Today in SCV History on April 10, 1909, tragedy struck near Roscoe, California (present-day Sun Valley), when Pico Canyon Oilman Wallace L. Hardison was killed. 

On this day in history, Hardison, vice president of the Columbia Oil Producing Company and former owner of the Los Angeles Herald, was killed in a collision between his automobile and a Southern Pacific light locomotive.

Hardison, a pioneering figure in California’s oil industry at Pico Canyon and a well-known public figure, was driving across the Monte Vista road railroad crossing, just a quarter mile north of Roscoe Station. 

Dense brush obscured the view of the tracks, according to the article in the Los Angeles Herald and as Hardison approached the crossing, a southbound locomotive, running light and nearly silent, came into view too late. 

Despite the engineer’s desperate attempt to brake, the engine struck Hardison’s car with deadly force.

The automobile was hurled nearly twenty feet from the tracks and shattered into pieces. 

Hardison was found entangled in the wreckage, severely injured.

Though he was still breathing when the train crew reached him, he died moments later from massive trauma, including a fractured skull and crushed limbs.

The fatal accident highlighted the dangers of rural crossings at the beginning of the automobile age, especially where visibility was compromised. 

At the time, train crossings were often unguarded, and engine noise could be masked by the environment or muted by lighter locomotives.

Wallace L. Hardison was 58 years old. 

He had been a major figure in both Pennsylvania and California oil fields, especially those in Pico Canyon, and at one point owned the Los Angeles Herald, investing heavily in its growth. 

Though his venture into journalism drained much of his wealth, he returned to oil and rebuilt his fortune through ventures across Southern California and the Southwest.

While there isn’t a direct record of a company named “Columbia Oil Producing Company” specifically in Santa Clarita, CA, the Puente Oil company, which later merged with Columbia Oil Producing Company, was indeed active in the Los Angeles area, including areas that are now part of Santa Clarita, according to American Oil and Gas Historical Society.

Hardison and his business partner, Lyman Stewart, set up a warehouse in downtown Newhall for their oil business, across Railroad Avenue from Campton’s General Store.

Columbia Oil Producing Company, established in 1898, was a venture of W.L. Hardison, co-founder of Union Oil Company, and later merged with Puente Oil in 1903.

Hardison is remembered not only for his historical role in the rise of California’s oil empire, but also as a civic leader and innovator. 

To read yesterday’s Today in History, click HERE.

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