Running a general store was hard work, but at least it didn't require freezing your extremities in a rushing creek fed by frigid snow melt.

Chipping away rocks in a dark damp tunnel was also fatiguing and dangerous work where a man could get crushed by a cave-in or blown up by dynamite. All things considered, shop-keeping was a relatively easy and smart way to make a living and stay alive.

Honest and reasonable merchants could make a good living by providing necessities. They were able to acquire their gold dust in a way which didn't involve squatting in an ice cold creek for hours, while moving hundreds of pounds of wet gravel and sand in hope of finding a tiny flake of gold.

Miss Jenny, started working in the family business when she was a young teenager and was behind the counter of the Gagliardo Store in Hornitos for about 75 of its 100 years in business. She was in her 90's when she passed on in 1960.

She preserved some reminders of the past, probably inadvertently, by shoving unsold merchandise to the back shelves of the store and refusing to sell the old stuff -- even to collectors who inquired.