Scotty’s Castle

Nestled in the bottom of Grapevine Canyon in northern Death Valley is the Spanish-style mansion known as Scotty’s Castle, or Death Valley Ranch. The massive home, complete with turrets, fountains, and a huge pipe organ, has a striking and unusual history that has captivated visitors for a century.

The mansion’s namesake Walter Perry Scott, otherwise known as Death Valley Scotty, was an ex-Buffalo Bill trick rider and learned well from the showman the art of publicity how to use it to promote himself as a rich gold miner from the mysterious Death Valley with a fabulous secret gold mine. Scotty collected thousands of dollars from investors that he claimed would go toward operations at his gold mine and to help develop other mines in order to produce a handsome return. The only problem was, Scotty didn’t own a single mine and never intended to!

While most investors dropped out after becoming wise to Scotty’s hype and schemes, a wealthy businessman from Chicago wouldn’t let it go. Albert M. Johnson, who had poured thousands into Scotty’s operation, discovered there was no gold mine when he visited Death Valley. Despite being swindled, he struck up a friendship with Scotty that would last the rest of their lives.

A PALACE IN THE DESERT

The dry desert air was good for Albert’s broken back, and after a while he seemed more amused by Scotty’s antics than his concern for the money Scotty had swindled. Albert and his wife Bessie spent many winters in Death Valley, and eventually she requested they build a home that would make their visits more comfortable.

In 1922 the couple started construction on the castle, where they built space for Scotty to live as well. Significant work on the castle had already been completed when the Johnsons discovered that the castle had accidentally been built on federal land instead of the land Johnson had purchased. By that point, the Great Depression had left Albert’s business bust and they couldn’t afford to redo the work, which was halted indefinitely.