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Sixtymile Dredge History |
Have you ever heard of a Gold Dredge travelling from its birthplace of Seattle, Washington to work in Oregon, then taking a journey up through Skagway and Dawson City to finally rest in Big Gold Creek where it was put to work for almost twenty years and then sit idle for almost 40 years before being uprooted again to move back down to Skagway?? WHEW! Neither did we! But you'd better believe it - and we've got it right here at its newest home in Skagway, Alaska!
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| Have we whet your appetite for more? Read on about our Dredge's history... |
The Journey |
Sixtymile Dredge was borne from the collaborative efforts of several good men from both sides of the border.
- Built in 1936 by Washinton Iron Works in Seattle, Washington, the dredge was put to work in the river beds of Burnt River, Oregon.
- In 1939 the Idaho-Canadian Dredging Company bought the dredge and property up in the Sixtymile area and decided to make a prosperous move.
- By 1941, the dredge was dismantled and began its sea and land journey to its new home.
- The dredge had to endure a barge up through the Inside Passage to Skagway where it was then loaded onto flatbed cars on the White Pass & Yukon Route trainline and taken to Whitehorse.
- From there it was once again barged to Dawson City.
- CAT trains then railed it the remaining 105 kilometres to its company's placer claim on Big Gold Creek.
- There it toiled labouriously (even after being sold to Yukon Explorations in 1947) until its timely demise in 1959.
- Retired Yukon placer miner on Sixtymile, Jimmy Lynch, managed to maintain the dredge in fine condition until he sold it to Ron Holway in 1977.
- From then it's been a 22 year journey to where it stands now. We're so pleased our beloved Sixtymile has found its way home to rest.
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The Gold Dredge itself
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