Mining in the Sumpter Country

I don't know if this photo really qualifies as narrow gauge, but it is quite related. We know that the Sumpter Valley Ry. was created to serve the needs of the Oregon Lumber Co. but for a number of years there was another major facet to the little railroad's success. A lot of Sumpter Valley photos are lumber industry related, but what about all of the box cars seen in the early shots? In the mid 1890's there was a huge resurgence of mining in the area, the original mining boom going back to the 1860's. Sumpter Valley Ry. was in the right place at the right time. The town of Sumpter became a boom town by 1896 and the railroad which had been built as far as McEwen in 1891 was extended on up the valley. The towns fluid population is said to have topped 4000. Many of the mines needed machinery such as steam engines and boilers for stamp mills, mine rail, mine carts and the like. Just the mercantile goods to supply the boom must have strained the narrow gauge railroad at times. So, where were those mines? This is one of the big ones called the Red Boy located in the mountains west of the Sumpter Valley near Granite, Or. The structures we see are the mine's mill with the actual mine up the canyon on the right side. For those who may have explored the area but missed the scant remains of the mine and mill, the well known historic Fremont Power House is further up the canyon out of view. Part of its purpose was to supply power for this mine's operation.