ok i'm lazy so I'm gonna give you the juicy bits from Manson.com which is a site for all things Charles Manson and the Family. Props to those who run that site because it has ALOT of information, very detailed.
" ....The Fountain of the World was founded by Krishna Venta (true name was Francis Heindswatzer Pencovic). The cult was also known as the WKFL Foundation (Wisdon, Knowledge, Faith, Love).
Pencovic was born in 1911, married in 1937 and divorced in 1944. In 1948, Pencovic changed his name and founded his religion.
Pencovic was arrested in 1941 after sending a threatening letter to President Roosevelt. Later, using the name Frank Jensen, he committed a series of crimes including burglary, larceny and violating the Mann Act. He also spent a few months in a mental hospital.
Krishna Venta's cult settled at 585 Box Canyon Road in Canoga Park, California. He claimed to be 244,000 years old and that he would never die. He arrived on Earth, supposedly, in 1932 at Mount Everest.
On December 10, 1958, former members of Pencovic's cult, Ralph Muller and Peter Kamenoff, set off explosives killing themselves, Pencovic and several others. Krishna Venta is buried in Valhalla Memorial Park in Burbank, California.
Fred Medina and Danny Townsend were convicted for the 1972 murders of Dori Haines (15) and Cheryl Monticello (16). Medina and Townsend lived at the Fountain of the World at the time. The victims had been hitchhiking to shop at Topanga Canyon Plaza when they were picked up by Medina (21), Townsend (19), Lisa Gleitsman (17) and Virginia Walton (15). The six (and possibly another girl friend) then allegedly spent the day at a Malibu beach partying and taking drugs. They then proceeded to a deserted hillside near Woolsey Canyon Road and Valley Circle Drive. Gleitsman admitted to being jealous of Dori and Cheryl. According to Gleitsman and Walton, the two men had sex with the victims. The jealous girls then attacked the victims. To keep them from going to the police, Medina and Townsend then killed them.
In 1973, Indian members of the Red Wind Foundation moved to the Fountain of the World property. In October of the following year, the body of cab driver George Aird was found at the bottom of a drain pipe at the Indian camp. Seven people were arrested in connection with the murder. A couple of days earlier, some of the group had broken into a neighbor's house and beat him for an hour and a half in a robbery attempt. After the arrests, residents of the canyon told of six months of terror from the Indians firing shots at all hours of the night, death threats and the constant beating of drums.
Perhaps most people wouldn't care about such events, but this is my backyard! I myself have nearly died off of Woosley Canyon, and I've driven Box Canyon many times wondering what secrets it held. It's a strange place. Oh yeah its on the edge of hell, more of that topic later.
So here's what I wanted to find (or something resembling it)
but instead I got..
Well pinky was cool atleast because the man who owned it came out and said Hello among the other things. A little odd man, but cool and willing to share his passion of collecting shit for his yard.
However if you look closely you'll see HELTER SKELTER is on the rocks. Right. Well us girls climbed it naturally to find hiding out behind the rocks was someone living in a camper hiddern from the world..
yeah well Box Canyon won a match against us. Nothing crazy here. Just people living in a canyon..
So what's it like now? Does the man with the pink elephant still live there?
ReplyDeleteThe toppled pieces of that block wall sign are still laying right on he side of the road where they fell.
ReplyDeleteIn the early and mid 90"s, I lived there... My brother and I went hiking and we found this cool abandoned 2 story home, half destroyed, along with a broken down brick wall resembling your first pic, and a half empty pool surrounded by a broken brick fence with a large faded painting on it and lots of tree stumps and tree pieces scattered all around. After researching, I'm pretty sure it was in fact FOTW... It sucks that it's been obviously torn down, as I was hoping to one day revisit.
ReplyDeleteDori and Cheryl were my friends we all hung out together. I remember well what happened in 1972, actually we were looking for Dori and Cheryl for weeks, these girls must of been forced to take yellows as they we not drug addicts.
ReplyDeleteI guess the press looked at our generation as a Drug Cult. The fact is that these girls were done in by the low lifes of that time and the girls that helped do the killing should of got life in jail. What a travesty to let 3 girl killers go because they testified against their boyfriends.
Well hopefully there fountain of youth became the fountain of Hell for the 5 killers.
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ReplyDeleteIn 1974 I lived for one year at 585 Box Canyon Fountain of the World in what was once the Women's Dormitory. Was indeed a strange place but rented whole house for $150 a month. There were 4 different houses on property one being " The Theater" where we had parties, a smaller house, and mine I rented, and best of all a small house built into the side of a large sandstone boulder. I was female, blonde, and when I got bored would sit in front of what was left of the crumbled wall with Fountain of the World on it and drivers would snap pictures of me.. Ahh Youth
ReplyDeleteAll the houses are still there. I am very familiar with them all since I live on the property now. Unfortunately the wall is completely destroyed between the earthquakes and fires that have passed through in the past 20 plus years.
DeleteReally that is interesting there was a man that lived up the road that collected all our rents. His name was Phil Shriver I wonder if he's still alive?
DeleteYes Phil is alive and i bought all the property. I hope to write the next chapter in The Fountain If The World. In a positive light.
DeleteWow!Kathy,aka C.W. for cave woman.We used to sun bath above the fountain,below the castle.
DeleteI lived there at the same time,you knew me as Lee Gartiser,married to Greg,both of us,hair to the waist lol,I was doing some magazines back in the day,he and I married in Red Rock,there was a flash flood.(trying to jog your memory)
I lived in the woman's dorm,Linda Pasco and Steve lived there too as roomies.We,hung out with Corny(Cornelia)sometimes her bro Hugh/Rocky on rare occasions showed up too,W.W Sue aka wild wild Sue(worked at Lone star barbecue back then)who drove a Corvair that J.Fred gave her for a dollar,as well as her lil bro Russell who was with Jennifer.Tom and Cat,Wayne B,Dead head billy,the awesome and unforgettable players of the oily scarf wino band(Crashwell,Piggy, deaf Dickie,dh Billie,Tom sometimes,whoever felt the vibe,we'd go play in Hollywood for kicks. We listened to tunes by a bonfire,we had nitrous balloons and live bands during big parties like Halloween.So many excellent memories of all my family at the fountain,cause that's what we were.All but a rare few of us are still alive.I now live in FL with kids and grandkids.Ive spoken to Billie and Crashwell and to W.W.s mom who said she had passed on.Would love to talk to you about the old days.Im on Pintrest,username satiricallyyour4ever,email me at,LapisLazuliEyes12@gmail.com.I will send a phone number.
Anybody remember those days and people,if you do hmu please,at any time.Still that same hippie at heart lol.
I grew up not far from here in 4 different houses beginning in 1961. I was just 8 at the time of the Manson Family but my oldest sister who was 18 used to hang out with Charlies girls when they came down to get expired food thrown out at the Hughes Market on Devonshire. She also beat up one of the Townsend brothers after he shot me in the face with a BB gun. She was a bit of a bad ass back in the day. For all the crazy stuff that happened in that area, and there was a lot, I never felt unsafe growing up there but it was a very violent place. I lived on Thompson, Rowell and 2 different houses on Ventura Way
ReplyDeleteI grew up with Lisa Gleitsman in Woodland Hills Calif. When I found out about the murders involving Lisa, I was disgusted. She should be serving life in prison for the murders of the two teenage girl victims. Horrible and terrible times.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know if Townsend & Medina are still doing life or did they get out of jail?
ReplyDeleteI heard Newsom let out danny T last year. grew up there worst place for kid to grow up.
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