trek, Mom would pack up all us kids and head for the Depot to take our yearly visit with Grandma Allen in Santa Paula. Grandma must have been very tolerant for when I think back, it must have been trying having all of the Settle kids descend once a year. This was quite a change for the kids from the desert to visit her. She had orange and other fruit trees right in her back yard. We always went on the train as Dad received a yearly pass. It seemed like we spent a large part of the time in Saugus waiting to make train connections. We knew every part of that old Saugus depot from one end to the other. Summer always ended too soon and so back to the old brick school house in September of each year. School for a small boy in Palmdale seemed to be pretty much routine, however, one event stands out in my mem-ory. It was just before we moved to Lancaster that a new Palmdale grammar school was finished on the east side of town. It was a big day when we all paraded from the old school to the new. When I think back, I realize our teachers must have been brilliant, for when we marched in the parade we carried all our books, etc. from our old desks to our new desks. I am sure it must have saved con-siderable moving charges for the trustees.

   One of my first successful ventures into the world of business was when Chester Smith moved from Palmdale to Lancaster. He must have been short on rope to tie his furniture to his moving truck, for brother Irving and I were hired to ride the back of the truck to help keep the furniture from blowing off. When we finished our chore, Chester gave each of us a big shiny silver dollar. Wow' that would buy twenty ice cream cones in those days.'

   During World War I, we had much excitement living next to the railroad tracks. It seemed like troop trains were going through day and night. Once in a while they would stop and it was a great thrill to be able to talk to those brave soldiers who were going to war to defend our country. When the Armistice was signed, Palmdale celebrated most of the night. Everyone that had a large wash tub and a stick, beat on them until their arms gave out. The few who had cars soon had the batteries weak fron the honking of their horns.

   One big thing I remember about World War I was when our town hero, Earl Ramey, returned. He had lost one leg during the war and to us this tragedy was one of lifes greatest sacrifices. Earl later went on to attend High School in Lancaster and was so determined to get an education that he finished the usual four years studies in just two years. He later went on to college and the last I heard was a very successful teacher.

   Another day of excitement in our lives was when the R.R. Ice car came to bring the ice to the local railroad ice house. These houses were built underground and filled with saw dust so that the ice would last until the next load would come in. The railroad would cut the ice in the winter from the High Sierra Lakes, store it in huge ice houses to last all summer and deliver to various R.R. Sections once a month. The unloading of the car to the ice house was quite exciting and when a piece of ice would break off, all the kids around would fight to get it to cool their warm mouths.

   All was not happiness in our lives. A baby sister was born, but sickness soon developed and she passed away. This tragic turn of events was new to us and we just could not understand it. It was a sad day when the family and all of the neighbors joined the funeral procession to the cemetery on the southeast end of town. The one fine thing I remember well about this event was how good all of the neighbors were. It seemed like everyone in Palmdale came by to try and do their part in any way that they could.

   Shortly before we moved to Lancaster, one of my older brothers let me tag along to see an Antelope Valley Joint Union High School football game. That year the Antelopes were playing their games at the Fair grounds which was near the northwest corner of present Ave. I and 10th St. W. Up to this time my vocabulary had consisted of three letter cuss words. This day one of the A.V. players broke his leg on the old hard pan field and I added several new three and four letter words in a hurry. The players were trying to get him to quiet down so that the kids and ladies would not hear his out-burst, but with a broken leg and letting off steam from the pain, the words came out strong and clear. This young man later grew up in Lancaster to become one of its leading Community leaders and busi-nessmen.

   When I was in the third grade which was about 1919, many of my older brothers and sisters were getting close to High School age. There was only one high school in Antelope Valley and that was in Lancaster. Dad had a chance to obtain the same railroad job there, so we all left our happy childhood in Palmdale for a new adventure in life, that of living right in the middle of the town of Lancaster. Our house was on the southeast corner of present Lancaster Blvd. and Sierra Hwy. and just across the tracks from the Depot. But then our family had always lived next to the railroad tracks and we were used to the trains. When relatives or friends visited, they were sure that the train was coming right through the house. I must confess the house did rock a little when a fast freight would go by.

   Though we moved from Palmdale, we later renewed the friend-ships made when many of the Palmdale kids came to A.V. High School. Many of the friends of those days still live in Antelope Valley and when we meet though we seldom mention it. deep down we feel the tie of childhood days together.

Best wishes,

Alen A. Settle
Rt. 1 Box 98, Tropico
Rosamond, Kern Count:
California, 93560