USA > Wisconsin > Rock County > The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: Its Early Settlement, Growth, Development, Resources, Etc. > Part 25
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YEARS.
GALENA.
SMITHSONITE.
YEAR.
GALENA.
SMITHSONITE.
BLENDE.
1860
1867
13 820, 784
5,181,445
841,310
1861
320,000 266,000
1868
13.869,619 13 426,721
4.302.383
3,078,435
1862
17,037.912
IS69
4.547.971
6,252,420
1853
15,105.577
1, 120,000
1870
13.754,159
4.429.585
7.414,022
1864
13.014,210
3.173.333
1871
13,484.210
16,618,160
9,303.625
1865
14.337.895
4, 198, 200
1872
11,622,668
27,021,383
16,256,970
1866
14,029. 192
7.373.333
1873
9.919.734
18.528.906
15,074,664
Until within the last decade the lead mines of the Mississippi valley, including now both the " Upper " and the " Lower " regions-the latter one of which lies wholly within the limits of the state of Missouri-have far eclipsed the rest of the United States in the production of lead, the district being in fact one of the most important of the lead districts in the world. Of late years, however, these mines are far surpassed in production by the " silver-lead " mines of Utah and other Rocky Mountain regions, which, though worked especially for their silver, produce incidentally a very large amount of lead. Nevertheless, the mines of the Mississippi valley will long continue to be a very important source of this metal. The lead ore of the Wisconsin lead region is of one kind only, the sulphide known as galena, or galenite. This ore, when free from mechanically mingled impurities, contains 86.6 per cent. of lead, the balance being sulphur. Small quantities of other lead ores are occasionally found in the uppermost portions of the deposits, having been produced by the oxidizing influence of the atmosphere. The chief one of these oxidation products is the earthy carbonate known as cerussite. Galena almost always contains some silver, commonly enough to pay for its extraction. The Wisconsin galenas, however, are unusually free from silver, of which they contain only the merest trace.
The zinc ores are of two kinds, the most abundant being the ferruginous sulphide, or the "black-jack " of the miners. The pure sulphide, sphalerite, contains 67 per cent. of zinc, but the iron-bearing variety, known minerallogically as marmatite, generally contains 10 per cent. or more of iron. A ferruginous variety of the carbonate, smithsonite, also occurs in abundance, and is known to the miners as "dry-bone," the name being suggested by the peculiar structure of the ore.
Both lead and zinc ores occur in limited deposits in a series of limestone beds belonging to the Lower Silurian series. The lead region is underlaid by a nearly horizontal series of strata, with an aggregate thickness of 2,000 feet, which lie upon an irregular surface of ancient crystal- line rocks (gneiss, granite, etc.). The names and order of succession of the several strata are indicated in the following scheme, the last named being the lowest in the series :
164
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
Formation,
Thickness.
Niagara dolomitic limestone.
300- 300 feet.
Cincinnati shales
60 100 "
Galena dolomitic limestone
250 -- 275
Lead Horizon -
Blue limestone
50 -- 75
Buff dolomitic limestone.
15- 20
Lower Magnesian (dolomitic) limestone
250 ..
Potsdam sandstone series
800-1000
The first two of these layers, in the Wisconsin part of the lead region, are met with only in a few isolated peaks and ridges. The prevailing surface rock is the Galena limestone, through which, however, the numerous streams cut in deep and narrow valleys which not unfrequently are carved all the way into the Lower Magnesian.
The lead and zinc ores are entirely confined to the Galena, Blue and Buff limestones, an aggregate vertical thickness of some 350 to 375 feet. The upper and lower strata of the series are entirely barren. Zinc and lead ores are found in the same kind of deposits, and often together, by far the larger part of the zinc ores, however, come from the Blue and Buff limestones, and the lowest layers of the Galena, whilst the lead ores. though obtained throughout the whole thickness of the mining ground, are especially abundant in the middle and upper layers of the . Galena beds.
The ore deposits are of two general kinds, which may be distinguished as vertical crevices and flat crevices, the former being much the most common. The simplest form of the vertical crevice is a narrow crack in the rock, having a width of a few inches, an extension laterally from a few yards to several hundred feet, and a vertical height of 20 to 40 feet, thinning out to noth- ing in all directions, and filled from side to side with highly crystalline, brilliant, large-surfaced galena, which has no accompanying metallic mineral, or gangue matter. Occasionally the vertical extension exceeds a hundred feet, and sometimes a number of these sheets are close together and can be mined as one. Much more commonly the vertical crevice shows irregular expan- sions, which are sometimes large caves, or openings in certain layers, the crevice between retain- ing its normal character, while in other cases the expansion affects the whole crevice, occasion- ally widening it throughout into one large opening. These openings are rarely entirely filled, and commonly contain a loose, disintegrated rock, in which the galena lies loose in large masses, though often adhering to the sides of the cavity in large stalactites, or in cubical crystals. The vertical crevices show a very distinct arrangement parallel with one another, there being two systems, which roughly trend east and west, and north and south. The east and west crevices are far the most abundant and most productive of ore. The vertical crevices are confined nearly altogether to the upper and middle portions of the Galena, and are not productive of zinc ores. They are evidently merely the parallel joint cracks which affect every great rock formation, filled by chemical action with the lead ore. The crevices with openings have evidently been enlarged by the solvent power of atmospheric water carrying carbonic acid, and from the way in which the ore occurs loose in the cavities, it is evident that this solving action has often been subsequent to the first deposition of lead ore in the crevice.
The " flat crevices," " flat sheets," and "flat openings," are analogous to the deposits just described, but have, as indicated by the names, a horizontal position, being characteristic of certain layers, which have evidently been more susceptible to chemical action than others, the dissolving waters having, moreover, been directed along them by less pervious layers above and below. The flat openings differ from the vertical crevices also, in having associated with the
165
MINERAL RESOURCES.
galena much of either the black-jack or dry-bone zinc ores, or both, the galena not unfrequently being entirely wanting. Cleavable calcite also accompanies the ores in these openings in large quantities, and the same is true of the sulphide of iron, which is the variety known as marcasite. These materials have sometimes a symmetrical arrangement on the bottom and top of the open- ing, the central portion being empty. The flat openings characterize the Blue and Buff and lower Galena beds, and from them nearly all the zinc ore is obtained.
It is not possible, in the limits of this short paper, even to mention the various mining districts. It may merely be said that the amount of galena raised from single crevices has often been several hundred thousand, or even over a million pounds, and that one of the principal mining districts is in the vicinity of Mineral Point, where there are two furnaces constantly engaged in smelting. Between the years 1862 and 1873, these two establishments have produced 23,903,260 pounds of metallic lead, or an average of 1,991,938 pounds, the maximum being, in 1869, 2,532,710 pounds, the minimum, in 1873, 1,518,888 pounds.
The zinc ores were formerly rejected as useless, and have only been utilized since 1860. An attempt to smelt them at Mineral Point was not successful, because the amount needed of fuel and clay, both of which have to come from a distance, exceeding even the amount of ore used, caused a very heavy expense for transportation. The ores are therefore now taken altogether to LaSalle, Illinois, where they meet the fuel and clay, and the industry at that place has become a flourishing one. The amount of zinc ore in the Wisconsin lead region is, beyond doubt, very great, and will be a source of wealth for a long time to come.
Since the ores of zinc and lead in this region are confined to such a small thickness of strata greatly eroded by the atmospheric waters, the entire thickness having frequently been removed, it becomes a matter of great importance to know how much of the mining ground remains at every point throughout the district. The very excellent topographico-geological maps of the region, made by Mr. Moses Strong, and just published by the state in the Report of the Geologi- cal Survey, make this knowledge accessible to all.
IRON.
Iron mining in Wisconsin is yet in its infancy, although some important deposits are producing a considerable quantity of ore. A number of blast furnaces have sprung up in the eastern part of the state, but these smelt Michigan ores almost entirely. Much remains yet to be done in the way of exploration, for the most promising iron fields are in the heavily timbered and unsettled regions of the north part of the state, and are as yet imperfectly known. It appears probable. however, that iron ores will, in the near future, be the most important mineral production of Wisconsin. The several ores will be noted in the order of their present im- portance.
RED HEMATITES.
The iron in these ores exists as an anhydrous sesquioxide, which is, however, in an earthy condition, and entirely without the brilliant metallic luster that characterizes the specular hema- tites. Pure hematite contains seventy per cent. of metallic iron, but the red hematites, as mined, are always so largely mingled with mechanical impurities that they rarely contain more than fifty Per cent. The most important red hematite mined in Wisconsin is that known as the Clinton iron ore, the name coming from the formation in which the ore occurs. This formation is a member of the Upper Silurian series, and is named from a locality in Oneida county, New York, where it was first recognized. Associated with its rocks, which are limestones and shales, is con- stantly found a peculiar red hematite, which is so persistent in its characters, both physical and
-
166
HISTORY OF WISCONSIN.
and chemical, that one familiar with it from any one locality can hardly fail to recognize it when coming from others. The iron produced from it is always " cold-short," on account of the large> content of phosphorus; but, mingled with siliceous ores free from phosphorus, it yields alway a most excellent foundry iron. It is mined at numerous points from New York to Tennessee, = and at some points reaches a very great total thickness. In Wisconsin the Clinton rocks merge into the great Niagara lim estone series of the eastern part of the state, but at the bottom of the series, in a few places, the Clinton ore is found immediately overlying the Cincinnati shales. The: most important locality is that known as Iron Ridge, on sections twelve and thirteen in the town. of Hubbard, in Dodge county. Here a north-and-south ledge of Niagara limestone overlooks lower_ land to the west. Underneath, at the foot of the ridge, is the ore bed, fifteen to eighteen feet in -
thickness, consisting of horizontally bedded ore, in layers three to fourteen inches thick. , The= ore has a concretionary structure, being composed of lenticular grains, one twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter, but the top layer is without this structure, having a dark purplish color, and in places a slight metallic appearance. Much of the lower ore is somewhat hydrated. Three quarters of a mile north of Iron Ridge, at Mayville, there is a total thickness of as much as forty feet. According to Mr. E. T. Sweet, the percentages of the several constituents of the Iron Ridge ore are as follows : iron peroxide, 66.38; carbonate of lime, 10.42; carbonate of magnesia, 2.79; silica, 4.72; alumina, 5.54; manganese oxide, 0.44; sulphur, 0.23; phosphoric acid, 0.73; water, 8.75 = 100: metallic iron, 46.66.
Two small charcoal furnaces at Mayville and Iron Ridge smelt a considerable quantity of these ores alone, producing an iron very rich in phosphorus. An analysis of the Mayville pig iron, also by Mr. Sweet, shows the following composition : iron, 95.784 per cent; phosphorus, 1.675 : carbon, o.849; silicon, 0. 108 = 100.286. The average furnace yield of the ore is forty- five per cent. By far the larger part of the ore, however, is sent away to mingle with other ores. It goes to Chicago, Joliet and Springfield, Ill., St. Louis, Mo., Wyandotte and Jackson, Mich., and Appleton, Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wis. In 1872, the Iron Ridge mines yielded 82,371 tons. The Clinton ore is found at other places farther north along the outcrop of the base of the Niagara formation in Wisconsin, but no one of these appears to promise any great quantity of good ore. Red hematite is found at numerous places in Wisconsin, highly charging certain layers of the Potsdam sandstone series, the lowest one of the horizontal Wisconsin formations. In the eastern part of the town of Westfield, Sauk county, the iron ore excludes the sandstone. forming an excellent ore. No developments have been made in this district, so that the size of the deposit is not definitely known.
BROWN HEMATITES.
These ores contain their iron as the hydrated, or brown, sesquioxide, which, when pure, has about sixty per cent. of the metal; the ordinary brown hematites, however, seldom contain over forty per cent. Bog iron ore, a porous brown hematite that forms by deposi- tion from the water of bogs, occurs somewhat widely scattered underneath the large marshes of Portage, Wood and Juneau counties. Very excellent bog ore, containing nearly 50 per cent. of iron, is found near Necedah, Juneau county, and near Grand Rapids, Wood county, but the amount obtainable is not definitely known. The Necedah ore contains: silica, 8.52 ; alumina, 3.77 ; iron peroxide, 71.40; manganese oxide, 0.27; lime, 0.58; magnesia, trace; phosphoric acid, o.21; sulphur, 0.02; organic matter, 1.62 ; water, 13.46=99.85 ; metallic iron, 49.98- according to Mr. E. T. Sweet's analysis. An ore from section 34, twp. 23, range 6 east, Wood county, yielded, to Mr. Oliver Matthews, silica, 4.81 ; alumina, 1.00; iron peroxide, 73.23 ; lime, 0. 11 , magnesia, 0.25 ; sulphuric acid, 0.07 ; phosphoric acid, o.10; organic matter, 5.88; water,
167
MINERAL RESOURCES.
14.24 ; = 99.69: metallic iron, 51.26.
Brown hematite, mingled with more or less red ore, occurs also in some quantity filling cracks and irregular cavities in certain portions of the Potsdam series in northwestern Sauk county and the adjoining portion of Richland. A small charcoal furnace has been in operation on this ore at Ironton, Sauk county, for a number of years, and recently another one has been erected at Cazenovia in the same district.
MAGNETIC ORES AND SPECULAR HEMATITES.
These are taken together here, because their geological occurrence is the same, the two ores occurring not only in the same group of rocks, but even intimately mingled with one another. These ores are not now produced in Wisconsin; but it is quite probable that they may before many years become its principal mineral production. In magnetic iron ore, the iron is in the shape of the mineral magnetite, an oxide of iron containing 72 4 per cent of iron when pure, and this is the highest percentage of iron that any ore can ever have. Specular hematite is the same as red hematite, but is crystalline, has a bright, metallic luster, and a considerable hardness. As mined the richest magnetic and specular ores rarely run over 65 per cent., while in most regions where they are mined they commonly do not reach 50 per cent. The amount of rich ores of this kind in the northern peninsula of Michigan is so great, however, that an ore with less than 50 per cent. finds no sale; and the same must be true in the adjoining states. So largely does this mat- ter of richness affect the value of an ore, that an owner of a mine of 45 per cent. "hard " ore in Wis- consin would find it cheaper to import and smelt Michigan 65 per cent. ore, than to smelt his own, even if his furnace and mine were side by side.
The specular and magnetic ores of Wisconsin occur in two districts - the Penokee iron dis- trict, ten to twenty miles south of Lake Superior, in Bayfield, Ashland and Lincoln counties, and the Menomonee iron district, near the head waters of the Menomonee river, in township 40, ranges 17 and 18 east, Oconto county. Specular iron in veins and nests is found in small quan- tities with the quartz rocks of the Baraboo valley, Sauk county, and Necedah, Juneau county; and very large quantities of a peculiar quartz-schist, charged with more or less of the magnetic and specular iron oxides, occur in the vicinity of Black River Falls, Jackson county; but in none of these places is there any promise of the existence of valuable ore.
In the Penokee and Menomonee regions, the iron ores occur in a series of slaty and quartzose rocks known to geologists as the Haronian series. The rocks of these districts are really the extensions westward of a great rock series, which in the northern Michigan peninsula contains the rich iron ores that have made that region so famous. In position, this rock series may be likened to a great elongated parabola, the head of which is in the Marquette iron district and the two ends in the Penokee and Menomonee regions of Wisconsin. In all of its extent, this rock series holds great beds of lean magnetic and specular ores. These contain large quantities of quartz, which, from its great hardness, renders them very resistant to the action of atmospheric erosion. As a result, these lean ores are found forming high and bold ridges. Such ridges of lean ores have deceived many explorers, and not a few geologists. In the same rock series, for the most part occupying portions of a higher layer, are found, however, ores of extraordinary richness and purity, which, from their comparative softness, very rarely outcrop. The existence in quantity of these very rich ores in the Menomonee region has been definitely proven. One deposit, laid open during the Summer of 1877, shows a width of over 150 feet of first class specular ore; and exceeding in size the greatest of the famous deposits of Michigan. In the Penokee region, however, though the indications are favorable, the existence of the richer ores is as yet an inference only. The Penokee range itself is a wonderful development of
1
168
HISTORYOF WISCONSIN.
lean ore, which forms a continuous belt several hundred feet in width and over thirty miles in length. Occasionally portions of this belt are richer than the rest, and become almost merchant- able ores. The probability is, however, that the rich ores of this region will be found in the lower country immediately north of the Penokee range, where the rocks are buried beneath heavy accumulations of drift material.
COPPER.
The only copper ore at present raised in Wisconsin is obtained near Mineral Point, in the lead region of the southwestern part of the state, where small quantities of chalcopyrite, the yellow sulphide of copper and iron, are obtained from pockets and limited crevices in the Galena lime- stone. Copper pyrites is known to occur in this way throughout the lead region, but it does not appear that the quantity at any point is sufficient to warrant exploration.
Copper occurs also in the northernmost portions of Wisconsin, where it is found under alto- gether different circumstances. The great copper-bearing series of rocks of Keweenaw point and Isle Royale stretch southwestward into and entirely across the state of Wisconsin, in two parallel belts. One of these belts enters Wisconsin at the mouth of the Montreal river, and immediately leaving the shore of Lake Superior, crosses Ashland and Bayfield counties, and then widening greatly, occupies a large area in Douglas, St. Croix, Barron and Chippewa counties. The other belt forms the backbone of the Bayfield peninsula, and crosses the northern part of Douglas county, forming a bold ridge, to the Minnesota line. The rocks of this great series appear to be for the most part of igneous origin, but they are distinctly bedded, and even interstratified with sandstone, shales, and coarse boulder-conglomerate, the whole series having generally a tilted position. In veins crossing the rock-beds, and scattered also promiscuously through the layers of both conglomerates and igneous rocks, pure metallic copper in fine flakes is often found. Mining on a small scale has been attempted at numbers of points where the rivers flowing northward into Lake Superior make gorges across the rock series, but at none of them has sufficient work been done to prove or disprove the existence of copper in paying quantity.
GOLD AND SILVER.
Small traces of gold have been detected by the writer in quartz from the crystalline rocks of Clark county, but there is no probability that any quantity of this metal will ever be found in the state. Traces of silver have also been found in certain layers of the copper series in Ash- land county. Judging from the occurrence of silver in the same series not far to the east in Michigan, it seems not improbable that this metal may be found also in Wisconsin.
BRICK CIAYS.
These constitute a very important resource in Wisconsin. Extending inland for many miles from the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior are stratified beds of clay of lacustrine origin, having been deposited by the lakes when greatly expanded beyond their present sizes. All of these clays are characterized by the presence of a large amount of carbonate of lime. Along Lake Superior they have not yet been utilized, but all through the belt of country bordering Lake Michigan they are dug and burned, fully 50,000,000 bricks being made annually in this region. A large proportion of these bricks are white or cream-colored, and these are widely known under the name of "Milwaukee brick," though by no means altogether made at Mil- waukee. Others are ordinary red brick. The difference between the light-colored and red bricks is ordinarily attributed to the greater amount of iron in the clay from which the latter are
169
MINERAL RESOURCES.
burned, but it has been shown by Mr. E. T. Sweet that the white bricks are burned from clay which often contains more iron than that from which the red bricks are made, but which also contains a very large amont of carbonate of lime. The following analyses show (1) the compo- sition of the clay from which cream-colored brick are burned at Milwaukee, (2) the composition of a red-brick clay from near Madison, and (3) the composition of the unutilized clay from Ashland, Lake Superior. Nos. 1 and 2 are by Mr. E. T. Sweet, No. 3 by Professor W. W. Daniells :
(1)
(2)
(3)
(1)
(2)
(3)
Silica
38.22
75.80
58.08
Potash ..
2.16
1.74
Alumina.
9.75
11.07
25.38
Soda ..
0.65
0.40
Iron peroxide ..
2.84
3.53
4.44
Water.
0.95
1.54
Iron protoxide.
1.16
0.31
Moisture.
1.85
2.16
4.09
Lime
16 23
1.8.4
8.30
Magnesia.
7.54
.08
Totals
99.85
99.56
100.19
Carbonic acid
18.50
1.09
At Milwaukee 24,000,000 cream-colored brick are made annually ; at Racine, 3,500,000 ; at Appleton and Menasha, 1,800,000 each ; at Neenah, 1,600,000; at Clifton, 1,700,000; at Wat- erloo, 1,600,000; and in smaller quantities at Jefferson, Ft. Atkinson, Edgerton, Whitewater, Geneva, Ozaukee, Sheboygan Falls, Manitowoc, Kewaunee, and other places. In most cases the cream-colored bricks are made from a bright-red clay, although occasionally the clay is light- colored. At Whitewater and other places tile and pottery are also made from this clay.
Although these lacustrine clays are much the most important in Wisconsin, excellent brick clays are also found in the interior of the state. In numbers of places along the Yahara valley, in Dane county, an excellent stratified clay occurs. At Madison this is burned to a red brick ; at Stoughton and Oregon to a fine cream-colored brick. At Platteville, Lancaster, and other points in the southwestern part of the state, red bricks are made from clays found in the vicinity.
KAOLIN (PORCELAIN - CLAY - FIRE - CLAY).
The word "kaolin." is applied. by geologists to a clay-like material which is used in making chinaware in this country and in Europe. The word is of Chinese origin, and is applied by the Chinese to the substance from which the famous porcelain of China is made. Its application to the European porcelain-clay was made under the mistaken idea-one which has prevailed among scientists until very recently-that the Chinese material is the same as the European. This we now know to be an error, the Chinese and Japanese wares being both made altogether from a solid rock.
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