Pioneer Town

View down Mane St.		 In 1946, a Hollywood movie actor, Dick Curtis bought the site without ever having seen it. When he came to see what he had purchased, he immediately envisioned a place where western movies could be made. He interested a number of other western actors who became his partners in the venture. The movie sets were constructed along Mane Street with a large sound stage at one end. Stars such as Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Leo Carrillo starred in movies made here. A western classic, 'Shootout at the OK Corral' was shot here. The television series, 'The Cisco Kid' used the town and surrounding countryside as the location for the program. Many of the former sets have been purchased and rehabilitated by modern owners. Thus they have the pleasure of living in an old western town.

Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace		 We found this gem when we were going to visit Joshua Tree National Park. It was listed in one of our guide books. It listed this restaurant as being good and it was. Everything is homemade and the French fries are fresh not frozen... So, for me it's good just knowing that<grin>.

Bank		 The set had a bowling alley with 6 lanes (pins were set by hand) for use after filming was over. Hey, I wonder how many times this bank has been held up. The bowling alley is called what else but Pioneer Bowl. The first person to roll a ball down the lanes back in 1946 was none
other than the King of the Cowboys himself, Roy Rogers. In 1961 they got pin resetters from an alley going out of business. They also have a restaurant and pool tables. The food is supposed to be pretty good to. We didn't get to try it.

Hotel building		 The interesting thing about this was instead of the buildings being fake fronts they were actual buildings and the actors and crew lived in them while they were filming. The town and surrounding area are still used for filming commercials, video's and movies.

Livery		 I think one day I am going to come back here to visit and actually stay in this  little town.