Cow Camp, located in
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is an American national park in southeastern California, east of San Bernardino and Los Angeles and north of Palm Springs, California, Palm Springs. It is named after the Joshua trees (''Yucca brevifolia'') native to t ...
, was associated with cattle rustling in the 1880s and 1890s. It was then later used as a line camp for cattle ranching. A stone chimney, two small dams, watering troughs and a well remain.
One dam was built by local rancher and character William F. Keys.
The camp was first established by the "McHaney Gang" in the late 1880s.
Cattle rustlers used the camp into the 1890s. Jim McHaney reputedly murdered the discoverer of the
Desert Queen Mine
The Desert Queen Mine in the Colorado Desert was one of the more long-lived gold mines of Southern California's high desert region. The abandoned mine is located in Riverside County, California within the boundaries of the Joshua Tree Nationa ...
before losing it to a bank, then sold Cow Camp in 1894 to George Myers. McHaney eventually was convicted of counterfeiting $20 gold pieces in gold-plated lead and was sentenced to seventeen years in jail. In the 1920s Bill Keys, who had inherited McHaney's holdings, took over Cow Camp as part of
his ranching operation.
See also
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Keys Desert Queen Ranch
The Keys Ranch is the prime example of early settlement in the Joshua Tree National Park area. Bill Keys was the area's leading character, and his ranch is a symbol of the resourcefulness of early settlers. The ranch is an extensive complex of sm ...
*
Wall Street Mill
The Wall Street Mill in Joshua Tree National Park was a complete and operable gold ore crushing mill featuring late-19th century two- stamp mill machinery. Consequently, the significance encompasses the mill machinery, the building which houses i ...
References
National Register of Historic Places in Joshua Tree National Park
National Register of Historic Places in San Bernardino County, California
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California
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