In a gulch about 60 miles north of Butte, a placer mine produced, reports say, tens of thousands of dollars in gold in a single year. Gold mining is still an important activity in this region. West of Whitehall, Montana, a huge gold mine, high on the side of a mountain, can be seen from I-90. Near Clancy, another large gold deposit yields to the massive mining equipment used by modern-day miners. Filled with the spirit of the early prospectors, individuals still search Montana's sediments for yellow riches.
Many folks enjoy looking for gold the old-fashioned way, with a pan.
Sediments are scooped up from a stream bed with a small oval pan and then sloshed around under the flowing water of the stream until the lighter materials are washed away, leaving behind, it's hoped, flakes and nuggets of gold. For others, the search for gold is made easier by metal detectors. A Guide to the Mining Camps of the Treasure State . Its main street is traditional and vibrant and packed by all kinds of interesting businesses. As Lewistown is about real cowboys, Bozeman is about urban cowboys.