Editing Charles Manson (section)

=== San Francisco followers ===
{{see also|Manson Family}}
Shortly after relocating to San Francisco, Manson became acquainted with [[Mary Brunner]], a 23-year-old graduate of [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]. Brunner was working as a library assistant at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], and Manson, until that point making his living by [[begging|panhandling]], moved in with her. Manson then met teenaged [[runaway (dependent)|runaway]] [[Squeaky Fromme|Lynette Fromme]], later nicknamed "Squeaky", and convinced her to live with him and Brunner.{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=97}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Angela|last=Serratore|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/manson-family-murders-what-need-to-know-180972655/|title=The True Story of the Manson Family|magazine=[[Smithsonian Magazine]]|location=Washington, D.C.|date=July 25, 2019|access-date=August 18, 2020|archive-date=August 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818185908/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/manson-family-murders-what-need-to-know-180972655/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to a second-hand account, Manson overcame Brunner's initial resistance to him bringing other women in to live with them. Before long, they were sharing Brunner's residence with eighteen other women.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=163–174}} Manson targeted individuals for manipulation who were emotionally insecure and social outcasts.{{sfn|Smith|Luce|1971|p=259}}

Manson established himself as a [[guru]] in Haight-Ashbury which, during the Summer of Love, was emerging as the signature [[hippie]] locale. Manson soon had the first of his groups of followers, most of them female. They were later dubbed as the "Manson Family" by Los Angeles prosecutor [[Vincent Bugliosi]] and the media.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=137–146}} Manson allegedly taught his followers that they were the [[reincarnation]] of the [[Early Christianity|original Christians]], and that [[The Establishment]] could be characterized as the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Trevor |title=Charles Manson and the Manson family: What to know about the murderous cult leader |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/11/20/charles-manson-and-manson-family-murderous-cult-leader/880220001/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=USA Today |language=en-US|date=Nov 20, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

Sometime around 1967, Manson began using the alias "Charles Willis Manson".{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=315}} Before the end of summer, he and some of his followers began traveling in an old [[school bus]] they had adapted, putting colored rugs and pillows in place of the many seats they had removed. They eventually settled in the Los Angeles areas of [[Topanga, California|Topanga Canyon]], [[Malibu, California|Malibu]] and [[Venice, Los Angeles|Venice]] along the coast.{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|pp=163–174}}{{sfn|Sanders|2002|pp=13–20}} 

In 1967, Brunner became pregnant by Manson. On April 15, 1968, she gave birth to their son, whom she named Valentine Michael, in a condemned house where they were living in Topanga Canyon. She was assisted by several of the young women from the fledgling Family. Brunner, like most members of the group, acquired a number of [[Pseudonym|aliases]] and nicknames, including: "Marioche", "Och", "Mother Mary", "Mary Manson", "Linda Dee Manson" and "Christine Marie Euchts".{{sfn|Bugliosi|Gentry|1974|p=xv}}

In his book ''Love Needs Care'' about his time at the HAFMC, David Smith claimed that Manson attempted to reprogram his followers' minds to "submit totally to his will" through the use of "LSD and&nbsp;... unconventional sexual practices" that would turn his followers into "empty vessels that would accept anything he poured".{{sfn|Smith|Luce|1971|p=259}} Manson Family member [[Paul Watkins (Manson Family)|Paul Watkins]] testified that Manson would encourage group LSD trips and take lower doses himself to "keep his wits about him".{{sfn|Guinn|2013|p=139}} Watkins stated that "Charlie's trip was to program us all to submit."<ref>{{cite book |last=Melnick |first=Jeffrey Paul |date=2018 |title=Creepy Crawling: Charles Manson and the Many Lives of America's Most Infamous Family |publisher=Arcade |isbn=978-1628728934|pages=16}}</ref> By the end of his stay in the Haight in April 1968, Manson had attracted twenty or so followers, all under the supervision of Roger Smith and many of the staff at the HAFMC.{{sfn|Smith|Luce|1971|p=260}} The core members of Manson's following eventually included: Brunner; [[Tex Watson|Charles "Tex" Watson]], a musician and former actor; [[Bobby Beausoleil]], a former musician and  actor; [[Susan Atkins]]; [[Patricia Krenwinkel]]; and [[Leslie Van Houten]].<ref name="InsideFamily">{{cite web |title=Charles Manson's Son Says He Wishes He'd Gotten to Know Him Before His Death |url=https://www.insideedition.com/charles-mansons-son-says-he-wishes-hed-gotten-know-him-his-death-54566 |website=Inside Edition |date=July 18, 2019 |publisher= |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824173448/https://www.insideedition.com/charles-mansons-son-says-he-wishes-hed-gotten-know-him-his-death-54566 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="ViceBob">{{cite web |last1=Kovac |first1=Adam |title=We Spoke to Charles Manson's Guitarist About Making Art While Serving Time for Murder |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/we-spoke-to-charles-mansons-guitarist-about-his-life-making-art-and-music-while-serving-time-for-murder-298/ |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |date=April 8, 2015 |publisher= |location=New York City |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=May 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526142449/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bn5wwd/we-spoke-to-charles-mansons-guitarist-about-his-life-making-art-and-music-while-serving-time-for-murder-298 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Milne |first1=Andrew |title=Meet Bobby Beausoleil: The Haight-Ashbury Hippie Who Became A Manson Family Murderer |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/bobby-beausoleil |website=All That’s Interesting |date=July 6, 2019 |publisher= |access-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824173444/https://allthatsinteresting.com/bobby-beausoleil |url-status=live |editor-last=Johnson|editor-first=Cara}}</ref>