Take a Ride at Knott's Berry Farm
In this first photo from Knott's Berry Farm (from sometime in the 1950's), we can see a conestoga wagon on the grass, with two guys possibly hitching up some white horses. Just to the left you can see a bit of what was an old water wagon. The flowering trees in the background (Leptospermum? Crepe Myrtle?) add a lovely touch of beauty to the scene. I wonder how long the conestoga wagons continued to run?
Fortunately you can still take a ride on the Berry Farm's stagecoach. Yet another thing to put on my "to do" list... the last time I was at Knott's, the line for the stagecoach was pretty long, and moved very slowly.
7 comments:
While the scenery now is a lot less country than it oughtta be, if you know what I mean, a ride on the stage coach there still definitely something you should stick out the wait for. You'll be glad you crossed it off your to-do list!
I'd love to have been there when these pics were taken. The care and managing of all the livestock at Knotts, not least a crew of horses, must have been no slight job, requiring minding round the clock, every day. They might've pulled in some real western range and farm folk to work there at the park in the early days.
Chiana, I never really thought about it, but I wonder where on the property did the horses and mules go when they weren't working? And you're right, those animals probably need almost constant care to remain healthy and happy; they had to have people who really knew their stuff.
The Knott's Berry Farm "pony farm" (that's a Disneyland term, don't know what Knott's calls theirs) is located north of the farm across La Palma Ave. It's behind the dirt/gravel parking lot and adjacent to Bud Hurlbut's old office and workshop. If you're driving on the north side of Knott's on La Palma, you can see a traffic signal mid-block with a "Stagecoach X-ing" sign. Check out the pony farm on Google Maps, using the satellite view. And, as always, thank you so much, Major, for sharing your wonderful images with us.
RemainSeatedPlease, thanks for the info about the pony farm... I will go on Google Maps to check it out! I'm glad you like these... I'm running low on Knott's slides, but still have some extra-nice examples (along with the usual, familiar views) to share before they're all gone.
Unfortunately the end of December there was a serious accident involving the stage couch ride a wheel came lose and fell off causing the wagon to tip over. Three people were hurt and they closed the ride for awhile. The ride closed for one day but resumed operations the next day. One article I read said they have five stagecoaches a one replica.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/12/three-hurt-when-wheel-falls-off-knoots-stagecoach-ride-.html
For photos of the modern stables, see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/traderchris/5437844756/
and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/traderchris/5437846206/
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the stables were located just north of the shooting gallery (now Panda Express). It made sense for them to be right next to the Horse Show Arena, which was later replaced by the Calico Mine Ride.
The largest of the stables was stripped down to its studs in the 1970s and rebuilt as the Cloud 9 Ballroom, which still stands.
Thanks Chris! Those are definitely very modern stables. Any horses and mules must be pretty happy to have such a nice home.
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