Death Valley 49ers Encampment - Twenty Mule Team

Photo From Wikipedia

Death Valley was the location of a number of mining operations.  The most famous mining effort was the Borax mine near Furnace Creek.  From 1883 to 1889 borax was scraped from the valley floor, and loaded into wagons.  Mules were used to pull the wagons some 80 miles out of the valley.  The Twenty Mule team wagons were made famous by the television series "Death Valley Days" sponsored by Twenty Mule Team Borax and narrated by none other than Ronald Reagan.

 Annually, during the 49ers Encampment the mule train is assembled in a parade to the borax mine.

I got good pictures of the Mule Team at the mine on the second days parade. 

This year the wagons have been rebuilt with new wood faithfully mirroring the original construction.

We finally took the obligatory picture of the entrance sign during our departure from Death Valley on November 10th.  After over 10 days of boondocking we settled into the RPI park in nearby Pahrump, NV for several days.