Happy Burro Hostel may have been a Brando hideaway

The Happy Burro Hostel, formerly the Beatty Hotel, has an interesting history as one of several structures that were moved into Beatty from Rhyolite after that city's collapse.

But was it once also a favorite hideaway of famous actor Marlon Brando?

The late Dorothea Benning, niece of one of the hotel's former owners, said that Brando used to use the hotel as a place to get away from it all, but no one now living in Beatty seems to know anything about it. There are, however, accounts that put Brando in Beatty and in the Beatty area on a couple of occasions.

A woman named Julia Kreck posted an inquiry online wondering if a Brando autograph she had was of any value.

She said that Brando and "his female traveling companion" wound up in Beatty on April 8, 1978, when the motorhome they were traveling in was towed to town after breaking down on Highway 95, and that he stayed the night in "a local motel."

Kreck said Brando went into the Exchange Club for a meal and was recognized by a casino worker, who called Fran York, owner of Fran's Star Ranch brothel, "to tell her about the famous visitor."

Kreck and York drove the three miles into town and quickly spotted Brando. Kreck wanted an autograph but had no paper. She said they ripped off a piece of a brown shopping bag they found on a souvenir counter and approached the star.

"He was very kind to us and autographed the paper," said Kreck, and York wrote the date on it.

Benning's nephew, Evan Thompson, who for a time operated a gift shop in the Rhyolite Bottle House, recalls encountering Brando there on another occasion.

Thompson says that Brando was traveling with "three starlets" who wandered off into the ghost town to explore, while the actor stayed behind and sat and chatted with him for about half an hour.

Brando was interested in the history of the railroads, the gold mining and all about the history of Rhyolite. Thompson said he seemed to be a very nice guy.

When the women returned, Brando rose, shook Thompson's hand, and said, "By the way, I'm Marlon Brando," to which Thompson simply replied, "I know."