num_pages: 300
description: The Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan is the only place on earth where large amounts of copper are found in the pure metallic "native" state. The Making of A Mining District is the first book to fully document the gradual recognition of the unique nature of the Keweenaw native copper deposits between 1500 and 1870, from the earliest contacts of the Europeans with the New World to the establishment of the region as a major copper-producing district. Krause places particular emphasis on the period from 1820 to 1865, when the district's true mining potential became evident and when American science changed from a pleasant amateur diversion into a more rigorous professional discipline, a change that is clearly reflected in attitudes toward this region. He examines the effect of this transition on attempts to come to terms with the quality of the Keweenaw copper deposits. The author also discusses the people and events that were important to the opening of the Keweenaw Peninsula to mining and provides a thorough study of the work of three individuals: Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, explorer of the upper Great Lakes and Mississippi valley regions; Douglass Houghton, Michigan's first state geologist; and Charles T. Jackson, a prominent geologist who explored the district near mid-century. Schoolcraft, Houghton, and Jackson made vital contributions, but not necessarily in the ways that have been generally claimed. In particular, Krause argues that a significant revision is called for in the commonly accepted story of Douglass Houghton's role in recognizing the value of the native copper deposits on Lake Superior. Such a revision also, in turn, sheds new light on the pioneering efforts of both Schoolcraft and Jackson. The role of the Keweenaw copper district in the exploration and development of the new world and the United States deserves more attention than it has been given so far. Krause offers a view of that role from a broadly-based perspective, stressing the impor
language: English
title: The Making of a Mining District: Keweenaw Native Copper : 1500-1870
titlecomplete: The Making of a Mining District: Keweenaw Native Copper : 1500-1870 (Great Lakes Books)
genres: History, Nonfiction, Geology
ratings_count: 4
series: Great Lakes Books Series
publisher: Great Lakes Books