Woodworth Mill and Sluice Company Payment Slips

Located on the Carson River, the Woodworth Mill was built in 1864 at a cost of $75,000. By 1869, it contained 24 stamps, 12 pans, and had a capacity of 40 tons per day. In 1871, James G. Fair and John W. Mackay of the Pacific Mill and Mining Company purchased the mill and began an overhaul under the supervision of S. Fountain. They installed a new turbine wheel of 240 horsepower along with a dozen new pans of the largest scale. In 1874, the mill started crushing 40 tons a day of Silver Hill Mine ore. The 1880 census lists 31 employees at the mill: two amalgamators, one blacksmith, one carpenter, two engineers, and 25 laborers.

The Woodworth Sluice was one of the longest sluices ever built. It was composed of 12 individual sluices side by side, each 19 inches wide. Each sluice was separated by a 1.25 inch wide piece of wood. The total length of the sluice was 1,700 feet long. It took 627 gallons of water per minute to wash the tailings material in the sluice.

[Much of the above information is taken from the following source: Webster, Daniel D. Mills Along the Carson River. Arcadia Publishing: Charleston SC, 2015]