The history of Idaho is one rooted in hard work, brutal elements, western promise, and--most importantly--gold. Uniquely, the Gem State's mining past is a legacy that remains just as much a part of our landscape today as the very minerals that hide beneath our rugged landscape, leaving behind a trail of ghost towns, long-standing saloons, and Wild West-style architecture. Today, these historic gems sit scattered across the state in various states of preservation and decay. Foruntely, the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park is one place where past and present collide--and home to more than a few massive surprises.
Tucked away in Idaho's central mountains and on the Yankee Fork tributary of the Salmon River, the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park is so much more than an ordinary state park.
It's simply brimming with overlooked historic delights, Idaho beauty, and rich character.
From the ghost towns of Bonanza City and Custer and unique their "Wild West" landscape, to the museum filled with mining history… there's plenty of historic and modern-day delights to dive into.
But one behemoth piece of history has been capturing visitors' attention for decades: the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge.
In 1940, the dredge was built by Milwaukee-based Bucyrus Erie, with every ounce of material hauled cross-country to Mackay. The pontoons and super structure were built in Boise and trucked over Galena Summit.
That alone is quite the feat for the 1940s.
The goal of the dredge was for the Silas Mason company of New York to invest some money into the economy while getting a massive return--in the form of gold, of course.
Here's how it worked: Using multiple immense ton-sized buckets, water was scooped, funneled, and sifted in a similar fashion to hand panning for gold. Because fo the gold's weight, everything else would be churned out.
It ran every single day, 24/7, to maximize the amount of gold and silver it would uncover. The dredge was ran under the operation of one "dredgemaster" at a wage of $1.25 an hour, and multiple crew starting at $.62 per hour. My, how times have changed!
Essentially, this dredge created the manpower of 300,000 men panning by hand... and then some.
At 988 tons, 112 ft long, and the power of two - 350 HP engines, this massive hunk of machinery is a feat of engineering in itself. Today, it is also one of the best preserved gold dredges in the US.
The Yankee Fork gold dredge ran on and off from 1940-1953, stopping for WWII and at various economic points, bought and sold numerous times, until Idaho billionaire J.R. Simplot finally sold it to the USFS.
At the end of its life, this mass of steel that brought over 1 million dollars in gold out of our land.
Today, you can take a self-guided tour of the inside of this immense piece of Idaho mining history.
As one of the best-preserved dredges in the entire country, Idahoans have the unique opportunity to see such this fantastic remnant up close and personal in near-perfect condition.
When was the last time you visited the Land of the Yankee Fork State Park or toured the nearby ghost towns? Have you ever seen this dredge in person?
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