Sumpter and Granite

Saturday, August 12, 2017

A drive in the mountains west from Baker City takes us along the Powder River slowly climbing into the mountains and passing the Phelps Reservoir with many recreation areas with campgrounds until we reach the old mining town of Sumpter.

Before reaching Sumpter, we drive down a short road to the railroad station at McEwen, the end of the line for the narrow gauge Sumpter Valley Railroad which runs between the towns of Sumpter and McEwen on designated weekends and for special events.  

The railway began in Baker City in 1890 to haul timber to McEwen and Sumpter.   Business declined in the 1930’s and by 1947 the railway had been abandoned.  In 1976 the first excursion train run by volunteers began its current six mile run.

The town of Sumpter was named for Fort Sumpter, South Carolina by five ex-Confederate soldiers who discovered gold in 1862.  The railroad reached Sumpter in 1896 and the town boomed with a population of 3,500 people and three dozen saloons.  On August 13, 1917 a fire raged through the town destroying 11 city blocks.  Fire and dwindling returns of gold led to the town’s demise. 

The town today has a population of 205 with a few restaurants, a motel, and a gas station plus some old historic buildings and homes.  Many of the old homes appear to be under renovation.  We stop to view the railroad station, take some pictures of the buildings then stop at this Working Dredge sitting along the river.  We had never seen such before and were intrigued with how it worked.

The Dredge was used for mining the river bed for gold.  It was called an expensive but powerful improvement over the shovel and rocker box.  Miners called it the “goose”.  It was fed at the front end, digested soil inside the dredge, keeping the gold it collected, then expelled excess soil    

out the back.  Interesting. 

Continuing for another 18 miles we drive this windy mountain two lane road again climbing and then descending into the town of Granite. 

 Albert Tabor discovered gold on July 4, 1862 and named the area Independence.  However, in 1876 the name was changed to Granite.  The town was the center of mining activity for over 60 years with over 40 registered gold mines at one time.  Today there is little in the way of business but it appears that many people have restored some of the old buildings and homes or built new ones.  Some of the old businesses have also been converted to homes though the signs on the outside reflect their original use.  Lots of ATV activity here.

We came upon this deer as we drove around.  Unfortunately, he/she never moved away from the post so it is part of the picture.

We return the way we came and are subjected to the first good rain we have seen since we left Albuquerque in late May.  It had pretty much stopped by the time we reached our RV but again came down quite hard as we ate our dinner.  At one point, I saw lightening and then nearly jumped out of my skin as a hard clap of thunder boomed directly overhead.