After a mysterious blaze in November 1953 ravaged Pancho Barnes’ Happy Bottom Riding Club, word quickly spread that Pancho had lost ‘everything.’ Or so folks were told… It was true that she lost several buildings, two Dalmatians, aviation trophies and awards, priceless papers, photographs and many personal possessions and furnishings too numerous to list in the destructive fire. But like most rumors swirling around Pancho’s
Happy Bottom Riding Club, Pancho knew how to use it to her benefit. (more…)

The Pancho Barnes Trust Estate Archive is privately owned. The archive contains photographs, negatives, letters, as well as film, voice recordings, pilot logs, court and legal papers, depositions, bank checks, master recordings of her songs, and other materials documenting the life and times of Pancho Barnes. The good news is that, evidently, Pancho never threw anything away. Despite the fact that some of her personal belongings and all her flying trophies burned in the 1953 fire at the Happy Bottom Riding Club, there remains over 120 linear feet of her personal files. Because Pancho had a secretary most of her life, the Archive more often than not contains both sides of her correspondence (i.e.: letter to Pancho, and her reply). (more…)

Pancho and her Travel Air Type R Mystery Ship