Los Gatos, California Since1881
Picture From The Past
 (Courtesy photograph) It's the home of cats, but dogs have hadtheir day here, too Pet parades had a beginning and ending in thepast century, when little girls carried catsor kittens in boxes and little boys walkeddogs on leashes. These children and donkeyare heading north on Santa Cruz Avenue nearthe Los Gatos Cinema. Dogs feel quite at home in 'Little Corner ofthe Cats' (By John S. Baggerly) 'The cat got the name and the dog got thefame." Let's untangle that remark. Spanishpioneers happened this way in the 1800s andproclaimed the area "La Rinconada de LosGatos," meaning "The Little Corner of theCats." A breed of large cats roamed the hills andlooked down on what is today the town of LosGatos. Early on, men also noticed a breed oflarge trees, and slowly, by ship, wordreached the Atlantic Coast at a time whenlumber was the main building material of thebudding United States. Sailing ships alsoreached Italy with news about the rich fishharbors of the San Francisco and Montereybays. Now we flash forward to when Henry Fordinvented a $500 automobile and dead dogs,cats and squirrels began to appear on theroadside. Even in present times these animalsare seen on the roadside, along with othercritters like deer and opossums. Early in Los Gatos' township, New Englanderslike John Lyndon became builders of incomeproperties, such as Hotel Lyndon at thecorner of W. Main Street and S. Santa CruzAvenue. When Los Gatos incorporated, one of its firstlaws was that if an animal died on someone'sproperty, it was that property owner's legalobligation to bury the dead beast. Recently, a cat owner attracted wideattention elsewhere when she refused to buryher dead felines. The law allowed authoritiesto take over and bury the dead felines andmonths of feline waste. A more pleasant situation existed early inthe past century on property facing W. MainStreet. During Pet Parades, standing next to"poundmaster" Johnny Fox was a joy because heoften told about which dogs were "graduates"of his pound. Little girls carried their catsin boxes away from public view. A white dog of unknown address started hisday by begging for breakfast at the oldfirehouse at W. Main Street and Tait Avenue,the current home of the Art Museum of LosGatos. From there, "Whitey" begged at thekitchen door of Hotel Lyndon, then went ontothe playground at University Avenue School,and finally into a classroom to sleep away anhour. When Raymond J. Fisher, trained inprincipalship, took over, dogs were bannedfrom the school - too much chance that ownerswould be injured trying to break up adogfight. A Mr. Argall used to walk his dog - alsowhite - on a leash from his home on AlmendraAvenue to downtown and back. It was a commonsight to see Johnny Fox giving a dog a ridehome, with the dog at his side. One time, a big black dog, address unknown,escaped hot weather by charming his way intooffices on the shady side of Main Street. Hewas so inoffensive that he was left indoorsovernight - and without an "accident"! (Everydog owner knows what that is!) Not everyone was so lucky. One downtownmerchant was overheard telling a dog walker,"You know, I get more than my share here." John Baggerly came out of his semiretirementto write this column for the Los GatosWeekly-Times. |
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