The Osceola Ditch 1890-1901

The Osceola Ditch 1890-1901. Great Basin National Park. , In 1872 gold was discovered three miles northwest of what is today Great Basin National Park. In two decades the mining town of Osceola grew to a population of more than 1500 people and uncovered almost two million dollars work of gold. Though unimaginable wealth lay buried in the gravel of Dry Gulch, too little water made large-scale operations impossible., In September 1889 construction began on an 18-mile aqueduct to collect water from Lehman Creek on the east side of the mountain range and divert it to the mining area. The Osceola Ditch was completed on July 5, 1890 at a cost of $108,223, an expensive gamble in a business where profitable yields were not guaranteed. Indeed, gold production did not meet expectations. Beginning in 1892 placer mining was further hampered by water shortages caused by mild, dry winters. By 1901 the Osceola Ditch was abandoned. Yet in the brief decade of its use, it made significant placer mining possible in a region otherwise too dry.