Death Valley Visitors Guide - 12th Edition

I n the fall of 1926, the Pacific Coast Borax Company (Borax Company) was nearing completion of its first hotel in Death Valley, the Furnace Creek Inn. At this time, Death Valley enjoyed no protective status as a Na- tional Monument or National Park. In fact, the very few roads that existed in the Death Valley region had all been built as part of the Borax Company’s mining operations. Long-time Borax Company employee and Land Superintendant Harry Gower had been assigned the task of overseeing construction of the new hotel. The details involved in its construction along with the horrific construction schedule demanded by the Borax Company executives had consumed Harry and his staff. As the construction work was winding down and the opening of the hotel was just a few weeks away, it occurred to Harry that the arriving tourists would want to enjoy some scenic views and have some historic points to visit while staying at “the Inn.” Thus, the race was on it not only to develop a few of these points of interest, but to name them as well. The name Death Valley already conjured up an image among the American public of fear, morbidity and a land inhabited by reddish ghouls with pointed ears, tails and pitchforks. Harry and the Borax Company thought it a wise marketing strategy to continue with this association. Devils Golf Course, Funeral Mountains, Badwater and many more Dante/Inferno-type names soon appeared on maps as “must see” places for the Death Valley visitor. But Harry Gower also understood the huge marketing potential if they could promote the use of its magic soap product Twenty Mule Team Borax through the appeal and romanticism of soon to be opened Death Valley. Names that would help the traveling public to easily associate with their “white gold” (which was readily available at the local grocers back home) were also chosen for some of the tourist sites. Four miles east of the Furnace Cree Inn lay a twisting and colorful canyon just south of the main thoroughfare through Furnace Creek Wash. Harry (or perhaps someone on his staff ) suggested naming this beautiful spot Twenty Mule Team Canyon. They didn’t seem to mind that the famed Twenty Mule Teams never traveled through here. The canyon was so narrow and twisting in places, that a team of two horses would have difficulty navigating through parts of it. But all of the arriving tourists to the soon to open Inn would have to travel right past this spot, and see its sign. A more innocuous form of using nature to help market a product may have never been devised! The short 2.5 mile drive through Twenty Mule Team Canyon provides visitors with beautiful and scenic vistas along with many hiking opportunities. Twisted, eroded and eerie formations abound. There are significant borax deposits found in the hills and mountains here and though the Borax Company never actively mined this location, it did carry out extensive development work to establish the value of their deposits. Hikers can explore the area but for their safety, should never enter any old mine. 14 Death Valley Vistiors Guide • 12th Edition 417. Main St. Beatty, NV 89003 (775) 553-2303 www.beattymuseum.org Open 7 Days AWeek From 10am to 3pm How ‘White Gold’ led to naming Twenty Mule Team Canyon 20 Mule team Canyon: Instead of yet another Devil-related name, the scenic canyon behind the Furnace Creek Inn was named 20 Mule Team Canyon to link it with the Borax Company’s famous, widely recognized soap products, even though Borax was not mined in the canyon, and the 20 Mule Teams never visited. DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK PHOTO