http://www.modernhiker.com/2012/07/10/hiking-murphy-ranch/ This secluded 55 acre stretch of Rustic Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains has a storied (and admittedly historically hazy) past. This old article from the LA Times does a good job of piecing together the facts that could be verified – in 1933 a Jesse Murphy purchased the land and began to develop it. The property eventually had 3000 fruit and nut trees, a complicated irrigation and water storage system, a functioning power house, machine room, and bomb shelter. Plans were underway to further develop the land, adding a four-story mansion and several libraries. Oh, and it was also completely surrounded by barbed wire fences and supposedly patrolled by members of the Silver Shirts – a pro-Hitler American fascist organization. Much of the legend around Murphy Ranch is based in oral history, but supposedly Ms. Murphy was a pseudonym – or someone who never even existed. The Ranch was under the control of a mysterious man known only as “Herr Schmidt,” who claimed a psychic vision told him America would lose World War II and that once the dust settled over the ruins of Los Angeles he and his band of sympathizers would emerge from Rustic Canyon to help usher in the new fascist state in America. Well, those plans went sour after Pearl Harbor, when FBI agents swept in and arrested most of the Ranch’s residents. The land was sold to the Hartford Artists’ Colonyin 1948 and then to the City of Los Angeles in 1973 – and now it sits wedged between Will Rogers and Topanga Canyon State Parks. Much of the ranch has succumbed to age or brush fires, but several structures still remain, and the trail is a great place for hikers interested in history, architecture or just plain WTF stuff. The steps are steep, narrow, and a bit shallower than you’re probably used to – so take your time on them. The stairs descend about 260 feet to the Ranch land – and at times they seem like they’re going on forever. When you do finally reach the bottom of the staircase, stay to your left and continue descending on the ranch road. If you stay to your right, you’ll pass a few ruined structures and some old ranch equipment, but the really interesting stuff is further down inside the canyon. At the 1.3 mile mark, stay left at the fork in the road. Veering right will take you to the ruins of one of the compound’s several terraced gardens, but left takes you down toward the diesel powerhouse and bomb shelter. Ignore all the side-trails leaving the main path and eventually you’ll come upon this: You can enter into this building fairly easily and most of it’s still in good condition. As you can see, the place has been reclaimed by graffiti artists of varying degrees of talent – some of the stuff is pretty cool, others not so much – but I imagine all of the artwork in here is pretty transient, covered by those who come after.
You can read more about the Silver Shirts in the great book, Teamster Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs. Available at www.pathfinder.com.
History A white-supremacist, anti-Semitic group[2] modeled after Hitler's Brownshirts, the paramilitary Silver Legion wore a silver shirt with a tie along with a campaign hat and blue corduroy trousers with leggings. The uniform shirts bore a scarlet letter L over the heart: an emblem meant to symbolize Loyalty to the United States, Liberation from materialism, and the Silver Legion itself. The blocky slab serif L-emblem was in a typeface similar to the present-day Rockwell Extra Bold. The organizational flag was a plain silver field with such a red L in the canton at the upper left. By 1934, the Silver Shirts had about 15,000 members.[3] Circa 1935 with Nazi German funding, the Silver Shirts had begun construction of the Murphy Ranch, situated on a secluded 55 acre site in the Los Angeles hills, which was meant to serve as a fortified world headquarters after the expected Fascist global conquest.[4] Silver Shirt leader Pelley ran for President of the United States in the 1936 election on a third-party ticket. Pelley hoped to seize power in a "silver revolution" and set himself up as dictator of the United States; the presidency remained in the hands of incumbent Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. By around 1938, the Silver Legion's membership was down to about 5,000.[3] After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Sunday, December 7, 1941, local police occupied the "world headquarters" bunker compound and detained members of the 50-man caretaker force.[4] The declaration of war on the United States by Nazi Germany and the Kingdom of Italy led to the rapid decline of the Silver Legion. LOSERS.
