Back in the day, not really all that long ago, Steamboats ruled the Yukon River and hinterland transportation in those extremely rural parts of Alaska and the Yukon Territories. Only problem was that the Yukon River did not flow all year long, but rather froze up solid every winter, thus this convenient form of transportation became seasonally ineffective, and even more than that, actually became a liability as the boats needed to be removed from the river before freeze-up if they were to survive intact until the river became navigable once again the following spring. The standard protocol was to winch them up onto a convenient sloping riverbank, above the level where the Spring "Break-up" of flowing ice slabs could get them when the river once again began to move. this was often done at places where it was reasonably thought that outbound cargos and passengers would be awaiting transport as early as possible come the spring melt, and Dawson City in the Yukon Territory was logically one of these places. Given that, it is not surprising that many of the famous Yukon Sternwheel Steamboats were pulled ashore just opposite Dawson City, ready for the next years cargos and passengers.
However, Riverboats such as these, while highly profitable, do have a rather short working life in such harsh conditions, such that after only a couple of dozen years of operations, they were determined to not be worth refloating, and left high & dry (well mostly) about a century ago. Since then, time, flooding, rains, winter snows, river ice break-ups and salvage of parts and pieces have worked their "magic" on these relics, so that now they are in an advanced state of deterioration and destined to eventually return to "nature" from whence they came ... more of less. But for now, they constitute a wonderland of visual interest, such that I only wish I'd taken more photos and tried harder for especially "artsy" angles to help give more of a feel of this amazing Steamboat Graveyard!
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Did they use the big massive dredges there?
Did they use the big massive dredges there?
I've located a few photos of the last dredge that operated on Klondike and Bonanza Creek. It was a very big one that was too big to work very far up the canyon and on side streams, so smaller ones were used for those places. The early dredges were steam powered, but this last one was electric, though I don't now recall just where they got the electricity from. Probably Hydro-electric, as it was late enough in the era for major dams and transmission lines to have been built!
Here ya go .... Enjoy:
Dredge Tailings some ways up Bonanza Creek
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Downstream, in the wider Klondike valley, the big dredge still sits with tailings all around it. Currently being restored and is a tourist attraction.
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Somewhere I may be able to find more photos, including some interior shots with the massive gears and such showing.
I'll keep looking.
Those dredges are amazing.
Before I get back to the Steamboat Graveyard, here are a few more pictures of Dredge stuff for you to enjoy, Jim.
Here's some photos in the innards of the beast:
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Then here is a bit of the outer appendages:
Tailings Boom
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Bucket Line Boom
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Here's the Bucket Chain laying in the self created Pond until restoration is ready to reattach
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Okay now, we've taken a bit of a diversion into dredges, though I guess they do rather qualify as "Derelict, up on the Bank", and somewhere I do have some photos of the Dredge being preserved where it last operated near Chicken Alaska, but it isn't really much different so unless I run into those photos I'll likely not go looking for them.
Here then is a return to the banks of the Yukon River across and a bit downstream from Dawson City where four old sternwheelers were put up out of the winter's ice, but never returned to the river, some 100 years ago.
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And a few more:
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With Dawson City in the background, across the Yukon River!
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Boiler & saddle
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The bottom
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Scarf joint opening up
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Just love the long stoke cylinder
The gold recovery must have been huge, they put a lot of effort and investment into those dredges.
The gold recovery must have been huge, they put a lot of effort and investment into those dredges.
Indeed!
Some of the original claims were mind-bogglingly rich, to the point where much of the Klondike is now still being profitably mined for the third and fourth times, essentially going through much of the same dirt! I didn't have much trouble finding a little bit of gold, and that with just a few pan samples!
As seen in this other thread, here:
https://www.officeofsteamforum.com/off-topic/fifteen-years-ago-today/
With gold prices at AUD $5128.03 there's a modern day gold stampede happening in Australia.
I think (roughly) Australia has mined twice the total amount of gold that the US has and we have the largest unmined gold reserves in the World.
The amount of stores selling pans, small sluices and detectors for hobbiests and semi pros is incredible.
I have mates who are weekend gold seekers and they are making BIG money.
With gold prices at AUD $5128.03 there's a modern day gold stampede happening in Australia.
I think (roughly) Australia has mined twice the total amount of gold that the US has and we have the largest unmined gold reserves in the World.
The amount of stores selling pans, small sluices and detectors for hobbiests and semi pros is incredible.
I have mates who are weekend gold seekers and they are making BIG money.
I've always wanted to go prospect Australia. It has a fascinating history, much like the USA & Canada, and even in much of the same time frame.
Think I'm now too deaf to have much chance with a metal detector, though I do have a pretty good one of the prior generation of VLF types, not the newer, top of the line Pulse Induction (PI) models.