In the early 1900s, a prospector named Walter Scott, better known as Death Valley Scotty, was making a fortune conning far-away businessmen to invest heavily in his fictitious Death Valley mining operations. One of these men was Albert Johnson, a Chicago insurance magnate and millionaire. By 1906, however, two years after his initial investment in Scotty's mysterious gold mine, Johnson was noticing a distinct lack of return on his investment, and, with a few other investors, decided to make a visit to Death Valley to check out the mine.
Now, Death Valley Scotty was a very clever fellow, and staged a fake shoot-out to happen while he and his brother were taking their investors to see the mine, so that the city folk would decide it was too dangerous and turn around. Unfortunately, in all the excitement, Scotty's brother actually did get shot, and Scotty called the whole thing off. With the ruse exposed, the investors realized they were being conned and pulled out. Johnson, however, developed a love for the desert and the adventure that always surrounded Scotty, and became close friends with Scotty, forgiving him for his fraudulent behavior. To that end, he made many trips with his wife Bessie out to the desert, eventually building the oasis that is Scotty's Castle, which even includes a suite built just for Scotty!
Death Valley National Park offers tours of Scotty's Castle year-round. Now, the pictures!
The mansion is guarded by two gargoyles perched atop a fantastic bright red gate.
I just loved all the color-- reds and oranges everywhere, and that unbelievably blue California sky!
I fully admit, I, too, own red dishes-- these, however, are Albert and Bessie Johnson's.
Have a great weekend, folks!
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