History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 49

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044

USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County, Wisconsin > Part 49

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).

Copper is not raised in Wisconsin, except at Mineral Point, where chalcopyrite, the yellow sulphide of copper and iron, are found in the crevices of Galena limestone. Copper in small quantities in pyrites, can be found all through the lead region, but the return would not pay for exhaustive exploration. In Northern Wisconsin, also, copper is found, but under different con- ditions ; and it remains to be seen whether the newer developments will pay for mining, as many hope and believe. The Keweenaw Point, and Isle Royale copper-bearing rocks stretch across this State in two belts, southwesterly and parallel. One belt commences the journey at Mon- treal River, crossing Ashland and Bayfield Counties, and then expanding, fills a large area in the counties of Douglas, Saint Croix, Barron and Chippewa. The back-bone of the Bayfield pen- insula is found by the other belt which continues its bold ridge across Douglas County . to- Minnesota. The rocks appear to be igneous, as we have elsewhere explained, but they are dis- tinctly bedded and partly interstratified with sandstone, shales, and bowlder conglomerates. Veins- cross the rock beds, in which pure metallic copper can be found in fine flakes, and like deposits are found scattered all through the several layers. There have been attempts at mining on small scales in these belts where nature favors experiment, but the commercial value of the deposit must be determined by larger and more scientific endeavors.

Gold may be found in infinitesimal quantities in almost any part of the earth, but there are. few even of the great diggings where it actually pays to mine for the precious metal. A few men become suddenly rich, but the great mass remain poor to the end, until they mingle their dust with that of the placer in which their lives have been spent to so little purpose. Traces of both the precious metals have been found in Wisconsin, but happily not in any such quantities as may ever disturb the normal and more profitable industries of mankind. Clark County and Ashland County are the two localities said to be auriferous and argentiferous in the trivial degrees mentioned. Thus ends our record of the metals found in Wisconsin.

The non-metallic minerals may now pass under brief review. Brick clays are of great value to Wisconsin, and they are found extending inland from the great lakes for many miles, telling of a time, probably long after the glacial period, when these immense bodies of water covered a. still greater area. The beds of clay are stratified and of lake formation, containing large amounts of carbonate of lime. In this State that stratum of wealth gives employment to thousands who make and burn bricks to the extent of more than 50,000,000 annually. Some of the bricks are red and others cream color, and it has been claimed that the red color indicated the presence of more iron in the constituents of the clay ; but a series of experiments and analyses carried out. by Mr. Sweet, formerly of Madison in this State, and now of Colorado, and supplemented by analyses by Prof. Daniells, of Madison University, show that the quantities of iron in the clay at Milwaukee, the clay in Madison, from which red bricks are made, and the clay from Lake Superior, in Ashland County, only vary in fractional parts, the difference showing a slight excess- of iron in the cream-colored Milwaukee clay over the clay used in the red bricks in Madison. Carbonate of lime seems to be the ingredient in respect to which the bricks of Milwaukee differ from some of the bricks made elsewhere. The clay from which light-colored bricks are made is- often a bright red at the outset of its career, as raw material for the manufacturer. Tiles and pottery of excellent quality are made from this clay in many places, and the number of men employed in such industries will steadily increase. The lake clays already named are not the

329

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

only deposits of the kind in the State available for such uses. The Yahara Valley in Dane County has an excellent stratified clay which is burned into red brick at Madison, and to cream- colored brick at Oregon and Stoughton. Platteville, Lancaster and other noteworthy points in the southwestern parts of Wisconsin are favored with fine beds of clay, from which excellent red brick is made, and the enterprise of the people will develop other and still more valuable methods to convert these deposits into sources of wealth and happiness.

Kaolin is a contribution to our language from the Chinese, being used by the Celestials to denote the rock from which they make their porcelain. We use the word to indicate a very fine clay, although it differs widely from the material employed by the Chinese and Japanese in the fabrication of their exquisite warcs. Our kaolin is the result of a disintegration of felspathic crystalline rocks, the base of supply not being removed from its place of deposit. Silica, alumina and water combine to form the mineral kaolinite which is the base of our porcelain clay. Foreign ingredients, which are as a rule present in the rock when the process of disinte- gration is advancing, are removed more or less completely by manipulative skill, and a pure white clay of exceptional fineness is the result. Wisconsin is rich in the crystalline rocks from which kaolin may be formed, but the disintegrated material is rarely found, probably in consequence of glacial action having denuded the softened parts of the rocks. From Grand Rapids, on the Wis- consin River, westward to Black River, in Jackson County, is a belt where the crystalline rocks were once overlaid by sandstone, and at the point of junction many water courses lent their aid to the work of disintegration. Over the area named, drift action has been trivial or is entirely wanting, so that all the conditions have favored the deposition of porcelain clay or kaolin. The beds of the Wisconsin, Yellow and Black Rivers have large exposures of the desiderated rock over- laid by sandstone on either side, and just where the deposits of disintegration might be expected, kaolin is comparatively abundant, stretching across the country in the lines of the layers of the tilted crystalline rocks, waiting only the manipulative skill of competent workmen and artists for conversion into forms of beauty that will charm wealth into the surrender of its hoards. On the Wisconsin, near Grand Rapids, these patches are very numerous, varying in dimensions from less than an inch to many feet in depth. The quality is also variant ; some pure and re- fractory, and other parts fusible and impure.

Milwaukee cement rock has been already referred to in our geological summary, but in this relation that material must be again mentioned to assist the classification of our minerals. Cer- tain layers of Lower Magnesian limestone produce a lime which has in a large degree the hydraulic property. Some parts of the blue limestone, in the Trenton group, which may be found in Southwestern Wisconsin has that quality ; but the best yet discovered in this State is the Milwaukee cement rock. The location of the deposit has been already given. The cement is obtained in almost any quantity, and the product manufactured from it exceeds in value and strength every other material of the kind, except the famous Portland cement, made in Great Britain. The rock exhibits great evenness in the distribution of its ingredients throughout the mass, and will prove of great value. Ripon has a cement rock which belongs to the Lower Mag- nesian limestone, but it cannot compare in excellence and durability with the great deposit of cement rock near Milwaukee.

Niagara limestone furnishes an excellent quick-lime, white and pure, far in advance of the other formations ; Lower Magnesian ranking next, as when burned it makes a strong mortar, but it is " of color," to use the language sometimes applied to precious stones. Madison lime is burned from the Lower Magnesian. Trenton limestone does not yield good lime, and the Galena lime- stone is little better in that respect, but much lime is made therefrom. Nearly half a million barrels of lime annually is now being made in this State from Niagara limestone alone. There is a limestone quarry near Milwaukee; the stone from which is used very successfully as a flux, at the rolling-mills at Bay View, in that city ; but Shoomaker's quarry is one of very few, as our limestones are mostly Magnesian. Some layers of Trenton limestone in many parts of Wis- consin, especially in the southern section, are non-magnesian, and will reward investigation when the demand increases.

330

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

Our readers will remember the reference made elsewhere to St. Peter's sandstone, as a pure white, siliceous sand, suitable in glass making, and it is gratifying to note that this excel- lent material is being applied to the use named at many places in Eastern Wisconsin with advantage.

Peat will hardly ever be depended on as a fuel in this country, where coal is within easy reach ; but as a fertilizer it is of great value, and it is therefore a matter for congratulation that it can be obtained in great quantity, and of good quality, from the marshes in the eastern and central parts of the State. We have now nearly completed our presentation of the geological resources of Wisconsin, as nothing remains but to note the varieties of building stone available, and before proceeding to their enumeration it is our duty to acknowledge our obligations to Prof. Chamberlin, Prof. Irving, Prof. Whitney, Mr. Strong, Mr. Sweet and to many other gentlemen, whose storehouses of fact have been ransacked without scruple to render these pages interesting and complete. More especially we are under deep obligations to the gentle- man first named, our chief geologist, for kindnesses innumerable, the value of which will, we hope, appear in the enhanced worth of this volume.

The story of the rocks has been a sketch, necessarily hasty and incomplete, of the various layers of sedimentary stone and trap from the Archaan upheaval to the drift formation, all more or less adapted to building purposes ; we shall name only a few kinds, representative of the great series. Granite and gneissic rock, the core of our State, are found in protruding masses at many points in Northern Wisconsin. Red granites, of great value and beauty, which have not yet been worked, but which will some day in the near future reward enterprise with rich returns, are exposed on the Wisconsin River and on Yellow and Black Rivers, more especially at Black Bull Falls, near which there may yet be quarries opened to supply the demands of neighboring States as well as our own for a building material seldom surpassed in loveliness and durability.

Along the shore line of Lake Superior, from Michigan to the Minnesota boundary, a valu- able sandstone, handsome and enduring, is found in Wisconsin. This rock forms the base of the Apostle Islands, and is largely quarried in one of them to supply Milwaukee and Chicago with a dark-brown, uniform and very fine-grained stone, upon which fashion and good taste have set their seal of approbation. The stone can be worked with comparative ease, in blocks of almost any dimensions that can be transported, and many public and private buildings in the great cities named are constructed of this excellent material. The neighboring islands and contiguous points on the mainland, offer abundant opportunities to quarry stone of the same kind, in every respect as good, so that the much-admired brown-stone front, in which opulence finds delight, will some day, soon, offer attractions to be embraced by a much larger class in our commu- nity. There is a hardened, well-compacted sandstone, ranging from white to brown in color, and of even grain, obtained from the Potsdam series, at Stevens' Point, Grand Rapids, Packwaukee, Wautoma, Black River Falls, and at several points in the Baraboo Valley, so that this valued stone is known to be easily accessible in Portage County and in the counties of Wood, Marquette, Waushara, Jackson and Sauk. Besides the treasures thus unfolded, the uppermost layers of the same series furnish a very sightly buff colored, calcareous sandstone, which is quarried near Madison, in Dane County, and largely used in building the ornate residences for which the capi- tal of the State is justly famous.

The limestone formations of this State furnish many varieties of building stone of less and greater value, and mostly durable as well as handsome. The stratum known as " Mendota," from its outcropping near the lake of that name, near Madison, is a part of the Potsdam series, very evenly bedded, finely-grained and yellow, well appreciated throughout the region in which it is found, and worked extensively all around Madison, as well as throughout the Lower Wis- consin Valley. A cream colored limestone, from the Lower Magnesian series, is quarried in West- port, Dane County, and very handsome fine-grained stone is supplied from a base that is prac- tically inexhaustible. It is, however, fruitless to attempt a complete summary of our resources in building-stone, as the work might crowd a volune and still fail to do justice to the wealth of detail by which we are surrounded; hence we must content ourselves with but a brief reference

331

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

to the remaining series of limestones-the Trenton, Galena and Niagara-in this respect, and so close our necessarily imperfect resume. The Trenton layer is usually thin but evenly bedded, not highly valued by builders, but sometimes utilized for laying in wall. Galena and Niagara limestones permit of a much larger variety of uses, and, in Eastern Wisconsin, the last-named layer supplies a white stone, very compact and enduring, easily worked and capable of a high finish. It is not easy to estimate the millions of men who will find homes in this State within the next century, as the reward of enterprise and well-applied labor in the development of its mineral resources.

Having dealt somewhat exhaustively, though not completely, with the rock formations, we come now to consider the general contour of the country embraced by our history, the surface, streams and hills. A detailed description of the geological formation of this immediate locality might be written without reference to the surrounding counties, since Iowa, La Fayette and Grant Counties are entirely within the limits of a distinctive division, but, for the purpose of giving a more comprehensive report, it is deemed advisable to ignore political boundaries, and treat of those lines which nature created ages untold before the presence of man upon the scene.

THE MINERAL DISTRICT IN DETAIL.

The Mineral District of Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa is recognized by geologists as an area peculiar to itself, and is written about as such. The geographical scope of this article extends, how- ever, for obvious reasons, from the easternmost line of the mineral-bearing formation in Wiscon- sin to the Mississippi River on the west, and from the northernmost limit of the district, the Wisconsin River, to the dividing line between Wisconsin and Illinois, so far as local or detailed description is intended.

It is given on the authority of James G. Percival, State Geologist from August 12, 1854, to the time of his death, May 2, 1856, that the mineral district reaches no further eastward than Sugar River, which runs in a general southeasterly course, rising in Township 7 north, Range 7 east, Dane County, and traversing the eastern range of Green County. Occasionally small quantities of lead ore are found further east, but no especial mention of such deposits is required here.

In 1834, Mr. G. W. Featherstonhaugh began the first survey of the district lying between the Missouri River and Red River of the North, and the upper part of the valley of the Missis- sippi and the mining districts adjacent to that river. The survey was completed in 1835, under the patronage of the General Government. Another survey was made by the Government in 1889. Dr. D. D. Owen was the geologist in charge of the latter exploration, but the magnitude of the task prohibited a minute examination of this region. In 1853, Prof. E. Daniels pub- lished a pamphlet concerning the geology of the lead region, under the auspices of the State of Wisconsin. Dr. J. G. Percival was the next scientist to prepare a report, but his labors were cut short by death, May 2, 1856. Upon the death of Dr. Percival, Profs. James Hall, E. S. Carr and E. Daniels were appointed, and, in 1858, Prof. Daniels issued a report on the iron ores of the State. In 1862, Profs. Hall and Whitney published the largest report that had up to that date been presented, about three-quarters of the work being given to the lead region. Rev. John Murrish issued a smaller report in 1872. In 1873, the late Moses Strong, Assistant State Geologist, was instructed to prepare a report covering points not touched on by previous surveyors, and, during that and the succeeding year, responded to the request. From these volumes, but mainly from the report of Mr. Strong, the following facts are compiled.

DEATH OF MOSES STRONG.

Because of the grand work performed by Mr. Strong in this locality, as well as because of his residence in Mineral Point, it is deemed proper to interrupt the geological record for a time, and here insert the following account of his melancholy death :

The following notice is taken from the Wisconsin State Journal of February 4, 1878 :

" In his annual report of the Wisconsin Geological Survey, just issued from the press of the State Printer, Prof. T. C. Chamberlin, Chief Geologist, has taken occasion to commemorate,

332

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

in most fit and appreciative terms, the virtues and qualities of one of his associates in the survey, the late Moses Strong, who lost his life in the service of the State, and for his devotion to the cause of scientific discovery and research. The faculty to win at once the respect of those who became associated with him was one of the marked, peculiar and shining qualities of Mr. Strong's character ; and the more intimate became the association, the higher the admira- tion for his genius, and the more enduring the impression of the sterling attributes of his mind and heart. Those who knew him best will be the most ready to second, and the most sincerely to indorse the high and deserved panegyric which his associate, in such apt and felicitous words, has pronounced upon him. In the opening of the report, a circumstantial account of the mournful accident by which Mr. Strong lost his life is given, which we republish."

The following letter was the last received by Prof. Chamberlin from Mr. Strong, on the eve of his departure for that which proved to be his last earthly exploration :

STEVENS POINT, August 15, 1877.

DEAR CHAMBERLIN : I leave here to-morrow morning, and, on account of very low water, I find it necessary to make the trip up the North Fork of the Flambeau first, and thence down the South Fork to Fifield. You may send letters to me to Fifield Station, W. C. R. R., care of the Station Agent, via Stevens Point. Very truly yours, MOSES STRONG.

The subsequent events are clothed with inexpressible sadness. The following account was prepared immediately after the melancholy event, by one whose facilities for obtaining the exact facts exceed our own, and whose painful feelings caused every incident to impress itself with unwonted force and vividness upon his feelings and memory :

"Mr. Strong left Stevens Point on Thursday, the 16th, accompanied by William P. Gundry, of Mineral Point, and John Hawn, of Stevens Point, a guide whom he had hired, who was familiarly known as ' Sailor Jack,' and who was an experienced woodsman, and an expert in canoe navigation. The party went by railroad to the crossing of the Flambeau River, where they arrived about 6 o'clock P. M. The next day, Friday, was spent in procuring boats and other preparations for ascending the river. Mr. Strong obtained a light skiff, made of riven white cedar, which he thought well adapted for the purposes for which he wished to use it. He also obtained a birch-bark canoe, in which were to be transported the supplies and camp equip- age for the party of three.

" They commenced the ascent of the Flambeau on Saturday morning, and continued it for nine or ten miles without any remarkable incident, until nearly 3 o'clock P. M., when they came to some rapids, supposed to be in Section 28, Township 41, Range 1 east. The rapids were about one hundred and fifty feet from the foot to the head. The bed of the river was f 'ed with numerous rocks, over and about which the water rushed rapidly. 'Sailor Jack' took the lead, in the bark canoe and its freight, followed by Mr. Strong and young Gundry, in the cedar skiff. Jack had reached the head of the rapids, or nearly so, as the others were entering upon the ascent: Mr. Strong was standing in the bow of the skiff, using a long, light pole for propelling it, while Gundry was sitting in the stern, using the oars for the same purpose. Near the foot of the rapids was a rock, past which they pushed the skiff far enoughi so that the current struck its bow and turned it around the rock in such a manner that the whole force of the current, strik- ing it broadside, turned it over. As it was going over, Mr. Strong jumped from it into the water, and stood upon a rock in the bed of the river, over which the water was three and a half feet deep, and came up to his waist. Immediately below the rock where he was standing and holding on to the skiff, the water was twelve feet deep, into which Mr. Gundry went as the

ff upset. At that instant he hollowed to Mr. Strong, 'I can't swim,' who replied, 'Hold to the boat.' Gundry held on at first, but, in attempting to get a better hold, or in some way, lost his hold of the boat and was carried into the water, into which he was sinking. Simultane- ously, the skiff went down the stream, and Mr. Strong left his position of comparative safety, and was immediately in the deep water, and sunk to the bottom of it, to rise no more.

" Why he left the place where he was standing, and let the boat go, is a matter of con- jecture. One theory is, that he slipped and could stand there no longer; but this is not as

333

HISTORY OF THE LEAD REGION.

probable as is the theory of the men who were engaged in searching for his body, which is, that as soon as he saw that his friend Gundry had lost his hold of the boat and was sinking. he threw himself into the water, in the vain (as it proved) effort to save his companion from drown- ing. He was a good swimmer, very self-confident and self-reliant, and would not have been likely to apprehend any disaster to himself in the efforts to save his friend, and if he had, the apprehension would not have deterred him.

"The reason why he did not reach Gundry is very satisfactorily explained by Gundry himself, who says that, while he was under the water, he distinctly saw Mr. Strong with his legs drawn up, as in a sitting position, with his arms bent in front of his breast, in which posi- tion he sank, and his body was in this position when found. It, therefore, would seem quite certain that, in his effort to save Gundry, Mr. Strong was seized with cramps, which deprived him of the power of swimming, and resulted in his own drowning, and the certainty is increased by the fact that his body was found on the bottom of the river, not more than thirty or forty feet from where he had been standing.

"That Mr. Gundry escaped drowning is almost miraculous. He drifted down the river until his feet struck a sand-bar, which enabled him barely to get his head above the surface of the water. Here he stood in water up to his neck, until he was rescued by Jack Hawn. As soon as Jack heard the cries, he left his canoe at the head of the rapids and ran to the foot of them, where he saw Gundry's head above the water, and the skiff floating down the stream. He immediately rushed into the water and secured the skiff, and with it rescued Gundry from his peril.

" The time of the accident was 2:55, as indicated by the watches of both the young men, which were stopped at the time of being submerged. The body of Mr. Strong was found at 6 o'clock on Sunday evening, in eight and one-half feet of water. It might probably have been found sooner, but for the erroncons supposition of those engaged in the search that it had drifted further than proved to be the fact."

At the timo the crushing news was received, his father, the Hon. Moses M. Strong, was at Stevens' Point, and, through a generosity and courtesy that commands our warmest admiration, a special train was placed at his disposal by General Manager E. B. Phillips, of the Wiscon- sin Central Railroad, whereby he was enabled to reach at an early hour the scene of the disaster.

The remains were conveyed to Mineral Point, where they were laid to rest, amid profound sorrow, not alone of kindred and friends, nor of the community by which he was so highly esteemed, but of the entire commonwealth in whose service he had fallen.

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.

History of Grant County, Wisconsin, Part 49

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1044

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago : Western Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1044