Touches on the themes of population, and our relationship to nature. The hero rides into a small town in the mountains of Northern California, wearing a collar and asking to be called Preacher. He befriends some local, independent miners who have been chased off their land by an evil man and his gold thirsty cronies. Preacher becomes the leader against LaHood s big, hydraulic mining company. There is a powerful scene where the environmental impact of placer mining is demonstrated.
Hydraulic mining is considered the quickest form of placer mining, but the effects are devastating.
Basically, water is carried to the mine site via canals and ditches, where it enters into a hose that gradually becomes narrower so as to induce large amounts of pressure. This pressure is then used to cut into the hillside, washing the dirt and gravel into a sluice box, but at the same time, taking out trees and other vegetation along with it. Dozens of creeks in the Cariboo in British Columbia have been worked and reworked with these methods since the 1860 s. Laws, such as the Waste Management Act, have been put in place to protect such regions as Pine Creek, Lowhee Creek, Birch Creek, Boulder Creek, etc. Overall, this impressionable scene was one of the only interesting components of the film. After cleaning up the corrupt villains, the hero rides into the sunset.