Twenty Mule Teams

For more than a century, the 20 Mule Team has been the symbol of the borax industry on product labels, in history books, and on television. That status was earned because mule teams helped solve the most difficult task faced by Death Valley borax operators: getting the product to market. The teams pulled loads weighing up to 36 tons, including 1200 gallons of drinking water. The rear wagon wheels were 7 feet high, and the entire unit with mules was more than 100 feet long. The 20 mule teams traveled south through Death Valley, out Wingate Pass, and across the desert to Mojave, a journey of 165 miles through forbidding terrain.

Furnace Creek, California · United States