While Reading "These Canyons are Full of Ghosts" last night by Emmett Harder, Patty ran across this interesting observation by Emmett about his time being acquainted with The Family in Death Valley:
"I have been condemned for saying anything kind about this episode, but some of the condemners scare me worse than Charlie did. I think I can see behind their super sanctimonious mask, an ugly, black shrouded character, viciously moaning, 'Hate, hate.'"
"I have been condemned for saying anything kind about this episode, but some of the condemners scare me worse than Charlie did. I think I can see behind their super sanctimonious mask, an ugly, black shrouded character, viciously moaning, 'Hate, hate.'"
Uh huh. Patty has seen that dude too. And he can be as hypnotizing as ole JC himself. She will just have to be more vigiliant of his seductive ways. ;)
18 comments:
Nice, Patty!
ty
Emmett is a real nice guy. I met him a few times. Good book too!
If you want to see something truly scary, go to a gun show in Texas. I hope that is the type of thing being referred to here and not comments made about predatory individuals which could be construed as negative by some. Predators not only upon the community, but even worse upon young kids who for reasons of their own chose to make themselves subserviant to these individuals.
I received my copy of this book a couple of weeks back but have not read it yet. I would have paid plenty for a ride in an old Power Wagon up Gohler Wash in those days.
BTW: that is Striped Butte behind Emmett on the cover photo. Butte Valley is northeast of Barker Ranch (which Emmett refers to as "Barker's Camp").
Ain't that the truth! I'm going to have to get that book, too. Thanks Patty!
maxfrost said...
"If you want to see something truly scary, go to a gun show in Texas. I hope that is the type of thing being referred to here..."
Max, I'm going to venture a guess and say Emmett is referring to the folks who seemingly think that anyone voicing a positive comment about Charlie, or the other Family members, also deserve time behind bars, and are clearly not rational people.
I saw one of Emmett H's Youtube interviews in and outside of the Barker house---talked about the girls stripping down and washing all their clothes while naked in the "swimming pool," and eating pancakes and syrup with them, how he could not have imagined a single bad thing about this group that he'd just met. I'd definitely be interested in his book. He seems like a decent guy. He is one of the few to admit that he initially had a good impression of the group, and is willing to speak about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObocVlDYj9g
I have not seen anything that indicated that the girls were anything other than polite and pleasant. In the book Squeaky the author reported that in their Sacramento boarding house the neighbors loved them and after Squeaky's arreas voted 9 to 1 to let Sandy and the other girl remain as neighbors. Sandy could become a little testy in an adversarial situation, but that only added to her charm reather interresting personality.
According to the news report, Harder had a phone.
Does anyone know how he managed to get a telephone lineline in such a remote place?
Yes, that is the clip that I saw, with Emmet Harder's interview. How fascinating that this guy has written a book. I assumed that his home was somewhere "in town" since he had a phone line! In Ballerat? Does anyone know? Grump?
I believe the clip says Harter's ranch was the next one over from Barker. If the distance between ranches was several miles, I guess it could have been in or near town.
According to the book, Emmett stayed at Russell Camp which was just over Mengel Pass on the fringes of Butte Valley. It is freaking REMOTE out there.
But the more Patty thinks about it, his home must be somewhere else. He has a wife, Ruth, who is not in most of the stories who was probably at their primary residence while he was gone for months at a time.
Grump? Any idea? Ridgecrest maybe?
I have no idea where his "house" was at the time. Ridgecrest or Trona sounds like a good bet. I know he lives in the San Bernadino area now.
Now, 30 some years later, phone service is still hit or miss in Death Valley. Furnace Creek and Panamint Springs are the only land lines I know of.
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