Group of miners using conveyor and rockers, ca. 1899

• Main Author: Hegg, Eric A., 1867-1948
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Gold miners; Gold mining; Gold rushes; Prospecting equipment & supplies; Tents; Women > Employment; Hegg; Nome; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/7250

Around 1898, gold was found in inland creekbeds near what would become Nome. It wasn't until early 1899, when word leaked out that gold had been discovered in beach sand, that the Nome gold rush truly began. Extracting gold from beach sand called for different methods. Conveyors and rockers worked more efficiently than sluices and panning. This 1899 or 1900 photo was taken in Nome, Alaska, probably by Eric Hegg. One man (left) holds a dipper of water and operates a rocker. The person squatting, possibly a woman, is cleaning the fine grains from a rocker screen. A young man operates a conveyor while an older man (right) is about to shovel beach sand onto it. Written on photo: Mining in Alaska. Original photograph: 1899 or 1900. Copied after 1902 by Webster & Stevens 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard : gelatin, b&w; 19 x 24 cm.