| Mojave Desert | Desert Gazette |
| top >> mojave << features - wildlife - places - region map - map/sat - roads & trails - wilderness - video - aerial - 360 - old west - communities - books - lodging - |
| route 66 - ghost towns - gold mines - parks & ... - joshua tree - death valley - mojave preserve - plants - native culture - history - natural features - geology - glossary - |
|
|
Mojave Desert History >
People in the Mojave Desert Bill Keys
Born in Russia on September 27, 1879, Bill Keys and his family moved to Nebraska in the early 1890s. He
left home at the age of 15 and began working at mills, mines, and cattle ranches. In 1910, Keys arrived
in the Twentynine Palms area where he began working at the Desert Queen Mine as custodian and assayer
(one who analyzes ore and judges its worth). After the owner's death, Keys gained possession of the
mine as payment for back wages. In 1917, he filed on an 80 acre homestead under the Homestead Act
and began to build a ranch. He soon married Frances May Lawton, who left the comforts of the city to
move to the Mojave Desert ranch and start a family. The couple had seven children between 1919 and 1931,
three of whom died during childhood. Together the Keys family tackled the hardships of isolated desert
life. Eventually, the Keys' homestead included a ranch house, store, two school houses, a home for a
teacher, outhouses, sheds, a stamp mill, a corral, supply yard, orchard, cement dam and lake, windmill,
irrigation systems, rock retaining walls, and a cemetery.
|
Related photo tours: Desert Queen Ranch Desert Queen Ranch 360° Photo Desert Queen Ranch Aerial Photos Key's View Wall Street Mill |
| top >> mojave << features - wildlife - places - region map - map/sat - roads & trails - wilderness - video - aerial - 360 - old west - communities - books - lodging - |
| route 66 - ghost towns - gold mines - parks & ... - joshua tree - death valley - mojave preserve - plants - native culture - history - natural features - geology - glossary - |
|
Wrightwood Real Estate MOUNTAIN HOMES & CABINS Vacation Rentals & Homes for Sale |
Log Cabin Furnishings Lodgepole Pine Log Furniture Rustic Decor & Silhouette Metal Art |
Victorville - Hesperia ~ HOMES FOR SALE ~ New Life Financial Services Realty |
| Victorville - Hesperia - Apple Valley - *Adelanto - Baker - Barstow - *Lucerne Valley - Big Bear - Lake Arrowhead - Yucca Valley - Joshua Tree - Twentynine Palms - Palmdale - Lancaster - Mojave - Tehachapi - California City - *Boron - Ridgecrest - *Randsburg - Nipton - Shoshone - Tecopa - Death Valley Junction - Needles - Lone Pine - Big Pine - Bishop - Independence - Trona - |
|
Digital-Desert Abraxas Engineering privacy |
Copyright ©Walter Feller. All rights reserved. Respect U.S and international copyright statutes and our right to own and control our work - DO NOT LINK TO THESE IMAGES FROM WEB PAGES, FORUMS OR BLOGS - |
Desert Gazette |