Sunday, October 6, 2013

Charles Manson, Belmont and a woman named Rose

From the Las Vegas Sun Newspaper
By Matt Hufman

September 18, 2013

Image
A door frame in the Belmont Courthouse links Charles Manson to the property in 1969. Historians cannot confirm that he visited the town, but Rose Walter told people the group was there.

If you know anything about Belmont, you’ve probably heard the story about how Charles Manson’s family stayed in the courthouse, or at least left some graffiti in it. It’s a popular spot on the tour and the story of the graffiti has been well reported.
But you may not know the story of Rose Walter, the unofficial town guardian of Belmont for many of her 93 years, and how she reportedly sent the Manson family packing. Here it is:
One day a little more than 40 years ago Rose saw a group of people, including several young women, in the historic courthouse. They wanted to camp in town.
Rose, as she is affectionately referred to, had two rules for Belmont: Don’t take anything and don’t camp in town. People who knew her say she had no fear and no problem enforcing the rules. She commanded respect and spoke with authority.
So Rose, who would have been in her 70s, told the group that they couldn’t stay in town. She told them there was a campground up the road. The group complied.
A few days later, members of the group came back through Belmont and thanked her for telling them about the campground. They said they were headed back to their ranch in Death Valley and they left.
And life went on in Belmont as normal.
Some time after that, Rose, who didn’t have a TV, was visiting a relative in another town and saw a newspaper that had a story about the Manson family’s crimes. There were pictures of some of the members. Rose recognized the pictures – they were part of the group she ran out of town. At least that’s what she told people.
Now, is it true?
Historians have tried to confirm the reported Manson family visit, but there’s no proof. Anyone could have carved the graffiti. But no one who knew Rose thinks she would – or could – have pulled off such a prank. They say the graffiti that appeared on the wall of the courthouse was first seen about the time Rose described.
And it would have been in Rose’s character to take on one of the most infamous groups in American history. So people here tend to think that’s what happened.
No one can prove it, but it sure makes for a good story.

Click to enlarge photo
This is a photo of Rose Walter that sits in the Belmont Inn & Saloon. It appeared in a 1974 edition of National Geographic. Rose - people still refer to her as just "Rose" - was considered the "guardian" of Belmont. She died in 1987 at the age of 93.

Original found here:

13 comments:

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

Is it just me, or is that kid Miley Cyrus freakin' annoying?

Ok...
It's one thing when a chick is smokin' hot (and she knows it)... but quite frankly, she's not even that hot.

I'm so tired of seeing her bony ass, in the news.

She better enjoy her fame now... because once she stops taking her clothes off, I really don't seen much of a future for her, in the entertainment business.

Does she have ANY legitimate talent, besides being annoying and half naked?

Acting?
Singing?

I saw one music video of her.
She sings a full octave below her father. LOL
(And, he's a country singer!) LOL

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

But, I digress... LOL

katie8753 said...

Thanks Kimchi.

Am I missing a paragraph? Why would the Manson Family be camping out in Las Vegas? Was this in 1969?

I know that Charlie spent time with Charlene Cafritz in Las Vegas, but I don't remember him going to the courthouse.

I've gotten away from this Manson case, and maybe I'm having memory lapses.

HELP!!! LOL.

katie8753 said...

Rose reminds me of Ruby Pearl. No nonsense!!!

MrPoirot said...

I was watching SNL until Miley started to gross me out. SNL needs to get back to being a late night comedy show.


Charlie arrived in Las Vegas his first time driving the hippie bus. The cops pulled him over just inside the city limits. Charlie said to the cop, "I've only been here two minutes".

katie8753 said...

Thanks Mr. P. When was that, and what was he pulled over for.

Sorry either I'm having a brain fart, or I just didn't know about this.

MrPoirot said...

Dunno now Katie.

It was a humorous description in a book. Charlie got run outta town as soon as he got there. Vegas cops didn't take to hippies.

sunset77 said...

Thanx for the post.

Apparently, the courthouse in Belmont NV is one of the few semi surviving buildings of what is now a ghost town.

A link to some info about the place is HERE.

If you click the pic of the courthouse, there is a slideshow with some pix of the inside of the courthouse, there is a pretty good pic of the Manson graffiti.

The graffiti says "Charlie Manson + Family 1969". I suspect the graffiti is probably authentic, carving things with a knife was not unknown to Charles Manson & family in 1969.

I seen a YouTube vid once where someone drove to Barker from the "Nevada side", I suspect there were many trips between Nevada and Barker, possibly, that's how Manson got the school bus in there.

starship said...

For the graffiti to be authentic then one would have to accept the premise that the Family actually called themselves The Family in 1969.

Anonymous said...

I lived in in Tonopah NV about less than a hour away, which we lovingly referred to as "the land of nothing" and left when I joined the military in 1987, we use to throw some hell raising parties in Belmont and booney bounce (go 4 wheeling for the city folks who didn't understand the term)out in the desert and stop at the warm springs not far from the town in the middle of the night. I never met or ran into Rose, the only living things we saw outside of us juvenile delinquents was lots of Rabbits and a occasional wild horse. But to us it was common knowledge that the graffiti was not done by Charlie and clan, but done by a local kid. I'm not saying It wasn't done by the dirty clan just that is what we were told back then.

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

The inscription in that door frame could have been written by anybody.

Who knows...

LynyrdSkynyrdBand said...

Was the carving actually found in 1969?

Some random person probably carved that inscription, after the Tate/LaBianca murders became national news.

That's my guess... but then again, I'm a pessimist.

sunset77 said...

I have no intention of arguing with anyone about who made that carving, I have no idea who carved it and neither does anyone else that wasn't there when it was carved.

Nevertheless, the carving appears to be close to the floor, closer than I would have made it. Charles Manson is not the tallest person in the world.

The "Charlie Manson" portion of the graffiti, and the "+ Family" portion may have been carved by 2 different people. The points of the top of the "M" in Manson appear to be the same height, the "M" in family has one side "drooping". Both legs of the "L" in Charlie are almost the same length, one leg is significantly shorter in the "L" in family. The "I" in Charlie appears to be dotted, the "I" in family is not.

The "style" of this graffiti appears similar to me at least, with other "art" known to be by the Manson family, including the paw print on Gary Hinman's living room wall, the word "war" carved in Leno LaBianca's stomach, and various other handwriting and drawing samples I've seen on the internet.

The "O" in "Manson has a peace symbol carved into it, one of the songs on the "Family Jams" album is called "I'm Scratchin' Peace Symbols on Your Tombstone".

Of course it could have been carved by anyone, but it has the "look" of Manson family art to me and it's almost a certainty the Manson family were in the general area at least, in 1969.