Borax claims in Tick Canyon

Topographic map showing sections 27 - 34 of Township 5 North, Range 14 West, San Bernardino Meridian. Sections 27-33 contained the borax claims of the Sterling Borax Company in the Tick Canyon area. The Sterling Borax Mine is circled. I added the Champion Mine. This is the area where Ebinger and Shepard were mining for gold. They had to travel up and down Tick Canyon past the, at that time, future borax mine to get there. In 1907 they decided to take some samples of the white mineral to get them assayed. I also added the adit, which is a fenced off horizontal entrance to the borax mine of unknown length. (U.S. Geological Survey, Agua Dulce Quadrangle, 7.5 Minute Series, 1960, Photorevised 1988, Minor Revision 1994.)

The first claims were filed in the Los Angeles County Recorders Office, Mining Claims, by Lewis Ebinger and Henry C. Shepard on July 1, 1907, in Book 30 Page 162, for the Bellflower load claim, and on August 16, 1907, in Book 29 Page 261, for the Bellmont load claim. By the end of August, Henry Blumenberg (for the American Borax Company), had joined them in filing the claims. By early 1908, Ebinger and Shepard were no longer involved.

Thomas Thorkildsen began recording his lode claims in September of 1907. He would record eight "Sera Dod" claims. ("Dod" is sometimes spelled as "Dad", but "Dod" is on the the plat maps and the future patent application.)

When the Sterling Borax Company was formed, ownership of all of the Tick Canyon claims of Ebinger, Shepard, Blumenberg, and Thorkildsen, were transferred to the company. The company would also file other claims, but not all of them were in the Tick Canyon area and so are not listed in the below table.

In 1920, twenty-two of the claims were patented by the Sterling Borax Company giving them the outright ownership of the land. The patent was approved on March 29, 1920, and consisted of 392.307 acres. It can be seen here (pdf). The twenty-two lode claims included in the patent are indicated in the following table of claims.

Table of Borax Claims in Tick Canyon

(Book-Page from LA County Recorder's Office Mining Claims records. One claim is from the San Fernando Petroleum Mining District location records.)

Date of Claim Locators Name of Claim Book-Page Used on Patent
7/1/1907 Ebinger & Shepard Bellflower 30-162 Y
8/16/1907 Ebinger & Shepard Bellmont 29-261 Y
8/24/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Bellflower Extension 28-270 Y
8/26/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Bellmont Extension 28-271 Y
8/27/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Borate 28-273 Y
8/29/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Pandermite No. 1 28-275 Y
8/29/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Pandermite No. 2 28-272 Y
9/8/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Pandermite No. 3 30-187 Y
9/8/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Colemanite No. 1 30-188 Y
1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Colemanite No. 2 not found Y
9/9/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod SFPMD K-124 Y
9/9/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod Borate 29-273
9/13/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Pandermite No. 4 28-283 Y
9/13/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod No. 1 29-275 Y
9/13/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod No. 2 30-178 Y
9/21/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod No. 3 30-182
9/21/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod No. 4 30-180 Y
9/21/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod No. 5 30-181 Y
9/21/1907 Thorkildsen Sera Dod No. 6 30-180 Y
9/24/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Opal No. 1 29-278
9/24/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Opal No. 2 28-282
9/24/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Redrock 30-185 Y
9/24/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Redrock Extension 30-186 Y
10/14/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Opal No. 3 29-282
10/14/1907 Blumenberg, Ebinger, Shepard Opal No. 4 28-289 Y
6/26/1908 Blumenberg Union No. 1 34-135 Y
6/26/1908 Blumenberg Union No. 2 33-137
4/19/1916 Sterling Borax Co. Bellflower Mill Site 46-260 Y


The following two plat maps are sheets 1 and 2 of Mineral Survey No. 5336A & B and show the claims of the Sterling Borax Company. The survey was done from June 4 to July 28 of 1917. The plats would be used in the upcoming patent application. Unfortunately, this is not a particularly good copy of the original, which I could not find. The section borders are hard to make out. The plats were found on the Los Angeles County Public Works, Land Records Information, Township Plats website.

Plat (Sheet 1) of the Claims of the Sterling Borax Company, Mineral Survey A & B. LA County Records for T5N R14W. Larger version here (pdf).

Plat (Sheet 2) of the Claims of the Sterling Borax Company, Mineral Survey A & B. LA County Records for T5N R14W. Larger version here (pdf).

Here, I attempted to join the two sheets. I also added red lines where the section borders are. The sections are labeled - for example "S.E. 4/ (quarter) Sec. 28." The mill site is in section 32. Davenport Road did not exist at that time (1917). Larger version here.

The following plat maps show each of the sections (see topo map at top of page) with the claims of the section. The plats were found on the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), General Land Office Records website.

Plat of Section 32 approved on January 2, 1920. Larger version here.

Plat of Section 33 approved on February 18, 1920. Larger version here.

Plat of Section 29 approved on March 20, 1922. Larger version here.

Plat of Sections 27 and 28 approved on January 19, 1927. Larger version here.