Near Pateros in Okanogan County, Washington — The American West (Northwest)
The China Ditch
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2015
1. The China Ditch Marker
Below this sign you can see the remnants of the China Ditch built by Chinese miners sometime between 1860 and 1880. This ditch carried water from a diversion point three miles up the Methow River to sluice gold from the Columbia River sandbars a mile or two downstream. After the Chinese moved on, settlers used the ditch to irrigate orchards along the Methow and Columbia Rivers until a 1948 flood destroyed two miles of canal and flume. By then, the China Ditch had produced a far greater value in apples than it ever had in gold.
Erected by Okanogan County Historical Society.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Man-Made Features • Settlements & Settlers • Waterways & Vessels.
Location. 48° 2.594′ N, 119° 53.832′ W. Marker is near Pateros, Washington, in Okanogan County. Marker is on U.S. 97, 0.4 miles south of Methow Valley Highway (State Highway 153), on the right when traveling north
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Other nearby markers. At least 6 other markers are within 16 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Ive's Landing Hotel (approx. 0.6 miles away); Pateros in the 1950's (approx. 0.7 miles away); Methow Indians (approx. 0.7 miles away); Wells Dam Construction (approx. 0.7 miles away); Pateros Veterans (approx. 0.7 miles away); St. Andrews Episcopal Church (approx. 15.2 miles away).
More about this marker. This is a large painted wooden "bill-board" style marker, suspended from a heavy wooden frame.
Also see . . .
1. Pre-1900s Chinese placer mining in northeastern Washington State. “China Ditch” (aka Pateros China Ditch, Starr Ditch, or Ellingsworth Ditch) is an example of Chinese labor practices and was constructed near the confluence of the Methow and Columbia Rivers by Chinese placer miners sometime around 1860. The Chinese built a small dam on the Methow River at the beginning of their ditch, which ran along the western edge of the river for about three miles, and continued down the Columbia River for about two miles to their placer operations at China Gold Bar. The head gate and flumes of the ditch were constructed
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2015
2. The China Ditch Marker (wide view looking east; Columbia River in background)
2. Okanogan County — Thumbnail History. At one time, all of today's Okanogan County was an Indian Reservation. But miners and settlers lobbied the government relentlessly until the reservation was reduced in 1886 to the contemporary Colville Indian Reservation. Once Indian title to most of the Okanogan area had been extinguished in 1886, miners were free to exploit the gold and silver there. The ensuing mining boom saw the founding many towns and camps, and the construction of some substantial mines and stamping mills. (Submitted on January 22, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2015
3. Columbia River and U.S. Highway 97 approaching Pateros, Washington (view north from marker)
Credits. This page was last revised on January 24, 2019. It was originally submitted on January 22, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 883 times since then and 280 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on January 22, 2019, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
