University of Montana, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
Abstract
In 1865 gold was discovered in the Garnet Mountains of Western Montana. This was one of the last of a series of gold rushes in the American West that began with the California Gold Rush in 1849. During this time period miners carried knowledge of geology of placer deposits and placer mining techniques out of California and into the interior west where they encountered quite different geologic conditions. This study examines how miners perceived and learned from these new environments during the construction of placer landscapes in the Garnet Mountains, especially in the Elk Creek Mining District, through a process called landscape learning. This study is also intended to be an industrial archaeological guide to interpreting placer mining landscapes and techniques
