BY
B. E. TYLER
L.O.C.—77-71925
S.B.N.—0-912382-21-X
Reprinted 1977
By
BLACK LETTER PRESS
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Art Work by Robert Nelson
History, with all of its ramifications, is a complex subject. Often, students pursue it with only the written word in hand, in an attempt to gain a deeper, and more meaningful understanding of it. This is usually the case because other means of historical relation are not available, or completely nonexistent. The strict narration of facts is not a sufficient means alone for broadening one’s knowledge of the past.
Whenever the written word can be complemented with other media, for example, worthwhile actual photographs, a more complete understanding of the past is experienced. Literally, a picture is worth a thousand words, and the student can gain, for himself, a more penetrating insight into his subject which words alone cannot always provide him.
In publishing Michigan’s Copper Country In Early Photos, a pictorial account of the Copper Country around 1900, the Black Letter Press has made a more complete understanding of the region possible by supplementing its written histories with the varied collection of photographs. The area’s setting, its people, and their work are portrayed. Originally, the book was published as, Souvenir of the Copper Country Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Copies of this original work are extremely scarce today.
In his introduction to the original publication, B.E. Tyler, the publisher, states that the Copper Country is a place of natural beauty, with the mining of copper from the bowels of the earth as the district’s major industry. This was written in 1903, and the pictures presented in the volume’s pages offer supportive evidence to his words. However, time has moved on, and much has both changed and remained the same in the Copper Country.
Tyler mentions a picture of the Cliff Mining Camp, and relates that the work has been abandoned, but, “almost every house that was ever erected there is standing.” This is no longer true. All structures have been dismantled, and all that remains of the once proud and fabulous Cliff mine are a few poor rock piles.
The many gabled, and uniquely constructed Quincy Rock House was to be found in Hancock, and it was reputed to be the most photographed mine structure of its kind in the country. It was destroyed by fire in 1956.
The Douglas House, a famous meeting place, and hotel, in Houghton still remains, although its appearance has been altered, and its surroundings have changed.
The Kerredge Theater, in Hancock, was completed in 1902, with some seats costing as much as forty dollars for a single performance. Popular shows, Shakespearian plays, and operas, were presented on its stage.
Copper mining no longer remains the major industry of the area. Once where many shafts were sunk deep into the earth, and their rockhouses lined the horizon, only a few remain today as reminders of a bygone era, standing as ever vigilant sentinels, guarding what may be left of their once rich copper deposits. Gone are the giant hoisting machines used to bring copper ore to the surface. Gone are the miners, who labored hard by candlelight with simple hand tools, replaced by today’s modern miner using his battery operated head lamp, and power machinery when work is available. Only exploratory and experimental work is presently being conducted in the Copper Country.
One aspect of the Copper Country which remains relatively unchanged is its rugged natural beauty. The sparkling clear deep blue waters of chilling Lake Superior still crash upon its rocky tree lined shores. A green mantle of dense forests covers much of the land, which in places is wild and mountainous. Water still rushes over spectacular falls as it flows onward toward the world’s largest fresh water lake. Past and present residents, and many visitors, have witnessed the scenic panorama, with some insisting that the climate of the Copper Country has an exhilarating, and refreshing therapeutic affect upon them.
Suggested reading material on the Copper Country might include the following titles that are considered to be of more than passing interest: Red Metal, by C. Harry Benedict, Prehistoric Copper Mining in the Lake Superior Region, edited by Roy W. Drier, and Octave J. DuTemple, Boom Copper, by Angus Murdock, and The Cliff, by Donald Chaput. Also of worthwhile reading are such historical novels on the region as, Where Copper Is King, by James Wright, published in 1905, and, The Long Winter Ends, by Newton G. Thomas.
Another beneficial book is, A True Description of the Lake Superior Country, written by John St. John, and originally published in 1846. It was republished by the Black Letter Press in 1976, and it provides its readers with a rare and invaluable first hand account of early Copper Country settings. Of particular interest are the author’s descriptions of the region’s geologic development, and of the early copper mines.
Michigan’s Copper Country In Early Photos adds a new dimension to the historiography of the Copper Country, providing in pictures what the student may not grasp from the written word.
Richard A. Cebelak
Grand Rapids, Michigan
March, 1977
The simple beauty of the Copper Country of Michigan, the vastness
of its enterprises and the activity of its marts are impressive in their
very nature. Their pictures are more pleasing when left unmarred
by wordy descriptions. Scenes may be absorbed and grasped by the
eye which no language can describe.
This book is a simple collection of pictures, characteristic of scenes which are familiar to those acquainted with the Copper Country. The effort has been put forth to make it as comprehensive as possible.
The winning of the copper from the earth constitutes the dominant industry of the district, and is deserving of first place in a representation of the Copper Country. All features of the industry are shown—in the depths of the mine; on the surface, where the world’s most massive machinery furnishes power to actuate the air drills and operate the hoisting cables; in the mills and smelters, where the metal is refined into copper bullion; along the wharves, where ships are laden with the product, to carry it to lower lake ports, whence it is distributed throughout the world.
Historic points of interest are given. There is a picture of the old Cliff Mining Camp, one of the earliest, and, in its day, one of the most populous and prosperous communities in the Upper Peninsula. To-day almost every house that was ever erected there is standing, most of them dating back nearly half a century, but the place is deserted—hundreds of houses with bare walls staring out through bleak windows, and scarcely a dozen souls to inhabit them. The old mine workings are abandoned for more profitable deposits of mineral.
Pictures are given which show the natural beauty of the Copper Country. Pleasing views are so bountifully bestowed by nature that it is a difficult task to choose the most impressive. But enough are given to create a taste for more—a taste that can be gratified to its fullest only by rambling among the vales and hills, through the forests and along the banks of the quiet streams and the shores of the mighty Unsalted Sea.
The new South Range is thoroughly pictured. This is the young giant which in the last five years has forged forward and wrought from the ground which was the rooting place for an unbroken forest a group of copper mining camps that stand to-day close rivals to the older camps which have been half a century in the making.
Such pictures constitute within themselves a story of beauty, power and pathos which no words can enhance. Those responsible for the book have drawn from its preparation a wealth of pleasure. Courtesies have been extended from all sources, in recompense for which the sincerest expression of appreciation is now extended. May those into whose hands the book shall come glean from it all the subtle meaning and all the stirring thoughts which its pictures are capable of inspiring. It will then be an epic, indeed—a poem, a song, a burst of harmony beyond the power of words to utter.
B. E. Tyler,
Publisher,
Houghton, Mich.
Copyright, 1903, by B. E. Tyler, Houghton, Mich.
Houghton 1897
ASSAYERS MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF MINES.
HOTEL DEE, HOUGHTON, MICH.
SHELDEN-DEE BUILDING, HOUGHTON, MICH.
MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF MINES, HOUGHTON, MICH.
DOUGLAS HOUSE, HOUGHTON, MICH.
A. Haas Brewing Co.
Houghton.
National Bank of Houghton
Quincy Rock House
Hancock from Portage Lake
Calumet & Hecla Mine
Lake Linden
Portage Lake
Paine Memorial Library
Painesdale.
Freda Park, Copper Range
Trimountain Mine
Copper Range R.R.
QUINCY SMELTERS, HANCOCK
CHAMPION MILL ON COPPER RANGE R.R.
Students - M.C.M.
Isle Royale Mine, Houghton.
Quincy Mine.
GOING UNDER GROUND.
N.Y. Cent. Boat Unloading at
Copper Range R.R. Dock
Winter
Company G 3rd Rg. Mich. Nat. Guards
Houghton.
Rock House
Quincy Mine
Divers at Work
Trimountain Intake, L. S.
Quincy Hill
Coal Hoist
Copper Range R.R.
Michigan College Mines
Houghton
TRIMOUNTAIN MILL on COPPER RANGE R.R.
Lake Superior Foxes
Hodge Foundry
Underground
Champion Mine
Mill Mine Jct.
Copper Range R.R.
Five Million Pounds of Copper Ready for Shipment, Houghton, Mich.
Mining Students
Underground
Public School Bl’g’s
Hancock.
Catch of Fish
Baltic
on
COPPER RANGE R.R.
Baltic Mine
Copper Range R.R.
Excursion
Copper Range R.R.
Quincy Stamp Mill
Timbermen
Champion Mine
TIONESTA
Trammers
Baltic Mine
Lower Falls
FIRE STEEL RIVER
Copper Range R.R.
STANLEY G. WIGHT, President. C. M. GARRISON, Sec. & Treas.
This mass of pure Copper, weighing about 6,000 lbs., was found upon the property of the Minong Mining Company situated at McCargo Cove, on Isle Royal, L. S. It was taken from an ancient mine Pit 16½ feet deep, and is just as discovered, showing ancient stone hammer marks.
Oseeola Stamp Mill
Freda Park
ATLANTIC MINE
ATLANTIC
Cliff Mine.
Oldest Mine on Lake Superior
FIRE STEEL RIVER
COPPER RANGE R.R.
TRIMOUNTAIN MILL ON COPPER RANGE R.R.
RIPLEY FALLS
Hoist
Champion Mine
-Storm- Freda Park
Copper Range R.R.
CHAMPION MILL
COPPER RANGE R.R.
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL RAILWAY, RUNNING IN CONNECTION WITH COPPER RANGE RAILROAD.
MOHAWK AND WOLVERINE STAMP MILLS.
C. & H. Smelting Wks.
U.S. SHIP CANAL
Lake Superior
PROFILE ROCK
C.R.R.R.
Hancock Fire Dept.
Tamarack Mill “New”
Quincy Street
Hancock.
DOLLAR BAY DOCK
QUINCY COAL DOCK
“Jumbo”
Hoist C. & H. mine
CALUMET.
HOUGHTON FIRE DEPT.
Underground Trolly
Quincy Mine
“The Swing”
—Freda Park—
KERREDGE THEATRE
Construction Work.
Copper Range R.R.
Catholic Hospital
Hancock
Isle Royale Hoist
Adventure Mill
COPPER RANGE R.R.
“GRAYLING” OTTER RIVER—COPPER RANGE R.R.—TYLER—
Tables
Champion Mill
UPPER SECTION HUNGARIAN FALLS
Redridge Dam
C.R.R.R.
S.S. Northwest.
—Citizens National Bank—
Houghton.
—Baltic Mill—
COPPER RANGE R.R.—TYLER
LAKE ROWLAND
C.R.R.R.
Tamarack Stamp Mill.
AGATE BEACH—FREDA PARK
—Picnic—
Freda Park
Amphidrome.
Houghton.
Red Jacket Shaft, Calumet. Mich.,
Deepest Vertical Shaft in the World.
Over 6,000 feet deep.
TRIMOUNTAIN MILL ON COPPER RANGE R.R.
Quincy Stamp Mill
Fishing Party
Houghton
STORM—LAKE SUPERIOR
THE DAILY MINING GAZETTE
W. R. DASKAN & CO. HARDWARE POST OFFICE
Paine Memorial Library
Paine
Hungarian Falls
Copper Range R.R.
CHAMPION MINE
C.R.R.R.
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