I like to think of our Pacific Northwest area as one of the most interesting portions of North America. As a supporter of the magazine “Archaeology” I get not only to read about history, but how the world has changed and given life to our planet for eons.
“The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochronology (a scientific branch of geology that aims to determine the age of rocks). It is used primarily by Earth scientists (including geologists, paleontologists, geophysicists, geochemists, and paleoclimatologists) to describe the timing and relationships of events in geologic history.” – Wikipedia
Archaeology reveals many things and when they touch home, I like to share that with other people. My favorite section of the magazine is “Around the World,” which is generally a one paragraph discussion from a two-page sharing of stories involving interesting information from our planet.
Interesting information doesn’t always mean pages and pages of stories and detail. As long ago as 1867, actually not very long ago, gold was discovered on Thunder Mountain in central Idaho. Three Blaze Trail became a magnet for gold hungry miners during the 20th-century gold rush.
“The track was made through rugged terrain in 1902 to bring prospectors to Thunder Mountain, where gold had been discovered, but much of its course was lost or obscured over the past century. The route was named for the 3 ax marks trailblazers notched into trees to guide travelers along the way.”
Actually, panning for gold is still being tried in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. You can learn more about panning for gold in Washington here:
There is still gold to be found in Idaho with a little searching. If you have a good eye, you can also find visible 3 ax marks that trailblazers left behind.
Brought back memories of when I did a bit of gold prospecting in Colorado in the 1970’s. I was assigned to Fort Carson, twice, and enjoyed prospecting around Cripple Creek, Victor, Gillette and other old mining camps which saw a gold rush in the late 1800’s. I focused on the mine tailings which acted as a giant natural sluice for nearly a century. Weathered as the exposed rocks were, they deposited fine sand and gold dust at the bottom along gullies below. When you picked up the sand and rubbed it in your hands it left them literally gleaming with gold dust. I tried dry panning and took buckets home to wet pan and was able to obtain very fine gold dust. Unfortunately the price of gold at that time was $35.00 an ounce which was little compensation for the work required. Today at $1800.00 an ounce it might be a paying proposition. In either case it would be a great hobby…again! Your article just might get me back into it! Thanks!
Groups too join Gold Prospectors Asproctor of
AMERICA (GPAA lost Dutchman mining of
America (LDMA) Plblic Lands for the People (
PLP). Check your local phone directory or your mining shops. ⁰
When I was a young lady my dad took my brother and I out to Idaho to visit my uncle Rick. He looked like the prospector in the photo. He took us on a golf panning trip high up in the Rockies. We found lots of gold and spent many of hours picking bitts of small flakes out of our pans. We estimated that we had a haul of over 30k a piece. I Allredy had plans to buy a new quad and a lama for further expansion of out enterprise. We were extatic for days. We took our golf back to town to a gold buyer and he brought us into his office and sat us down.
He looked at our gold and opened his drawer.
He pulled out a very heavy rock with a dull yellow appearance and said” this I gold, what you guys have there is fools gold”.
Looking back I know now that my uncle knew the whole time! What a fun trip. RIP Rick.