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Hydraulic mining operations at Sisler Placer (later known as the Mecca Placer) on the French Gulch slope of Barney Ford Hill, east of Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa 1898.

Hydraulic mining operations at Indiana Gulch, southeast of Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa 1934. A forceful stream of water jets from a high pressure nozzle fitted on a hydraulic pipe (called a "Giant") and into a wide gulch strewn with log debris.

Hydraulic mining operations at Indiana Gulch, southeast of Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa 1934. Water streams down the gulch, where below men are shoveling to remove rocks and debris. The gulch bed is strewn with river rock and boulders.

Hydraulic mining at Kingsbury Placer (later called Banner Placer) in Iowa Gulch, northwest of Breckenridge, Colorado. Men stand by as a hydraulic pipe with high pressure nozzle, called a "Giant", forcefully directs water at the hillside. A wooden sluice carries water above piles of discarded rock and small tree branches.

Kingsbury (later called Banner) Placer hydraulic mining operations in Iowa Gulch near Breckenridge, Colorado in 1909. Called "booming", the headgate is opened to allow water from the reservoir above to pour over the deep gravel banks, washing gold bearing gravel. Below, a man operates a "Giant" (a hydraulic pipe with high pressure nozzle) to further erode the hillside.

Kingsbury (later called Banner) Placer hydraulic mining operations in Iowa Gulch near Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa early 1900s. On the bank above are wooden buildings and log cabins surrounded by piles of stacked logs. A buck and rail (or buck and pole) livestock fence climbs the hillside next to a split rail fence corral.

Hydraulic mining operations at Bemrose Placer on Hoosier Pass, south of Breckenridge, Colorado. The crew stands by as the hydraulic pipe with high pressure nozzle, called a "Giant", forcefully directs water at the gold-bearing hillside. Water rushes over the gulch and through the gravel pit. Circa 1900s.

Hydraulic mining at Gold Run Placer on Gibson Hill, near Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa early 1900s. Men from the pit crew stand by while a "Giant" (a high pressure nozzle fitted on a hydraulic pipe) directs a powerful jet of water towards the base of a gravel bank.

Hydraulic mining operations at the Kingsbury Placer (later called Banner Placer) in Iowa Gulch near Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa 1909. A man, probably the manager or a member of the pit crew, looks at the wooden sluices carrying water through the gravel banks below while a horse and buggy wait on the high bank above.

Wapiti Mining Company's mining operations in American Gulch below Farncomb Hill, near Breckenridge, Colorado. An hydraulic pipe with high pressure nozzle (called a "Giant") drives gravel from the tree-cleared hillside. The Victoria Gold Mining Company's mill, built in 1888, is in view on the left. Circa 1895.

Miners stand in front of the first successful Pelton wheel to operate in Summit County, Colorado. Circa 1880. This "new" technology, first used in California, provided hydropower for the Gold Pan Mining Company operations at the south end of Breckenridge. Behind the men is a large pile of rocks and boulders.

The Hawthorne flume used to divert the Swan River for placer mining west of Swan's Nest near Breckenridge, Colorado in 1897. In the distance a man in a wagon is stopped on a bridge across the wooden flume. River rocks line the dirt banks of the depleted river.

A section of the "Great Flume" called the Swan River and Georgia Gulch flume, northeast of Breckenridge, Colorado, circa 1905-1906. In the foreground, a waste gate diverts water downhill when a repair on the wooden flume was needed.