Twenty Mule Team

Twenty Mule Team

In the late 1800s, the mining of Borax became an important part of the Mojave Desert’s economy. In addition to what are perhaps the most famous borax mines in Death Valley, other operations existed elsewhere in the desert, including in Borate, three miles east of Calico. Mule teams were utilized to ferry the borax to a railroad spur, where the mineral would be loaded aboard trains. One such spur existed at Daggett. The wagons used for this were among the largest ever pulled by draft animals, designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at a time

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