An arrastra grinding gold ore under a dragged stone
1862
An engraving by Gustave-Adolphe Chassevent-Bacques published in the French travel journal Le Tour du monde, showing the mill Anglo miners nicknamed the Mexican merry-go-round. The device, brought north by Mexican miners, crushed ore by dragging heavy stones in a circle around a central post, and it was widely used in the California diggings before machinery arrived.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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