Down fell the sand and gravel into sluices or
boxes of running water where cleats and other arrangements caught and
held the gold, which was heavy, while the lighter mixture was carried
out into the canyon.
The material thus dumped on the mountain side was called debris, and to
any one living in the mining region of the state that word means trouble
--means fighting, lawsuits, ruin. For the debris did not stay up in the
canyon, but was washed down into the rivers, overflowing farm lands,
spoiling crops and orchards, and making the streams shallow, their
waters muddy. So great was the destruction this process caused that, in
1893, the Congress of the United States enacted a law which provided for
the creation of a Debris Commission to regulate the business of
hydraulic mining in California. The result of the investigations of this
commission was to put a stop to all hydraulic mining in territory
drained by the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers, or any other territory
where the use of this form of mining should injure the river systems or
lands adjacent. Thus, almost in a moment, the important industry was
stopped.
Pages:
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309