 Gold Dredge
Did you know......
Gold Dredges operated in the Sumpter Valley 1914-1954
 The Monighan
once worked the Sumpter area, but now sits at the Cracker Creek Museum of Mining The Monighan came to Sumpter in 1940. This 12 ton monster was used to dredge dry land on a large scale in the Sumpter Valley. Visit the Sumpter Museum for more history about Sumpter - It's FREE!  Just click on the
photo to visit the website now! |
Gold was first discovered in the Elkhorn Mountains by Confederate Soldiers in 1862, who then named their new town after historic Ft. Sumter in South Carolina. The name was changed later to Sumpter by the Postal Service. Legend says that the U.S. Postmaster ordered the spelling changed because of the Civil War Reference to the real Ft. Sumter.....Regardless of how it was spelled, Sumpter was booming by the late 1890's.............growing to 1500. Of course the U.S. Census Bureau wasn't counting Chinese, or Women and Children at that time so that number could easily have been double! Gold Mining still continues in the Sumpter area with private Placer and Hard Rock Mines peppering our historic mountains! Visitors enjoy trying their luck panning for gold in Crack Creek, from Bourne - down through the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Park......where it then becomes the Powder River, and everywhere through the Sumpter Valley! The U.S. Geological Survey says we have at least 80% of original gold still in the ground here! If you forgot to pack your gold pan, don't worry........ the friendly folks down at the Gold Dredge will loan you one of theirs free - for use in the Dredge State Park! Call {541} 894-2472 for details. Have you heard of Joe Bush? Well..............Joe Bush gets blamed for just about everything! Thats because Joe Bush doesn't really exist. Back when the Dredge was operating, unexplained events would occur or tools would get lost and the workers just invented "Joe Bush" as an explanation. So........ even today, Joe Bush gets blamed for just about everything!  Check out Gold Mining displays at the Sumpter Municipal Museum Visit our friends at the www.goldminerscorner.com Looking to buy a Gold Mine or just have some questions
about Gold Mining in Sumpter, Oregon? Visit our friends up at www.boulderpatchmines.com Ask for Diggerdan! |
|
|