Dredge #4

After the original hand mining tools such as pick-axe, hand shovel and gold pan were abandoned on Bonanza Creek in favour of gold dredges, large "dredge tailings" that resembled huge stone caterpillars started to appear. Gold dredgers were half boat and half tractor.
They roamed the gold rich country like dinosaurs, tearing up the ground and hauling dirt into the machine with rows of iron buckets. Inside, the rocks and dirt were tumbled, in a deathly roar, and the gold was separated out. No grease was used on the bearings as it attracted the gold into a sticky mess.

While in Dawson City we took 1/2 a day to drive up Bonanza Creek and to tour Dredge #4 which has been declared a National Historic Site. The gold dredges operated until the early 1960s. We found it interesting that this "modern technology" still relied on an old timer SOURDOUGH on every dredge. He stood on the front platform and took samples of the gravel and dirt being dug up by the buckets. Using his gold pan he panned samples every few feet. When the SOURDOUGH held up 3 fingers it meant LOTS OF GOLD KEEP ON DIGGING, when he held up 2 fingers it meant enough gold but not much and when he held up 1 it meant NO GOLD SWING TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT.

Mining in all its forms remains the number one industry in the Yukon Territory.