Sunbeam, ID

The huge gold dredge is actually a three-story barge in the middle of the wilderness. It is a historical state monument now, once owned by Simplot. It dredged tons of gold out of the stream beds of Idaho back at the turn of the century. The Columbia River was brown from all the sediment it churned up. The dredge could be heard for a distance of six miles as it churned up creek beds and pulverized rock in a huge cylindrical grinder. The third story had row after row of slues boxes to scavenge gold.

Three men ran the whole contraption. The main operator was paid 86 cents an hour while the two laborers earn about 35 cents. The dredge completely rechanneled the creek as it was pulled back and forth across the valley by steam driven tractors.