The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-08-07

1866. The Bots Forte Band of Indian!
gave up all the remaining land rights
In northern st. Louis County in ex.
change for annuitieS and certain
limited reservations.
1861
About these years, George r
Stuntz, of Duluth, in company witt
Minnesota State geolOgist, EameS, saw
the exposed iron ore at Tower, This
was reported by this Henry H. Eames
State Geologist in his report for 1865
although EameS subordinated this dis
covery to his erroneous opinion as tt
the discovery of gold bearing rock al
the lake. From that time Stuntz was
active in seeking to exploit this iror
ore discovery The Indians knew Of
the ore before, and they had shown
specimens to United States govern
ment employees and others.
1875
Professor Albert A. Chester Of
Hamilton College, New York State, il
the service of clients of Charlemagne
Tower, attorney for mining interests
examined the western end of the
present Missabe Range and the iror
exposures at Tower and Soudan He
reported adversely on the Missaoe, but
Jnougnt the showing at Tower was
promising. George y. Stone, Q822'
1900, of Duluth, apparently acting or
information from Stuntz, and follow
ing the advice of Professor Chester
was the western promoter OF this &C
tivity and was tireleSs in seeking capt.
tai to develop the ore properties ano
build a railroad from the mines tC
Lake Superior.
Professor Newton H. Winchell
caused the Vermilion ore shoWings to
be gone over. In his 1881 report he
urged exploitation.
1880
Professor Albert H. Chester made a
second reconnaissance of the Yer
million and gave that district un-
qualified approval as a hematite iron
ore region with large deposits.
1882.
The Minnesota Iron Company was
Incorporated, the charter members
being Charlemagne Tower, George c.
Stone, Charlemagne Tower, Jr., Geo
r. StuntZ, and others. Tower was
plated and named for Charlemagne
Tower, Q809-1899), referred to under
1875, New York state man by birth
who lived long time in Pennsylvania
It was one of the most lovely places
on Lake Vermilion and became an i'm
portant mining center. Incorporated
as city on March Is, 1889.
1853
The Duluth and Iron Range Rail
road of 1876 was revived. It was given
az state grant of swamp lands. The
iron rush was on. All the Vermilior
region was taken by the promoters
and others under the land laws of the
United States including script right
laws. The mineral laws as applied in
the Rocky Mountain and Pacific coast
states never applied in Minnesota
Lands were acquired very cheaply.
1884
The first train of the Duluth and
Iron Range Railway entered Tower
from Two Harbors on July 81, 1884
Ore mined just before this was shipped
to Two Harbors. This work continues
to this day. The Tower Press was
issued at Tower, succeeded by the Yer
million Iron Journal in 1884 In 1896
Peter Schaefer edited the Iron Home
at Ely and in 1895 started the present
Ely Miner.
1878
The railway was extended to Ely in
1888. Ely was plated as a village in
1887, as city on March 8, 1891. II
was named for Samuel P. Ely of Cleve-
land, Ohio, one of the wealthy rail-
road and mine men of the VerInilior
region. Ely is on Shagawa Lake
sometimes called Long Lake, about
twenty miles northeast from Tower
The name Long Lake is translation
of the Indian name Shagawa. Ely is
the largest city on the Vermilion and
the most important center of many
of its activities.
1884-193O
VermiliOn Range iron ore shipments
from mines that have produced over
5000, 900 gross tons of ore each to the
end of 1880, are as follows: Pioneer
18, AS, lib tons; Chandler, 11,436,075
tons; Soudan, 10,705, 900 tons; Zenith
9,027, 189; Sibley, 5,559,388 tons. The
first shipment was from the Soudar
mine in 1884.
Superior National Forest established
It has been enlarged since There are
many canoe routes and frequent trails
Information about the Forest is OBJ
tainable in detail at Tower, Ely and
Winton from local clubs and federal
and state foresters. This forest
reaches to the international boundary
Across that boundary there is a great
Canadian Park. It is thence a wilder
ness of wonders, even to the Arctic
Ocean.
JURISDICTIONS
From the Earliest Times to 1881
In the dim beginnings of history this
region was held by the Sioux Indians
It is likely also that the Cree Indians
had camps here and there close to
these lakes. Then it passed to the
Chippewas, who expelled the Sioux
probably about 1850: From 1860 te
1853, the region was regarded as
French or Canadian although a Brit
ish monarch perhaps unknowingly had
exercised authority over it in 1910 in
the grant to the Hudson's Bay Com
pany. This region was British from
1853 to 1888. It was a part of the
Province of Quebec about 1774 and
had long been claimed somewhat in
dependently by the Province of Vir-
ginia as a part of its royal grant
After this area became American in
1888 it has been under the following
minor American Jurisdictions. North
west, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wis
consin, and Minnesota Territories. and
now is an integral part of the State of
Minnesota
HISTORICAL NOTES
In March, 1884, about $50 miners
largely immigrants from Cornwall
England, who had located in Michigan
came to Tower. Two women and six
children were in the party. They
settled at Tower and they prospered in
all ways as their survivors and de-