Copper Mines and A Fort

We headed north on US 41 to the Keweenaw Peninsula - Michigan's northernmost point. What we thought was a fire tower on the top of the hill turned out to be an old copper mine and hoist named the Quincy Mine & Hoist. It is managed by the National Park Service, and they are doing extensive renovations to the mine and grounds.

The Keweenaw Peninsula once had the largest deposit of pure elemental copper in the world. The last mine closed in 1996.


How did they process copper?
I now know, thanks to the NPS brochure!


Step 1: Drilling and Blasting (self-explanatory)

Step 2: Hauling

Step 3: Hoisting

Part of the No. 2 Hoist House

Step 4: Crushing and Seperating Rock

No. 2 Shaft-Rockhouse
(for crushing and separating rock)

Step 5: Transporting (I think about Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom when Short Round is being chased in the mine shaft carts.)

A large wheel in front of the Cog-Rail Tram Building

Step 6: Stamping and Concentrating (steam-powered stamp mills were used. Efficient stamps processed 600-800 tons of rock per day)

Step 7: Sorting (Interesting fact here: Stamped rock was sorted by water. Heavier pieces, about 60% copper, fell to the bottom of the sorters, while waste rock (also called tailings) were washed into the lake.)

Step 8: Smelting (heating the copper to liquid form. I hear Austin Power's Gold Member saying "unfortunate smelting accident.")

Remains of No. 2 Boiler House

No. 5 Boiler House

Step 9: Casting (ladeling the liquid copper into molds which cooled to form a variety of blocks called ignots)

Step 10: Shipping

Supply Office and Powder House
(now used as museum and bathrooms)

Between the 1840's and 1960's, more than 11 billion pounds of copper were extracted. But mining life was not easy. Statistics show that at least one man died a week, and many others suffered from blindness, hearing loss, lost limbs, and head injuries.



We took a detour on a county highway to visit the town of Gay and take a picture of the Gay Bar, a popular place for motorcyclists.


Our next stop was Fort Wilkins State Historic Park.
It was an active U.S. Army post, built in 1844 to keep the peace in Michigan's Copper Country. It was abandoned by 1846, briefly regarrisoned in the 1860's, then became a state park in 1923. (And well-preserved, might I add, thanks to the WPA - the Work Project Administration.)

While we had ideal weather on our visit, we learned that life at the fort in the winters were rough. It was great to hear stories from local theater and history students serving as living interpreters.


We learned a thing or two about grub at the fort...

Army bakers stored flour, mixed dough, and left it to rise in dough troughs.

To make bread for 120 soldiers stationed at Fort Wilkinson in 1844, the baker used:

• 100 pounds of flour
• 7 gallons of water
• 1 gallon of prepared yeast
• 1.5 pounds of salt

Each man received one 18-ounce loaf a day.

An inspection report of Fort Wilkins from the 1870's said "Messing very good. Potatoes every day - quality of bread very good. Fresh Beef and Mutton good quality and issued 5 days in 10."


We read that Army regulations required each private to take turns as the company cook. Captain John N. King stated in How to Feed an Army "I attribute much of the sickness created in the Army to... insufficient and bad cooking."

And as we walked on the porches of the garrison, an interpreter asked us if we were heading to the hospital because we had just come from viewing the exhibit in the mess hall. Heehee!

Married Soldiers Quarters


Laundry Day at the Married Soldiers Quarters

Bakery

Mess Quarters & Company Quarters

Kitchen Quarters

We had a great time here.

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Eagle Harbor and the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse

A local plaque gives vague facts on Eagle Harbor. It says:

"Horace Greeley landed here on June 15, 1847. He came on the Independence, the first propeller boat on Lake Superior. It had a maximum speed of 5mph. That night, Greeley reported the harbor was frozen over for some distance from shore. There was no dock, and oxen he had brought from Detroit were thrown overboard to swim ashore.
Eagle Harbor was first settled by copper prospectors in 1844 and later became headquarters for man of the copper mines located along the range of hills to the south."

About 30 miles later, we spotted a sign giving details on Lake Superior that said "The first steamer on Lake Superior was the Independence in 1845. The Independence came from Chicago."

Can you see our confusion here?



A few facts about the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse:

• Built in 1851
• Replaced in 1871
• The octagonal brick light tower is ten feet in diameter, with walls 12 inches thick and it supports a 10-sided cast iron lantern.
• Automated in 1980