The cast iron box weighs many tons, and is many inches thick. The long solid rods were water powered to lift and drop them onto the gold bearing ore. The 18" riveted iron pipe in the background carried water from a far away creek via ditches into this pipe to power the crusher or placer the gold. The Independence mine was one of the richest gold dust mines along the Klamath River. These two rock crushers sailed around Cape Horn to get here, and getting them to this remote point must have been a test of both man and beast. The second one is lying in the creek below, cut off it's mount with a blow torch by a thief with more desire than sense.