The Twentynine Palms story begins at a bountiful oasis set in the heart of the parched, windswept Mojave. First settled by the Serrano, the oasis was named Mara, meaning “the place of little springs and much grass.” Legend says the birth of each boy was celebrated by planting a palm tree; that first year, they planted 29. They were followed by the Chemehuevi, and the tribes lived peacefully together. By the 1870s,...