The Spanish first introduced the arrastra to the New World in the 1500’s. The word “arrastra” comes from the Spanish word “arrastre,” meaning to drag along the ground. When ore was quarried from hard rock mines, the quartz had to be crushed to free the gold, and the arrastra was the earliest and simplest device introduced into remote areas of the California Gold Fields for that purpose. In its simplest form, a flat-bottomed drag stone was placed in a circular, rock-lined pit and connected to a center post by a long arm. Powered at the other end by a horse, mule, or person, the stone moved slowly in a circle, crushing ore placed between the stone floor and drag stone into a coarse powder. Water and quicksilver were then added, and the resulting slurry was removed to sluices, where the gold was recovered. The drag stone and all of the floor stones of this arrastra were transferred to the Groveland Yosemite Gateway Museum, and it was reconstructed by local volunteers.