Editing Death Valley National Park (section)

==Human history==

[[File:Petroglyphs2-above Mesquite Springs-800px.JPG|thumb|[[Petroglyph]]s above Mesquite Springs]]

===Early inhabitants and transient populations===
Four [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] cultures are known to have lived in the area during the last 10,000&nbsp;years.<ref name="Wright1997p611"/> The first known group, the [[Nevares Spring People]], were [[hunters and gatherers]] who arrived in the area perhaps 9,000&nbsp;years ago (7000&nbsp;BC) when there were still small lakes in Death Valley and neighboring Panamint Valley.<ref name="Wallace1978">{{harvnb|Wallace|1978}}</ref> A much milder climate persisted at that time, and large game animals were still plentiful. By 5,000&nbsp;years ago (3000&nbsp;BC) the [[Mesquite Flat People]] displaced the Nevares Spring People.<ref name="Wallace1978"/> Around 2,000&nbsp;years ago the [[Saratoga Spring People]] moved into the area, which by then was probably already a hot, dry desert.<ref name="Wallace1978"/><ref group=note>The last known lake to exist in Death Valley likely dried up 3,000&nbsp;years ago.</ref> This culture was more advanced at hunting and gathering and was skillful at handcrafts. They also left mysterious stone patterns in the valley.

One thousand years ago, the nomadic [[Timbisha]] (formerly called Shoshone and also known as Panamint or Koso) moved into the area and hunted game and gathered [[mesquite]] beans along with [[pinyon pine]] nuts.<ref name="Wright1997p611"/><ref name="Wallace1978"/> Because of the wide altitude differential between the valley bottom and the mountain ridges, especially on the west, the Timbisha practiced a vertical migration pattern.<ref name="Wright1997p611"/> Their winter camps were located near water sources in the valley bottoms. As the spring and summer progressed and the weather warmed, grasses and other plant food sources ripened at progressively higher altitudes. November found them at the very top of the mountain ridges where they harvested pine nuts before moving back to the valley bottom for winter.<!--NEEDS CITE Several families of Timbisha still live within the park at [[Furnace Creek, California|Furnace Creek]] (Timbisha is the Native name of the village). The former village of Maahunu is located near [[Scotty's Castle]] but has been abandoned. Many of the baskets on display at the Castle were made by the Timbisha, who worked there as laborers and housekeepers before the National Park Service took over its care.-->

The [[California Gold Rush]] brought the first people of European descent known to visit the immediate area. In December 1849 two groups of [[California Gold Country]]-bound travelers with perhaps 100 wagons total stumbled into Death Valley after getting lost on what they thought was a shortcut off the [[Old Spanish Trail (trade route)|Old Spanish Trail]].<ref name="Kiver1999p277">{{harvnb|Kiver|1999|p=277}}</ref> Called the [[Death Valley '49ers|Bennett-Arcane Party]], they were unable to find a pass out of the valley for weeks; they were able to find fresh water at various springs in the area, but were forced to eat several of their oxen to survive. They used the wood of their wagons to cook the meat and make jerky. The place where they did this is today referred to as "Burnt Wagons Camp" and is located near Stovepipe Wells.

After abandoning their wagons, they eventually were able to hike out of the valley. Just after leaving the valley, one of the women in the group turned and said, "Goodbye Death Valley," giving the valley its name.<ref name="Kiver1999p277"/> Included in the party was [[William L. Manly|William Lewis Manly]] whose autobiographical book ''[[Death Valley in '49]]'' detailed this trek and popularized the area (geologists later named the prehistoric lake that once filled the valley after him).

===Boom and bust===
[[File:Death_Valley_Railroad_No_2-a.jpg|thumb|Historical locomotive for transporting [[borax]] in Death Valley]]
The ores that are most famously associated with the area were also the easiest to collect and the most profitable: evaporite deposits such as salts, [[borate]], and [[talc]]. Borax was found by Rosie and Aaron Winters near [[Oasis at Death Valley|The Ranch at Death Valley]] (then called Greenland) in 1881.<ref name="HarmonyBorax">{{harvnb|USGS|2004|p="Harmony Borax Works"}}</ref> Later that same year, the [[Eagle Borax Works]] became Death Valley's first commercial borax operation. [[William Tell Coleman]] built the [[Harmony Borax Works]] plant and began to process ore in late 1883 or early 1884, continuing until 1888.<ref name="NPSmining">[[#NPSwebsite|NPS website]], "Mining"</ref> This mining and smelting company produced borax to make [[soap]] and for industrial uses.<ref name="NPS20mule">[[#NPSwebsite|NPS website]], "Twenty Mule Teams"</ref> The end product was shipped out of the valley {{convert|165|mi|km}} to the [[Mojave, California|Mojave]] railhead in 10-ton-capacity wagons pulled by "[[twenty-mule team]]s" that were actually teams of 18 mules and two horses each.<ref name="NPS20mule" />

[[File:20 Mule Team in Death Valley.jpg|thumb|A twenty-mule team in Death Valley]]
The teams averaged {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=in}} an hour and required about 30&nbsp;days to complete a round trip.<ref name="HarmonyBorax"/> The trade name [[Twenty-Mule-Team Borax|''20-Mule Team Borax'']] was established by [[Francis Marion Smith]]'s [[Pacific Coast Borax Company]] after Smith acquired Coleman's borax holdings in 1890. A memorable advertising campaign used the wagon's image to promote the [[Boraxo]] brand of granular hand soap and the [[Death Valley Days]] radio and television programs. In 1914, the [[Death Valley Railroad]] was built to serve mining operations on the east side of the valley. Mining continued after the collapse of Coleman's empire, and by the late 1920s the area was the world's number one source of borax.<ref name="Wright1997p611"/> Some four to six million years old, the Furnace Creek Formation is the primary source of borate minerals gathered from Death Valley's playas.<ref name="HarmonyBorax"/>

Other visitors stayed to prospect for and mine deposits of [[copper]], [[gold]], [[lead]], and [[silver]].<ref name="Wright1997p611"/> These sporadic mining ventures were hampered by their remote location and the harsh desert environment. In December 1903, two men from Ballarat were prospecting for silver.<ref name="NPSpeople">[[#NPSwebsite|NPS website]], "People"</ref> One was an out-of-work Irish miner named Jack Keane and the other was a one-eyed Basque butcher named Domingo Etcharren. Quite by accident, Keane discovered an immense ledge of free-milling gold by the duo's work site and named the claim the [[Keane Wonder Mine]]. This started a minor and short-lived [[gold rush]] into the area.<ref name="NPSpeople"/> The Keane Wonder Mine, along with mines at [[Rhyolite, Nevada|Rhyolite]], [[Skidoo, California|Skidoo]] and [[Harrisburg, Inyo County, California|Harrisburg]], were the only ones to extract enough metal ore to make them worthwhile. Outright shams such as [[Leadfield, California|Leadfield]] also occurred, but most ventures quickly ended after a short series of prospecting mines failed to yield evidence of significant ore (these mines now dot the entire area and are a significant hazard to anyone who enters them). The boom towns which sprang up around these mines flourished during the first decade of the 1900s, but soon declined after the [[Panic of 1907]].<ref name="NPSmining"/>

===Early tourism===
The first documented tourist facilities in Death Valley were a set of tent houses built in the 1920s where Stovepipe Wells is now located. People flocked to resorts built around natural springs thought to have curative and restorative properties. In 1927, Pacific Coast Borax turned the crew quarters of its Furnace Creek Ranch into a resort, creating the [[Oasis at Death Valley|Furnace Creek Inn]] and resort.<ref name="NPSinn">[[#NPSwebsite|NPS website]], "Furnace Creek Inn"</ref> The spring at Furnace Creek was harnessed to develop the resort, and as the water was diverted, the surrounding [[marsh]]es and [[wetland]]s started to shrink.<ref name="FocusWater"/>

[[File:Scotty's Castle under construction.JPG|thumb|[[Scotty's Castle]] under construction]]
Soon the valley was a popular winter destination. Other facilities started off as private getaways but were later opened to the public. Most notable among these was Death Valley Ranch, better known as [[Scotty's Castle]]. This large ranch home built in the [[Spanish Revival]] style became a hotel in the late 1930s and, largely because of the fame of [[Death Valley Scotty]], a tourist attraction. Death Valley Scotty, whose real name was Walter Scott, was a gold miner who pretended to be the owner of "his castle", which he claimed to have built with profits from his gold mine. Neither claim was true, but the real owner, [[Chicago]] millionaire [[Albert Mussey Johnson]], encouraged the myth. When asked by reporters what his connection was to Walter Scott's castle, Johnson replied that he was Mr. Scott's banker.<ref>[[#NPSwebsite|NPS website]], "[http://www.nps.gov/deva/historyculture/scotty3.htm Johnson and Scotty Build a Castle]"</ref>

===Protection and later history===
President [[Herbert Hoover]] proclaimed a [[U.S. National Monument|national monument]] in and around Death Valley on February 11, 1933, setting aside almost {{convert|2|e6acre|km2|spell=in|abbr=unit}} of southeastern California and small parts of Nevada.<ref name="NPSguide">[[#NPSguide|NPS Visitor Guide]]</ref>

[[File:CCC boys in Death Valley.jpg|thumb|[[Civilian Conservation Corps]] workers in Death Valley]]
The [[Civilian Conservation Corps]] (CCC) developed infrastructure in Death Valley National Monument during the [[Great Depression]] and on into the early 1940s. The CCC built barracks, graded {{convert|500|mi|km}} of roads, installed water and telephone lines, and a total of 76 buildings. Trails in the Panamint Range were built to points of scenic interest, and an [[adobe]] village, laundry and trading post were constructed for the [[Timbisha|Timbisha Shoshone Tribe]]. Five campgrounds, restrooms, an airplane landing field and picnic facilities were also built.<ref name="NPSccc">[[#NPSwebsite|NPS website]], "Civilian Conservation Corps"</ref>

The creation of the monument resulted in a temporary closing of the lands to prospecting and mining. However, Death Valley was quickly reopened to mining by [[Congress of the United States|Congressional]] action in June 1933. As improvements in mining technology allowed lower grades of ore to be processed, and new heavy equipment allowed greater amounts of rock to be moved, mining in Death Valley changed. Gone were the days of the "single-blanket, jackass prospector" long associated with the romantic west. [[Open-pit mine|Open pit]] and [[strip mine]]s scarred the landscape as international mining corporations bought claims in highly visible areas of the national monument. The public outcry that ensued led to greater protection for all national park and monument areas in the United States.<ref name="NPSmining"/> In 1976, Congress passed the Mining in the Parks Act, which closed Death Valley National Monument to the filing of new mining claims, banned open-pit mining and required the [[National Park Service]] to examine the validity of tens of thousands of pre-1976 mining claims. Mining was allowed to resume on a limited basis in 1980 with stricter environmental standards.<ref name="NPSmining" /> The last mine in the park, Billie Mine, closed in 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mining in Death Valley – Death Valley National Park|url=https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/mining-in-death-valley.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-10-29|publisher=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306131546/http://www.nps.gov:80/deva/learn/nature/mining-in-death-valley.htm |archive-date=2015-03-06 }}</ref>

In 1952 President Harry Truman added the [[Devils Hole]] to Death Valley National Monument; it is the only habitat of the [[Devils Hole pupfish]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rivard |first=Katherine |title=The Extraordinary Lives of Death Valley's Endangered Devils Hole Pupfish |url=https://www.nationalparks.org/connect/blog/extraordinary-lives-death-valleys-endangered-devils-hole-pupfish |access-date=2024-09-25 |website=National Park Foundation}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Devils Hole – Death Valley National Park |url=https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/nature/devils-hole.htm |access-date=2024-09-25 |publisher=National Park Service}}</ref>

Death Valley National Monument was designated a [[biosphere reserve]] in 1984.<ref name="NPSindex" /> On October 31, 1994, the monument was expanded by {{convert|1.3|e6acre|km2}} and re-designated as a [[national park]], via congressional passage of the [[California Desert Protection Act]] (Public Law 103–433).<ref name="NPSindex" /> Consequently, the elevated status for Death Valley made it the largest national park in the [[contiguous United States]]. On March 12, 2019, the [[John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act]] added {{cvt|35292|acre|sqmi km2|0}} to the park.<ref>[https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/47 "S.47 – John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act; Part III—National Park System additions; Sec. 1431. Death Valley National Park boundary revision"]. ''congress.gov''. Retrieved June 16, 2019.</ref>

Many of the larger cities and towns within the boundary of the regional [[groundwater]] flow system that the park and its plants and animals rely upon are experiencing some of the fastest growth rates of any place in the United States. Notable examples within a {{convert|100|mi|km|adj=on}} radius of Death Valley National Park include [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] and [[Pahrump, Nevada]]. In the case of Las Vegas, the local Chamber of Commerce estimates that 6,000 people are moving to the city every month. Between 1985 and 1995, the population of the Las Vegas Valley increased from 550,700 to 1,138,800.<ref name="FocusWater" />

In 1977, parts of Death Valley were used by director [[George Lucas]] as a [[List of Star Wars filming locations|filming location for ''Star Wars'']], providing the setting for the fictional planet [[Tatooine]].<ref name="lucas">{{cite book|last=Hearn|first=Marcus|title=The Cinema of George Lucas|year=2005|others=Foreword by Ron Howard|publisher=Abrams|location=New York|isbn=0-8109-4968-7|page=109}}</ref><ref name="swlocs-deathvalley">{{cite web|title=Star Wars trek: Death Valley – April 2001|url=http://www.starwarslocations.com/article.php?story=20070923041409143|work=Star Wars Locations|access-date=28 March 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Telescope & Wildrose Peaks - Emigrant Canyon Rd.jpg|thumb|center|upright=3|[[Telescope Peak|Telescope]] and Wildrose Peaks from Emigrant Canyon Road]]