They were unable to go deep enough to hit bedrock.įong and his crews worked on this claim for about 7-9 years and through that time the extent of their operations amounted to a pit about one acre in size and forty feet deep (13).Īs Fong excavated through the gravel beds, he found values of gold that ranged from ten cents per yard to $2.75 and higher depending on the depth and strata (10, 16) (this is equivalent to about $7.50 to $215 per yard in 2011 gold prices). At this depth, quick-sand was encountered and the shaft abandoned.

In an effort to determine the depth of the claim’s gravel, a shaft was excavated in the bottom of the pit to a depth of fifty feet, which gave a total depth at this point of ninety-one feet.

Fong’s derrick used a water wheel as a power source to lift buckets of rock on the derrick he built. On account of the limited power of the wheel, Fong was unable to raise rock from a depth more than forty feet and, consequently, could not mine below this level (16).Ī simple derrick functioned much like a crane. Fong constructed a small reservoir above his claim to collect water during the rainy season and to operate the water pumps during the summer (9, 16).Ī third water wheel was used to power a small derrick to lift buckets of rock and gravel out of the pit. Getting a supply of water for his water pumps during summer months was a challenge because the stream in Sailor Gulch was seasonal and had no water in the summer. This restricted Fong’s mining work to the summer months when the river was low and two pumps powered by water wheels were used to remove water during the dry season. The pit was located next to the river so water seeped in constantly, and did so at a much higher rate during winter months. With this crude equipment, Fong was able to excavate a 40 foot-deep pit and separate gold from the gravel hauled out of the pit.įong faced some challenges to make his mining operation work. The machinery used in Fong’s mining operations was almost entirely made of wood and was constructed by the Chinese who operated the mine (9). Both sites are on private land and are not accessible to the public. Another small pond can be seen between the L and C in Sailor Gulch and may have been the small reservoir built by Fong to store water to run his water wheels. Generally, Chinese were not allowed to own claims but the many years of disinterest in this area made it possible for Fong to own the mining rights (7).Īn arrow shows the location of the pond at the base of Sailor Gulch, part of which may have been excavated by Fong. However, the work of moving river rock in an area that constantly flooded proved too labor intensive and the area was left untouched as miners moved on to easier diggings.Īround 1890, a Chinese miner by the name of Wong Back Fong, was awarded a 99 year lease to mine the Sailor Gulch flats. The upper part of the gulch was mined extensively in the 1850s and it was suspected that the flats at the base of the canyon contained substantial gold. The story of the first gold dredge in southern Oregon begins in the mid 1890s at a place called the Chinese Derrick Ground, a mining operation located on the flats at the bottom of Sailor Gulch, the place where a group of sailors discovered gold in 1852 and sparked a gold rush that resulted in the establishment of the town of Waldo. All of the locations mentioned in this story are on private land and not accessible to the public.

The following story tells why this site was chosen, how the 100 foot-long dredge was shipped from Portland to this site, and why, despite the rich prospects of gold, the dredge was unable to succeed. The first gold dredge in southern Oregon and one of the first in Oregon history began operation in the spring of 1900 along the banks of the East Fork of the Illinois River near the community of Takilma. A photo of a dredge in operation may be the Josephine and was probably taken in the spring of 1900.

Gold dredge