St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-11-26
Building Stone Granite Fire Clay and Poters Clay Album
dance Throughout Minnesota Ter
ritory.

settlers of the state, in ascending the
Mississippi river, could not fail to be
impressed with the magnitude of its
limestone deposits, valuable for all
building purposes. AS they spread
over the prairies along the valleys of
the streams they discovered the out
groupings OF the same material for
many miles beyond the borders of the
great river. All through the southeast
ern portion of the state, as far west as
Dodge county, these rocks are found IN
abundance.
Farther to the west, ut points on the
Minnesota river, sandstone abOunds,
and in some of the southwestern cOun-
ties. notably PipestOne and Rock, are
peculiar deposits which have rendered
that region famous, and have long been
known and held almost sacred by the
Indian tribes occupying that quarter of
the state. The amount of pipeStone and
jasper in that part of the state Is, to all
appearances, ineXhaustible.
10 the north and east, along the
Upper Mississippi and Lake Superior.
granite in large quantities, of great
varieties and of very superior quality,
is being Quarried on an extensive scale
for home consumption and for ship
ment Ear beyond the borders of the
state.
There are. probably, few common
wealthS in which the variety of what
are known as the economic rocks" is
so great, and whose quality Is equal to
those produced III Minnesota. The
brown and red SandStOneS OF the Lake
Superior regions have been utilized for
81. r.ffa ~ 90 N
! constantly growing in favor as depth is
| attained i'll the working of the deposits.
! They are shipped to all parts of the
| country.
All these varieties of mineral and
| their superior qualities are too we'll
| known to need anything more than
| pasSing notice. 1t is. therefore, to the
| abundance and superior quality of the
iron ores of Northern Minnesota that it
! is the purpose of this article especially
| to notice.
Wealth Of Iron
Until within a few years the country
| to the north of Lake Superior has been
regarded as terra incOgnita." No con-
ception of its vast wealth has, until re-
Gently, been formed by even the more
intelligent people of the state. In fact
few of them are yet aware of the mag
| nitude and the great value OF the iron
deposits OF the north shore country.
The discovery of these deposits may
| be said to date from the period when
| explorations were made in the vicinity
of VermiliOn lake for gold. The ear
liestS tests Of the rocks at this place are
| claimed to have been made IN the year
! 1861. These tests were made by party
consisting of Amos Hall, OF 81. iaul'
| and Messrs. Ely, Johnson and Mayhem,
| who proceeded to the lake by the usual
route. up the St. Louis river by canoe,
in search of gold. They brought down
some quartz mixed with slate, that as
saved. according to the United States
mint, $3.50 per ton in gold.
The first blasting, with view to dis
covering the quality OF the iron ores
was made, however, III 1870, when
George Il. StuntZ, John HOul, William
Y. Bushue and John Mailman visited
the Vermilion. Mr.. StuntZ had hrH1
discovered the iron ore on what are
known as Lee Hill and Tower Hlll.neal
what is now the village Of Tower.
This party commenced stripping al
ore body on the east end Of the Lee
Hill. where Mr.. StuntZ had discovered
iron during the gold excitement of 1866
Mr.. Mailman was the only miner in the
party. and proceeded to put in bias
the first ever exploded i'll the Nermil
ion range.
The drills were struck by Indian:
and a hole was bored about five fee
deep. The blast threw out mass o
ore showing the drilling, which Is still
to be seen near the spot. After TINS IN
cident the party went over TO BIrcl
lake. looking over what are now KNOW
as the Chandler, Pioneer, Smith ant
the EAtOn-MeTritt groupings.
Further exploration and development
of this region were delayed for man.
wears on account of the lack of railroad
TO convey the ores to the lake. Eht
final and successful attempt to work tn
, mines and build a road from them t
Lake Superior was commenced under
F | charter granted TO the Duluth " Iron
Range railroad III 1874. George Z. Stone
! now a resident OF st. Paul' was the pic
, neer in this work. After lncrediOl
/ labor and difficulty he at last succeed
5 ed in
e 20 operate the mines and build the raj
road from Vermilion lake to Lake 81
i, DeriOr at Agate bay. now Two Harbor:
The road was completed 10 the lake j
1894. and the first shipments were mad
: in the latter part of that year. The rOa
{ was extended to Duluth along the LAX
J, shore some two years after.
: The elevation of Lake Superior Is 6t
:, feet above tide watar. Tower Junctlo
is 1877 feet above the same. The ridge
in which the mines are located riSt
s however. TO the extreme height {
e 1.6OO feet above the ocean, but they ar
5 generally about 1859 feet in attitude
= so that the grade to be overcome b.
p tween the lake and the mines is abOl
> 600 feet. The road was built with gre;
; care and in the most substantial MAJ
! ner, in order TO be prepared for I'll
a heavy traffic which it was certain
a secure as soon as completed.
i The total length of the road from ID
10 luth to Ely, 81 miles east OF Tower,
"a 1873 miles.
c The extent of country occupied |
/ these iron deposits is much greater tia
y is usually supposed. The ores are foul
g in two different ranges. The upper,
n | VermiliOn range, extends from tow
v shin 60 in Il nOrthe1Sterly direction
and beyond the Canadian border. II
Mesabl range. about fifteen miles TO Il
south and running in the same dire
ton, commences practically at the Nj
SISSippi river and extends turther ca
lie beyond the border of the state. 1t
O. estimated that the area of these d
i tricts is not less than 100000 to 1.5O
900 acres, or about 1000 square mll(
C The outcroppings do not. OF c0uT>
IS appear on every quarter sect
y between these points, nor eV
in every town, but the ge
r. eral trend of the vein matt
;E can be followed and trac
10 the entire distance. The probability
y that the magnitude of these depos
us will not be known for some time
IN come. A large part of the territory
O. as vet UNEMPLOYED. 1t is covered moss
by forest. and is much of it difficult
u access. Within this territory there
single tracts whose value is almost
calculable. One quarter secuon' kho'
as the Eaton Merritt claim, has been
litigation for many years, and is still
contest. The value of this single quj
he ter section, upon which no work of i
portance has yet been done. is estimat
an all the way from 100000 up into
millions and there are other ira