Spahn Ranch | 1968, October
Dennis Wilson had his people add it up; he’d spent over $100,000 on freeloaders. He moved out of his playboy crash pad and three weeks later, when the lease expired, Manson and the crew moved back to Spahn Ranch—but Manson still had some juice with Wilson. One of Wilson’s partners, Gregg Jakobson, and one of Wilson’s friends, Terry Melcher, who was a major LA producer (The Beach Boys, The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas) and the son of Doris Day, were interested in Manson. Manson had his people singing and called the troupe “The Family Jam.”
Charlie would say everything was about sex, in and out. While everyone was tripping and making love, he’d stay straight to talk his game and help “his children” get over their hangups. For ex.: men had to have sex with men, and women had to have sex with him while they fantasized about their father.
Lyrics from Charlie’s song, “Always is Always Forever”: “Always is always forever / As long as one is one / Inside yourself for your father / All is none all is none all is one.”
Charlie didn’t like Hippies, he called his people “Slippies,” and kept the men in shortish hair. But Spahn was a typical Aquarian commune: big porch, showers outside. The women took care of the many children (the women weren’t supposed to talk to the children, just babble, because mothering was one of Western Culture’s biggest problems), and prepared meals with ingredients harvested from the trash of the A&P.
“All are one,” but there was a hierarchy; Leslie, as newbie, was at the bottom. Charlie could get freaked out by strong women—he hit women occasionally, because it was “what they wanted,” and one time he almost beat Gypsy to death. Leslie (now “Lulu”) regressed—lived in a dream. Every day was dress up: as cowgirl, she gave tours of Spahn; as motorcycle woman, she fixed the bikes; as a “back to the lander” she pumped water at the water pump. The women shared clothing that they hand washed and kept in a heap; their bond was sisterly.
Tex: “Then there was Leslie Van Houten, in some ways the prettiest of the women. Leslie was like a little girl—emotional, easily hurt, spontaneous, willing to do whatever she felt like doing, without thinking. The other girls ordered her around a lot and she accepted it, falling in her ‘mountain folk’ role, complete with lazy, exaggerated accent and pretended helplessness. Underneath all the crazy playacting and little-girl manner, I felt she was always genuinely afraid of Charlie. There was no question that she would do anything he told her to.”
10.01 No More Fun and Games: A Journal of Female Liberation publishes the photo essay “What Sort of Man Reads Playboy.” 01 The horror film Night of the Living Dead premieres in Pittsburgh. 02 In Mexico City, the Mexican Army opens fire on 6,000 protestors at National Polytechnic Institute. Fifteen hundred are jailed, 500 are injured, and 300 are killed. 03 Howard Sackler’s The Great White Hope, starring James Earl Jones, opens on Broadway. The bio-play is based on the life of Heavyweight World Champion, Jack Johnson. 03 Yippie, Jerry Rubin, arrives at House of Un-American Activities inquiry with a toy machine gun; his cape is the colors of the Viet Cong flag. 03 Driving into Death Valley, Charles Manson tells one of his people that the assassination of Martin Luther King was a “heavy number.” 05 Two days of civil rights riots in Derry, Ireland. 07 Susan “Sadie” Atkins gives birth to Zezozose Zadfrack Glutz. 09 The Catonsville Nine, a group of Catholic activists who broke into the Maryland draft board and destroyed 378 draft files with homemade napalm, are convicted and sentenced to a total of 18 years in jail; attacks on draft boards become commonplace. 09 In the Congo, Pierre Mulele, rebel leader, is subjected to public torture and execution. 10 Theatrical premiere of Barbarella, starring Jane Fonda. 12 In Mexico City, the torch is lit for the XIX Olympiad. The games are boycotted by 32 African nations. 13 In Frankfurt, Andreas Baader, Gudrun Endsslin, Horst Sohnelein, and Thorwald Proll are convicted of arson, and sentenced to three years in prison. 13 The corpses of Nancy Warren, the pregnant wife of a police officer, and Clida Dulaney, Warren’s grandmother, are discovered near Ukiah, California. They have been beaten and strangled in ritualistic manner. Leather laces, similar to the ones used by Charles Manson in the Labianca murders at Waverly Drive, are employed in the crime. The Family is in the area. The murders go unsolved, but the Warren family files a civil suit naming two John Does and two Jane Does. 15 The Kirkus Review gives a marginally positive nod to the novel Mash by Richard Hooker and W.C. Heinz. 16 Theatrical release of The Boston Strangler, starring Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda. 18 At the Olympics, U.S. athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos give a black power salute during their medal ceremony, holding the pose through the playing of the U.S. national anthem. The U.S. Olympic committee suspends the two athletes. 18 John Lennon and Yoko Ono are arrested for possession of drugs. 20 Jacqueline Kennedy marries Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping magnate. 23 At U.C. Berkeley, 400 demonstrators protest the denial of academic credits for the Eldridge Cleaver course. 23 Theatrical release of Pretty Poison, directed by Noel Black. Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld star as an ex-convict and high school cheerleader who commit a series of crimes. 25 LP release of Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix. The album includes “Voodoo Chile,” and “House Burning Down.” 25 LP release of This Was, by Jethro Tull. 27 In editorial, William Grier and Price Cobbs, co-authors of Black Rage, respond to a negative New York Times review, noting, “after 62 highly favorable reviews, the 63rd and first critical comment came from a black brother.” 27 Police clash with 6000 anti-war protestors outside the U.S. embassy in London. 30 Ramon Novarro, Latin Hollywood star of Ben Hur, is killed by two male hustlers. 31 Ouster of Liu Shaoqi, president of China. 31 In their school bus, the Manson “Family” sets out for Death Valley. Family members report that Charlie miraculously elevates the bus over inhospitable terrain. They secure residence at the abandoned Myers Ranch, which is owned by “Ma Barker,” the grandmother of a Family member.
11.01 The Moderator publishes “The Women’s Liberation Front,” an essay by Jo Freeman, who begins, “Before reading this article, turn to the first page of this magazine and read the masthead. There you’ll find that subscriptions to The Moderator are ‘Free to all qualified male students; $3 per year to all others.’ Overt discrimination against women? Probably, but more realistically, The Moderator is just a little less hypocritical than its contemporaries. Even if they decided to remove the word ‘male’ very few women would receive this magazine free. Because women aren’t qualified.” 05 By a margin of less than a million (out of 60 million voters), Richard M. Nixon is elected President of the United States. 06 At San Francisco State University, the Black Students Union and The Third World Liberation demand academic representation of minorities on campus. The coalition commences a 167-day strike. 06 Theatrical premiere of Head, the Monkees movie. 13 U.S. theatrical release of Yellow Submarine, an animated feature starring the Beatles. 14 Draft card burnings on “National Turn in Your Draft Card Day.” 15 In the Berkeley Barb, Gary Snyder publishes “Buddhism and the Coming Revolution,” which argues that a philosophy of “oneness” is incomplete to the task of social change. 15 Near Death Valley, Carl Stubbs, a spiritualist retiree, is found beaten in his home. He dies shortly after. He had been in the company of two unidentified, young “hippy” women. Patricia Krenwinkle is questioned a year later. 24 Eldridge Cleaver and his wife flee the United States. 24 Pena Soltren and two accomplices hijack a B-707 to Cuba. 25 U.S. LP release of The White Album, by the Beatles. 27 In Chicago, a program for “Radical Feminist Consciousness-Raising” is presented at the First National Women’s Liberation Conference. 28 John Lennon and Yoko Ono plead guilty to possession. Yoko had miscarried a week before.
12.01 First publication of Lilith, a women’s liberation magazine out of Seatle, Washington. 01 Charles “Tex” Watson and Charles Manson leave the Barker Ranch. In L.A.—a few doors away from the Spiral Staircase, where Manson had spent time in 1968 and 1967 when Bobby Beausoleil lived there—the two first hear the Beatles’ White Album. 02 Charles “Tex” Watson flunks the Army physical. He remains in L.A., and attempts to resurrect his wig trade. 02 Nixon names Henry Kissinger National Security Advisor. 02 Student uprising in New York City high schools. 03 Elvis, The Comeback Special airs on NBC. 04 The U.S. stock market tips into an 18-month plummet. 05 Eduardo Castera hijacks a B-727 to Cuba. 07 LP release of Beggars Bouquet by the Rolling Stones. The album includes the track “Sympathy for the Devil.” 11 Founding of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. 11 A young black couple hijacks a DC-8 to Cuba, treating passengers to tours and meals upon arrival. 13 Protests close San Mateo College for four days. 18 Black Panther leader, Geronimo Pratt, is wrongfully convicted of the murder of Carolyn Olsen. 18 Formation of Akwesasne Notes by the Mohawk Nation. The newspaper is an outgrowth of Mohawk resistance to the U.S. government. 20 In Vallejo, California, David Farraday and Betty Lou Jensen are shot in a parked car. The murders are the first attributed to the Zodiac killer, who boasts to police that he’s killed 37. 26 Palestinian terrorist attack on Israeli airlines. One dies. Though convicted, Mahmoud Mohammed escapes to Canada. 26 Formation of the New People’s Army, which commences a Guerrilla war in the Philippines. 26 Timothy Leary is arrested on drug charges. 28 The Beatles’ White Album, goes #1 in the United States. 30 Marina Habe, who is friendly with members of the Family, is abducted from her West Hollywood home. Her corpse, death by stabbing, is discovered New Year’s day. The crime goes unsolved; the investigation focuses on the Family. 31 Charles Manson returns to Death Valley. It’s a cold night, and he gathers his group around a campfire to expound upon the significance of the White Album, and foretell the coming of “Helter Skelter.”