- Barker Ranch
Barker Ranch is infamous as the last hideout of
Charles Manson and his "family" during and after the gruesome Los Angeles murder spree. It is located insideDeath Valley National Park coord|35|51|34.36|N|117|5|17.41|W|display=inline,titlein easternCalifornia .wikinews|Potential grave clues found at former Manson compoundThe local county sheriff department,
California Highway Patrol , and National Park Service law enforcement captured the group in raids onOctober 10 andOctober 12 ,1969 . Manson was caught hiding under the bathroom vanity. At the time of his arrest they were unaware of the magnitude of their find. They wanted to prosecute the persons responsible for vandalism within Death Valley National Monument (the unit was upgraded to National Park status and expanded in 1994) further north, unaware that they had a mass murder suspect and his followers.Barker Ranch is located in a rock and boulder filled valley in the
Panamint Range . It is only accessible by sandy, primitive and rugged roads. Streams feed this little valley and provide much vegetation. There is a small one room guest house located to the side of the main house. There is also a makeshift swimming pool (this was probably a cistern to store water from the spring) made from cement and rock boulders towards the back of the property.Today the ranch belongs to
National Park Service , is not occupied, and visitors can find a guest book there. The bathroom vanity where Manson hid is gone.ubsequent Events
In early 1970, members of the Manson Family were filmed by Robert Hendrickson at their Barker Ranch hideout, sorting through evidence left behind by detectives, for the making of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Manson."
In early 2008, after decades of persistent rumors of additional Manson family murder victims, forensic investigators performed testing at the ranch for possible buried human remains. Using state of the art technology not available 40 years ago, investigators located several sites consistent with possible clandestine graves. In May 2008, investigators conducted a “dig” at the sites; however, on May 21 further searching by authorities was called off due to the lack of any evidence. [cite news
last = Rowland
first = Ted
title = Authorities to dig at old Manson family ranch
publisher = CNN
date =
url = http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/09/manson.ranch/?iref=mpstoryview
accessdate = 2008-05-09]See also
Death Valley National Park External links
* [http://totalescape.com/active/campstuff/NP/interest/barker.html Barker Ranch Page from Totalescape.com]
* [http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=%22Barker+Ranch%22&m=tags flickr.com photos tagged with "Barker Ranch"]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
