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Moguls & Mansions
Joel joined the Arlington Jockey Club, which was begun in 1890 by a
group of easterners and locals devoted to horse racing events, and the Santa
Barbara Polo Club, which was begun by several members of the Fithian-
owned Santa Barbara Country Club, in 1899. Both he and Underhill were
members of the Santa Barbara Club, and Joel served as its president. He was
also a local member of the Bohemian Club in San Francisco and religiously
attended their annual encampments in the redwoods.
On the last day of December 1900, the gap in the rail line between Los
Angeles and San Francisco was bridged. While people celebrated the news,
the last Wells Fargo stage quietly made its way over the pass, and the stage
line shut down. Joel Fithian purchased one of the stages, and the driver,
Selin Carrillo, a descendent of the 3
rd
commandante of the Santa Barbara
Presidio, delivered it to
Rancho Miramar
. The story goes that when Selin
sadly turned to go, his life as a stage driver now over, Joel said, “Wait a
94
winter
|
spr ing
(Top left)
Joel Remington Fithian (kneeling second from left) drilling with the
Carpinteria Constabulary (Courtesy Carpinteria Valley Museum of History)
(Right)
Santa Barbarans came out in droves to greet the troop train carrying 106 recruits
from Santa Barbara in October 1917
(Bottom)
The Carpinteria Constabulary drilling
on Bartlett’s Polo Field in Montecito; Joel R. Fithian is second from left, the edge of
the Underhill-designed clubhouse is at left and the white Country Playhouse stands
behind the trees
(Opposite page)
Recruitment poster from 1917 (Courtesy Santa
Barbara Historical Museum)