Pancho Barnes' desert home looks rough, but full of history

Recently, on a warm, clear afternoon, I found myself in the tiny burg of Boron.

Standing on the corner of Anderson Street and Kern Avenue, I was staring at a rough rock-built structure that stood back from the street.

The abodes' windows were boarded up with large sheets of plywood. Like a Picasso painting, the front porch roof was hanging a bit haphazardly.

The large yard was covered with springtime weeds, and the trees on the north, south, and west seemed like they would very much enjoy a bit of pruning.

There is not much to look at, but the history of this small rock-and-mortar home brought me here.

Pancho Barnes once lived here, which was well worth the visit.

A neighbor came out to investigate why this long-haired guy was wandering about a vacant property.

I smiled; I do that when I am where I may not be supposed.

“No idea; it’s been boarded up since we moved here over ten years ago.”

The woman who beat Amelia Earhart’s air speed record in 1930? The woman who was an integral founder of the barnstorming flying sensations of the 1920s and 1930s? The woman who started the union protecting stunt pilots in 1931 in Hollywood? The woman who flew a plane in the 1930 film Hell’s Angels? The woman who helped create the world-renowned organization of female pilots in the ’90s?

Pancho was famous in her day and still is in the aviation history books.

“Did someone important live there?” he asked.

I nodded. “Perhaps.”

His dog barked at me, his cat hissed at me, and his wife snarled at me.

I soon left.

Pancho Barnes had been mentioned once, a couple of years ago, when I did a story on the small town of Cantil.

I heard it again when doing a column on the Norton AFB museum from Docent Duncan.

Who was Pancho Barnes?

So, I contacted Becky, my go-to person for everything that happened, is happening, or may occur in Cantil, Boron, and other parts of the Mojave Desert.

She’s one smart cookie.

“Hi Becky, it’s John Beyer,” I said when I called her.

“Who?”

After I spelled my name a few times, she finally acknowledged she knew me.

It was so reminiscent of my immediate family.

“Hey, it’s that writer, fella,” one of my relatives would say when I called.

“Isn’t he your brother?”

“Don’t tell him that.”

I made that up about Becky. She is a wonderful person and knows a lot about the history of Cantil and the surrounding areas.

My family, I didn’t make that up.

“Becky, what do you know about Pancho Barnes?”

Florence Lowe ‘Pancho’ Barnes was born in 1901 in Pasadena.

Florence was born with a lot of money. Many moola-moola were raised in a mansion while attending the finest private schools.

The Lowe family was related to, and the reason for their wealth was Thaddeus S.C. Lowe, a pioneer in American aviation. He established the first military air unit for the army during the Civil War.

From there, the bucks just rolled in for the Lowe family.

As my friend Paul Bakas would say, “Those folks had bank!”

But, one problem Florence found in a wealthy family during this time is that marriages were often arranged.

In 1919, Florence married a preacher named Barnes from South Pasadena, and they had a child, William.

The marriage did not last, and soon Florence traveled through Mexico.

She needed time alone to learn what she wanted out of her life without what she believed was the negative impact of her rich family.

She dressed as a man for safety during her months in Mexico and earned the name ‘Pancho.’

She liked it and went by it for the remainder of her life.

During the financial crash of 1929, the Lowe family lost most of its fortune, and Pancho decided she had to make it on her own from now on.

“Her history is filled with myths, legends, and some facts,” Becky told me over the phone.

With the collapse of her family's money, Pancho found herself in an apartment she owned in Hollywood.

One day while flying across the Mojave Desert in 1935, she saw and fell in love with a piece of land below her near Rogers dry lake bed not far from the active Muroc Field.

She bought those 168 acres and had a dream.

Pancho built a ranch out of that desert with aviators in mind. A runway, hotel, dance floor, restaurant, pool, and other amenities that any fly-in traveler or airman from the nearby base could desire.

Being the aviator she was, Pancho was courting the airmen from nearby Murco Field.

The young men from Muroc Field would stop by the venue, have a drink or two, and feel welcomed.

They could dance the night away while looking into the clear celestial skies of the Mojave Desert.

She wanted the service members to feel special.

“She moved to Cantil after the base put fire to her ranch,” Becky said, “but only lived here a short time before moving away.”

This was getting more interesting with the syllable.

“What was the name of the ranch?” I asked.

“The Happy Bottom Riding Club.”

“What?”

“Seems like you have more research in store,” Becky replied.

I did, indeed. But simultaneously, I found myself traveling a bit north along Highway 14 when I stopped in at the Jawbone Canyon Store.

It was time for a bite and a cold beverage. Traveling and research are tiring endeavors.

As I exited my truck in front of the store, there was this large granite column with a gorgeous etched plaque - ‘Florence ‘Pancho’ Barnes.’

What?

According to the plaque, Pancho bought acreage at this spot.

And according to the ‘The Loop Celebrating Community,’ the store was opened in 1963 by Richard ‘Bonk’ McKendry and Pancho Barnes.

And according to the current owner, Mark Cobian, the Jawbone Canyon Store has much to offer besides being a historical place for one of America’s first and most famous female aviators.

“Yes, we get people here always asking about Pancho,” Mark stated. “I know a bit, and she was quite the character but loved everyone who would stop by here back then.”

Today, Jawbone Canyon Store is next door to a great outdoor adventure for off-roaders - the Jawbone Canyon in Kern County.

“We’ll get hundreds, if not thousands, of visitors on a given weekend. That’s why we offer a restaurant, outdoor dining, and music. People camp hit the trails, and have a great time.”

“Have you heard of the Happy Bottom Riding Club?” I asked.

“I think your order is up,” Mark said.

The story of Pancho Barnes has been written about, filmed, and told about, but this was my first time trodding the same lands she once trod.

The woman who flew beside Amelia Earhart rubbed elbows with Howard Hughes and shared drinks with Chuck Yeager, Jack Ridley, and Buzz Aldrin, to name a few.

I was humbled.

The Happy Bottom Riding Club was the next place I needed to wander. There was so much more to this woman, and I wanted to learn it.

It dawned on me that Docent Duncan had told me that Pancho had once owned property overtaken by the Current Edward’s Air Force Base.

Was this where her club had been located?

Through some research I did, that is exactly where Pancho’s ranch had been.

Her ranch was behind locked gates on government land.

Ah, the government!

I needed to see this property myself to bring the story out.

But how?

It was in a restricted area in this modern fighter testing facility.

How could an intrepid storyteller access a secure location that was ground zero for securing some of the most advanced aircraft in history - F-16s, F-22s, B2, and now the new B-21 Raider?

How would this weekly travel writer get permission to visit such a secure and secret place as Edwards Air Force Base?

Where there is a will – well, you know the rest.

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Pancho Barnes' desert home looks rough, but full of history