Death Valley National Park has more than its share of colorful historical characters and sites: ghosts towns, prospectors, Twenty Mule Teams and Scotty's Castle. One of those locations, the Barker Ranch, achieved notoriety through association with Charles Manson, the convicted leader of a group responsible for several murders in California.
The Barker Ranch was one of several remote hideouts used by Manson and his followers, and he was arrested here in 1969. The building burned earlier this week under mysterious circumstances.
The park learned about the fire through a chat room report on a local web page and sent a ranger to investigate. The time and cause of the fire is not yet known, but the park has determined that visitors were there on Sunday, May 3rd, that it was in good condition at that time (the park had a restoration crew on site about a month ago), and that other visitors found it burned out on Tuesday, May 5th. An investigation is being launched.
According to Terry Baldino, the park's Public Information Officer, the building's rock walls and tin roof were still standing, but the interior, including hand-hewn wooden interior beams and window and door frames were completely destroyed. An attached building used as a garage or workshop also burned.
While a report on an Internet chat room may seem a strange way for a park to learn that a building had burned, that's not unusual given the location involved.
The Barker Ranch is in a remote area of the huge desert park, factors which made it appealing to Manson and his gang. A description of the route to the site provides a bit of insight:
Barker Ranch Road - High clearance 4 Wheel Drive. Short dead-end dirt road off Goler Canyon Road in the southern Panamint Mountains. The Goler Canyon Road requires High clearance 4WD. Rough dirt road off Wingate Road south of Ballart.... Sometimes impassable at dry falls after flooding.
In 2008, the ranch was the site of additional forensic investigations by California authorities, who spent several days looking for evidence that additional bodies tied to Manson's group may have been buried there. None were apparently found.
It's unknown at this point if the fire was started accidentally by backcountry campers who were using the building, or if vandals were to blame. There is no water available at the site to fight a fire. The timing was especially unfortunate, since the park had recently completed some stabilization work on the structure.
Comments
I would have loved to have hiked in there just to see the cupboard that Charlie was hiding in (like the rat he was) when he was apprehended. I suppose it is now gone. I would not put it past Charlie to have sent someone out to torch the place after all the notoriety it got last year.
I have to agree. At least in my lifetime Barker Ranch will forever be associated with one of the most savage crimes in history--I've seen the crime scene photos. There will always be ghosts there even if no one goes "Boo" or sees a white wraith. It's just the pure savagery of the crimes. Nobody should have to die like that (except those who commit the crimes to begin with). Good riddance to Barker Ranch. Now they should salt the earth. It will forever be tainted with pure evil.
R Stefancik-
You don’t have to hike in to the ranch; you can drive right up to the front yard. The cupboard you refer to was a cabinet under the sink in the bathroom. While they herded the family members into the yard and stood guard with shotguns, one of the officers had to take a leak so, flashlight in hand, he returned to the house. As he was standing in the bathroom relieving himself, he glanced down and noticed a lock of hair protruding from the closed cabinet door. He ordered the person to, “come on out of there,” and out crawled Charles Manson with a sheepish grin on his face. Of course, the lawmen had no idea of the significance of their catch at that time.
I have seen the cabinet and it was very small. The space inside was even more confined because it housed the plumbing for the sink. Manson himself is a small person physically but still, it’s a wonder to me how he managed to squeeze into such a tiny space. As I remember, the cabinet disappeared sometime during the mid to late 80s.
LynnBerk: “Good riddance to Barker Ranch. Now they should salt the earth. It will forever be tainted with pure evil.”
Should we render similar treatment as well to Columbine High School, the Twin Towers and the Nazi death camps? We need to keep and maintain these monuments to human cruelty in order to preserve historic accuracy, to commemorate the victims and to remind ourselves that, should circumstances permit, monsters can and will rise among us.
The Barker Ranch should be preserved for its historical value.
It was originally built in the late 1930's by a retired police office, whose goal
of finding gold never really worked out.
It sure seems like a great little vacation home for those who owned the
property afterwards.
The Barker Ranch, like the Geologist Cabin, and a few other buildings in the
Southwest Corner of Death Valley National Park have existed for decades as
shelters for visitors to use. They have been places where in an emergency,
one could find water, shelter, and non-perishable food that has been donated
by previous visitors.
This is the culture of "desert people."
This is a culture where people do look out for one another. If one's vehicle is broken down,
you help them.
If people don't live like that...guess what might happen if your vehicle breaks down.
As for Manson, he hated what he called "desert people." He hated people in nearby towns.
He was a thief, troublemaker, and did everything he could to stand out like a sore thumb.
(guess who he was caught)
The Barker Ranch should be preserved.
The Barker Ranch is a historical place connected with the most vile crimes in US history, but
one with an interest in history, I believe historical sites should be preserved for future generations.
I believe the preservation of the Barker Ranch makes a statement.
This statement is that despite the evil of Manson and his goons, this is still a beautiful place.
The Barker Ranch is located in a beautiful little canyon, one that is full of life.
Preservation of the Barker Ranch, and its reclaiming by "Desert People," (prospectors, 4wd enthusiasts,
gutsy backpackers for example) is one way to punish Manson who once whined that "I'm not fit to live
in your desert!"
Right, "Charlie." I don't think Manson is fit to live anywhere, but when I camped out where his
buggys once roared, the only noise I heard was birds chirping.
Well you will find this hard to believe. But here goes- I am the one who built the cabinet he was found in which is now gone, and I am the one who supplied all lof the cyls. that we built the house out of when The Barkers went to Indian Ranch
"Good riddance to Barker Ranch. Now they should salt the earth. It will forever be tainted with pure evil."
Wow... are we going to scour the area for witches to burn too?
This kind of superstitious thinking is the very type of thinking that makes me enjoy getting away to the desert in the first place. I really need to escape the small minded city slickers who forgot what it means to be a free American. I want to see the Barker Ranch because Manson was there. I want to get a creepy skin crawl feeling when I see it. This is real history. It is a memorial to the wickedness and evil that people can do.
This comment was edited. -- Ed.
There was a bookshelf that actually had books on it, probably all placed there by visitors. Things like "The Rise and Fall of the 3rd Reich", etc. Outside of the house on some high ground there was a chair with the legs embedded in concrete.