Click here to get to the literature collection of Malakoff Diggins State Park near Nevada City, California. The collection has a nuber of stories and a few songs. At Malakoff, they used high-pressure hoses to blast away the hillsides in their search for gold. Where I live near the American River in Sacramento, they used dredgers to dig for gold in deep trenches, leaving huge ridges of rocks that still extend for half a mile or more on either side of the river. The Gold Rush was a romantic period in some ways, but it certainly did horrible damage to the ecology of this area.
There were also many underground mines in the Mother Lode, some still operating; and many fascinating old mining towns. I have friends who go panning for gold, and they regularly find small nuggets. It's nice to have a chance to present some of the music that is part of the history of this area.
But I'm still waiting to see if Barry is going to type all 17 verses of "Seeing the Elephant".....
-Joe Offer-

OK, Barry... You win. I'll type it. The office computer is down, so I can't work, can I? Back in half an hour.