Keweenaw Sands (p3)
The steam stamp technology that helped propel an industry into profitable territory required large amounts of water to function - somewhere in the vicinity of millions of gallons a day. This forced more modern mines to place their mills near the only sources of water large enough to supply these numbers - Torch Lake, Portage Lake, and Lake Superior. But this wasn’t the case a generation earlier, when a mill’s gravity stamps required only a fraction of those water needs. Because of this mills could be located along rivers, streams, or even small man-made lakes. These “inland mills” as they are often called were done away with by the turn of the century, but many of these mills can still be located by the stamp sands they left behind.
One of the more famous of these early mills is the Albany & Boston, which erected a mill along the Boston Creek at a town known at the time as Demmon. To supply the mill with the necessary water and to provide a dumping ground for its tailings, the mine built a dam along the creek to create Boston Pond. Over time the sands from the mill spread down river from the pond, filling the marshlands to the west. Today those sands have been rehabilitated, with those in the pond itself covered by a layer of rocks.
If you move just a few miles north, in the town of Calumet, you’ll find a second example of a man-made lake created for a stamp mill. This one is Calumet Lake, previously known simply as Calumet Dam. This lake was created by the Calumet Mine, at the time independent from the Hecla Mine. At the time the Calumet Mine was being run into the ground by a rather incompetent manager by the name of Hulbert, who first discovered the great conglomerate lode below the mine’s feet. Hulbert had neglected to construct his own stamp mill before the start of winter, and had resorted to transporting (by horse and sleigh no less) the mines copper to Hancock for milling. Worried investors in Boston quickly dispatched Mr. Agassiz in to clean up the mess.
Upon his arrival Agassiz promptly constructed the much needed stamp mill on the northern end of the mine’s property - C&H’s first. Putting a dam up across Slaughterhouse Creek, a small lake was created to provide the mill with water and dumping grounds for the tailings. Unfortunately Agassiz had made a costly mistake in the process, opting for rollers to crush the rock instead of more traditional stamps. Because of this the mill was horribly inefficient, and was quickly replaced by a larger mill (complete with ball stamps) on Torch Lake. During its brief life-span, however, the mill was able to dump a large amount of sands into the lake. Today those sands have been covered by the EPA an dare now a public park.
While there were a great many “inland stamp mills” scattered all across the Keweenaw, many of the mines that fed them were unprofitable and short lived. Because of this a great many old mill sites are very hard to find, having deposited only a small amount of sands in its lifetime. Only the most successful mines would leave a big enough mark to notice. Two of these successful mines are the Central and Copper Falls, who both managed to deposit enough sands to make a notable difference to the landscape.
The Copper Falls Sands is the largest inland mill deposit in the Keweenaw, and has created a vast wasteland in the center of a lush forest. The mill was built along Owl Creek, and used water wheels to power some of its machinery. As for the Central Mill, it was built near a small man made lake now known as Central Lake. These sands were dumped south of the mill, along the banks of the East Branch of the Eagle River. Unfortunately over the years these sands have been washed down stream by the river, and have managed to create a line of desolate deposits for miles to the west.
Another of these early mines that managed to leave a mark on the landscape is the Delaware. The mine company that first explored the Delaware was simultaneously exploring several other mine locations as well, and had high hopes for them all. Before any substantial copper was even discovered, the company had invested in the construction of a large mill and smelter complex along the shores of Lac La Belle, and built a railroad connecting them to these new mines (which would become the grandfather of the Keweenaw Central Railroad). The mine companies exuberance was fatal, as it ran out of money before any profitable copper was ever found. A new company moved in to give it a second try, and in the process built a second mill for the Delaware on the site of the old mill. This time copper was discovered, and the mill was able to leave a generous amount of red sands along Lac La Belle’s shore.
But the Delaware wasn’t done yet. After a few years a third stamp mill was built for the mine, but this time it was located near the mine site itself along the nearby Montreal River. This would be the first stamp mill in the region to use ball stamps, instead of the gravity stamps that had been traditionally used. The sands for this mill have remarkably stayed put, and haven’t been carried eastward by the river.
Of course we have featured these sands before - the “red sands” at Hills Creek gorge. As can be seen on the image, these sands have travelled a good distance down the valley. In their wake is now a petrified forest along the banks of the river.
Our very last Keweenaw Sands is these along Scales Creek - and they’re somewhat of a mystery to me. Scales Creek is just to the south of Copper City (to the right in this image), just a short distance from the North Kearsarge Mine (towards the top of this image). These sands have followed the creek from some unknown source, leaving a line of dead river banks in their wake. The EPA has covered these sands and the river banks are now fields of grass.
Unfortunately I have no idea where these sands have come from. The only mines in the vicinity are the North Kearsarge, Allouez, and Wolverine. The Allouez already had a mill so I doubt these were from it. The Wolverine had a mill at Gay, so that leaves the North Kearsarge. Could they have installed a mill here? I doubt it, the mine was begun by the Osceola who also had a mll already.
Hopefully some one else out there has an idea….
I think there’s one more for you — although very hard to find. There was a big deal a few years back about the old Huron Mine stamp mill, which is just behind WalMart along Huron Creek. The story is that a professor from Tech was walking her dog there and realized that she was in the midst of the ruins of an inland stamp mill. I’ve been there briefly and couldn’t figure out where it is, though.
dcclark | August 21, 2008
Actually, it was Hubbard who had the rollers installed at the Calumet mill. They had worked ok at the Huron mine which was mainly mining amygdaloid rock (although that was a failed venture).
When he had them installed at the Calumet, he didn’t take into consideration that the conglomerate rock being mined was much harder than the amygdaloid at the Huron. Even though the conglomerate continually broke the rollers he persisted in using them.
Finally Aggasiz arrived to take control and try to turn the Calumet around (it didn’t hurt that he was married to the main financier’s daughter). He quickly replaced the rollers with the more conventional stamps.
As far as the pond goes, it was created with the original “beaver dam”. After Aggasiz took over, people loyal to Hubbard blew it up with dynamite in the night. Before Hubbard could have a local judge put a halt on the reconstruction o the dam, Aggasiz had already had the necessary repairs made.
The rest, so the saying goes, is history.
Jay Balliet | August 21, 2008
Actually, here’s an article about the Huron mine and its mill… even though it is from the Lode.
dcclark | August 21, 2008
Is is still illegal to trespass on the Huron site? (the article is 3 years old).
Jay Balliet | August 21, 2008
I know that the city was trying to get ahold of the land there, but I couldn’t find any more articles about it.
dcclark | August 21, 2008
Jay..
Regarding who installed the rollers at the Calumet Mill, it looks to be yet another one of those historical events that have been muddled over the last century. I believe your assertion stems from the book Boom Copper (By Angus Murdoch) which state:
“In the meantime Hulbert, chastened by Agassiz’s inspection trip, wrote promising to erect a mill at once…But here again he demonstrated unaccountable muddleheadedness. A man with his experience should have known that the tough conglomerate which resisted the pounding of heavy Cornish stamp shoes could not be crushed in a roller mill. Nevertheless, Hulbert purchases a roller mill from the defunct Huron Mine!”
This version of events - where Hulbert purchased the infamous rollers - is also backed by this passage from Houghton County, 1870-1920 (By Richard E. Taylor):
“When Edwin J. Hulbert first began exploiting Calumet Conglomerate, he attempted to build a stamp mill near Calumet Lake (Pond) not far from the mines….The mill was based on roller-type rock crushers, which were not-sufficient to deal with the hard rock and its high quantity of native copper.”
But then there’s this passage from page 65 ofMichigan’s Copper Country (Ellis W. Courter) which states:
“One of the first major decisions which Agassiz had to make involved machinery and the kind of stamping equipment to be used. A site for the mill, yet to be erected, had been selected on Calumet property next to a stream from which an ample supply of water could be impounded. While gravity stamps had been the accepted procedure in the district, crushers and rollers had provided a revolutionary means of breaking the rock at the Huron mine. Only one or two units of this type would be required in contrast to many stamps. As a result, an order was placed with the Portage Lake Foundry to produce the needed rollers and
crushers.”
This credits the mistake to Agassiz, which seem contradicting. But here another passage from another source, Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz (By G. R. Agassiz) which reads:
“From the first, Agassiz mistrusted the advisability of setting up the rolls which Hulbert had bought for the Calumet Mill, as those at Huron were not working satisfactory. Finding that he could buy on the Peninsula two heavy heads of Ball Stamps, capable of turning out seventy five to ninety tons of rock a day, he planned to set these up in the Calumet Mill. If later the rolls were proving satisfactory at Huron, he then proposed to use his in the future Hecla Mill. Unfortunately, Hodge, the agent of the rolls, appeared upon the scene just as Agassiz was about to put this idea into operation, and persuaded him that with a few slight improvements everything would work satisfactoriy. So the installation of the rolls in the Calumet.”
Now we have four different sources that seems to put blame on two different individuals. I tend to take more stock in this source since as it was written by a relative of Agassiz and I would assume it would try to paint the most flattering portrait possible of the man. Since this source puts the blame on him, It seems to be the most believable scenario.
The problem that I have with the Hulbert-based blame is that the man never built the Calumet MIll. When Agassiz arrived the mill was in the process of being constructed, but very little work was done. (Boom Copper also notes that “”Ed hadn’t put so much as a nut to the bolts of the roller mill” when Agassiz returned to take control of the mine. It was then Agassiz that oversaw the construction of the Mill, and it was Agassiz that made the decision to install the rollers. At that time he could of easily installed stamps (even if the rollers were purchased at the time) but he didn’t. He made a decision to go ahead with the rollers, which almost cost the mine its existence.
explorer | August 21, 2008
P.S.
The “Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz” Book was written not by “some relative” of Agassiz, but in fact was written by his son.
explorer | August 21, 2008
Cool. I guess I stand corrected.
If memory serves me, I believe they blame the rollers on Hulbert in Red Metal as well. But I guess you have to take into consideration the fact this is was written by a C&H executive.
Jay Balliet | August 21, 2008
These topics are getting better and better. I can’t explain why Keweenaw stamp sands are so fascinating, only that they are!
It’s a tiny insignificant example compared to these others, but there is small hill of stamp sand at the North American location. I’d have to go back and check my sources, but I think that may have been one of the first attempts to stamp Keweenaw copper rock in the 1840s.
As to the Calumet roller mill fiasco, look in “Red Metal” by Benedict (p. 50-51) that Jay mentioned for a contemporary 1867 Report submitted by Agassiz himself on the state of affairs at the mine that year.
Agassiz says there that Hulbert pushed for a roller mill like the Huron’s and that the big boys okayed it. Quote: “a small rolling mill was purchased, on the representation of the Agent [Hulbert].” But that: “[Hulbert's] strong recommendations of machinery were not found successful, inducing the Directors to run risks which, had the true state of things been represented, would never have been taken. This course of duplicity in Mr. Hulbert is the more inexcusable from the fact that he was a large shareholder” (from 1867 Report).
Agassiz is putting the blame on Hulbert, but also admitting that the Directors okayed the move.
Blame: 75% Hulbert & 25% Directors?
Herb from Wisconsin | August 21, 2008
I’m not necessary trying to correct you Jay, and by all means please continue to point out my errors. Getting it right is more important to me then my ego - though ego is often a close second. I often make the mistake of using single sources in combination with other circumstantial evidence which can cause problems. When my readers point this out it forces me to take a deeper look into a subject - which is what i did here. The deeper look raised some inconsistencies in both mine and your interpretations. So I thought I’d lay it all out on the table.
The Red Metal book which both you and Herb have cited seems to point to Hulbert as the primary cause of the problem as well. (which makes the score 3-2 if anyones counting) I think what we know for sure is that Hulbert ordered the rollers and insisted on their installation (with the approval of the stockholders as Herb mentions). Agassiz ended up putting them in the mill, although he had an opportunity not to. Now wether or not the stockholders and directors would back that decision is unknown. My guess is that they paid for them and everyone figured they should at least try them out.
I guess the moral of the story is that the Calumet and Hecla Mines were a sinking ship in those early years and everyone was looking for a scapegoat while protecting their own a–. (some things never change) I like to think that truth is always spun in multiple directions, and that the real story lies somewhere in the middle.
explorer | August 21, 2008
Oh, masterful Explorer, I may have found a source for those mysterious sands along Scales Creek. I was reading some in the Hard Rock Mining era in the Copper Country, found a small blurb under the Wolverine, “The ore from one of the shafts in its early years was stamped in a mill located about 1000 ft from the shaft. The single stamp in this mill had a capacity of 200 tons per day.” The rest of the rock went to the Allouez Mill.
Gordy Schmitt | August 21, 2008
explorer,
You are raising so many questions in so short a time that it is almost impossible to do all the deep research to give definitive answers. And like we all know and you stated, different sources all spin it their own way.
I prefer to use the most original sources obtainable and as close to the date the actual events occurred as possible. But even they are not 100% reliable.
It looks to me that Hulbert made mistakes but he also became Agassiz’s scapegoat to some degree as well. But nobody had any idea how tough that conglomerate rock would be to mill. That was a new type of ore in the Calumet mine never encountered before.
On p.63-65 (Red Metal) it tells how Agassiz continued trying to get the roller mill to work after arriving and assuming charge of operations. Very good stuff from orig. letters sent to Mr. Shaw in Boston in 1867. He says: “be prepared for the worst…if this infernal roller business don’t swamp Calumet….I feel perfectly frantic and so helpless…no machinery on which any dependence can be placed, nobody on the ground or in the country who has any idea what can be done with rollers…The time, expence, fussing it takes to get Hodge’s machinery in running order is fearful…”
Incidently, I marked that page because it mentioned “Hodge” as constructing mining machinery [at Hancock?] in 1867. Now, it was also a guy named Hodge who 20 years earlier had built the first smelter on Keweenaw Point on Gratiot River for the Albion Mine. Was this the same Hodge in both cases? I wondered that but couldn’t prove it either way. If the same guy, he started early and had a long career and invented new mining machinery, Hodge “jig”, etc.
Herb from Wisconsin | August 21, 2008
Mike,
It’s all good. We’re all here to learn more because it’s a subject we’re passionate about. That and we’re all kinda dorks about it.
And you’re right about the multiple sources stating multiple “facts”, just look at the Italian Hall disaster. But I guess that comes with the territory.
BTW, I’m easy. Just look for the smileys
Jay Balliet | August 21, 2008
Herb…
A lot of those original letters from Agassiz area also in that “Letters and Recollections of Alexander Agassiz”, several of which recount the whole Calumet Mill / Rollers fiasco. He never takes blame for the installation of the rollers but worries a great deal about their ability to do the job. BTW, its a very interesting book and everyone should go check out the link. Gives a good understanding of the man I think.
Interesting note about “Hodge” which is also mentioned in my sources as well. If he was the same Hodge, his success must of meant he as a great salesman as well as a machinist. This could also explain why Agassiz was “convinced” about the rolls when Hodge arrived to the mine. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any reference to a “Hodge” roller anywhere, so he might not of been as big in the roller business.
Gordy…
Gordy comes through again! I was leaning to the Wolverine as it was one of the first in the area. That makes perfect sense, and would no doubt account for those sands. (Scales creek starts up near the Wolverine location). You get an A!!
Jay…
Glad we’re all good. You know me and my ego like to think of a time far in the future - when both you and me are no longer around - that this website and all our comments and discussions will be used by future explorers as sources for their Copper Country History websites. Who knows…
explorer | August 21, 2008
Could I please have a gold star to go with my A
Gordy Schmitt | August 21, 2008
A gold star AND a smiley face
explorer | August 21, 2008
Not to beat a dead horse, but you gotta wonder if maybe the roller mill concept might have been Hodge’s invention and that possibly he foisted it off on Hulbert and then Agassiz inherited it. Other inventions like the Hodge “jig” are attributed to him and maybe others. Possibly that’s explained in the early newspapers or in some history of the Huron Mine, where it appears a roller type mill had been used with some success. I wish all the early Copper Country newspapers were online, but then I wouldn’t do anything but read them…
Agassiz was really down in the dumps even after they installed Ball stamps at Hecla and at first they didn’t work well, and even advised possibly selling the entire property he felt so gloomy, but then rapidly things turned around.
The Agassiz recollections book sounds excellent. I don’t own it and can’t recall ever reading it. Will have to look into it.
Thanks for all your hard work explorer! Great stuff!
Herb from Wisconsin | August 22, 2008
You can download it Herb at http://www.archive.org/details/lettersandrecoll028924mbp
Its about a 46meg download.
Gordy Schmitt | August 22, 2008
I also put a direct link to it at Google Books up in my first comment up there.
Here’s the link again: LINK
I don’t know if your all catching it, but I add hot-links to my sources if their on line, just click on the name of the source I mention.
explorer | August 22, 2008
Thanks for the links to the Agassiz book. If you guys recommend it then it must be good.
Actually it seems that a guy named Collum may have invented the roller mill for the Huron. Red Metal, p. 43-45 goes into that history in some detail. And how for a time just about everyone thought rolling the copper rock was going to revolutionize mining up there. Even Quincy Shaw believed it was the hot setup and the local newspapers also trumpeted it as a triumph. Apparantly it did work okay with the softer amygdaloid rock in the Huron, but was a disaster later with the harder rock at Calumet. But who was to know until they tried it?
The affair seems more of a fiasco with new un-proven technology than any one person being at fault; altho like we said, later most everything got heaped on Hulbert.
Herb from Wisconsin | August 23, 2008