If you worked on the dredge in 1940's you would think so. It felt like a spooky place to dredge workers back then. When lights would go out on inside of dredge from losing power. Blame it on Joe Bush, the ghost of the dredge, workers would say. Created as a joke by an older brother of one of the dredge workers at the time. To explain anything that went wrong or thought strange or unusual on the dredge which operated 24 hrs a day. The idea of Joe Bush the ghost has now become a legend and adds to the interesting history of the Sumpter Valley Gold Dredge built in 1935. It now sits in a pond at the Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area where it stopped working in 1954. The dredge and visitor center are closed during winter, but visitors can still view dredge from outside and enjoy network of nature trails in area. Sumpter Valley Dredge State Heritage Area is open May 1 - Oct 31. Visit Sumpter Bed & Breakfast as a popular haunted destination in Sumpter.
Hunting for ghosts and visiting "ghost towns" is a significant segment of the tourist industry. Sumpter and the dredge are often featured on such tours. If you expect to see ghosts you probably will. However, the 200 or so very much alive people who call Sumpter home might object to being considered ghosts.
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