Pancho Barnes - The Happy Bottom Riding Club

The Happy Bottom Riding Club

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. Pancho became very close friends with many of the early test pilots, including Chuck Yeager, General Jimmy Doolittle, and Buzz Aldrin. Pancho's ranch became famous for the parties and high-flying lifestyle of all the guests.

However, a change of command in 1952 contributed to her getting into a conflict with the United States Air Force. The Air Force was planning for the future of aviation, and decided they needed to build a new, super-long runway to accommodate new aircraft that were being planned to run on atomic power. That new runway would run directly across Pancho's ranch. The Air Force originally offered her a price for her ranch, land, and facilities that was very close to the cost of undeveloped desert land. She requested a fair appraisal to better reflect the actual cost of replacement of her land and business, but in the midst of getting a re-appraisal, the base leadership accused her of running a house of ill-repute on her ranch. The effect of even the hint of impropriety resulted in her ranch and business being put off-limits to military personnel, and the value of her business plummeted.

Pancho then filed a lawsuit against the Air Force to, as she put it, "Roust out the scoundrels in the government who would perpetrate such an injustice." She knew that if she filed a lawsuit, she would have the opportunity to depose under oath the various leaders and personnel on base, and the truth would come out and clear her name. During the height of the intense court battle, in 1953, her ranch burned in a fire of mysterious origin. After the fire, the value of her ranch and business further plummeted to a level more closely reflecting the original buy-out offer from the Air Force. Nonetheless, the court battle continued. Pancho was determined to receive fair value for her land and business, and to clear her name. A main contention of her defense was: "My grandfather founded the United States Air Force." On that argument, the court found in her favor and she was awarded $375,000 remuneration for her property and business. Also, her name was cleared. As it turned out, the proposed runway was never built.

After the government bought her out, she moved to Cantil, California, in hopes of restarting a similar dude ranch business there. It never happened. It was not until the late 1960s that Pancho once again became a commonplace figure at the base and began to be referred to as the "Mother of Edwards AFB." The wounds began to heal as Pancho reconnected with many old-timers. The officer's mess at Edwards was renamed the Pancho Barnes Room.