The first settlement in this area was made by Hugh Asbury, John Reel,
Fletch Henderson, Bill Flannigan and Dick Johnson in the fall of 1862.

They built a primitive log cabin and named it "Fort Sumpter" in
commemoration of the 1861 shelling of the
National Garrison at Charleston, South Carolina.

In 1868, a miner by the name of Winters took $40,000 in gold in seven
weeks from a placer mine near the Greenhorns.

The deposit paid out a net of $125,000 over several year's time.

In 1884, the Transcontinental Railroad reached Baker City.

Then the area began to "boom". The town of Sumpter was platted in 1886,
and it rushed forward to become a "rip roaring"
center like all mining towns of those days.

In 1896, the Sumpter Valley Railroad reached the town limit,
which added to the already growing community.

The real activity was from 1899-1903, with the opening of numerous
hardrock mines and extensive hydraulic placer mining.

By now, Sumpter boasted a brickyard, sawmill, smelter, electric lights, a fine gravity flow water system with reservoir, a street paved with planks, and miles of wooden sidewalks.

There were baseball and basketball teams, a race track, undertaker, several assayers, a brewery, dairy, two cigar factories, an extensive China Town, hospital, sixteen saloons, livery stables and blacksmith shops, five hotels, a clothing store, three general stores, a public school with 200 students, an opera house, two banks, four churches, a telephone system, newspapers and a fire department.

By 1901, Sumpter had grown to more than 30,000 people and 81 businesses.

In 1905 and 1906, the mines began to lose their yield, many shutting down,
and the area's population began to decline.

Then in 1913, with the Columbia Mine still in operation, the dredging of the
valley commenced and Sumpter began to breathe again.

The Columbia Mine stopped operation in 1916,
leaving No. 1 and No. 2 gold dredges working the valley.

It was Sunday, August 13, 1917.
The day began like any other, but by its' end the prosperous town was reduced to a pile of rubble and ashes by a fire which consumed virtually the entire business district, plus a great number of homes in a twelve-block area.

Thus ended the most successful period Sumpter would ever have to this day.

The No. 2 dredge continued working until 1923, the No. 1 until 1924.

The dredge that rests at the edge of Sumpter today was built by the Sumpter Valley Dredging Company in 1935. During World War II, it ceased operation from 1942-1945. It then operated under various owners until all dredging ceased in 1954.

The dredge recovered more than $4.5 Million in gold during its' operation.
It is said that over $10 Million in gold was recovered by the dredging of Sumpter Valley alone.

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