This elaborate home movie shows a trip to Death Valley in1936. It features extensive footage of the vast mountainous desert landscape, including a reenactment of the historic 20-mule teams used during the late 1800s to transport borax across the harsh desert, and includes scenes of Badwater Basin—sitting at 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level, making it the lowest point in the USA—as well as Artist’s Drive, a 9-mile scenic loop through the Amargosa Range.
“Death Valley” title banner (00:11). Various scenes of the sky (00:17). A reenactment of the historic 20-mule teams used during the late 1800s to transport borax across the harsh desert landscape (00:37). A woman standing in the mountainous desert landscape (02:17). Text overlay (02:29). Views of the vast mountainous desert landscape (02:35). Text overlay (03:18). Views of Badwater Basin, sitting at 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level, making it the lowest point in the USA (03:26). A car drives down desert roads (03:55). Views of the vast mountainous desert landscape (04:07). A woman sits on a rock formation (04:43). She is filmed up close holding her dog (04:49). Views of the vast mountainous desert landscape (05:00). An entrance sign to the “Volcanic Drive” (no longer registered on any maps) and “Artist’s Drive,” a 9-mile scenic loop through the Amargosa Range (05:38). Views of the vast mountainous desert landscape (05:43). Parked wooden transport carts (07:15). Views of the vast mountainous desert landscape and close-up scenes of dried vegetation (07:35). Scenes from the reenactment of the historic 20-mule teams used during the late 1800s to transport borax across the harsh desert landscape (09:35). Sunset scene (10:09).
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, 165 miles (266 km) 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, 3 miles (5 km) 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.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
