afternoon and while trying to escape the heat thought I'd post some pictures I took on the way to Yuma. This collage shows where we parked at Mesquite Spring campground which is only about 5 miles from Scotty's Castle. These are pictures I took while waiting for our tour guide to show up for our tour. We talked to the guide the previous day and she said to sign of for the 10 o'clock tour and she would be the guide. (Maybe she gets paid by the head..........whatever, we arrived early and waited for the 10 o'clock tour). As we approached the castle I asked Becky if the castle was surrounded by a moat...........dumb question as she has never been here either. As we browsed around we figured it must be one hellava large swimming pool. It turns out that we were correct.........the swimming pool was started but never finished.
Our tour guide was dressed in very unusual garb and as we got started she asked if anyone knew why the guides were dressed as they were. I quiped "Halloween coming!"; but, she never missed a beat as she explained that the workers were dressed in the fashion that the residents wore when the castle was in its heyday back in the 30's. The 1933 Packard belonged to the castle owners, Albert and Bessie Johnson. It seems the Johnson's were very private individuals, millionaires and shunned all publicity. Most people would have named the ranch "Johnson Ranch"; but, they chose to name it Death Valley Ranch. Scotty's Castle was the name that it finally came to be known as..........it was named after Walter Scott, a scoundral, con-man and huckster extraordinaire. He conned many individuals into investing in his "gold mine" and one of the investers turned out to be the millionaire Albert Johnson. As the story goes, Albert decided to visit the gold mine and Old Scotty was caught up in one of his many lies and tall tales. That probably would have been the end for Scotty; but, Albert and Bessie fell in love with Death Valley and opted to build their ranch here. Scotty and Albert developed a friendship instead and Scotty stayed on to become the unofficial Host for "Scotty's Castle".
Take a peek at picture #6, and you'll see a piece of steel firmly attached to the wall. This device was located outside Scotty's bedroom and from the inside you can see a hole approximately an inch or so in diameter with the steel plate visible from the inside. It seems that the Johnson's provided a bedroom for Scotty; but, he actually lived a considerable distance from the ranch house where he tended to the horses and livestock. Anyway, getting back to the device, our guide said it was placed there because Scotty would spin tall tales about keeping gold hidden under his bed. It was theorized that thieves would come in pairs to try and rob Scotty, one would stand near the window (where I was standing when I took the picture) and his cohort would try to gain entrance at the door, where the guide is standing. Well Old Scotty figured that he would get a TwoFer by shooting a shotgun from inside the room into the steel device. The shot would be spread toward the door and the window and Scotty's would be thieves would meet their maker. Our guide said that this was a story that you could believe or not believe. It certainly looked like a device that would work! (???)
Everything in the castle is original..........the actual furniture used by the Johnsons, their clothing still hanging in the closets..........everything was left just as the Johnsons left it. Estimates to build the castle were in the 1.5 to 2 million dollar range....................wonder what it would cost today?
After our tour we drove to Ubehebe Crater which turned out to be a big hole in the ground about 500 feet deep. All that remains of an eruption many years ago.
A few miles outside of Beatty, NV we took a turn off to Rhyolite Ghost Town. A now defunct mining town. The first thing I saw were a group of ghosts and when we got closer we found that it to be the artists conception of the Last Supper.............ghost style. A car drove up and two really old folks set up their camera and were taking pictures of themselves seated on a couch. I walked over and chatted with them, they had a picture they took of themselves seated on the couch about two years ago. They used the picture to announce their wedding plans. Now two years later, they were recreating the scene.
There used to be a Rhyolite Casino and the remains of an old caboose. I guess this is truly a ghost town as I don't know what what happened to the last two pictures I took...........they turned out black and white! Becky took a few pictures at Scotty's Castle that displayed "strange" lights that showed up in her photos.............none of the ones I took at the castle had any such lights.
Go figure.
W&B
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