Near Boron in Kern County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Twenty Mule Team

Photographed by Craig Baker, September 24, 2022

1. Twenty Mule Team Marker

Inscription. This is one of the original twenty mule team wagon sets, used to carry borax out of Death Valley, through 165 miles of desolate mountains and blistering deserts, to the closest railroad spur in Mojave, California. It took 20 days for the 20 Mule Team to make the round trip, to deliver 20 tons of borax. The teams worked steadily from 1883 to 1888.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Natural Resources • Roads & Vehicles. A significant historical year for this entry is 1883.

Location. 35° 1.758′ N, 117° 41.252′ W. Marker is near Boron, California, in Kern County. It can be reached from Borax Road 2½ miles north of California Route 58. Borax Road becomes Suckow Road inside the US Borax plant. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 14486 Borax Rd, Boron CA 93516, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in California’s San Joaquin Valley,

specifically in the Central Valley,

and in the Sierra Nevada.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific

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Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 13 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Twenty-Mule Team Borax Wagon (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Miner's Cabin (about 300 feet away); Borax (approx. 2.4 miles away); Florence Lowe “Pancho” Barnes (approx. 2.9 miles away); Twenty-Mule Teams (approx. 2.9 miles away); a different marker also named Miner's Cabin (approx. 3 miles away); Rocket Site (approx. 7 miles away); F-8 Supercritical Wing Aircraft (approx. 12.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Boron.

More about this marker. This display was changed in 2026. The paint was removed from the wagons, and a shelter was built to protect the display.

Regarding Twenty Mule Team. The borate mine here in Boron, California, started as an underground mine in the 1920s. In the 1950s, with the invention of large haul trucks, the buried ore body, riddled with 200 miles of tunnels, was exposed, and the

Original Marker, with similar text image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, October 12, 2011

2. Original Marker, with similar text

mine became an open pit. Today the operation covers 20 square miles.
U.S. Borax is owned by Rio Tinto, one of the world's major mining companies, whose principal assets in the US are this mine, and the Bingham Canyon copper mine near Salt Lake City, Utah, often cited as the largest open-pit mine in the world.
U.S. Borax was formed by the merger of the United States Potash Corporation and the Pacific Coast Borax Company, which had operated the mine in Boron since 1927.
Pacific Coast Borax was formed in 1890, when it bought the major borax operations in Death Valley. Death Valley was developed by early borate mining companies from the 1880s into the 1920s, until the more efficient and convenient mine at Boron was developed. After that, Pacific Coast Borax marketed their assets in Death Valley to tourists.
Twenty Mule Teams hauled borates from the original Death Valley mines to the closest railway, in the town of Mojave, a distance of 165 miles across the desert. These teams were later made famous by the effective corporate branding of Pacific Coast Borax (and continued by U.S. Borax), including popular radio and TV programs that ran for

Twenty Mule Team Wagons image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, October 12, 2011

3. Twenty Mule Team Wagons

The marker was originally at the stairs.

decades. The campaign is credited to Stephen T. Mather (1867-1930), the marketing manager at the company's Chicago headquarters, who later made a fortune with his own borax mining company. In 1917, Mather became the first director of the National Park Service.

Only three sets of original Twenty Mule Team Wagons still exist. The largest set is on display at Harmony Borax Works in Death Valley. It is the only existing set of wagons that made the trip from Death Valley to Mojave, and it was built in Mojave. The other two sets of wagons are smaller and they made shorter trips from a mine near Daggett. They were built at Alf’s Blacksmith Shop in Daggett. One set is on display here, and the other set is on display in Death Valley at the ranch museum in Furnace Creek. This set of wagons is the only one that can still travel, and it often makes appearances at public events, including the Rose Parade in Pasadena. In 2025 most of the paint was removed from this set of wagons.

Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker. — 20 Mule Team routes.

Also see . . .
1. History of Borax Mining in California.

The Twenty Mule Team image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, October 12, 2011

4. The Twenty Mule Team

(Submitted on December 13, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)
2. 20-Mule Borax Teams. An article by Joe Zentner titled On The Move In Death Valley (Submitted on December 16, 2011.)

3. Visitor Center Website. A museum of all things borax, with Twenty Mule Team wagons outside, and a spectacular view into the mine from inside. (Submitted on March 15, 2018, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.)

4. Reproduction of Twenty-Mule Team Wagons. This is a 15 part series on the construction of reproduction Twenty-Mule Team Wagons. (Submitted on March 24, 2018, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, October 12, 2011

5. The Twenty Mule Team

Twenty Mule Team Wagon image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, September 21, 2025

6. Twenty Mule Team Wagon

After the paint was removed in 2025.

Visitor Center image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, September 24, 2022

7. Visitor Center

US Borax open-pit mine. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, October 12, 2011

8. US Borax open-pit mine.

US Borax processing plant. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, October 12, 2011

9. US Borax processing plant.

Photographed by Denise Boose, April 4, 2026

10. Twenty Mule Team Marker

Twenty Mule Team image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Denise Boose, April 4, 2026

11. Twenty Mule Team

Credits. This page was last revised on April 6, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 12, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 1,382 times since then and 39 times this year. Last updated on September 27, 2018, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. Photos: 1. submitted on October 5, 2022, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 12, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. 6. submitted on September 24, 2025, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 7. submitted on October 5, 2022, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. 8, 9. submitted on December 12, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. 10, 11. submitted on April 4, 2026, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California.