USA > Michigan > Ontonagon County > A history of Silver City, Ontonagon County, Michigan > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
A little more should be said of the founder of Silver City, Captain Beaser who was in charge of the
work at the Superior. As early as November of 1872 while exploring in Sec. 18-51-42 he discovered a rich vein of ore about ten feet from the surface. He put a blast in the silver vein and brought out specimens of the richest ore yet seen in the area. They were displayed in Ontonagon and caused considerable excitement. After the results of the assay of the Superior Silver Mining Company ore, located on the NE14 of Sec. 24 T. 51 N. R. 42 W, which yielded as high as $1,716.00 coin value per ton of rock, the excitement really mounted. T. Meads of Marquette wrote: "It now begins to look as if ere many years, the Iron River Silver District, and the grand old Porcupine, may ring with pick and hammer in the midst of the busy hum of a thrifty mining community. Its name will have such a silvery sound that it will be heard to the uttermost parts of the civilized world." Other cities also reported the news. In 1873 the Menominee Herald said, "The silver excitement which has been raging in regard to the discoveries at Iron River is sub- siding; the owners being convinced the mineral exists in paying quanti- ties, have settled down to business and have gone to regular mining."
Captain Beaser could not have re- ceived much better publicity than this but he had been around a long time and had worked hard at the business of prospecting. In 1861 we find him running for Supervisor of Pewabic Township (later Carp Lake). He was active in the Porcu- pine Mountains, being agent for the Republic Company and prospecting their lands. In 1863 he reported 20 men working at the Union Mine, 25 men at the Cuyahoga, 50 men at the Carp Lake, 20 men at the LaFayette, 10 men at the Pacific and 10 men at the Republic, all mines located in the Porcupine Mountains. The popu- lation of Ontonagon County in 1864 was listed as:
Rockland Township 3,326
Ontonagon Township
984
Greenland Township
503
Algonquin Township 315
Carp Lake Township 278
Pewabic Township
120
Total persons 5,526
In fact, Captain Beaser was still active in the 1880's serving two terms as Supervisor of Carp Lake Town- ship.
The Mammoth mine just east of the Scranton showed promise, their test pits and shallow shaft showed rock rich in silver but as capital was scarce no extensive work was done. An office was set up in Ontonagon to try to sell stock.
The Scranton mine was located on the Little Iron River about $4 mile upstream from Lake Superior where the silver vein was first discovered by Austin Corser. He sold his holdings, known as the Corser homestead, to Captain J. Spaulding and other Scranton, Pennsylvania capitalists; thus the name Scranton. The Onto- nagon Miner reports the following: "On the completion of the purchase, Captain Hooper was employed and went to work opening the mine. Al- though winter set so early and snow had already begun to fall before work was fairly commenced, it has been pushed ahead with commendable vigor. A commodious boarding house has been erected for the men and a substantial bridge thrown
across the river. Two shafts are now in process of sinking. The No. 1 is a perpendicular on the east side of the river commenced at a point where it is calculated it will strike the vein at a point about 300 feet in depth on the angle or dip of the vein from its outcropping at the surface; in other words, they expect to be able by sinking a perpendicular shaft of 75 feet to attack and prove the value of the vein at this point. The No. 2 shaft has been commenced on the west side of the river. The No. 1 shaft, it is expected will reach the vein before the first of March and No. 2 by spring. From present ap- pearances the Scranton, although one of the latest organized companies and the very last to commence work, will be in a more advanced condition by spring than either of the other companies."
The stockholders of the Cleveland Silver Mining Company were obvious- ly made up of Cleveland men with Judge John C. Edwards as president. They were the last company to do
7
any appreciable amount of actual mining. The silver vein was found as far south as Sec. 25 on which this mine was located.
In April of 1876 the men at the mine quit work refusing to mine further until they had been paid up for what they had already done. The mine superintendent left for Mar- quette to obtain more working cap- ital. A few days later he wrote to Capt. Beaser to pay the men saying he could not get to the mine by road because of the conditions of the roads. Work was finally resumed that summer and by August the min- ers had passed through the black slate and were down to the silver producing vein. The Cleveland Com- pany did have a warehouse at Iron River but Mr. Cash, the Superintend- ent of the Cleveland Mine received orders in September of 1876 to ship all the horses, tools and supplies to Marquette to be sold there. Thus ended the last work on the silver mines near Iron River.
In 1873 the Ontonagon, Superior, Scranton, Mammoth and Collins Sil- ver Mining Companies each contribut- ed one thousand shares of their cap- ital stock for erecting a reducing mill for testing the vein rock of these companies. The mill was built in 1874 on the Superior holdings con- sisting of a Blake Rock breaker, five heads of Gates stamps and three Varley's Amalgmating pans. The mill was put into operation on July 2nd and 22 tons of rock were run through by July 17th. From this rock the first brick of silver was made weighing 523 ounces. The size of the brick was 91/2" long, 41/2" wide and 3" thick, with a value of $732.00. Figuring the waste in processing this would make the yield of silver as $35.00 per ton. Later the Scranton mine ore was tested at the mill show- ing $45.00 per ton. The Superior Mine also tested five tons of their ore rock which yielded $56.00 per ton. There is no further record of the other mining companies testing their ore.
The local paper reported that these mining tests proved that the vein car- ried silver in paying quantities. Silver City seemed to have a bright mining
future but it did not prove out that way. Activity slackened in 1875 and by 1876 a national financial panic stopped all working in the area. The mines were never reopened.
Colonel Charles Whittlesey made a report in the Engineering and Mining Journal publication after the silver boom. He spent the summer of 1876 near Iron River and vicinity tracing the silver producing rock there. At that time the Cleveland Mine on the Big Iron River was the only mine in operation but by that fall they too ceased operations. He states that the owners of mining stock had de- lusions that the silver band of rock was rich enough to develop itself without capital. When the collapse came in 1875 there had not been money enough spent on the six so- called active mines to develop a single one successfully. However, he concluded, after his study, that the metal bearing bands were uniform in yield, easily mined and easily crushed, could be mined cheaply (about $2.50 per ton of rock) and with sufficient capital this region presents a promising field not with- standing past experiences. His de- tailed map of the mineralogy of the area is shown, covering the shoreline from Mineral River west to the Carp Rivers and Porcupine Mountains. The Michigan Commissioner of Mineral Statistics was not so enthusiastic about the possibilities of the area. In his report after the boom he said the silvery visions clouded the minds of the investors and that deer would browse in the streets of Silver City. He wasn't too far wrong, for several years following the boom the popula- tion of the area fell to just a handful of people. However, in the present day mining operations at the White Pine copper mine, thousands of dol- lars of silver is reclaimed each year in the mining of copper ore, but cop- per is the metal they are after, the silver being secondary.
In describing the geology of the Iron river district in 1875, Professor Charles Rominger of the State Geo- logical survey said: "The silver- bearing rock, generally termed a vein, is actually a sedimentary rock stratum, spreading uniformily over a wide space of ground which forms
8
the less elevated belt of land in front of the Porcupine mountains, and the higher trap range of the Ontonagon copper mining district. The age of the silver bearing beds is decidely younger than that of the copper belt. The out-crops are almost exclusively confined to the river beds or deep ravines. The silver-bearing rock is a gray, compact, well-stratified sand- stone with thin seams of a black, shaly material, which contains the principal part of the silver in metal- lic condition. The sand-rock itself is also silver-bearing, but much poor- er than the shaly seams. The thick- ness of the strata is from two to six feet.
Only a few feet above the silver bearing sand-rock there is another series of metalliferous beds, contain- ing finely comminuted metallic cop- per in astonishing quantity. The Nonesuch mine is working there, and if it were not for the great loss of metal in working the stamped rock I should consider this mine even wealthier than the famous Calumet and Hecla mines, which are unsur- passed in the world. In all the ex- ploring shafts of the silver mining companies this same bed has been noticed."
Remember this was 1875 and we now know this so-called Nonesuch formation does produce more copper than the Calumet and Hecla holdings.
Silver City also came in for its share of activity during the lumber- ing era. The first logging in the area was for pine and started west of Silver City in Sec. 24, T. 51 N. R. 44 W. near Lone Rock. Dan Norton of Ontonagon was the first logger here, cutting for the Schroeder Lum- ber Company of Ashland, Wisconsin. The logs consisted of pine and hem- lock which were hauled with sleighs to the Lake Superior shore. There they were decked until spring when they were pushed into Lake Superior in booms and towed to the mill at Ashland by tug. Other loggers fol- lowed: Francis, Mckenzie, Forsyth, Hawley, Bush, Humphrey and J. C. Brown. Several million feet of saw- logs were cut during this period of 1890 to 1913 which marked the end of the early logging. In 1902 a raft of logs was put together in Union
Bay totaling 3 million board feet. These were towed to Bayfield by two tugs. J. C. Brown was not so suc- cessful with his boom at Silver City. The story of this venture started in 1898 when Mr. Brown acquired the pine timber rights on several thousands of acres of land along the Big Iron River, a river that drains a 27 square mile area, is approxi- mately 25 miles in length and des- cends 740 feet from its source to Lake Superior. Mr. Brown had sev- eral problems. There were no roads of any kind in this big acreage. The pine were in no solid stands but in- terspersed with hemlock and hard- wood timber. Also the river was too shallow at a few locations to float logs. The first problem was solved by toting supplies into several log camps built well into the interior of the area to be logged. All supplies were hauled in before bad winter weather set in. This wasn't easy, loads often tipped over and became mired in the low areas, sometimes for days. But it was accomplished. The scattered pine problem was solv- ed by skidding great distances to the bank of the river, later to be rolled into the river when during the spring breakup the rising flood waters would be enough to float the logs. To over- come the last hurdle three log dams were built upstream on the river to raise the level of water so logs could be floated in the shallow places. The dams were built, the logs cut, rolled into the river, driven down to the mouth of the Big Iron River and raft- ed in booms in Lake Superior. Mr. Brown thought he had it made. But he reckoned without Lake Superior. A terrific storm blew up, the boom logs were torn loose and the seven million feet of choice pine logs blown all over Lake Superior. It was physi- cally impossible to try to get or even find these logs after the storm had subsided. J. C. Brown decided to call it a day and declared bankruptcy. A half dozen pine logging camps built in the interior near the river were abandoned with all logging tools, harness, sleighs, kitchenware and other equipment left there. Some of this equipment was recovered by the creditors. Mr. Bigge at the None- such collected some equipment for the bill owed at his store.
9
Most of the virgin timber immedi- ately adjacent to Silver City was log- ged by the Greenwood Lumber Com- pany of Ontonagon. A logging rail- road connecting with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad was built to the Big Iron River in the 1920's where a 100 man logging camp was built. A bridge was built across the river and the railroad tracks laid three miles further west to the edge of this company's timber holding. By 1930 this logging com- pany had completed their cutting.
With the area now logged adjacent to Silver City the forest fire danger greatly increased. Fires had burned practically unchecked every year on cut over lands because there were not many facilities for controlling them. In 1902 a fire started at the Union clearing and burned a large acreage to the north. The same year John Hawley's shingle and tie mill near Union Bay were destroyed by fire with a loss of 10,000 poles, 4,000 ties, and 2 million cedar shingles. In 1905 rain finally stopped fires raging in the vicinity of Green which were so bad the Iron River Road could not be used for over a week. After the early logging west of Union Bay, devastating forest fires burned over an area 10 miles long by at least a mile wide. This area suffered from fires until about 1910. In the 1920's many severe fires burned be tween White Pine and Green, one so bad that the town of White Pine was practically surrounded by fire. Food and provisions were moved under- ground so if the town caught fire the people could go underground. A rain finally saved the town. Silver City wasn't so lucky. On August 15, 1931 fires started between White Pine and Silver City. The year was an especially dry one making a very high fire hazard. The state system of fire control had started but as yet was hampered by lack of equipment. It was believed that some one delib- erately set the fire because evidence showed the fire to extend over a mile long along the highway when first discovered. This was not uncommon in the early 30's because of lack of jobs. The state would pay $.25 per hour to men fighting a forest fire and this was a method of getting work.
After a couple of weeks the crew was removed from this fire and it was thought to be under control but on September 19, 1931 a new and larger fire started just west of the first one. High winds and dryness made this a major catastrophe and nearly impossible to control. Before it finally burned out it had burned over 5,000 acres and destroyed most of the homes in Silver City. The summer cottages of Mr. Henry Mus- katt, Loranger, Jones, Foley and Thorse all burned. Other buildings owned by Speare and Cusick also were destroyed. All the buildings in the town were in danger but the wind shifted and drove the fire away from them. It was several years be- fore new buildings were constructed to replace them and some never re- built.
The last era of cutting timber was from 1940 to 1958, which saw the end of the extensive logging. Sev- eral local loggers notably Ruutila and Penegor logged this area as well as several Wisconsin companies. The largest company and the last operat- ing south of the old Nonesuch loca- tion was the White River Lumber Company a subsidiary of Hines Lum- ber Company of Chicago. Many of the "lumberjacks" in this last era lived and worked out of Silver City. All that remains today to be cut is hardwood and poplar pulp. Some of this is still being hauled to the local paper mill in Ontonagon.
We have listed the activities in and around Silver City but what of the people, the social, and political life of the town. The original Pewa- bic Township included all that part of the County of Ontonagon lying west of Ranges 40 and 41. This was the whole western end of Ontonagon County and all of what is now Go- gebic County. This made it a whop- per even by Texas standards. Thom- as Palmer, Knapp, and other mining men had settled around the river's mouth from 1845 on; but no attempt was made to elect township officers from the time of the organization of Pewabic Township in 1848 by the Michigan legislature, until the fall of 1852.
The political history of Carp Lake Township started then, when at a
10
meeting of its citizens it was decided to hold its first election. Notices were posted and the election meeting called to order by D. S. Cash. James Vanaestin was chosen moderator and C. P. Barnes, Clerk, with James Styles and Steven Minter inspectors of the election. The old Thomas Palmer house was found to be incon- venient to hold the election in, so the polls were set up in the adjoining residence of Daniel Beaser. At 12:00 Noon the polls were declared open and at 1:00 p. m. declared closed. The canvass of votes showed a total of six. James Vanaestin was elected suervisor and C. P. Barnes, clerk and treasurer. Four Justices of the Peace, a School Inspector, Directors of the Poor, Assessors, Commission- ers of Highways and four Constables. Several of the men held two different offices.
Elections were held on each year thereafter in April as provided for by law. All other elections for Pe- wabic Township were held at the Norwich mine or one of the nearby mines. The mining offices of the Norwich, Windsor, and Hamilton Mining Companies were used for these elections. Number of ballots cast varied from 140 in 1855 to 12 votes in 1859. These early township boards only met a few times each year, usually about twice. In fact, on March 28, 1854 when the annual meeting of the board was held, the record states there being no business the meeting was adjourned. Probably the shortest political meeting on re- cord. However, later in 1854 the first school district was organized consist- ing of Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10. 11 and 12 of T. 49 N. R 41 W. It was to be known as School district No. 1 of the Township of Pewabic. The record also shows the school inspectors hir- ing a Miss Helen Dach in 1858 to teach for a period of 2 years.
No moneys were raised until 1855 when expenses of $250.00 for road purposes and $100.00 for other town- ship expenses were submitted to the electors. School and roads account- ed for the principal expenditures. In 1856 a report of the Commissioner of Highways shows that $706.50 was spent for a road from the Merry- weather Mine to the Presque Isle
River, a distance of eight miles. The bill was broken down as follows:
8 miles, Cutting out road @ $10.00 per mile $80.00
Raising Derby bridge 6 feet and extending length 10' 50.00
Grading Saw Pit Hill 35.00
Repairing road from Merryweather Mine to Clinton Mine 44.00
Raising bridge near Indian
Grave 80.00
Constructing bridge near house of Thomas McDonald 407.50
Balance of cutting road from said bridge 10.00
Total $706.50
Also a survey of a road from Black River to Ontonagon was authorized. The line followed the west side of Lake Gogebic thence to Cascade Falls and along the mine locations near the Norwich, thence North to Deer Creek and intersecting Ontonagon in Selby's and Paul's Addition.
Most years the total expenditures did not exceed $1,000.00. In 1861 bills allowed at the annual meeting were:
1. Township Board $181.36
2. School 413.81
3. Highway 329.99
Total $925.16
Supervisors usually held office for several years. First elected for Pe- wabic Township was Vanaestin fol- lowed by A. C. Davis, Daniel Plum- mer for three years, then A. C. Davis for four more years and finally Peter Bowen through 1864. With the popu- lation down sharply during the later years, Bowen pretty well controlled the Township. In 1862 he not only was Supervisor but also was Treas- urer and in addition his son was Clerk. That pretty well tied up af- fair of the Township in one family.
With the organization of Carp Lake Township in 1864 the Township of Pewabic ceased to be in existence shortly after. The County Board of Supervisors met at Ontonagon on January 26, 1864 with the following supervisors present: Frank G. White of Rockland Township, William Dick- inson of Algonquin, Artemus Doolit-
11
TRACED FROM WOODCUT BY WHITTLESEY
-
DIRECTION OF DIP
ANTICLINALS
xxxxxxx TRAP BEDS - 1.2,3,4
DYKES
OUT CROP OF SILVER BEARING BAND
PRESUMED ..
Xx
XXXXXXX
SCALE 4/10 INCH TO MILE
L R
XYXX
XXXIX
BIVE
Chas. Whittlesey Feb. 1877
G
XXXXXX
XXXXX
5TH
CORRECTION
LINE
x
X
XXXXXXXX
RIVER
B
RIV
LITTLE
CARP
LAKE SUPERIOR
SILVER CITY
-
---- 1-
IRON
Local Sections of the Quartzose, Copper, and Silver-Bearing Group Tving Between the Black State and Tower Potsdam Sandstone.
meeting of its citizens it was decided to hold its first election. Notices were posted and the election meeting called to order by D. S. Cash. James Vanaestin was chosen moderator and C. P. Barnes, Clerk: with James Styles and Steven Minter inspectors of the election. The old Thomas Palmer house was found to be incon- venient to hold the election in, so the polls were set up in the adjoining residence of Daniel Beaser. At 12:00 Noon the polls were declared open and at 1:00 p. m. declared closed. The canvass of votes showed a total of six. James Vanaestin was elected suervisor and C. P. Barnes, clerk and treasurer. Four Justices of the Peace, a School Inspector, Directors of the Poor, Assessors, Commission- ers of Highways and four Constables. Several of the men held two different offices.
Elections were held on each year thereafter in April as provided for by law. All other elections for Pe- wabic Township were held at the Norwich mine or one of the nearby mines. The mining offices of the Norwich, Windsor, and Hamilton Mining Companies were used for these elections. Number of ballots cast varied from 140 in 1855 to 12 votes in 1859. These early township boards only met a few times each year, usually about twice. In fact, on March 28, 1854 when the annual meeting of the board was held, the record states there being no business the meeting was adjourned. Probably the shortest political meeting on re- cord. However, later in 1854 the first school district was organized consist- ing of Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10. 11 and 12 of T. 49 N. R 41 W. It was to be known as School district No. 1 of the Township of Pewabic. The record also shows the school inspectors hir- ing a Miss Helen Dach in 1858 to teach for a period of 2 years.
No moneys were raised until 1855 when expenses of $250.00 for road purposes and $100.00 for other town- ship expenses were submitted to the electors. School and roads account- ed for the principal expenditures. In 1856 a report of the Commissioner of Highways shows that $706.50 was spent for a road from the Merry- weather Mine to the Presque Isle
River, a distance of eight miles. The bill was broken down as follows:
8 miles, Cutting out road @ $10.00 per mile $80.00
Raising Derby bridge 6 feet
and extending length 10' 50.00
Grading Saw Pit Hill 35.00
Repairing road from Merryweather Mine to Clinton Mine 44.00
Raising bridge near Indian
Grave 80.00
Constructing bridge near house of Thomas McDonald 407.50 Balance of cutting road from said bridge 10.00
Total $706.50
Also a survey of a road from Black River to Ontonagon was authorized. The line followed the west side of Lake Gogebic thence to Cascade Falls and along the mine locations near the Norwich, thence North to Deer Creek and intersecting Ontonagon in Selby's and Paul's Addition.
Most years the total expenditures did not exceed $1,000.00. In 1861 bills allowed at the annual meeting were:
1. Township Board $181.36
2. School 413.81
3. Highway 329.99
Total $925.16
Supervisors usually held office for several years. First elected for Pe- wabic Township was Vanaestin fol- lowed by A. C. Davis, Daniel Plum- mer for three years, then A. C. Davis for four more years and finally Peter Bowen through 1864. With the popu- lation down sharply during the later years, Bowen pretty well controlled the Township. In 1862 he not only was Supervisor but also was Treas- urer and in addition his son was Clerk. That pretty well tied up af- fair of the Township in one family.
With the organization of Carp Lake Township in 1864 the Township of Pewabic ceased to be in existence shortly after. The County Board of Supervisors met at Ontonagon on January 26, 1864 with the following supervisors present: Frank G. White of Rockland Township, William Dick- inson of Algonquin, Artemus Doolit-
11
TRACED FROM WOODCUT BY WHITTLESEY
> DIRECTION OF DIP
LAKE
SUPERIOR
4+ ANTICLINALS
TRAP BEDS - 1.2,3,4
DYKES
OUTCROP OF SILVER BEARING BAND
- PRESUMED =
SCALE 4/10 INCH TO MILE
Low
RP
Chas.Whittlesey Feb. 1877
XXXXXXA
k
× >
5TH
CORRECTION
LI'NE
RIVER
B
RIVE
CARE
Local Sections of the Quartzose, Copper, and Silver-Bearing Group Lying Between the Black Slate and Lower Potsdam Sandstone. Iron River, Michigan
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.