Patty Partin - Camel Lady mystery solved?

Blackbeard · **Posted:** Sat Jul 29, 2006 4:12

Camel Lady mystery solved - about Patty Partin

It's at least possible that the woman I knew and called the Camel Lady was in fact Patricia Partin, also known as Nury Alexander, the adopted daughter of Carlos Castaneda and one of his closest disciples.

The Patty I knew and called The Camel Lady is told of in the Outlaw John Story that took place in 1982. She never called herself Blue Scout that I remembered. She did, however, often speak of a rich husband and was never short on money.
I had called her The Camel Lady so many years; I had forgotten her actual name. I had a cloudy recollection that she might have been called Patty but I wasn't sure. The account below is simply an interesting aside, and by no means offered as positive proof that the Camel Lady--Patty Partin connection exists.

By Bill Gann

John and the 'Camel Lady' in the Opium Cave in Bonanza Gulch, 1982 :

John and his Lady, somewhere else:

A recent desert trip and a visit to the town of Randsburg did, however, shed some light on this story. It's ironic that this visit was in preparation for the ashes scattering ceremony of Alex Apostolides, a one-time close associate of Carlos Castaneda.

I made the short stop in the area where the Outlaw John and Camel Lady story took place as part of a family desert outing. My Brazilian wife, Elisabeth, her visiting father Nakolaus, our children Daniel and Analissa returned on April 6, 2006 from five days traveling the Death Valley area of the California Mojave Desert.

On the final night on the road we arranged to stay at a place ran by a Randsburg character known locally as Cowboy Bob. Bob has an antique shop where he and his wife Pam also rent rooms. The plan was to spend the night in the quaint mining town, and scout the roads into Last Chance Canyon for the Apostolides memorial on April 16th. Apostolides asked that his ashes be scattered on the mesa behind Bickel Camp in Last Chance.

While wife, father-in-law and the kids were strolling the town, I had set out to photograph Randsburg's old buildings in sunset light. It was a week day, cold for early spring, and the town was quiet and deserted. There were clouds and my golden-hour light was interrupted frequently by overcast.

During one of these moments where a passing cloud caused amber to fade to dismal grey, I found myself standing with my back to The Joint. I wanted to get a picture of Cowboy Bob's Inn when I heard laughter coming from the old bar's interior.

Thinking that waiting out of the cold might be pleasant; I ducked into The Joint for the first time in years. There was an old woman sitting setting in front of a fireplace that I hadn't remembered was there. Three men huddled in a close group at the far end of the bar. The bar itself was located on the left of the door, while I had always remembered it as having been on the right where what I assumed was now a new fireplace. The bar, I thought, stood where the booths had formerly been.

When I remembered the scene told about in the Outlaw John story, where Lee and his Army buddies were accosted by the drunken young miner, it always took place in a booth that was supposed to be where the bar now was. Strange, I thought.

I announced my presence by commenting how the place had changed. The old woman sitting by the fire looked at me quizzically, got up and took her position behind the bar. "Nothing's changed much around here in the 50 years since I've owned this bar," the little woman said. "What can I get you?"

I ordered a beer and explained how things had been the last time I had been in the place. "Nope, wasn't like that ever," the woman, who was obviously quite proud of her place just the way it had always been, explained patiently. "The bar and fireplace have always been just where they are, and I never had booths."

Confused, I spent a few minutes interviewing the lady who told me her name was Olga Guyette and that she was 95 years old. She and her now deceased husband had run the bar for half a century. She seemed to know something about everybody who had once lived in the area.

When I told her I had been a friend of Walt Bickel's, she told me she knew Bickel when he first moved to the area. I asked her about the famous Della Gerbach, and mentioned she had been called "The Queen of the El Paso's" referring to the El Paso
Mountains where her gold mining camp and been near Bickel's.

"I went to Catholic church right down the street with Della," Olga said somewhat sharply. No one around here ever called her Della, the Queen of anything." So much for desert legends, I thought.

Having let a respectful period of time pass, the gents at the bar came down to introduce their selves. One gentleman, perhaps in his late thirties, wearing a black cowboy hat and down-turned mustache, introduced himself as Cowboy Jim, Cowboy Bob's son. He then laughed and said he always told people that but it wasn't true.

He said he remembered meeting me once in the nearby town of Johannesburg where, when I was passing through and getting gas, he and his wife clopped through the gas station on horses. My 12-year-old daughter Analissa is crazy about horses so I stopped him so she could adore the beasts.

Jim warned me about Olga's foul language rule and told that she would kick me out in a flash if she heard me use any inappropriate language.

Another man, Greg Fraser, had a close-cut military look, and indeed was in the reserves. He said he once taught geology at Cal State University Fullerton where I went to school, and that he loved Randsburg so much he had recently moved there.

A third man, who had been behind the bar helping Olga introduced himself as Dave Adams. He said he had lived on and off in the little town much of his life. He was currently living in his parent's old house up the hill behind The Joint. He had long blond hair growing out of a well-used ball cap, and intelligent blue eyes. He was perhaps about 50, dressed in the denim, plaid, and ball cap uniform of a outdoorsman.

We talked a bit and I gave him my version of the Outlaw John story. Olga listened but didn't seem to like what she heard. "Nothing like that ever happened here," Olga spoke up. "We don't allow cussing, fighting, and I sure haven't had any shoot outs."

Thinking how sad it is when facts get in the way of a good story, I was wondering if I should go back to my Outlaw John story and label it more fiction tale than true account.

"You talking about Patty?" Dave asked as he tipped back his long neck. "Yea, I remember her, skinny blond, drunk all the time..." In a flash of recollection, I remembered the Camel Lady had indeed really been named Patti. In fact, I only called her the Camel Lady in my mind when I was thinking about her and John's shenanigans around Bickel.
"What about her boyfriend or Mexican Bob?" I asked hoping to glean more details from Dave's memory. He told me that Mexican Bob had once lived in the area, but said he had very little recollection of the notorious Outlaw John, who in truth was likely never called anything but John to his face. Dave had some memory of Lee, the Gerbach Camp commando, but said he seldom came to town.

Dave didn't know or remember much about the alleged shoot out between Mexican Bob and Outlaw John or the time Lee was supposed to have intimidated a drunken miner in the B-movie bar scene that I thought took place at The Joint. In fact, as I sat in the bar, nursing beer number two, I realized that I wasn't even present during this event. I recalled sitting around Gerbach Camp with John and Lee as they told the story.

A man in a Randsburg bar being able to recall a drunken blond named Patty, I realize, is hardly positive proof of the voracity of my Outlaw John story. I suppose I have even less evidence The Camel Lady was actually the long lost bone pile of a Castaneda witch recently identified in Death Valley. Yet, recalling her name was Patty at least gives me something more to ponder.

I'm going back to Randsburg and Last Chance Canyon Easter weekend for the Apostolides' ashes scattering ceremony. It's likely some unusual desert spirits will show up for this event, and perhaps more light will be shed on an intriguing Camel Lady story.

Source: http://www.zyworld.com/billgann/CastanedaConnection.htm (don't forget to read the 'Outlaw John' story)

or click this : http://www.zyworld.com/billgann/BickelCamphome.htm

THE TWILIGHT ZONE