Keys Ranch – Joshua Tree National Park

the visit

We were the third vehicle in line as we pulled to a stop just outside the meeting point. The locked gate just ahead is the entrance to Keys Ranch. Our tour guide Kylie Caesar arrived a short while later, checked our names and chatted with us until everyone had arrived.

Once the entire group gathered, we drove along the dusty and rutted road to a large parking area.

We received some further instructions and history on the area and then began the walk up to the ranch.

It is quite a surreal feeling walking up a driveway to this ranch that sits tucked out of sight. It feels as if the air remains still to keep from blowing any fragments of memories from this property. Things have been left in a way that if you were to look at just the right moment, you may capture a spirit carrying out their duties. I love that!

We stopped and gathered next to a small stream, yet another wonderful surprise way out in the middle of nothing. This very spot is where natives used to grind oak nuts from the tree that sits on the waters edge.

A windmill stands dutifully above the dusty plain, creaking as the light desert breeze filters across its rusted blades.  A hand made picket fence frames the once plentiful garden of Keys Ranch for which it rises high above proudly.  No other sounds can be heard, but the gentle bending of the brush in the wind and the light tap of reptilian footsteps across the sand.  Desolation, isolation and loneliness may creep into your thoughts causing fear or sadness to take over. 

Frances Mae Lawton

This may be a staple memory or occurrence in the life of Frances Mae Lawton, who met Bill Keys at a dance in 1918.  They later married, so she moved to this remote location in Joshua Tree, leaving behind lovely Pasadena for a new way of living.  

She embraced the pioneer life and with their seven children, (three dying during childhood) becoming a great frontierswoman and entrepreneur. She harvested fruit and vegetables for storage and sales, and handmade bonnets to sell to local women. 

Once the park started to get visitors, Frances opened a small shop and even rented out cabins to tourists.  A far cry from the life from which she left behind.

slide show

William (Bill) Keys

William (Bill) F. Keys was born in 1879 with the birth name George Barth.  Nobody really knows for certain, but some think that Keys was born either in Russia or Nebraska.  He did, however, leave Nebraska at the age of 15.  Throughout the following few years, he worked as a miner, cowboy and even a deputy sheriff prior to becoming a stuntman in a travelling roadshow.  In 1893 he changed his name to Key, the “s” came later on.  After breaking his leg and unable to continue this endeavour, he headed for Death Valley where he became friends with Walter Scott, aka “Death Valley Scott”.  In 1910 his journey took him to Joshua Tree where he decided to settle.

Bill Keys worked as a superintendent of the Desert Queen Mine.  After the mine closed and the owners filed for bankruptcy in 1915 he took the mine and 160 acres as back payment, building a homestead in the harsh environment.

Keys himself was somewhat of an entrepreneur and jack of all trades. He ran stamp mills for other miners, farmed the land, bought and sold anything he could get his hands on. Mending and improving machinery and tools, he kept every screw and nail, either to recycle or sell. He even built dams, roads, and started a school which is also on his property.

gallery slide show

Convicted of Murder

Life marched forward until 1943 when Keys was sentenced to ten years jail time in San Quentin for murdering his neighbour and ex-sheriff, Worth Bagley, albeit in self-defence.   After serving only five years he left a free man. This was thanks to Erle Stanley Garnder the creator of ‘Perry Mason’, who was on Keys’ case.  During this time, his wife Frances and his remaining children ran the ranch and all the businesses. 

Returning to his pioneer life and family in 1948, he promptly erected a marker on the site of the fatal shootout.  Unfortunately, the original marker was the target of vandals after standing for 70 years.  Park authorities have removed it for safekeeping and replaced it with an exact replica of the stone.  The inscription reads “Here is where Worth Bagley bit the dust at the hand of W.F. Keys May 11, 1943”.  The site is on the trail to Wonderland Ranch and Wall Street Mill.

Keys was also cast as an old prospector in Disney’s “The Burro of the West” filmed in 1960 in Joshua Tree.  In 1969 after quite a full and noteworthy life, Bill died and is buried not far from his ranch in a small family cemetery.

The Keys Ranch, also known as Desert Queen Ranch, is one of the early settlements within Joshua Tree and is now preserved for the public to enjoy.

the home factor

There is something different in the air, but not in an unsettling way, because you get to look into someone’s life and that is touching. Like the mailbox for instance, which used to reside in Banning. That was a three-day journey back in those days just to get your mail!

You can see Keys personality in everything on the property, how tough, skilful and adaptable he really was. That is one thing really unique about this tour and that is why we thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

KEYS RANCH – In A Nutshell

• Only accessible with a guided tour.  
• Tickets are available only from the Oasis Visitors Center in 29 Palms, or by phone 760-367-5522.  So it is advisable to book in advance. 
• The 90 minute tour times and days change with seasons, so check their website.
• The cost is $10 per person (plus the park entrance fee)
• You will need to arrive at the designated meeting point (Keys Ranch entrance gate which will be locked) 15 minutes prior to the tour time. 
• There are toilets by the gate and a short nature trail if you arrive early.

Location Map

other short hikes in joshua tree

• Barker Dam 1.3-mile loop (easy)

• Cholla Cactus Gardens – 0.25-mile easy loop hike wheelchair accessible

• Hidden Valley – 1-mile loop trail

• Mastodon Mine & Cottonwood Springs – approximately 3-mile loop moderate hike

• Ryan Ranch & Lost Horse Mine – 0.5-mile sandy trail

• Silver Bell Mine– 2-mile round trip 

• Wonderland Ranch & Wall Street Mill – 3-mile out and back hike