If Western film fans swear they’re watching...

If Western film fans swear they’re watching Indians hide behind the same rocks and cowboys gun them down from the same hills, they’re probably right because Santa Clarita has been home to more horse operas than Santa Anita.

Santa Clarita, with its varied terrain of hills and open spaces, has been so popular for film productions that it’s sometimes called “Hollywood North” or “New Hollywood.”

Filmmakers have brought their crews here since silent film star William S. Hart rode around a place called Melody Ranch in 1923 in a town called Newhall, playing a Western hero named Wild Bill Hickok.

Others find that the suburban “edge city’s” charm lies in Magic Mountain’s jarring set of roller coasters (Viper and Colossus), a speedway and three colleges.

Residents are most pleased by the fact that no one seems to know where they live and their relative privacy remains for the most part intact.

The city became united in 1987 by the melding of four communities: Valencia, an upscale and “master-planned” community launched in the 1960s and named for the oranges grown on the Newhall Ranch; Saugus and Newhall, both founded in the 1870s, and Canyon Country, a mixture of housing tracts, large estates, condominiums and hog and horse farms.

Santa Clarita today finds itself split by those who believe that the growing pains will lead to prosperity and those who want their 43-square-mile city to grow at a more comfortable pace.

Despite its rapid population growth and traffic snarls, Santa Clarita retains some of its rustic past.

In 1875, Henry Mayo Newhall, an auctioneer from Saugus, Mass., bought a 48,000-acre ranch for about $98,000, in the next valley north of the San Fernando Mission.

In earlier years, the land had been ravaged by the 1857 earthquake and the 1862 drought.

More than a century later, Saugus is the big jewel in the crown of the Newhall family, the valley’s largest landholder.

Today, Santa Clarita blends a charming mix of rural calm with urban bustle for its 110,642 residents.

Santa Clarita Tidbits

Outlaw Memorial: Vasquez Rocks Park in Agua Dulce, a popular filming site, was named for Tiburcio Vasquez, a colorful 19th century robber and horse thief who used to hide out there before he was hanged for his misdeeds.

What Motto?: When the city sponsored a motto contest in 1992, the City Council still couldn’t agree on a catchy phrase that captured the essence of Santa Clarita.

Motto entries ranged from the sincere, “This Town Is You,” to the sarcastic, “Land of the Golden Dweeb.” In the end, the council scrapped the motto contest.

Sidewalk Tribute: The Western Walk of Fame on San Fernando Road between 5th and 9th streets honors cowpokes who have contributed to Santa Clarita’s Western heritage.

Bronze and terrazzo tile plaques embedded in the sidewalk pay tribute to Western stars, including Dale Robertson, John Wayne, Tom Mix, Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Clayton Moore, Monte Hale, Gene Autry and Iron Eyes Cody.

The Name: The river that flows through the area to the ocean was given the name Santa Clara by the Portola expedition of 1769. The same name belongs to another larger California river, so to avoid confusion, the area around this river was called Santa Clarita, or “Little Santa Clara.”

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By The Numbers

City Business

Incorporated: Dec. 15, 1987

Area in square miles: 43.0

Number of parks: 13

City employees: 12

1995-96 budget: $35 million

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People

Population: 110,642

Households: 38,362

Average household size: 2.85

Median age: 31.2

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Ethnic Breakdown

Asian: 4%

Black: 1%

Latino: 13%

White: 81%

Other: 1%

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Money and Work

Median household income: $53,110

Median household income / L.A. County: $34,965

Median home value: $231,500

Employed workers (16 and older): 61,186

Percentage of women employed: 66.6%

Percentage of men employed: 87.1%

Self-employed: 4,079

Car- poolers: 8,130

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Retail Stores

Number of stores: 834

Number of employees: 8,093

Annual sales: $980.1 million

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Families:

Married couples with children: 36%

Married couples with no children: 27%

Non-family households: 25%

Other types of families: 12%

Source: Claritas Inc. Household expenses are averages for 1994. All other figures are for 1990. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number.