Title: A true description of the Lake Superior country ... with Bayfield's chart ... also a minute account of the copper mines and working companies ... and containing a concise mode of assaying, treating, smelting, and refining copper ores
Description: This book was written fairly early in the history of the copper mining industry in the upper peninsula. It was intended as an effort to map and describe the locations of mines and mineral deposits in the region where they exist. The first portion of 50 pages or so is mainly a travelogue, describing the route to the copper country along Lake Superior shores, the geography of the region where the mines are located, and the harbor towns.
Gradually the author shifts to geologic descriptions. On page 78 begins a section entitled “Miscellaneous”, in which he describes the operations of one mining company in the region after another. This section is followed by some truly miscellaneous material, including a glossary of mining terms and a “Vocabulary of Indian & French”; words that would “… enable the voyageur to proceed among the half-breeds and Indians, without difficulty.”
Subjects: Copper mines and mining, Description and travel
Places: Region Superior, Lake
Time periods: 1840s