Dr Mike Thornton

Wow! Dr. Thornton's talk was so interesting! I had no idea about hydraulic mining or suction mining/dredging. I was one of those people who thought of gold mining with a pick and a pan. I never knew about the devastation and carelessness that happened during the gold rush. What a mess! It is sort of scary all the clean up that must be done. It is sad that tourism seem to want to cover up the whole truth of the gold rush mining and the impact it has left today. My daughter studied the Gold Rush last year in fourth grade and we went on many field trips and they never mentioned any of the bad effects that have happen in the Gold Rush, from the environmental impact, the towns being built up fast, the trees being cut down, to the mercury dumped in the water and contaminating the rivers and fish. I'm glad I got to learn about the other aspects of the gold rush. In some ways I feel overwhelmed by the devastation that humans can do all in the name of staking a claim and finding their fortune.