Bill Keys arrived in the California desert around 1910, a wanderer with mining experience. He worked various mines, including the Desert Queen Mine, before acquiring the ranch site through purchase and filing. Keys was brilliant at desert living - he built cisterns to catch rainwater, planted orchards using water from old mine tunnels, and constructed stone buildings that lasted. He married Frances Mae Lawton in 1918; they raised five children in the desert. Keys operated the ranch as a self-sufficient unit: mining, ranching, farming, and doing whatever it took to survive. He was independent to the point of cantankerousness - traits that would lead to tragedy.

Keys had feuded with neighbor Worth Bagley for years over water rights, road access, and general desert territoriality. On May 11, 1943, the conflict turned fatal. According to Keys, Bagley came at him with a wrench; Keys shot him dead. Keys was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to five years in San Quentin. His story might have ended there, but Erle Stanley Gardner - the creator of Perry Mason and a desert enthusiast - heard about the case. Gardner investigated, found evidence of self-defense, and campaigned for Keys' release. Governor Goodwin Knight pardoned Keys in 1956. He returned to his ranch and lived there until his death in 1969.

Keys Ranch comprises over 200 acres of desert valley, with buildings, machinery, and artifacts accumulated over 60 years. The main house, schoolhouse, store, and numerous outbuildings remain as Keys left them. Mining equipment, vintage automobiles, and implements are scattered across the property - a mechanical archaeology of desert survival. Keys built with whatever was available: stone, wood, salvaged materials from old mines. The orchard he planted still contains fruit trees watered by an ingenious irrigation system. The ranch shows both the possibilities and limitations of desert homesteading - everything is preserved by the dry climate, frozen in time.

When Joshua Tree National Monument was established in 1936, Keys' ranch was within its boundaries but he was allowed to remain. After Keys died in 1969, the National Park Service acquired the property. Rather than restore or alter it, they preserved it as found - a 'time capsule' of desert life. Ranger-led tours visit the ranch, interpreting the buildings and artifacts. The isolation that defined Keys' life continues: the ranch is accessible only by guided tour, protecting both the artifacts and the desert solitude that Keys cherished. The ranch represents a way of life that barely existed before it was gone.

Keys Ranch is located within Joshua Tree National Park and is accessible only by ranger-guided tours. Tours are offered seasonally (typically October through May) and must be reserved in advance through recreation.gov. Tours last 90 minutes and involve approximately one mile of walking on uneven terrain. The ranch is in the park's central area, near the road connecting Joshua Tree Village and Twentynine Palms entrances. Joshua Tree National Park charges entrance fees (National Parks pass accepted). The nearest services are in Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms. Palm Springs International Airport is 50 miles southwest. The tours offer a unique perspective on the park - not just natural history but human survival in an unforgiving landscape.