Scotty's Castle

So we drove 35 miles North (from Furnace Creek) on the second day in the park (Sunday, March 4th). We visited Scotty's Castle first- a huge house, a mansion it its time, built in the 1920's. You may just assume that the castle belonged to a man named Scotty, but this is not the case. It was built and owned by Albert and Bessie Johnson, made rich by a life insurance company. Scotty was actually, Walter Scott- a Con man! And the Johnson's were friends with "Scotty"!

This was not the kind of story I was expecting to hear upon starting the house tour here. As we continued the tour through this awesome home, the tour guide explained the relationship between Albert and "Scotty". Scotty had traveled all over the U.S. as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He decided to con rich investors into believing he had a gold mine in Death Valley- but there was no gold ever in Death Valley.

Years and years went by that people accepted his word that he had a gold mine in California, but after not seeing any profit from their investments, they wanted to send some engineers into the desert with Scotty to prove there was a gold mine. Scotty tried to con them into believing their was a gold mine, but something went wrong and he was exposed. Well one of those engineers was Albert Johnson!

Albert Johnson was told he would not live past 40 years old due to a train accident, but he noticed that traveling to the desert made him a little stronger. So even though he knew Scotty had conned them, he fell in love with the desert and was appreciative to Scotty that he was getting healthier. So he continued to come to the desert and got healthier and healthier. Since he was visiting frequently, he just decided to build a house out there. But he let Scotty tell people it was his home and it was protecting the entrance to his gold mine. Well the Johnson's let him continue this lie because they did not want the publicity connected to having a mansion in the desert.

There home is located just one mile away from a natural spring that produces more than enough water to supply their home and the surrounding buildings. He even used water pressure to make electricity for his home. The second tour we took allowed us to go under the house to see the tunnel system he planned on making (but never finished) and the tour guides talked about the innovations to build and power the house. Very Interesting and well worth the money!

This house was built all because of friendship and the tour guides did an amazing job of explaining how the desert brought true friendship and life to these people!