CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT “Death Valley Scotty’s” real castle at Lower Vine Ranch, now open to the public for tours. CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT The view from Death Valley Scotty’s front porch on Lower Vine Ranch, at left, was worth more to the huckster than the money he often professed to have, but didn’t. Below, when his friend Albert Johnson installed a bathtub in Death Valley Scotty’s cabin while he was away, Scotty threw it right back out. Robert O. Greenawalt, at bottom, a member of the tour who actually met Death Valley Scotty before he died, wore a red tie on the hike to commemorate the huckster. At left, Justin Suchacki of the Unites States Park Service, points out other features of the ranch. CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT Advertisement

Walter "Death Valley Scotty" Scott permanently painted himself on Death Valley's history with his blazing red tie, notorious spending sprees, and mostly successful scams and hustles during the early 1900s.

It was a time before paved roads, when the rugged beauty of Death Valley beckoned to prospectors and ranchers with promises of mines and riches just below the scorched earth or nestled within the rough hewn mountains, when the only population was squatters and ranchers alike who tread wearily across the desert in the perpetual and crucial search for water.

Scotty was no different, and after a 12-year stint as a stunt rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, put his roots down in the California desert and made a rather half-hearted attempt at prospecting.

Like most of history's colorful characters, the man many tourists and reporters came to visit was just a façade; an image he presented that was a far cry from who he really was.

It was one thing to visit Scotty at "his" castle (which was actually a vacation home for Albert Mussey Johnson, treasurer for National Life Insurance in Chicago and an actual millionaire) where reporters and tourists were regaled with stories of his adventures in the Wild West from his arm chair, his signature red tie hanging from his neck.

But it was rare to receive an invitation to visit the Lower Vine Ranch and Scotty's simple, three-room cabin nestled among the trees.

Now everyone can get a glimpse of the man behind the stories since that the ranch has been opened to public tours by the United States Park Service.

A two-mile, slightly uphill trek about four miles from the castle takes you past the concrete posts, arduously dug into the ground by workers after being made on site at the castle.

The land actually belonged to Johnson, who acquired it after a 20-year legal battle and some shady dealings of his own, a story that is entertaining enough to be worth the trip by itself.

Johnson told his cowboy friend he could live on the ranch and would build him a home there.

With the friendship and money of a millionaire at his disposal, all Scotty asked for was some rooms with a view.

After passing a trough set out to give squatters or passing ranchers a sip to drink outside, the gates are opened and a slight climb up a scenic road takes you around the bend to a humble oasis set atop a hill.

Scotty didn't want any of the modern conveniences touted at the castle, to the extent that a bathtub Johnson had installed while Scotty was away still sits outside where he put it upon discovering it.

"Johnson was always wanting me to modernize this place," Scotty is reported to have said. "This is the way I like it, this is the way I'm going to keep it."

To stay cool, Scotty simply strung up hoses through the trees, creating a kind of home made mister system. When he was up late or wanted to sleep all day, he simply covered the windows with sheets, and visitors' letters tell of the canned food and simple dishes that cluttered the small kitchen.

It's a stark contrast from the man who bragged he would break the bank at Monte Carlo and went on spending sprees that can still raise an eyebrow in today's dollars.

Most of the time, in fact, Scotty didn't even sleep under the humble roof, instead choosing to camp out under the stars of a nearby mesa.

As Justin Suchacki, park service ranger, explained to the group, the ranch is a glimpse of "the man behind the castle."

A small garage sits nearby, where Scotty kept his 1936 Dodge, a minor acquiescence to technology and modernization after he became too old to ride a mule up to his cabin.

Fred Camphousen, a fellow hiker on the tour, told the group how he visited the ranch just after Scotty's death in 1954 and the car was still parked there in immaculate condition and with a wood paneled dash. The only concern Camphousen said he had for the car was that the rear of it was suffering from sun damage as the garage door was open.

Scotty's closest companions in life were his donkeys and his dogs, with whom he would share meals on the front porch.

So it's no surprise that, despite its sparseness, the cabin has a corral about 10 feet from the property where his animals were fitfully cared for.

It's easy to wonder how such a huckster could have ultimately led such a successful life, piggybacking off a friendship with a millionaire he had only met because of an attempted scam.

Why Johnson agreed to support his friend is a question destined to remain unanswered, but Suchacki speculated it was because the wealthy executive was really a cowboy at heart.

Johnson could never truly lead the life he wanted to because a train wreck left him permanently injured.

So when Scotty started telling reporters who flocked to the castle that it was his, Johnson backed him up, even telling the press that Scotty was actually his banker.

Or maybe Johnson's generosity lay in the fact that as his friend, he knew the view from the cabin and the isolation and peace offered by the ranch meant more to Death Valley Scotty than money ever would.

And it's a view anyone else can appreciate now.

There is one more scheduled tour for Lower Vine Ranch on Nov. 20.

Tours will also be offered on Dec. 1, 14, and 15.

Two tours are offered on the scheduled dates, one beginning at 10:30 a.m. and another at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $15 per person and can be purchased by calling Death Valley National Park at (760) 786-2392.