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MINERALS OF THE DEATH VALLEY REGION
Although the Death Valley region is renowned for its legendary mineral wealth, the richest deposits of gold, silver, and other metals have in actuality occurred far more frequently in men's minds than in the Valley itself.
The legend began when the pioneers who struggled out of the Valley in 1849 brought stories of a rich deposit of silver on the mountainside, and of golden bullets used by the Indians. Neither the specific deposit -- the Lost Gunsight Mine -- nor the bullets were ever found, but the imagination of a frontier world was sparked, and prospectors by the hundreds began to come to this region in search of precious metals. Since 1849 they have continued to come, at times by the thousands.
Although many deposits of metallic ores have indeed been discovered in the vicinity of the Valley, notably at Darwin, Tecopa, Rhyolite, Goldfield, and Greenwater, most of these deposits were quicky exhausted, following the cycle of boom and bust. Few metallic deposits have been found in the Valley itself, with the exception of limited strikes of gold at the Keene Wonder Mind and at Chloride Cliffs. On the other hand, the Valley's non-metallic ores, like clay, talc, fluourspar, sulfur, perlite, and borates have proven to be of much more importance.
The minerals displayed here are examples of both the principal and exotic ores found in the Death Valley area. They are from the collection of Harry P. Gower, Chief Geologist for the Pacific Coast Borax Company for many years and later head of its land department. Mr. Gower was with PCB for more than 40 years: Gower Gulch, a ravine southwest of Zabriskie Point, was named for him. He kindly donated his lifelong collection to the museum in 1954. |