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Feb 24, 2009 · But it was the Happy Bottom Riding Club, and not an airplane crash producing the smoke. The cause of the blaze was never determined, and the Rancho would never be rebuilt. Gone up in smoke that day, some have said, was not just a place but an entire innocent epoch: the Golden Era of flight test.
In April of this year, a very special visitor was allowed through the high security gates of Edwards Air Force Base and given a VIP tour of the ruins of Pancho’s Rancho Oro Verde. This special guest, a direct descendant of one of Pancho’s good friends, was allowed free run of the grounds.
On her land, Pancho Barnes built the Happy Bottom Riding Club, also known as the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch, a dude ranch and restaurant which catered to airmen at the nearby airfield and her friends from Hollywood.
Within days of the end of the trail over what she called the ‘taking of her land,’ on November 13, 1953, the ‘Happy Bottom Riding Club’ burned to the ground under highly mysterious circumstances. Pancho’s fourth husband, Mac McKendry surveying the damage after the fire.
Some of the things that remain to this day, are ruins of Pancho's dairy, the foundations of her hotel, her fountain -- which was built in the shape of the USAF logo -- and her unique circular swimming pool.
May 11, 2023 · In my quest, I had to know why Pancho’s ranch was called the Happy Bottom Riding Club. “What I understand is that during its heyday, General Jimmy Doolittle showed up and decided to go...
This 1928 photograph of Pancho Barnes by George Hurrell was one of her favorites and hung on the wall at the Happy Bottom Riding Club. Pancho had a championship rodeo stadium at the ranch. Many of the finest cowboys of the day demonstrated their riding and roping skills during her ‘Rodeo Days.’
