Steam Point Chisel Bit

This object was collected from the mining office at Coal Creek CampIt represents the earliest days of the Gold Placers, Inc. industrial placer gold dredge mining operation in the Coal Creek Valley. Early mining efforts tried to speed up the dredging operation by thawing the permanently frozen gravels using steam. Teams of men would drive long steam pipes, with bits such as this chisel bit attached, into the ground. The technique was abandoned when it was discovered that stripping the ground with a bulldozer was more efficient.