Filmed on location! The Desert Pirate 1927

One of Tom Tyler’s silent films, “The Desert Pirate” (1927), was filmed on location at Keen Camp in the San Jacinto Mountains. Located east of Los Angeles in Riverside County, the San Jacinto mountain range was named after Saint Hyacinth, a 13^th century Polish Dominican priest. This mountain range extends thirty miles in length, southeast of the San Bernardino Mountain range. The rugged beauty of the San Jacinto mountain range culminate in several noteworthy peaks: San Jacinto Peak, at 10,834 feet high; Jean Peak, at 10,656 feet high, and Miller Peak, at 10,417 feet high. Geologically, the entire mountain range is a fault block of granite compressed between the San Jacinto fault which lies to the west, and the San Andreas fault, which lies to the east.

When the camp was built in 1892 at 5,000 feet in the San Jacinto mountains, John and Mary Keen already had experience in the hospitality business, owning a hotel in Valle Vista, located in San Jacinto Valley of Riverside County, California. Convenient to many South Californians seeking relief from the hot summers, Keen Camp soon became an ideal spot for filmmakers in the 1920’s. The layout of the camp was appropriate enough for filmmaking, cast and crew members: small cabins were often rented, and primitive camping was also accessible. Mary Keen had one building reserved for the kitchen and dining room for campground guests.

By 1911, Keen Camp was sold to Percy and Anita Walker, and by the 1920’s, was run by Anita, and her second husband Robert Elliott, after Percy died in 1912 from a drowning accident. Anita renamed the main building Tahquitz Lodge. The name Tahquitz comes from the deity of the same name in Soboba Indian tribe mythology. By 1922, Tahquitz Lodge included the following amenities: dancing, bowling, billiards, tennis court, horseback riding, hiking, lawn croquet, and musical entertainment at night, all in the style of a western town. Keen Camp even had its own post office. In September 1926, Keen Camp was saved from a major brush fire which originated on a stretch of land between Keen Camp and Idyllwild Camp, which lies directly north of Keen Camp. In 1932, six years after the filming of "The Desert Pirate", a new highway opened with grandeur: Pines-to-Palms Highway, which forms part of California state route 74. This 67-mile long road was designed to work with the layout of the San Jacinto mountains and at the same time provide an easy-to-navigate for cars with its grades and curves.

In addition to “The Desert Pirate”, the following silent films were also filmed in part at Keen Camp: "The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come" (1920) with Jack Pickford, and "The Ghost City" (1923), a Universal serial starring Margaret Morris and Pete Morrison.

Keen Camp no longer exists, its original buildings are long gone, although there is a Keen Camp Summit located to the southeast of the original camp, on the Pines-to-Palms Highway above Garner Valley. Today, Mount San Jacinto is a state park, and the San Jacinto Wilderness is also protected park land for the native flora and fauna.

Sadly, “The Desert Pirate” remains a lost silent film, but should it be rediscovered, viewers would get the privilege of seeing Keen Camp in all its glory nestled in the San Jacinto mountains.