History of the United States I / Unit 11 USH1 1555 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Placer Gold Runs Out
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The idea
Some found gold by panning or by shovelling river soil into sieve-like contraptions called rockers, and most did not.
In practice
Placer gold quickly exhausted, with what remained lying deep below ground.
Where people slip
Independent miners were supplanted by companies that could afford hydraulic mining technology and hired labourers.
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