Gold was the end, but water was the means of getting it. Claims that ran out of water simply shut down, so miners devised ingenious schemes to ensure a reliable supply.
Albert Trabold worked several claims by hydraulic mining and dredges in 1902. "The difficulty of procuring water for this system is such as would discourage an ordinary man, yet Mr. Trabold, who formerly owned the water right on Boulder Creek, buys a partial supply from the company now owning it and a partial supply from the owner of an electrical plant on Bonanza Creek," reported the Dawson Daily News. These two sources filled a reservoir Mr. Trabold constructed. "With 620 gallons of water per minute conducted through a 15-inch hose and an inch nozzle, Mr. Trabold clears off his ground bedrock with amazing rapidity."
The "return sluicehead" method conserved water. On Gold Run, powerful steam-operated pumps sucked up water and ran it to large reservoirs. This water was used repeatedly before being passed on to the next claim. On Bonanza an electrical "triplex plunger pump" raised water 112 feet; gravity then moved it through pipes to the ground to be sluiced.
Big Alex McDonald's large pumping plant at the mouth of Adams Creek included two 100-horsepower boilers and two duplex pumps. They forced a 100-inch stream of water 380 feet up to the crest of Cheechaco Hill, around and back down to Bonanza, supplying 15 claims.
