We are so lucky to live in the day and age where information is right at your finger tips. A lot of research can be done right online as most of you know. The public library is also a great source of information. I look back at the old newspaper articles for information of finds back in the day. Many of the large mines would also publish stories of how well their mines were doing often in an attempt to lure investors. If you want to know about a specific spot you can go to the Bureau of Land Management and get information as well as many of the government agencies who all have records of the mines and how much and what they took out of the ground.

Local museums also can be a good source of information. They often have old journals and maps which can be useful in locating a good spot. The smaller museums often have ties to many of the locals who also can be a great source of information. I have found several good spots that have gone on untouched by most prospectors just by getting to know some of the locals in the areas. The old timers usually are native to an area, and families go back generations and can often give account of the activities in the past. More importantly, a lot of these folks own many of the old claims and with a bit of sweet talk you can gain access to the old claims which have gone untouched for a very long time. As most of you know, the old timers didn’t get all of the gold and often lost a good portion out of their boxes back into the streams and creeks. Getting onto an old claim can often yield great gold especially if you can find evidence of their old sluice box and dumps. A book I highly recommend is called “The Mining Camps Speak.” By Beth and Bill Sagstetter. The book is an valuable source of information on what you are looking at and for. Often times what most consider trash in these areas are clues as to what actually went on in a given location.

The last thing I would like to talk about today is getting up in the hills in the winter and doing some prospecting. I tend to go out and look at the creeks and rivers as they are freezing to help me decide where I need to dredge in the springs. During the summer months it is hard to tell where the river channel and the truly lies. It is easy to assume that it runs down the middle but this is rarely the case. If you go look at a creek as it is freezing during the winter months you can often see how the channel moves back and forth by where the water is still slowing and has yet to freeze. By taking photos and notes and drawing a simple map, it becomes easy to see where the flow changes directions. These spots where the flows change directions and slows are often a good indicator where to look for gold deposits that are usually not seen during the summer months as they are under a few feet of water. In the spring I take the photos and maps i have made in the winter, look for the spots where the creek cut back and fourth and did not freeze and dig those banks and bars where it slows or turns away. People often ask why I am dredging in a given spot in the creek. I did my research over the off season and know likely that these invisible bars can often yield good gold.

I am not saying that I am always right but I do know what I find and these things do work for me. The only sure way to find of is to get out and dig, after all gold is where you find it.