Dredge boat ruins on the Blue River

Abstract

Photograph showing the ruins of the ninth and final dredge boat built in the Breckenridge area to mine the placer gravel deposits for gold (the caption on the verso of the photograph is incorrect). The dredge was built on site by the Yuba Dredge Company in the Blue River Valley about two miles north of Breckenridge, and it began operating in 1918. The dredge was electrically operated and its buckets fed gravel from the river bottom into the dredge where it was milled. The stacker deposited the tailings along the river channel. The Powder River Gold Dredging Company sold the dredge to the Blue River Dredging Company in 1919. In 1925, the dredge was destroyed by fire but was rebuilt the following year. The dredge continued to operate on the Blue River north of Breckenridge until the end of 1937.