Here we are on boot hill near the graves of the Vigilante victims, looking south across town, high in the Rocky Mountains. Of course we always provide a rainbow. The erosion of these mountains drew off the lighter rock material and left the gold in the form of gravel.
Placer mining is the separation of pieces of gold from the pieces of stone in the gravel.
When you visit Virginia City you will have plenty of opportunity to see how the gold was recovered. Visit the River of Gold museum and our two other museums to learn how it was done. You will even have a chance to use a rocker and a gold pan and find your own gold. YES, there really is a pot of gold at the end of THIS rainbow. From the left hand side of the first picture we look west.