- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
Lake County Time Capsule: Borax Lake
Borax Lake, located around the southern end of Clear Lake, holds many layers of history and prehistory in its waters and vicinity.
It has been determined by archaeologists to be one of the oldest and most important ancient occupation sites in North America, and it was once the site of a thriving Borax industry when the California Borax Co. operated there in the mid 1850s to 1869.
In prehistoric times – more than 10,000 years ago at the end of the Ice Age – mammoths roamed the area.
A group of people known as Early Man came to hunt them and made use of the abundant obsidian that flowed from Mt. Konocti to use for tools and weapons.
The archaeological finds in this area are so significant that the Archaeological Conservancy purchased the site in 1987.
The site also is on the National Registry of Historic Places. The Archaeological Conservancy, based in New Mexico, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the remaining archaeological sites in America.
The land surrounding Borax Lake has changed much since the prehistoric era. It became an oak and pine woodlands.
In 2000 the land surrounding the lake was purchased with plans to put in vineyards and the oaks were, sadly, cut down, by a developer.
Borax Lake obsidian has been excavated at other archaeological sites at Indian villages throughout California, as it was a valuable trading commodity by Native Americans.
This special volcanic region, now known as Clear Lake Volcanics, produced a unique translucent, gray-black to light gray-colored glass that was used for many kinds of spear tips, arrowheads and tools.
Both Folsom and Clovis point artifacts have been excavated at the site, dating back over 12,000 years.
The first archaeological dig at the Borax Lake site, now known as CA-LAK-36, took place in the 1940s.
When an orchard was planted and homes were built in the vicinity, the cultural stratigraphy was disturbed, mixing the years of the past into the layers of soil. Much valuable information about the early inhabitants was lost.
I was able to participate in an archaeological site survey of the Borax Lake vicinity in the 1990s with the Archaeological Conservancy. Fragments and arrowheads were discovered in the orchard then.
In the 1850s Dr. J. A. Veatch “discovered” Borax Lake. It wasn’t long before the California Borax Co. began mining the borax.
Borax, known as sodium tetraborate has a classification of 2 on the Moh’s scale of hardness. It has been used for everything from a detergent, water softener, disinfectant, and in the ceramics and welding industries.
Part of its popularity stems from the ease in which it dissolves in water, and when it is heated, it fuses easily.
The California Borax Co. harvested the borax with the use of scoop shovels, which were placed on boats in the lake. Up to two tons could be scooped daily in the company’s heyday.
When the lake was low in the hot summer months, a layer of borax crystals formed which made the job of collecting the stuff easier.
Tests performed in Borax Lake have found that the crystals penetrate a jelly-like substance and a layer of blue clay in the lakebed of over 60 feet below the surface.
Workers at the California Borax Company, many of whom were Chinese, were paid $31 a month.
It is believed that poor mining techniques ruined the borax production through their practice of piercing too many holes, too deep in the lakebed, which allowed for the entry of too much fresh water.
Larger borax mines in Death Valley and Mojave Desert areas in the 1880s sprang up, which also were believed to bring the Borax Lake business to a close.
These were the famous 20 Mule Team Borax works that became legendary with their teams of 18 mules and two horses that hauled a 30-ton load during 10 days of travel over 165 miles with a brief overnight stop before they unloaded their cargo, just to turn around and do it all over again.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.