Warren County Mississippi

by Tom Ashworth

Silver Creek, Bear Creek

BY: Steve Boswell

Bench gravels contain small (both in size and quantity) amounts of gold. History is hard to come by. The owner of a local gravel pit once said, he had heard of the "old-timers washing for gold" in the creeks. Bear, Clear and Silver Creeks are all east of Vicksburg and have quartz gravel bottoms. In one location, Bear Creek runs over a shale bedrock which is pockmarked with potholes eroded by water moving the quartz gravels.

By the way, "Steve says", I've found color in just about every pothole I've dug on Bear Creek. It's never big or plentiful, but it passes the time.