On this day in 1926, Nicanor H. “Nick” Rivera, one of Newhall’s earliest residents and a well-known saloonkeeper, died after being struck by a car while riding his horse on San Fernando Road.

Rivera was born on February 8, 1865, and spent more than 55 years of his life in the Santa Clarita Valley, operating a combination saloon and barber shop on the west side of San Fernando Road, now Railroad Avenue, roughly mid-block between Market and 8th Streets.

Nick Rivera’s adobe saloon in Newhall, circa 1902-1903. Photograph depicts (from left): Rose Ruiz, stepdaughter of Nick Rivera; Arthur Rivera, son of Nick Rivera; and Irene Ruiz, stepdaughter of Nick Rivera. This is the only known photograph of Arthur Rivera, who died at an early age from pneumonia. (SCV History/Gwen Newcomb, granddaughter of Nick Rivera.)

The saloon stood just south of Mike Powell’s Palace Saloon and served railroad workers, ranchers, and travelers in early Newhall.

On October 17, 1926, Rivera, then 60, was riding a horse on San Fernando Road near Oro Grande Street in Sylmar when he was struck by a Ford, driven by Southern Pacific employee Macario Pesina, according to reporting from the time by The Van Nuys News.

Pesina told police that Rivera and his horse appeared suddenly from behind a pepper tree and that he could not stop in time to avoid hitting them.

Rivera was taken to San Fernando Hospital, where he died an hour later. The horse was injured or ran off and was not found at the scene.

A coroner’s jury ruled the death an unavoidable accident, though family accounts later described the incident as murder, claiming the driver and passenger avoided justice.

Rivera had married the widow of Martin Ruiz, another early Newhall innkeeper, linking him to one of the valley’s earliest pioneer families. He was buried in the Ruiz family cemetery in San Francisquito Canyon.

Nicanor H. “Nick” Rivera (b. Feb. 8, 1865) gravestone in the Perea-Ruiz Family Cemetery. (SCV History/Leon Worden)

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

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