The counties of Oregon can boast
of no place that is more solid, sturdy and assured of a brighter future
than the town of Sumpter, at the head of Sumpter valley.
Lying at a point where all roads converge and extend
again to the great producing mines of Baker county, Sumpter is the natural
gateway, the supply headquarters for a large tributary country, which last
year yielded, it is safe to estimate, $2,000,000 to the gold supply of the
world. Its progress, hence as it has been ever since it came into
recognized existence will not, could not, be accelerated by booms.
The day of the gold-tinted boom is past in Oregon. In
Baker county it is unknown, for most of her mining camps have permanent
charms of their own, so that the prospector does not flit from place to
place in search of "pockets," which after having picked, he deserts for
fresher fields. Baker county knows no boom, and Sumpter now an
incorporated municipality of nearly 1000 people has been growing at an
astonishing rate the past two years. It is but little more than two years
old, at best.
Whence came "Fort Sumpter?" A tinge of romance hangs
about the town of historic name. The nucleus for what will in all
probability be the future great distributing center for one of the richest
mining sections in the world is a crude log cabin which stands today. It
is half a mile west of town. across the Sumpter gulch, and it rejoices in
the name of "Fort Sumpter."
To this lonely spot back in the '60's came three
Confederate soldiers who, tired of the fortunes of war, found their way to
the new world and devoted their attention to gold getting. They must have
known something about placer pinning, for they went to work washing out
the yellow metal, which was found in the gulch in abundance. "Fort
Sumpter" still stands and marks flip way to the regions where many
fortunes have since been taken out. The town of Sumpter takes its name
from the abode of the early adventurers.
Sumpter gulch, on which the cabin stands, has produced
its untold thousands in placer gold. So has Gimlet gulch. These were the
chief producers in the past although gold was found in lesser quantities
in all the gulches of that section. The tributaries of Gimlet gulch were
fed from the ledges that are among the best producing quartz mines at
present.
Favored Clime and Site of Sumpter
Nestling among the wooded rolling foothills of
the mountains, protected from the biting winter breezes of the north, in a
spot that is a veritable garden of nature, is Sumpter. It is the terminus
of the Sumpter Valley railroad, 28 miles west of Baker City, on the O. R.
& N. railway, and from it numerous stage lines extend to the surrounding
camps and to all interior points. Sumpter does mot seem to have the cold
and barren appearance that most mining camps possess. In many respects the
place does mot resemble the mining camps of other days. Being located a
short distance from the mines, you note the absence of many of the rough
characteristics of camps like Leadville, that are close to the mines.
Climatically the Sumpter valley is one of the favored
spots of earth, summer or winter. The altitude is 4000 feet above sea
level, No extreme heat or cold comes to the sheltered city. Lying all
around it are inexhaustible natural resources which will be converted into
future wealth by persevering and industrious people.
Center of a Great Region
For what has not Sumpter got excepting
population that could make its advantages more apparent.? On one side is a
fertile valley of extremely productive soil, lumbering industries, and
adjacent to mines that answer to the roll-call of "Klondikes." Eastern
Oregon's light is not hidden under a basket any more. The time is past as
it should be when Oregonians will read with avidity news of a $10,000 to
$20,000 clean-up on the Klondike while they overlook that in the Sumpter
district-noted for its mineral wealth-such clean-ups are regarded as
ordinary events.
The lay of the land about the pretty site of Sumpter
makes it the sole available distributing center of a vast interim of
country. Surrounding it are vast tracts for grazing cattle and sheep,
while endless forests of pine timber are near at hand, and convenient to
transportation.
Besides the railroad which gives Sumpter connection
with the world, three daily stage lines leave for Granite, Canyon City,
Bonanza, Bourne and other points. All the great mines are reached via
Sumpter. Through Sumpter pass the supplies for the John Day district,
Prairie City, Bourne and others, which are now attracting mining investors
the world over. For a young city it has much to he proud of. All lines of
business are represented; it has a fine church building in course of
erection, a weekly newspaper, the Sumpter News, which is always found
pulling for Sumpter, a graded school, and several industries, principal of
which is the Sumpter Lumber Company, with a mill capacity of 30,000 feet
daily, and fully equipped for supplying mining timbers.
Encouragement for Investors
Having paid attention to what
Sumpter has already in the way of possibilities for the investor in mines,
bands, stock fruit and other lines, it may be well to look at the wants of
the city.
Like many another district Sumpter has a strong
standing invitation for all to come. It possesses this great advantage
over a great many others, however, and it is that whatever you want to
find or do you will get what you are looking for among the best class of
people that can be found anywhere in Sumpter valley. One briefly expresses
it: "We want more of the hardy and industrious pioneers like those who
first came over the hills to this great empire. We desire here men who
know how to go to work and cultivate the soil and produce four times as
much as the people now do who are here and casually farming and selling
wild hay at $10 per ton. Men to put out fruit farms, dairy farms, men to
build mills and start new enterprises, erect buildings, to extend the
stock business and open up new avenues of trade in wool, hide, beef and
dairy products. Industry and capital will make Sumpter to Eastern Oregon
what Cripple Creek was to Colorado as a center of the gold fields and
their trade but not in a boom sense. Certainly Easterners whether seeking
homes or business opportunities, can find no safer investment and
development than amid the sturdy energetic people of Sumpter valley .
New Lines of Business wanted at Sumpter
When you visit Sumpter you hear
the drummers say that it is one of the most "solid" little towns they
visit and that their customers always do a good business. While Sumpter
primarily needs more people, it is not to be overlooked that there are
business opportunities presented there, which properly taken hold of will
net a comfortable fortune to the first comers.
New lines of business are needed. Here are some of them
which are apparent to the casual visitor's eye. A good bank with smug
capital, a steam laundry, a dairy business, a brewery, which would be a
gilt-edged investments, cigar factory, a smelter, a flour mill, foundry
and machine shops. And there is a great opening for a wholesale forwarding
and commission house There is room for all, business for all, and a
welcome awaits those who identify their interests with those of Sumpter. A
banking institution to care for the deposits of the mining men and the
business men of the city is badly needed. Situated its the town is, as the
natural supply headquarters for outlying camps, the need of banking
facilities for doing business is readily apparent.
Additional
Sumpter Information
Eastern Oregon Gold Fields
