Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold. It is also used in mining kaolin and coal.
The Gold Country is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines that attracted waves of immigrants, known as the 49ers, during the 1849 California Gold Rush.
South Yuba River State Park is located along the South Fork of the Yuba River in the Sierra Nevada, within Nevada County, in Northern California.
Empire Mine State Historic Park is a state-protected mine and park in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Grass Valley, California, U.S. The Empire Mine is on the National Register of Historic Places, a federal Historic District, and a California Historical Landmark. Since 1975 California State Parks has administered and maintained the mine as a historic site. The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California". Between 1850 and its closure in 1956, the Empire Mine produced 5.8 million ounces of gold, extracted from 367 miles (591 km) of underground passages.
You Bet is a small unincorporated community in Nevada County, California. You Bet is located in the Sierra Nevada foothills, 7 miles (11.3 km) east of Grass Valley and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Chicago Park.
The San Juan Ridge is a geographic feature extending approximately 24 miles (39 km) east-northeast between the South and Middle Yuba Rivers in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada. The elevation is approximately 790 m (2,600 ft) above sea level.
North Bloomfield is a small unincorporated community located in Nevada County, California.
The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company of North Bloomfield, California, was established in 1866 and operated a hydraulic gold-mining operation at the Malakoff Mine subsequent to the California Gold Rush. In its day, no other company's operations matched North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company in size or expense. The company operated until 1910. In the years prior, its profits and procedures had been reduced due to the landmark ruling of Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company.
Lake City is an unincorporated community in Nevada County, California. It lies at an elevation of 3300 ft. about 10 miles northeast of Nevada City as the crow flies, and about three miles southeast of North Columbia, and three miles southwest of North Bloomfield. It is located at the junction of modern day North Bloomfield, Back Bone and Lake City Roads. It was an important mining and transportation center in the second half of the 19th century.
Moore's Flat was a historic mining town located on the San Juan Ridge about 19 miles northeast of Nevada City, California and about 5 miles northeast of North Bloomfield, California. The town was about 1 mile south of the Middle Yuba at an elevation of about 4200 ft. On either side of it, lay the mining towns of Orleans Flat and Woolsey's Flat, each about I mile apart. All three were settled around 1851 and their histories frequently intertwine. Collectively, they are sometimes referred to as "The Flats." All three were part of Eureka Township.
Orleans Flat was a historic mining town located on the San Juan Ridge about 20 miles northeast of Nevada City, California and about 5 miles northeast of North Bloomfield, California. The town was about 1 mile south of the Middle Yuba River at an elevation of about 4200 ft. To the west lay the mining towns of Moore's Flat and Woolsey's Flat, each about I mile apart. All three were settled around 1851 and their histories frequently intertwine. Collectively, they are sometimes referred to as "The Flats." All three were part of Eureka Township.
Woolsey Flat or Woolsey's Flat was a historic mining town located on the San Juan Ridge, located about 17 miles northeast of Nevada City and about 3 miles northeast of North Bloomfield. The town was about 1 mile south of the Middle Yuba at an elevation of about 4200 ft. To the east lay the mining towns of Moore's Flat and Orleans Flat, each about I mile apart. All three were settled in 1851 and their histories frequently intertwine. Collectively, they are sometimes referred to as "The Flats. All three were part of Eureka Township.
Birchville is a historic mining and agricultural community in Nevada County, California. Birchville is located about 10 miles northwest of Nevada City and about 2 miles northeast of French Corral. It is situated at an elevation of 1,765 ft (538 m) above sea level.
Blue Tent is a historic 19th century gold mining community located about six miles northeast of Nevada City, California.
Cherokee is a former gold mining community in Nevada County, California. The community has also been known as Patterson, Melrose, and Tyler. It is located on the San Juan Ridge about 4 miles east of North San Juan. Its elevation is 2,516 ft (767 m) above sea level.
Little York is the name of one of the first gold mining towns established in Nevada County, California as well as the name of the township in which it was situated. The town was located on the Lowell Ridge between Steephollow Creek and the Bear River, about 13 miles east of Nevada City, California and about 1 mile southwest of Dutch Flat, California at an elevation of about 2800 feet.
Mooney Flat was an important mining and transportation hub in western Nevada County, California, just east of the Yuba County line. It was situated on modern Mooney Flat Road, about 1 mile north of modern Highway 20, at an elevation of about 800 ft.
Relief Hill is an unincorporated community in Nevada County, California. Relief Hill is located roughly midway between North Bloomfield and the town of Washington. It lies at an elevation of 3,947 feet. The post office established in 1894 was named Relief, and that name appears on some maps, especially those from around the turn of the nineteenth century. However, the town's inhabitants and most historians called it Relief Hill. The post office was discontinued in 1921.
Remington Hill is a historic mining camp in Nevada County, California which prospered in the second half of the 19th century. It was named for Caleb Remington, a prominent local miner who lived mostly in neighboring Little York, where he died in 1865. It lay at an elevation of 4052 feet. It was situated around present Chalk Bluff Road about one mile south of Highway 20 and about 5.5 miles southeast of the town of Washington and 6 miles northeast of Dutch Flat, as the crow flies.
The case of Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company was a lawsuit brought to California courts in 1882 where a group of local farmers sued North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company over damages caused to farmland in the Central Valley. The farmers who brought the suit claimed that the company's hydraulic mining operations resulted in the disposal of excess sediment, debris, and chemicals in local rivers. Prosecutors argued that the debris raised river beds and restricted flow in the rivers leading to heavy man-made flooding. In the years prior, flooding of debris and chemicals had destroyed a large portion of the valley's agriculture.
