National Register Listing

SUMPTER VALLEY GOLD DREDGE (dredge)

SW of Sumpter near Cracker Creek, Sumpter, OR

The Blue Mountains are some of the oldest land formations in Oregon and are the most important among the three or four principal gold-bearing areas of the state. Geological surveys have determined there the presence not only of gold but silver, platinum, copper and a lengthy catalog of other minerals. The first finds in the Powder River district were made in 1862 during the advent of gold excitement in Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho when prospectors streamed to placer mines. The mining towns of Sumpter, Bourne and Granite described a triangle of activity on the upper Powder River.

In 1896 discovery of a big load near Bourne and the completion of the Sumpter Valley narrow gauge railroad from Baker to Sumpter introduced a new period of "hard-rock" mining. Heavy machinery was brought in to open up rich ore veins. Sumpter boomed between 1899 and 1903. in 1901, according to local accounts, it covered an area of 1400 acres and boasted improvements valued at $500,000. Thereafter, the town's fortunes waned and fire took its toll. Lumbering and agriculture rose in importance, but mining activity continued.
The first gold dredge in the valley operated from 1913 to 1924. A second dredge was active between 1915 and 1923. The third, constructed in 1935 and incorporating some of the machinery of the antiquated No. 1 dredge, is the last surviving gold dredge in the state.

No. 3 dredge was put into operation by the Sumpter Valley Dredging Company in the days of The New Deal when, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's gold policy, the price of gold was elevated to between $34 and $35 an ounce.

The actual digging operation continued day and night, requiring three men on a shift. However, as many as twenty additional men were employed in the overall operation as laborers, machinists, and office workers Most of the labor force was made up of local townspeople.
No. 3 dredge closed down during the Second World War, but during the idle period repairs and improvements were made. In 1948 the dredge was sold to the Baker Dredging Company, and in 1950 it became the property of the Powder River Dredging Company.
Originally, land for dredging was acquired at about $50 an acre. Prices later reached $150 to $300 per acre. The land area dredged in Sumpter Valley is estimated at 2500 acres. All the combined dredging is estimated to have grossed in the neighborhood of $10,000,000. Of this total production, $4,500,000 was produced by dredge No. 3.

In 1954, its last year of operation, the dredge reworked old tailings. Operators made their way to the edge of Sumpter, reportedly with the idea of purchasing a portion of the townsite which was known to be a good source. The plan collapsed, however, when rumors led to the inflation of land prices. The dredge remains today where it was stopped, a singular vestige of the pervasive mining industry in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon.

Local significance of the structure:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1971.