On this day in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service. Its first director, industrialist and conservationist Stephen T. Mather, had made his fortune in the borax mines of Tick Canyon near Agua Dulce.

The Santa Clarita Valley played a role in this story. In 1905, prospectors Louis Ebbenger and Henry Shepard discovered a rich borax deposit in Tick Canyon. 

Lacking the means to develop it, they sold their claim to Mather’s partner, Thomas Thorkildsen, for $80,000. Together, the two men operated the Thorkildsen-Mather Borax Company, later rebranded as the Sterling Borax Company.

The mining camp helped support the nearby settlement of Lang, a small community that quickly disappeared after the mine closed in 1921.

Today, the mine site lies near Davenport Road, fenced off and owned by Rio Tinto Minerals, a successor to Pacific Coast Borax and U.S. Borax.

On the north side of the road is the U.S. Borax “No Trespassing” sign, and to the south is a continuation of the old Sterling Borax mine wash. Samples of Colemanite, tossed aside as worthless during this time, can be seen near the side of the road.

Mather’s fortune from Tick Canyon allowed him to pursue his passion for conservation. 

Influenced by naturalist John Muir and working alongside journalist Robert Sterling Yard – the namesake of Sterling Borax –  Mather launched a national campaign to protect and promote America’s parks. At the time, the national parks were in a state of disrepair and mismanagement; Mather quickly set forth to change this.

From 1912 to 1914, Mather visited Washington, D.C., on several occasions as an advocate for national parks. The “Mather Mountain Party” worked to promote the creation of a unified federal agency to oversee National Parks administration.

On August 25, 1916, Mather’s vision became reality when President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act mandating the agency “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Mather was named the agency’s first director. 

In the more than 100 years since its creation, the National Park Service has grown to include more than 400 national parks and many programs that reach communities around the country.

For yesterday’s Today in SCV History, click here.

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