Virginia Bill’s Riverbed Gold Rush
An enterprising miner plans to use a steamer’s machinery to pull gold from the Okanogan River, boasting a massive payout before winter arrives.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mr. John Stanton, a merchant of Ruby, Okanogan County, and formerly of Seattle, is in the city to buy goods. He stated that the completion of the Great Northern railway has secured Seattle’s wholesale trade with the region. He noted a novel scheme being undertaken by Mr. William Covington, commonly known as 'Virginia Bill.' Covington proposes to engage in hydraulic mining on an extensive scale by renting the steamer Nixon. He intends to anchor the boat at a bar on the Columbia River two miles below the mouth of the Okanogan River, using the steamer's machinery to wash gold from the riverbed through a series of sluices, trapping the 'flour gold.' Mr. Covington claims he will clear $75,000 before snow flies.
“A novel scheme is being undertaken by Mr. William Covington, commonly known as 'Virginia Bill,' by which he proposes to engage in hydraulic mining on an extensive scale.”
Resource extraction has always driven the regional economy, though the scale of Covington's river-sluicing scheme reflects the desperate ingenuity of the post-1893 economic crash. Today, the Columbia River remains a flashpoint for disputes over the ecological and economic cost of 'extracting' value from the river's path.
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