Cal Poly Geology Club Death Valley Field Trip â 2004
Cal Poly Geology Club Death Valley Field Trip â 2004 Cal Poly Geology Club Death Valley Field Trip â 2004
producing about 2 million pounds of borax per year from his Death Valley and Amargosafacilities.In 1882 the Lee brothers discovered a new form of borax along Furnace Creek Wash.This new mineral was named colemanite after Coleman. A quartz-like ore, it demandedfar more complex mining methods than cottonball, but it was far richer in borax.Coleman added these borax deposits to his holdings but he never developed them. Hisfinancial troubles in 1888 closed the Harmony Borax Works, and they never reopened.In 1890 Coleman sold his properties to an energetic and successful borax prospector fromTeel’s Marsh named Francis Marion “Borax” Smith for $550,000 giving Smith a virtualmonopoly on domestic borax production. Smith consolidated these properties with hisown to create the Pacific Coast Borax Company.The Twenty Mule TeamsThe twenty mule teams solved atransportation problem: between 1883and 1888 they hauled more than twelvemillion pounds of borax from remoteand inaccessible Death Valley to therailroad at Mojave.When the Harmony Borax Works wasbuilt in 1882, teams of eight and tenmules hauled the ore. But with increasedproduction, the first teams of twentymules were tried. Stretching out morethan a hundred feet from the wagons, thegreat elongated teams immediately proved a dependable means of transportation.The borax wagons were large and well built. The rear wheels were 7 feet high, the frontwheels 5 feet high. Each wheel had a steel tire 8 inches wide and an inch thick. The hubswere 18 inches in diameter and 22 inches long. The spokes were of split oak, the axletreeswere solid steel bars. The wagon beds were 16 feet long and 6 feet deep, and couldcarry 10 tons of borax. Fully loaded, the wagons, including the water tank, weighed 36.5tons.The distance to Mojave was 165 miles. Traveling fifteen to eighteen miles a day, it tookten days to make the trip. After leaving the Valley the teams had to cross 100 miles ofempty desert, where many of the overnight stops were at dry camps. Water tanks weretherefore attached to the wagons, to supply the men and animals between springs.Three men operated these twenty mules teams – in actuality eighteen mules and twohorses – the driver who wielded a formidable whip; the teamster, who harnessed andunharnessed the mules, rode one of the horses, and handled the brake of the lead wagon;and the swamper, who rode on the rear wagon, operated its brake on the downgrades, and
was chief cook and dishwasher.When borax was discovered in the Calico Mountains early in the 1890’s, twenty muleteams hauled the ore from Borate to the railroad at Daggett. Except for the brief interludewhen the traction engine “Old Dinah” attempted the job, borax was carried solely bythese teams until the Borate & Daggett Railroad was built around 1895.History of Borate MiningOn October 12, 1872 Francis “Borax” Smith discovered borax at Teel’s Marsh, Nevadaand until 1881 the marsh was the center of the United States borax industry. In 1881,Aaron and Rose Winters identified ulexite in the playa at the mouth of Furnace CreekWash in Death Valley. The Winters sent samples of their discovery to W.T Coleman andCo. who purchased the property and in 1882, built the famous Harmony Borax Worksnear the discovery site and began processing the ulexite or “cottonball” as it was called.That same year a new borate mineral, later named colemanite, was discovered further tothe south along Furnace Creek Wash.The process Coleman employed to produce borax from “cottonball” was simple. Hedissolved the material in boiling water, allowed the solution to cool and the borax toprecipitate. The only problem lie in the fact that summers in Death Valley were too hot toallow the solution to cool sufficiently for the precipitation of borax. Fortunately, anotherborate discovery was made near Tecopa. Here summer temperatures reached a maximumof only 11 0 0 F and borax could be produced all year round. In winter, the richer depositsin Furnace Creek Wash were processed and in summer operations were moved toTecopa.Coleman and Co. was thus owner of two borax deposits, but they were an arduous 250kilometer trek from the nearest railhead in Mojave. Coleman decided the only solutionfor economical shipment of the borax to railhead was a fleet of large wagons pulled bymule teams, the 20-mule teams that were to become a Death Valley legend. From 1883 to1888 the teams made the 20 day round trip without a single breakdown.In 1883, colemanite was discovered near the present site of Barstow and Coleman beganpurchasing claims in the area. Unlike ulexite, colemanite was not readily soluble and themines were costly underground operations. Coleman went bankrupt in 1888 and sold hisclaims to “Borax” Smith who consolidated his Nevada holdings with those he acquired inCalifornia into the Pacific Coast Borax Company, later to become U.S. Borax.Smith closed the Harmony and Tecopa operations and began mining at Borate north ofBar-stow. With depletion of the Borate deposits in sight Smith purchased the Lila Cproperty in 1902. To reduce costs Pacific Coast Borax constructed the Tonopah andTidewater Railroad from Ludlow to Death Valley Junction and in 1907 began shippingore from the Lila C mine. Borate operations were suspended. The Lila C produced until1914 when operations were moved to the upper Furnace Creek Wash near the town siteof Ryan. Deposits in Furnace Creek Wash produced from 1915 until 1928 when thefamous Boron deposit was discovered in Kern County. Since Boron was a sodium borate,
- Page 1 and 2: Cal Poly Geology ClubDeath Valley F
- Page 3 and 4: If you've had a geology course prev
- Page 5 and 6: strike slip faults are the Death Va
- Page 7 and 8: MileageDeath Valley Field Trip Road
- Page 9 and 10: Borax production began in late 1883
- Page 11 and 12: the greatest topographic relief in
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- Page 15 and 16: Noble to the extent that he identif
- Page 17 and 18: 29.5 (1.2) Turn right (west) on Fur
- Page 19 and 20: Keane Wonder MineWestern mining bri
- Page 21 and 22: quartzites of the Wood Canyon Forma
- Page 23: Harmony Borax Works - Twenty Mule T
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- Page 34 and 35: War Eagle MineThe War Eagle Mine is
- Page 36 and 37: GeologyThe mine workings lie entire
producing about 2 million pounds of borax per year from his <strong>Death</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> and Amargosafacilities.In 1882 the Lee brothers discovered a new form of borax along Furnace Creek Wash.This new mineral was named colemanite after Coleman. A quartz-like ore, it demandedfar more complex mining methods than cottonball, but it was far richer in borax.Coleman added these borax deposits to his holdings but he never developed them. Hisfinancial troubles in 1888 closed the Harmony Borax Works, and they never reopened.In 1890 Coleman sold his properties to an energetic and successful borax prospector fromTeel’s Marsh named Francis Marion “Borax” Smith for $550,000 giving Smith a virtualmonopoly on domestic borax production. Smith consolidated these properties with hisown to create the Pacific Coast Borax Company.The Twenty Mule TeamsThe twenty mule teams solved atransportation problem: between 1883and 1888 they hauled more than twelvemillion pounds of borax from remoteand inaccessible <strong>Death</strong> <strong>Valley</strong> to therailroad at Mojave.When the Harmony Borax Works wasbuilt in 1882, teams of eight and tenmules hauled the ore. But with increasedproduction, the first teams of twentymules were tried. Stretching out morethan a hundred feet from the wagons, thegreat elongated teams immediately proved a dependable means of transportation.The borax wagons were large and well built. The rear wheels were 7 feet high, the frontwheels 5 feet high. Each wheel had a steel tire 8 inches wide and an inch thick. The hubswere 18 inches in diameter and 22 inches long. The spokes were of split oak, the axletreeswere solid steel bars. The wagon beds were 16 feet long and 6 feet deep, and couldcarry 10 tons of borax. Fully loaded, the wagons, including the water tank, weighed 36.5tons.The distance to Mojave was 165 miles. Traveling fifteen to eighteen miles a day, it tookten days to make the trip. After leaving the <strong>Valley</strong> the teams had to cross 100 miles ofempty desert, where many of the overnight stops were at dry camps. Water tanks weretherefore attached to the wagons, to supply the men and animals between springs.Three men operated these twenty mules teams – in actuality eighteen mules and twohorses – the driver who wielded a formidable whip; the teamster, who harnessed andunharnessed the mules, rode one of the horses, and handled the brake of the lead wagon;and the swamper, who rode on the rear wagon, operated its brake on the downgrades, and
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