Engraving of hydraulic washing at a California gold claim
1862
A wood engraving by Gustave-Adolphe Chassevent-Bacques showing gold being washed out of a hillside by hydraulic method, published in volume five of the French travel journal Le Tour du monde. High-pressure water jets let operators strip whole slopes, and the debris they flushed downstream reached the bay and the rivers feeding it. The plate presented California mining to European readers.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
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