Pudgy Buffalo

Overview:

Hidden Valley Nature trail is a moderately easy 1-mile loop trail that slips through a secret passageway between rocks in central Joshua Tree National Park to explore a fascinating valley once used as a hideaway by thieves and bandits to stash stolen livestock.

What Makes It Secret:

In the western serial Mojave Crossing, author Louis L’Amour brings Tell Sackett of the beloved Sackett Family across the Mojave Desert, deep into Joshua tree country. The hopeful miner-entrepreneur winds up at a secret spot among the big rocks where, as L’Amour describes, no honest man should be driving horses. Tell has stumbled upon Hidden Valley, of course, and before too long, comes face to face with two brothers with a whole lot of horses. These brothers, Charley and Willie, are the Button Brothers, real-life legends who ran a livestock rustling operation out of the valley. Fortunately for Tell in Mojave Crossing, the brothers take a liking to him and lend him a horse—a horse that may not have the proper title depending on whether it’s being ridden east or west, but one which can get Tell to his next destination, nonetheless…

Now, as true-life lore has it, the Button Brothers teamed up with another set of hard-scrabble brothers, Bill and Jim McHaney, as well as a few other rabblerousers and ex-convicts, to form the McHaney Gang. The McHaney Gang was involved in various enterprises of ill-repute in the Joshua Tree area like murderous claim-jumping, goldmining, and coin counterfeiting, but found cattle rustling and horse thieving the more profitable of their trades. The gang rustled cattle and horses from Arizona on the open range, stashed them in remote Hidden Valley for rebranding, and then resold them in markets in Los Angeles.

Ultimately, Charley and Willie Button died in a gunfight in San Bernardino. Jim and Bill McHaney were convicted of counterfeiting gold coins. Jim was sent to prison and Bill (a “likeable fellow,” according to some) eventually died of pneumonia in a cabin at Desert Queen Ranch (Keys Ranch).

The tales of two sets of infamous brothers, the Buttons and the McHaneys, continue to live on in Joshua Tree National Park. Some of these outrageous stories may be pure fiction, and some may be pure truth. And perhaps the truth lies hidden somewhere in the valley.

150 Things to See, Do & Love: Joshua Tree National Park available on Amazon.