Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.

Photographer: Syd Whittle
Taken: November 13, 2011
Caption: Gold Discovered Just Downstream in Auburn Ravine! Marker
Additional Description: [Photo Captions:]
Upper Photo:
Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that employs water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. This mining technique developed by the Romans to remove overburdened and then gold-bearing debris, was the most used mining method until 1884, when a court case brought by farmers and valley cities curtailed the practice.

Three Lower Photos:
These are Daguerreotype photographs taken by Joseph Blaney Starkweather in 1852.

These early photographs show the diversity of the miners in the region. Auburn, one of the oldest towns in California, grew from these early American miners. Unlike much of California, the Spanish or Mexican settlement influence was absent from the area.
Photographs courtesy of California State Library.
Submitted: February 8, 2012, by Syd Whittle of Mesa, Arizona.
Database Locator Identification Number: p191952
File Size: 2.087 Megabytes

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