Death Valley

by Robert P. Palazzo

Overview

Death Valley, its harsh and rugged landscape established a national monument in 1933 and named a national park in 1994, has long held a fascination for visitors, even before it became tourist friendly. Shortly after the first visit of nonnative inhabitants, a party of forty-niners looking for a shortcut to the goldfields of California crossed this land with tragic results, inadvertently giving the valley its moniker. Despite the immense suffering in their midst, prospectors began exploring the area looking for mineral wealth. Boomtowns formed, prospered, and died all within a few years, most disappearing completely into the desert. Adding to Death Valley's mystique was the shameless self-promotion of Death Valley Scotty, which lasted for a period spanning more than 50 years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738558240
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	09/15/2008
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,075,952
Product dimensions:	9.22(w) x 10.86(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Robert P. Palazzo, Death Valley scholar and lifetime member of the area's natural history association, evokes here in vintage imagery a stark, barren, desolate wasteland that gradually became one of the West's most iconic destinations. Tapping his extensive private collection of rare photographs, Palazzo shows Death Valley's geological features, notable personalities, industries, mysteries, and tourism. Though the area has changed little over the last 150 years, the harsh conditions have erased much of the evidence of human occupation. That rare visual record is preserved in these pages.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6 Introduction 7
1 Early History: Pioneers, Native Inhabitants, and Borax 9
2 Prospectors, Mining, and Transportation 31
3 Boomtowns 51
4 Death Valley Scotty and Scotty's Castle 77
5 Tourism 99 Bibliography 127