Just recently BLM and its partners installed an interpretive sign on the Historic Sterling Mine Ditch Trail at Tunnel Ridge. The Tunnel Ridge area of the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail is an historic water tunnel that was designed to continue the flow of the ditch during mining operations.

The sign was designed by BLM interpretive specialists to render a depiction of the activities that went into building this feature. Gold was originally discovered on Sterling Creek in 1854. The first gold was easily removed by panning. Eventually, the greatest success was achieved with hydraulic mining, which uses a powerful jet of water from a hydraulic giant to wash out gold lying under layers of soil and rock. Ditch construction began in 1877 to bring water from the Little Applegate to operate hydraulic giants. The Sterling Mining Company was the contractor. A 26.5 mile long ditch, three feet deep, was completed in December, 1877. Up to 400 workers, many of them Chinese laborers were employed to construct the ditch. The ditch was in use through the 1930s.

Folks from the Job Council of Medford carried the sign and the post up one mile and Dixie (the mule) carried 120 pounds of concrete mix and water up to the site. Partners included the Siskiyou Uplands Trail Association, Job Council of Medford, BLM, and most importantly, Dixie the mule!