Wickham Canyon, Santa Clarita, California
Looking south into Wickham Canyon from Pico Canyon Road. Sand Rock Peak is the highest peak on the right side of the photo (10/26/2014).
In the early 1930's Eldon Blaine Wickham and his son Robert moved deep into a tributary canyon off of Pico Canyon to start a homestead. At that time, it was usually called Big Moore Canyon because of an 1865 oil claim by John Moore. After Wickham received an ownership patent in 1937, it became Wickham Canyon. Except for the years 1944-1948, Eldon lived continuously in the canyon until 1963, the year he died.
Today, the entrance to the canyon is blocked by a fence and gate because it is private property. I don't know how far back the private property is, but it is possible that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy owns much of the inner canyon where the Wickham homesite is located. All structures in the canyon are gone.
In September of 2014, a notice was posted saying that a draft environmental impact report was being planned for a housing project. This will be the Aidlin Hills project and was conditionally approved on August 17, 2016 (see below link). As of January of 2021, no work has been started.
Closer view of Sand Rock Peak (2511 ft) overlooking Wickham Canyon. It is marked on virtually all topo maps and has quite a distinctive look to it. There is a road from the bottom of Wickham Canyon up to an old oil well site which ends just under the peak. There also was supposed to be a trail from Pico Canyon up to the top. (photo from 2008)
Painting of Sand Rock Peak by Edith Dieudonne (1912 - 2015) completed between 1949 and 1951. Image used by permission of the owner Clinton Coil. Edith was his grandmother.
Here is what she wrote on the back of the painting: "Sand Hill Peak on the ridge route. It's a famous land mark. We went there to Vesta Wickham's (he was mayor of Glendale at that time) cabin for 2 days with Sam Hyde Harris Class. I was a friend with Vesta through Tuesday afternoon club + painting class. (We had an exhibit party at his house one time)."
Vesta's husband George Wickham, brother of Eldon, was the mayor of Glendale, California, from April of 1949 to April of 1951. Sam Hyde Harris (1889-1977) was born in England and came to the US in 1904 settling in Los Angeles. He became a prominent artist who painted landscapes around Southern California. Ms. Dieudonne learned from him and admired his work. The cabin in the painting must have been George and Vesta's which they probably used for weekend getaways and vacations. Since it was on brother Eldon's land, there was no problem with leaving it vacant for long periods of time.