One of Oregon's newest state parks, it is the home to one
of the oldest gold dredges in the country.

Located 30 miles West of Baker City in the town of Sumpter, the dredge once operated 24 hours a day from 1935-1954.

The park encompasses 83 acres,
including the dredge and tailings,
a small gift shop, and access to the
Sumpter Valley Railroad.

There were two separate periods of dredging, 1913-1924 and 1935-1954. This was defined by the two prices of gold, $20 and $35 an ounce. It was when President Roosevelt raised gold to $35 in 1934 that the idea of a third gold dredge, the Sumpter Valley Dredge, began.

The dredge was built 2 miles from its present location. Much of the heavy machinery was salvaged
and used from one of the older dredges that was no longer in use.

The Sumpter Valley Dredge was responsible for over 6 miles of tailings that can be seen throughout the valley. The dredge weighed about 1,240 tons. The 72 one-ton buckets, containing 10 cubic feet of material, would dump 25 buckets per minute. This meant that the dredge moved an average of 280,000 cubic yards of Sumpter Valley soil per month.

The 250hp. bucket line motor was powered by a 12- mile, 23,000 volt electric line from a portable substation. Three thousand gallons of water per minute were supplied by two 10-inch and one 6-inch pump. This water, along with six 24-inch jigs and sluice boxes were used for gold recovery. The hull measures 52 x 120 x 11 feet and the stacker is 96 feet long. The dredge cost around $350,000 to build and produced $4.5 million in gold at the then existing price of $35 per ounce.

The dredge always had to dig in a sideways motion so it could develop a pond big enough for the dredge to maneuver in. The back of the dredge had to center on the spud for a pivot. The bow and stern lines, 110 feet long and 1 1/4 inches thick, were anchored in the tailings. The dredge would then "step" ahead by tightening on the stern lines. With the bucket line resting on the bank, the men could use the dredge like a caterpillar. By moving it forward, or backward, the right distance could be achieved for a new bite at the bank.

Only two holidays a year were granted, Christmas Day and Independence Day. Other than breakdowns, repairs and power failures, the dredge ran 24 hours a day in all kinds of weather. It took about twenty men to keep the dredge going but as few as three men could operate it. Those twenty men consisted of a superintendent, dredge master, bookkeeping, electrician, part-time surveyor, shop foreman, two or three machinists, and a truck driver. Three were on shore and nine on dredge shifts.

Thanks to Bert Webber's Dredging for Gold for some of the above information.

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