EXPLORE FURTHER

Miners would sometime stake a claim and begin to dig a hole straight down into the ground. The holes were called coyote holes. Hundreds of holes were dug on the hillsides and in old creekbeds around Nevada City.

The miners would often work as a team. One man would go down in the hole, dig, and gather dirt while the other miners would wait at the top and hoist the dirt out of the coyote hole. After the mining team had gathered enough dirt they would take it to a nearby river or stream to pan and separate the gold. This method of mining was very slow and not very profitable.