Merry Pranksters

Summer 1964 · La Honda → New York → home

The First Bus

Fourteen people left Ken Kesey’s ranch in La Honda aboard Furthur in June 1964, and a fifteenth climbed aboard in Canada. These are the original Pranksters — with the names they went by — and, because the roster is less settled than the legend, a plain account of where the sources disagree.

The trip at a glance

  • Who boarded: Per the Merry Pranksters article, “Kesey and 13 Merry Pranksters boarded Furthur” at La Honda — fourteen people — and a fifteenth, Linda Breen, joined in Canada.
  • When: Sources differ: the Furthur (bus) article says they left June 17, 1964 (uncited), then quotes George Walker recalling “June 14, 1964, about 3pm” (tagged citation needed).
  • The rest: The Furthur (bus) article gives arrival in New York “around June 29” and return to La Honda “in August” (both uncited).
  • Where: La Honda → San Jose → Los Angeles → San Juan Capistrano → Wikieup, Arizona → Phoenix → Houston → New Orleans → Pensacola → up the East Coast → New York City → Millbrook, New York; home through Canada. (Route per the Furthur (bus) article, uncited — a lead for primary sources.)

The core group (15)

From Wikipedia’s Merry Pranksters article (CC BY-SA 4.0), which lists the fourteen plus Linda Breen. Roles and years are as that article gives them; several entries carry no citation there, and we say so.

  • The Chief

    also “Captain Flag, Swashbuckler”

    Ken Kesey · 1935–2001

    Author

    Read the full entry →

  • Sir Speed Limit

    Neal Cassady · 1926–1968

    Driver (eastbound), author

    The Furthur (bus) article says he “showed up at the last minute and displaced Roy Sebern as driver, as far as New York state” (uncited).

    Read the full entry →

  • Intrepid Traveler

    Ken Babbs · born 1936

    Author

    The Furthur (bus) article says he “probably did not plan to venture past his San Juan Capistrano home,” and that one version has him joining there (uncited).

    Read the full entry →

  • Stark Naked

    Cathy Casamo · 1938–1992

    Actress

    Described as a friend of Mike Hagen who joined at the last minute and was left behind in Houston (Furthur (bus) article, citing her archive site); the Merry Pranksters article calls her the girlfriend of Larry Hankin.

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Hassler

    Ron Bevirt · born 1939

    Photographer

    The Furthur (bus) article adds “bookstore owner.”

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Sometimes Missing

    John Babbs · 1937–2012

    Ken Babbs’s older brother

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Generally Famished

    Jane Burton

    Described as a Stanford philosophy professor, pregnant at the time

    Cited in Wikipedia to a 2011 review (Frank Collins, Cathode Ray Tube).

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Dis-Mount

    Sandy Lehmann-Haupt · 1942–2001

    Sound engineer

    Called an important source for Tom Wolfe’s account (Furthur (bus) article). The two articles name his older brother differently — Carl (Merry Pranksters) and Christopher (Furthur (bus)).

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Gretchen Fetchin

    also “Slime Queen”

    Paula Sundsten

    Girlfriend of Ken Babbs (as listed)

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Mal Function

    Mike Hagen

    Cameraman

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Hardly Visible

    George Walker · born 1939

    Quoted in the Furthur (bus) article recalling the departure from La Honda on June 14, 1964.

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Zonker

    Steve Lambrecht · 1942–1998

    Businessman

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Brother Charlie

    Chuck Kesey · 1938–2025

    Ken Kesey’s brother

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Highly Charged

    Dale Kesey · born 1943

    Ken Kesey’s cousin, the “bus chaplain”

    Cited in Wikipedia to The Further Inquiry, p. 133.

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

  • Anonymous

    Linda Breen

    Joined in Canada during the trip

    Joined in Canada, partway through

    Uncited in Wikipedia; listed after the group of fourteen.

    No entry yet — no Wikipedia article to build from

Named in some accounts, not on the core list

The Furthur (bus) article says the list of participants “is undocumented,” and names these people too.

  • Roy Sebern

    Artist. The Furthur (bus) article says he named the bus and painted “Furthur” on the destination sign, and that he says he was the designated driver before Cassady; it notes he is sometimes counted as a participant. See the spelling debate. Read more →

  • Chloe Scott

    Described as the founder of the Dymaxion Dance Group (1962) who “only lasted a day,” leaving in San Jose (Furthur (bus) article, uncited).

  • Page Browning

    Named as a participant in the Furthur (bus) article, with no role given.

  • Lee Quarnstrom

    Author who “documents events on the bus” in his memoir When I Was a Dynamiter! (Furthur (bus) article, uncited); not on the Merry Pranksters article’s core list.

  • Faye Kesey

    “Sometimes included” among participants (Furthur (bus) article).

  • Robert Stone

    Met the bus briefly in New York City (Furthur (bus) article). His memoir Prime Green is the source the Merry Pranksters article cites for a list of Kesey’s 1964 companions — a list that omits Cathy Casamo and Linda Breen.

Why the roster is contested

  • Wikipedia’s two articles don’t agree on who was aboard: one gives a core group of 14 plus one; the other calls the participant list undocumented and adds names.
  • Robert Stone’s memoir list of Kesey’s companions, as cited by Wikipedia, omits Cathy Casamo and Linda Breen.
  • The departure date appears as both June 14 and June 17, 1964.
  • Some people were on the bus only part of the way (Casamo was left behind in Houston, per one account; Chloe Scott “only lasted a day”; Linda Breen joined in Canada). “On the first bus” can mean several things.
  • Mountain Girl (Carolyn Garcia), often pictured with the Pranksters, is not on the 1964 list in these articles. See her entry for her story.

Better sources would settle much of this: dated photographs, Kesey’s 1964 film and audio (held by UCLA), and the participants’ own accounts. Have one? Tell us.

Go deeper