Foxysandchick Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I have a picture hanging in my living room that Ansel Adams took in 1948. I've tried to find out who named it myself tons of times with no luck. One of these days I will get the pics scanned from my dads trips in the early 70's I think he started going in the late 60's when he was a teenager. http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/ansel.../sanddunes.html I didn't realize that piece was from 1948! But it is not titled Dumont.... Ansel Adams- Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument, California, c. 1948 Did they call it Dumont when you Dad was going in the 70's? Based on the info from RUin2it on where the names come from the search shows it became official in 1984.....?? :P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1667894%2CDumont%20Dunes'>http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?...CDumont%20Dunes Board on Geographic Names Decisions- Feature Name Authority Decision Type BGN Dumont Dunes Board Decision Official 1984 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 http://www.hcc.commnet.edu/artmuseum/ansel.../sanddunes.html I didn't realize that piece was from 1948! But it is not titled Dumont.... Ansel Adams- Sand Dunes, Sunrise, Death Valley National Monument, California, c. 1948 Did they call it Dumont when you Dad was going in the 70's? Based on the info from RUin2it on where the names come from the search shows it became official in 1984.....?? :P3_FID,P3_TITLE:1667894%2CDumont%20Dunes'>http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?...CDumont%20Dunes Board on Geographic Names Decisions- Feature Name Authority Decision Type BGN Dumont Dunes Board Decision Official 1984 I've been going to Dumont since 1973 and it was called Dumont then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxysandchick Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I've been going to Dumont since 1973 and it was called Dumont then. Can anyone else give a date prior to 1973 that is was known as Dumont? I've found a lot of interesting information on all the areas around Dumont, but not on Dumont itself . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Can anyone else give a date prior to 1973 that is was known as Dumont? I've found a lot of interesting information on all the areas around Dumont, but not on Dumont itself . My earlier post didn't mention a date on the railroad tracks by Dumont so here's the historical quote: From Ludlow, the railroad crossed the SP, LA & SL line at Crucero (Spanish word for "crossing") and extended over Broadwell and Soda (dry) Lakes. By March, 1906, the T & T completed the crossing of Silver (dry) Lake north of Baker. At that stage of the project, survey crews continued to chart a detailed path for the railroad, in advance of the construction operations. In May of 1906, 75 miles of rail had been completed to a point just beyond Dumont, north of the Dumont dunes in San Bernardino County. The greatest challenge that the crew faced was the 12 mile ascent through the Alexander Hills north of Dumont by way of the Amargosa River Gorge. These mountains consist of a sequence of extremely hard and erosionally resistant volcanic rock formations. This great obstacle extended east to west for many miles. Going around it was not an option for Smith.3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertskyz Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 OK I think I may have stumbled onto something. I have not taken the time to read it all, but the answer to ever so elusive question may lay at this website. http://mojavedesert.net/history/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 My earlier post didn't mention a date on the railroad tracks by Dumont so here's the historical quote: From Ludlow, the railroad crossed the SP, LA & SL line at Crucero (Spanish word for "crossing") and extended over Broadwell and Soda (dry) Lakes. By March, 1906, the T & T completed the crossing of Silver (dry) Lake north of Baker. At that stage of the project, survey crews continued to chart a detailed path for the railroad, in advance of the construction operations. In May of 1906, 75 miles of rail had been completed to a point just beyond Dumont, north of the Dumont dunes in San Bernardino County. The greatest challenge that the crew faced was the 12 mile ascent through the Alexander Hills no rth of Dumont by way of the Amargosa River Gorge. These mountains consist of a sequence of extremely hard and erosionally resistant volcanic rock formations. This great obstacle extended east to west for many miles. Going around it was not an option for Smith.3 Back when I had time for such things I studied and researched the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Borax Smith named many things like stops on the railroad mines and whatever after employees, family, and associates. Razor, Baker, and Ryan are but a few examples of this habit of his. That being said I've never heard of a Dumont family member, employee or associate. So it maybe that Dumont was Dumont before the railroad ever reached there. Perhaps I can be a bit more informative as to the earliest reference to Dumont I'm aware of. Dumont was a site, likely little more than a railroad construction camp and likely doomed to stay that way because of a lack of water. The water in Sperry Wash wasn't even considered fit for steam engines and the closest water is at Tecopa. So 1906 or earlier is likely a good time. Eli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandBurro Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Back when I had time for such things I studied and researched the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Borax Smith named many things like stops on the railroad mines and whatever after employees, family, and associates. Razor, Baker, and Ryan are but a few examples of this habit of his. That being said I've never heard of a Dumont family member, employee or associate. So it maybe that Dumont was Dumont before the railroad ever reached there. Perhaps I can be a bit more informative as to the earliest reference to Dumont I'm aware of. Dumont was a site, likely little more than a railroad construction camp and likely doomed to stay that way because of a lack of water. The water in Sperry Wash wasn't even considered fit for steam engines and the closest water is at Tecopa. So 1906 or earlier is likely a good time. Eli Could Eleanor Dumont have been one of his associates ????? Lady Moustache ? Read my prior post, she is the only person I can think off that had influence in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 OK I think I may have stumbled onto something. I have not taken the time to read it all, but the answer to ever so elusive question may lay at this website. http://mojavedesert.net/history/ so .... what was the question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertskyz Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Beats the hell of of me. But we are getting a interesting history lesson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warrior07 Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Beats the hell of of me. But we are getting a interesting history lesson. What the hell is of of ??? come on rebecca you have your own thread and you still can't spell :?: bye the way smoked ribs smokin tomorrow ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Ok here's the official version of how "Dumont " got it's name. Dumont Sand Dunes: Relief Feature, 30 Miles NNW of Baker, CA. The feature is West of the site of Dumont, named on the Silurian Hills (1956) 15’ Quadrangle The United States Board on Geographic Names (1984,PP4) approved the Name “Dumont Dunes” for the feature. DUMONT: Site of Dumont; locality 30 Miles N of Baker, CA. (Lat; 35*41’ 35” N, 116*10’ 30”W near the West line of Sec 31, T19N-R8E. The site is named on the Silurian Hills (1956) 15’ Quadrangle. The place was along the Tonapah and Tidewater Railroad and was named for Harry Dumont, an official of the “Pacific Coast Borax Company. Source: Durham’s Place Names of California Desert Counties- Page 55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Ok here's the official version of how "Dumont " got it's name. Dumont Sand Dunes: Relief Feature, 30 Miles NNW of Baker, CA. The feature is West of the site of Dumont, named on the Silurian Hills (1956) 15’ Quadrangle The United States Board on Geographic Names (1984,PP4) approved the Name “Dumont Dunes” for the feature. DUMONT: Site of Dumont; locality 30 Miles N of Baker, CA. (Lat; 35*41’ 35” N, 116*10’ 30”W near the West line of Sec 31, T19N-R8E. The site is named on the Silurian Hills (1956) 15’ Quadrangle. The place was along the Tonapah and Tidewater Railroad and was named for Harry Dumont, an official of the “Pacific Coast Borax Company. Source: Durham’s Place Names of California Desert Counties- Page 55 Good thing they "approved" the name since they were called Dumont and Dumont Dunes at least back to 1906 or we might be calling them Feinstein dunes or worse, if that's possible. Government at work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas style Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 if you google harry dumont borax there is some information. thanks terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ynot Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) if you google harry dumont borax there is some information. thanks terry I would like to take credit but Larry Blaine at BLM was kind enough to solve the question. Edited June 8, 2009 by ynot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jr1208 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I would like to take credit but Larry Blaine at BLM was kind enough to solve the question. :dumbass: :dumbass: :dumbass: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandBurro Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Ok here's the official version of how "Dumont " got it's name. Dumont Sand Dunes: Relief Feature, 30 Miles NNW of Baker, CA. The feature is West of the site of Dumont, named on the Silurian Hills (1956) 15’ Quadrangle The United States Board on Geographic Names (1984,PP4) approved the Name “Dumont Dunes” for the feature. DUMONT: Site of Dumont; locality 30 Miles N of Baker, CA. (Lat; 35*41’ 35” N, 116*10’ 30”W near the West line of Sec 31, T19N-R8E. The site is named on the Silurian Hills (1956) 15’ Quadrangle. The place was along the Tonapah and Tidewater Railroad and was named for Harry Dumont, an official of the “Pacific Coast Borax Company. Source: Durham’s Place Names of California Desert Counties- Page 55 LOL im glad to hear it wasent named after that opium drinking gambling/burleque hall owning protitute Elanora Dumont. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUn2it Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 LOL im glad to hear it wasent named after that opium drinking gambling/burleque hall owning protitute Elanora Dumont. She is Harry's wife and he's pissed and lookin for ya! :clown: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SandBurro Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 She is Harry's wife and he's pissed and lookin for ya! :clown: Hes married to "Lady Moustache" :ah: :ah: :ah: :clown: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 (edited) Could Eleanor Dumont have been one of his associates ????? Lady Moustache ? Read my prior post, she is the only person I can think off that had influence in the area. Or not she died in 1879...... "According to one account, Mrs. Dumont woke one morning in 1925 to find a note on the bureau. It read Bye-Bye, Baby Bunting, Daddy's gone a-hunting." Apparently the English authors (below) found some humor in that. At the time Harry Dumont was the General Sales Manager of Pacific Coast Borax. But was he really the one Dumont Dunes is named after? Smith's habit seems to have continued but was there another Dumont? Smith is long gone from Pacific Coast Borax before Harry Dumont even makes Sales Manager. Apparently Smith pensioned off a "Mr. Dumont" for a dollar a day long before. This "Mr. Dumont seems to have entered the Company's service when he was over 70 years of age and appears to have continued in this service for 9 or 10 months.." This apparently written in 1914. So Daddy went a-hunting at over 81? There is a Harry Dumont in 1906 a officer of PCB in New York and again in Chicago in 1925 a Sales Manager. The same? Father and son? I really wouldn't :poop: you over something this strange. The above is from the "The Tincal Trail A History of Borax" written by N.J. Travis and E.J. c*cks (Hey I wouldn't :poop: you about that either. It's really his name) Published in London in 1984. Eli Edited June 10, 2009 by eli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertskyz Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Cool. And the fact that I believe you is even stranger. I will have to do some research of my own. But for now I have to get ready for a road trip to the lake/white hills. SOMEWHERE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sand chick Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Maybe someone needs to buy this book.. Written by Harry P. Gower who was a long time Death Valley pioneer and this book is full of anecdotes and stories of what he experienced between the years of 1909 to 1960. If nothing else I am getting a great history lesson on Death Valley with all this Googling ans researching! Good topic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Maybe someone needs to buy this book.. Written by Harry P. Gower who was a long time Death Valley pioneer and this book is full of anecdotes and stories of what he experienced between the years of 1909 to 1960. If nothing else I am getting a great history lesson on Death Valley with all this Googling ans researching! Good topic Gower is a good read. The Tincal Trail is dry as a popcorn fart in places and likely to be of interest only to those as strange as me. Which is maybe why I forgot about Dumont. So why did I reach for it in addition to Gower? Borax Smith and 20 Mule Team Borax are as American as apple pie or are they? The Tincal Trail is as English as High Tea. Why are a couple of limeys writing about Borax? Smith consolidated his borax holdings into Pacific Coast Borax Company in 1890. He merged PCB with Redwood and Sons in about 1896. The company name became something so long I'd have to look it up. In 1899 this company became Borax Consolidated Limited. Smith was the majority stockholder and one of two directors with RC Baker being the other. That's how Baker CA got it's name. So where are most of the company records for Borax Consolidated Limited? Across the pond.....it's an English Company. Pacific Coast Borax continued to exist as a company without any assets for a long time. Likely because Smith didn't want it known that American 20 Mule Team Borax wasn't owned by an American company anymore. So where's that leave the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad and my beloved....not BLM? I'll get to that in another post. Eli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune_rat Posted November 20, 2011 Share Posted November 20, 2011 very interesting...found this while lookin around in the old stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandemon Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 The dunes are located near the old Dumont Railroad Station on the Tidewater and Tonapah Railroad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot bob Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 it was known as a place too dune since the 60s that i personnaly know of. anything more i cannot say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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