Death Valley that can be made from a type of clay found in the valley. Some families still live in the valley at Furnace Creek. Another village was in Grapevine Canyon near the present site of Scotty's Castle. It was called in the Timbisha language "maahunu", whose meaning is uncertain, although it is known that "hunu" means "canyon". The valley received its English name in 1849 during the California Gold Rush. It was called Death Valley by prospectors and others who sought to cross the valley on their way to the gold fields, after 13 pioneers perished from one early expedition of
Death Valley Grapevine Mountains and the Owlshead Mountains form its northern and southern boundaries, respectively. It has an area of about . The highest point in Death Valley itself is Telescope Peak in the Panamint Range, which has an elevation of . Death Valley is an excellent example of a graben, or a downdropped block of land between two mountain ranges. It lies at the southern end of a geological trough known as Walker Lane, which runs north to Oregon. The valley is bisected by a right lateral strike slip fault system, represented by the Death Valley Fault and the Furnace Creek