Extensive placer and underground lode mining occurred in French Gulch from the late 1850s to the 1960s when mining became uneconomical.
Lode mining was concentrated on the fairly steep valley sides where lead, zinc and silver sulfide ores and gold ores were extracted through an extensive network of adits and tunnels. Floating dredge boats were used to placer mine the valley floor for gold. The placer dredging left large deposits of dredged material covering the valley floor from the over a mile east of Wellington-Oro Mine, to Blue River.[url]http://www.abch2o.com/welloro2.htm[/url]