Walter E. Scott
Walter E. Scott (20 September, 1872 – 5 January, 1954), also known as Death Valley Scotty, was a prospector, performer, and con man, who was made famous by his many scams involving gold mining and his iconic mansion in Death Valley, known as Scotty's Castle.
Early Years
Scott was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky on 20 September, 1872. He spent the early years of his childhood traveling with his family around the harness racing circuit, and at age 11, he left home to join his two brothers at a ranch near the city of Wells, Nevada. In 1884, he made his first visit to Death Valley, as part of a crew surveying the California-Nevada border. At the age of 16, he joined Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show as a stunt rider. For the next 12 years, he toured the United States and Europe with the show.
His involvement with the show ended when he married Ella Josephine Milius (who he called Jack) in New York City in 1900. They then moved to Cripple Creek, Colorado, where Scott unsuccessfully tried to start a gold mining operation. After he was not allowed to rejoin the Wild West Show, he conned a wealthy New York businessman into backing a fictitious gold mining operation. For two years, he continuously informed his patron about the state of the mine, but he never shipped any ore. After his patron had invested more than $5000 in the mine, Scott boarded a train bound for New York with a bag supposedly containing more than $12,000 in gold dust. After he claimed that the bag had been stolen before he reached his destination, the newspapers eagerly picked up the story, starting Scott on a spree of self-promotion ventures. In 1904, he abandoned his previous patron in favor of Edward A. Shedd and Albert M. Johnson. They poured more than $4000 into his scam over a period of several months, before pulling out of the deal.
In July, 1905, Scott made another attempt to increase his publicity by claiming that he would break the cross-country train speed record. On 9 July, he left Los Angeles for Chicago in a train called the “Death Valley Coyote”, consisting of an engine, a baggage car, a sleeper, and a dining car. The only passengers were Scott, Jack, and several reporters. The trip was completed in 44 hours and 54 minutes, breaking the previous record of just under 53 hours. This stunt once again catapulted Scott to the front pages of newspapers the nation over, and inspired Buffalo Bill Cody to hire an impersonator of Scott for his show.
Throughout 1905 and 1906, Scott continued to attempt to con investors into backing his “mining” endeavors, and was largely successful, using many ruses to evade the investigators that his potential backers sent to check on the state of his mines. On 11 March, 1906 a play about Scott opened in Seattle to a standing-room only, with Scott playing the leading role. When the play finished, Scott was arrested on assorted charges for his involvement in fooling investigators earlier that year. The charges were dismissed on a technicality, but the trial had made clear that Scott was a fraud. However, he refused to admit anything and somehow managed to keep Albert Johnson interested in his 'mine'. Another investigator was sent, who reported back that the mine did not exist. Johnson refused to believe this, and the following year he visited the mine himself, but left without seeing the mine.
Around this time, Scott began fencing high-grade ore that he had stolen from mines in the area. As a front for his stolen-ore operation he leased a mine in the Humboldt Mountains. In 1912, he returned to Death Valley and announced that he had sold his mine for 12 million USD. After he made this claim, he was sued by his creditors for old debts, and ended up in jail.
Later years
In 1915, Scott moved to Twentynine Palms, where he lived quietly until Johnson decided to visit him. Johnson purchased the Staininger Ranch in Grapevine Canyon for Scott’s use, and gave him a small allowance. Scott immediately returned to his old ways of spreading unbelievable tales about his mine, which Johnson did nothing to discourage, regarding it as merely amusement.
In 1922, construction began at the Staininger Ranch on was to be the new Johnson vacation home. As people saw the scale of the project, speculation was rampant that Scott did have a mine after all. Scott claimed that he had built the castle for himself, and it became known as “Scotty's Castle”, despite the fact that the name over the front door read 'Death Valley Ranch'. Scott himself rarely stayed in the castle proper, staying mainly in a small bungalow at the edge of the valley, near Grapevine Springs. His wife and child remained separated from Scott, living in Reno.
In 1931, it was discovered that due to a surveying error, Johnson did not actually own the land on which the castle was being built. The problem was rectified in 1935, but at that point, it was too late for construction to finish, as Johnson’s insurance company had gone into bankruptcy in 1933. Johnson willed Death Valley Ranch to a religious organization, with the provision that Scotty could live there as long as he wished. Scotty’s Castle was never completed, but Scotty lived there until his death on 5 January, 1954. He is buried above the castle.