1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,720 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Chasey V. Wilson. So if 4 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: you have spent time in Los Angeles, or have you 5 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: even read about the city or heard about it in passing, 6 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 1: you have probably heard of Griffith Park. Uh. That is 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: a huge space. It's forty undred acres, incredibly large from 8 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: municipal park in a city. For comparisons, Central Park in 9 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: Manhattan is eight hundred forty two point six acres, and 10 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: more than three thousand of those acres were donated all 11 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: at once for the founding of the park by a 12 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,839 Speaker 1: single man named Griffith J. Griffith. That name in and 13 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: of itself makes me gel a little there, you haven't um. 14 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 1: There is a huge statue of Griffith at the park's entrance. 15 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: And while his name today is associated with the park 16 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: and the observatory, during his time he was associated with 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:04,680 Speaker 1: some other things, real estate, social climbing, and a scandal 18 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: that occupied columns and columns of newspapers around the country. 19 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: Heads Up, this episode is going to talk quite a bit, 20 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: particularly in the back half, about a pretty horrifying instance 21 00:01:17,160 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: of domestic violence UH and the court cases associated with 22 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: it as well as the act itself, So just know 23 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: that that's in this episode. Griffith Jenkins. Griffith was born 24 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: on January fourth, eighteen fifty in South Wales, and we 25 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 1: don't really know a lot about his early years. We 26 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,880 Speaker 1: do know that the Griffith family was very poor. They 27 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: had a subsistence farm and Griffith's father also took mining 28 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: work to make ends meet. When he was still just 29 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: a teenager, Griffith, who was the oldest child in the family, 30 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: traveled to the United States with his uncle in eighteen 31 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: sixty five. Griffith attended school in Pennsylvania, and after his 32 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 1: education was complete, he started working as a reporter. In 33 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: the eighteen seventies, Griffith traveled to the West Coast, making 34 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: his way to San Francisco, California, to report on the 35 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: mining industry there. Through his work covering mining interests, he 36 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: started to be seen as really an expert on the subject, 37 00:02:15,639 --> 00:02:18,519 Speaker 1: and this led to additional income as he started working 38 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: as a consultant. He offered his knowledge of the industry 39 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: as a whole, as well as specific information about various 40 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 1: operations to heads of different companies. He also started his 41 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: own mining ventures, making decisions based on his wealth of knowledge, 42 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: which turned to actual wealth pretty quickly as these operations 43 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: were successful. Yeah, there's actually us a lot of variation 44 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: in the stories of how he made his money. Some 45 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: will suggest that he made it all consulting, but really 46 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: he didn't make as much as he claimed. Others say 47 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: he had these side mining things going on. But basically, 48 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:56,640 Speaker 1: by the time he moved to Los Angeles in eighteen 49 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 1: eighty two, he did have a pretty significant nesting with 50 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: him that he had amassed, and he used that money 51 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: to establish a reputation as a powerful businessman because he 52 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:10,359 Speaker 1: primarily used that money to invest in land in the city. 53 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:15,160 Speaker 1: At the end of two Griffith purchased Rancho Los Feliz 54 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: and yes we know that Angelino say lost. Plus he 55 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: bought this from a man named Thomas Bell. The land 56 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: had been owned by a woman named Maria Ignacia Feliz, 57 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: who and had inherited the ranch after her husband died. 58 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: She later remarried, taking the last name Verdugo, and at 59 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 1: that point Spain was still in control of the region, 60 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: having seized the land from indigenous Gabrielino Tongva people's. The 61 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: Felize family eventually lost control of the property and it 62 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:48,960 Speaker 1: changed hands several times before this purchase when Griffith acquired it, 63 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: and by the time G. J. Griffith purchased Rancho Los Felize, 64 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: it had a reputation as a cursed property, but he 65 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: did not seem to mind. The large tract of land 66 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: that he bought that made up the Rancho property included 67 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: what they now called Los Felis, Silver Lake and a 68 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: section of the Santa Monica Mountains. Griffiths saw his property 69 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: acquisition as the beginning of an entirely new venture. He 70 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: truly intended to build a ranching business there. He imported livestock, 71 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,680 Speaker 1: thousands of sheep, a hundred and fifty cows and fifty horses. 72 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: He built a railway around this huge property, and he 73 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,040 Speaker 1: also started an Ostrich farm. Yeah, he had a business 74 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,839 Speaker 1: partner in that Ostrich farm. But one of the reasons 75 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 1: that he was buying this ranch land, setting up infrastructure 76 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: and kind of developing it as as this little oasis 77 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: just outside the city was that he was making a 78 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: lot of money in the land boom, and he was 79 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: actually selling off lots as neighborhoods from the southern portion 80 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: of the land, so he could claim that he already 81 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: had like some infrastructure and some business going there, and 82 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 1: wouldn't you want to live here? At that time, Griffith's 83 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: ranch was outside the Los Angeles city limits, but he 84 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: definitely inserted himself right into the middle of the city 85 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: social scene. People saw him as a climber and an interloper, 86 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,160 Speaker 1: and he was referred to by a number of unflattering 87 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: nicknames and descriptions, the tamest of which might be quote 88 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: a roly poly, pompous little fellow. But Griffith was intent 89 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: on becoming a prominent citizen of his new hometown, and 90 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: one way that he saw to do this was through 91 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: civic minded acts. So, for example, he sold the City 92 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,599 Speaker 1: of Los Angeles water rights along the l A River 93 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,159 Speaker 1: at a very discounted price, and this was a really 94 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: vital step in the city's developing infrastructure. He probably could 95 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: have set a price that gouged the municipal budget because 96 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: they really really needed access to that water, But through 97 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: some combination of genuine desire to do good and also 98 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,200 Speaker 1: hopes that his generosity would be recognized and gained him 99 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: some clout, Griffith went ahead and sold it at a 100 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,160 Speaker 1: financial loss. Griffith also knew the value that a well 101 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: made marriage match could have on his reputation. Enter Louis 102 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: Mesmer and his lovely daughters. Mesmer was quote a pioneer 103 00:06:14,040 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: resident and one of the best noon citizens of Los Angeles. Mesmer, 104 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: who had been born in France, was an industrious man 105 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: who had worked as a baker and a minor, and 106 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: ultimately settled in Los Angeles in eighteen fifty nine, the 107 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: population was a mere three thousand, five hundred. He started 108 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: built and sold a number of businesses in the city, 109 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: and laid some of the first cement sidewalk in l 110 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: A on the edge of one of his properties. By 111 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: the time Griffith arrived in l A, Mesmer was a 112 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 1: well established, well respected businessman who had acquired significant wealth. Additionally, 113 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: Mesmer's two daughters, Lucille and Christina, were named as inheritors 114 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: of a huge fortune from a family friend who was 115 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: Andre Ris Walter. Naturally, Griffiths went right for the first 116 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,560 Speaker 1: family of Los Angeles at the time and started a 117 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: courtship with Christina Mesmer, whose full name was Mary Agnes 118 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: Christina Messmer, although she went by either Christina or Autentina. 119 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: The two were married on January seven, and their wedding 120 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: was covered in the papers as a quote union of 121 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: two very wealthy Los Angeles families. But right out of 122 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:30,760 Speaker 1: the gate, even before the wedding, there were issues between 123 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: Griffith and the Mesmer family over money. After the invitations 124 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:39,119 Speaker 1: had already been mailed out, Griffith insisted that Christina sign 125 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: over her rights to her inheritance to him. He initially 126 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: thought she was inheriting all of Ris Walter's landholdings and 127 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: was reportedly really angry when he found out that she 128 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: was to split that real estate inheritance with her sister Lucy. 129 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: That was when he insisted that he gained control of 130 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: the inheritance, and this put Tina in a really terrible spot. 131 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: She didn't want to call off the wedding, and while 132 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: she acquiesced to his request, her siblings in particular found 133 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: this whole thing really distasteful. They never really trusted Griffith 134 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: after that. Griffith and Tina had a son the year 135 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:15,800 Speaker 1: after they married. They named him Van Dell. That was 136 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: their only child, and Griffith also adopted a number of 137 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: rather pretentious characteristics during his ascension among the Los Angeles elite. 138 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: So he started walking with a cane that he did 139 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: not need, presumably because he thought it made him look distinguished. 140 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 1: He wore very expensive, lamboyant clothes, and he started to 141 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: refer to himself by the title of colonel, even though 142 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,959 Speaker 1: he had no military career to speak of. But people 143 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:46,320 Speaker 1: accepted and started calling him Colonel Griffith. Historians have speculated 144 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:49,199 Speaker 1: that this was likely Griffith kind of overcompensating for a 145 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: childhood of poverty, but for a lot of old money Angelinos, 146 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,559 Speaker 1: they just saw this all is really ridiculous peacocking. So 147 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,679 Speaker 1: as the nineteenth century was drawing to a close, Griffith 148 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:04,440 Speaker 1: chase aimed Los Angeles forever with one grand gesture, and 149 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: we'll talk about how Griffith Park was established after we 150 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 1: pause for a quick sponsor break. In December, Griffith gifted 151 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:22,840 Speaker 1: the city of Los Angeles with quite a Christmas surprise, 152 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: three thousand, fifteen acres of land from Rancho Los Fellies 153 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: to be used exclusively as a park. That land had 154 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: not been developed in any way, and Griffiths wanted a 155 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,960 Speaker 1: lot of it to stay that way. This was an 156 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: extravagant gift, and Griffith's motivations and making it have been 157 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: debated over the years. For one, he continued to want 158 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: to be seen as successful and important, and this gesture 159 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,680 Speaker 1: certainly went a long way in that regard. Additionally, the 160 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: donation offered Griffith away to get out of paying taxes 161 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 1: on the land, and the real estate boom was in decline, 162 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: so selling off the land in part soles was not 163 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: as lucrative as it once was. He did, though, also 164 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: seemed to have a fairly genuine interest in civic philanthropy, 165 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:11,839 Speaker 1: and he did want Los Angeles to have a park system. 166 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: We have spoken before in the show about how places 167 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: like Central Park and the Mall in Washington, d C. 168 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: Were inspired in part by people wanting to establish those 169 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: cities as cosmopolitan on a level that would match the 170 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: cities of Europe and their public spaces, and Griffith, who 171 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 1: had traveled a bit by this point, was similarly influenced 172 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:34,040 Speaker 1: by the grand public spaces he had visited around the 173 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,959 Speaker 1: world and on the US East Coast, and that was 174 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: part of his desire to donate the park land, and 175 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: Griffith's own words quote, I consider it my obligation to 176 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: make Los Angeles a happier, cleaner, and finer city. I 177 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: wish to pay my debt of duty in this way 178 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: to the community in which I have prospered. And the 179 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,439 Speaker 1: deed which transferred ownership to the l A City Council 180 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: was very specific about the fact that the land was 181 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,839 Speaker 1: for a park in a park only. That deed is 182 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,280 Speaker 1: actually um part of the l A Archives. They actually 183 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: have it framed on the wall. Uh and it includes 184 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: the phrase quote to be used as a public park 185 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: for purposes of recreation, health, and pleasure, for the use 186 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,200 Speaker 1: and benefit of the inhabitants of the said City of 187 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: Los Angeles forever. The city council also passed an ordinance 188 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: that named the park after Griffith shortly after all of 189 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:28,960 Speaker 1: this began, so it is legally required to be named 190 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: Griffith's Park, even though Griffith had given up the land, 191 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: though he kept feeling connected to it and retained a 192 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,200 Speaker 1: sense of ownership over it, even though he legally had 193 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,199 Speaker 1: no claim to it, but in his eyes he believed 194 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: he did. There was a clause in the deed that 195 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: he turned over to the city that mentioned specifically that 196 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: if the city did not maintain the land in a 197 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: manner that upheld that mission statement, ownership of the land 198 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 1: would revert back to the Griffith family. And it's possible 199 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: that Griffith actually believed this was going to happen. He 200 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,800 Speaker 1: certainly frequently wrote letters to the city and the Park 201 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: Commission stating that he felt things were not being done 202 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: correctly regarding the acreage he had donated. He also served 203 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: on the Parks Committee, so he had a little bit 204 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 1: of say in that regard, even if he didn't actually 205 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: own the property any longer. Griffith's vision was for the 206 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: part to include both the esthetics of the European gardening 207 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: tradition with manicured and cultivated spaces, as well as the 208 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: significant retention of the natural space, and that was indeed 209 00:12:30,800 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: how the city designed the park. Yeah, if you if 210 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: you ever visit Griffith Park, it's really sort of marvelous 211 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,280 Speaker 1: because it is a lot of a lot of space 212 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 1: that is in its natural state. And then they had 213 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 1: a zoo at one point. There's like famous marygo around 214 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:48,559 Speaker 1: we'll talk about in the our Friday episode. Um, but yeah, 215 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: he managed to set this up and it has retained 216 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 1: that identity that it was always intended to have per 217 00:12:55,440 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: his instructions. So Griffith had at this point kind of 218 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:01,440 Speaker 1: accomplished what set how to do in his bid to 219 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: become an important part of the Los Angeles community, and 220 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,559 Speaker 1: at least in name, he remains so to this day. 221 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: And if he had lived out the rest of his 222 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: life peacefully after this, he probably would have a pretty 223 00:13:13,559 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: good and tame legacy in history as a slightly eccentric 224 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: but ultimately benevolent philanthropist who made and married a lot 225 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,680 Speaker 1: of money and then used it to better his city. 226 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 1: But the next chapter of his life took a very 227 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: dark turn. Just as Griffith seemed to have gotten all 228 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,000 Speaker 1: that he wanted, he started to drink more heavily, and 229 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 1: this started to impact his mental state as he developed 230 00:13:37,559 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: a lot of paranoid ideas that started to govern his behavior. 231 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: And reading through all this, and like the parts that 232 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,839 Speaker 1: we're about to get into, like I have thoughts about 233 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 1: like the cause and effect cycle of all of this. 234 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:56,480 Speaker 1: Um An event that happened in September changed to Griffith's 235 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: legacy forever. He and Tina went on a summer vacation 236 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: into Santa Monica. They stayed at the Arcadia Hotel along 237 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: with their sun Van, who was fifteen at the time, 238 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 1: and Griffith behaved strangely during the families stay in Santa Monica. 239 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:14,720 Speaker 1: He had decided that someone was trying to poison him, 240 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: and he suspected that it could actually be the Pope. 241 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,440 Speaker 1: This concern about the Pope seems to have been rooted 242 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: in a very anti Catholic bias that he had, and 243 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: it was manifesting in his paranoia. He would insist on 244 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: switching the plates at the table settings during the trip 245 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: because he believed that they might have poison residue on them. Uh. 246 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: It has been estimated that Griffith, at this point in 247 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: his life was drinking roughly two quarts of whiskey each day, 248 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: that is sixty four ounces, just a little less than 249 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: two leaders, so that was also governing some of this 250 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: very strange behavior. Griffiths paranoia leads you a horrific series 251 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: of events. On September three, and one version of this story, 252 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: Tina was sitting at a desk in their hotel room 253 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:05,800 Speaker 1: writing out postcards to friends and family when Griffith entered 254 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:09,600 Speaker 1: the room, but then later testimony indicated that she was 255 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: actually packing for their return home. Regardless though of exactly 256 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,960 Speaker 1: what Mrs Griffith was doing. The portion of the story 257 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 1: that's corroborated and consistent is that Mr Griffith carried a 258 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: revolver and a prayer book, which was Christina's prayer book, 259 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: into the room with him. And Griffiths was a Protestant, 260 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: but in his desire to move up in Enly society, 261 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,640 Speaker 1: he had married a Catholic. Tina was very devout, so 262 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: in his mind, Griffith started to link his wife to 263 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 1: his paranoid delusions about the pope and had started to 264 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:47,680 Speaker 1: believe on some level that she was conspiring with the 265 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: head of the Catholic Church against her husband. So Griffith 266 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: handed Tina the prayer book, told her to swear by 267 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: it that she would answer his questions truthfully, instructed her 268 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,560 Speaker 1: to get on her knee ease, and then started interrogating her. 269 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 1: He had written his questions down ahead of this conversation, 270 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 1: so he was reading them from a card that he 271 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 1: had prepared, kind of like a script. This was a 272 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: menu card from the hotel, and he had written the 273 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 1: questions on the back of it. And while this questioning 274 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: was going on. He was also pointing his gun at her. 275 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: He asked her if she had been involved in the 276 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,840 Speaker 1: death of Andrea brig Walter, that was the family friend 277 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,360 Speaker 1: who left Christina and her sister their fortune, saying quote, 278 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: did you ever know of brig Walter being poisoned in 279 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 1: your house? Tina answered no. Bridge Walter had died of 280 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,040 Speaker 1: blood poisoning, which he had gotten due to an infected 281 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 1: foot injury, and that was something that Christina reminded her 282 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: husband of in this moment. Next, Griffith asked his wife 283 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,520 Speaker 1: if she was poisoning him by asking, quote, have you 284 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: been implicated with or do you know of anyone having 285 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: given me poison? Tina, who called Griffith Papa, replied quote, 286 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: why Papa, you know I have never harmed a hair 287 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: on your head. His third question was whether Tina was 288 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:07,640 Speaker 1: a faithful wife, and she stated that she had never 289 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: been untrue. Griffith had an additional question on his card, 290 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: but he didn't ask it. He shot Tina after asking 291 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 1: the third. He shot her in the face. The bullet 292 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: hit the outer edge of her left eye, shattering the 293 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,399 Speaker 1: bone of her eye socket, and it was reported that 294 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: upon impact with the bone, the bullet fragmented and a 295 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,320 Speaker 1: piece of it pierced her eye, so her left eye 296 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: was destroyed, but the bullet didn't penetrate into the brain cavity. 297 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 1: The rest of the bullet fragments passed under the skin 298 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:44,120 Speaker 1: of her temple and lodged under her scalp. Surprisingly, Christina 299 00:17:44,200 --> 00:17:48,119 Speaker 1: Griffiths survived this brutal attack. She lost that eye and 300 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: had some facial disfigurement, but had been fast enough in 301 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,359 Speaker 1: just kind of reflexively jerking her head to one side 302 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: that she thwarted Griffith's aims so he did not hit 303 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: her square in the forehead, and after asking her husband 304 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: why he shot her, she next jumped out of the 305 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: window onto the extended roof of the veranda below. And 306 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: there are some versions of the story that indicate that 307 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: the owners of the hotel saw her and pulled her 308 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,119 Speaker 1: into their rooms, but the version that the owners actually 309 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: gave the press was that she crawled into an open 310 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,119 Speaker 1: window herself. So keep in mind that Tina at this 311 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: point had just been shot in the face. She couldn't 312 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:28,040 Speaker 1: see she was bleeding a great deal. She also broke 313 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 1: her shoulder as she jumped out the window. So it 314 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: was incredibly lucky that she was able to get to 315 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:37,360 Speaker 1: safety at all. Meanwhile, her husband was still in the hotel. 316 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: He had called the hotel staff that there was an accident, 317 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: and as a doctor was being called, he phoned Christina's 318 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: sister to tell her that her sister had been accidentally shot. 319 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,440 Speaker 1: Mrs Griffith was treated at the Arcadia Hotel by a 320 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: doctor Crawford that was called by hotel management, and she 321 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: stayed there the rest of the night. She was given 322 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: an opiate to help her sleep, and then, as sue 323 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: as possible, the following morning, she was moved to a 324 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:06,000 Speaker 1: hospital in Los Angeles. She was still unconscious at that point. 325 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,560 Speaker 1: The headline that ran on September five in the l 326 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: A Times that detailed this incident was quote bullet in 327 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: head of Mrs G. J. Griffith. She declares that her 328 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: husband shot her. Result may be fatal. Christina Griffith's account 329 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: was included in this article, reported as having been told 330 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: to her sister in a moment of consciousness, who then 331 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 1: related to the paper. According to that account, when Griffith 332 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:35,120 Speaker 1: entered the room, he said, quote, get your prayer book 333 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:37,359 Speaker 1: and kneel down and cover your eyes. I'm going to 334 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:40,639 Speaker 1: shoot you, and I'm going to kill you. This version 335 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: didn't include the information that came to light later on 336 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:48,639 Speaker 1: involving Griffith's aggressive questioning of his wife, because Christina had 337 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,600 Speaker 1: not been conscious long enough to give a more thorough account. 338 00:19:52,119 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 1: Once she was in the l A hospital, Christina Griffith 339 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 1: went into surgery so that the bullet fragments could be 340 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: dislodged from her head. Her surgeon R. M. L. Moore 341 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: told the paper that while the situation was very serious, 342 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: he believed that the patient would recover. So this rite 343 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,080 Speaker 1: up stated quote she either jumped or fell from the 344 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 1: window of the room and dropped onto the roof of 345 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,239 Speaker 1: a porch on the level of the floor below. So 346 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,440 Speaker 1: at this point Griffith was claiming that this whole thing 347 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 1: was an accident, and there was this whole idea that 348 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: maybe his wife had just fallen. His account was that 349 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: she had been packing a trunk when a revolver that 350 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: was either inside of it or that she had been 351 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:36,160 Speaker 1: holding for some reason had accidentally discharged, and he said 352 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:38,720 Speaker 1: that they had not been quarreling at all. In an 353 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,119 Speaker 1: interview with a reporter, Griffith said that he and his 354 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 1: wife never quarreled. The reporter, to his credit, did ask 355 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: some very pointed questions about why Mrs Griffith would have 356 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: had one of Mr Griffith's revolvers in her trunk, how 357 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:53,960 Speaker 1: she would have accidentally made her way out of a 358 00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:56,320 Speaker 1: window that was actually in a gable way that was 359 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:58,120 Speaker 1: away from the main part of the room where their 360 00:20:58,119 --> 00:21:02,120 Speaker 1: belongings were, and the Griffith was intoxicated at the time 361 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: of the incident. Griffith kind of shrugged off the hard questions, 362 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: I will say. The reporter at the end of that 363 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: says like, do you say this is wholly untrue? And 364 00:21:11,359 --> 00:21:13,920 Speaker 1: he's like, oh, yeah, holy um. So Griffith kind of 365 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: shrugs off the hard questions and then claimed that in fact, 366 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: he had been sober for several weeks. But the Mesber 367 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: family was adamant that this was not an accident. Tina's 368 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: brother gave a quote to the press that said quote, 369 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,960 Speaker 1: Mrs Griffith did not shoot herself. The shooting was not 370 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: an accident. In our opinion. We are sure there was 371 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,160 Speaker 1: no attempt at suicide. As yet, we make no accusations, 372 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: but we believe that the shot was not accidental nor 373 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 1: was it fired with suicidal intent. That statement was given 374 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: to a reporter, but before the article actually we went 375 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,159 Speaker 1: to press, the Mesmer family contacted the paper again and 376 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 1: they asked to have the following statement added. And it's 377 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,399 Speaker 1: kind of if you look at that newspaper, um, it's 378 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: kind of in its own call out box to the 379 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,719 Speaker 1: side of the article, and that state and his quote, 380 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: that would be the consensus of opinion of this meeting. 381 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: That judgment be suspended until Mrs Griffith is able to 382 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: make a statement, but that a full explanation be demanded 383 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,440 Speaker 1: from Mr Griffith, and that a full investigation be made. 384 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 1: The family at this point believed that a conflict stemming 385 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: from religious differences was at the heart of this whole matter, 386 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: as well as Griffith's drinking to excess. At this point, 387 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:28,680 Speaker 1: Christina was still hospitalized and unconscious, and while her doctor 388 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: thought that she would recover, nobody was certain whether she 389 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:37,439 Speaker 1: actually would. The Arcadia's landlords, the Rights, also made a 390 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: statement that they believed that this was an accident, and 391 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,720 Speaker 1: while the status of the Griffith's teenage son Vandel during 392 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: this incident had been a matter of confusion. Initially, people 393 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 1: were like where was Van del and nobody knew. It 394 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,680 Speaker 1: was eventually discovered that he had in fact been outside 395 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: when it happened. Initially, when asked if his son had 396 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 1: been in the room during the shooting, Griffiths said he 397 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: did not know and that he was quote averse to 398 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: asking the boy. Griffith had agreed to be taken into custody, 399 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: still claiming that it was all an accident, but at 400 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: the last minute he slipped away and went for a drink. 401 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,320 Speaker 1: This was actually several drinks. He moved from one bar 402 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: to another, and a sheriff's deputy trailed him on a 403 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: ten mile bar crawl before he was able to catch 404 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: up with G. J. Griffith and make the arrest. And 405 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,320 Speaker 1: coming up, we're going to talk about how the legal 406 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:31,639 Speaker 1: ramifications of this assault played out. But before we get 407 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:33,640 Speaker 1: into that, let's all take a break and we will 408 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: hear from one of the sponsors that keep stuff you 409 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: missed in history going. This entire incident and case was 410 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,879 Speaker 1: huge news, and for the next several months leading up 411 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:54,440 Speaker 1: to the trial, newspapers across the country reported every development 412 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: in the case. This included the fact that Griffith's legal 413 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: representation had offered Stina thirty five thousand dollars as a 414 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: divorce settlement, which she would only get if she refused 415 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:09,359 Speaker 1: to testify in court against her husband. This was also 416 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: a move that was intended to get legal blocks on 417 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: Griffith's properties removed so he could sell them if he wished. 418 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: That included the property that Christina had inherited in the 419 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:22,199 Speaker 1: Bridge Walter fortune. She did not take this offer, and 420 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:26,359 Speaker 1: as initial hearings had approached, Griffith's defense slowly shifted away 421 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: from the story that the shooting was an accident and 422 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:34,199 Speaker 1: instead claimed alcoholic insanity. There were several preliminary hearings and 423 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: the actual trial took place in February of nineteen o four. 424 00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 1: When Christina Griffith testified, she wore a black veil that 425 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 1: covered her whole face. The newspaper report of her testimony 426 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:49,160 Speaker 1: stated that quote the lawyers made Mrs Griffith get down 427 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,479 Speaker 1: from the witness stand and show her sightless eye socket 428 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,479 Speaker 1: to each of the jurors, in turn holding up her 429 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 1: veil and dark glasses, while each of the twelve looked 430 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: her scars and deformities critically over it was not dramatic 431 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:04,880 Speaker 1: at all, but pitiful and one of the most painful 432 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: incidents that ever happened in Judge Smith's court. Christina's time 433 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: on the stand was unsurprisingly quite emotional. She told the 434 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: court quote, he told me to take my prayer book 435 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,479 Speaker 1: and get down on my knees, that he had some 436 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: questions to ask me. I begged him to please put 437 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: the pistol away. Oh, I begged him to put it away. 438 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 1: I saw that I was in the hands of a 439 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: desperate man. So I asked him if I might have 440 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: time to pray. He said I might, So I knelt 441 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: and raised my eyes and prayed. She describes the questioning 442 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 1: and what happens next, and at the end of her account, 443 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: she stated, my only thought was to get out dead 444 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: or alive. That was a statement that Griffa's attorney asked 445 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: to have stricken from the record. Griffith J. Griffith was 446 00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 1: charged with attempted murder. His attorney, Earl Rogers, tried to 447 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,520 Speaker 1: discredit Christina in a number of ways and use her 448 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: testimony that Griffith had threatened to kill her on several occasions, 449 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: as well as the account of fits paranoia, to bolster 450 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:07,440 Speaker 1: his clients in sanity defense. Former California Governor Henry T. 451 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,200 Speaker 1: Gage was Christina's attorney, and he had Rogers as well 452 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,520 Speaker 1: as the other attorneys present. Were so prone to arguing 453 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:17,959 Speaker 1: with one another that one reporter claimed the judge quote 454 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,000 Speaker 1: would be on the point of a journey for the 455 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,480 Speaker 1: afternoon to let them fight it out. Yeah, that was 456 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:26,479 Speaker 1: a very um There's a lot of bickering going on. 457 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:31,199 Speaker 1: And Christina had given testimony in several hearings leading up 458 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: to the trial at that point. They were always consistent, 459 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: and she had said in all of them that she 460 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 1: believed the real reason that Griffith wanted to kill her 461 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:40,720 Speaker 1: was because she had threatened to leave him due to 462 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,880 Speaker 1: his drinking, and that he knew that if that happened, 463 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,919 Speaker 1: all of his secrets would become public. The fact that 464 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: he had this drinking problem was definitely something he had 465 00:26:49,320 --> 00:26:52,440 Speaker 1: been hiding. She had told the proprietor of the hotel 466 00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: when the shooting happened that Griffith must be crazy, and 467 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 1: she also spoke of how he had been paranoid about 468 00:26:57,800 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 1: poisoning for years and years, and she had kind of 469 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 1: humored him when he did things like wanting to switch 470 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:06,040 Speaker 1: plates with her, and his defense seized on all of 471 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: that as evidence that their defense their insanity plea was sound, 472 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:14,200 Speaker 1: and to some degree that approach worked. Griffith was found 473 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,960 Speaker 1: guilty not of attempted murder, but of the lesser crime 474 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:21,040 Speaker 1: of assault with a deadly weapon. He was sentenced to 475 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: two years in prison and a five thousand dollar fine, 476 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: and was incarcerated at San Quentin. And while this was 477 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:29,719 Speaker 1: believed by a lot of people to be a miscarriage 478 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 1: of justice, Mrs Griffith's divorce filing had a better outcome. 479 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,120 Speaker 1: The judge granted the request immediately and the whole thing 480 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: was handled allegedly within five minutes, some say four and 481 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,119 Speaker 1: a half, so on November five, nineteen o four, he 482 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 1: was already incarcerated at this time when they had this hearing. 483 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:49,480 Speaker 1: The San Francisco Examiner ran the story of the proceedings 484 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:53,159 Speaker 1: around the divorce. After stating during testimony that she had 485 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,399 Speaker 1: been shot by her husband after he had instructed her 486 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:57,200 Speaker 1: to get on her knees and was allowed to pray, 487 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: the judge interrupted and asked if this was deliberate, and 488 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,640 Speaker 1: she replied, quote, it was deliberate. He made me get 489 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: down on my knees. I asked to pray, and then 490 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:11,120 Speaker 1: the judge asked quote. He then fired Christina. Griffith answered yes, sir, 491 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: and Judge Allen's next words were decree granted. As part 492 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:17,959 Speaker 1: of the settlement, it was determined that Christina would retain 493 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,440 Speaker 1: custody of their son, Vandel, and that Griffith would pay 494 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:25,880 Speaker 1: for the boy's education. Christina was also awarded sixty five 495 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:29,879 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. After the divorce was settled, she receded from 496 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 1: the public eye and lived out the rest of her 497 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: life with her sister Lucy Whipple's family, until her death 498 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 1: in ninety eight at the age of eighty four. When 499 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: Griffith finished his two years sentence, he was sober, repentant 500 00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: and really eager to rehabilitate his image, so after several years, 501 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: he once again turned to grand gestures in an effort 502 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: to re establish himself as a Los Angeles philanthropist. In 503 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,880 Speaker 1: nineteen twelve, Griffith offered the city of Los Angeles a 504 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars to be put to we're building an 505 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: observatory on Griffith Peak, which is known today as Mount Hollywood. 506 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: But while the city council had been willing to take 507 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: a huge gift of land from the man that a 508 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 1: lot of people at the time believe to be a 509 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:16,200 Speaker 1: society poser. They were not so keen on taking a 510 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: huge sum of money from him having been convicted of 511 00:29:20,320 --> 00:29:23,640 Speaker 1: the spelony, even if he had served his sentence. I mean, 512 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,040 Speaker 1: the nature of the crime also, I think would be 513 00:29:26,040 --> 00:29:30,320 Speaker 1: a deterrent. And keep in mind, like these are very 514 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:37,920 Speaker 1: high level, powerful, wealthy families in the area. So it's 515 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: a little bit tricky because the Mesmer family, of course 516 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:44,760 Speaker 1: was very very powerful and wealthy. But Griffith also kind 517 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: of in some ways, you know, had had the city 518 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,240 Speaker 1: a little bit over a barrel, like he had those 519 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: water rights that he had essentially given them. It was 520 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: all a little bit weird, but they so they kind 521 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: of put him off. It was like, we'll think about it. 522 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:01,560 Speaker 1: And then in a similar move following year nineteen thirteen, 523 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: Griffith offered the city fifty thousand dollars. This was to 524 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,360 Speaker 1: be put towards building a Greek theater in Griffith Park, 525 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,880 Speaker 1: and once again there wasn't exactly a no, but there 526 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 1: wasn't any real movement to accept the offer. They kind 527 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 1: of like went to operations slowdown with it. Griffith was 528 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 1: undoubtedly hurt by this refusal to accept his gifts, but 529 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:23,719 Speaker 1: he still had a vision for these two projects, and 530 00:30:23,760 --> 00:30:26,480 Speaker 1: of course today there are a Greek Theater and the 531 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 1: Griffith Observatory. They were built, but that did not happen 532 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,960 Speaker 1: until later in nine Griffith died after a prolonged illness 533 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,560 Speaker 1: which was reported as liver trouble. His image was still 534 00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,480 Speaker 1: tarnished in the minds of many of the city's residents, 535 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,760 Speaker 1: although the obituary that ran in the l A Times 536 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:47,160 Speaker 1: did not mention the assault, or his conviction or any 537 00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: of that. It instead recounted his philanthropic works and kind 538 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: of left it at that. Upon his death, it was 539 00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: revealed that Griffith had set up a trust to ensure 540 00:30:56,440 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: that his observatory and the Greek Theater project did forward, 541 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: and the city did use the funds from that trust 542 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,560 Speaker 1: to carry out construction on both of them. The Greek 543 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: Theater was completed in nineteen thirty and the Griffith Observatory 544 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: was finished in nineteen thirty five. And now people know 545 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 1: his name, which is probably what he wanted in the 546 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:20,560 Speaker 1: first place. Yeah, done, dune, Dune, do you have some 547 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,120 Speaker 1: listener mail to take us out. I do, uh, it's 548 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:29,720 Speaker 1: about me being a dumbhead in our Jean Baptiste dedn'ty episode. 549 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:32,960 Speaker 1: It's from our listener Kate, who writes, Dear Holly and Tracy. 550 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:35,360 Speaker 1: First off, I want to say I absolutely love your podcast. 551 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,760 Speaker 1: It is fascinating and well researched, and I know you 552 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: both worked hard to uplift marginalized stories. That said, I 553 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:43,200 Speaker 1: think you made a major misstep with today's episode on 554 00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: Jean Baptis, Denny and the blood transfusion race. I understand 555 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,040 Speaker 1: why you chose to include a warning about animal experimentation 556 00:31:49,080 --> 00:31:51,680 Speaker 1: at the beginning. However, the fact that you included this 557 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:53,440 Speaker 1: warning and made no mention of the fact that a 558 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,040 Speaker 1: human being was abducted and forced to undergo a medical 559 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,880 Speaker 1: experiment against his will came across as incredibly classist and frankly, 560 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: talkingly devoid of empathy. I don't know you personally, but 561 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:04,960 Speaker 1: I think I've listened to enough of your work to 562 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,560 Speaker 1: know this was not your intention. I know you mentioned 563 00:32:07,600 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: having discussions about how graphic to get with various topics 564 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:12,600 Speaker 1: other than animals, but I think you need to consider 565 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: not just what you are saying in these warnings, But 566 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,000 Speaker 1: what you are saying with these warnings, this warning you 567 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,640 Speaker 1: put on the episode prioritize the welfare of animals over 568 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: that of a man experiencing homelessness. You basically said, we 569 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: expect the harm done to these animals to be more 570 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 1: disturbing than the kidnapping, assault, and eventual murder of Antoine 571 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: moray More who I'm sorry, I do not believe you 572 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:34,479 Speaker 1: actually feel that way, but that is how it came across. 573 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,760 Speaker 1: As I said, I adore your podcast. I'm sorry this 574 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,000 Speaker 1: is what it took to get me to write in. 575 00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: I've thought about it multiple times for much happier reasons, 576 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:41,920 Speaker 1: but never got around to it. Thank you for the 577 00:32:41,960 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: work you do. I will say this is not this 578 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,440 Speaker 1: completely valid criticism. I will say I think part of 579 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,200 Speaker 1: it for me is that any time there is an 580 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:56,240 Speaker 1: early stage UM medical development story, I kind of assume 581 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,600 Speaker 1: humans are going to be horrible to each other, which 582 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: is part of why I that didn't even occur to 583 00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 1: me UM. So it's a really good point. I will 584 00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: just as a correction, he was not homeless, though he 585 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:08,239 Speaker 1: was believed to be. He had a home, he just 586 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,640 Speaker 1: didn't tend to go to it. Um, not that that 587 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 1: makes any difference. It's just for clarity, because I don't 588 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,880 Speaker 1: want more wad story to become confused. Um. Yeah, I 589 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 1: mean it's it's always tricky and I know. Um. The 590 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:23,200 Speaker 1: other thing I will say is that we get mixed 591 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: reactions anytime we issue any kind of warning in the episode. 592 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:30,160 Speaker 1: There are lots of times when people say, why did 593 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 1: you warn us? That ruins the story and it's stupid 594 00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,400 Speaker 1: and people should just know that history is full of horrors, 595 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:37,239 Speaker 1: and other people who say, I really wish you had 596 00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: told me this was going to happen. Yeah. A lot 597 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: of times. What I'm trying to make that call it, 598 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:45,840 Speaker 1: it's a lot of times when it seems like something 599 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 1: that would not be expected in the course of the episode. 600 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,920 Speaker 1: Like if the title of the episode is the such 601 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:56,959 Speaker 1: and such massacre, I'm probably not gonna issue a warning 602 00:33:57,000 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: about there being a lot of violence in the episode. Um. 603 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: But if it's a story about a breed of flowers 604 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,239 Speaker 1: and there's some kind of like horrific murder, and I'm 605 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:11,320 Speaker 1: probably gonna say something about the murder at the beginning. 606 00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: Those are made up examples, right, And I mean I 607 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 1: I It's one of those things that I thought about 608 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,000 Speaker 1: even with today's episode, right, I knew I wanted to 609 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:23,800 Speaker 1: include that domestic violence warning because it is a horrifying 610 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: thing that happened and not something you necessarily expect with 611 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: the man for whom Griffith Park is named if you 612 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: don't know his back story, But I didn't include, for example, 613 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:42,919 Speaker 1: his alcoholism is like an addiction warning, or the fact 614 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: that the violence was specifically gun violence, right, because that 615 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:51,360 Speaker 1: can be right. I mean, that's the thing. It It 616 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,600 Speaker 1: gets to be a tricky dance, and I don't always 617 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:57,640 Speaker 1: do it right clearly, um, because there are so many 618 00:34:57,719 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: things that could potentially be troubling to any number of people, 619 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: and sometimes it's hard to predict. And also it's probably 620 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:10,759 Speaker 1: just there's part of me that's a jaded and callous 621 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:15,320 Speaker 1: um cynic who's like, of course, humans train each other terribly, 622 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,239 Speaker 1: which I try not to let drive the bus, but 623 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:22,160 Speaker 1: sometimes it blinds me. Um. I did also want to 624 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:25,520 Speaker 1: mention though, that we got an email also from our 625 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: listener Rebecca, who really really wanted us uh, since we 626 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:32,359 Speaker 1: had been talking about blood transfusion to mention to our 627 00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,440 Speaker 1: listeners the importance of donating blood. Uh. If you can 628 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,520 Speaker 1: donate blood, it does a whole lot of good. Uh. 629 00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: She says, each whole blood donation can save up to 630 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:43,000 Speaker 1: three lives. If that isn't enough to make you think 631 00:35:43,040 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: about it, if it's something you can do, I know 632 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:49,720 Speaker 1: it's a little tricky during pandemic. So yeah, there's um 633 00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: the city where I live has been really good about 634 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:56,000 Speaker 1: like telling people when there's a blood drive and how 635 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,160 Speaker 1: they can sign up, because they're being really careful about 636 00:35:58,160 --> 00:36:00,520 Speaker 1: like how many people can be inside the space and 637 00:36:00,560 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 1: all that kind of thing. Um. So I think it 638 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:06,400 Speaker 1: can be a little trickier to find a slot to 639 00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: to do it for that reason. Um, but there's lots 640 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:15,480 Speaker 1: of information available uh in any particular city about uh 641 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 1: where to do it, how to do it. Yeah, I 642 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 1: think you could probably do a blood donation and your 643 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: whatever your municipality or location is, and you will find 644 00:36:24,800 --> 00:36:28,080 Speaker 1: a wealth of resources. Um. And I encourage people to 645 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:31,240 Speaker 1: do it. It is uh, As Rebecca said, it's a 646 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:34,840 Speaker 1: an incredible gift that you're giving and uh worthwhile, particularly 647 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 1: at a time when a lot in the world is 648 00:36:36,719 --> 00:36:39,440 Speaker 1: going wrong. If you can help something go right, that 649 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:42,120 Speaker 1: will probably make you feel better. Uh So, if you 650 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:44,279 Speaker 1: would like to write to us, you can do so 651 00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 1: at History podcast at iHeart radio dot com. You can 652 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:49,160 Speaker 1: also find us on social media at missed in History. 653 00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:51,400 Speaker 1: Uh If you'd like to subscribe to the show and 654 00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,680 Speaker 1: you haven't already, well that sounds grand. You can do 655 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,040 Speaker 1: that on the iHeart Radio app, at Apple podcast or 656 00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:03,680 Speaker 1: wherever it is you listen. Stuff you missed in History 657 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,439 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I heart Radio. For more 658 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,520 Speaker 1: podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 659 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,800 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.