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.

After working as a ranch hand and smelter worker, he was a deputy sheriff in Mohave County, Arizona.

In the area that became Joshua Tree National Park, he became acquainted with local outlaw and cattle rustler Jim McHaney, taking care of him in declining health.

Keys was paroled in 1950 and was pardoned in 1956 through the efforts of Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the Perry Mason novels.