thumb|Twenty-mule team in [[Death Valley|Death Valley, California]]
thumb|Twenty-mule-team wagons on display in [[Death Valley|Death Valley, California]]
Twenty-mule teams were teams of eighteen mules and two horses attached to large wagons that transported borax out of Death Valley from 1883 to 1898. They traveled from mines across the Mojave Desert to the nearest railroad spur, away in Mojave. The routes were from the Harmony and Amargosa Borax Works to Daggett, California, and later Mojave, California. After Harmony and Amargosa shut down in 1888, the mule team's route was moved to the mines at Borate, east of Calico, back to Daggett. There they worked from 1891 until 1898 when they were replaced by the Borate and Daggett Railroad.
The wagons were among the largest ever pulled by draft animals, designed to carry 10 short tons (9 metric tons) of borax ore at a time.
History
In 1877, six years before twenty-mule teams would be introduced in Death Valley, Scientific American reported that Francis Marion Smith and his brother had shipped their company's borax in a 30-ton load using two large wagons, with a third wagon for food and water, drawn by a 24-mule team over a stretch of desert between Columbus, Nevada and Wadsworth, Nevada.
The teams hauled more than of borax out of Death Valley in the six years of operation, with Pacific Coast Borax shipping their borax by train starting in 1898.
Wagons
thumb|The vehicles
thumb|The carriage assembly
The twenty-mule-team wagons were designed to carry of borax ore at a time. The rear wheels were high, and fitted with iron tires. The solid oak wagon beds measured long by deep, and weighed empty. Due to their rugged construction, none ever broke down in transit. The first wagon was the trailer, the second was "the tender" or the "back action", and the tank wagon containing water brought up the rear. With the mules, the caravan stretched over . and supplied the mules with water en route. There were water barrels on the wagons for the teamster and the swamper. Water supplies were refilled at springs along the way, as it was not possible to carry enough water for the entire trip. Feed and water for the return trip were dispersed at camps along the road by outbound teams from Mojave pulling empty borax wagons. At one point on the route an additional wagon was added to the outbound train to take water to a dry camp, which was used by a return team and the cycle repeated.
Promotion and fame
thumb|"Borax Smith", borax magnate and promoter of the "twenty-mule team"
Francis Marion Smith, who came to be known as "Borax Smith", founded Pacific Borax, the manufacturers of 20 Mule Team Borax. Cora Keagle recounted his history in an article, "Buckboard Days in Borate", published in Desert Magazine in September 1939. Smith was a great promoter and sent drivers out with jerk-line teams to major U.S. cities to promote the company's laundry product with free samples. The exhibition teams were typically mules for the promotion value, but Smith explained that in actual use, wheel horses were a standard practice. Outside contractors hauling for the company typically used mixed teams.
Joe Zentner wrote of the origins of the advertising campaign on the Desert USA website in "Twenty Mule Teams on the move in Death Valley". Bill Parkinson, formerly a night watchman for the company, had to learn quickly how to drive the team when he was given the role of "Borax Bill". He was the first, but not the last, driver known by that name. The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair was the maiden appearance for the team and was such a success that Parkinson went on tour.
The team eventually made its way to New York City, parading down Broadway. After that showing, the mules were sold, and the wagons shipped back to California. The mules also appeared at the Golden Gate Bridge dedication, according to The Last Ride, the Borax Twenty Mule Team 1883–1999..
A short item in the June 1940 edition of Desert Magazine mentioned that two of the original borax wagons were en route to the New York World's Fair. The item followed with the note that muleskinner "Borax Bill" Parkinson Other appearances for twenty-mule teams included President Wilson's inauguration in 1917.
Promotional team appearances ended with an outing in the January 1, 1999, Rose Parade. The team had a shakedown outing in a 1998 Boron, California, parade. The company spent $100,000, refitting the 115-year-old wagons and obtaining harnesses and mules for the performance. There were no plans for additional public appearances for advertising purposes, as the company no longer had a retail product line. There is a photo of Borax Bill driving the team down Broadway in New York City with bells on every animal. Most of the time, only the leaders wore bells. Another picture shows the team in San Francisco in 1917. This picture clearly shows the teamster on a horse. Another historic picture shows a working borax freight team with a mix of horses and mules.
A road that somewhat follows the route of the twenty-mule teams through California City, California is named Twenty Mule Team Parkway. The main street in Boron, California, a former alignment of California State Route 58, is named Twenty Mule Team Road.
California Historical Landmark
The Mule Team Borax Terminus is a California Historical Landmark number 652. Mule Team Borax Terminus was located at what is now 16246 Sierra Highway, Mojave, California. California Historical Landmark status was given on July 1, 1958.
A Twenty-mule team was used to haul the ore.
The California State Historical Landmark reads: