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Three men and a rocker in the Nome gold fields, ca 1905 (MOHAI 7227)
Summary
Many gold miners used rockers (also called cradles) to remove gold from pay dirt. They shoveled the dirt and gravel into a tray at the top of the rocker, and they shook the rocker back and forth as they poured water on the tray. Finer pieces of gold and dirt washed through holes in the tray into the box beneath. Gold was caught in screens or riffles in the rocker and panned from the box below.
This photo shows two claim owners or mining company officials watching as a miner operates a rocker to remove the gold. The photo was taken by B.B. Dobbs at Nome sometime between 1902 and 1908.
Subjects (LCTGM): Gold miners; Gold mining; Gold rushes; Prospecting equipment & supplies
The University of Washington has his work in their collection. He was born near Marshall, Missouri. He moved with his family to Lincoln, Nebraska when he was eight. In 1888, Dobbs moved to Bellingham, Washington, and partnered with F. F. Fleming at Dobbs & Fleming between 1890 and 1891. Dobbs had a photography studio in Bellingham for 12 years until 1900 when he moved to Nome, Alaska. He took a small schooner from Seattle to try and film the emergence of islands in the Bogoslof group. In Nome he photographed the town, the Seward Peninsula, and Inuit. He also reportedly prospected for gold. He partnered with A. B. Kinne to form Dobbs & Kinne in Nome.
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