by Steve Kesinger
This is a land of extremes, from the highest peak 11,049' above sea level to the valley floor 282' below sea level. Temperatures range from near freezing to summer highs over 130 degrees F. This is the hottest, driest and most desolate area in the Western Hemisphere.
Two hundred million years ago, seas covered the valley, depositing layers of sediment and fossils. Between 35 and 5 million years ago, faulting of the earth's crust and volcanic action pushed up the mountain ranges and caused the valley floor to drop, forming this trough. (Geologically, a true valley is formed by water erosion.)
Nomadic Indians were the first people to explore the trough as long ago as 7000 BC. Much later inhabitants were the Mesquite Flat People, followed by the Saratoga People, then the Desert Shoshones and their descendants, the Panamint Indians, some of whom still live near Furnace Creek.
The first white men to visit the area were emigrants on the way to California's gold fields in 1849. Trying to take a short cut, the Benett-Arcane party broke away from a larger wagon train near Enterprize, Utah and headed west. They ended up trapped her for over a month before finding a way out. As they climbed out, one looked back and said "Good-bye Death Valley" because of the extreme hardships they had endured there. Only one actually died in the valley, but 14 of them died en route to California.
In 1873, miners settled here following a silver strike near Panamint Mountain and the discovery of borax near Furnace Creek. Borax mining did very well and is still being mined in the western valley near Trona and Ryan, though they no longer use mule teams to transport it out. A short gold strike was worked from about 1900 to 1920, then the valley became nearly deserted again.
In 1933, Death Valley was declared a National Monument to preserve this unique habitat. In 1994 it was changed to a National Park and 1.3 million acres were added to the existing 2.1 million acres, forming the largest National Park in the lower 48 states.
Back to the Norcal Home Page...