On this day in 1886, 77-year-old Peter Mentre, father of famed Pico Canyon oil driller Charles Alexander Mentry, vanished without a trace, sparking a mystery that haunted the community for more than a decade.

Mentre, a French immigrant and retired blacksmith, had been living with his son in Pico Canyon in the mining town commonly referred to as Mentryville after his son. Note that the father and son duo had differently spelled last names, which is credited to the inexact record-keeping of the American immigration processes of the time.

On August 28, 1886, Mentre set out on foot to the nearby town of Newhall, approximately 5 miles east, reportedly “upon some light errand.” He was last seen in town that day but never returned home.

Despite an intensive search by his family and neighbors, no sign of the elderly man was found. For weeks, search parties scoured the rugged canyon trails and ridges, but no sign of the elder Mentre was found.

It wasn’t until nearly 12 years later, in March 1899, that the mystery of Mentre’s disappearance was solved. A hiker discovered a skeleton and tattered clothing on a mountain ridge “about four miles east of Newhall.”

The remains were identified as those of Peter Mentre by his son, who still lived and worked in Pico Canyon.

Newspapers at the time, including the Los Angeles Times, noted that what little evidence there was suggested Mentre likely collapsed and died from exhaustion or illness while returning from Newhall. He was later given a proper burial.

The purported location of the discovery raises lingering questions. Newhall itself is 5 miles east of Pico Canyon, meaning the reported site “four miles east of Newhall” would actually place Mentre far afield of his intended route, closer to the Placerita Canyon area.

It’s possible the newspapers misstated the direction, meaning that Mentre was only about 1 mile from home, or that the elderly man became disoriented in the foothills.

Decades later, on Feb 4, 1931, the Warren Times Mirror of Pennsylvania repeated a sensational claim from Mentry’s niece that his father had been killed by a mountain lion. However, no other contemporary records appear to support this story.

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

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