Fetch Mountain
|
In 1873 Dr. Nelson P. Hulst discovered iron ore on Felch Mountain. This discovery has always been known as the Metropolitan. That same year a 23-mile wagon road was cut through to Felch Mountain from Vulcan. It was called The Iron Road" because before the railroad was built, iron ore was hauled over this road by four-horse teams and loaded on railroad cars at Vulcan. The panic of 1873 stopped development but in 1876 Mr. P.E. Dunn is credited with opening the first mine. Perhaps one of the most important personages connected with the early days in Felch Township was S.S. Curry, president of the Metropolitan Iron and Land Company, of Ironwood, Michigan. A Canadian of Scotch ancestry, Curry came to the Upper Peninsula in 1862 to engage in mining. He was 27 years old at the time. He did exploring for the Sault Ste. Marie Canal Company at Houghton and then in Marquette, New England, and Washington. In 1879 he went to Menominee and opened the Curry Mine. In 1880 when he took charge of the Metropolitan Mine at Felch Mountain. He brought with him at least one drilling machine, dragged over the Iron Road from Vulcan. The crew consisted of Alexander Scott, runner; Moses Williams, diamond setter; and Sol Scott, helper. Felch Mountain was platted by the owners, Jonathan Warner, Charles Hickox, John A. Coughey, and John N. Glidden in 1881. A New Stage Line Between Norway and Felch Mountain. |