Victoria Ditch
Completed in 1865,
the Victoria ditch was built in order to provide water to claims that
had no access to Wild Horse Creek. Construction was organized by the Dore
and Pendle company, who were paid $25000.00 to build the waterway. They
drew upon the crowds of new arrivals to Wild Horse Creek to provide the
massive amount of labour needed to construct the channel.
It is believed that
much of this labour was supplied by Chinese people. They would have valued
this work as the mining ground in the valley was mostly taken up and they
would not been able to find a claim to work.
Parties who paid
for the ditch construction were not merely kind hearted souls looking
to help out fellow miners. Water from the Victoria ditch was sold at a
high price to the miners along its route. Utilised for many years by the
miners of Wild Horse, it was later inherited by the Chinese and used in
their search for gold. The ditch was finally abandoned because the amount
of gold along its route was not worth the price of its upkeep.
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