Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1875-10-29
THE LAKE SUPERIOR MINING
REGION,
Interesting Letter from T. j. Miller

Interesting Letter from T. j. Miller.
HANCOCK, Mich, Oct. %, rs.
Ed. BULLETIN:-Pcrmit me thro'
the columns of your valuable paper
to say few words to It's many read
crs. AS l SIT in my office, between
the hours of II and l, sweltcrlng I'M
der the intense heat of IA. seemingly,
midsummer sun, while the therlnom-
eter stands at S2I in the shade, my
thoughts very naturally turn back to
my former home in Independence,
Iowa. How vast the change; there |
left broad prairies, wide and well
titled fields; large and extensive gran
aries well filled or being well filled
(for the season was harvest) with
plcnteous stores of good things for
winters use. While here every one
from least to greatest depend entirely
upon shipment of all the necessaries
of life for both man and beast from
below, there being nothing raised
with the exceptions OF a very few po-
tatocs and turnips, and these held ut
enormous prices, potatoes selling tor
from so cents to Sl.O0 per bushcl.-
Llte seems to subsist entirely upon
the fruits of the very extensive cop
per mines in the different parts of
Keweenaw peninsula.
Hancock, Michigan, is situated on
Keweenaw peninsula, on the north
bank of Portage Lake, while the city
of Houghton is just across on the
south bank, the country all about be-
ing very billy, rough, and unpleasant
to look upon. The timber, where it
will and does grow, is small and
scrnbby, very inferior to that along
the banks of old Wapsipinicon, and
that does not say mach for timber
The copper works here are very ex-
tensivo, there being some eight or
ten mines, working from 100 to 800
men each, and each extending from
1000 to 1900 feet below the surface
of the earth. From these vast depths
thousands of tons of ore are hoisted
each year to the shaft houses, and
long tramways are built from these
houses, which conduct the ore by cars
attached to endless wire ropes down
the hill to the crushing mills on the
bank of the lake. 1t is here separated
by machinery, and reduced almost to
the consistency of powdered rock,
and thence carried by other ears to
the smelling works, where it is melt
ed, the pure copper being run off into
moulds, while the debris is raked out
Of the furnaces by men employed for
that purpose, and thrown on the
ground to cool, SO rs to again be
melted for ali the copper that might
remain therein. After melting the
second time, it is thrown into large
sluices, where it is washed by the re-
sistless fury of mad waters to the
Father of Lakes, the mighty Superior.
For miles and miles from the two
cities the waters of Partage Lake and
those of Lake Superior are of a bright
copper color,
The Hon. Chas. +. Holland and
others have what is known as the
Mineral Range r. r., running back
up the peninsula to Albany, Boston,
Calumet, and other mining towns, for
the transportation of freight and cop
per: and from the head of Kcwccnaw
peninsula any part of the globe is
reached by means OF the electric wire,
one Of the offices, that AZ Hancock,
being filled by your humble SER
want.
The weather since my arrival here
has been very changcable; first hea-
Wy SHOWS, then mild summer weather
and plenty of rain. On the 5th inst,
snow was inches deep; on the 10th,
3 inches; on the 18th, none. At the
present writing thermometer stands
at s2ao in the shade. Every boat
coming up the Lake at this season OF
the year is laden with provisions,
hay and grain, for transportation
after winter sets in is nearly impossi-
bic. But | close, hoping at some flu
ture time to write again, providing
the editor will give me room. re-
main yours, Very respectfully,
Il. J. MILLER.