It's little wonder that the white man called it Death Valley.
The Shoshone Indians first entered the valley in 1000 A.D. and named it Tomashaw, or ground
to fire.
Yet, in spite of the seething summer temperatures and desolate appearance, Death Valley is a
land of ever-changing forces, great beauty, and it is filled with life.
We see this wherever we look, amidst the flowing sand dunes and eroding slopes, amid the creatures
and plants which have adapted to the harsh environment.
One needs only to observe to understand what is here.
Death Valley is indeed a place of discovery, not a hell on earth as so many expect.
The valley is an enormous elongated V-shaped canyon about 80 miles long and 8 miles wide.
Its lowest point is 282 feet below sea level, the lowest spot in the western hemisphere.
The original valley floor, long since buried, lies an incredible 8,000 feet below the existing
surface.
Over the ages, it is filled with rock and sand eroded from the surrounding mountains.
At one time, a vast lake filled the valley.
Evidence of the lake's existence remains today in these vast salt flats and the huge
deposits of minerals that have so enriched the valley.
Along with the salt flats, only a few shallow pools of water remain as reminders of that
distant time.
Erosion was an important process in the shaping of the valley and the depositing of valuable
minerals, minerals which later brought man to covet this desolate valley.
This process continues today with each rain shower eroding canyons and depositing additional
sediments on the valley floor.
These beautiful hills were once the bed of a vast inland sea, now tilted and folded into
a dazzling variety of colors.
The great canyon was formed as the earth's crust buckled, uplifting the mountains on
each side and dropping the valley floor.
This process occurred over hundreds of millions of years.
To many, Death Valley is a geological treasure chest.
There's an endless variety of minerals, volcanic debris, shales, sandstones and conglomerates
on dazzling display, bared by the forces of erosion.
The geological history of the valley is as exciting as it is varied.
We can read two billion years of time in its rocks, we can visualize the vast bodies of
water that lapped at its shores and envision the violent explosions that produced the volcanic
formations and craters in the valley.
A geological tour gives us all a vision of that intriguing and distant past and how Death
Valley came to be what it is today.
Death Valley is an adventurer's dream.
Even if you had a full week, you could not fully explore all of the incredible sites
to be found here.
The ever-moving and changing sand dunes, driven by fierce winds, are one of the beautiful
highlights of a visit to the valley.
Different times of the day bring different shades and moods.
At one time they may appear as towering mountains, at others a vast sand desert.
The remarkable size and beauty of these dunes may cause us to forget that every grain of
sand has been scoured from the rocks of the valley and surrounding mountains.
From Zabriskie Point, you can see the well-known formation known as Manly Beacon and also a
stretch of ancient lake beds, now upended and folded into a mass of sharply eroded yellow
mud hills.
Exposed to the forces of sand and wind, this bizarre volcanic rock formation has been carved
into what we now call mushroom rock.
Rock-hard salt, almost pure sodium chloride, crusts over the mud that fills this part of
the valley.
It was formed as a shallow lake evaporated about 2,000 years ago.
This salt flat covers 200 square miles of the valley floor.
There are three separate deposit zones surrounding the area, a ring of baking soda formed first
along the edges, followed by the precipitation of epsom salts and then finally the chlorides
or common table salt covering most of the area.
Included in this area is the mystifying and spectacular Devil's Golf Course, which consists
of rock-hard salt formations.
Natural bridge arches 50 feet above a natural wash.
It too was carved out eons ago by water, wind and sand.
Just north of the natural bridge is Artists' Drive.
The interaction of weather, minerals and erosion has resulted in the Artists' Palate, a fitting
name given to a jumbled array of riotously colored clay tinted by iron-bearing minerals.
Here is rust at its most beautiful, with tints of red, orange, yellow, green and purple offset
by black and buff.
Nearly everyone has heard of famous bad water.
It's the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere with an altitude of 282 feet below sea level.
Some of the water in Death Valley is bad because of salt, but not poisonous.
The peniment range with its 11,000-foot-high telescope peak looms in the background.
Short travels will sooner or later bring us to the unusual Devil's Corn Field.
Now, the corn is actually arrowhead bushes growing in peculiar clumps because of the
erosion of the soil.
The human history of Death Valley is truly an exciting one, filled with adventure and
tragedy.
It's believed that four distinct prehistoric cultures inhabited this hostile environment.
The last of these cultures, the Shoshones, found the climate as harsh as today's, but
they readily adapted.
In fact, Shoshone Indians still live in the valley today, but times have changed.
Few remember why the gods once flooded the valley.
The old stories are seldom told.
The last of the old medicine men died in the 1950s.
It remained for the carelessness and greed of the white man to give the valley its connotation
of death.
His early history here is a tragic one.
The remains of uncounted persons lie buried beneath the drifting sand dunes.
A group of wagons, after surviving the valley's desolation, ascended the Panamint Range.
One woman turned for a last glimpse and murmured, goodbye Death Valley.
And thus was born its name.
Yet there were years of good times here, too, in spite of the tales of horror about Death
Valley, gold and mineral fever drove thousands of prospectors, mulepack teamsters, hard rockers,
stage drivers, and just plain fools into the great sink.
The boom days were short, though, and in a few years the mines closed.
Cities and camps were abandoned to the eroding winds and sands.
Then in 1880, a white mineral compound, borax, was discovered, and the borax boom was born.
This began another brief era known as the Twenty Mule Team days.
The remains of a number of borax works may be visited today, including Harmony and Eagle
Borax Works.
Today these great wagons rest here in the sun, the object of fond admiration from visitors.
Old Dinah here is probably the sentimental favorite.
These tin charcoal kilns were built in the 1870s to stoke the furnaces of the Modoc
Gold Mine, which was owned by George Hurst, father of William Randolph Hurst.
During the early gold rush days, claims were staked one day and towns developed the next.
The largest of these was Rhyolite, which is located just outside of today's monument boundaries.
It even had two railway stations and a population of over 10,000.
Only two buildings are occupied in Rhyolite today.
One is a popular tourist attraction, the Glass House.
You'll find many unusual ways to use bottles here.
The focus of present day civilization in the valley is Furnace Creek Visitor Center, located
in the middle of the sprawling 3,000 square mile national monument.
Be sure to stop here.
The museum is excellent for helping the visitor interpret and understand the sights and ecosystems
of Death Valley.
Nearby are the Furnace Creek Inn and the Furnace Creek Ranch.
The Furnace Creek Inn is a must-visit attraction, as well as an excellent place to stay while
visiting the valley.
Towering barren slopes provide a dramatic backdrop for its Spanish Moorish design.
It is indeed an oasis, with nearby natural springs supplying warm water year around for
its palm tree-fringed swimming pool.
The Furnace Creek Ranch exemplifies the pioneer spirit of Death Valley.
Capable of accommodating more than 400 visitors in western style, the ranch features the Borax
Museum along with outstanding outdoor displays of mining machinery and Borax hauling wagons
and trains.
Daked palms thrive here where water is plentiful.
It seems an unlikely place, but you'll find the lowest golf course in the world at Furnace
Creek.
It's situated 178 feet below sea level.
In addition to mountain rams, there are numerous small animals, reptiles, and birds here in
the valley.
A native bird that is frequently seen as the spirited roadrunner.
At the northern end of the valley, near Scotty's Castle, is Ubihibi Crater.
This half-mile wide, 500-foot deep crater was created by a thunderous volcanic explosion,
possibly no more than a thousand years ago.
Numerous smaller craters surround it.
Winters are mild and comfortable in Death Valley.
Snow even falls in the higher elevations, yet in summer it's the hottest place on earth.
Its average high for July is 116 degrees Fahrenheit, with the record of 134.
In fact, much of the mystery of the valley stems from the interaction of weather and
environment.
For example, how do huge rocks mysteriously move across a dry lake bed, leaving distinct
trails behind them?
One of the theories is that they're pushed along by very high winds following a storm
that leaves the dry lake temporarily slippery with either mud or ice.
Out of this desert wasteland burst forth one of the most mysterious figures in American
history, Death Valley Scotty, a paunchy, hard-headed prospector who for 50 years captured America's
headlines with his bizarre and flamboyant escapades.
In 1922, he and his wealthy partner Albert Johnson began the construction of one of the
most magnificent and unusual buildings in America, Scotty's Castle.
They spent eight years, and yet it was never fully completed.
It's a remarkable achievement that such a structure could have been built at all here
in remote Death Valley.
Portions of the castle not completed include this giant swimming pool.
The park ranger rings the bell, our signal to follow him on a tour of this luxurious
palace.
Visitors are always left in awe at what Scotty created here.
The Great Hall is an enormous room, elegantly fitted with the finest of furniture, a splendid
Jasper fountain and a huge chandelier.
During the time it was occupied, water ran and dripped night and day.
Scotty's own bedroom is filled with nostalgic reminders of his past, including his famous
cowboy hat and his clothes.
The first floor music room contains a fully restored player piano and a keyboard for the
25 chimes located in the bell tower.
They can be heard for some distance.
As we pass through the Great Hall again, our ranger guide points out other interesting
features of the room.
At this table in the dining room, Scotty and Johnson wined and dined royalty, movie stars
and other famous people from around the world.
This is the amazing kitchen.
Although it was built and fitted in the late 20s, the kitchen was equipped with unusually
modern features such as a refrigeration plant, cold room and even a solar water heater.
Our tour has taken us to the Johnson suite of rooms.
They're decorated in lovely Spanish style.
Here are Mr. Johnson's boots.
The largest of the guest rooms is the Spanish suite.
We now leave the main house and cross over to the annex, which is much larger.
The annex has many guest rooms.
Among the most beautiful is the Italian room.
The last room that we will visit is the music room.
This is, to many, the most beautiful room in the castle and certainly the most interesting.
Its handcrafted organ features 1121 pipes.
Our tour now ends at the spiral staircase.
In 1954, at the age of 81, the mysterious and lovable Death Valley Scotty passed away.
He and his dog, Wendy, are buried here overlooking his beloved castle.
It is original, weather-beaten shack.
We recall the inscription placed on his memorial.
I got four things to live by.
Don't say nothing that'll hurt anybody.
Don't give advice, nobody will take it anyway.
Don't complain, don't explain.
This visit has only touched upon the many subtle and hidden treasures of Death Valley.
For most, a trip to the valley is a journey of adventure and discovery.
To view the largest and most obvious of its features, the rugged mountain ranges, incredible
Scotty's Castle, the vast stretches of sand dunes, leaves one with a feeling of renewed
vitality.
But there are even more satisfying rewards here for the visitor who looks still closer.
To see and understand the forces of nature which have brought about this mystifying place
in time, magnificent Death Valley.
Thank you.