Walter E. Scott - Later Years

Later Years

In 1915, Scott moved to Twentynine Palms, where he lived quietly until Johnson decided to visit him. Johnson eventually forgave Scott for his fraudulent scheming, and the two became friends. Johnson soon purchased the Staininger Ranch in Grapevine Canyon for his own use, and in 1929, prior to the stock market crash, began developing the property of what later became Lower Vine Ranch, approximately five miles away. Although Johnson had originally installed quarters for Scotty at Grapevine, he also built a roomy five-room cabin for Scott at Lower Vine as well as several outbuildings and a corral for Scott's beloved mules. Johnson also used the land at Lower Vine for a short while to farm alfalfa so he could legally claim the property for himself under the Homesteading Act. 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.