History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
containing a full account of its early settlement; its
growth, development and resources
In 1883, portions of Dickinson and Iron Counties were located within the boundaries of Menominee County.
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Surnames found on this page: ANDERSON, BECKSTROM, BENTON, BREEN , BREITUNG, BUEL, CHAPIN, CORNELL, DOUGLAS, FLANNIGAN, FLESHIEM, FOSTER, HAMILTON, HANCOCK, HULST, INGALLS, IRWIN, KILGALLEN, , LELAND, LUDINGTON, MACK, MCCARTNEY, MCCURDY, MCKENNA, MERRYMAN, MORCOM, NORTON, OCCALAGHAN, OLLIVER, OUTHWAITE, PASCOE, ROBERTS, ROSS, RUNDLE, SAXTON, STEPHENSON, STOCKBRIDGE, SWIFT, TRAVERS, WICKS, WOOD, WRIGHT Brier Hill Mine - The property of this mine embraces eighty acres on the forty adjoining the Curry Mine The Lumberman's Mining Company first undertook to develop this mine, but failed of success. In 1881, it became the leasehold property of the Brier Hill Iron & Coal Company, of Youngtown, Ohio, who resumed work under the supervision of S. P. SAXTON. The trend of the formation is east and west, the ore dipping about seventy-five degrees to the south, and the pitch being forty-five degrees to the west. There is one main shaft down to a depth of 190 feet. At the first level, there are thirty feet of ore from east to west. It is estimated that about eight thousand tons of ore are now in sight, and the mine gives promise of becoming a paying investment to the leasers Calumet Mine. - Work was commenced on the Calumet in the summer of 1881, and about four thousand tons of ore have been raised to the surface from the shafts and drifts, and preparing the stopes in the first level. The deposit seems to be a continuous vein of ore, as proved by exploration with the diamond drill, with no sign of exhaustion at either end. Four shafts have been sunk, covering a distance of 550 feet, which show the general formation of the bed to be in two lenses. Shipping facilities are not yet supplied, but the railroad will reach the mine this reason in sufficient time to make this season's delivery 10,000 tons. The property embraces the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter and the southeast quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 8, Town 41, Range 28, and adjoins the Hecla mining property on its west forty. It is held under a lease by the Calumet Iron Company, of which the officers are: President, A. B. CORNELL; Secretary, G. H. CORNELL; Treasurer, Robert MCCURDY; Superintendent' .John R. WOOD. CHAPIN Mine. - The CHAPIN is conceded to be the greatest iron mine on the Upper Peninsula in magnitude of deposit and the sure promise of immense products in the future. It is located at the village of Iron Mountain, and embraces the south half of the southwest quarter and the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 30, Town 40, Range 30. The fee is owned by H. A. CHAPIN, of Niles, Mich., who discovered the mine in 1879. It is now the leasehold property of the Menominee Mining Company, Mr. CHAPIN receiving a royalty of 50 cents per ton on all the ore shipped. Explorations were commenced by Mr. CHAPIN in July, 1879, and a short time after the company secured its proprietary interest, and the first shipments were made in June, 1880, in which year the total shipments amounted to 34,556 tons. The mine workings, all of which are underground, lie in the north face of a hill, which gradually slopes away to the north and west from an elevation at least two hundred feet above the railway level. The original discovery was made immediately on the line between Section 30 and 31, at a point about four hundred feet west of the east line of the company's tract. At this point an exploration pit was commenced on the foot-well, the top of which is on Section 31, and was carried down through fifty feet of surface and thirty-two feet of ore, the vein being apparently only about four feet in width. Some idea of the extent of the deposit may be inferred from the feet that it is now opened up over a length of 2,350 feet, and that over this great length the ore body carries a width varying from thirty feet in the narrowest place to 127 feet at the widest - the largest and most uniform clean deposit ever yet developed in the Upper Peninsula. The approximate size of the ore body as shown by the workings, when it is stated that the ore still continues pg. 487 in both the east and west ends, with the new LUDINGTON 1,320 feet distant, and in direct line with the trend of the CHAPIN formation, and about three hundred feet remaining to be opened up in the east end of the Walpole line, what the large probabilities for the future are may readily be inferred. The formation, which at first appeared to have a nearly east and west trend, swings around to the northeast near where the break spoken of in our last annual review occurs, and to the northwest in going in an opposite direction from the same point, the original and most easterly workings. being close up to the line between Sections 30 and 31, and the most westerly shaft 450 feet north of it. The development at the LUDINGTON, a quarter of a mile farther west taking it for granted that they are in the same ore body, indicate a still sharper curve to the northwest, and rather tend to corroborate the theory which has been advanced, that we have here a huge ore basin similar to that at Ishpeming. During the past year, two new shafts have been sunk in the west end, making a total of nine working shafts., and other new developments consist of new and extensive trestle works and a saw mill for preparing the timber used in timbering the mine, the system used being a modification of the Nevada system originated by Capt. RUNDLE, which seems to prove successful in its workings. The mine gives employment to 900 men, 500 of whom are miners. Shipments commenced this year from stock piles aggregating 100,000 tons, and the daily average product at the present time is 800 tons. The shipments for 1880 were 34,556 tone, 1881, 169,077 tons, and the estimated product for this year will be 200,000 tons. Among the new buildings erected are a new hospital, reading room and two churches, Methodist and Swedish Lutheran. CORNELL Mine.- The location comprises the northeast quarter of Section 20, Town 40, Range 30, and is held under a lease by R. A. WRIGHT and A. B. CORNELL. Ore was discovered by John R. WOOD in the fall of 1879, and active mining operations were commenced under his superintendency in the month of January, 1881. The deposit lies in the south side of a high bluff on the north side of Lake Antoine, and the general direction of the ore formation is from northwest to southeast, depressing about seventy degrees to the southwest. The shipments of the first year amounted to 30,471 gross tons, and its total production aggregates 42,557 tons. The mine is now lying idle for some reason, operations having wrought an unfavorable change in the mineral resources. The Curry Mine is located on the west half of the northeast quarter of Section 9, Town 39, Range 29, only a short distance west of the most westerly openings of the Vulcan. The tract is held under a lease from the canal company, issued to Solomon S. Curry, March 6, 1879, by whom it was transferred to the Curry Iron Company, which executed and filed articles of incorporation on the 15th of May, the same year. In the following August, Messrs Curry and SWIFT, who were the owners of three-fourths of the stock, sold out their entire interest to J. H. OUTHWAITE, Esq., of Cleveland, Ohio, that gentleman being at the time the owner of the greater part of the other quarter interest. The officers of the company are: President and Treasurer, J. H. OUTHWAITE; Vice President, C. P. LELAND; Secretary, D. Z. NORTON. The first shipment was made in July, 1879. since which time the product has been as follows: 1879, 12,803 gross tons; 1880, 21,851 gross tons; 1881, 17,534 gross tons; total, 59,188 gross tons. The old No. 1 Shaft, which was believed to be the main deposit of the ore bed, was recently found to be a large pocket, which having been exhausted, has been permanently abandoned. Further explorations with the diamond drill have revealed an abundance of good ore, and a new shaft, recently sunk, 210 feet west of No. 2 Shaft, reaches the ore at 100 feet from the surface, developing a sufficient body of ore to give the mine a new lease of life, and it is estimated the annual output in future will soon exceed the largest shipments in past years. Cyclops Mine. -The Cyclops is located on the same tract of land as the Norway, and is the property of the Menominee Mining Company, under a lease for a term of years. It is located near the village of Norway, on the hill rising in the background. The mine was opened in 1878, and gave great promise of becoming one of the largest mines in the range a short time after its opening, the daily average product reaching 150 tons. This was maintained some months, and, though a fair product was attained during the second year, at the close of the season of 1879 the ore deposit seemed nearly exhausted. The product for 1880 was merely nominal, while that of 1881 was very small. The annual output since work was inaugurated has been as follows: 1878, 6,028 gross tons; 1879, 46,158 gross tons; 1880, 14,368 gross tons; 1881, 12,644 gross tons; total, 79,198 gross tons. The original opening was made on the southeastern slope of the hill, but the ore seemed comparatively exhausted at a depth of fifty feet. Explorations revealed the fact that the trend of the ore formation curves around from east to northeast a short distance from the old workings. This was also exhausted after a short time, to all outward appearances, but explorations under the direction of Capt. OLLIVER revealed new deposits of ore closely adjoining that of the old bed, and to this new discovery the company is now directing its principal operations, which holds out a sanguine hope of regaining the hitherto good character of the mine. The Garfield Mine, so called, is in the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of Section 13, Town 39, Range 28. Some work of a desultory character has been done on this property, but as yet no well-directed effort has been made looking to the development of a mine. The ore-bearing formation certainly crosses the tract from east to west, and it is the generally expressed opinion that the property itself is not to blame for the absence of a fairly well-developed and remunerative mine. It certainly has never had a fair test, and the fact that the little work done discovered indications of a promising character seems to justify the openly expressed belief that the mine is not one that will develop into a paying investment. Hecla Mine. - The Hecla is located in the north half of the northeast quarter of Section 8, Town 41, Range 28, and is under a lense to the Hecla Iron Company, of which Edward BREITUNG is President and Treasurer, and Byron D. Jones, Secretary. The ore of this mine is a soft blue specular, high in metallic iron, and low in silica and phosphorus. Explorations were commenced in 1881, and test pits dug, exposing clean blue ore at intervals over a length of 1,200 feet. The diamond drill has been used to advantage in testing the extent of the ore deposit, and the work of opening the mine has commenced. This gives promise of becoming a very rich mine. HANCOCK Mine. - This is a leasehold, and embraces the south half of the southeast quarter of Section 30, Town 41, Range 27, the HANCOCK Iron Company being lessee. From all the writer can learn, he is inclined to believe that the company has a very promising show of ore, and that its 488 prospects for the developments of a paving mine are most flattering. Illinois Mine - This mine is located in the north-west quarter of Section 26, Town 40, Range 30, and joins the Indians property on the east. Hon. Edward BREITUNG is the owner of three- fourths of the fee and one-eighth of the lease; also holds the office of President of the company. Work was first inaugurated by an association styling itself the Scandia Iron Company. This company sold out to parties who took a new option from the owners of the fee, and organized the Illinois Iron Company. This mine gave but small returns, and but little prospect of becoming a paying mine until within the past few months, when a regular vein of ore was discovered, that leaves but little doubt as to the great value of the property. The ore is of the finest qualities, and its future development is assured. Indiana Mine is the property in leasehold of the Indiana Iron Company, and is located about one and one-half miles due north of the village of Quinnesec, in the north half of the northeast quarter of Section 27, Town 40, Range 30. Work was commenced on the west forty of the company's tract some time in 1880, in an outcrop of lean ore or banded ore and slates but nothing of absolute value was found till early in the following year. An exploration shaft just south of the banded ore formation struck clean blue ore, which at a depth of forty-five feet appeared to carry a width of something over twenty feet. In sinking farther, however, the foot wall came in very rapidly, and seemingly narrowed the lens down to a small compass drift east from this shaft was made on the forty-five foot level, and along what appeared to be the foot wall, 100 feet in ore, where a second shaft was raised to the surface. At this point, the ore was found to be covered by only a few feet of drift. This second shaft was then carried down fifty feet farther, and as at No. 1, the rock appeared to come in from the foot wall, and either out the ore out or else shoved it abruptly over into the hanging. There is a large amount of ore in sight, and the mine is now in shape to mine and hoist 100 tons per day. The trend of the formation is due east and west, the ore dipping to the south and having an easterly pitch. It is estimated that 10,000 that of ore are in eight at this time of a uniform first-class quality containing 69.3 per cent of metallic iron. It is very low in phosphorus, and appears to belong to the CHAPIN belt of ores. There is little doubt as to the existence of a large body of ore, and the Indiana will soon take a place in the front rank of the mining industries of the range. It is just supplied with shipping facilities by a branch line of the Chicago & North-Western Railway, which leaves the main line a half mile east of the village of Quinnesec. Shipments commenced about the let of September from a stock pile aggregating 5,000 tons. As soon as the preparatory work of the mine is completed, the average daily output will necessarily increase. The estimated produce of the present year is $12,000 tone. The officers of the company are: President, John A. Kruse; Treasurer, D. W. IRWIN; Secretary, R. C. FLANNIGAN; General Manager, R. P. TRAVERS. The Iron Range Mining Company has a leasehold of forty acres the northeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 14, T. 39, R. 29. This may be considered in view of its close proximity to the East Vulcan, and the promising character of the development now being made upon it, a most valuable property. The underground workings of the East Vulcan pit are gradually being extended eastward to the corner post, the trend being north of west to south, of east, and the ore dipping to the south. That it extends across the line upon the Iron Range Company's tractis proved by the fact that no true hanging wall has yet been found in the East Vulcan, and that the same blue ore has been found 200 feet east of the line between the two properties, where a shaft is now going down partly in clean and partly in mixed ore. It is believed that this mine in a short time will become one of the active mining properties of the range. The diamond drill has revealed a good deposit west On the second level it lengthens out to fifty-five feet, and the third level to eighty feet. At this point the lens is twenty feet wide, and there is a perceptible gain in thickness along its whole length. Shipments will commence when the side track now building is completed, from a stock pile of about eight thousand tons. A trestle work 400 feet in length connects the shaft house with the pocket at the side track, over which the ore is conveyed in tram cars. About one hundred and eighty men are employed, of whom thirty are miners. The mine is in charge of W. H. MACK, Superintendent, and Thomas MACK, Mining Captain. Keel Ridge Mine. - The location of the Keel Ridge Mine is on the southeast quarter of Section 32, Town 40, Range 30, and is the property in fee and leasehold of the Emmet Mining Company. The property was originally explored and the ore found by John MCKENNA, Esq., who had associated with him John OCALLAGHAN and William MCCARTNEY, the three selling out their interest in that part of the section on which the Keel Ridge is located, in January, 1880, to the present owners. The lease under which the company is operating includes the whole of the south half of the section, though the mine is situated on the southeast quarter, of which last the company owns an undivided one-third. The trend of the formation is from southeast to northwest and the workings are in the south side of a hill, the summit of which has an elevation of at least one hundred feet. The mine was opened by running an adit into the side of the hill from a point about fifty feet above the branch track, thus tapping the deposit at some distance below the outcrop. On this level, and for a depth of seventy-five feet below it, there were two kinds of ore - one red and the other blue - with from twenty to forty feet of rock 1ying between. In working, however, on and a short distance below the adit level, the blue ore apparently became exhausted; but in drifting north from the first or seventy-five foot level, the same quality of ore was struck at the end of forty-five feet, and the drift continued twenty feet in blue ore of the very best quality. At this writing, the underground working cover a length of 276 feet, the ore body being lens-shaped and narrowing down to a point in the east, and being cut squarely off by a horse or crossing of rock at the point of its greatest width, at the west end. East of the shaft, which is located a little to the east of the center of the workings, the ore body varies from eight to fifteen feet in thickness, while on the west side it averages not less than forty feet. At the beginning of operations, the mine was wrought from three shafts, lumbered respectively Nos. 1, 2 ind 3. During the present year, a new double shaft, with upright, self-pumping, balance skip-road, has taken the place of the old No. 2 Shaft, and through it the entire product of the mine is raised. It is a most perfect piece of work, and the only one of its kind at work in this region. This shaft is down 220 feet from the collar to the present working level, which is under preparation for stoping. Pg. 489 The mine is wrought on the Nevada system, and is in charge of E. P. FOSTER, General Agent, and J. P. Jones, Superintendent; John WICKS, Mining Captain. Since work was commenced, the annual product of the Keel Ridge has been as follows: 1880, 11,498 gross tons; 1881, 19,011 gross ton; total, 30,507 gross tons. LUDINGTON Mine is located in the south half of Section 25, Town 40, Range 31, and immediately adjoins the CHAPIN on the west. It is the property of the Lumberman's Mining Company. Work was originally commenced and carried on in a small lens about half a mile west of the CHAPIN Mine, which at one time gave promise of developing into a mine of permanent value, but which was completely exhausted the second year after being opened, the shipments from it having been as follows: 1880, 8,816 gross tons; 1881, 3,374 gross tons; total, 12,190 gross tons. Then followed a systematic and thorough exploration of the company's tract, which was perforated in every direction with diamond drill holes without favorable result, until the last available piece of ground was reached, and that, being north of the apparent trend of the CHAPIN belt, was attacked with little hope of successful issue. Here, near the northeast corner of the CHAPIN tract, the drill struck clean blue ore, into which a shaft, at the time of the writer's visit, had been sunk forty-five feet. From the bottom of this shaft, which is 100 feet west of the CHAPIN line, a drift south passed through forty-eight feet of clean ore to the foot-wall, which is a mixed ore and jasper, conformable to the lean ore foot-wall formation of the CHAPIN. A drift was likewise being driven west from this shaft in ore. West of this shaft, a large area of ore has been exposed by the removal of the drift covering, while from the bottom of a shaft which is thirty feet in ore, drifts north and south show seventy feet of clean ore without exposing either foot or hanging. This No. 2 Shaft is 250 feet west of No. 1, while the stripping still farther west shows a continuous run of ore 500 feet in length, measuring from the CHAPIN Mine, with which belt it is undoubtedly continuous. The mine is being opened in a systematic manner, and shipments were commenced. George E. STOCKBRIDGE is Superintendent, and William WICKS, Mining Captain. Maryland Mine. -This is the historic name of the Menominee Iron Range, and the first shipping mine opened in this region. Till recent date it has been known as the BREEN Mine, but is now under a new name and ownership, it now being the property in leasehold of the Maryland Iron Mining Company, officered &s follows. C. L. ANDERSON, President; W. L. ROSS, Secretary; Fred BECKSTROM, Superintendent. The mine was discovered by Thomas and Bartley BREEN during the season of 1866. Some of the work of exploration was done previous to 1871, but active mining operations were not fully inaugurated till the Chicago & North-Western Railway Company completed their branch line from Powers to the Vulcan Mine, in the summer of 1877. Having the command of railroad and shipping facilities, the mine rapidly developed, as well as the entire region. The property consists of a tract of 120 acres, located on Section 22, Town 39, Range 28, and the fee was formally owned by Messrs. SAXTON, INGALLS, Thomas and Bartley BREEN, with other citizens of Menominee. The deposit outcrops on the south side of a ridge, which has an elevation of about eight feet above a meadow at its base. The first work was done in 1870, by S. P. SAXTON, who sank several test pits, and cut two long trenches across the formation, developing such favorable indications that the Milwaukee Iron Company entered into a contract for a lease, and continued further explorations. A large amount of money has been expended upon this mine to successfully develop it, by several companies, who have each in their turn surrendered their lease, having met with indifferent success. The Menominee Mining Company obtained a lease, and, after expending a large amount of money, abandoned the enterprise as unprofitable, surrendering its lease in 1878. Subsequent to this time, operations were conducted by the BREEN Company, with the success, till it finally passed into the hands of the Emmet Mining Company as lessee, and, still later, into the management of the present owners in leasehold. It still holds out hope of becoming a workable and profitable body of ore. The annual shipments from the BREEN have been as follows: 1877, 5, 812 tons; 1878, 4,694; 1879, 1,463; 1880, 5,359. This mine has done a vast amount of open pit mining, but is gradually being changed into the underground plan of working, from necessity. It is one of the largest hematite mines on the range, and is now in the fifth year of its existence, having mined and shipped an annual product as follows: 1878, 7,267 gross tons; 1879, 73,619 gross tons; 1880, 198,165 gross tons; 1881, 137,077 gross tons; total 416,137 gross tons. The company owns the property in leasehold from the Portage Lake & Lake Superior Ship Canal Company, the lease embracing all the land of the section except 200 acres in the north. The first work was done in August, 1878. The workings cover a total length of something over two thousand feet on the ore-bearing formation, the trend of which is from northwest to southeast, with southerly dip. There are four working shafts, numbered 1, 2, 3 and 5, respectively, and five pits - 4, 6,7, 8 and 9 - the first four being large open cuts, while the last, though partially open, may more properly be called an underground working. These workings consist of a labyrinth of drifts and chambers, and immense open quarries, extending for fully three-quarters of a mile, that disclose an immense body of ore, practically inexhaustible. The mine presents an excellent appearance, causing the visitor to wonder at the vast resources of mineral wealth displayed. The estimated product of the mine for the present season is 150,000 tons. A miners' hall and reading room is a most commendable feature at this location, and one which might be copied with advantage at all the large mines in the Upper Peninsula. The building, a very neat and commodious two-story structure, was built and presented to the miners's club by the company. The hall is leased to the Odd Fellows and Temple of Honor, the rents being devoted to the purchase of books and periodicals for the reading room. The Norway gives employment to about four hundred and fifty men, and, notwithstanding Capt. OLLIVER's estimate, can safely be relied upon, if necessary, for a largely increased product, as compared with the output if 1881. The BECKSTROM Mine, formerly known as the Saginaw Section 4 Mine, is on the southwest quarter of Section 4, Town 39, Range 29, and adjoins the Norway on the east. The tract is owned by the HAMILTON & MERRYMAN Lumber Company, under whose auspices the mine was originally opened in the winter of 1878-79. Subsequently, the lease was transferred to the Cleveland Rolling-Mill Company, and the name of the mine changed to BECKSTROM, in honor of Capt. John BECKSTROM, the Superintendent. Pg. 490 About twenty-five thousand tons were raised between the close of navigation and May 1, and the Superintendent estimates that he will be able to mine and ship this year a product as large as that reported for 1881 in the following table: 1879, 18,465 gross tons; 1880, 49,1596 gross tons; 1881, 60,406 gross tone: total, 123,067 gross tons. The deposit of this mine partakes of the character of a well-defined vein, the inclosing walls being less broken than at most of the other mines in the range. The vein was at first opened up over a length of about three hundred and fifty feet in an open cut, to a depth of perhaps sixty feet; this open cut has since been roofed over with heavy timbers securely lagged, and the workings are now entirely underground. The ore is of the same general variety so far characteristic of the range, though more complete, and partaking more of the character of the hard ores of the Marquette Range. An occasional horse of rock is encountered in the west end, and a thin stratum of rock and mixed ore runs through the vein for a considerable distance east and west. In the earlier stages of its development, an occasional horse of rock was found, but these have entirely disappeared, while the ore deposit, as a whole, has gained in thickness, rather than diminished. It has three hoisting shafts in active operation, some of the old shafts having been abandoned during the past year. It is also noticeable that the ore has improved in quality, and that there is now nothing but clean ore between the walls. New shaft houses have been erected, at Shafts No. 1, No. 2 supplied with skip-roads. Employment is furnished to a force of 160 men. Quinnesec Mine - The Qninnesec is also the property of the Menominee Mining Company. and was discovered by John L. BUEL in 1873. It is located at the village of Quinnesec, the tract comprising Section 34, Town 40, Range 30. Mr BUEL is one of the pioneers of the Menominee Iron Range, and to his perseverance and pluck the development of the range in its early history is largely due. His explorations on the property in 1873 consisted in putting down several test pits, proving the existence of the ore deposit. He also demonstrated the working quality of the ore by a practical test in the Menominee Furnace, transporting the ore in sleighs. The development of the mine was delayed until 1878, on account of a lack of transportation facilities, some time after the value of the property had been proved. In the meantime, the Menominee Mining Company secured its lease and began stripping the vein preparatory to opening the mine. The railroad reached it in the winter of 1877-78, and the following spring, the first shipments of ore were made. Mining operations were first commenced on the open pit plan, entering the hill on the east side, but now the work is prosecuted on the underground system of mining. The mine occupies a position 449 feet above Lake Michigan, and 118 feet above the railway station at Quinnesec. The ore is all raised to the surface, where it passes down a double incline tramway, so arranged that the loaded cars going down draw the empty up, and dump into the pockets or stock pile, as desired. The formation is a peculiar one. The ore dips about seventy degrees to the north, the overlying rock before a sandstone, immediately under which there is a thin stratum of ore of no market value. The deposit is of variable width, the average being probably twenty feet. The walls, particularly the hangings, are of such a character as to require a large amount of timbering, but so far they have been most skillfully and amply secured, the record of the mine showing little, if any, loss of life or limb to the employees since the beginning. No new machinery has been added during the past year, though the engine house was destroyed by fire in July, and was replaced with a new one, 30x70, which was erected, and the machinery repaired and again set in motion, in the short space of seventeen days. The mine furnishes employment to a force of about two hundred and fifty men, with Capt. Elisha MORCOM still exercising the most efficient supervision of mining operations. The present season at the mine opened under the most favorable auspices, and shipments commenced from a stock pile of 22,000 tons that had been raised during the winter. The product for 1882 is estimated to be largely in excess of that of 1881. Since the mine was opened. the annual output has been as follows: 1878, 25,925 gross tons; 1879, 41,954 gross tons; 1880, 52,436 gross tons; 1881, 43,711 gross tons; total, 164,026 gross tons. Stephenson Mine. - This property embraces the northwest quarter of the southwest quarter of Section 4, Township 40, Range 29. The southwest corner of this forty is about one hundred and fifty feet northeast from No. 2 Shaft of the Norway Mine. The strike of the formation is north seventy degrees west, and the dip high to the south. The vein of ore at the surface of the ledge crossed the west line of the Stephenson about one hundred and thirty feet north of the southwest corner, and the south line 500 feet west of the same point. This with the southerly dip, rapidly exhausted the quantity of ore as they went down into the deposit. There are now only a few thousand tons of ore remaining in their present workings, which will be mined out early this season. I am still of the opinion that north of these workings, and within the limits of this property, will yet be found a vein of ore with a northerly dip. The Stephenson and LUDINGTON Mines are owned by the Lumberman's Mining Company, the officers of which are: President, Hon.. H. LUDINGTON, Milwaukee, Wis.; Vice President, Hon. S. M. STEPHENSON, Menominee, Mich.; Treasurer, Isaac STEPHENSON, Marinette, Wis.; Secretary, Joseph FLESHIEM, Menominee, Mich.; General Manager, George E. STOCKBRIDGE, Quinnesec, Mich. Sturgeon River Mine, is located two miles east of the most easterly point of the Vulcan, on the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 7, town 39, Range 28. It is the property in leasehold of the Sturgeon River Mining company. John H. DOUGLAS, President; G. C. BENTON, Secretary and Treasurer. Work was commenced early in 1881, at a point near the west line of this company's tract, where a shaft was sunk twenty-five feet in blue ore. From the bottom of this shaft a cross-cut was made north seventeen feet, and twenty feet south, all in ore. A drift fifty feet west also shows a large deposit of ore. The shaft was then sunk a further distance of twenty-five feet, where a cross-cut shows eighteen feet of ore. About one hundred feet south, another shaft has been sunk to a depth of 100 feet. The general trend of the formation is of clean blue ore, and its development into a paying mine is only a question of time. Vulcan Mine. -The Vulcan was discovered by the veteran explorer, N. P. HULST, in 1873, and was the first deposit of good ore found on the range. It is located eighteen miles distant from the junction of the Menominee River Branch with the main line. It was originally known as the BREITUNG Mine, the first opening having been made on a tract of land in which the Hon. Edward BREITUNG owns, or did at the time own, an interest. This was in Section Pg 491 10, Town 39, Range 29, where work was commenced in 1873, very little being done, other than in the way of exploration, until after the building of the branch railway was assured, in the spring of 1877. The track reached the mine in August of that year, since which time the shipments have been as follows: 1877, 4,593 gross tons; 1878, 38,799 gross tons; 1879, 56,975 gross tons; 1880, 85,976 gross tons; 1881, 85,274 gross tons; total, 272,617 gross tons. The Vulcan is the most easterly of the mines belonging to the Menominee Mining Company. The workings cover a length of nearly two miles, on the line of the ore-bearing formation, in Sections 9, 10 and 11, Town 39, Range 29 - the most easterly pit being on the line between Sections 11 and 14, and the most westerly in the north half of Section 9, the trend of the formation being from southeast to northwest. The workings in Section 11 are known as the East Vulcan, and those in 9 and 10 as the West Vulcan, each group having a Mining Captain of its own, though all under the direct management of one agent or Superintendent. Capt. John Curnow, a miner who has had years of experience in the largest copper and silver mines of the County, is in charge of the underground work at the East Vulcan, and Capt. Enoch ROBERTS, formerly with Capt. PASCOE, at the Republic, occupies a similar position at the west end pits. Hon. A. C. DAVIS, one of the pioneer Mining Superintendents of the Lake Superior Copper District, is the General Superintendent, under whose direction some important and valuable changes have been made in the general mining plan. There are three pits at the East Vulcan, numbered 1, 2 and 3 respectively. There are, or have been, at this point, two distinct lenses of ore - the Lowell vein of red ore, and what is or was known as the chimney of blue ore - the latter being of exceptionally fine quality, and the other rather below the grade of first-class. At the West Vulcan there are four working shafts in operation - Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 - in what are now known to be two distinct and separate veins or lenses of ore, lying parallel with and lapping each other. The trend of these lenses, which are about five hundred feet distant from each other, is nearly east and west, with southerly dip, the pitch of the south lens being to the west, and that of the other to the east. The mine is now being wrought on the Nevada system of mining and timbering, similar to the work done at the Chapin Mine; for this purpose a new saw-mill has just been completed near the old No. 2 Pit for supplying the mine with square timbers, plank, etc. The mine gives employment to a force of 500 men at this writing. Shipment began this year from stock piles aggregating 30,000 tons, and we look for an increased product, notwithstanding the fact that most of the preparatory work, commenced since the first of the year, is yet far from being fully completed. Altogether, the mine is a most promising one, and, under the new system, it promises a great improvement over its record already achieved. When the new shafts are completed and the new system is fully inaugurated, an annual product of 100,000 tons is estimated as the minimum capacity. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES M. H. KILGALLEN, railroad agent, Vulcan, was born in Fond du Lac, Wis., September 9, 1857; received a liberal education, graduating at Negaunee High School. At the age of fifteen, he began the printing business, which he followed four years; then two years at Negaunee; then went to the North-Western Depot, at Negaunee, running the business and working as telegraph operator one year. He then went to Cascade Junction one year as operator; then to Vulcan, and took charge as operator, express agent and Postmaster. Is general banker and broker, and issues exchanges to all parts of the country. He represented steamship lines running to all quarters of the globe. Is interested largely in mining and timber lands and real estate. |