Where were they? Do they still exist?

While there’s no denying that the Manson Family is perhaps one of the most infamous cults of the last century, the truth is that it was initially just a community of quirky hippie individuals. Therefore, as described in Peacock’s “Making Manson,” they were admittedly freeloaders in Topanga, California, in early 1968 before finding a stable home in Spahn Ranch during the summer. However, due to their heinous criminal activities the following year, their leader, Charles Manson, eventually moved everyone to the isolated Barker Ranch in Death Valley National Park.

Spahn Ranch was once a movie ranch in Los Angeles

Although owned by one owner or another since the 1880s, this 55-acre tract of land only became known throughout California in the 1950s thanks to George Spahn. That’s because, even though he was just a dairy farmer when he bought this enormous estate in 1953, he continued to have productions of various films and television shows take place there. We say “continued” because the former owners had built film sets next to their trading post on the estate to provide additional cash flow, from which George took full advantage.

In fact, the farmer made sure that this old western town exuded the right atmosphere with its boulder-strewn landscape and mountainous terrain, but things soon changed due to a decline in sales. Not only had Hollywood begun to move away from westerns, but his diary business was not doing as well as he had hoped, leading him to convert the ranch into a horse rental/riding place. But alas, by the late 1960s it was all but abandoned, allowing the family to strike a deal with the then 80-year-old George to establish a rent-free base there in exchange for labor.

George didn’t know he was giving the headquarters to a cult, but they left this ranch at 12000 Santa Susana Pass Road (the house numbers have since been changed) after their brutal crimes. According to records, Charles had become afraid of being caught, so he decided they had to leave this place in late August 1969, not long after they killed ranch hand Donald Shea in a remote spot. But alas, it was a forest fire that destroyed this property in September 1970, which, followed by George’s death four years later, resulted in its incorporation into California’s Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park. In other words, the ranch no longer exists.

The Manson family believed that the still-standing Barker Ranch was their safe place

Located on the Goler Wash Road in Death Valley National Park in eastern California, Barker Ranch was and still is a 12-acre rock and boulder estate in the Panamint Range. In other words, it is an extremely remote place in the middle of nowhere, making it accessible only by sandy, primitive and rugged roads that seemingly have no beginning and no end. The truth is that it was built around 1940 before being initially used as a storage facility and retail facility to support the mining operations in the area. So it has a main house and a one-room guesthouse.

So it’s no surprise that after the death of the original owners, the ranch essentially became a seasonal resort, allowing the family to move there without any hassle after receiving permission from the new owners. According to records, leader Charles Manson always preferred the tranquility of the desert, so he returned there as soon as he realized that they had to escape from society because of their transgressions. This included the shooting of Bernard Crowe, the murder of Gary Hinman, the murder of Sharon Tate and acquaintances, the murder of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, and the murder of Donald Shea.

But unfortunately, the family did not stay there long (less than a month and a half), as they were all arrested after raids on October 10 and 12, 1969, due to their connection with a vandalism case. Authorities had no idea at the time that they had actually captured the cult responsible for seven serial murders, but only learned the truth when one of them later confessed to a prisoner. As for the Barker Ranch itself, it became part of the California Desert Conservation Area in 1976, less than twenty years before it was incorporated into Death Valley National Park. But unfortunately, due to a devastating fire in May 2009, all that is left of this ranch is the concrete and stone portion of the cabin.

Read more: Reet Jurvetson murder: Did Charles Manson kill her?