The early miners sought their wealth in the creeks and rivers of the area but the true wealth was discovered by accident.

There were nice sections of vein material at the end of several drifts, like they just stopped work one day and walked away.

As I laid in my Jeep and tried to get some rest, I began to realize how tired I was. I felt like a little kid who walked around Disneyland for 12 hours with his parents.

On my final prospecting day of 2020, I went up to a spot where I had found gold years before and had my best day of  the year—four nuggets for nearly one-quarter-ounce of gold.

A treasure-seeking young man whose name will forever remain anonymous made the months-long journey either over land or by sailing ship to California after word spread about the gold strike in 1849.