Today in History - 1856

"Borax" was discovered by Dr. John Veatch in Tuscan Springs, California. It became a multi-use product that was popularized during the era of TV's Death Valley Days and 20 Mule Team Borax.

The discovery of borax set off feverish prospecting and mining that eventually made the U.S. the world's leading borax producer. Among the most successful of the earlier prospectors were Francis Marion ("Borax") Smith and William T. Coleman.

Smith began marketing borax in the East with the bland promise that "a thimbleful of borax" kept cream sweet, a borax shampoo cured "nervous headache."

Coleman acquired a deposit in California's Death Valley. In 120° heat he began mining borax in the valley 280 ft. below sea level. To transport the ore over jagged peaks and through the desert to Mojave, Calif., he formed the famed 20-mule team (actually 18 mules and two horses), was soon hauling out 2,500,000 tons of ore annually.