USA > Minnesota > St Louis County > Duluth > Duluth and St. Louis County, Minnesota; their story and people; an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development, Volume II > Part 9
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Another record reads: "The first ore actually discovered in the district (Virginia) was on the Missabe Mountain mine, now known as the Oliver, by Captain John G. Cohoe." Supporting that statement, Mr. Fred Lerch, who has resided in Virginia since 1892, writes : "The first ore discovered in the Virginia district was by Capt. John G. Cohoe. He was conducting exploration work at Biwabik." Cap- tain Cohoe, by the way, was sent to Biwabik in August, 1891, and in ten days "had ten pits in ore" at the Biwabik mine. He might possibly have gone over to the Virginia district soon afterwards.
Captain Florada was a mining man of experience in the Michigan . ranges at the time ore was discovered on the Mesabi, and presumably was in the Biwabik district in 1891. However, a review written in 1909 of his activities in Minnesota mining includes the following para- graph regarding his part in pioneer mining in Virginia district :
In 1892 he turned his attention to prospecting on the Mesabi range, where a few deposits of ore had been recently located. Here he met the late Henry W. Oliver, by whom he was engaged to locate and open an iron mine. A series of brief investigations on the part of Mr. Florada sufficed to convince him that the property now known as the Missabe Mountain mine was what he was seeking, and he proceeded to strip and develop the same, in which he retained an interest for several years.
The same 1909 publication makes the statement quoted below, as to the coming of John Owens to Virginia :
Early in 1892, Mr. Owens went to Virginia, and engaged in exploration work for Mr. A. E. Humphreys and associates. He took charge of a force, which by test-pitting located the famous Commodore mine, then known as the New England.
Another, and an carlier review of Mesabi mining states, regarding the Commodore, or New England, mine :
The Commodore mine * * * has the distinction of being the first property in the Virginia group on which actual development work was done. It was explored in 1891-2 by A. E. Humphreys and associates.
So that the records are somewhat conflicting. The fact is, all the prospectors were more concerned in finding and developing ore prop- erties than in keeping the historical record correctly, in those exciting and strenuous carly years on the Mesabi. So, we will now pass on to brief reviews of the individual mines of the Virginia district, beginning with the
Missabe Mountain Mine .- This mine is situated on "indemnity school lands belonging to the state." The first pit on the property was sunk on the se. qr. ne. qr. of section 8, by Captain Cohoe, "and dis- covered ore at a depth of 13 feet" in March, 1892. Captain Cohoe was employed by the Merritt brothers, who had secured the mineral lease
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from the state, on a royalty of 25 cents a ton of quantity mined. Fred Lerch gives the information that Captain Cohoe "located the southeast corner of the quarter section * * took three hundred paces to * the north, three hundred paces to the west, and located his testpit, which encountered ore at a total expense of $35, a remarkably cheap discovery, when one considers that the Missabe Mountain mine originally had about sixty million tons of ore, worth today about $100,000,000." However, the Merritt brothers "had their hands full ;" they had more ore "in sight" than they knew what to do with, which perhaps explains why they were willing to let a proved mine in that carly day of the Mesabi pass to another. ' They leased, or sub-leased, the property to Henry W. Oliver, through Capt. Ed. Florada, on the
OLIVER'S FIRST VENTURE IN MESABI MINING-THE MISSABE MOUNTAIN MINE, VIRGINIA, SOON AFTER STRIPPING OPERATIONS BEGAN
basis of 65 cents a ton royalty, 25 cents of which would have to go to the state. That transaction was the making of the Mesabi, for Henry W. Oliver became interested in Mesabi ore at the opportune moment -at the time when the peculiarities of the Mesabi ore made it proble- matic whether it would eventually prove to be worth anything at all to the finders. Oliver had furnaces of his own, was well known to steel men, had the co-operation of Frick, and so was able to push past the obstacles that might have made other steel men become indifferent to Mesabi ore, and refuse to exert themselves to adapt their furnaces to the peculiarities of the raw material. Oliver was "in it" and he just had "to go through with it": he had to make his mining investment good. He did so, and incidentally made the Mesabi, becoming by far
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the largest operator on the range. (See Chapter XVIII, reviewing the main epochs of Mesabi mining history.)
One record states that the Missabe Mountain mine was found "a few months after the Biwabik discovery." The Biwabik mine was proved in August, 1891, by Captain Cohoe, who also sank the proving testpit at Missabe Mountain mine. Missabe Mountain Iron Com- pany was incorporated by the Merritts on January 27, 1892, the capital being $3,000,000, and the incorporators Leonidas and John E. Merritt and K. D. Chase. On March 2, 1892, the company was granted a state lease, No. 59, on the usual royalty basis presumably. It has been stated that the Merritts expected "to spend $150,000 in exploration" on the Missabe Mountain property, but that "they actually spent only $41." How it happened that Henry W. Oliver, a steel manufacturer of Pittsburgh, made the journey to the Mesabi range at all, at a time when only local speculators were "grubbing around," must it seems be attributed to his interest in national politics. He happened to be "present at the nomination of Harrison (for the presidency) in 1892. and as he was in Minneapolis he made a side trip to the new Mesabi range, the fame of which was being noised among ore men. From the nearest railroad station on the Duluth and Iron Range it was thirty miles across country to the new field, a fearful trip, to be made in a buckboard, through swampy woods, over corduroy roads, churned hub-deep with the hauling of many teams. With Mr. Oliver were George T. Tener and C. D. Fraser, also of Pittsburgh, among the ablest of his lieutenants whom he was even then gathering about him. They visited the Cincinnati mine, at that time the nearest to a mine on the Mesabi. * *
* They lodged at the Cincinnati location, and then Tener and Fraser, in their misery, refused to go another foot. Oliver went next day to the Missabe Mountain Iron, and was so impressed with its possibilities that he leased it forthwith on a 65 cent royalty." The leasing agreement was a good one for the Merritts; it gave them a little ready cash, with more soon to follow, the lease of August 1, 1892, calling for an advance cash payment of $75,000 by Oliver to the Missabe Mountain Iron Company, $5,000 upon signing of lease, $45,000 in equal monthly installments over the next three months, and the balance before operations began in 1893, in which year Oliver was to mine 200,000 tons. The lease was to run to January 1. 1903. Oliver was not a wealthy man, but he "caught the fever" when he reached the range, and risked the future. He was a good business man but somewhat speculative. A mutual acquaint- ance, meeting a friend of his while traveling, once asked: "Is he rich or poor this year?" Oliver had. experienced many vicissitudes in the course of his business carcer ; "he had made and lost fortunes." When he invaded the Mesabi, it is said he was "fairly rich." A year later, when the mine was shipping, he was "desperately poor." And in the "Pittsburgh group are men today who remember how the Missabe Mountain shipped 300,000 tons in 1893 without a cent." Still in that year nobody seemed to have money, and men on the mining range con- sidered themselves fortunate if they were "grub-staked."
After securing the Merritt lease to the Missabe Mountain mine, in August, 1892, Oliver went on quickly with his plans, and on September 30, 1892, the Oliver Mining Company, with an authorized capital of $1,200,000, was incorporated, the principal promoters being H. W. Oliver, H. R. Rea, G. E. Tener, E. D. Reis, C. D. Fraser and Edward Florada, the last-named having been given charge of mining operations. How Oliver drew into co-operation with him the most powerful steel men of America is told in the Mesabi general chapter.
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In 1894, in consideration of "very large output," a minimum of 400,000 tons a year, Oliver was able to get the Lake Superior Con- solidated Iron Mines, John D. Rockefeller's mining subsidiary, which had succeeded to the Merritt interests on the Mesabi, to reduce the royalty to 25 cents, with, presumably, an additional 25 cents for the
YAWKEY MINE
state treasury. The first year of shipment was 1893, when 123,015 tons were mined. In 1894 the output was 505,955 tons, the Mountain Iron and Missabe Mountain mines standing well out from the other twelve producing Mesabi mines of that time. Regarding the Missabe Mountain Mine, in early 1895, Winchell wrote:
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Including the 1 cent tax, the income to the state from this mine has amounted to $163,532.20 in two years. This mine has been developed and its wonderful record made, under the direction of Capt. Ed. Florada and Capt. A. J. Carlin. A greater depth of ore has been proven here than at any other point on the Mesabi, a vertical drill hole 320 feet in ore having failed to pass through it.
One need not wonder why, with such evidence before them, min- ing men were enthusiastic in the early nineties, as to the future of Mesabi mining.
Captain Florada was not the man who introduced the steam into Mesabi mining, but it was he who first demonstrated its great value in Mesabi operations. Bridge's "The Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company" makes reference to the astounding work of the steam shovel at "the first Mesabi mine secured by Mr. Oliver, pointing out that 5,800 tons of ore were mined and loaded into cars by one steam shovel in ten hours," and that the output for one month was 164,000 tons. Continuing, he wrote :
This was the work of only eight men. Three such machines mined from its natural bed 915,000 tons of ore during the season of 1900, working day-shift only.
Still, notwithstanding that it was the second-largest shipper in the first year, the Oliver Mining Company had only taken about three million tons out of Missabe Mountain Mine up to the end of 1917. The mine resumed its old activity in 1918, however, and by the end of 1919 the total quantity mined had reached 5.368,615 tons. Still, the present rate of production could continue for many years, for there is about fifty-five million tons still available. F. R. Mott is general superintendent, and W. A. McCurdy, superintendent.
Commodore Mine .- A. E. Humphreys, and his associates, including Atkins and Adams, "secured a lease on what were known as the Nelson lands, belonging to the C. N. Nelson Lumber Company, of Cloquet." As before stated, the explorations were directed by David T. Adams, with whom was Neil McInnis, and it is said that "ore was shown up on the Ohio and the Commodore within a few days after the first discovery on the Missabe Mountain."
"It was explored in 1891-2, and at that time known as the New England" Mine, stated one record. Humphrey's company, the New England Iron Company, subleased the property to James Corrigan on November 11, 1892, on the basis of 55 cents royalty, with a first year's minimum of 50,000 tons. The operations were in the hands of Corrigan, Ives. and Company at the outset, the firm later becoming Corrigan, Mckinney and Company. In June, 1893, the property passed to the Franklin Iron Company, Franklin Rockefeller being president of that company, and Thomas Goodwillie of Iron Belt, Wis., secretary. There being a heavy overburden, the mine was worked by a shaft, and in 1893 exceeded the minimum, 65,137 tons being mined. Whether the operation by the Franklin Iron Company was merely "a working agreement," or not cannot be decided from the papers now available. The Commodore and Franklin mines, which adjoined, were both in 1894 under the superintendence of Capt. John Harris, and Winchell recorded that they were then "owned and oper- ated by Messrs. J. Corrigan, P. Mckinney and F. Rockefeller." The Franklin property however "became involved financially," and passed into the possession of John D. Rockefeller, and was later acquired by the Republic Iron and Steel Company, which corporation still owns the Franklin Mine. The Commodore Mine, however, passed to Cor- rigan, Mckinney and Company, under the superintendence of E. D.
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McNeil, who in 1907 started the heavy task of stripping the over- burden. The mine is still owned by the MeKinney Steel Company, and E. D. MeNeil is still general superintendent.
The Commodore mine has yielded 6,421,911 tons, to end of 1919, having been consistently operated since it became an open-pit. It is now, however, near the end of its proved supply.
Franklin Mine .- The Franklin mine was opened in 1893, in which year 46,617 tons were shipped. The Franklin Iron Company seems to have been handicapped financially and eventually the property passed from Franklin Rockefeller to John D., his brother. The former was so hard-pressed for ready money in 1893 that, according to Fred Lerch, analytical chemist of Virginia, he could not meet, on due date, an account of $250 but then had to ask Lerch Brothers to accept a note, payable in sixty days, for the amount. The Franklin, with other mines, including the Union, Victoria and Bessemer, passed ultimately into the operation of the Republic Iron and Steel Company, present operators. C. T. Fairbairn was manager of the mining interests of the Republic Iron and Steel Company in 1907, and Capt. Wm. White general superintendent of the Franklin group. In 1919 the Republic company's mining affairs, which had reached out to the westward and now included several important mines of Kinney and Nashwauk dis- tricts, are directed by Francis J. Webb, with T. A. Flannigan, general superintendent. The Franklin mine has yielded 2,241, 761 tons, to end of 1919, but seems to have reached nearly to the end of its available deposit.
Union Mine .- The Union mine was opened in 1900, and in four years shipped 296,424 tons. There was idleness for a few years, and then for some years the output was not appreciable. In 1912, however, more than 200,000 tons came from the Union, which ever since has maintained that volume of production. To end of 1919 the total of shipments was 2,278,229 tons. At present rate of production the proved deposit will be exhausted in a few years.
Victoria Mine .- The Victoria was opened in 1893 by Corrigan and Rockefeller, passing to the Republic Company eventually. No ore was shipped from it until 1906, and the total up to end of 1919 was only 637,300 tons, with very little still available.
Bessemer Mine .- The Bessemer was opened also in 1893 by same parties. It is not now on the shipping list. The last shipping year was 1915, when 49,459 tons were mined, the property having yielded altogether 1,238,540 tons.
Ohio Mine .- The Ohio mine was one of the first to show activity, if not the first to produce ore. It was probably already certain to the promoters that ore was in the property when they, on January 7, 1892, formed the Ohio Mining Company, of $1,000,000 capital, to mine it. Identified with the promotion were: James E. Campbell, of Columbus; E. D. Sawyer, of Cleveland; W. J. Hilands, of same place ; C. F. Nestor, of Lancaster, Ohio ; R. S. Munger, M. R. Baldwin, T. H. Pressnell and J. K. Persons, of Duluth ; S. R. Ainslee, of Chi- cago, and Fred Barrett, of Tower. The last-named was the pioneer newspaper editor of both ranges, having conducted the "Vermilion Iron Journal" for some years before founding the first Mesabi Range newspaper. He, however, was enthusiastically prospecting on the Mesabi range almost from the beginning of mining at Mountain Iron. Regarding him one writer stated :
Those were the days of many prospective millionaires, and Dr. Barrett fondly imagined that he was one of them. Although he died without reach- ing the goal of his ambition, he was richer than any mere money-grubber
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that ever lived, for he possessed a wealth of human kindness, an inexhausti- ble fund of humor, and one of the noblest hearts that ever beat in sympathy for others.
The compiler may, perhaps, be pardoned for so diverting. As to the Ohio mine, Winchell wrote in 1895 : "Leases and sub-leases have been made and forfeited upon this property, and its exact status at present is unknown to the writer."
It seems that two parties had a lease to the property, and both subleased to the Ohio Mining Company. S. R. Ainslee, of Chicago, leased to the Ohio Company on March 29, 1892, at a royalty of 25 cents. And on June 13th, following, James Sheridan and John B. Weimer, who seemed to have established some right to the property, leased it to the Ohio Company at 65 cents, with 150,000 tons minimum, and $15,000 advance royalties. Trouble seems to have followed the promoters. On March 31, 1894, the decree of court forfeited interests of Sheridan and Weimer in Ohio Mining Company's lease, "in default of lease of June 24, 1892."
Weimer, however, was, from the beginning, involved in the attempt to exploit the mine. They found the ore, but before mining decided to strip the property. Before they could complete that work, the money panic of 1893 set the Ohio Company on the inactive list. John B. Weimer had undertaken the stripping contract, but he failed- for a like reason. Then followed the years of deflation, the period in which Mesabi ore could not be mined at a profit. Eventually, it became evident that small independent companies could not live, and the Ohio stock was swept into the Rockefeller holdings, passing eventually with his other property to the U. S. Steel Corporation's mining subsidiary, the Oliver Iron Mining Company. The mine has only been worked spasmodically. Up to 1900, 540,514 tons had been mined ; in 1900 the output was 172,597 tons ; but no more was mined until 1905. Eight hundred thousand tons was worked in 1907, but since that time the mine has only been worked during one year. 1916, when the shipment was 23,665 tons. It must therefore be considered as one of the reserve properties of the Oliver Company, there being about four million tons still available.
Lone Jack .- The Lone Jack mine adjoins the Ohio. The property was owned originally by Alonzo J. Whiteman, of Duluth, who seems to have leased it (or sold it) to John T. Jones and D. T. Adams. Another account states that it "was owned by A. J. Whiteman, who sold it before iron was discovered. A lease was taken by David T. Adams, James Foley and associates, who explored it and soon found .ore." The Merritts also were interested in it originally, a lease passing from them to N. D. Moore and J. F. Foley, thence through Humph- reys to Lone Jack Iron Company. The Lone Jack Iron Company was formed July 24, 1892; the incorporators were A. E. Humphreys, George E. Milligan and Arthur Howell ; and the capital was $500.000. Two inclined shafts were sunk preparatory to mining by Captain Foley, but the properties were brought into the Merritt group to be consolidated, when the Merritts were struggling to extricate them- selves from their financial difficulties. They failed and their options passed to Rockefeller. The properties also eventually became his, by purchase from D). T. Adams and others. Eventually, the Lone Jack came under the control of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, present owners.
Less than 200,000 tons have been mined since 1900, and there is still as much in the mine as has been taken from it. The available deposit is 2,329,356 tons ; the quantity mined is 2,206,292 tons.
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Lincoln and Higgins Mines .- The Wyoming Iron Company was formed on April 22, 1892, with a capital of $300,000. The organizers were Frank Cox, S. W. Eckman and W. F. Gore, and the result of their operations were the Higgins, Tesora and part of the Lincoln. The company sub-leased the ne. of nw. of sec. 9-58-17 to John T. Jones on a royalty of 50 cents and 25,000 tons minimum.
John T. Jones and his associates explored the Lincoln, which adjoined their Commodore property. Later they disposed of their lease to the Inter-State Iron Company, the mining division of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. The mine, however, did not come onto the shipping list until 1902, when 87,908 tons were shipped. It has been continuously operated ever since, averaging about 250,000 tons a year, at which rate there is enough proved ore to last for about another seven years. C. T. Fairbairn was the mining manager when shipments first began, Thomas Pellew succeeding him in 1906. They were working four shafts in 1907, and it was then the best equipped underground property in the district. The Lincoln still belongs to the Interstate Iron Company, Mark Elliott being general superinten- dent and J. H. McInnis, assistant general superintendent.
The Higgins mine passed to the Oliver Mining Company in 1897 or 1898, Capt. John Gill becoming superintendent for the Oliver Com- pany in 1898. The mining was somewhat more difficult than at some other mines, at the Missabe Mountain for instance. The first ship- ment from the Higgins was made in 1904. The surface was stripped and the mining carried on both by milling and by steam shovel, although owing to the steep grade the ore mined by steam shovel was not taken direct from the mine but dumped through a chute, and then hoisted in the shaft. About a million and a half tons have been taken from the mine, and about eight million tons still remain.
Norman Mine .- The Higgins Land Company was the original owner, paying $1.25 an acre, in 1887. for 11,661 acres on the range. The right to explore and mine was sold to Louis Rouchleau, the lease being of July 11, 1892, from F. W. Higgins, of Olean, to Louis Rouchleau, who sub-leased to the Minnesota Iron Company. The company opened the mine in 1894, and "was the second to adopt the 'milling' method" of open-pit mining, the process being to strip off the overburden and mill the ore down through a winze into cars in the mine, from which the ore was dumped into skips and hoisted. The first superintendent was Capt. John Armstrong. By the end of 1898, 421,132 tons had been shipped. Eventually the mine passed, with the consolidation, into the control of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, but with the exception of a few thousand tons in 1907, nothing was mined from the Norman from 1898 until 1908, when the Oliver Com- pany worked it "in connection with the Lone Jack, Ohio and Oliver (Missabe Mountain)." The Norman was a very deep and narrow mine, and as the open-pit mining proceeded furiously (as it did in 1908, 1909 and 1910, the three years averaging a million tons a year), the mine developed the appearance of a deep gully. The feeholders were concerned at the method of mining, and brought suit to set aside the lease, alleging that the Oliver Company was "wasting the ore, and hurting the minc." A compromise was effected, much to the financial advantage of the feeholders, it is believed. The lease was to expire on March 31, 1913, and just prior to that time a much richer ore bed was discovered beneath the other. The total shipment to end of 1919 was 6,481,788 tons.
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Rouchleau-Ray Mine .- The Rouchleau-Ray mine is one of the great mining properties of the Mesabi. Not a ton has yet been taken from it, but the proved deposit is 23,953,707 tons. F. T. Higgins and Giles Gilbert were the feeholders, and mining right was granted to Rouchleau, of Duluth, the Rouchleau-Ray Iron Land Company being formed. The deposit was proved, to an extent, but no attempt was made to mine the deposit, probably because of the money panic of 1893, and the flatulency of market in 1894 and 1895. On November 20. 1895, however, the Rouchleau-Ray Land Company, together with feeholders, gave H. V. Winchell an option to purchase the mine for $1.125,000. For a ninety-day option $125,CCO was paid, and it tran-
AUBURN MINE, 1902, AS IT APPEARED THEN, AND AS IT STILL IS, NOT A TON OF THE TWO MILLION TON DEPOSIT HAVING SINCE BEEN MINED
spired that the interested party was the Lake Superior Consolidated Iron mines, then owned by John D. Rockefeller. "Just before the option expired, the company asked for an extension of time, which was refused." That meant the saving of a few hundred thousand dollars to Rockefeller, for about a year later he purchased the property for $750,000. The mine, of course, passed with the other mining property of John D. Rockefeller, to the Steel Corporation in 1901. It has since lain dormant in the control of the Oliver Iron Mining Company.
Auburn Mine .- A mile to the southward of the Norman is the Auburn, which was originally known as the Iron King. The prop- erty was explored by Nat Moore, for A. E. Humphreys and offers. Soon it was leased by the Minnesota Iron Company, on a 30-cent Pasis,
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