Between 1851 and 1905, millions in gold were taken from the Spanish Creek Mines. To supply the miners, the small town of New Boston sprang up at the mouth of Wahponsey Creek. Complete with a toll gate, apple orchard, and gardens, it was covered in the 1870s by slickins from the large hydraulic mines nearby. Water for mining was brought from Silver Lake and Upper Spanish Creek by a ditch some 20 miles long. Gopher Hill, Plumas County’s largest hydraulic mine, is now the county dump. The historic Beckwourth Emigrant Trail also ran through this area.