CHAPTER XVIII 

 EAST VALLEY CONCLUSION 



IT must not be supposed from the remarks at the end 

 of the last chapter that the gold-field was not a success. 

 In later years, when we revisited it, we found a thriving 

 town on the site of our old camp at Three Forks, with 

 shops, hotels, and public buildings, which bid fair to 

 become the second most important town in the country. 



The gold, though present in large quantity, was 

 scattered through an enormous amount of sand and 

 gravel and could only be worked by large companies 

 having command of capital. The method of mining 

 employed was as follows : First, reservoirs were con- 

 structed in the upper parts of the valleys of the mountain 

 streams and pipes laid to convey the water to the scene 

 of operations. Often this was a costly matter, as the 

 reservoirs had to be constructed at such a height as to 

 give an adequate head of water, which made it necessary 

 in many instances to construct long pipe-lines for which 

 all the materials had to be imported, as the iron industries 

 of the Lyell coal-field were not yet sufficiently developed 

 to supply the demand. 



The water under high pressure was then distributed 

 over the workings by means of pipes and delivered from 

 nozzles, fastened down to stakes driven into the ground, 



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