The twenty-mule team used to transport borax out of Death Valley for more than a century has become a symbol of Death Valley itself. The two massive wagons with their attendant water cart were pulled 165 miles out of Death Valley by twenty-mule teams with each trip lasting 10 days. The total weight of a train was 36 tons including 24 tons of borax. The water was the drinking water supply for the mules and the crew--1200 gallons. For perspective, the rear wheels on the wagons were seven feet tall.
One of the most famous landmarks in Death Valley is Scotty's Castle. This Spanish-style mansion was not built by Scotty but by a Chicago millionaire couple, Albert and Bessie Johnson. Scotty was a world class storyteller, who once performed with Bill Hickok's Wild West Show.
Scotty's role was to talk the Johnson's into bankrolling his dreams, which it turns out became their dreams. Johnson was an engineer and designed a steam heating system for warmth and a swamp cooler for air conditioning. Fortunately, the property the Castle is located on also contains a naturally flowing spring, which produces 300 gallons a minute of drinkable water.
The Wildrose kilns are ten beehive-shaped structures, designed to turn pinon wood into coke to be used as fuel in processing silver and lead ore. These kilns only operated for three years and are very well preserved. They are probably the strangest, most improbable industry to be established in Death Valley, where wood is at an absolute premium.
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