Upon until about 1894 there were virgin forests here. But as soon as iron was discovered, some Slovenes settled down here. By 1903 there were 150 families and about the same number of single men. All together there were around 1,000 people of Slovene heritage. But when the earnings got lower, many moved away and not there are only a few hundred.
Some families have their own homes.
A Frenchman, the Rev. Champagne, began to build the Church of St. Martin, which was completed by the current Monsignor J. F. Buh, who arrived here in January 1888. For a while Rev. A. Smrekar was pastor here, now the Rev. J. Ferjancic is here. There is a school here of Catholic Indians who are being cared for from Ely by the Rev. J. Buh. He visits them once a month from across Vermilion Lake, by boat in the summer and by sleigh in the winter. The city has 10,473 inhabitants and favorable connections with Canada.