Bitter Creek

Pioneer Canyon



Black Copper Canyon



Placer
Creek Canyon

On 9 July 1869, the first water was delivered to Martin and Scott's claim on Humbug Gulch. However, instead of the eagerly awaited deluge, only about 100 miners﷓inches reached the placer, the rest having been lost to leakage and evaporation. The company owned no placer land, and thus when revenues from the sale of water proved insufficient, and the company became "financially embarrassed," it was transferred to Col. Shelby of Santa Fe who had put up much of the cost of construction. Shelby, in turn, soon sold the unprofitable ditch to Lucien B. Maxwell.

In the fields, "first water" (first-use water from the ditch) was sold for $0.50/inch; "second water" and "third water" (previously used, reclaimed placer water) were generally sold by contract. Two cabins were built, 10 miles apart along the ditch, and workmen patrolled the banks, repairing leaks and removing debris. Early each spring, hundreds of miners would swarm into the hills to clear the ditch of ice and rocks so water could arrive at their placers as soon a possible.

In April of 1875, Maxwell traveled to Ft. Summer to Rayado and sold the ditch to Matthew Lynch of Trinidad, Colorado. Several years before, Lynch had discovered the fabulously rich Aztec mine on Baldy Mountain. At the time he bought the ditch he was one of the most successful placer miners in E'town. Lynch repaired the ditch, which had been neglected for several years, and proceeded to revitalize and modernize hydraulic mining in the area. Lynch apparently charged high rates for his water, and his own sluice boxes were never dry. Reportedly, ground in one claim on Willow Creek yielded as much as 40 oz. of gold per box (a box being equivalent to an area 12 ft. by 24 ft.). Lynch died in 1880. Although his brothers continued to operate the placer mines, the Big Ditch was eventually abandoned, and hydraulic mining declined and ultimately ceased. Today, remnants of flume and rusty old nails are all that remains of this extraordinary engineering project.