Gold dredges in the North

Dateline: July 24, 2024. Last update: January 16, 2025.

    On Canyon Creek, Alaska the Boundary Dredging Company of San Francisco, Calif. has just erected a 3-ft.-capacity dredge. Canyon Creek is iocated 40 miles from Walker's Fork, Alaska, and 65 miles from Dawson.

    Material for the dredge, 450 tons of it, was hauled in from Dawson over a 65-mile road which follows the ridges. The road is very rough and it takes the Caterpillars four days to make the trip. Sam McCormick of Dawson hauled in the freight.

    The dredge, which is of the diesel-electric type, was constructed by Walter W. Johnson Company of California. Wilbur Sexton has charge of the construction of the dredge, which will completed in a few days. Charles Murray is in charge of all operations.

    The company has four or five miles of dredgeable ground. The ground is thawed and from 18 to 20 feet deep. At present the company has a crew of 35 men at work.

    Much of the freighting is done by airplane.

---

    The Walter W. Johnson Company mentioned above designed and/or built a total of approximately 40 dredges for Alaska, including this one. Walter W. Johnson (1886 - 1971) is a member of the Alaska Mining Hall of Fame.

    The are 44 Canyon Creeks in Alaska - this one is a tributary to the Fortymile River, located just west of the Canadian border. The right edge of the map below is the border. The map and more information about Canyon Creek can be found in Gold placers of the Historical Fortymile River region, Alaska (USGS, 1996).