Evening star., 1895-06-08

| NV. notable. Reposing in
that American Pan
| theon of things inanimate, not even a
| number points to some page of the museum
| reports, whereon the curious investigator
| may find by what right the copper rock
can claim even its neglected corner.
Worshiped as a manitou by the super
| stitious Indians during uncounted wears,
| the siren of mining adventurous while vet
| the flag of England fioa:ed over the lake
country, the objective point of hazardous
| expeditions by explorer -and scientist, the
| Ontonagon boulder has never been so left
| to itself as it has been during the half
century that has elapsed since it was
brought to the national capital, where the
expectation was that all eyes might gaze
upon 1t as the representative of national
wealth and enterprise.
Alexander Hepry's Explorations,
In III, lured, doubtless, by the mass of
copper at the forks of the Ontona gon.
Henry and his associates undertook to
pierce the bluffs of clay and red sandstone
which border that stream. in the hope of
finding the vein whence the boulder came
Only complete ignorance of the geology of
the Lake Superior region can explain what
DR.. Houghton calls these quixotc trials
| and complete failure was the natural re-
suit.
In 1919 Gen. Lewis Cass made the first
explorations of the Lake Superior region
that Were undertaken by this government.
Turning from their path, his party ascend
ed the Ontonagon river for thirty miles to
visit the mass of copper, whose existence
he says. had long been known. Common
report" he writes to John c. Calhoun.
Secretary OF War has greatly magnified
the quantity, though enough remains, even
after rigid examination. to render it a
mineralosical curiosity. Instead of being
mass of pure copper, it is rather copper
imbedded in a lard rock, and the weight
probably does not exceed five tons, of which
the rock is much the larger part. 1t was
impossible to procure. any specimens. for
such was its hardness that chisels
broke like glass. 1 intend to send some
Indians in the spring to procure the neces-
sary specimens. AS Idunderstand the ma
ture of the substance, I'VE can now furnish
them with such tools as will effect the
object. l shall. on their return, send you
such specimens as you may wish to re-
tain for the government or to distribute
as cabinet specimens to the various literary
institutions of the country
The party sent by Cass were not so for
tunate as he anticipated they would be.
They cut about thirty cords Of wood, which
they placed about the boulder and set fire
to the pile. When the copper was well
heated they dashed water upon II; but the
only result was to detach pieces of quartz
rock adhering to the native copper. The
party, having become disheartened. left
the country, hav.rg moved the rock four
or five feet from the bank of the river; nor
did the Barbeau party, who went from
Sault Ste. Marie, two years later, have any
better success. 1t SO happened, however,
that Mr.. Joseph Spencer. one of the Cass
expedition, told the story of the copper
rock to Mr.. Julius Eldred. a hardware
merchant of Detroit. and for sixteen years
this enterprising man schcmad and planned
how he might succeed where others had
failed.
Scientific Report.
Until the report made by the state geolo-
gist of Michigan, Dr. Douglass Eoughton,
in 1S41, there had been no authentic or
trustworthy statements in regard to the
copper-bearing rocks of Lake Superior, but
within four years from the date of that re-
port the mineral lands from the tip of
Keweenaw Point to the Ontonagon river
We're overrun with prospectors, the great
majority of whom left dollars where they
found pennies. 1t is In DIR. Houghtons re-
port that the best scientific account of the
copper rock is to be found. Il have thus
far" he says omitted to allude particu-
larly to the large mass of native copper
which has been SO long known to exist In
the bed of the Ontonagon river, lest per-
haps this isolated mass might be con-
founded with the veins of the mineral dis
trict That this mass has once occupied
place in some one of these veins is quite
certain, but 1T Is now perfectly separated
from It's OrlSlnal lllOn, anu dppedIS
simply as loose transported boulder.
The copper boulder is associated with
rocky matter, which in all respects resem-
bles that associated with that metal in
some portions of the mines before describ-
ed, the rocky matter being bound together
with innumerable strings of metal; but
very considerable portion of the whole is
copper in a state of purity. Whlle this
mass of native copper cannot fail to excite
much interest, from its great size and
purity, it must be borne in mind that it is
a perfectly isolated mass, having no con-
nection with any other; nor does the cnar-
acter of the country lead to the inference
that veins of the metal occur In the i'm
mediate vicinity, though the mineral dis
trict crosses the country at distance OF
but a few miles,
Leaving for the moment the question as
to the origin of the copper rock. let us fol-
low its history. Prior to 1S43 not pound
Of copper had been shipped commercially
from Lake Superior. The billion and half
pounds which have been taken from that
region have been mined since that year,
and more than half that product has been
taken from a mine discovered since the
war of the rebellion ended. The Ontonagon
boulder was not regarded primarily in
commercial light: for its market value as
ingot copper could not have exceeded. $500
Mr.. Eldred's object In transporting it to
the lower lakes was to exhibit it for money
in the various cities of the east 1t was
curiosity. AS Senator Woodbridge said, it
was "a splendid specimen of the mineral
wealth of the far west"
In 1871, Mr.. Eldred arranged with Samuel
Ashman of Sault Ste. Marie, to act as his
Interpreter in the purchase of the copper
rock from the Chippewa Indians, on whose
lands it was situated. Obtaining trading
license from Mr.. Ord the government
agent, the two men set out for the mouth
Of the Ontonagon, where they met the
chiefs and concluded the purchase for $3.50,
Of which sum $40 was paid in cash at the
time, and the remainder in goods two years
later. The party then proceeded about
twenty-six miles up the river; climbed the
high hill which interviewed between the
main stream and that point on the fork
where the rock was situated, and raised 1t
on sI1ds. More than this they could mot
do nor did they have greater success the
following summer.
Removing the Boulder.
In 1913 Mr.. Eldred started from Detroit
with wheels and castings for a portable
railway and car; and to protect his prop
ertv rights he secured from Gen. Walter
Cunningham, the United States mineral
agent, L permit to occupy for mining pur-
poses the section of land on which the
boulder stood. Arriving at the rock, Mr..
Eldred was surprised and chagrined to
find it in possession of a party of Wiscon-