COTTAGE GROVE – What started as a chilly and overcast morning in a small town 30 minutes south of Eugene ended as a monumental, record-breaking day for the City of Cottage Grove.
On Sept. 13, roughly 400 people gathered on Main Street in Downtown Cottage Grove to be a part of history. The Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, along with the Bohemia Mine Owners Association, Spirit of Bohemia Mining Days, Bohemia Gold Mining Museum, and the Historical Society, helped coordinate a world record attempt of the most people simultaneously gold panning.
Hundreds of people gathered on Main Street to pan for gold. ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEOS BY BOB WILLIAMS
In addition to timbering and sawmilling, gold mining has been a foundation of CG’s history and heritage. Mining played a crucial role in the development of the city when the discovery of gold in the Bohemia Mountains in 1863 led to a rush of miners from around the world.
According to the 1981 book “Bohemia Mining District: A Brief History,” this led to the establishment of the Bohemia Mining District, which was one of the most productive gold mining areas in Oregon at the time. The district helped found Cottage Grove and provided economic opportunities for its residents.
Urban Legend has it that the streets of Cottage Grove were once paved with gold.
Last Saturday, people swarmed downtown to see if it was true. The Chamber announced that they would be breaking a world record and needed hundreds of people to help them out.
This wasn’t the first time the little city had attempted a world record.
In fact, it held the record for the largest toga party in 2003, but that record was turned over to an Australian university in 2012.
Cottage Grove was competing once again with Australia for a new record title of the most people simultaneously gold panning. According to Natalia Ramírez, Guinness World Record adjudicator, the previous record was set in Australia in 2023, with a total of 268 panners.
Around 11:30 a.m., someone pointed out that “The sun came out to see the gold flakes.”
In total, 381 people had signed up and were stationed at hand-built mining tables, made by the public works department and chamber staff. Many folks were dressed in traditional gold mining attire, inspired by Google search results.
Fake mustaches and beards, big, holstered pistols, old-timey hats, suspenders, and long peasant dresses were sprinkled through the crowd. Everybody was provided with their own pan, a plastic pipette, and a small baggie of treasure-bearing soil from Champion Mining District.
Some participants learned from seasoned miners that they should rough up their new pans to get rid of the oil that coats them, to make it easier for dirt and sediment to settle.
A shotgun start
Jeff Gowing, former city mayor and school board member, started the 30-minute panning period with a shotgun bang.
Ramírez walked around the designated area to make sure record-breakers were following regulations. Each record title has its own set of rules. For this one, a few rules applied: participants couldn’t leave the taped-off area (a Honey Bucket was stationed inside the zone), and they had to be properly panning for the entire 30 minutes.
Five minutes in, and somebody already found gold. When the sediment from the provided bag was mined, volunteers refilled pans with dirt from wheelbarrows and buckets stationed around the tables. The extra dirt came straight from the street they were standing on.
Half an hour passed, and another shotgun bang alerted the end of the attempt. So many people were finding flakes, treasures, and even nuggets that after the timer ended, they were still panning.
While folks waited for witnesses to validate final numbers and see how many people got disqualified, a prize raffle was drawn, and Lorrie Link won the best-dressed competition. Alan Eubanks received bragging rights for the biggest nugget.
At around 1:15 p.m., Ramírez completed the needed calculations, and a small group gathered around her while she made an announcement. Unfortunately, six people had been disqualified from the competition for not following the guidelines. However, that meant that 375 people still completed it.
“The minimum to beat was 268, and today we achieved 375,” Ramírez said. “Today you beat the minimum, and I have to say that you have the new Guinness World Record title.”
