Christian Brevoort Zabriskie 1438097 189371362 2008-02-05T23:09:45Z DumZiBoT 6085301 Bot: Converting [[User:DumZiBoT/refLinks|bare references]] '''Christian Brevoort Zabriskie''' ([[October 16]] [[1864]]&nbsp;&ndash; [[February 8]] [[1936]]) was an [[United States|American]] businessman and former vice president of [[Pacific Coast Borax Company]]. [[Zabriskie Point]] in [[Death Valley National Park]] is named after him. [[Image:Death Valley,19820817,Zabriskie Point,Christian Brevoort.jpg|thumb|500px|center|Christian Brevoort Zabriskie]] He was born at [[Fort Bridger]] in [[Wyoming Territory]], where his father, E. B. Zabriskie was stationed. The Zabriskie family descended from Albert Zborowski, a Polish immigrant from Prussia, who settled in New Jersey in 1662 alongside a Dutch community. <ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12204c.htm CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Poles in the United States<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Chris attended various schools while growing up and at a very early age went to work as a [[Telegraphy|telegrapher]] for the [[Virginia and Truckee Railroad]] at [[Carson City, Nevada]]. He was too restless and ambitious to stay in one place for very long and soon moved to [[Candelaria, Nevada]], and worked for the [[Esmeralda County Bank]]. Being an active young man, one job was not enough to keep him occupied and he soon branched out into other ventures, one of which was a partnership with a local [[Cabinet (furniture)|cabinet]] maker to establish a [[Funeral home|mortuary]]. Neither of the two knew how to [[Embalming|embalm]], but it was not considered necessary in a mining town&nbsp;&mdash; prompt burial was. Zabriskie's life took on new meaning in 1885 when [[Francis Marion Smith|F.M. "Borax" Smith]] hired him to supervise several hundred [[China|Chinese]] laborers at the Columbus March area of the [[Pacific Coast Borax Company]] near Candelaria. This was the beginning of a life-long career in the borax industry. He ultimately became vice president and general manager of the company and served in that capacity for thirty-six years until his retirement in 1933. During this time, the Pacific Coast Borax Company had phased out most of its borax operations in the Candelaria vicinity but had moved on to greater production in the Death Valley area. All this occurred long before 1933, when the area became Death Valley National Monument, but Zabriskie Point remains to honor a man who devoted many years of dedicated service to the Pacific Coast Borax Company. Just three years after retirement, Christian Brevoort Zabriskie died. ==References== {{reflist}} * Interpretive sign at Zabriskie Point by the National Park Service (adapted public domain text). {{DEFAULTSORT:Zabriskie, Christian Brevoort}} [[Category:1864 births]] [[Category:1936 deaths]] [[Category:Death Valley]] [[Category:People from Carson City, Nevada]] [[de:Christian Brevoort Zabriskie]] [[it:Christian Brevoort Zabriskie]]