Ol Smoke Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 In the 1860's, just prior to the Civil War, a man came out west to dig for gold or silver. He had his mind set that he was going to be a very rich guy. So he came to California and tried his best to find gold or silver. But all the easy gold was already gone from the 1849 strikes. So he ventured east toward the Sierra Madre mountains because he had heard there might be silver there. After a long time of prospecting he found himself in Death Valley. He just knew there was silver there, so he began to dig and dig, but no silver. All he kept finding was this white powdery mineral everywhere. He had to hang is head low for not finding silver and felt his whole life was a big letdown. Then one day a young college guy happened to run into him and they began to talk. The old man told him his story and the young guy asked him "Where is this powder you keep finding?" So the old man took him to several areas and showed him the tons of this stuff he had been digging up. The young guy asked him if he had made a stake on the area he had been mining? He replied,"why would I spend money on a stake, when I haven't found any silver?" To this the young man replied, "Because the mineral you have found is worth more than silver". "What you have found is a mineral known as Borax, and it is used and highly needed in manufacturing". So together they claimed an entire basin of Death Valley for the company called, "20 Muleteam Borax, Company". They both became multimillionaires and the company still exists today. Even though millions of tons of Borax have come out of that mine area, it is hardly even touched. Borax is used in everything from manufacturing to washing clothes. You can put it in your washer and it will clean your clothes without harming the cloth, or, mix it with water and clean your driveway. So, sometimes, when our dreams don't work out, we have to look at what's available that we have overlooked. Just like a man named "Ray Kroc". He was a businessman from Illinois, who wasn't very good at his job because he hated it. So he decided to buy a rundown cafe and make hamburgers. Today that rundown cafe is called "McDonald's" 1 Quote
Chameleon Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Wow, that is a really cool story! Glad you shared it Quote
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