By the outbreak of the Civil War, most of Stafford’s mines were owned by Northern capitalists who went home at the beginning of hostilities. The mines were located in a remote area and most of the employees were locals well familiar with the lay of the land and the locations of the gold deposits. Historians believe that the Stafford and Fauquier locals continued mining in the absence of the Northern owners. The gold thus produced is believed to have helped fund the Confederate government. (Before the war, labor was provided by a mix of enslaved and local people.)