Why would only 10 families have homes alongside a 300 mile long road?
It was barren desert.
But I guess the folks who lived there loved it. All in the eye of the beholder. But I'll bet a lot more "beholders" would see the beauty of our Appalachian states than would see the beauty of the desert.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But your reaction is a common one among those seeing the desert for the first time. If you think only green is pretty, and are looking for green, it is not pretty.