Rivers are not just random and accidental; streams and other drainages are what they are because of the forces of erosion acting on the bedrock.

I was amazed and surprised, and I took a moment to admire how beautiful this coarse chunk of gold was. It later weighed exactly one-half ounce.

While a large number of locations have yielded some placer gold, most of the state’s placer production has come from a few productive districts.

While none of the historical mining camps are active, the area is still a hub of activity for the modern prospector, and claims still blanket the hills and gulches.