Red Sands
It was 1869 that the Allouez Mine began operations atop Bumbletown Hill, sinking a trio of shafts into what would become known as the Allouez Conglomerate bed. With the mine came a need for a mill, and the company turned to the nearest source of water it could find: the Hills Creek. This creek tumbled down from atop Bumbletown Hill and the Calumet Plateau and made its way down into a deep valley before emptying into the lake. It was at the head of that valley that the Allouez constructed a three-head stamp mill, and a short-line railroad (The Allouez Railroad) was built connecting the mill to the shafts atop the hill.
For the next twenty years the mine and mill produced sporadically, but with very little profit. In 1892 both mine and mill closed. In 1909 the Allouez Mine was granted a second life along new workings atop the nearby Kearsarge Amygdaloid Lode. However, its original mill along Hills Creek was too old and run-down to be of any use. The new Allouez Mine had to rely on leased stamp heads from the Centennial Mill instead. The old mill was demolished and the old machinery sold for scrap.
With the help of an old 1929 Topo Map sent to me by Dave Freeze (Thanks again Dave!) I hoped to track down the old Mill and get some photos. Here’s the section of that old map that shows the area where the mill should. Considering the mill was abandoned (and presumably destroyed) around 1910 I doesn’t surprise me that it isn’t marked on this map. The old tailings (which I have highlighted) do show up however. Using those tailings as a guide, I decided to try to make my way up to the most up-stream end of those sands, with the presumption that the mill must be located nearby.
Finding the sands was easy enough. Locals refer to these old tailings as “Red Sands”, and its a popular party spot and playground for ATV users. The color of these sands make them unique, and contrast greatly with the dark gray sands at Gay or the Breakers.
These sands have filled up the entire valley floor, and spread for over a mile downstream. The Hills Creek meanders through the center of it all, its banks surprisingly well-rooted with plenty of plants and trees. Also surprising is the fact that the creek channel itself is absent of any sands to speak of. I suppose that a century of spring run-off and flooding in the valley has cleaned out the river rather well.
While the river itself may have recovered from the red sands, the surrounding valley floor has not. Covering the valley floor today is a vast petrified forest, the remains of the lush forest that once lined the rivers path. Fallen trees and severed stumps litter the red landscape, dried and bleached white by the sun.
Like any Superior lake-shore, the red sands are littered with thousands of pieces of what appears to be driftwood. But it wasn’t the big lake that dumped these sticks and branches here, it was no doubt spring flooding and run-off that brought all this debris down from the hills. Once the waters were gone, the debris simply sat atop the sands to dry.
Making our way up to the head of the sands we discovered only a few concrete foundations - such as the one seen above. The concrete construction makes me believe that this was not part of the original mill. It was lined with a series of iron bolts - which means that a large piece of machinery was once mounted here.
Here’s another concrete foundation, this one much smaller then the first but sitting just a few feet away. I almost want to think that this was some type of hopper, used to fill trucks with stamp sand I would guess. An old road leads directly down to here, and two foundations look far enough apart for a car to pass between.
We looked around as best we could, but sands at the valley’s head were surrounded by thick forests of pine and spruce which were almost impossible to explore. In the end we weren’t able to find any evidence of the old mill. Since the mill was built of wood I think any ruins have long since rotted away. Any rock foundation is probably hidden deep in the trees, buried by decades of spring run-off down from the valley walls. The only sign of man that we did find, was this old sole from a shoe sitting atop the sands. But his could of just been from some one’s trash.
It looks like all that remains to tell the old mill’s story are the red sands themselves.
Well that clears a few things up! I randomly went down a side track from the Gratiot River road one day and ended up at the red sands. The dead forest there is downright spooky.
I really wonder where the concrete foundations came from. If the mill was destroyed in 1910, and hadn’t been kept up for a long time before then, the foundations must have come from some much later construction. I keep hearing about this “Hills Creek Project” which was one of the “last hopes” for C&H. Perhaps the foundations were related to that exploration.
dcclark | August 13, 2008
Don’t know if this clears anything up for those who know the area better than I. Found this on the Pasty Cam from the Dec. 1, 2002 archives, posted by “Paul in Illinois”
“One big what-if during those times was C&H’s proposed Hills Creek Project. This would have sunk one to three shafts on an extension of the Calumet Conglomerate to the northeast of the original mine. The projected production would have been a several fold increase of what they had been doing in the ’50’s and ’60’s. One can only speculate on the effect that might have had on the Copper Country.”
Google Books also excerpted some of a book called “Strangers and Sojourners” by Arthur W. Thurner, which is described as a history of the Keweenaw. It says that diamond drilling began in 1966 on the Hills Creek Project, but that it never amounted to anything.
Dale Beitz | August 13, 2008
The hills creek exploration was basically a surface program, the first underground exploration that was part of this program was the Centennial mine, ultimately it proved somewhat unproductive and was ditched by both C&H and Homestake
Joe Dase | August 13, 2008
Mike,
Would it be possible to post an unedited pic to give us an idea of how it appears in real life?
Jay Balliet | August 14, 2008
Your cramping my style Jay…
explorer | August 14, 2008
If possible it’s almost creepier in full color. We’re gonna have to check this out next trip up there whenever that is (not soon enough).
Jay Balliet | August 14, 2008
Completely unrelated, but I just ran across a great website.
http://www.miningartifacts.org/
Jay Balliet | August 14, 2008
Just checked out the website Jay mentioned in his earlier posting. Great web sight, has information relating to the Copper Country. Also check the “other links”. More info on copper mining in Michigan. One sight has information on the prehistoric miners in the Copper Country.
davef908 | August 14, 2008
So I’m trying to find Red Sands on the map. I’m looking at satellite images and see some red colored clearings off
Bumbletown Road east of Allouez, but I’m not seeing any sign of a creek or river. Am I looking in the right area?
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Allouez+&state=MI#a/maps/l:::Allouez:MI::US:47.287201:-88.409401:city:Keweenaw+County/m:hyb:12:47.289808:-88.413012:0::/io:0:::::f:EN:M:/e
Jay Balliet | August 14, 2008
Jay — no, that’s not it. Go northwest from there. I’d linkify you, but I can’t figure out how to get a link to a specific location using mapquest.
dcclark | August 14, 2008
Those red colored clearings are the rock piles to the Old Allouez Mine. As dcclark said, you need to scroll up and to the left. You’ll see the sands pretty clearly. They’re much larger then those red piles of rock.
explorer | August 14, 2008
Here’s a link from a site that I could actually figure out:
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&FORM=LMLTCP&cp=47.316396~-88.429427&style=h&lvl=16&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&phx=0&phy=0&phscl=1&encType=1
dcclark | August 14, 2008
Thanks guys!!!
Jay Balliet | August 15, 2008
The red sands dead forest sounds like a worthy place to visit and a spot that I wasn’t aware of. I always like it when explorer blends the local terrain and geography with copper country history. This one reminds me of his visit to the Copper Falls stamp sands and the memorable discovery of an old adit there.
Herb from Wisconsin | August 15, 2008
Thanks Herb for nice comments - glad you enjoy. I highly recommend taking that road out to the Gratiot River Mouth (which is now a public park), its a nice drive and the topography in that area is very interesting. The Allouez Gap is always hard to appreciate due to a lack of spots to adequately take it all in - except for along that road. The Hills Creek valley is very large and impressive and if you due some looking around you can find some very nice views along the way.
explorer | August 15, 2008
Interesting how far that sand made it down da creek.
Luckily, it was stamped in an old mill with little technology and chemicals like Gay sands, or they would be out there covering it up.
Gordy Schmitt | August 15, 2008
Gordy: Are the Gay sands being covered up?
Explorer: You said there is a park at the Gratiot River’s mouth. Can a guy camp out there? Or is it posted no camping? It does sound like a nice drive out that way.
If we come up in Sept. or Oct. we are always looking for new places to camp. I don’t official camp grounds, but just places to pull in, spend the night, and leave NO trace. Having water nearby is always a plus. In places it’s so rocky and steep up there finding a spot to camp isn’t always real easy.
Herb from Wisconsin | August 17, 2008
I believe that the Gratiot River park and areas are OK to camp — I’ve never seen any signs. However, it’s mostly rocky beach and forest, not too many clearings to pitch a tent.
I just got back from a weekend at the old rocket range. That and High Rock Bay (a mile down the beach) are two awesome backwoods camping spots, if you haven’t been to them.
dcclark | August 17, 2008
Nope, the Gay sands are fine as is. No chemicals were used in processing those sands, I don’t ever remember them being blown around with strong winds, so I doubt anything will ever happen with them. Looking at my original message it looks like I implied that. But somewhere in the next 1000 years they may have to worry about them plugging up the South entrance of the Portage Canal, I believe that Little Traverse Bay may have big issues with that in the not to distant future. I was at the old coal dock location that supplied the Gay mills a few years ago. The sand has pretty much covered up any trace that it was open to the lake.
Gordy Schmitt | August 17, 2008
Herb….
There is camping at the Gratiot River Park, as long as you stay to the south side of the river. The north side - though also open to the public - is a nature sanctuary and does not allow camping. Like dcclark said, there isn’t any real great clearing for camping at the mouth, kind of a pop a squat on the beach type I suppose.
explorer | August 18, 2008
Thanks for the info guys. It’s good to know possible spots ahead of time.
Isn’t the rocket range and High Rock way out on the end? If so, I haven’t been out that far. I never felt comfortable taking my road bike way out there, and last August my pal and I had multiple flat tire and tight lug nut trouble at Horseshoe Harbor, so just beyond there is as far as we got in his truck. Sounds like a good place to check out.
Incidently, we were out there looking for Petit Marais, the rock bound harbor of refuge of the old voyageur days just east of Horseshoe Harbor. But it looked like lake erosion had cut into it and wrecked it. Nothing matched what I had read about it. Still, it was fun walking on the Great Conglomerate with a wonderful cool fresh lake breeze. A couple of 1840s shafts were sunk out there, but I couldn’t find them, but nothing new there.
Herb from Wisconsin | August 18, 2008
Yup, the rocket range and High Rock Bay are waaaay out at the east end of the point. We took an all-wheel drive sedan, most people use a Jeep or something with a lift kit. I would NEVER take a road bike that way!
dcclark | August 18, 2008