Float Gold Could Mean Riches Or Poverty in the Old West

"Float Gold Could Mean Riches Or Poverty in the Old West","

The term ""float"" or ""floated"" gold was gold which had washed (floated) down from mountain gold mines or natural rock deposits in the many streams and creeks throughout the West.


The float gold was mined using "placer mining.
 The simplest gold prospecting tools used then -- and used by many gold prospecting hobbyists throughout the West today -- were picks, shovels, and gold pans.
 Successful placer mining often was more a matter of luck than skill.
 That's the source from which the gold would be eroded and washed into the stream.


Gold panning itself was the simplest and easiest work for an individual prospector.
 Then he would mix the gravel with the water, slosh and roll his shallow pan side-to-side, and allow the water and lighter gravel to slosh out of the pan.


Despite the thousands of eager prospectors who grabbed up grub and supplies to pour into each new gold strike, there are still many, many small streams and creeks throughout the West which hold significant promise for today's prospectors.


Float gold made some people rich, and turned others into obsessed, driven relics of poverty.


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