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Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:36 pm
by Anonymizer
thebomb wrote:I read that Manson had plans to take over the Death Valley towns of Shoshone and Trona. He also had a plan to kill some police officers, to take off their clothes, dispose of the bodies, and to leave the uniforms and shoes and stuff arranged neatly on the ground so that it would look like the bodies had just vaporized. He was pretty weird. Is it true that he was caught in one of the cabins in Goler Wash? I've heard some pretty wild stories about some of the stuff that his gang did out there! I also heard that Charlie don't surf!
LINK: http://www.charliemanson.com/

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:47 pm
by Anonymizer
Canines Renew Interest in the Charles Manson Family
jeepnut wrote:Some facts from the article:
1. There is speculation that human remains might be buried at the Barker Ranch in Goler Wash as a result of the activities of the Manson Family.
2. Manson and followers vandalized a government loader in Saline Valley. Rangers followed tire tracks back to Goler Wash where they arrested Manson and company. It wasn't until later that they realized that the group was involved in a string of murders in the LA area.
3. Another cabin called the Meyers Ranch is a short distance from the Barker Ranch cabin.

LINK: Canines Renew Interest in the Charles Manson Family

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:48 pm
by Anonymizer
desertrat wrote:A good book to read on this topic is "Desert Shadows" by Bob Murphy, a former superintendent of DVNP. He actually participated in tracking down Manson and so he provides a good accounting of the activities of the Manson Clan while they were prowling around the Death Valley area. There are lots of books on Manson, but this one does an especially good job on the Death Valley portion of Manson's career.

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:50 pm
by Anonymizer
thebomb wrote:I also heard that CM was able to drive a bus to the cabin. Does anyone know which roads he took to get it in there? Also, what happened to the bus? I heard that they had to helicopter it out. Is that true? Also I heard that CM had some sort of magic powers and that he was able to levitate the bus over really rough parts of the road. I don't believe that, but it is amazing that someone was actually able to drive the bus to the cabin.

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Tue Dec 21, 2010 8:53 pm
by Anonymizer
jeepnut wrote:The Manson bus was a green and white early fifties Chevrolet school bus. At the time that Manson drove the bus to Goler Wash there were three dirt roads entering the area. Two of these are still open today (Goler Wash via Panamint Valley and over Mengel Pass via Butte Valley). The third route (the one he drove the bus in over) is now closed. It comes in from the southeast and was a much easier route than the other two routes. So, at that point levitation would not have been necessary!
Today the bus sits in a remote corner of Death Valley a few miles away from its last bus stop. The interior was converted to living space with floor space to sleep and a wood burning stove. Most of the glass has been broken and it has quite a few bullet holes but it's still in fairly good shape. There are many old cars and trucks in Death Valley, Charlie's bus being one the best preserved and the most infamous of them all.

SOURCE: http://www.maddlabs.com/adventureware/cmbus.htm
Some claim the bus is in nearby Wood Canyon and others claim that the bus was removed many years ago. The current location of the bus is an interesting question.

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:59 pm
by Anonymizer
HUMMER wrote:I went out to the Manson Cabin a few weeks ago and it was all burnt up. It was still standing, but it was really messed up. How long ago was the fire? Does anyone know who started the fire?

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:01 pm
by Anonymizer
desertrat wrote:
HUMMER wrote:I went out to the Manson Cabin a few weeks ago and it was all burnt up. It was still standing, but it was really messed up. How long ago was the fire? Does anyone know who started the fire?

The best information that I'm aware of indicated that the fire occurred between May 1, 2009, and sometime May 5, 2009. The problem is that there are two general ways in and out of the area, but both quickly branch out and provide many alternative routes. Some speculate that the fire was an act of arson and others think it was just an accident. There's no way of knowing for sure. It could just as easily be some druggies went out there to do their drugs at the "Manson Cabin" and wound up accidentally starting the fire while strung out on whatever it was they decided to take. Who knows? :confused2:

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:07 pm
by Anonymizer
bruce66 wrote:The following news story simply states that the Barker Ranch was gutted by fire. The story date in May 7, 2009. The brief article mentions that the Barker Ranch was Charles Manson's last hideout. Information from a DVNP spokesperson is included in the article, but nothing any of substance is provided.

NEWS STORY: http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=59011 ( May 7, 2009 4:09 pm US/Pacific
Manson's Desert Hideout Found Gutted By Fire )

SLIGHTLY MORE INFO HERE: http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/44560737.html (
Charles Manson's last California hideout burns, Thursday, May 7, 2009 )

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:11 pm
by Anonymizer
a2z wrote:Here's an interesting account of Manson's activities while in Trona:
The family would pile out of an old van or bus wearing very little clothing. No shirts on the women, and he was nude also. Of course they wouldn't let them in to shop until they got dressed. At that point they were allowed to shop.

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:15 pm
by Anonymizer
mrgreenskull wrote:Browsing around the pictures in the Death Valley link at the top of this page, I found a picture of the green Dodge Powerwagon that was left at Ballarat. I heard that it was there by one of the Manson Family. Probably either Charles Watson or Tex. The story is that one of them tried to escape the Goler Wash raid in the truck, but it broke down in Ballarat. The ceiling of the truck has stars and that's supposed to be the signature of the Manson Family.
Image

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:20 pm
by Anonymizer
desertrat wrote:Here's another article that might be of interest:
USATODAY wrote:As investigators consider digging for bodies at a remote ranch where Charles Manson and his acolytes once hid out, new information has emerged to bolster reports of possible clandestine grave sites in the barren California desert, authorities say.

An ad hoc team of detectives and forensic investigators visited Barker Ranch last month to test the soil for evidence of decomposed bodies. Follow-up laboratory testing revealed that at least two sites could be unmarked graves, and the group is urging local investigators to begin excavating.

LINK: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-03-20-1069100992_x.htm
This article is from 2008 and it underscores the resurgence of interest in the Goler Wash area that most likely led to the burning of the Barker Cabin. This kind of publicity probably does more harm than good and the idea that more bodies might be recovered at this point was a bit far-fetched, but often law enforcement authorities will chase pretty wild theories just because it appeals to their fancy in some way.

Re: Charlie Manson and Trona

PostPosted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:21 pm
by Anonymizer
MEET MANSON'S CHILDREN:

Interview with Manson's biological son.