The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-04-01
GENESIS Of RIGGS POINT
j. Nj. HARING HELPED BUILD THE
FIRST HOUSE IN d.
LUTH
NOW VISITING IN ST. PAUL
OntOnagOn Man who Had a Mining
Camp on ST. Louis Bay in
1854 Tells the
story. I@i5

The men who have lived tocsee Mime
sofa pass from territorial days into
statehood, and from that to one of the
first states in the Union, are few and
noteworthy. To the average citizen Who
is willing to spare little: time from the
daily rush and roar of business the in
formation to be gained from these pion-
GERS is both entertaining and profitable.
There are but few Of them in st. Paul
at present. Yearly they are growing less.
Some have moved away and cast their
lot in other states Among the latter is
Mr.. ]. M. Haring, of Ontonagon, Mich.
He has recently been visiting his son-in-
law, w. G. L. Tucker, head of the ad-
vertising department Of Sehuneman e
Evans. Mr.. Haring is a hale and hearty
man, of stout, portly habit and much re-
! sembling naval commander. To him be-
! longs the distinction of having as-i-ted
! in building the first house erected in the
city of Duluth. ofs ks.
And that was forty-seven years ago, in
! the winter of 1854. At that time Alex
! ander Ramsey was exercising the duties
of territorial governor, and. had just es-
| tablished himself and family in st. Paul
Gen. Sibley was guarding the interests Of
sparsely settled DISTRICTS from the incur
sions of maurading bands of hostile In
oians, and the virgin soil Of Minnesota
lay practically undisturbedCb man. The
great Northwest was just awakening
from the slumber Of. centuries. Not Il
rod of railway had been built in the
state The welcome sound of a steam
boat whistle was only heard at distant
intervals as the craft pulled its way up
the Mississippi from the more advanced
civilization of the South.
But the spirit of Western enterprise was
awakening in the East; or what was rec
ognized as the East from this point of
view, Michigan Mr.. Haring had located
in that state. News of rich discoveries OF
copper in the Lake Superior region had
reached him. He was a young man and
ambitious. So, in company with Mess S.
Warner, Pratt, CoweH and McKerchie, n
started for the land of the new mining
discoveries. AT that period there Wee
but three or four steamers on the lakes.
The Sault Ste Marie canal had not been
built They came as far as La Pelnte
on the steamer Sam Ward, Capt. Easter
brook. Here they found Col. Robinson, al
one time editor of the Green Bay Advo-
cate, and Judge r. r. Nelson, at that
come so well and faverably known in ST.
Paul and throughout the state.
| At La Pointe Messrs. Haring, Butler,
Baker and a Capt. Petit chartered lit
tie schooner named the Chippewa, OF
which one James Buchanan was The cap
tain In this craft they sailed from La
Pointe to Superior river Wisconsin,, and
disembarked on the banks of the stream
Everything around them was howlins
Wilderness From SUPERIOR river they
made their way to Left-Hand river, where
they found a large log house that had
been erected by some ST. Paul parties
Mr.. Haring and his company camped TEN,
| porarily in large tent on the river bank
Subsequently they efectedsa shanty fol
winter quarters in thes same vicinity
Here they wintered, spending much of the
time exploring for mineral along the cop
per ranges. 1t was necessary to leave
one man in camp all the time to watch on
for the inroads of thieving- bands of In
dams, who would have stolen everything
in camp Finally theipartX each entered
mining claims near the upper falls Of tn,
Black river. In the. location of thes;
claims they were assisted by john Stew
art, an old-time explorer and cruiser il
that country. They found trap rock will
copper indications, bute4no well defined
: vein of the mineral. On his own claim
Mr.. Haring found a vein Of beautiful
: amethyst and quartz, but of no intrinsi
value.
It Was during this memorable winter
that the party, headed by George r
Stunts, cut a road through the timber
, and bridged it nearly fifty miles long. /
; was necessary to do this in order to ge
! mail and supplies through, as they were
completely cut off from civilization. Ii
this work they were assisted by William