UNEARTHING A MYSTERY BURIED CAR MAY HOLD CLUES TO FATE OF LOST MAN.

Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Staff Writer

SAUGUS - At first glance, it didn't look like much more than a steel rod.

It was sticking straight up from the creek's bed, hidden by weeds. But Frank Rock knew this area of the San Francisquito Creek was a depository of artifacts that told the story of the collapse of the St. Francis Dam.

It had to be a clue.

When he took a closer look, the local historian realized the rod might be a missing link to the dam keeper who disappeared that night more than 70 years ago. The rod was a steering wheel of a 1916 Saxon Touring Car.

It was a six-cylinder, two-seater roadster with electric lighting. Could it belong to Tony Harnishfegger? His body was never found after the disaster that took about 600 lives.

``I've been trying to find the dam keeper,'' Rock said. ``Tony was leery of the dam, and he let it be known.''

Rock is trying to uncover that mystery with the help of the U.S. Forest Service, which has jurisdiction over the dam site in the Angeles National Forest. He hopes within the next few months to get permission and permits to dig up the car so it can be put on display at the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society Museum.

He nearly uncovered the Saxon when he discovered it four years ago. He spent a month digging it out, finding it had a water-cooled engine and gears still intact. The Saxon Motor Car Co. of Detroit, Mich., made the car only between 1913 and 1923. It peaked in 1916, with 27,800 sold. At the time, it cost about $395.

But the floods from El Nino covered it again. This time, with the help of forestry equipment, he believes it can be unburied in a day. He hopes to have it unearthed before February.

``This is a big part of the Santa Clarita Valley history,'' Rock said. ``To me, it's like the Titanic ... time stands still with something like that. It's like walking back in time. It's a rush.''

The St. Francis Dam made its history a few minutes before midnight on March 12, 1928, when the dam broke. Its water, running 18 mph and 78 feet high at its strongest, swept through the Santa Clarita Valley toward the Pacific Ocean.

It destroyed almost everything in its path, killing people, livestock, structures, railways, bridges, orchards and farms, Rock said. It left parts of Ventura County under 70 feet of mud and debris, with damage estimates topping $20 million.

William Mulholland, a Department of Water and Power engineer who built the dam, was blamed for its failure. Then about 10 years ago, a researcher discovered that the dam had been built on a landslide site, which would have been undetectable in the 1920s.

The Saxon Touring Car is just one artifact Rock has discovered in the river bed. It's been filled with tools, pipes and machinery equipment. The foundations of the dam employee's home are nearby.

Douglas Milburn, an Angeles National Forest archaeologist, said he's intrigued by the discovery, but there are a lot of hoops to jump through before digging can begin.

Rock must first submit a formal proposal from the Santa Clarita Historical Society, addressing questions the dig could answer and how the undertaking will be conducted.

Once the Forest Service decides it's an investigation it wants to pursue, the state preservation office must grant its approval, Milburn said. Then, the Forest Service must investigate possible environmental hazards. Once the project is approved, Rock must find an archaeologist to supervise the dig.

It's a project Milburn is confident will be completed, but it might not happen before this year's rainy season.

``It's a very interesting car,'' Milburn said. ``It's tremendous. I'm certainly going to support his proposal.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Local historian Frank Rock hopes to unearth a 1916 Saxon Touring Car from the bed of San Francisquito Creek.

(2 -- color in SAC edition only) This 1916 Saxon Touring Car is like the one buried in the San Francisquito Creek bed.

(3) The haluried car likely is a remnant of the worst disaster - a dam break - ever to strike the Santa Clarita Valley.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer