The first non-Native Americans arrived in
Death Valley in 1849 looking for a shortcut to the California gold fields.
Although only one member of their party died, the name Death Valley was given
to the area. Various mining operations used the valley afterwards, most notably
for borax mining. When mining prospects went sour, the Pacific Coast Borax
Company lobbied for federal protection of Death Valley, in order to develop
tourism. President Hoover declared about two million acres of the area a
national monument in 1933. In 1994 the monument was expanded by 1.3 million
acres and declared a national
