Always looking for better and faster ways to find gold, 49ers began to use a long tom, or sluice box. The long tom was a long wooden trough (pronounced “troff”) through which water could flow. Dirt was thrown into the sluice and water washed over it. The gold sank to the bottom of the long tom where it was caught on wooden bars, called riffles. The long tom was a great invention because it could do the same amount of work as three men using the panning method.

A large number of people flocked to the West to make their fortune mining gold in California. While very few people were successful at such ventures, the rush of gold-seekers did speed up the American settlement of the West while reinforcing the ideals of Manifest Destiny.