Happy Bottom Riding Club

The Happy Bottom Riding Club, more formally known as the Rancho Oro Verde Fly-Inn Dude Ranch, was a dude ranch restaurant and hotel operated by Pancho Barnes on the site of current-day Edwards Air Force Base in southern California's Antelope Valley, in the southwestern part of the United States.

"Oro Verde" is Spanish for "green gold".

Establishment of the Club

Barnes had purchased the land in 1935 to grow alfalfa, raise pigs, cattle and start a dairy. As the nearby U.S. Army Air Corps base at Muroc Army Air Base expanded in the post World War II period, the ranch's other business as a restaurant, bar, and hotel quickly outgrew its humble beginnings. The hospitality arm of the Ranch had an all-female staff, and was the place of choice for test pilot relaxation.

Amenities

The Rancho Oro Verde had a swimming pool, a rodeo stadium, and its own FAA-licensed airstrip, the first amenity Barnes created upon establishment of the Club in 1935 to stay in touch with her aviator-friendly social circle south of the San Gabriel Mountains. Visiting civilians and military men alike flew into the strip to stay at the Rancho Oro Verde, and Pancho often held events to ensure that her guests were entertained, including a treasure hunt for 200 silver dollars.

The swimming pool was originally rectangular, and was one of the first built in the Antelope Valley. It was enjoyed by residents and guests alike before being destroyed by the July 21,1952 Tehachapi earthquake. The replacement pool was circular which, legend has it, allowed Barnes to ride her horse into the pool. This later pool was modeled after one Barnes had owned in the Pasadena area. One account says this pool was lit at night - an aid to aerial navigation.

The rodeo stadium would present a three day weekend rodeo which was jointly sponsored with the local VFW post in Lancaster.

A tradition was started when Pancho's friend formed during Mexican hunting and fishing expeditions, Chuck Yeager, broke the sound barrier in the Bell X-1 — Pancho gave him a free steak dinner. After that, pilots were given a free steak dinner when they broke the barrier for their first time. After Yeager's achievement, she sometimes gave this dinner to multiple pilots in a week, reflecting the frequency with which the sound barrier was broken in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Run ins, personality clashes, lawsuits and the end

Despite a close friendship between Pancho and many powerful men in the military, relations grew sour after a 1952 change of command - four years after Muroc Army Air Base was renamed Edwards Air Force Base. One reason for friction between Barnes and the Base's commander is the increase in flights at the base, along with an increase in flights at the Club's landing strip. Gen. Albert Boyd, an admirer and friend of Pancho's, after assuming command of the Base, would berate her if her clientele came too close to his airspace. After Pancho refused to sell the ranch to the government to facilitate a runway expansion, allegations surfaced that the Happy Bottom Riding Club was a brothel. Pancho's posted rules for hostesses were strict, and many discredited the allegations. The Air Force then prohibited servicemen from visiting the club. When the government added a suit to appropriate the ranch, Pancho countersued for slander, harassment, inappropriate taking of land, and conspiracy. Under suspicious circumstances, the ranch was destroyed by fire on November 13, 1953, shortly before Pancho won every lawsuit. Disgusted, Pancho resettled in nearby Cantil, and the land was appropriated by the Air Force. Interestingly, the proposed runway extension was never implemented.

Barnes intended to reestablish the Happy Bottom Riding Club on her and her husband's land in Cantil, but never did so.

Servicemen at Edwards hold an annual barbecue on the site of the Happy Bottom Riding Club (adjacent to Edwards Rod and Gun Club) in remembrance of Pancho and the ranch. Visitors may still see the remains of the pool, the restaurant's foundation (including chimney), the barn, and - if they are allowed to overfly the site - a fading outline of the airstrip. coor dms|34|51|51|N|117|57|22|W|city

In its heyday the Happy Bottom Riding Club had over 9,000 members worldwide.

The Happy Bottom Riding Club was immortalized in Tom Wolfe's book "The Right Stuff" and Lauren Kessler's biography of Pancho, "The Happy Bottom Riding Club." Pancho's life is now being chronicled in a documentary film for PBS.

References

* [http://www.edwards.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123070281 Edwards AFB Biography of Pancho]
* [http://www.panchobarnes.com/ Website of the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate]
* [http://www.panchobarnesfilm.com/ Website of forthcoming documentary film about Pancho and the Happy Bottom Riding Club]
* [http://www.chuckyeager.com/specialfeatures/Pancho.htm Pancho's story on Chuck Yeager's personal site]