Following this setback, Clark decided to depart from academia and teamed up with John R. Bothwell in 1880 to form the Clark & Bothwell mining company. For Clark, mining was a logical extension of his background in chemistry and geology. Exactly how Clark became associated with Bothwell, a man of questionable character who had been cashiered from the U.S. Army for fraud, is unknown. As an academic, Clark was ill-prepared for a financial career. This, coupled with Bothwell's disreputable history, would result in a short life for the firm.