Editing Olancha, California (section)

==History==
Olancha was established by Minnard Farley, who came to the area in 1860 and discovered silver [[ore]] in the nearby [[Coso Range]]. The name "Olancha" is believed to be derived from the nearby Yaudanche tribe. For processing the ore, he built a [[stamp mill]] just south of [[Olancha Creek]]. The remains of a stone wall from this mill still exists and has been designated as a California Historical Site (marker #796).<ref name=CHL>{{cite ohp|796|Farley's Olancha Mill Site|2012-10-07 }}</ref>

The first post office at Olancha opened in 1870.<ref name=CGN />

On August 11, 1969, Manson Family members Charles [[Tex Watson|"Tex" Watson]] and Dianne "Snake" Lake settled down in Olancha two days after Watson had stabbed Sharon Tate to death. Here, Watson bought a newspaper revealing that it still was a mystery who committed the Manson murders and confessed to Lake: "I killed her, Charlie (Manson) ordered me to do so, it was fun". This fact was witnessed by Lake during the Watson trial in 1971. Lake was shortly put into custody in Independence after complaints from Olancha inhabitants for swimming nude. After a few weeks the two of them left Olancha for the final Manson hideout in Death Valley.<ref>[http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/sen-007.php ''Will You Die For Me?''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070404031914/http://www.aboundinglove.org/sensational/sen-007.php |date=April 4, 2007 }}, Watson's Manson memories, first published in 1978</ref>