[thecodont]

The early boron miners knew how to tell they had the real thing by throwing it in a campfire; it would turn the flames green.

I've heard Tide detergent does the same thing (it must contain some borax).

[ProtectOurFreedom]

The actual stories from Death Valley about borax mining are fascinating. The ore wagons they used were specially created to carry the ore through the desert and were the biggest freight wagons ever created. There were two tandem ore wagons and behind them was a tanker with 1,200 gallons of water for the mules and men on their trek through the desert. There were many recreations of the famous 20 mule teams and wagons done until maybe the 60s keeping the old history alive. With the mules, the caravan stretched over 180 feet and, going around sharp curves, the driver could not see the lead mule.

I found an interesting tidbit in my reading about borax in California. There were processing plants in Alameda, California (not far from me) and in Bayonne, New Jersey. One of the earliest reinforced concrete buildings constructed in the United States was the Pacific Coast Borax Company's refinery in Alameda, California, designed by Ernest L. Ransome and built in 1893. It was the first to use ribbed floor construction as well as concrete columns.

"Borax Smith", founded Pacific Borax and was a promoter of the "twenty-mule team."

In those days, it didn't take a Kamala Harris, $42 billion and an ocean full of corruption to get nothing done. Old "Borax" knew how to get things done and made himself a huge fortune.