By Wynne Benti
©1999 Spotted Dog Press, Inc.

Remote, quiet, rock, sand, cactus and creosote. The north fork of Le Moigne Canyon is a gentle walk up a classic steep-walled desert wash, through slabs of granite - polished smooth by centuries of flash floods. A perfect camping spot in soft sand at the shallow head of the wash is reached early in the afternoon. Joshua Trees, seemingly out of place in the harsh country of Death Valley speckle the horizon. An occasional pair of wild horses can be followed from the camping spot to the summit of Panamint Butte, a massive striped limestone monster in the Cottonwood mountains. It steeply towers above Panamint Dry Lake on the west while on the east, broad canyons and ridges spread gently across the desert to Stovepipe Wells and sand dunes just beyond. A climb to the summit of Panamint Butte and the walk back to the cars can be easily done the next day.

Spotted Dog Press publisher heads up the north fork of LeMoigne Canyon to Panamint Butte Photo ©1999 Andy Zdon

Before the passage of the California Desert Protection Act in 1994, it was possible to drive up the south fork of the east-west Le Moigne Canyon. Now, any exploration must be done on foot. The dirt road to both canyons leaves the highway just a few mile west of Stovepipe Wells. The road weaves in and out of wide desert washes, and ends at the both of LeMoigne Canyon where a berm of dirt marks the end of the road and the parking area.

People came to California from all over the world after gold was discovered in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Dreams of striking it rich propelled them to every corner of the newly formed state. But gold was not the only reason to come west. In 1882, a young Parisian chemist named Jean Le Moigne traveled from Paris to Death Valley to help a friend involved in a borax mining venture - Eagle Borax Works. In the book "Death Valley to Yosemite: Frontier Mining Camps & Ghost Towns," published by Spotted Dog Press, author L. Burr Belden describes the scene:

"Jean was called from Paris by his fellow countryman Isadore Daunet, who headed Death Valley's first borax enterprise, Eagle Borax, in 1882 - a year before William Tell Coleman's larger Harmony Borax started near Furnace Creek. Daunet had trouble refining his cottonball and sent for Jean, the young chemist son of old country friends. Between the time Daunet offered Jean a job, and the time of his arrival, the little Eagle Borax plant went belly-up. A heartbroken Daunet, took his own life...

Death Valley was a far different land than Jean Le Moigne had expected. Yet, despite what must have been an initial forbidding picture, he stayed for 40 years. Along with the news of Daunet's death, Le Moigne learned that Eagle Borax was without funds. His trip to Death Valley from France was made on advanced funds - and, there was no money for a return trip. He instead turned prospector. The change from brilliant university graduate to "desert rat" was so complete that Le Moigne soon came to avoid all of the trappings of civilization, including companionship. He also developed quite a disdain for money. In the 1890's, he was known to have expressed a desire to once again visit France, but a decade later, after he had profitably sold a mine or two, Le Moigne did not want to leave his beloved desert.

Throughout the 1910-20 decade, Le Moigne lived in a rock cabin in the Cottonwood Mountains. The cabin location was in a canyon which now appropriately bears the name "LeMoigne." A quarter mile upstream from the cabin was Jean's silver mine, the one he called his "bank." The mine was a small one, but consisted of a ledge of almost pure silver. He knew the ledge would give out if worked regularly. He did not even sink a shaft - but worked it from a trench, which with depth, he stooped, preferring to handle waste rock twice rather than to install machinery which might, tempt him to overdraw the bank."

LeMoigne Canyon, from November to April, is a beautiful overnight trip or dayhike. When you're in Death Valley, pick up a copy of "Death Valley to Yosemite: Frontier Mining Camps & Ghost Towns" at the following locations:
Panamint Springs Resort, Furnace Creek Ranch Gift Store and Death Valley National Park Visitor Center.

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