The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1905-01-27


|of ssaults Ste. Marie, al the lower end
.of & Lake Superior, On "a little strap
railway Unloaded from toy yes
sels above the rapids, il was re- dad
ed below them into Others almost
a az tiny: The first use Of Lake Sup.
error ore in blast furnace took
place in 1853 in Pennsylvania, when
about seventy tons, brought: at
| greatsexpense from Lake Erie by
canal =: wereused in the sharpsville
furnace. ~, D i; -. >~=. s s
The first pig iron made in the:
Lake Superior region was in 1853. in
q s small furnace near Marquette. It
was in 1867 that the bessemer pro.
cess was developed to such an ex.
tent that steel rails were available
tor commercial uses at prices that
were possible. The lake region,
containing large proportion. of
ores so low in phosphorus and
other unfriendly elements that they
are available for the bessemer pro-
cess, Immediately became of the ut
most moment to the trade.
{ The existence of iron ore in Min
nesota had been known for the past
tifty-five years, but no serious at
tempt at it's examination was made
until the 70s. The first official note of
the presence ofiron in the state was
by J. G. Norwood, in 1850, in the re-
port Old. 3. Owen, on geological
survey of Wisconsin, Iowa and
Minnesota; page Az. In this report,
Mr.. Norwood mentioned the occur
renee ofore on the edge of Gunflint
lake at the extreme eastern end of
the Mesaba range, and then stated
1t to be in the eastward continuance
of the hills that were known further
west as the Mesaba, and that ex-
tended to Pokegama falls of the
Mississippi river. No importance
was attached to this mention, and
the ore where he found it is con-
sidered of very little economic
value, even yet.
In reports in 1865 and 1866, H. H..
Eames, then state geologist, referred
to the occurrence of ores on the
southern shore of Vermilion lake,
where are now the Soudan mines
of the Oliver Iron Mining company,
and mentioned the assayed ores
from the western end of the Mesaba
from points in 1924. At the in
stance of George c. Stone, now
dead, Professor A. H. Chester, then
at Hamilton college, was sent into
northern Minnesota ten years later,
to investigate for Charlemagne
Tower, of Philadelphia, the reports
of extensive deposits of iron on
what is now the eastern Mesaba.
George Stunt, the explorer of the
party, had been at Vernilion lake,
andsendeavored to induce Chester
to push on there; but was unable to
do 50 until he had himself brought
"a his chief, who was unsuccessful-
ly seeking merchantable ore in the
magnetic forma tons of the eastern
Mesaba, some excellent specimens
of hard hematite from Vermilion.
Later investigation by Chester at
Ver,nilion resulted in the. forn1a-
ton of the Minnesota Iron com
pany, the grant Of swamp land by
the state in aid of a railway to the
northern ore-felds, the beginning
of active mining operations. by
Tower, and the actual completion of
the railway and shipment of ore in
the summer of 1884. Mr.. Towers
investment of some 100000 was
sold two years later. to Chicago,
Cleveland and Marquette capital
lists. They, in turn, sold to the Fed.
eral Steel company, in 1900, and the
latter became part of the United
States Steel corporation year lat
ter. Each step in this progression
of ownership was attended by a
profit of at least 100 per cent.
IRON RANGE ROAD BUILT.
In. the summer of 1884 the Duluth
& Iron Rangeroad moved eastward
62,124 tons from. the Vermilion
range: That was the first ore to go
out from Minnesota. 1t was twenty
years ago; recently enough, but
how far back as measured by re-
suits! Since then the road has in.
creased it's business constantly till
it is now of enormous proportions.
It is an interesting fact, and a still
more interesting commentary on
the crudity of ideas as to the future
held by these, courageous pioneers
who opened the northern ore re-
gions, that the production of those
mines to ser4e which this. road was
originally built, was, in 1903, just 8
per cent Of the business of the road.