Artist: Tim O’Connor of Twentynine Palms, CA
Dedicated: October 19, 2002
Size: 16’ x 60’
Location: 6296 Adobe Road

Bill Smith, who arrived in 1923 in his Model-T Ford, developed the haven known as Smith’s Ranch. Bill and his brother, Harry, drilled a well and provided water to early homesteaders, and Bill’s shower and swimming pool were a welcome place to cool off on hot summer days. Bill married Thelma Mead in 1930, and the ambitious pioneer couple built an ice house, a dairy, an ice cream parlor, an outdoor theater, a recreational hall, and a trailer park. They raised six children at the ranch and were acclaimed as the first homesteaders to have children born in Twentynine Palms.