Miners digging and washing sand from a riverbed
1862
An engraving of placer work in the California diggings, showing crews lifting sand from the bottom of a river and washing it for gold. It was published in the French travel journal Le Tour du monde from a drawing by Gustave-Adolphe Chassevent-Bacques. The rush that drew these men through San Francisco turned the port into a city within a few years.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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