The town, located on present-day California State Route 62 between Twentynine Palms and the Colorado River, grew around a Santa Fe Railroad subdivision[2][when?]

A hallmark for a trailer-based business that catered to personnel at what is now the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, customers passing on Highway 62 (also known as Rice Road) to and from the Colorado River would toss a pair of underwear in the tree's branches.

The tree was featured on California's Gold, a PBS program hosted by Huell Howser.

The tree burned flush to the ground in 2003 after which a 'shoe garden' (a fence on which people hang shoes) replaced it.

In early 2016, road trippers began throwing their shoes on top of Rice's abandoned gas station.

Also in the immediate area, travelers occasionally stop to spell their names and initials on the nearby Arizona and California Railroad right-of-way with the multi-colored volcanic rock used as track ballast.