Two men outside a rustic log cabin in Illinois Gulch, east of Breckenridge, Colorado. One man fishes from a log bridge while the other man pans for gold near the cabin entrance. Smoke from the Colorado and Southern (C&S) railroad locomotive is visible on Rocky Point above. Circa early 1900s.

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.

Carl Fulton stands outside the log-reinforced portal to the Hot Air Mine. He holds the end of a rope looped around the neck of a small deer with antlers. In the background is a large log structure, probably a mill, on the steep hillside. Near Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa 1880s-1900s.

Jessie Mine and Mill in Gold Run, northeast of Breckenridge, Colorado. Title quoted from handwritten caption on card mount: "Exterior view of a gold mine."

Hydraulic mining at the Kingsbury Placer, 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. Title quoted from handwritten caption on card mount: "Gold mining by hydraulic power."

Mine workers sit or stand by a log stockpile for a group portrait at the Ouray Mine site in Illinois Gulch, east of Breckenridge, Colorado. Behind them is a wood frame building or sawmill. Handwritten on the reverse: "Ouray Mine, Breckenridge".

Placer mining in Summit County, Colorado. Men use pickaxes and a sluice box to prospect for gold in a placer deposit or gulch. Water from the pond above is diverted into a long, sloping wooden trough with grooves on the bottom to separate gold from the extracted rocks, gravel and sand. Title quoted from handwritten caption on card mount: "Gulch mining".

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 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.

Men at a mining operation near Breckenridge, Colorado. Two men stand next to ore carts stopped on elevated tracks leading from the mine's adit. A wagon pulled by two horses is stopped on the dirt road that runs under the tracks. Mine tailings are piled high on either side of the road. In the background is a large wooden structure with a smokestack, probably an ore bin or mill, and log cribbing on the steep hillside. Circa 1898-1913.

Men outside the buildings at the Groundhog Mine, west of Breckenridge, Colorado. Some of the men are identified by a handwritten number on the photograph: 1. Scott Cooke; 2. Bert Walker; 3. Vene; 4. Frank Brooks. Circa 1898-1913.

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.

A photographer's contact sheet. From top, left to right: Alpine Pass near Palisades; view of Tenmile Range from Boreas Pass Route; group of people, unknown; railway snowshed on Boreas Pass; two boys near the D&RG railroad tracks in Frisco, Colorado; mountains, unknown; group of people, unknown; railroad hookeye curve; cabin, unknown; "Tom's Baby"; view of Breckenridge from Barney Ford Hill; mine adit and two men, unknown; cabin and smaller structure, unknown; mountain valley, unknown; view of Breckenridge and Barney Ford Hill, probably from Fredonia Peak (gulch at the base of Red Mountain); mountain valley, unknown; rock cairn; Breckenridge.

Pit crew working in the Gold Pan Mining Company's excavation pit, south of Breckenridge, Colorado. Circa 1900s. Standing in knee deep water, men use shovels to heave boulders larger than 8 inches into the "stone boat", a rectangular metal platform edged on three sides. The attached cable pulled the boat up to the surface, where it dumped the rocks on the west side. The large pipes are part of the Evans hydraulic elevator system.

Men stand in the pit below the Evans hydraulic elevator system on the lower Swan River, southwest of Swan's Nest, north of Breckenridge, Colorado. Built by the North American Gold Dredging Company in 1898, it operated for one season and was a failure. Circa 1898-1899.

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.