Keyesville is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Kern County

Kern County, California

Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Lake Isabella

Lake Isabella, California

Lake Isabella is a census-designated place in the southern Sierra Nevadas, in Kern County, California, United States, located near Lake Isabella. Lake Isabella is located east-northeast of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 2513 feet...

, at an elevation of 2848 feet (868 m). Keyesville is named for Richard M. Keyes, whose discovery of gold in 1853 started the Kern River Gold Rush. A petition to the commander of Camp Babbitt

Visalia, California

Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles...

 about the depredations of the local native Americans, led to the Keyesville Massacre

Keyesville Massacre

Keyesville Massacre occurred on April 19, 1863, in Tulare County, now Kern County, California during the Owens Valley Indian War. White settlers and a detachment of the 2nd California Volunteer Cavalry under Captain Moses A...

 nearby on April 19, 1863.

Natural history

Keyesville lies at lower elevations of the Greenhorn Mountains

Greenhorn Mountains

The Greenhorn Mountains are located northeast of Bakersfield, California and west of Lake Isabella in the United States. The range, at the southern end of the Sierra Nevada, reaches an elevation of at Sunday Peak, just south of Portuguese Pass....

. There are areas of scattered trees and brushy slopes in the vicinity. A number of wildflower

Wildflower

A wildflower is a flower that grows wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. Yet "wildflower" meadows of a few mixed species are sold in seed packets. The term "wildflower" has been made vague by commercial seedsmen who are interested in selling more flowers or seeds more...

s are in evidence in this part of the Greenhorn Mountains, including the Yellow Mariposa Lily, Calochortus luteus

Calochortus luteus

Calochortus luteus, or Yellow mariposa lily, is a mariposa lily endemic to California.-Description:The primarily a bright deep yellow flower is 3-5cm across and perianth Bulb-shaped, lined red-brown inside, often also with central red-brown blotch and sparse hair inside.-Distribution:This species...

, which species is at the southern limit of its range within the Greenhorn Mountains.