Dredge No. 4 was declared a National Historic Site of Canada as symbolic of:

- the importance of dredging operations in the Yukon (1899-1966), and

- aspects of the evolution of gold mining in the Klondike from early labour-intensive to later corporate industrial phases of gold extraction.

Dredge No. 4 was constructed in 1912-13 by the Canadian Klondike Mining Co. to mine the gravels of the Klondike River Valley. It was dismantled when paying gravels ran out in 1940. All of its major mechanical components were refurbished by the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation and encased in a new wooden hull and superstructure built on Bonanza Creek. From September 1941 to the fall of 1958 it mined Bonanza Creek. There, it sank on its present site in 1959. It has since been preserved as a National Historic Site.

The heritage value of Dredge No. 4 lies in its association with Klondike gold mining and in its illustration of the process of bucketline sluice dredging used by corporations to mine placer gold in the Klondike Gold Fields in the 1899-1966 period.

Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes November 1987, June 1997; Commemorative Integrity Statement, August 1999.

Character Defining Elements

Key elements which contribute to the heritage value of this site include:

- the completeness of the vessel including its hull, superstructure, gold processing facilities and ancillary equipment;

- the systems associated with the vessel’s structure and function as mining equipment;

- its functional design and disposition of space;

- its materials such as the wooden hull and metal equipment;

- those structural components developed specifically for use in northern dredging, including hardened bucket lips, heating systems (steam boilers and electric heaters) and double walls,

- its shore deadmen and related cable system,

- its setting in the field of dredging activity near Bonanza Creek,

- its viewplanes to gold field tailings and to Bonanza Creek,

- its linkage to other sites and landscape features related to corporate mining – the Bear Creek camp site, the power plant, other dredge sites, roads, power and telephone line systems.

Cultural History

During the early years of the Klondike Gold Rush, more than 30,000 miners hand mined for gold on the rich placer creeks. Much of the gold was simply too difficult and expensive to remove using hand mining techniques. While hand miners were working hard, promoters and investors were looking for long-term mining possibilities in the Yukon.

In September 1898, the first dredge began working the Yukon River. Promotion of the Klondike fields brought in two large companies, the Canadian Klondike Mining Company in 1905 and the Yukon Gold Company a few years later.

Large land holdings, called concessions had to be available to the corporations. Through negotiations with the Federal Government, the first concession was granted in 1900 to Joe Boyle. The corporations constructed hydroelectric power stations to supply a reliable and consistent supply of power to run the dredges. They constructed a system of dams and ditches to provide an adequate supply of water for the dredges.

Dawson City was the key to the success of the efforts of the large corporations. It could provide government administration and banking services. The transportation network, of rail and steamship, that ended in Dawson City, ensured that the companies could receive the supplies of machinery that were needed to operate. Dawson City also provided a large labour force and suppliers and services to meet the corporate mining needs.

Dredge No. 4 built in 1912 for the Canadian Klondike Mining Company, was the largest wooden hulled bucket lined dredge in North America. It worked in the Klondike Valley on the "Boyle Concession" until 1940 and then was relocated to Bonanza Creek and worked this valley until 1959.

At the peak of corporate mining, a dozen dredges, churned through the creeks. Dredging continued in the Klondike until 1966, when the last of the Yukon Consolidated Gold Company's dredges shut down. Dredge No. 4 represents the many decades of corporate mining in the Canadian mid-north through the 20th century.

Source: https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/yt/klondike/culture/lhn-nhs-drague4-dredge4

Documentation Location

National Historic Sites Directorate, Documentation Centre, 5th Floor, Room 89, 25 Eddy Street, Gatineau, Quebec