THE LEGEND

TOM'S STORY

Tom Bohmker founded Cascade Mountains Gold in 1976, with the release of his first book, The Gold Panner's Guide to South Dakota. Since then, he has released several more books in this series, focusing on Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California.  Tom Bohmker founded Cascade Mountains Gold in 1976, with the release of his first book, The Gold Panner's Guide to South Dakota. Since then, he has released several more books in this series, focusing on Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California.  Tom has been an active research miner since the 1960's, having researched all over the western United States, Alaska and Venezuela. 

Tom has an extensive library of books he has authored, the wildly popular Gold Panner's Guides, as well as republishing out of print geology reports from the western United States.  As of 2026, Tom is still researching, mining, and lecturing, oftentimes with his oldest son, Josh.