"The Amargosa Valley, about ninety miles northwest of Las Vegas in Nye County, Nevada ... has been inhabited by many peoples since early times: archaic hunters and gathers, Western Shoshone and Southern Paiute Indians, white explorers and settlers, miners and present-day farmers and ranchers"--Bk jacket.

This is the history of Death Valley, where that bitter stream the Amargosa dies. It embraces the whole basin of the Amargosa from the Panamints to the Spring Mountains, from the Palmettos to the Avawatz. And it spans a century from the earliest recollections and the oldest records to that day in 1933 when much of the valley was finally set aside as a National Monument. This is the story of an illusory land, of the people it attracted and of the dreams and delusions they pursued-the story of the metals in its mountains and the salts in its sinks, of its desiccating heat and its revitalizing springs, and of all the riches of its scenery and lore-the story of Indians and horse thieves, lost argonauts and lost mine hunters, prospectors and promoters, miners and millionaires, stockholders and stock sharps, homesteaders and hermits, writers and tourists. But mostly this is the story of the illusions-the illusions of a shortcut to the gold diggings that lured the forty-niners, of inescapable deadliness that hung in the name they left behind, of lost bonanzas that grew out of the few nuggets they found, of immeasurable riches spread by hopeful prospectors and calculating con men, and of impenetrable mysteries concocted by the likes of Scotty. These and many lesser illusions are the heart of its history.

"This book pulls together records from a variety of sources, including information from county court houses, Nevada internet sites, and various lists..."--Page iv.

Pahrump, Nevada, located west of Las Vegas has..."sustained a number and variety of cultures: prehistoric hunters and gatherers, the Southern Paiute, and finally white settlers who came in search of opportunity in the last half of the nineteenth century"--Bk jacket.

An annotated bibliography of over 2,050 references associated with borate minerals from Death Valley, Mojave Desert, and Nevada. Sources include journal articles, papers, conference proceedings, books, book chapters, and other literature published from the 1860s into 2024. The bibliography is divided into 16 chapters: History, Boron and Borates, Chemistry and Crystal Structure, Mineralogy, Geology, California, Death Valley, Searles Lake, Mojave Desert, Kramer, Calico, Fort Cady, Tick Canyon, Ventura, Nevada, and Annual Reviews. Contains appendices of supplemental information on borate minerals, color photographs, and an alphabetical index of authors. 638 pages. Key words: borax, colemanite, kernite, probertite, and ulexite.

“Focuses on the lives of several prostitutes who worked in Death Valley area boomtowns between the 1870s and the early 1900s . . . Colorful and intriguing” (Pahrump Valley Times). From the 1870s to the turn of the century, while countless men gambled their fortunes in Death Valley’s mines, many bold women capitalized on the boom-and-bust lifestyle and established saloons and brothels. These lively ladies were clever entrepreneurs and fearless adventurers but also mothers, wives, and respected members of their communities. Madam Lola Travis was one of the wealthiest single women in Inyo County in the 1870s. Known as “Diamond Tooth Lil,” Evelyn Hildegard was a poor immigrant girl who became a western legend. Local author and historian Robin Flinchum chronicles the lives of these women and many others who were unafraid to live outside the bounds of polite society and risk everything for a better future in the forbidding Death Valley desert. Includes photos! “Flinchum’s lively prose and detailed descriptions bring these women into focus, and provide a historically accurate and interesting overview of Death Valley’s pioneering mining era.” —Sierra Wave Media “A thoroughly entertaining and highly enlightening account of the wild Death Valley boom camps’ daring red light ladies . . . A very enjoyable and engaging book. A great read!” —Richard Lingenfelter, author of Death Valley & the Amargosa: A Land of Illusion

"Of all the camps that appeared in the wake of the Rhyolite [mining] boom, the nearby community of Beatty was the only one to survive. Situated at the end of the Oasis Valley, Beatty had two assets the others lacked: plenty of water and easy accessibility....The changing role of mining in Beatty is traced as is tourism's steadily increasing importance. The history of Beatty is a story of hardworking, enterprising people building a community on America's desert frontier"--Bk. jacket.

"Tonopah, Nevada, lies within the Great Basin region, an immense arid to semiarid area of 400,000 square miles extending between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. The environments -- roughly parallel mountain ranges and long desert basins -- makes harsh demands on its inhabitants. This history of Tonopah, which begins with a look at the land and its early inhabitants -- the pre-Archaic and Archaic Indian populations and the Western Shoshone, then vividly describes the arrival of white explorers, the discovery of silver, and the boomtown days of the mining camp....The spirit of the old west, embodied in its inhabitants' sense of adventure and their love of personal freedom, still exists in Tonopah"--Bk. jacket.

Originally published in 1995, soon after Death Valley National Park became the fifty-third park in the US park system, The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley National Park was the first complete guidebook available for this spectacular area. Now in its third edition, this is still the only book that includes all aspects of the park. Much more than just a guidebook, it covers the park's cultural history, botany and zoology, hiking and biking opportunities, and more. Information is provided for all of Death Valley's visitors, from first-time travelers just learning about the area to those who are returning for in-depth explorations. The book includes updated point-to-point logs for every road within and around the park, as well as more accurate maps than those in any other publication. With extensive input from National Park Service resource management, law enforcement, and interpretive personnel, as well as a thorough bibliography for suggested reading, The Explorer's Guide to Death Valley National Park, Third Edition is the most up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive guide available for this national treasure.