Barker Ranch

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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 inside Death Valley National Park 35°51′34.36″N 117°5′17.41″W / 35.8595444, -117.0881694Coordinates: 35°51′34.36″N 117°5′17.41″W / 35.8595444, -117.0881694 in eastern California.

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Potential grave clues found at former Manson compound

The local county sheriff department, California Highway Patrol, and National Park Service law enforcement captured the group in raids on October 10 and October 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. Approximately half a mile up the road is the Myers Ranch(Private property), which was owned by the grandmother of Manson family member Cathy Myers (aka Catherine Gillies) and served as an additional residence for family members.

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.

1 Subsequent Events
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Subsequent Events

In early 1970, members of the Manson Family were filmed by Robert Hendrickson at their Barker Ranch hideout, sorting through "clothes" evidence left behind by detectives, for the making of the "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.^[1]