HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE UPPER MOJAVE DESERT

Vol. 19 No. 3 April 2004

APRIL MEETING TO FEATURE TALES OF THE OLD DAYS IN THE EASTERN SIERRA

The April meeting of the Historical Society will feature Bob Tanner recounting tales of the old days in the Eastern High Sierra. The meeting will start at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, April 20 at the Maturango Museum. Everybody is welcome to attend the Society's meetings.

Bob Tanner has owned Red's Meadow Resort and Pack Station near Mammoth Lakes for 45 years. The business, located on the Pacific Crest Trail, has been renting out horses and pack mules since 1934. Mr. Tanner's years in the business have given him a wealth of tales about the packing business, movie companies, celebrity guests like John Wayne, James Arness, Robert McNamara, and Art Linkletter. One special story is about how Bob helped convince Governor Ronald Reagan not to build a trans-Sierra road through Red's Meadow. Bob has such a wealth of tales that he has begun sharing them each Saturday night at Red's. Save the drive to Mammoth by attending the HSUMD meeting on April 20!

Lodgings for Mr. Tanner will be courtesy of the Heritage Inn.

Our May meeting will be the annual dinner on May 18 to be held at Victoria's at the Heritage featuring a presentation by James Barnes, BLM, on the archaelogy of the Reilly Mine in the Panamint Valley. For more information about this or future meetings, call HSUMD President Bruce Wertenberger at 375-2369. Reservations after April 20 at the Maturango.Museum.
Andrew Sound

MANZANAR VISITORS CENTER GRAND OPENING ON APRIL 24

Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps at which Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II. Located at the foot of the imposing Sierra Nevada in the Owens Valley, Manzanar has been identified as the best preserved of these camps. Manzanar National Historic Site was established in 1992 to provide for the protection and interpretation of the site's historical, cultural and natural resources.

On Saturday, April 24, 2004, the Historic Site will celebrate a major milestone: the grand opening of the Interpretive Center and Park Headquarters in the restored Manzanar High School auditorium. The Interpretive Center will include 8,000 square feet of exhibits, two small movie theaters, park offices, and a bookstore operated by the new Manzanar History Association.

On Friday, April 23, the Eastern California Museum and the Independence Chamber of Commerce will host a reception from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Eastern California Museum in Independence.

Events on April 24 begin with the 35th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage sponsored by the Manzanar Committee, a Los Angeles-based education group. The Pilgrimage event begins at 11:00 a.m. at the Manzanar cemetery and will include a performance by Taiko drummers, speeches, and an interfaith religious service.

The Grand Opening celebration begins at 1:30 p.m. at the auditorium. The program will include a performance by Mary Nomura, the "Songbird of Manzanar,"as well as remarks by dignitaries from the Japanese American community, the National Park Service, and political representatives. The hour-long ceremony will be followed by a performance of the Bishop Big Band performing popular music from the 1940s. Refreshments will be provided by the Lone Pine and Bishop Chambers of Commerce.

The Historical Society is encouraging carpooling to the site on Saturday. Anyone interested in ride-sharing, whether as a driver or a passenger, may call Kathy Armstrong at 375-2643 or Marcia Nevins at 375-3356. Additionally, the park service recommends bringing your own lunch and folding chairs, if you plan to attend both the Pilgrimage and the Grand Opening ceremonies. There will be little time between the ceremonies, and no food service closer than Independence. Seating will be provided at the Grand Opening, but not at the Pilgrimage.

Manzanar National Historic Site is located 6 miles south of Independence, 9 miles north of Lone Pine; approximately 90 miles north of Ridgecrest on U.S. Hwy 395. For further information, please call (760) 878-2932 or 878-2194. Visit the website at www.nps.gov/manz.
Andrew Sound

JAPANESE-AMERICAN MUSEUM FIELD TRIP

Plans are also firming up for the Society's field trip to the Japanese American National Museum. The date is tentatively set for June 5. The trip is planned to include a bus ride down to the Museum, a special docent-led walking tour of the Museum's neighborhood in L.A.'s Little Tokyo, and a visit to a Japanese Garden. We're still working on prices, but we expect it to be in the $40-50 range, including bus fare, Museum admission, and the walking tour. More details will be available in next month's newsletter or at the April meeting. Andrew Sound

BUSINESS MEMBERS

Please patronize our business members: The News Review (new listing), BevLen Haus ­ Bed and Breakfast , Jack & Dana Lyons, the Swap Sheet, Ridgecrest Moving & Storage, Granite Construction ­ Sand & Gravel, Farris' Diner & Italian Gardens, and Indian Wells Valley Insurance Co.

HISTORICAL ARTICLE

Last month a number of Historical Society members went on a field trip to the open pit borax mine at Boron, California. Following is Part One of a two part article by John Di Pol on the background of the company which owns that mining property. Ed.

FRANCIS MARION SMITH AND THE BORAX INDUSTRY (Part One)

Members of our Historical Society recently visited the site of the borax mine near Kramer Junction in eastern Kern County. This great mine is one of the world's largest open pit deposits and has been owned and operated by a British company, Borax Consolidated Limited, for many years. How and when was his deposit discovered? And how did it come into foreign ownership? The answer is "one" word: Francis Marion "Borax" Smith.

Smith was born in 1846 into a farming family in Wisconsin. At age 21 he left the farm and went west, prospecting for five years in several western states. The year 1872 found him employed at a borax refinery in Columbus Marsh near Candelaria, Nevada. Smith set about exploring on his own behalf and found rich deposits at Teel's Marsh. Together with an older brother, a refinery was built, borax produced and shipped out via mule teams and wagons. Another prospector, William T. Coleman, had also found deposits on Columbus Marsh. Smith and Coleman formed a business association with Coleman building a refinery in Alameda, California, and all their borax was sent there. At this same time the Carson and Colorado Railroad was building built and had reached Candelaria, to a great advantage for Smith/Coleman's interests (railways are better than mules for hauling bulk!). Their business boomed.

At this same time, others, including Aaron and Rosie Winters, were prospecting in the Furnace Creek area of Death Valley in the late 1870's. You know their story: "She burns green, Rosie. We're rich, we're rich!" and rightly so, since Smith/ Coleman purchased their discovery for $20,000. Additional claims were filed in 1881 in the eastern part of Death Valley, but not developed. The Harmony Borax works were build in 1883 and the refined borax products shipped to Mojave, California, by the now famous 20-mule team wagon trains. By 1888 the deposits played out and the Harmony Works closed down. However, Smith/Coleman had been busy. In 1882 they purchased the "Calico" deposits at Borate, California, near the town of Daggett on the Santa Fe RR main line. These deposits were put into production in 1889. In 1890, Smith bought out all of Coleman's borax interests (deposits, refineries, marketing and sales, etc. Why Coleman sold out is another story, not told here.)

In September 1890 Smith consolidated all his many borax holdings, refineries, etc. into a single company, Pacific Borax (PCB). PCB's main office was in San Francisco, with sales and marketing offices in Chicago and New York. A new, very large refinery was built in Alameda, with the Calico deposits at Borate being the principal producer A real entrepreneur, Smith had become the world's major borax producer.

Ever expanding his horizons, Smith was looking for foreign markets and in 1896 traveled to London for that purpose. There he met Richard C. Baker and James Gerstley who had formed Redwoods Chemical Works Limited, built a refinery in London and were looking for additional raw material. Smith jumped at this chance and signed an agreement which merged his entire PCB assets with Redwoods Chemical, with Smith as the major shareholder. Smaller companies with deposits in Turkey and South America were purchased and what gradually emerged in 1899 was the large, multinational company: Borax Consolidated Limited (BCL), with Smith as the controlling shareholder and R. C. Baker and James Gerstley as the other principal, but minority, shareholders.

By the turn of the century, the Borate (Daggett) deposits began to play out. Smith wanted to open up the Death Valley deposits, but the problem was transportation. He proposed building a railroad. Baker was leery ­ very conservative, but Smith pressed and prevailed. Construction of the Tonopah and Tidewater RR, with connections to the Santa Fe mainline at Ludlow commenced in 1905. Concomitantly, the Death Valley deposits were developed: the Lila C. mine followed by the great Ryan camp and its cluster of mines. The BCL prospered.

In this same time period, entrepreneur Smith was busy elsewhere. He had been investing heavily in Oakland in building the Key System ­ a transit company with ferry connections to San Francisco. He also formed a Realty Syndicate to develop extensive properties in the East Bay area. Smith did not believe in long-term debt. He was a "borrowing capitalist" who built his great borax empire and Oakland ventures largely with borrowed short-term financing. He had great assets, but low liquidity. For many years his bankers would give him extensions when needed, but by 1913, they feared they were carrying too much "Smith paper" and began to call in their loans. Smith maneuvered, but without much success. By 1914 he was forced to appoint an Advisory Committee, as trustee of his assets to serve as Conservators, to develop plans for repayment of the loans over a period of time. But the banks wanted their money now, and the Advisory Committee became liquidators, rapidly selling Smith's assets, the principal being his majority holdings in BCL. These holdings were sold in Europe at prices greatly below their true value. Guess who the purchasers were? Yep, his longtime partner and "friend," R. C. Baker, with other British investors. Thus BCL became totally British owned, with its major assets in the U. S. Smith was out of the borax business. His Oakland projects passed into other hands. A ruined man. But, not so fast! Read part two next month.