Hx of Flying Sportsmen Lodge, Loreto in Pac Coast Sportfishing mag
With David K's father in a photo! "Dr. Ed Kier and friends with a day's catch" Great Baja article in April 2016 issue of Pacific Coast Sportfishing
("A Baja Odyssey The Rise and Fall of Flying Sportsmen's Lodge" p. 62). Story by Gary Graham, generally Ed Tabor's flying adventures and Baja
excursions. Many old photos.
I just got the magazine in the mail yesterday and saw the article. Saw your photo credit. I didn't check to see if there was an online version.
That was an exciting Baja era for all those adventurers. My dad flew in to fish too.
Gary had contacted me several months ago asking if I had old Flying Sprortsman photos... and I sent him the ones from my dad's trips there in the
1960s in Ed Tabor's plane and 1972 when he drove down with two other dentists (I posted those photos here a few months ago).
I stayed at the Flying Sportsman's RV park next to the lodge, in 1976. I think it went out of business shortly after. Aero Mexico forced him to end
his flying service and the Magdalena Village Resort he opened didn't succeed as much as he hoped, without the airplane connection.
The cover of Ray Cannon's book is the pier at the Flying Sportsman Lodge...
According to the story, there were ejido disputes about the property the lodge was on, and it was divided into two parcels. Aeromexico started flying
to Loreto, and Tabor sold his planes to them. He then had 8 operators to take calls to book visitors to the lodge. In essence, he didn't need to fly
visitors himself any longer.
I'll send you the magazine.
Terrific!
Funny how the story changes over the years or is retold to not upset the powers that be. Nobody wants to get blacklisted by an airline, or the
government that runs it!
Great photos and probably great stories as well. Can anyone tell me exactly where the Flying Sportsman was located? Was it on the now vacant land
just South of Loreto Shores RV park? Thanks
We last stayed there in 1976, using their RV park added just south of the lodge rooms south building. When Hwy. 1 was completed at the end of 1973,
the flying business and much of the hotel business took a big hit. Americans (and Canadians) brought their own rooms in the form of RVs and campers.
I flew into the La Paz Airport and they boarded us on the party bus up to Mag Bay for a few days and then over to Loreto. As usual Mag Bay was
windy! Sportsman's Lodge was a paradise. We fished and went spear fishing--lot's of big Lobster and dog snapper. Place was full up and some friends
got to stay in the owners house where we enjoyed ourselves indulgently. Since those early days I always thot it was where the Oasis now sits,
another great old place on the water. I'll try to find it next time I'm in town. Thanks for the article and pictures, Amigos. 40 yrs ago?! Can't
be true, sino. Tio
The Oasis was very close and is just on the north side of the river. Nice story about Ed Tabor's Mag Bay Resort at San Carlos. He was just getting
that one off and running when government owned Aero Mexico killed his flying service (at least that was how my dad related it to me).
Can you drive thru Villas or is there a guard gate? Did Loreto Bay purchase the property? Sorry for all the questions but I would like to go back if
anything is left of the old place. Thanks. Tio
Villas de Loreto is a small compound of private homes...used to be a hotel. It's just the other side of the arroyo, you can walk the beachside.
Do you recall if the old (Flying Sportsman) pier is in front of Villas?
The fun to watch Vincent Price movie/ with stars Jane Russell/ Robert Mitchum/ Raymund Burr and produced by Howard Hughes was based on a fly-in Baja
fishing resort of 1951... ("located on the east coast of Lower California") https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Kind_of_Woman
Below, from the Internet:
Plot:
Down on his luck, professional gambler Dan Milner (Robert Mitchum) accepts a mysterious job that will take him out of the country for a year but pays
$50,000. He accepts a $5,000 down payment and tickets that will take him to an isolated Mexican resort, Morro's Lodge, where he will receive further
instructions. Milner is attracted to the only other passenger on his chartered flight to the resort, Lenore Brent (Jane Russell).
When he arrives, Milner finds that several guests at the luxurious Baja California resort have hidden agendas. He is disappointed to find that Lenore
is the girlfriend of famous movie actor Mark Cardigan (Vincent Price). Milner overhears two guests, self-proclaimed author Martin Krafft (John Mylong)
and a man named Thompson (Charles McGraw), planning something which he suspects involves him. When Milner confronts them, he is given $10,000 and told
that someone is on his way to Baja to see him.
Seemingly drunk Bill Lusk (Tim Holt) flies in, despite warnings of very dangerous storm conditions. Milner thinks he must be the contact, but when the
two are alone, Lusk claims to be an undercover agent for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. He tells Milner that the U.S. government suspects
that underworld boss Nick Ferraro (Raymond Burr), deported to Italy four years earlier, is scheming to get back into the country posing as Milner. The
two men are a close physical match and Milner is a loner, so no one is likely to miss him. Krafft turns out to be a plastic surgeon.
Meanwhile, Cardigan's wife Helen (Marjorie Reynolds) and his personal manager Gerald Hobson (Carleton G. Young) show up. She had gone to Reno to get a
divorce, not really intending to go through with it, as she is still fond of her husband. Hobson also thinks it is a poor idea because Cardigan's film
contract is expiring and the bad publicity would make it hard to get a new one. With her own plans ruined, Lenore confesses to Milner that she is
really just a singer looking to hook a wealthy spouse. Milner shows his softer side when he helps unhappy newlywed Jennie Stone (Leslie Banning) by
cheating at poker to win back her husband's gambling losses from investment broker Myron Winton (Jim Backus).
Lusk sneaks into Thompson's room, but is caught and killed. Milner and Lenore stumble upon his body dumped on the beach. Milner is convinced that the
dead man must have been telling the truth. That night, Thompson and his men take Milner to a newly arrived yacht. Milner is able to pass along a
veiled plea for help to Lenore. She persuades Cardigan, who is tired of just pretending to be a hero, to help out. While the actor keeps the pursuing
mobsters pinned down with his hunting rifle, Milner sneaks back onto the boat, knowing that the only way out of his mess is to deal with Ferraro once
and for all. He is caught and brought to the crime lord. After killing two of the thugs and wounding and capturing Thompson, Cardigan mounts a rescue
with the reluctant assistance of the Mexican police and a couple of the more adventurous guests. A gunfight breaks out aboard the boat, followed by a
melee. Milner manages to break free and shoot Ferraro dead.
Cardigan and his wife are reconciled. Milner and Lenore end the film in a clinch.
"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen.
The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back
if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
"People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." - Theodore Roosevelt
"You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them or to them." - Malcolm Forbes
"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others
cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you." - Jim Rohn
"The best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." - Cunningham's Law
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