Historic lot of nine (9) stereoviews on original card mounts (eight on rounded-corner yellow mounts, one on orange mount with pink verso), published by Carleton E. Watkins from his celebrated series "Watkins' Pacific Coast" and "Watkins' Pacific Coast, 429 Montgomery Street, San Francisco," circa 1871. Each view bears printed margin captions, series titles, and detailed credits for operations of the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co. at Malakoff Diggings and vicinity, Nevada County, California. The lot includes:

1. No. 1820, "Malakoff Diggings, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co.": Spectacular close-up action view on orange mount showing a miner operating a high-pressure hydraulic monitor nozzle, blasting a massive column of water against an immense vertical wall of gravel.

2. No. 1819, "Malakoff Diggings, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co.": Dynamic landscape view capturing several powerful hydraulic monitors simultaneously throwing high-pressure jets across the excavated bedrock basin, with timbered hills in the background.

3. No. 1822, "Malakoff Diggings, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co.": Expansive panoramic overview documenting the vast, terraced open pit carved into the mountainside by relentless hydraulic washings, revealing exposed bedrock cuts and trestle works.

4. No. 1818, "Malakoff Diggings, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co.": Deep-cut pit exposure featuring an elevated wooden sluice flume and trestles carrying high-pressure water pipe across the devastated hydraulic floor.

5. No. 1825, "Union Diggings, Columbia Hill, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co.": Dramatic geological perspective looking down into the sheer earthen walls and eroded ravines created by hydraulic excavation at Columbia Hill.

6. No. 1801, "Rudyard (English) Reservoir, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co.": Scenic landscape study documenting the massive artificial mountain lake and feeder infrastructure constructed high in the Sierra Nevada to supply millions of gallons of water to the mines.

7. No. 1814, "Malakoff Diggings from the Henness Pass Grade, North Bloomfield. N. Bloomfield G.M.Co.": View capturing the massive timber and surrounding the artificial lake.

8. No. 1804, "Big Canon Dam, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co., Nevada Co.": Sweeping distant vista looking down into the basin.

9. No. 1823, "Sluicing at the Shaft House, North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co.": Fine industrial study of timber frame headworks, dual rail track hoists, and miners standing alongside ore and rock cars along the drainage shaft line.

Carleton E. Watkins traveled to the hydraulic fields of Nevada County in 1871 under commission from the corporate directors of the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company. Employing both his giant mammoth plate camera and stereoscopic rig, Watkins produced what is widely considered the definitive 19th-century visual document of industrial-scale hydraulic mining. Before the practice was effectively outlawed by the landmark 1884 Woodruff v. North Bloomfield federal injunction due to catastrophic downstream sediment flooding, these massive operations literally washed away entire mountainsides. Watkins’ views of the Malakoff Diggings capture the extraordinary clash between monumental technological ambition and environmental transformation. 

[Stereoview, Stereocard, Carleton Watkins, Carleton E. Watkins, Watkins Pacific Coast, Hydraulic Mining, Gold Mining, Gold Rush, Malakoff Diggings, North Bloomfield, Nevada County, California, Little Giant, Water Monitor, Sluice, Flume, Bowman Dam, Reservoirs, Industrial History, Environmental History, Western Americana, 19th Century Photography]

Very good condition overall. The albumen prints display exceptionally rich tones, focal sharpness, and contrast. Yellow mounts remain flat and sturdy with minor, honest edge toning and corner rubbing.