Francis Marion Smith
Francis Marion Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | Error: Invalid birth date for calculating age Richmond, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | 27 August 1931 (aged 85) Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Borax Smith, The Borax King |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, miner, community leader |
| Years active | 1867–1928 |
| Known for | Pacific Coast Borax Company, 20-Mule-Team Borax, Key System transit network |
Francis Marion Smith (February 2, 1846 – August 27, 1931) was a prominent American entrepreneur, miner, and community leader active in the Mojave Desert region and the San Francisco Bay Area. Familiarly known as "Borax Smith" and "The Borax King," he established the Pacific Coast Borax Company, renowned for its 20-Mule-Team Borax household cleaning product.
Smith was also responsible for founding the Key System, a privately operated interurban transit network serving Oakland and the East Bay, terminating at San Francisco's Transbay Terminal.
Early life
Born in Richmond, Wisconsin in 1846, Francis Marion Smith received his education through public schools and completed his studies at Milton Academy in Milton, Wisconsin.
Early mining career
At age 21, Smith ventured westward to seek mineral prospects, beginning in Nevada. In 1872, while providing firewood to a modest borax operation at Columbus Marsh, he uncovered a significant ulexite deposit at Teels Marsh in Mineral County, Nevada. Together with his brother Julius, he claimed mining rights and set up a borax processing facility there.
Smith pioneered effective transportation methods for borax shipments, including moving 30 tons via wagons pulled by teams of 24 mules over roughly 160 miles to the Central Pacific Railroad siding located at Wadsworth, Nevada. This logistical innovation became the cornerstone for expanding his borax enterprise.
Death Valley
Smith acquired land holdings at Columbus Marsh and Fish Lake, eventually purchasing his brother’s shares in 1884. While operations persisted at Teels, Smith focused on borax extraction in Death Valley and the 20 Mule Team Canyon mine situated within the Amargosa Range. In 1890, following financial difficulties faced by William Tell Coleman's Harmony Borax Works, Smith procured Coleman's borax facilities and properties across western Nevada, Death Valley, and the Calico Mountains near Yermo, California. He merged these assets to create the Pacific Coast Borax Company.
The Pacific Coast Borax Company vigorously marketed the 20-Mule-Team Borax brand and trademark, inspired by the Twenty Mule Teams that Coleman employed from 1883 to 1889 to transport borax from Death Valley to the railroad hub in Mojave, California. This branding initiative was crafted by Smith’s advertising manager, Stephen Mather, who later established the Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company and became the inaugural Chief of the National Park Service in 1916.
Additional mining ventures
Mining activities at Harmony Borax Works ceased after richer deposits of Colemanite were found at Borate in the Calico Mountains (California), discovered in 1882 and mined between 1890 and 1907. Initially reliant on 20 mule teams to haul borax to the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, these were phased out following completion of the extensive Borate and Daggett Railroad by Smith.
As resources at Borate diminished, operations moved near Death Valley Junction to the Lila C Mine in 1907. Early transportation again depended on mule teams until Smith constructed the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad, linking with the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad at Ludlow, California.
In 1899, Smith collaborated with Richard C. Baker to establish Borax Consolidated, Ltd., forming a multinational mining conglomerate with Smith retaining majority control. Baker was instrumental in expanding international acquisitions across Italy, Turkey, and South America and played a vital role in securing financing for corporate expansion.
During operations at Borate, Smith acquired boric acid mineral rights known as the "Suckow claims" near Boron, California, east of present-day Edwards Air Force Base. These claims were incorporated into Borax Consolidated alongside Sterling Borax Company holdings. Although Smith’s Pacific Coast Borax Company did not develop these deposits directly, subsequent operators have extracted borates from Suckow for more than seven decades. Today it stands as California’s largest open-pit mine and ranks as the world’s biggest borax producer, supplying nearly half of global borate output.
Final mining ventures
By 1913, Smith found himself financially strained and had to surrender his holdings to creditors who declined to provide further credit. After successfully defending his wife's stake in a silver mine located in Tonopah, Nevada, he secured mineral rights over a significant portion of Searles Lake within the Searles Valley, situated beyond the Panamint Range from Death Valley in northern San Bernardino County, California. Nonetheless, it took nearly ten years before a commercially viable method was developed to extract borax and other valuable mineral salts from the lake's brines.
During this period, Smith outbid the new proprietors of his former company to obtain rights to a lucrative borax deposit in Nevada's Muddy Mountains, near Callville Wash, north of modern-day Lake Mead. He named this venture the West End Chemical Company and designated the claim as the Anniversary Mine, commemorating the date of his second marriage. Earnings generated from this mine supported the advancement of operations at Searles Lake. Initial attempts in 1918 to extract borax were unsuccessful until chemist Henry Hellmers devised an effective refining technique. By 1926, a processing plant was operational at Searles Lake and was expanded in 1927 to include soda ash production. The West End Chemical Company utilized the Trona Railway, a Short-line railroad, for transporting goods to connect with the Union Pacific Railroad at Searles, California. Established by the American Trona Company in 1913, the Trona Railway is currently managed by Searles Valley Minerals. There is no documentation linking Smith to the construction of this railway.
Oakland period
In 1875, Smith married Mary Rebecca Thompson Wright (1846–1905). After residing in Nevada for some time, they relocated to Oakland, California in 1881. Following Mary’s passing in 1905, Smith wed Evelyn Kate Ellis (1877–1957) the following year.
Starting in 1882, Smith began assembling land parcels that would become known as the Arbor Villa estate. Around 1895, he and Mary took up residence at Oak Hall, their mansion on this estate, which included a pipe organ crafted by Farrand and Votey Organ Co. in 1898.
In 1892, he initiated construction of a summer residence on Shelter Island, New York, called Pres DeLeau, situated within his wife's social milieu.
In 1893, Smith commissioned architect Ernest L. Ransome to design what became America’s first reinforced concrete structure—the Pacific Coast Borax Company refinery located in Alameda, California.
By 1895, Smith had partnered with Frank C. Havens to establish the Realty Syndicate, responsible for developing multiple projects such as the Key System, an integrated urban and suburban commuter network including trains, ferries, and streetcars serving the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), along with Idora Park, the Key Route Inn, and the Claremont Hotel.
In 1896, Smith acquired an estate near what is now Oakland High School’s campus and constructed a mansion where he resided until approximately three years prior to his death in 1931.
Railroad enterprises
Smith broadened his interests into railroads and property development. He initially constructed the narrow-gauge Borate and Daggett Railroad exclusively for borax transportation. Subsequently, he founded the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad to carry borax, ore, and passengers from the thriving mining area of Rhyolite, Nevada. This railway directly rivaled William A. Clark’s Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad.
Philanthropic endeavors
Smith was deeply engaged in philanthropy, organizing charitable events at his residences in Oakland and Shelter Island that often involved his family. He financed the construction of thirteen homes dedicated to orphaned girls, ensuring they received nurturing care from house mothers appointed by his first wife. Additionally, he provided funding for The Home Club social hall, located where Oakland High School now stands. As state-run orphan care programs grew, the Mary R. Smith Trust redirected its efforts toward supporting nursing education for deserving young women.
Political involvement
In 1912, Smith took part as a presidential elector in the Electoral College. During visits to Oakland by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, he lent them his carriage, which is currently exhibited at the Oakland Museum of California.
Final years
Following a severe stroke in 1928 at the age of 82, Smith and his wife moved from their grand Oakland residence to a more modest home in Adams Point. Prior to the 1929 stock market crash, parts of their estate were sold off for housing development, but further sales were halted by the economic downturn. After Smith passed away in 1931, their mansion was dismantled once valuable fixtures had been removed and sold.
Francis Marion Smith died in Oakland at 85 and was laid to rest among other prominent figures along "Millionaires Row" at Mountain View Cemetery.
Legacy
The archives section of the Western Railway Museum bears the name of Francis Marion "Borax" Smith. Situated in Solano County, California, this museum showcases functioning streetcars and transbay trains formerly operated by the Key System.
Francis Marion Smith Park, located on Park Boulevard in Oakland, occupies land donated by Smith and his wife.
Smith Mountain in Death Valley, a summit within the Amargosa Range, commemorates his name.
On Shelter Island, New York, both Smith Street and Smith Cove carry his namesake. The Smith-Ransome Japanese Bridge at Presdeleau is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.
The figure of "Borax" Smith is portrayed as a character in Glen David Gold’s historical fiction novel Carter Beats the Devil and served as partial inspiration for the protagonist in Jack London’s Burning Daylight.
See also
Sources
- Smith, Francis Marion. (Unpublished) circa 1925. Autobiographical Notes on His Early Life.