Francis Marion Smith

Biography

Francis Marion Smith, known as the "Borax King," built an industry of borax mines, twenty-mule teams, and the Pacific Coast Borax Company, bringing a commodity critical to sanitation and industry across the West. His enterprise financed not only mining camps but also the rail lines and towns that sprang up along the routes to the desert deposits.

He reinvested much of his fortune in public works and institutions, supporting libraries, schools, and civic improvements, and his devotion to enterprise and the public good is remembered by friends and family who now honor him at Mountain View Cemetery.