Colorado Placers and Placering

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Placers have been worked from place to place from Jackson's Bar on Chicago Creek, from the mouth of Fall River on Clear Creek, from the heads of Russell and Gregory Gulches west of North Clear Creek and from above timberline on North Clear Creek to Denver. This placering began the winter of 1859 and has continued with interruptions to the present. Jackson's Bar and Gregory Gulch were two of the three economic gold discoveries early in 1859 that sustained the Colorado gold rush. No commercial placer mining continues today. Going up North Clear Creek from Forks Creek (at the junction of U.S. 6 and Colorado 119) there are signs of placer mining along the creek almost continuously to Pickle Gulch and in Russell and Gregory Gulches and many of their tributaries nearly to their heads. All have been placered from once to more than three times. The valley placers were worked by shoveling-in, where water was available (especially in the upper courses), by small scale by hydraulicking and along North Clear Creek from Black Hawk downstream by drift mining and by drag line and mobile dry land washing plants.