Glass ^^"jTi. 
 Book H^C ^^ 
 
IjKGIHLATURE 
 
 1861 
 
 ■( 
 
 QousE Doc. 
 No 24. 
 
 vi^*.- 
 
 ; '^f 
 
 [ No. 24. ] 
 
 AN ADDRESS on the Climate, Soil, Resources, Development, 
 Commerce and Fut^ure of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 
 delivered in Representative Hall, at Lansing, February 6, 
 1861, by Alex, Campbell, of Marquette. 
 
 Mr. Lockwood offered the following : • 
 
 Resolved, That 5,000 copies of the address of the Hon. Alex' 
 ander Campbell, on the resources and prospects of the Upper 
 Peninsula of Michigan, be printed, 1000 of which shall be placed 
 in the hands of Mr. Campbell, and the remainder for the use of 
 the members of the Legislature f 
 
 Which was adopted. 
 
 THE UPPER PENINSULA. 
 
 Less than twenty-four years ago the Upper Peninsula became 
 a part of the State of Michigan. At that time it was consid- 
 ered a comparatively worthless territory— its geographical 
 position being unfavorable to agriculture — its climate frigid 
 and unfriendly to all the pursuits we had come to regard as 
 necessary in the settlement of a State. 
 
 The man who would have predicted the development that has 
 
 followed — ths opening of such exhaustless wealth — the exist- 
 1 
 
House Doc. 
 
 ■AiC 
 
 ence of flourishing villages — the seats ol future cities — and its 
 already large commerce, would have been called a foolish 
 dreamer. 
 
 But far back of the date we name, there was a man — the far- 
 seeing sage and philosopher, Dr. Franklin — when, as the Amer- 
 ican Minister in Paris, he was fixing the boundary line between 
 the United States and Great Britain, saw something of the im- 
 portance of this country m the future. At that time he had 
 access to the journals and charts of a corps of French engineers 
 that had sloops and were exploring Lake Superior when 
 Quebec fell to the British, "from which charts," he tells us, he 
 *''U'ew the line through Lake Superior, to include the most and 
 the best of the copper to the United States, and/' says he, ''the 
 time ivill come when drawing that line would he considered the 
 greatest service he ever rendered his country"^' 
 
 If, then, when the General Government transferred the Upper 
 Peninsula to Michigan, there were none to regard it as an im- 
 portant acquisition, we rejoice that there was, quite a half cen- 
 tury before, a man — a true friend to his country — who, in the 
 discharge of his duties, had the industry to find and the sa- 
 gacity to secure a territory the development of this hour proves 
 to have been a great service — not to say the greatest he ever 
 rendered his country. 
 
 In order that the people of Michigan may know more of this 
 very important part of the State, which for the last few years 
 has been attracting general attention, I will endeavor to bring 
 more fully before the public mind its climate, soil, resources, 
 commerce, and future. . 
 
 The general impression everywhere seems to be that the cli- 
 mate of the Lake Superior country is frigid and severe beyond 
 .endurance — that foi' sufficient reasons it may be tolerated, but is 
 nevertheless a sort of affliction. This feeling prevails especial- 
 ly in regard to its winters. How often I am asked — " How do 
 youftnanage to keep warm there in the winter — I should think 
 you would freeze to death." This utterance expresses the com- 
 
 * See^WTiitney and Foster's Report »f the Copper Regious. 
 
No. 24 3 
 
 mon notion of the frigidness of the country, but is it the expe- 
 rience of its people? It is true that the mean temperature of that 
 climate is a few degrees lower* than in the latitude of Detroit 
 or Chicago; it is also true that its snowy season is some longer 
 and its snows some deeper, but such is the purencss, dryness 
 and vitality of the atmosphere, that it is truly an elixir. Such 
 is the bracing aud life-giving power of the summer air, that it 
 has become more than a Saratoga for the jaded business man 
 and the invalid, and in almost every instance those who have 
 thus sought recuperation and life have been rapturous in their 
 praises of its invigorating influences. Such of course do not 
 spend their winters there, their vocation being elsewhere, or the 
 winter air too powerful for the consumptive, unless in its incip- 
 ient stages. But among its most valued citizens are hundreds 
 who owe their lives to the recuperating agencies of the climate, 
 and the experience of all is that the winters ai^e the 2')leasantest p)art 
 of the year. The vitality and life it imparts are a positive lux- 
 ury. They know nothing of the debility, the sallow-feebleness, 
 feverish colds and barking coughs of the damp, depressing, 
 changing climates of the lower latitudes. Animal and intellect- 
 ual vigor, vivacity and a full flow of healthful spirit is their 
 blest heritage. And what is existence without health ? What 
 are days and years without physical life ? Indeed, the full 
 possession of these, the country and climate that will secure 
 the most perfect development of physical being, must ever 
 be the home of the greatest human happiness, and because 
 the inhabitants of this peninsula possess these blessings in an 
 •eminent degree, their universal testimony is, " If I only spend 
 one-half of the year on the lake, I shall choose the winter." No 
 happier or healthier people exist ; their whole being gushing 
 with a lull tide of life, and neither the climate nor the winter's 
 air will ever prove an objection to making the country a home, 
 the practical pursuits of life being remunerative. 
 
 This peninsula has become a very important part of our State. 
 It embraces an area of 16,237 square miles — territory sufficient 
 
 * The average for the vear Ls 7 ° lower. 
 
4 House Doc. 
 
 for a State — the coast of which is washed with the waters of 
 Lakes Michigan, Huron, the St. Mary's River and Lake Supe- 
 rior ; in all a coast border of nearly one thousand miles, and 
 enriched with some of the finest natural harbors in the world — 
 as Bay de Noquette, Mackinaw, Detour Whiskey Bay, Grand 
 Island and L'Anse. Li this respect the country is favored with 
 peculiar natural advantages for the productiveness of its com- 
 merce, which is destined to assume a magnitude the most cred- 
 # ulous are not now willing to admit. I would not, however, be 
 understood as saying that the commerce of this peninsula does 
 not now, or will not hereafter, need other improvements to facil- 
 itate and render secure the property and lives of its citizens \ 
 for these are now in constant hazard at the different business 
 centres, for the want of such improvements. 
 
 The great interest, and that which gives primary and princi- 
 pal importance to the country, are its mineral deposits. But 
 because these — the copper and the iron — thus far have given it 
 such prominence, we must not Conclude that it is barren of all 
 other advantages. 
 
 A very important branch of business, and which, with the 
 proper protection, will lolig continue a profitable and increasing 
 field of industry, are the fisheries that now exist, or will here- 
 efter be established. I see from the Report of the Superintend- 
 ent of the Saut Canal, that in 1859 there passed through it 4359 
 barrels of fish. The year just closed, the amount was 4051 
 barrels, and if the amount consumed on the lake were added, 
 the aggregate products would not be less than 6000 barrels. 
 The northern part of Lake Huron, the Straits of Mackinaw, 
 the northern part of Lake Michigan, the St, Mary's River, and 
 most of the south shore of Lake Superior, all border upon, and 
 so far as the fisheries are concerned, belong to this peninsula, 
 and abound with the finest fresh water fish in the world, known 
 as the White Fish and Alackinaw Trout. But, if the State 
 would preserve these fislieries, and make them a permanent 
 benefit, the Legislature will enact a stringent prohibitory law 
 against "pound fishing ;" for if this mode is continued, it will in 
 
No. 24. 6 
 
 a few years depopulate to a good extent these Bays and Lakes, 
 keep the market glutted and depreciate their value. Scin and 
 net fishing arc the only modes that should be legalized as a * 
 branch of industry — as this would be remunerative — will pro- 
 tect the fisheries against premature exhaustion, and render 
 healthy the commerce of this very important article. 
 
 Nor is this peninsula without advantages as an agricultural 
 region. It is true, it is not, and never will be, so well adapted 
 to this branch of industry as Illinois or lower Michigan ; but in 
 many respects, and in soil especiall}'-, it is as far ahead of a 
 large portion of New England, as Illinois is ahead of it. There 
 the country along the lake shores — and that is only what vis- 
 itors to that country see — is not the most inviting to the farmer. 
 Here are the mineral deposits. Very generally this part of the 
 country is uneven, rocky and mountainous. In going from 
 Marquette by railroad to the iron mountains, the locomotive the 
 first thirteen milxis, carries you up an elevation of 850 feet 
 above the level of the lake, and at some points you will pass 
 cliffs of rock piled up in small mountains. What is known as 
 the copper or trap range, running from Keweenaw Point to the 
 Montreal River, the face of the country is more uneven, in 
 places rising from five to twelve hundred feet above the level 
 of the lake ; frequently presenting bold, stair-like cliffs, afford- 
 ing many scenes of wiUl, picturesque beauty. 
 
 But along these ranges, even, there is much good soil, where 
 farming is now, or mi\y be, carried on with success. The past 
 year, Messrs. Anthony & White raised, on the Minnesota farm, 
 belonging to the great Minnesota mine, 10,848 bushels of pota- 
 toes, 2,100 bushels of turnips, 150 tons of ha.j, and 100 tons of 
 oats. Other parties raised, beside, 3,000 bushels of potatoes 
 and turnips. Call the potatoes worth 50c. per bushel ; the 
 turnips 40c. ; the hay $20 per ton, and the oats $40 — the crop 
 of Messrs. A, & W. was. worth $1,300 — a result produced upon 
 but few larms anywhere, with the same labor. 
 
 The "Lake Superior Miner," of December 29, 1860, says: 
 "The hay and oat CA'op of Ontonagon county was not less 
 
 \ 
 
 •4 
 •4 
 
 i 
 
6 House Doc. 
 
 than 700 tons, and the product of potatoes and turnips was cer- 
 tainly 25,000, and may have reaebed 30,000 bushels," Other 
 counties and mines have done as well, especially Houghton, 
 Marquette and Chippewa ; but I have not the product at hand. 
 At Marquette, the iron region, all who have engaged in farm- 
 ing, reap good crops of haj'-, oats, potatoes, turnips, &c., in a 
 ready market, at good prices and good pay ; for until this 
 branch of industry produces an excess of these staples, they 
 will bring 25 per cent, more in that market than the same arti- 
 cles do below. Within the last two years quite a settlement of 
 farmers has been formed a few miles south of Marquette, on the 
 Chockalay River, and already they are reaping better returns 
 than thousands of new settlers, of the same age, in more salu- 
 brious latitudes. In this locality there is a large tract of very 
 desirable country — the soil being a rich loam — the timber large- 
 sized maple, mostly — the face of the land comparatively even, 
 with small streams of living springs of tie best water on 
 almost every quarter section. Rare advantages exist here for 
 successful farming for those who will improve them — this land 
 being for the most part subject to private entry or pre-emption 
 — a perpetual market near for all that can be produced. There « 
 is desirable land in this locality, suJSicient for a large colony. 
 
 But other considerations that conduce to make farming a suc- 
 cess in this country, beside the robust health enjoyed, fitting 
 the farmer for his toil, is that he finds everywhere a ready cash 
 market for all the wood he can furnish at a price not below 
 $1 50 per cord. At Marquette, the blast furnaces and railroad 
 make a market for great quantities. Along the copper range, 
 the mining companies consume large amounts in running their 
 engines and burning the copper rock ; so that while the pioneer 
 farmer of Lower Michigan and Indiana had to roll the huge 
 logs into piles and burn them, in order to get the land ready for 
 a crop, in the Upper Peninsula he shares the double prosperity 
 of a crop of hay, oats and potatoes in the summer and a crop 
 of wood, if he chooses, at equally good prices, in the winter. 
 In addition, there is no better «ountry in America for the manu- 
 
No. 24. 1 
 
 facture of maple sugar. Every farmer may have an orchard of 
 ten or twenty acres of fine trees. The snow usually is deep 
 and remains in the woods until April, while the warm sun of 
 March produces an abundant flow of "sap." If maple-sugar 
 can be made with success and profit anywhere, it can here, and 
 yet, strange to record, it is not made as yet except a little by 
 the Indians. 
 
 Wheat, the great staple of the cereals, can be profitably pro- 
 duced in this climate. It has not yet been cultivated to any 
 considerable extent, for the reason that there are no facilities 
 for manufacturing it; but Messrs. Sales & Cash, at Ontonagon^ 
 and persons at other points, that, as a matter of experiment, 
 have grown it, in every case have, in quantity and quality, suc- 
 ceeded beyond their expectations. I know that the snows of 
 that latitude are often deep, but they are dry and light. The 
 rains of November farther south are snow there, and the snow 
 that then falls before the earth is frozen remains until the fol- 
 lowing April, protecting the wheat all winter with a covering 
 under which it is secure from the ice and wind often so destruc- 
 tive in milder latitudes. 
 
 Nor is this all. If you will visit the farm of Mr. Cash, near 
 Ontonagon, on the bank of that river, in the month of July you 
 will find in his garden as fine strawberries, currants, and other 
 garden luxuries as you ever saw; and in his orchard the cherry, 
 the plum, and the young apple mature or maturing. 
 
 But the best farming lands are south of (he mineral deposits. 
 From the base of these ranges to the State line is a very large 
 territory, now almost an unbroken wilderness, with a surface 
 comparatively level, a rich, productive soil, and good timber, 
 where farming on a large scale may be inaugurated with suc- 
 cess, the products always finding a ready market at the mines 
 and the commercial towns on the lake. But this region will 
 remain unoccupied for a long, long time, unless some efficient 
 provision is made to open into and through it good highwaj'-s, 
 securing ingress aid egiess to those who will occupy and im- 
 
8 House Doc. 
 
 prove the lands — a cousideration the State cannot look to with 
 too much care. 
 
 Farming, doubtless, never will be the principal pursuit of the 
 people of this peninsula, yet this branch of industry is being- 
 inaugurated, and may with great profit increase with the rapid 
 development that exists of the mineral interests, and though the 
 length of the winters may militate against raising stock to 
 profit, and the shortness of the season render the corn crop un- 
 certain, yet wheat, rye, barley, oats, hay, beans, peas and pota- 
 toes — the staples of life — together with most garden luxuries, 
 as currants, peas, radishes, cucumbers, strawberries, raspber- 
 ries, and the hardier fruits of the orchard, as the apple, cherry, 
 plum, and pear, will be raised in abundance, and some of them 
 in great perfection. It is astonishing how rapidly and to what 
 size some vegetables grow in that climate. Should I tell all I 
 have seen of these products, they would be regarded, I fear, as 
 "fish stories." I will relate one sight. I saw at Marquette, in 
 October last, a l^orfolk turnip raised by D. Bishop, 1| miles 
 from town, that weighed 20 lbs. 
 
 Thus much for the agricultural resources and advantages of 
 this country. I have perhaps occupied more time with this part 
 of the subject than will be read with interest, but it is so gene- 
 rally misunderstood that I could not say less, and give the pub- 
 lic mind any correct idea of the importance of this branch of 
 industry. 
 
 It may be well to add before dismissing this subject, that the 
 very articles that grow most luxuriantly and abundantly in that 
 climate, are those that it must always cost the most to bring 
 from abroad. Hay, oats, potatoes, turnips and barle}' are not 
 only among the cheap products of Lower Michigan or Ohio, 
 but they are also bulky, and the cost of transporting them to 
 ports on Lake Superior is sometimes more than the original in- 
 voice. This advantage inures directly'' to the home farmer, and 
 will, until an excess is produced, of which there is no danger 
 for many years, if ever, as mining will doubtless always increase 
 the fastest. Hence, the farmer can depend upon a*bout the fol- 
 
No. 24 9 
 
 lowing prices for liis products on an avcrag'c : hay, $18 per 
 toux; oats, 50 cents per bfasliel ; potatoes, 50 cents ; turnips, 40 
 cents ; barley, $1 25. 
 
 The great interest, that which is of paramount iuiporiance, 
 so far as the sublime destiny of this peninsula is concerned, 
 are its minerals. Without these, we are free to confess, that 
 this part of the State would remain for long years an exceeding 
 uninteresting territory. 
 
 The deposits of iron ore, which in fact is almost a purt- ()xide 
 of iron — its analyses, both in Europe and America, demonstrat- 
 ing that it is 6t per cent, pure iron, or that a ton and a half of 
 the ore will produce a ton of pig metal — tliese dt'ijosits exist in 
 mountains peering up in some cases hundreds nf foot above the 
 surface, and extend over a large territory ol" country. Only >, 
 
 three of these are now worked — the Jackwoi! mountain, 14 miles 
 from Marquette — the Cleveland, 16, urid the Lake SuiaTitir, 17. 
 But west and south-west from these a!<.* jnany otliers. and some 
 which are much larger than either <^f the three ikuucu. Of this 
 extraordinary deposit there is enough, for it doubtless never 
 will be exhausted. A visitor last summer, wlio gat down to 
 gaze upon one of these wonders of the w(jrld, mused thus to 
 himself — " here is iron enough to construct a railroad around the y 
 
 globe, and then freight it for a thousand years." Such were l^ 
 
 his impressions of the magnitude of our mountain,, which, when 
 compared with tlie whole, is only " as the dust in the balance.'' 
 
 In the region of Lake Michigamma, interior about 40 miles 
 from Marquette, the iron is not only abundant, but the country 
 has also much greater growth of hard wood timber than nearer 
 the Lake, as well as' the veiy best water-powers, so that the 
 ore, the fuel, and the poAver all concentrate, and when the rail- 
 road penetrates thus far, if not before, furnaces will make char- 
 coal iron with great success. Doubtless much the largest 
 amount of this very rich ore will always be exported and man- 
 ufactured at or near the coal beds in Ohio and Pennsylvania ; 
 but this export creates the facilities for its successful m'anufac- 
 
 2 • 
 
10 House Doc. 
 
 ture at home. While there is no good reason why pig iron may 
 not be made with charcoal as cheap there, if all the material — 
 the ore, fuel and power — exist, as anywhere else. It is also 
 clear that perhaps even a better result may be produced by 
 using bituminous coal. With the tonnage employed to move the 
 ore, to a given extent, the coal can be taken to the ore much 
 cheaper than it is to the coal. The time is at hand when the 
 annual export of this important staple will reach three hundred 
 thousand gross tons, and in a very few years will greatly ex- 
 ceed this. The average freight to ports on Lake Erie will not 
 be less than $2 50 per ton. In extremely dull seasons, or the 
 dull part of the season, charters may be made at lower rates ; 
 but as a business of j^ears, constantly increasing, demanding 
 often more tonnage than is available, profit and necessity will 
 compel the average and name. But the vessels thus employed 
 have no return freight, and many of them must have a ballast 
 and are glad to carry coal at 25c per ton, if they can have des- 
 patch in its discharge at Marquette. If, then, the vessels that de- 
 liver 300,000 tons of ore, only carry on an average a one-fourth 
 cargo on return, they will deliver about 80,000 tons of coal, 
 sufficient to make 40,000 tons of pig. With the cash to buy 
 the raw material, the furnace so located that the ore, coal and 
 flux can be delivered to it without transhipment or extra hand- 
 ling, the cost of a ton of bituminous coal pig will not now ex- 
 ceed $13 50, as follows: 
 
 \\ tons of ore, delivered, will cost, $4 00 
 
 2 tons of coal, delivered, will cost, 6 50 
 
 Flux, per ton, 50 
 
 Labor, per ton, 2 00 
 
 Wood and oil, per ton, 50 
 
 Total, $13 50 
 
 This is certainly a cheap product, the quality and value of 
 the iron considered ; hut the day has arrived when it can be 
 done, and when blast furnaces, properly located at Marquette, 
 will prove better investments than at any other point 
 
No. 24. li 
 
 Beside the woiideiful richness of this ore, its freedom from 
 every baleful ingredient, and the strength of iron produced 
 from it, another remarkable characteristic, is the facility with 
 which it is smelted. It is so much less refractory in the fur- 
 nace, that with less coal a larger yield of pig is had, than from 
 furnaces of the same capacity, with the lean ores of the Eastern 
 and Middle States. The Pioneer Iron Co. furnaces, located on 
 the railroad, 14 miles from Marquette, are 9 feet in the boshes, 
 and with an average of 130 bushels of coal to the ton, produce 
 12 tons each, of pig, per day. These furnaces are now run by 
 contract, the company furnishing the wood, and paying the con- 
 tractors a specified price for coal, per ton of pig, and also per 
 ton for its manufacture. This system removes many contingen- 
 cies — reduces the cost of the pig to an arithmetical basis, and 
 thus far is satisfactory to the corporation and the lessees. The 
 Northern Iron Co. furnace, located 4 miles down the Bay from 
 Marquette, near the mouth of the Chockalay River, is 10 feet in. 
 the bosh, and with bituminous coal, produces 20 tons of pig per 
 day. 
 
 In 1858, Stephen R. Gay, Esq., built the Phelps Furnace, 3 J 
 miles from Marquette, on Dead River, which went into opera- 
 tion about January 1, 1859. Its bosh is 9 feet, and the cost of 
 its erection about $15,000. For two years it has performed in 
 every way satisfactorily, producing at first 8 tons per day, and 
 afterwards 10 The cheapness of this structure, the economy 
 with which it is worked, and its success, induced Mr. Gay, the 
 past season, to erect another, one mile distant from this, known 
 as the Forest Furnace. This is about the same capacity, but 
 costing less than $14,000. This one went into blast early in 
 December, 1860, and is producing, I learn, an average of 10 
 tons of pig per day. 
 
 Mr. Gay contracts for all his coal made and delivered at a 
 specified price per ton of iron, while all other labor, as far as 
 possible, is let to the lowest bidder. Thus with the compara- 
 tive small investments of capital in the furnaces themselves, 
 what«»ver may have been the discouragements and embarrass- 
 
f^ 
 
 r 
 
 12 House Doc. 
 
 ments under which the smelting of iron ore at M arquette at first 
 suffered, as all new adventures in new countries must, time and 
 experience has thus to a good extent obviated, and to-day char- 
 coal pig is made there so that for $20 cash upon the dock, a 
 very satisfactory margin is left to the manufacturer. 
 
 As an item of interest, I add the following results of the nu- 
 merous experiments of Prof. Walter R. Johnson on the tenacity 
 of bar iron in various parts of the world : 
 
 strength in lbs. per square inch. 
 
 Iron from Salisbury, Ct., 58.009 
 
 Sweden, 58.184 
 
 Centre Co., Fa , 58.400 
 
 " Mclntyre, Essex Co., N. Y., , . 58.912 
 
 England, (cable bolt E. V.), 59.105 
 
 Lake Superior, (by Maj. Wade,) 89.582 
 
 The process of mining the iron ore is both simple and cheap. 
 There is no under ground work, but the ore is blasted from the 
 side of the mountain on a level with the surface of the earth; 
 thus a pependicular face is formed, and the larger this face the 
 faster and cheaper it can be mined. A side track from the rail* 
 road runs along near this face, while the ore blasted off and 
 broken up is loaded into the cars without extra handling. In 
 some cases a cut is blasted into the mountain for a distance, 
 securing a face on both sides from which it is mined. Rails 
 are placed in the centre of the cut, the cars run in and loaded 
 from both sides. 
 
 West of the deposits is the great trap, or copper range, run- 
 ning a distance of 150 miles and from one to twelve miles wide. 
 On this range are located the Cliff, Pewabic, Quincy, Franklin, 
 Isle Royal, Minnesota, and National Mines, together with many 
 others well known to the public, now yielding, in the infancy 
 of their existence, over 9,000 tons of native copper per annum. 
 But while the iron is piled up in mountains above the surface, 
 the copper is buried deep in the earth and rock, so that while a 
 comparatively small capital will mine successfully the iron, in 
 many cases it requires large sums to blast out and open doorways 
 
No. 24. 13 
 
 to the copper. But shall we call this an unwise aiiangement? 
 If the iron ore, which is only worth $3 per ton delivered free on 
 board vessels sit Marquette, had been hid deep in the earth as 
 the copper is, it would remain there while the world stood. 
 But the copper is worth over $300 per ton on the dock, so that 
 its value is a motive to open ramifications through and deep 
 into the mountains to find the hidden treasure. I know there 
 has been mucli, too much, of copper-stock jobbing, and thou- 
 sands have felt themselves robbed, and in many cases they 
 have been ; but notwithstanding all this, the development of 
 this interest has gone steadily forward, rewarding prudent and 
 persevering effort, and confounding the incredulous. 
 
 It is now but fifteen 'years since copper mining was inaugu- 
 rated in that country, and but five years since the Saut Canal 
 was opened, securing increased facilities and a cheaper com- 
 merce, and to-day the mines of Lake Superior raise an annual 
 product of copper exceeding one-half of the amount produced 
 in the United Kingdoms of Great Britain. 
 
 But what has been done — all that is actually kncJwn of this ^ 
 
 valuable deposit is but the character of the>6opper alphabet, or *" 
 
 but as the title page, or but the • formal Readings of a few- '^ 
 
 chapters in Michigan's Copper Book, that will jet be read, and -^ 
 
 seen, and known. ' \j 
 
 The fact is settled in the mind of every Lake Superior " cop- >^ 
 
 per head," that in that range of 150 miles there are many more 
 Cliff, or Pewabic, or Quincy, or Minnesota, or National deposits, ^ 
 
 that time and money and science, will develop. We have only 
 had the morning of copper wonders — the splendors and glory 
 of their noonday is yet to come. Tl^is great range is for the 
 most part yet only a wilderness ; a few almost impassable roads 
 crossing it — here and there a njine breaks its solitude — ever and ' . 
 
 anon the explorer winds his way among crags or thick wooded xj 
 
 forests in search of an outcrop, and as often he passes and re- 
 passes what, if it were only uncovered and known, would excite 
 the copper nerve of Boston, as an electric charge from a gal- 
 vanic battery. But this range will continue to be explor(>d and 
 
 4 
 
14 House Doc. 
 
 re explored — the rubbish cleared away — every indication and 
 outcrop minutely traced — new lights will help — success will fol- 
 low success, until the development will be complete. 
 
 Previous to 1855, the development and commerce of this 
 country was neither rapid nor remunerative, because of the dis- 
 advantages under which it labored. Its tonnage was not large, 
 or of a reliable character, while freights were enormous. Cap- 
 italists were fluctuating between hope and fear ; the falls of 
 the St. Mary's River, at the Saut, was a natural embargo, sub- 
 jecting imports and exports to a tedious portage and heavy tax. 
 But the construction of the Saut canal, by a donation of public 
 lands by the General Government, and its opening in 1855, 
 proved a remedy for many of these evils, and at once gave tone 
 and shape to the future of the country. First class steamers 
 and vessels noAv sail from Buffalo and Chicago to all the ports 
 on Lake Superior, reducing freights, organizing business, secur- 
 ing dispatch, inspiring hope, and placing all the business of the 
 country on an entire new basis. From this time, then, we will 
 more particularly trace the development and commerce of the 
 country. 
 
 ■In 1855, Marquette, the port of the iron trade, was a flourish- 
 ing little town, of a few hundred inhabitants ; a plank road 
 adapted to the transportation of ore by cars drawn by horses, 
 on strap rail, placed upon the plank, was finished from Mar- 
 quette to the Cleveland Iron Mountain, a distance of sixteen 
 miles. A locomotive road was also in process of construction, 
 and that summer the first locomotive, the " Sebastopol," was 
 placed upon it Early in September, 1S57, this road was 
 pushed to completion, touching the Jackson and Cleveland Iron 
 Mountains, and extending to the Lake Superior, then its termini. 
 This road, together with its dock, • warehouse, depots, machine 
 shops and rolling stock, has cost about three-quarters of a mil- 
 lion, and was truly a mammoth enterprise, in so new a country, 
 and especially one that presented so many obstacles to railroad- 
 building ; but the late Heman B. Ely, who inaugurated the en- 
 terprise, saw a rich prize in the future, as it now promises, and, 
 
No. 24. 
 
 15 
 
 madly, as his action seemed to many, he labored incessantly for 
 its completion, until death terminated them, in 1856. The road 
 has now ui)Ou it four locomotives, and other rolling' stock ready, 
 or in process of construction, of sufficient capacity to bring to 
 the lake, daily, 3,000 tons of ore. Its business for the last 
 three years, has been as follows : 
 
 DOAVX 1 
 
 -liE UOAD. 
 
 Number 
 rassongors 
 
 1629 
 
 Passenger Receipts 
 
 UP TUJ5 ROAD. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Fig Ji»m. 
 
 ~1627 
 
 Ulf. 
 
 ^b 0^5 5 6 tons 
 
 Morciianaiso. 
 
 1858 
 
 $1,540 62 
 
 1,806 tons. 
 
 1859. 
 
 40^8 
 
 83,018 " 
 
 6445 
 
 2,007 42 
 
 2,258 " 
 
 1860. 
 
 3560 
 
 150,903 " 
 
 5487 
 
 1,989 02 
 
 2,124 
 
 The exports of ore to Detroit, Cleveland and other points, 
 have been as follov/s: 
 
 Year. Gross Tons. 
 
 1855, 1,447 
 
 1856, 11,597 
 
 1857, 26,184 
 
 1858, 31,035 
 
 1859, 65,679 
 
 1860, =^^113,847 
 
 There has also been manufactured and exported in pig iron, 
 in 1858, 2,000 ions; in 1859, 6,000; in 1860, 5,500. 
 
 In 1855 the ore was carried b}^ the steamers, in 1856 a few 
 vessels were employed, in 1857-8 the fleet was greatly in- 
 creased, in 1859 forty vessels were principally employed in this 
 trade, and in 1860 over seventy v^erc employed, and prospect- 
 ively this field promises the largest stable tonnage of the carry- 
 ing trade. During the past three years there has also been 
 erected near Mar(][uette, as above noticed, five blast furnaces, 
 which, if kept in blast, will produce hereafter not less than 15,000 
 tons of pig per annum. In 1855, the village of Marquette had a 
 population of about 600; the county, 1100. Now the village 
 exceeds 1500, and the county 3000. 
 
 The development and progress in the copper districts has 
 
 
 -\. 
 
 * Of the 150,903 tons which came down the railroad, some 30,000 are now upon the docks 
 at Marquette. 
 
16 House Doc. 
 
 been no less wonderful since the date named. In 1855 Portage 
 Lake was comparatively unknown — its population less than 
 1000 — while no great interest was yet attracting special atten- 
 tion. To day they have a population of over 6000 souls ; cop- 
 per mines that are producing a monthly product of 150 to 330 
 tons. No man can now go to this interesting pointy and behold 
 the thrift everywhere apparent — the great number of new build- 
 ings that are being erected — the stir of the populace — the im- 
 mense investments of capital — the copper cars as they thunder 
 down the train roads to the lake — the prodigious quartz mills, 
 and the power and success with which they stamp the copper 
 rocks and separate the copper from the rock — the large mer- 
 chandise that is carried on to supply so large a population ; the 
 new enterprises in the form of spacious docks, new hotels, found- 
 ries, stamp mills, smelting ^vorks — all this and more we might 
 enumerate, cannot fail to make a deep impression upon an ob- 
 serving mind. Nor is this all. As these developments began to 
 assume such proportions, some of the corporations and a few of 
 the enterprising citizens of the place, in order to facilitate the com- 
 merce, appropriated $35,000 from their treasuries and pockets to 
 open the harbor, known as " Portage Entry," fourteen miles below 
 the villages of Houghton and Hancock, which are located near 
 AXMm^^' the mines and on what is known in common p laoing as " Portage 
 Lake," so that steamers of the largest class with a full freight, 
 have been enabled to cross the bar, run up to the mines, dis- 
 charge their cargo and receive the copper. Previous to this 
 improvement, tugs and scows were used to transport the freight 
 to and from the steamers, which dropped their anchor in the lake 
 outside of the "entry" to the docks at the mines, at a cost of 
 $2 per ton. When th(? lake was rough, as was often the case, 
 steamers could not discharge or receive) freight. This difficulty 
 is now obviated ; the expense saved ; while the business has 
 much greater despatch. 
 
 There still remained a few short bends in the river or outlet 
 of the lake, which it was difficult for steamers to get around, 
 and the same parties have again contributed $15,000 to cut off 
 
N 
 
 No. 24. n 
 
 these, which, when completed, will give them an unobstructed 
 navigation. 
 
 This will certainly be called magnificent progress. 
 
 At the other points on the Copper Range, Eagle Harbor, Eagle 
 River, and Ontonagon, the development was much earlier than 
 at Portage Lake, and first gave prominence and importance to 
 the country. The celebrated Cliff Mine, whose annual product 
 for over ten years has exceeded 1,500 tons, was opened in 
 1845. The Copper Falls, Central, and other Mines in the same 
 District known as "Keweenaw Point," were opened at a later 
 day. The equally famous Minnesota Mine, in what is known as 
 the " Ontonagon District," and whose product the past year was 
 2,180 tons, was opened in 1848. The National and Rockland, 
 whose products are now large, were opened some years after. 
 It was the early opening of these Mines, and their success 
 iinder all the disadvantages which the country suffered at that 
 early day, and the working of many others in the same districts, 
 which have not yet been as successful, that for many years 
 gave business and interest to the country, and now that other 
 points with the light and facilities that existed, have bounded 
 into being with wonderful development, in no way detracts 
 from those whose entire success gave birth to all that has 
 followed. 
 
 Notwithstanding the shipments of copper from the Portage } 
 district have exceeded this year largely the amount of any pre- • j 
 vious one — it being 3,238 tons — still Ontonagon is the banner v. 
 district, having shipped the past year 3,632 tons, or 394 more ^O 
 than her rising competitor. Which of these rich districts will 
 ultimately rank as the district of the world, it is idle now to 
 •peculate. They both possess a fine area of rich and promis- 
 ing territory, which, when fully explored and opened, can alone 
 determine the race. What prominence other districts, now bud- 
 ding into being, may take, would be equally speculative. Yet 
 the fact is not to be disguised that the public eye, in search of 
 copper, has fixed its gaze and hope upon what will be known as 
 
18 House Doc. 
 
 the '' Carp Lake district," as a rich field also, as the explora- 
 tions and workings demonstrate. 
 
 I^These districts are undergoing minute and thorough examin- 
 ation; rainiDg is being reduced to method and system; a rigid 
 economy in the practical application of money is enforced; im- 
 proved machinery for crushing the copper rock and separating 
 the copper from the rock is being introduced ; efficient mining 
 associations are b(?ing formed; these and other agencies are 
 '* producing their legitimate results, a large yearly increase of this 
 
 y metal until the viines of Michigan shall sujjply the world. 
 - The progress thus far made is apparent from the shipments 
 
 since 1845. It was, in 1845, 1300 pounds; in 1846, 29 tons; in 
 1847, 239; in 1848, 516; in 1849, 753; in 1850, 640; in 1851, 872; 
 J in 1852, 887; in 1853, 1452; in 1854, 2300; in 1855, 3196; in 
 
 ^ 1856, 5726; in 1857, 5759; in 1858, 5896; in 1859, 7245; in 1860, 
 
 920^ The aggregate value of the copper exported in 1845 was 
 $390; in 1850 it was $266,000; in^ ^^i|.;«^as $1,437,000; in 
 
 ■s^=N^ 
 
 1860 it was $2,944,000. - Ww / rt /^ ^5,^ <M^"Zrt. 
 
 And who will not call this progress, up even to the fastest 
 ideas of '* Young America ?" 
 
 " Irondom" may make a larger show of commerce than '' Cop- 
 perdom," for often during the summer her beautiful " crow-boy" 
 is enlivened with the presence of thirty sail, going or coming 
 or at anchor; but in point of value she must for the present 
 yield the palm to the latter. 
 
 But the question arises, will this copper find a market at re- 
 munerative prices should the product increase to forty or fifty 
 thousand tons annually? I answer, it will be many years before 
 the product will be so large, although it doubtless will reach 
 this in time; while in all the important mechanic arts the world is 
 increasing now as it never did before, and our own country ia 
 especiall}'- advancing in population and these arts with aston- 
 ishing rapidity, thus creating a necessity for a large increase. 
 
 The world is also making rapid strides — I maj say mighty 
 ones in the accumulation of wealth — not only in the material 
 development of the industrial interests, and the improvements 
 
No. 24. 19 
 
 of the mechanic arts and other sources, but in 'money itself. Cal- 
 ifornia, Australia, and the other countries producing the pre- 
 cious metals are adding annually over one hundred millions to 
 its specie basis — that which underlies every other species of wealth. 
 These agencies will make a demand for the largest possible 
 increase of American copper, without any material decline in 
 its present value. Already a large foreign demand exists for 
 it. Although the mines of England arc centuries old and have 
 reached their maximum, yet to-day Europe is a large buyer of 
 copper in American markets. This being the case, the Onto- 
 nagon District Mining Association have sent an agent to 
 France — Mr. Artault — to represent in Paris the copper inte- 
 rest of Lake Superior, and it is to be devoutly hoped that his 
 mission may not only furnish better information of the nature 
 And magnitude of this deposit, as it exists on this lake, to that 
 country, and secure a larger market for the copper, but that he 
 will also enlist French capital to aid in its development. I ap- 
 pend a statement taken from a letter addressed in Nov. 1860, 
 bj Mr. Artault, to the Secretary of the 0. D. M. A , showing the 
 amount of copper used in France in 1859, and what portion of 
 it came from the United States. 
 
 Consumption in Franco of pure copper ingots, for 1859: 
 
 Russia, 11,348 kelograms (2 lbs.) 
 
 Belgium, 302,628 
 
 England, 5,478,322 
 
 Asiatic towns, l,06t,000 
 
 Spain, 329,289 
 
 Roman States, 698,964 
 
 Turkey, 260,513 
 
 United States, 1,253,983 
 
 ■Chili, 1,187,392 
 
 Peru, 328,865 
 
 Other countries, 614,808 
 
 Total, 12,331,172 kelograms for ^59, 
 
 «or 12,331 tons. 
 
20 House Doc. 
 
 In mj next I will send you some more very important docu- 
 ments. In 1853, the United States had exported to France only 
 $105,060 worth of copper. In 1859, they have exported to 
 France the sum of $1,985,223, and every year it will increase in 
 a very large way, particularly if we take the rank we must 
 have if we exert ourselves. 
 
 Yours, respectfully, 
 
 F. A. ARTAULT. 
 
 The facts developed in this statement from Mr. A. should not 
 only engage the earnest attention of the people of the Upper 
 Peninsula, hut of the State. 
 
 By adding to the $2,944,000, the value of the copper ship- 
 ments for the past year, $367,350 for iron ore, and $121,000 for 
 pig iron, and $40,000* for fish from the Peninsula, and $20,000 
 for furs, we have an aggregate of $3,492,350 — the j^roduct of 
 the labor of a few thousand freemen. 
 
 In 1845 an occasional steamer visited the Saut of St. Mary's, 
 and above that parties worked their way from point to point 
 mostly by coasting — the business was done by a schooner call- 
 ed the White Fish, and two others — but all of small burden. 
 In 1850 three small vessels, two small steamers and one propel- 
 ler, did the business between the Saut and ports on Lake Su- 
 perior, while four steamers plyed between Cleveland, Detroit 
 and the Saut. In 1855, the season the canal was finished, six 
 steamers were engaged in this trade and were able to do all the 
 business between ports on lakes Erie and Superior. In 1860, 70 
 vessels and 12 steamers were inadequate to do the business, 
 and toward the close of the season special charters were made, 
 two of which, the propellers Burlington and Globe, are now on 
 that lake. 
 
 The tolls collected from the tonnage passing the canal each 
 year since its completion, are as follows: 
 
 In 1855, $ 4,374 00 
 
 1856, ^,575 OO 
 
 1857, 9,406 00 
 
 * The fish from the Saut and Mackinaw are not embraced in this statement. 
 
No. 24. 21 
 
 In 1858, $10,484 00 
 
 1859, 16,941 00 
 
 1860, 24,660 00 
 
 The Report of Mr. Mead, Superintendent, shows that in 1859 
 there passed through it in imports : 
 
 Barrels of flour, 39,459 
 
 Bushels of wheat, 74 
 
 Bushels of coarse grain, 71, "738 
 
 Tons of ground feed, 1,104 
 
 Barrels of beef, 4,762 
 
 " pork, 5,902 
 
 " bacon, 345 
 
 " lard, 611 
 
 Pounds of butter, 342,421 
 
 " cheese, 54,742 
 
 '' candles, 117,634 
 
 Pounds and boxes of soap, 2,205 
 
 Barrels oi" apples, 3,785 
 
 Pounds of dried fruit, 727,159 
 
 " sugar, 486,020 
 
 Bags of coffee, 1,112 
 
 Chests of tea, 598 
 
 Bushels of vegetables, 6,949 
 
 Barrels of salt, 2,739 
 
 " vinegar, 300 
 
 Pounfls of tobacco 21,754 
 
 Tons of powder, 345 
 
 " coal, 8,883 
 
 Kegs of nails, 3,632 
 
 Tons general merchandise, 10,134 
 
 Barrels of lime, 4,845 
 
 M feet of lumber, 7,749 
 
 Bundles of latli, 2,538 
 
 Boxes of glass, 970 
 
 Tons of hajj 823 
 
 Mules and horses, 127 
 
22 HousB Doc 
 
 Head of cattle, 2,031 
 
 " sheep, 1,571 
 
 " hoga, 314 
 
 M brick, 3,409 
 
 Pieces of furniture, 7,623 
 
 Tons of raachineiy, 927 
 
 Boilers and engines, 17 
 
 Wagons and buggies, 130 
 
 Barrels of liquor, ^ 7,312 
 
 Pounds of malt, 235,712 
 
 With the exports added, Mr. Mead estimates the total value 
 of articles passing the canal that year, at $9,887,404 60. 
 
 His Keport for 18G0 shows that there passed through the 
 canal the past year : , 
 
 Barrels of flour, 50,250 
 
 Bushels of wheat, 284 
 
 " coarse grain, 133,437 
 
 Tons of ground feed, 1,291 
 
 Barrels of beef, 4,897 
 
 pork, 5,747 
 
 bacon, 716 
 
 " lard, 719 
 
 Pounds of butter, 400,610 
 
 " cheese, 43,260 
 
 " candles, 241,708 
 
 Boxes and barrels soap, 3,583 
 
 Barrels of apples, 6,064 
 
 Pounds of dried fruit, 34,986 
 
 sugar, 832,926 
 
 Bags of coffee, 1,768 
 
 Chests of tea, 1,347 
 
 Bushels of vegetables, 33,739 
 
 Barrels of salt, 1,817 
 
 " vinegar, 486 
 
 Pounds ot tobacco, 74,186 
 
 Tons of powder, 650 J 
 
No. 24. 2 
 
 Tons of coal, 15,542 
 
 K-egs uf iiaiKs 3,429 
 
 Tons of g'CTK.'ial inerchaiidiise, 10,289 
 
 Barrels of lime, 5,109 
 
 M feet of lumber, 3,673 
 
 Bundles of lath, 1,555 
 
 Boxes of glass, 871 
 
 Tons of hay,. . . ." 1,130 
 
 Mules and horses, 183 
 
 Head of cattle, 2,813 
 
 " sheep, l,04t 
 
 " hogs, 1,537 
 
 M brick, 325,870 
 
 Piecf'S <jr furniture, 12,157 
 
 Tons uf machiner}'-, 1,398 
 
 Boilers and engines, 24 
 
 Buggies and Avagons, 119 
 
 Barrels of liquor, 9,317 
 
 Pomid^ of malt, 309,804 
 
 Barrels of fish, 4,051 
 
 Witii the exports added, the aggregate value of articles pass- 
 ing the canal this year is estimated at $12,158,805 94. 
 
 These reports demonstrate many important facts in relation 
 to the extent, the value, and the growing importance of this 
 country and its commerce ; for whether thc}^ treat of its popu- 
 lation, its mineral products, its shipping, its canal receipts, or 
 its internal improvements, they all demonstrate the same truth 
 — that no part of the State is augmenting its wealth and popu- 
 lation so fast as the Upper Peninsula. 
 
 But a fact I desire especially to call attention to, is the inter- 
 est the various branches of industry, and especially the farmer, 
 the miller, the merchant and the mechanic, should feel in this 
 country. What a market for their products and business I 
 The country only partially improved, and yet it absorbs, annu- 
 .ally, millions of produce and merchandise. 
 
 Turn again to Mr. Mead's reports ; estimate the value of the 
 
24 , House Doc. 
 
 flour, feed, coarse grain, beef, pork, butter, eggs, cattle, sheep 
 and hay — the general merchandise— sugar, candles, soap, nails, 
 wagons, furniture, coal — the powder, machinerj, boilers and 
 engines — and last, but not least, the whiskey. Estimate the 
 yearly value of these, and many other articles named, and then 
 tell me who are benefitted by the country ? There is not, 
 especially, a farmer in the State — I mean the Lower Peninsula 
 — who is not interested in, and benefitted by this trade. Ten 
 years ago, the farmer had no market for his surplus coarse pro- 
 ducts — hay was a drug — oats were comparatively valueless. 
 Eggs and butter were almost unsaleable in the season of tlieir 
 abundance ; but these, and much movt — for all that is sent to 
 market — finds ready sale, at remunerative prices. Detroit and 
 Cleveland begin to estimate the value of the coimnerce of this 
 country. 
 
 Thus has a large business, which is as yet only local, grown 
 into being. In a few years a railroad communication will be 
 opened from the west end of the lake with the Mississippi 
 River, when it will at once increase an hundred fold, ^ut is 
 such a commerce to have no increased security ? Must it be 
 carried on with all its present extraordinary risks ? Will the 
 General Government do less to foster and protect the maritime 
 of this lake than it has Lake Erie or Michigan ? Does to "reg- 
 ulate commerce," mean nothing more than to authorise the use 
 of these waters, or to construct light houses ? Does it mean to 
 erect princely custom houses, but let the shipping in sight of 
 them dash into ruin, upon the rocks ? Such is the genius of 
 our government, that the people feel it should be as much inter- 
 ested in giving security to the property and lives of its citi- 
 zens, while in transitu upon the public waters, as in the collec- 
 tion of imposts, or as the people are, in the development of the 
 material resources of the country. 
 
 It has given the people a guarantee of its duty and identity 
 with the security of commerce, in the erection of light liouses, 
 and especially to the people of this peninsula in the construc- 
 tion of the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal. This magnificent work 
 
Ko. 24. • 25 
 
 reflects great hoDor upon the government, and is the cause of 
 oiir rising greatness. How it has increased facilities, given val- 
 ue to its iron, inaugurated its manufacture at home, promoted 
 the development of the copper districts and whitened the waters 
 with its commerce. But having accomplished this, having 
 created facilities that is producing such an international com- 
 merce, can the government leave it exposed to wind and wave 
 without protection ? 
 
 I need hardly say that every year life and property is being 
 sacrificed, and in almost every instance, if the necessary har- 
 bors existed, they would bo saved. The shipping at Marquette, 
 already so large, is exposed to constant peril The improve- 
 ments made at the mouth of Portage Lake, by the energy and 
 money of its citizens and corporations should be extended, the 
 whole greatly strengthened to make it sc^cure, and a light 
 placed on the end of the pier. At Eagle Harbor every vessel that 
 enters is exposed to great dangers, and can do so orili/ in a calm. 
 Ontonagon is the oldest port on the lake and of great import- 
 ance, it being central between Copper Harbor and Lapointe, a 
 distance of 160 miles; but it is with great difficulty that a ves- 
 sel can now enter with the most favorable weather. At every 
 point of commercial importance there, with an annual business 
 of over twelve millions, on a coast of 360 miles, the most of it 
 bold, rocky and dangerous, there is not one secure or safe 
 harbor. I 
 
 Some years ago the people of this part of the State felt that 
 the south — the lower peninsula — regarded them as insignificant, 
 and ^tc^laws had been made to benefit the State — legislation 
 for their benefit and comfort was mostly ignored. At this time 
 there was some talk of secession — of being set back to the gen- 
 eral government in order to organize ultimately a State govern- 
 ment of its own. It was thought that this peninsula was so far 
 removed from the State proper — that its interests were so dif- 
 ferent from those of the lower peninsula — that the Legislature 
 could hardly ever know enough of its specific wants and char- 
 
26 IIousE Doc. 
 
 acter to act understandingly in relation to it. For these and 
 other reasons, a convention was at one time called to inaugu- 
 rate a movement to secure its separation from the State and 
 become a federal territory, but I believe no declaration of inde- 
 pendence was passed. For a few years past but little has been 
 said upon this subject — a better understanding has come to ex- 
 ist — the bonds of brotherhood and interest have grown stronger, 
 and the Legislature is doubtless willing to do anything that is 
 reasonable and just to promote the interests and development of 
 this part of the State. 
 
 The bona fide inhabitants of this peninsula are not wealthy. 
 They are, for the most part, worthy and hardy sons of toil — 
 blasting out its wealth. Its rich men are few, and its wealth is 
 owned and controlled by foreign capital — in Detroit, Cleveland, 
 Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. And the coun- 
 try owes its development to this capital. It would to-day be 
 long years behind the proud position it occupies but for it. 
 Foreign capitalists have poured out their money in its develop- 
 ment — ^hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent in 
 search of copper for which no return has been made and proba- 
 bly never vv^ill be. I?ut the thorough opening of the country will 
 require large sums of money, and it should be the policy of the 
 State to encourage the investment of capital to secufe the de- 
 sired consummation. 
 
 With the data I have adduced, we are safe in assuming that 
 the business and future of this peninsula never rested upon a 
 firmer basis than at the present ; for if the past, with its uncer- 
 tainty and dijQSculties has been so abundant in its rewards, the 
 future with such success and certainty will be correspondingly 
 fruitful with them. 
 
 What check the political and financial^ derangements under 
 which the country is laboring will have upon the next season's 
 business cannot be defmitely seen — of course they will have 
 their effect — but under the ordinary prospects of the countiy 
 Marquette would report the coming year 200,000 gross tons of 
 iron ore, and 12,000 tons of pig iron, giving employment to over 
 
No. 24 2T 
 
 80 large sized vessels ; tlie eopper districts would make rapid 
 advance in the better opening of the mines, and produce at least 
 12,000 tons of copper, which would give an aggregate export 
 in 1861 of about 5,000,000. 
 
 In 1865 — but a short period — the iron exports will exceed 
 $2,000,000, the copper $8,000,000 ; 'the population will have 
 doubled, the tonnage employed thribbled, and the destiny of the 
 country placed upon a much higher basis. 
 
 Beyond this, I will not attempt to lift the veil th.at hides the 
 wonders of the future — they doubtless will abound every- 
 where — but "irondom" and "copperdom" will liave tlieir full 
 quota. As in all ages peninsulas have been seats of power, so 
 this once despised and frigid coast will grow cities, the seats of 
 magnificent manufacture and commerce ; her wealth will be- 
 come the possession of her own people, witj^ all its financial 
 power, when she will be a tower of strength, immovable as her 
 rocks — commerce doing reverence at her altars, and her fame 
 known in every land. 
 
 Thus far I have treated onl};^ of what is embraced in Michi- 
 gan, on Lake Superior. Wisconsin and Minnesota both have a 
 line of lake coast, and in the former the coast embraces much good 
 land, well timbered, with, I understand, valuable iron deposits. 
 The population now, in this part of Wisconsin, is an important 
 item in the trade of the country. The time is also nearing, 
 when a commanding commercial city will grow into importance 
 in this State, at or near the west end of the lake. The increas- 
 ing business of Northern Wisconsin, of Minnesota, of Northern 
 Iowa, of Nebraska and Dakotah Territories, and the Eed River 
 of the North, will, during the summer, be done with the sea- 
 board, via Lake Superior. Immense tides of travel will reach 
 all these States or Territories, by steam, from Oswego, Buffalo 
 and Detroit, the same way. Lake Erie was once the theatre of 
 a magnificent steamboat travel ; but this new field may one 
 day rival it. Highways and thoroughfares are now being 
 opened from the lake to the Mississippi — soon they will reach 
 the Missouri — then San Francisco — when steam from Detroit to 
 
28 House Doc. 
 
 Bayfield or Superior will become a grand link in the commerce 
 of the Atlantic and Pacific States of Europe and Asia. 
 
 And this is no chimera — for so thej called Gov. Clinton's New 
 York & Erie Canal when he proposed it — an enterprise in his 
 day, the accomplishment of which was not an hundreth part as 
 certain as these results. The " Great Northwest," as it is now 
 called, politically and commercially demands access to this lake 
 and will have it — but another " Great Northwest" is coming 
 into being in the settlement of the country near the head waters 
 of the Mississippi and Missouri, and the Red River of the 
 North — a territory quite as large as the original thirteen States, 
 whose direct connection with the Atlantic sea-board will be via 
 Lake Superior. 
 
 Nor is the accomplishment of this far distant. The commer- 
 cial relation of Mmnesota with this lake must become even more 
 internate than those of Illinois with Lake Michigan, as well as 
 Northern AVisconsin. But a glance at the map will show that 
 it is no farther from ports on Lake Eric to the head of Lake Su- 
 perior than to Chicago, so that freights to Bayfield or Superior 
 will be no more than to ports on Lake Michigan, while at the 
 former ports they are much nearer all points in Minnesota, o?' 
 territory ivest of her, than at the latter. All then that is needed 
 to add th& business of Minnesota to the commerce of this lake 
 is a railroad from the Mississippi River to it. But we may be 
 asked, will the business of that new and northern State warrant 
 such an investment ? I answer with the statistics of Commis- 
 sioner Wheelock, in relation to the growth and products of that 
 State up to 1859 and 1860. He says : 
 
 " The Territory was organized in 1849, when most of the pop- 
 ulation of 6,400 souls were attached to the Indian trade. The 
 National Census of 1850 gave the following result: 
 
 Wheat. Corn. Oats. 
 
 1849 1,401 16,725 50,582 
 
 1859 3,288,000 3,130,000 3,420,002 
 
 The real agricultural history of the State did not commence, 
 however, till 1854, when the Sioux were finally removed: so 
 that a fair comparison would be the following: 
 
No. 24. 29 
 
 Acres tilled. Whrat. Corn. Oats. 
 
 1854 15,000 7,000 80,000 153,000 
 
 1859 454,000 3,288,000 3,130,0(50 3,420,000 
 
 Thus in five years from the actual commencement of her agri- 
 cultural growth, Minnesota has produced a surplus of over 5,- 
 000,000 bushels of grain, and in the meanwhile has fed a pop- 
 ulation which has increased from 35,000 to 175,000." 
 
 In relation to the crop of 18G0 he says: 
 
 " 1. That the tilled breadth of 1860 is one-third larger than. 
 1859. 
 
 2. That the breadth of wheat sown was nearly doubled. 
 This increase was very considerable in the south-eastern coun- 
 ties, but in the western and northern sections of the State the 
 area is three or four times as great, and more than half of the 
 whole tilled breadth of the State was in wheat. 
 
 3. There was a large increase in the average yield per acre, 
 variously estimated at from 15 to 30 per cent. 
 
 4. This fruitfalness extends to all crops, including corn, oats, 
 potatoes and hay. 
 
 5. The head of the grain is better filled, and the grain better 
 developed than it was last year. 
 
 .6. The wheat crop has not met a single check, nor suffered 
 from the depredations of a single insect, so far as ascertained. 
 
 7. The breadth of corn and oats planted is much less than 
 last year, but if the corn is harvested without accident, the ag- 
 gregate product will be more than half that of last year. 
 
 8. The wheat crop of Minnesota in 1860, with a yield of 23 
 bushels per acre, will reach an aggregate of over 6,000,000 
 bushels, of which 4,500,000 will be surplus; and that this is by 
 fifty per cent, the largest recorded crop of wheat in proportion 
 to the population, ever previously produced in any State of the 
 Union, being more than half the whole crop of Ohio in 1859, 
 and equal to 25 bushels of wheat to every individual in the 
 State. The foregoing calculations are made upon an assured 
 basis of fact, without reference to current opinions upon the 
 subject." 
 
30 House Doc. 
 
 The influence such figures must exert in the establishment of 
 the best mediums of commerce, are too patent to need remark. 
 
 Good stage roads are penetrating this country from the towns 
 on the lake. One has been opened from Superior to Crow Wing, 
 and will be extended from there toward the settlements on the 
 Red River of the North. Another is being opened to St. Paul, 
 and over these roads, during the winter, good stages are now 
 run. 
 
 Another road has been opened between Bayfield and St. Paul. 
 Hon. H. M. Rice informs me that good stages now run twice a 
 week between Bayfield and St. Paul — that the road, a distance 
 of no miles, is in splendid orders — that they will so run until 
 navigation openn, when they loill run tri-weekly or oftener. Thiis 
 arrangement will induce a large travel the coming season via 
 this lake to St Paul and other points on the Mississippi river, 
 and is the sure forerunner of a railroad. 
 
 The Pacific Railroad, or its northern route, should run from 
 the head of Lake Superior ; but if the Government starts it 
 from the Missouri River, before the ^'iron horse" enters San 
 Francisco from this river, under the energy of private enter- 
 prise, he will reach it from this lake. Mark well the prediction. 
 
 When this already "Great North-west" is thus settled and 
 developed — when iron shall link its commerce and that of the 
 Pacific with the commerce and wealth of Lake Superior — who 
 will specify the mighty agencies they will bring into play in 
 the final settlement, development, manufacture and business of 
 the country on this lake, and especially that embraced within 
 the Upper Peninsula. During the summer months it will be- 
 come the oasis of the travelling world by thousands, for recu- 
 peration and healthy enjoyment ; its wonderful deposits of cop- 
 per, which had been regarded more as fiction than real, will be 
 seen in their better development ; the iron mountains will tell 
 their own silent but mighty story ; capital will be unlocked and 
 enter practically into the final development of the whole. The 
 thrift and happiness of its people will attract multitudes to join 
 them in all the various pursuits that are or can be success- 
 
No. 24. 31 
 
 fully followed. Tho ^copper will be smelted at home, and the 
 ingot will go into western as well as eastern marts. Iron ore 
 will be manufactured into pig — into cast iron in every form — 
 and into merchant iron, and find a market west and south^ as 
 well as east. Its population will have swelled from a score of 
 thousands into hundreds of thousands, surrounded with health, 
 wealth and happiness, with churches, schools and colleges — the 
 best basis of free institutions. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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