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  Welcome to Backcountry Explorers

Harmony Borax Works


Harmony Borax Works, Death Valley

GPS: ​36.4798173, -116.8754768

20 mule team borax wagons on the salt flats of Death Valley
20 Mule Team Borax Wagons
Salt Flats of Death Valley
Death Valley Salt Flats
Borax mining equipment
In 1881 Aaron Winters heard about the growing interest in the mineral borax also called “cotton ball” borate ore found in the salt flats on the floor of Death Valley. Winters later sold his Death Valley claim to William T. Coleman, a San Fransisco business man of some prominence, for the sum of $20,000. In 1882 Colman opened the Harmony Borax Works and using 20-mule teams pulling 10-ton borax wagons to haul the ore out of Death Valley from1883 and 1889.

When in full production the Harmony Borax Works employed 40 men who processed three tons of borax daily. In the summer months it was so hot the water used to process the borax would not cool enough for the suspended borax slurry to crystalize out. To eliminate this problem Coleman moved his work men to the Amargosa Plant near where the town of Tecopa is located today.

​The plant closed in 1888 and in 1890 Francis Marion Smith acquired it, consolidated the reserves with his own and formed the Pacific Coast Borax Company. Then in March 13, 1906, he trade marked the name ”20-mule-team”.
Borax mill site
Borax wagons
Picture
Picture
20 mule team borax wagons looking West
Borax mining equipment looking East
Borax wagons from on top of the mill foundations
Picture
Resources:
Death Valley National Park (National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map)


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  • Home
  • Our Adventures
    • Death Valley >
      • Artist Drive, Death Valley
      • Badwater, Death Valley
      • Ballarat Ghost Town, Death Valley
      • Broken Pick mine, Death Valley
      • Charcoal Kilns, Death Valley
      • Charles Manson Hide Out Barker Ranch, Death Valley
      • Chloride Cliffs, Death Valley
      • Corona Mine, Death Valley
      • Crater Sulfur Mine, Death Valley
      • Devils Golf Course, Death Valley
      • Geologist Cabin, Death Valley
      • Harmony Borax works, Death Valley
      • Ibex Springs Talc Mine, Death Valley
      • Inyo Mine, Death Valley
      • Keane Wonder Mine, Death Valley
      • Keystone Mine, Death Valley
      • Lost Burro Mine, Death Valley
      • Marble Bath, Death Valley
      • Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, Death Valley
      • Morning Glory Mine Camp, Death Valley
      • Racetrack, Death Valley
      • Rhyolite, Nevada
      • Russell Camp, Death Valley
      • Ryan, Death Valley
      • Scotty's Castle, Death Valley
      • Skidoo Ghost Town, Death Valley
      • Stella's - Mengel Cabin, Death Valley
      • Teakettle Junction, Death Valley
      • Titus Canyon, Death Valley
      • Ubehebe Crater, Death Valley
      • Warm Springs, Death Valley
      • Zabriskie Point, Death Valley
    • California Gold Country >
      • Alleghany, California
      • Big Springs, highway 49
      • Downieville, California
      • Forest City
      • Kenton Mine
      • Kentucky Mine and Museum
      • Love Falls Yuba River
      • Mountain House Henness Pass
      • Oregon Creek Covered Bridge
      • Poker Flat
      • Sierra Buttes Mine
      • Sierra City, Ca
      • Young America Mine
  • Story Blog
  • Our Company
  • Support