in streams. Each miner had a pan of tin or iron, which he filled
half-full of the gravel, or "pay dirt," as the miners called it. Then,
holding it under water, he shook off the stones and mud over the side
of the pan, leaving grains of gold mixed with black sand at the
bottom. This black sand was iron, and after a while the miners removed
it with a magnet, dried what remained, and blew away the dust, leaving
only the grains of gold.

Another contrivance which soon came into use was the "cradle." This
was a long box, sometimes only a hollowed-out log. At the top was a
sieve which sifted out the stones. Nailed to the bottom of the cradle
were small cleats of wood, or "riffles," which kept the water from
running so fast as to sweep the gold out of the cradle with it. The
cradle was placed on rockers and was also tilted slightly. The miner
shoveled the gravel into the top of the cradle and his partner rocked
it. The sieve kept back the stones, the water broke up the lumps of
earth and gravel and washed them down the cradle, and the grains of
gold were stopped by the riffles, and sank to the bottom. Sometimes
the "pay dirt" continued under a stream. To get at it, the miners
often built a little canal and turned the water into a new channel;
then they could work on the former bed of the river.

Before many years had passed, the gold that was near the surface had
been gathered. The miners then followed the streams up into the
mountains, and found that much of the gold had come from beds where in
ancient times rivers had flowed. There was gold still remaining in
these beds, but it was poorly distributed, the miners thought.
Sometimes there would be quite an amount in one place, and then the
miner would dig for days without finding any more. Even worse than
this was the fact that these gravel beds were not on the top of the
ground, but were covered up with soil and trees. Evidently the slow
work with pans and cradles would not pay here; but it occurred to some
one that if a powerful stream of water could be directed against the
great banks of earth, as water is directed against a burning building,
they would crumble, the dirt could be washed down sluices, and the
gold be saved. This was done. Great reservoirs were built high up in
the mountains, and water was brought by means of ditches or pipes to a
convenient place. Then it was allowed to rush furiously through a
hose and nozzle, and the great stream coming with tremendous fo