Artists: Dan and Peter Sawatzky of Chemainus, B.C.
Dedicated: November 19, 1994
Size: 14′ x 80′
Location: In Memoriam – Building Demolished
The Keys were pioneer homesteaders who settled at the Desert Queen Ranch in what is now Joshua Tree National Park. Bill Keys, born George Barth in Russia in 1879, came to Twentynine Palms in 1910. Over the years he was a cattleman, gold prospector, assayer, and an ingenious homesteader who could find a use for just about anything. He married Frances Mae Lawton in 1918, and together they raised five children on the isolated ranch. Today, visitors can see the resourcefulness of this pioneering family by taking a ranger-guided tour of the Keys’ historic Desert Queen Ranch.