The Greatest Works of Charles Carleton Coffin. Charles Carleton Coffin
Читать онлайн книгу.
house, and a cow quietly chewing her cud in another.
A mile east of Ashland is Bay City, another place planned by speculators, but which probably might be purchased at a discount.
The country around Bayfield is in a primitive condition now, but the time is rapidly approaching for a change. By and by this will be a great resort for tourists and seekers after health. Nature has made it for a sanitarium. No mineral springs have been discovered warranted to cure all diseases, but nowhere in this Northwest has nature compounded purer air, distilled sweeter water, or painted lovelier landscapes. The time will come when the people of Chicago, Milwaukie, and other Western cities, seeking rest and recreation during the summer months, will flee to this harbor of repose. The fish are as numerous here, and as eager to bite the hook, as anywhere else on the lake, while the streams of the main-land abound with trout. By and by this old red sandstone will be transformed into elegant mansions overlooking the blue waters, and it would not be strange if commerce reared a great mart around this harbor. The charter of the Northern Pacific Railroad extends to this point, and as the road would pass through heavily timbered lands, the company will find it for their interest to open the line, as it will also form a connecting link between the West and the iron region of Lake Superior.
But whether a city rises here, whether a railroad is constructed or not, let me say to any one who wants to pull out big trout that this is the place.
An Indian who has been trying his luck shows a string of five-pounders, caught in one of the small streams entering the bay. There is no sport like trout-fishing. Think of stealing on tiptoe along the winding stream, dropping your hook into the gurgling waters, and feeling a moment later something tugging, turning, pulling, twisting, running, now to the right, now to the left, up stream, down stream, making the thin cord spin, till your heart leaps into your throat through fear of its breaking, — fear giving place to hope, hope to triumph, when at length you land a seven-pounder on the green and mossy bank! You find such trout in the streams that empty into the lake opposite the Apostle Islands, — trout mottled with crimson and gold!
Bidding good by to our generous host and hostess we take an eastward-bound steamer in the evening for a trip down the lake, stopping for an hour or two at Ontonagon, then steaming on, rounding Keweenaw Point during the night, and reaching Marquette in the morning.
Fishing-boats are dancing on the waves, yachts scudding along the shore, tourists rambling over the rocks at our right hand, throwing their lines, pulling up big trout, steamers and schooners are lying in the harbor, and thrift, activity, and enterprise is everywhere visible.
We see an immense structure, resembling a railway bridge, built out into the harbor. It is several hundred feet in length, and twenty or more in height. A train of cars comes thundering down a grade, and out upon the bridge, while men running from car to car knock out here and there a bolt or lift a catch, and we hear a rumbling and thundering, and feel the wharf tremble beneath our feet. It is not an earthquake; they are only unloading iron ore from the cars into bins.
A man by means of machinery raises a trap-door, and the black mass, starting with a rush, thunders once more as it plunges into the hold of a schooner. It requires but a few minutes to take in a cargo. And then, shaking out her sails, the schooner shapes her course eastward along the "Pictured Rocks" for the St. Mary's Canal, bound for Cleveland, Erie, or Chicago with her freight of crude ore to be smelted and rolled where coal is near at hand.
The town is well laid out. Although the business portion was destroyed by fire not many months ago, it has been rebuilt. There are elegant residences, churches, school-houses, and stores. Men walk the streets as if they had a little more business on hand than they could well attend to.
The men who used to frequent this region to trade with the Indians knew as early as 1830 that iron existed in the hills. But it was not till 1845, just a quarter of a century ago, that any attempt was made to test the ore. Dr. Jackson, of Boston, who visited Lake Superior in 1844, pronounced it of excellent quality. He informed Mr. Lyman Pray, of Charlestown, Mass., of its existence, and that the Indians reported a "mountain" of it not far from Marquette. Mr. Pray at once started on an exploring expedition, reached Lake Superior, obtained an Indian guide, penetrated the forest, and found the hills filled with ore.
About the same time a gentleman named Everett obtained half a ton of it, which the Indians and half-breeds carried on their backs to the Carp River, and transported it to the lake in canoes.
It was smelted, but was so different from that of Pennsylvania that the iron-masters shook their heads. Some declared that it was of no particular value, others that it could not be worked.
The Pittsburg iron-men pronounced it worthless. But Mr. Everett persevered, sent a small quantity to the Coldwater forge, where it was smelted and rolled into a bar, from which he made a knife-blade, and was convinced that the metal was superior in quality to any other deposit in the country.
The Jackson Company was at once formed for mining in the iron and copper region. The copper fever was at its height, and the company was organized with a view of working both metals if thought advisable. A forge was erected on the Carp River in 1847, making four blooms a day, each about four feet long and eight inches thick.
Another was built, in 1854, by a company from Worcester, Mass., but so small was the production that in 1856 the shipment only reached five thousand tons. The superior qualities of the metal began to be known. Other companies were formed and improvements made; railroads and docks were constructed, and the production has had a steady increase, till it has reached a high figure.
There are fourteen companies engaged in mining, — two have just commenced, while the others are well developed. The production of the twelve principal mines for the year 1868 will be seen from the following figures: —
| Tons. | |
|---|---|
| Jackson, | 131,707 |
| Cleveland, | 102,213 |
| Marquette, | 7,977 |
| Lake Superior, | 105,745 |
| New York, | 45,665 |
| Lake Angeline, | 27,651 |
| Edwards, | 17,360 |
| Iron Mountain, | 3,836 |
| Washington, | 35,757 |
| New England, | 8,257 |
| Champion, | 6,255 |
| Barnum, | 14,380 |
| — — | |
| Total, | 506,803 |
The increase over the previous year is between forty and fifty thousand tons. The yield for 1869 was about 650,000 tons. The entire production of all the mines up to the close of 1868 is 2,300,000 tons.
Iron mining in this region is in its infancy; and yet the value of the metal produced last year amounts to eighteen million dollars.
The cause for this rapid development is found in the fact that the Lake Superior ore makes the best iron in the world. Persistent efforts were made to cry it down, but those who were engaged in its production invited rigid tests.
Its tenacity, in comparison with other qualities, will be seen by the following tabular statement: —
| Swedish, | 59 |
| English Cable bolt, | 59 |
| Russian, | 76 |