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THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE.

The Honorable Peter White

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE LAKE
SUPERIOR IRON COUNTRY

RALPH D. WILLIAMS

WITH xi'me;roUvS illustrations

THE PENTON PUBLISHING CO.

CLEVELAND , --- ■ '

V^7^

\ao

• •.'• .•

« • .

Copyrighted 1907

The Penton Publishing Company,

Cleveland.

This book is respectfully dedicated

to the

great Iron and Steel trade

of the

United States

THE growlh of our enormous iron and steel industries, which
are pointed out as the result of our protective tariff, can
be more surely traced to our enormous resources in the
iron mines of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota than from all
other sources. The cheap production of the highest grade of ore
in these mines and the low rates of transportation to Lake Erie
ports have done more to build up the iron and steel industries of
the United States than all the tariffs that have ever been placed
upon the statute books, and today, if these mines were closed,
our superiority in the iron and steel trade of the world would be
gone forever. J. J. Hill, President Great Northern Railway.

Mie9595

CONTENTS.

Prologue. — Early History of Lake SurERiOR. — Commercial Discovery
OF Copper. — The Discovery of Iron Ore.

The Journey to the Iron Mines.

The Founding of Marquette.

The Overland Journey to Escanaba.

Proving the Claims to the Iron Deposits.

First Ore Hauled from Cleveland Mine.

Peter White Becomes Postmaster.

First Lake Shipment of Iron Ore.

First Use of the Ore in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

Peter White and His Dog Sleds.

Building the Old Strap Railroad.

Sault Ste. Marie Before the Canal.

Lake Superior Shipping Before the Canal.

Construction of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal.

First Shipment of Ore Through the Canal.

Steam Railroad Finished to the Mines.

Pig Iron Manufacture in the Peninsula.

Peter White as a Business Man.
Chapter XVIII. Solving the Problem of Unloading Ore.
Chapter XIX. Discovery of the Mesabi Range.
Chapter XX. Subsequent Locks of Sault Ste. Marie Canal.

Chapter XXI. Francis H. Clergue and His Industries.
Chapter XXII. Peter White's Monument is Presque Isle.
Chapter XXIII. The Sault Canal Semi-Centennial Celebration.
Epilogue.
Conclusion.

Chapter I.
Chapter II.
Chapter HI.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.
Chapter VII.
Chapter VIII.
Chapter IX.
Chapter X.
Chapter XL
Chapter XII.
Chapter XIII.
Chapter XIV.
Chapter XV.
Chapter XVI.
Chapter XVII

ILLUSTRATIONS.

The Honorable Peter White Frontispiece

Dr. Douglas Houghton 5

Three Implements Found at the Old Copper Mines 8

The Cliff Mine in the Spring of 1845 12

John Hays 13

William A. Burt • 19

The Site of the Old Jackson Forge 21

Philo M. Everett 22

Ariel N. Barney 24

Charles Bawgam, the Chippewa Chief 25

Original Jackson Mine 26

Jackson Stump 27

Dr. Zina Pitcher . 33

Alexander L. Crawford 48

Fac-Simile of Bill of Lading of the First Shipment of Ore 63

John J. Spearman at 22 74

J. J. Spearman, 1907 75

M. S. Marquis in 1850 76

John T. Reeves and M. S. Marquis 77

Charles T. Howard 78

W. J. Gordon 83

The Side Wheel Steamer Illinois 81

Capt. J. H. Andrews 86

Johnston's PIouse as it Appears Today, From the Street Front. . 94

Johnston's House as it Appears Today, From the River Front. ... 95

The Old Hudson Bay Co.'s Lock 97

The Elms Under Which Tanner's House Stood, 1905 104

The Correct Rig of the Griffin 109

Showing All That is Left of the Algonquin 112

John Burt 118

Original Upper Lock of 1855 119

Method of Operating Original Lock Gates 120

P'irst Map of Proposed Canal and Locks at Sault Ste. Marie. . . . 121

The Locks That Were in Continued Use From 1855 to 1887 123

Capt. Eber B. Ward 128

Mr. Charles T. Harvey as He is Today 132

ILLUSTRATIONS— (Continuc-d) XI

The Brig Columbia • 138

Jacob Reese in 1855 139

Jacob Reese in 1906 1-+1

Dr. George B. Russel 142

Propeller Mineral Rock 143

Peter White in the 60's 146

The Old Iron Mountain Railroad's First Hand Bill 149

L. D. Harvey in 1856 154

Diagram of Blowing Engine for the Pioneer Furnace 162

The Furnace at Forestyille, Near Marquette 163

The Old Charcoal Kilns Near Negaunee • 16-''-

Morgan Furnace, Built in 1863 16-J

Greenwood Furnace, Built in 1864 16i

Clarksburg Furnace, Built in 1866 165

Champion Furnace, Built in 1867 165

Munising Furnace, Built in 1868 165

Grx\ce Furnace, Marquette, Mich 166

Plan of the Pioneer Furnace in 1857 167

L. D. Haryey as He is Today 168

Tug Champion Towing a Fleet of Schooners Through the Ri\ers 169

Village of Marquette About 1861 • 172

AJarouette Docks and Shipping About 1861 173

Marquette Harbor in 1863 175

The Schooner James F. Toy 178

Sarnia Bay in 1870 ' 180

Little Dock Engine Installed on the Nypano Dock, Cleveland, '

1867 182

The Steamer V. H. Ketchum, Launched in 1874 183

The Wooden Fleet in Shelter at Sand Beach 184

Ashtabula Harbor in 1874 185

The Second Stage of Ore Unloading 187

Alexander E. Brown 189

Robert Aspin 190

Another View of the Brown Bridge Tramway at Ashtabula. . . . 191

Cfiampion Ore Hoists, Sectional View 192

Diagram of Champion Ore Hoist 193

The Champion Ore Hoists at the Illinois Steel Co.'s Plant. .... 194

Steamer E. H. Gary Under Unloading Machine, Conneaut 196

A^iew of Harbor of Ashtabula in 1902 197

Brown Grab Bucket in the Hold of Steamer Wolvin 199

PJulett Clam-Shell Bucket in the Wolvin's Hold 200

Showing Third Stage of Ore Handling 201

George H. Hulett 203

Pine A'iew of the Brown Electric Fast Plant at Conneaut 204

Brown Bridge Tramways of the Buffalo & Si'souehanna Iron

Co.'s Plant at Buffalo 205

XII ILLUSTRATIONS— (Continued)

New Hur.ETT Unloading Machines at National Tube Co/s Plant

AT Lorain 206

Demolishing the Original Locks of 1855 207

Brown Electrical Unloading Machines at Conneaut 208

American Locks, Sault Ste. Marie Canal 210

Gen. O. M. Poe 212

The Great Canadian Lock at Sault Ste. Marie 21t

Indians Fishing in the Rapids 215

The Approach to Sault Ste. Marie Canai 216

Mr. Francis H. Clergue 218

MiCHiPicoTEN Harbor 219

The Ground Wood Pulp Mill 220

The Great Powm^:r Canal on the Michigan Side 221

General View of Lake Superior Corporation's Works 222

Panoramic View of Clergue Industries 223

Head Gates, Power Canal, Michigan, Lake Superior Power Co. , . 224
Chemical Laboratory and Sulphite Pulp Mill at Sault Ste.

Marie 225

The Blast Furnaces at Sault Ste. Marie 117

General View of Blast Furnaces and Water Approach 229

The Rail jMill at Sault Ste. Marie 231

Peter White at the Cleveland Co.'s Semi-Centennial 237

Peter White Public Library 239

Charles T. Harvey, Chief Marshal 245

The Flag of the Admiral of the Day 246

Admiral Peter White's Flagship Marigold 247

The Land Parade. Sault Ste. Marie Semi-Centennial 248

Indian Tepees at Sault Canal Semi-Centennial 249

Flagship Marigold Passing Between Wolverine and Yantic... 250

Training Ship Yantic at Sault Canal Celebration 251

In the Speakers' Stand, Sault Ste. Marie Semi-Centenniai 253

Naval Vessels in the Great Poe Lock 255

Canadian Lock with Gates Closed 256

The Indian Tepees on the Canal Park 259

Naval Vessels in Canadian Lock 261

The Connecting Links of the Half Century 265

The ]\Ionolith Erected at Sault Ste. Marie by the Semi-Cen-
tennial Commission . 267

\\YjsN OF THE Semi-Centennial Naval Parade 269

Peter White on the Front Lawn of His Home, 1907 279

Peter Whitf/s FIome in Marquette 280

Photographing Deer at Night 281

Peter White in his Flower Garden at Home, 1907 283

T"he Honorable Peter White as He is Today 286

PREFACE.

This book is unlike any other in that it is really a romance though it deals
with facts. There is no statement in it that is not result of patient re-
search. It has seemed best to write it while it was yet possible, for the in-
formation which it contains has been secured at first hand. The industrial
supremacy of the United States among nations is due wholly to the purity,
abundance, cheapness of mining and low rate of transportation of Lake Su-
perior ores. There are living chronicles today of the early development of
this region — men, who as boys went into that country to develop it, then an
unbroken wilderness — and from their lips the story has been secured. Ob-
viously if not written now it could not, in a little while, be written at all. So
vast indeed has been the progress since that it seems incredible that it should
have occurred within the lifetime of one man. Yet Lake Superior, in a com-
mercial sense, is only fifty years old. The beginnings, therefore, of this
great iron industry are historically important and are of interest to every
citizen in the L'nited States, for there is not a man or woman today living
who has not been, directly or indirectly, benefited by the great mineral wealth
of the Lake Superior country and the labor of winning it and working it into
the arts.

It has seemed just also to incorporate the work under the title which has
been given to it. Peter White, as a boy, assisted in stripping the first iron
mine ; he wrote the bill of lading of one of the earliest, if not the first, ship-
ment of ore — only six barrels, it is true, but how prodigious has the stream
grown since ; and moreover he is still active in this great industrial theater.
The first shipments of ore are traced through the furnaces, refractory, rebel-
lious and not easy to smelt, because the early furnaces were not adapted to it.
The painful hauling of the ore to the shore of the lake in sleighs in the winter
time and along a plank road in the summer time is depicted ; the equally
painful portage around the rapids of St. Alary's river, to be loaded again
upon tiny vessels ; the tedious and expensive loading and unloading by wheel-
barrows and gang planks ; until in the course of time the portage gives way
to the canal, the plank road to the most solidly constructed railways in the
world, the wheelbarrows to the great docks with their pockets and chutes

XIII

XIV PREFACE

and the equally great automatic unloading machines ; and the tiny vessels to
a fleet of ships so large in size that ocean liners scarcely rival them and so
numerous that over a waterway i,ooo miles long one is never out of sight
of the other — and all this within a single lifetime. The record of the Lake
Superior iron ore output is noted below by years. It is given because it is re-
sponsible for the great commercial panorama that is to be seen any day on
the great lakes of North America and for the widespread prosperity that the
iron and steel trade of the United States has enjoyed :

Year. Tons. Year. Tons.

1855 1,449 1881 2,307,005

1856 36,343 1882 2,965,412

1857 25,646 1883 2,352,840

1858 15,876 1884 2,518,693

1859 68,832 1885 2,466,642

i860 114,401 1886 3,565,144

1861 49,909 1887 4,762,107

1862 124,169 1888 5,063,877

1863 203,055 1889 7,292,643

1864 243,127 1890 9,003,725

1865 236,208 1891 7,071,053

1866 278,796 1892 9,072,241

1867 473,567 1893 6,065,716

1868 491,449 1894 7,748,312

1869 617,444 1895 10,429,037

1870 830,940 1896 9,934,828

1871 779,607 1897 12,464,574

1872 900,901 1898 14,024,673

1873 1,162,458 1899 18,251,804

1874 919,557 1900 19,059,393

1875 891,257 1901 20,593,537

1876 992,764 1902 27,571,121

1877 ■ 1,015,087 1903 24,289,878

1S78 1,111,100 1904 21,822,839

1879 1,375,691 1905 34,353,456

1880 1,908,745 1906 38,522,239

The Honorable Peter White

PART I

The Early History of Copper Mines

The Discovery of Iron Ore

The Founding of Marquette

First Test of Lake Superior Ore

■ J 3 >

PROLOGUE.

EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR.

""THIS is the story of a man's life. But what a Hfe it has been and is.
The tale will be told as simply and as succinctly as possible, but if
there be digressions in the narrative it will be because the theater in which
the life has been spent is so stupendous as to compel them. When a man's
life is linked with a country it is impossible to chronicle it without chron-
iclinf?" the history of the country. In all new countries there is one man
who typifies the region ; and while gigantic figures have moved across the
face of this marvelous panorama there is none so singularly attractive as
he who is the central figure of this rapid sketch. For he is the very
embodiment of the spirit of the country in which he lives. Its sheer rugged-
ness is in his frame as though out of the metal-shot soil he had absorbed
the iron of his constitution. If you will take any man who has lived close
to nature you will find the most splendid specimen of manhood to be
found anywhere. Nature is open, fran|: and earnest, sometimes terribly
so, but always genuine. The men who lie closest to her have these self-
same attributes. Their simplicity is charming. Take a man whose life
has been with the elements and he is invariably without guile. The men
who opened up the American frontier were this sort of men. They stood
for law and order and would have it at the price of life. They were the ad-
vance guard of civilization. They made it possible for decent men and
women to live on the edges of the wilderness. It is a pity that the yellow-
backed novelist has been their only biographer ; but some day the white light
will beat uijcn them and will reveal them as they really are.

While this a frontier story there is neither blood nor thunder in it.
It is not lacking, however, in the element of romance. Indeed it would
be impossil:)le to find in real life a more romantic tale. As a work of imagina-
tion there is nothing comparable to the Count of Monte Cristo in the realm
of romantic fict'on. One is held in thralldom by the unlimited wealth of
this creature of fiction. Money is the talisman to which all doors open and

2 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

to which all achievements are possible. It is easy, therefore, to comprehend
the fascination which tliis story possesses. There is but one other attribute
open to the romancist which occupies a like hold upon the mind — and that
is the possession of unconquerable physical strength. Hugo utilized this in
his character of Jean A'aljean. \A'hat then is to be said of this story
when its base lias a wealth wdiich is far greater than that which Dumas
could possibly have credited to Edmond Dantes and when the very country
breeds men whose powers of endurance rival those of Hugo's hero? Has
it not the elements in it out of which to weave the fabric of the great
American novel so long expected and so long delayed?

For the story is distinctlv American. Indeed there is nothing more
distinctlv American, though it mieht have been a Canadian tale had it
not been for the foresight of the great Benjamin Franklin, who deflected
his pencil a bit on a certain memorable occasion and caused the upper
peninsula of Michigan to be included within the American boundary.
Franklin did a great many things for his country which dwell more or
less freshly in the memory of posterity ; but this one thing, long since
forgotten, if indeed ever adequately comprehended, was in a material
sense the greatest of them all. It was the vague report of mineral wealth
in that unbroken region which caused his pencil to make the almost imper-
ceptible deflection upon the map.

For long years, for centuries, it had been known that that region
was rich in metallic substances. Copper was the one metal know^n to exist
in great quantities. However, the world may as well not have known,
for it never took advantage of the information. The country was too
vaguelv fixed in the imagination to have a commercial value. As early
as 1636 La Garde, in a little book published in Paris, made known the
existence of copper in that far countr}' by the unsalted seas. Boucher in
his historv, ]iublished in 1640, asserts that "there are in this region mines
of copper, tin. antimony and lead." He also refers to a great island, fifty
leagues in circumference, (which is doubtless the one now^ called Michipo-
coten) where "there is a very beautiful mine of copper." He also speaks
of a large ingot of copper, weighing 800 lbs. and from which the Indians
cut off pieces with their axes after having softened it by fire.

The Jesuits, too, in the recital of their missionary work, which ex-
tended from 1632 to 1672, frequentlv speak of the existence of copper.
Claude Allouez, whose contributions are the most valuable on the subject,
visited the Lake Superior region in 1666. He makes mention of a large
mass of native copper which was plainly visible near the shore of the lake
and relates that the Indians who passed that way, cut pieces from it. Indeed

EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR 3

he says that the Indians frequently had pieces of copper weighing from
10 to 20 pounds and that they held the specimens in superstitious awe. A
map of this region was drawn hy these zealous missionaries in 1672, which,
to this day, is electrifying in its accuracy. However, the observations of
the Jesuits are important from the historical standpoint only ; in the com-
mercial development of the region they play no part whatever. It would
be interesting to pursue them further were it not for the fact that the
present story has to do with a personality whose blood still runs red in his
veins.

The first attempt at development was made as the result of an ac-
count of the mineral deposits made by Capt. Jonathan Carver, who visited
Lake Superior in 1765. His story so captivated Alexander Henry, an
Englishman of venturesome spirit, that he organized a companv to exploit
the resources of the region. Many of the nobility went into the venture
and even the King of England became a stockholder. As a matter of record
it may be noted that the partners in England were His Royal Highness,
the Duke of Gloucester, Mr. Secretary Townsend, Sir Samuel Tucket, JNIr.
Baxter, consul of the Empress of India, and Mr. Cruickshank; in America,
Sir William Johnson, Mr. Bostwick and ]\Ir. Alexander Henry. Henry
and his comrades built a barge at Point Aux Pins and laid the keel of
a sloop of 40 tons. They sailed in May 1771 for the "island of vellow
sand" and found several veins of copper and lead. Upon their return to
Point Aux Pins they erected an air furnace. The assayer reported on
the ores which they collected that the lead ore contained silver in the
proportion of 40 ounces to the ton. but the copper ore a very small propor-
tion indeed. They were accompanied on the next expedition by Mr. Nor-
berg, a Russian gentleman acquainted with metals who found a loose stone
weighing eight pounds of a 1)lue color and semi-transparent. This he
later carried to England where it assayed in the proportion of 60 pounds
of silver to a hundred weight of ore. It was deposited in the British
Museum. Henry's later researches appear not to have been crowned with
success. His explorations gave such little promise of substantial returns
that his English partners refused to further contribute to the enterprise.
This adventurous spirit then undertook that series of exploits which have
inseparably linked his name with the history of Mackinac island and
which makes his character a striking one both for the novelist and dra-
matist.

Incredible as it may seem, this region, richer in actual value to man-
kind that any other section of this great round globe, lav dormant for

4 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

nearly a century after Henry's luckless venture. The world, lustful for
gold as it is, apparently forgot all that had been written about it. Even
Afichigan, when it was admitted into the union as a state in 1836, pro-
tested against the inclusion of the upper peninsula within her borders.
She almost went to war over it.* The Lake Superior region, in a com-
mercial sense, is only fifty years old. This is an incontestible but stupend-
ous fact. It brings its entire development within the life of our subject
and is the very circumstance which gives to his career its magnificent
setting. No other man has moved so continually upon such a stage. It is
simply Titanic.

Posteritv will forever owe a delit to Dr. Douglas Houghton for the
work which he did as the first of Michigan's state geologists. He traversed
the south shore of Lake Superior during his investigations five times in
a birch bark canoe, and his practiced eye saw at once the great mineral
wealth that was awaiting the hand of man. He stated his observations
in his report to the government in the most guarded language, for while
he recognized as a scientist the wealth of the region, he was conscious
also as a practical man of the hazard of its development. He had no
mind to lure men to their ruin. The peninsula in those days was a

* When the union was formed the northwest territory, embracing the present states of Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan belonsed to Virginia. Virginia ceded the territory to
the United States upon the conditions made in the ordinance of 1787. Among these conditions was
one that the soutliern boundary line of Michigan was to run through the southerly band of Lake
Michigan due east to Lake Erie or the Maumce river. Consequently the territory of Michigan
embraced Toledo and a ten-mile strip south of the present boundary of the state. When Michigan
formed its constitt'.tion it fixed the same boundaries that it had as a territory, established by the
ordinance of 1787. Ohio then demanded that Michigan move her southern boundary ten miles
further north that she might have the Maumee Bay and opposed Michigan's admission to the union
until this was done. Hence the Toledo war, Michigan's troops actvially marching in arms to the
Ohio border to take forcible possession of this strip. The upper peninsula had been set off to the
territory of Wisconsin. To gratify Ohio, avoid a military conflict and to give the Michigan senators
(Norvell and Lyon) and its representative (Crary) their seats Congress provided for a convention
of delegates to be duly elected by the people of Michigan, to which it submitted the question of
giving to Ohio the coveted ten-mile strip and of receiving the upper peninsula in exchange. The
convention assembled at Ann Arbor and emphatically rejected this proposition. The upper peninsula,
certainly the most valuable portion of the state in natural wealth, was terra incognita at the time
and was considered of little or no value. Besides the loss of the harbor of Lake Erie (Maumee
Bay), the convention deemed that a surrender to the demands of Ohio would be a palpable violation
of the ordinance of 1787. The action of this legal convention was considered final. A few
politicians, however, who were impatient to fill the offices to which they had been elected under the
state constitution issued without legal authority a call for a popular election of delegates to another
convention to act upon the proposition of Congress. There were no legal boards of election then
and the qv.alifications of electors was but little regarded. Consequently the vote was large and
nearly all one way in favor of submission. The state rights people, or those opposed to submission,
regarded this election as of no validity but the persons chosen at this election met and declared
that the people of Michigan had repented of their previous action and humbly accepted the proposi-
tion made by Congress. Upon this action Michigan was admitted into the union and the upper
peninsula was thus annexed to the state.

EARLY HISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR

veritable Klondike fnim the standpoint of inaccessibility. His report of
1841 was careful, painstaking and conservative, but notwithstanding its
tone men fiocked to the reo-ion bv thousands. Dr. Houghton had foreseen
this condition and his heart was wrung for them, for he knew that only
a tithe could possibly hope to win success. Indeed claims were abandoned
as soon as they were located and in a few years most of the prospectors
had left the country. Dr. Houghton's report was largely devoted to
copper. Of iron he makes only the merest mention, which is not surprising
as his investigations were confined to the shore of the lake and none of
the iron deposits come within seven miles of it. Dr. Houghton was an
extraordinary man of fine moral and mental fiber. His geological observa-
tions of the region are today universally accepted, though it took the
later generation of geologists several years to come to his conclusions.
The rocks are very old. They precede organic life. They are the result
of a great cataclysm and however deep one descends into the earth there is
no heat.

Houghton's career, brief as it was, was
most remarkable. He was born in Troy, N.
Y., Sept. 21, 1809, and graduated at the Van
Rensselaer school in that city in 1828. He
was soon afterwards appointed assistant pro-
fessor of chemistry and natural history in that
institution then under the control of Profes-
sor Eaton. In 1830 Gen. Cass and Major
AMiiting. of Detroit, applied to Prof. Eaton
for a person qualified to deliver a course of
public lectures on chemistry and geologv.
Eaton opened a door of his laboratory and
summoned Houghton, calling him by the fa-
miliar name Douglas. He was so young and
slight that they could hardly believe Prof.
Eaton to be in earnest. Young Houghton did
not hesitate, however. He accepted the invitation and landed in Detroit with
exactly ten cents in money. The lectures were so popular that he w^as per-
suaded to make Michigan his home. Small in person, a mere boy in appear-
ance, shy and awkward though brave and resolute, it is remarkable that he
should so quickly have won the esteem of the distinguished men of the state.
He had hardly opened his office in Detroit when he was appointed by the

DR. DOUGLAS HOUGHTON.

From a daguerreotype.

6 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

secretary of war as surgeon and botanist to Schoolcraft's expedition to
the source of the Mississippi. Within a period of fifteen years he had
been elected mayor of Detroit for two terms in succession by large ma-
jorities. He was tendered the presidency of the ]\Iichigan university before
he was thirty years old.

The work with which this sketch is associated began in 1837 when
he was appointed state geologist. It was he, in fact, who nurtured the
scheme for a geological survey of Michigan. He proposed to himself
a scheme A\hich would include four departments, namely, geology, zool-
ogy, botany and topography, each having an official head and all united
under the general guidance of the state geologist. The first thing was
to bring the matter before the legislature and get its approval. Michigan
had just entered the great family of states. She was inexperienced in
public work of all kinds. Governor Mason on the passing of the law
establishing a geological department appointed Houghton as state geologist.
From boyhood Houghton's passion had been the study of the natural
sciences. He explored the woods and rocky gorges as a boy. He had
made discoveries before he was ten years old. All through his life he
looked on science as the great object of his devotion. It has been said
that if any man ever lived who was not merely an indoor geologist that
man was Dr. Houghton. His enthusiasm for his scientific and professional
pursuits was great. It was like a steady fire strengthened and deepened
by the fuel of new ideas constantly thrown on the flame. Houghton had
no great gift of persuasion ; he was no coiner of phrases. Often he would
stumble to find the word he wanted, a habit that would make his con-
versation h.alting were it not for the fine vigor he displayed in expressing
his thought. His social qualities were singularly happy. He could not
drop into a store or office without being surrounded by a group of
admiring friends. A young man himself he was always associated with
the fresh leading spirits of the new state of Michigan. The young men
about him were swayed by his ardent temperament and his genius. He
was always a leader, and had he lived (he was only thirty-six at the
time of his death) would undoubtedly have risen high in the councils
of the nation. The followingf account from an eve witness is well worth
repeating :

"Houghton — his diminutive stature, his keen blue eyes, his quick
and nervous motions, the strong sense of energy of his words when
dealing with matters of science, and his undaunted perseverance when
carrying; out his designs, made him a notable figure. He was no carpet

EARLY PIISTORY OF LAKE SUPERIOR 7

kniglit of science and on his geological excursions never flinched from
hard work and exposure. On these occasions he usually wore a suit of
gray, the coat having large side pockets and hanging loosely upon his
small figure. His hands and feet were very small but the latter were
encased in boots that came almost to his thighs. His shockingly bad hat
was broad brimmed and slouched and his whole appearance was that of
a tattered weather-worn backwoodsman. I remember meetinsf him a few
years later when his scientific mind and energetic body had unraveled the
mysteries of the mineral region of Lake Superior and when the great
fame of that region had called hosts of scientists to those yet wild shores.
He had just landed at Eagle river, fresh from one of his rough expedi-
tions, and was at once hailed and surrounded by men known over the
whole v.'Orld for their scientific learning, to whose figures and bearing his
own presented a most striking contrast. Yet these men bowed to his
superior knowledge — sagacity I might term it — and one of them frankly
said in my hearing that the rough-looking doctor carried more true knowl-
edge in his cranium than all the big heads put together."

It was on the night of Oct. 13. 1845, that Dr. Houghton lost his
life on Lake Superior. In an open Mackinac sailboat he was making
his way to Eagle river over the rough waters of that lake. They were
not far from land. A snowstorm prevailed and the wind was blowing a
gale. Houghton was anxious to get round a point of rock, a low broken
promontory that shelved to a considerable distance seaward. He encouraged
his men to brave the storm. The wind was increasing in fury and his
companions proposed that they should go ashore but Houghton, who had
great confidence in his own skill, urged them to proceed. Amid the in-
creasing violence of the gale the boat was capsized. They all went under
for a moment. Houghton was raised from the water by his trusty com-
panion and friend, Peter, a half-breed who had been with him for several
years, and was advised bv him to cling to the keel, then uppermost.

"Never mind me," cried Houghton, ''go ashore if you can. Be sure
that I will get ashore well enough."

The boat was soon righted and all were at their oars again, but the
interval was of brief duration. A moment later a wave struck them with
such violence that the boat, receiving the blow at the stern, was dashed
over endwise and all were thrown again into the water. Two of the
men were thrown on the beach in a helpless condition, but Houghton
was drowned and his body was not found until the following spring.

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PART TWO OF THE PROLOGUE.

THE COMMERCIAL DISCOVERY OF COPPER.

""THE fact that Dr. Ploughton made no mention of iron in his report is sig-
nificant in that it shows conckisively that the Indians could have
had no traditions concerning it. This is important because it brings the
discovery of iron within the memory of men now hving and relieves it
of conjecture and surmise. Of copper it is impossible to determine who
first discovered it. There was a people who antedate the present race
of Indians that knew of its existence and had uses for it. These people lived
and died long before Columbus discovered America, and while the Indians
have neither legend nor tradition concerning them the fact that thev lived
is proved in the mute testimony of nature. Lying about some of the
copper mines were stone hammers ; underpinning masses of native copper
were wooden props in sucli a state of decay that centuries must have been
required in the pi'ocess ; but, above all, out of the thrown-up earth of
these earlv mines, trees had o-rown, had fallen and decaved and had o-rown
again, marking the centuries with the rmgs upon them. Of this crude but
industrious race the Indians had no knowledge.

Mr. Charles Moore, in his pamphlet entitled "The Ontonagan Copper Boulder in the Uni-
ted States National Museum," says:

"During the winter of 1847-48 Mr. Samuel O. Knapp, the agent of the Minnesota mine,
observed on the present location of that mine a curious depression in the soil, caused, as he
conjectured, by the disintegration of a vein. Following up these indications he came ujjon a
ravern, the home of several porcupines. On clearing out the rubbish he found many stone ham-
mers; and, at a depth of 18 ft. he came upon a mass of native copper 10 ft. long', 3 ft. wide,
ind nearly 2 ft. thick. Its weight was more than six tons. This mass was found resting upon
billets of oak supported by sleepers of the same wood; there were three courses of billets and
two courses of sleepers. The wood had lost all its consistency, so that a knife-blade penetrated
it as easily as if it had been peat; but the earth packed about the copper gave that a firm sup-
port. By means of the cobwork the miners had raised the mass about 5 ft. or something less
than one-quarter of the way to the mouth of the pit. The marks of fire used to detach the
:opper from the rock showed that the early miners were acquainted with a process used with
eft'ect by their successors. This fragment had been pounded until every projection was broken
'jff, and then had been left, when and for what reason is still unknown. From similar pits on
the same location came 10 carloads of ancient hammers, one of which weighed 39J/2 lbs. and was
fitted w'ith two grooves for a double handle. There was also fovmd a copper god, a copper
ihisel with a socket in which were the remains of a copper handle, and fragments of wooden
boiling bowls. .At the Mesnard mine in 1862 was found an 18-ton boulder that the 'ancient
•niners' had moved 48 ft. from its original bed."

10 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

This book is a book on iron ; but in investigating the data on which
to found it much interesting information concerning the early discoveries
of copper in the Lake Superior country was Hterally dug up at first
hand and it was therefore thought best to briefly mention it for the sake
of history.

Among those who were attracted by Houghton's reports of the presence
of copper in the Lake Superior countrv was John Hays, of Cleveland,
at that time a resident of Pittsburg. It is to John Hays that the credit
belongs of making the first discovery of copper in the Lake Superior
country in a commercial sense. He had been engaged in the drug busi-
ness for a number of years at Pittsburg and he determined to vis^t the
Lake Superior region, primarily to regain his health and incidentally to in-
quire into the mineral deposits. Before leaving he explained his purpose
to Dr. C. G. Hussey of Pittsburg, and made known to him his plans.
Hussey became much interested in the trip and agreed to pay half of Hays'
expenses and to furnish half of the funds rec[uired to take up leases of min-
eral lands. Hays accepted the proposition and left Pittsburg on the 17th
of August, 1843, ^o'" Cleveland, where he engaged passage on the steamer
Chesapeake, commanded by Captain Howe, for Mackinac. The journey
from Mackinac to Sault Ste. Alarie was made in a canoe. At the Sault he
secured passage on the schooner Algonquin, commanded by Captain John
McKay, and reached Copper Harbor in good season. x\t that point he
made the accjuaintance of Mr. Raymond, a speculator from Boston, and
also the government mineral agent, General Cunningham. Raymond had
made or entered three leases, one at Copper Harbor, one at Eagle river
and the third at Portage Lake. He was anxious to dispose of them, and
Havs, being convinced upon examination that they were valuable, made
an offer of one thousand dollars for a one-sixth interest in the three leases
on condition that his partner. Dr. Hussey, would ratify the proposition.
This Raymond agreed to. Hays then returned to Pittsburg and reported
the affair to Hussey, wdio was pleased with it and the bargain with Ray-
mond was closed. They concluded, however, that it would be well to con-
trol a larger interest in the leases, and Hays accordingly called upon
Dr. Charles Avery, Thomas J\L Howe and Dr. Wm. Pettit, all of them men
of means. Hays explained the venture to them and they decided at once
to join and to purchase an additional three-sixths interest in the Raymond
leases. Hays and his associates then owned two-thirds of the Raymond
leases. He was authorized bv his partners to explore the lands and develop
the property. In the spring of 1844 he left Pittsburg for Lake Superior

THE COM.AIERCIAL DISCOVERY OF COPPER 11

with nine men, all laborers, except ^Alfred Rudolph, a geologist. At
Cleveland he chartered the schooner Swan, Captain Dunbar, to carry his
supplies to Sault Ste. Marie. At the Sault he chartered the schooner Al-
gonquin to take his party to Copper Harbor. After making an examina-
tion at Copj^er Harbor he decided to put/lown a shaft near Lake Fanny Hoe,
uncovering a vein which proved to be the celebrated black oxide, yield-
ing 86 per cent of pure copper. Hays built two houses, one for storage
purposes and the other for the men to live in, and mined altogether some
twenty-six tons of the black oxide during the season. Dr. Hussey and
other members of the company from Pittsburg visited the mine and Hays
gave Hussev a memorandum of supplies that were needed to carry them
through the winter, which Hussey was to purchase and ship before the
close of navigation. Unfortunately, they were not purchased in time to
be shipped that fall and Hays was compelled to rely on the kindness of
Captain Clary, commandant of a fort which the government had constructed
at Copper Harbor in 1844 to protect the settlers from the Indians. Clary
furnished the supplies required and they were returned by Hays in the
spring. Hays always maintained that had it not been for this succor the
companv would have been compelled to abandon the enterprise.

In the forepart of September, 1844, the brig John Jacob Astor, com-
manded by Capt. Ben. Stanard, received at the Sault a cargo of supplies
for the United States government, part to be unloaded at Copper Harbor
for Captain Clary and the balance at La Pointe. She arrived at Copper
Harbor on the night of Sept. 18, 1844, and came to anchor. During the
night a violent storm sprang up and it was impossible for the crew to raise
anchor to seek shelter under the lee of the islands, as the brig would have
drifted on the rocks before they could have got her under sufficient head-
way for her to obev the helm, and they were therefore compelled to weather
it out. The storm increased in severity and on the night of Sept. 19 the
large anchor gave out and the Astor drifted on the rocks. Providence was
in their favor to some extent, as they were able to save the cargo and their
lives, but the brig was totally destroyed by the pounding which she received.
The loss of the Astor left the inhabitants at the Sault and all the pros-
pectors on Lake Superior dependent upon the little schooner Algonquin.

About the middle of November Hays started for Eagle river in a small
Mackinac boat with George Bailey and a German miner. The distance
was about thirtv miles. They were out but a short time when one of those
sudden wind squalls struck them, which made it almost impossible to ef-
fect a landing, but they were finally enabled to reach Cat Harbcr, six miles

Q
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f-'

JOHN HAYS.

14 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

from Eagle river. The country was a wilderness with no inhabitants
except a remnant of the Chippewa tribe of Indians scattered throughout the
country and subsisting on game and fish. From Cat Harbor Hays went
to EaMe river on foot, and on Nov. i8, 1844. discovered the ClifT mine,
famous for being the first mine ever developed in the Lake Superior coun-
trv and the first that yielded pure or native copper in the United States if
not in the world. This was considered a great discovery throughout the
whole metallurgical world. In England the discovery could not be cred-
ited, because the British Museum contained no specimens of metallic cop-
per, and it was not known to exist. Not being prepared to do any mining
at that time Hays returned to Copper Harbor. It was the middle of win-
ter now, but Hays felt that his partners should be informed of his wonder-
ful discovery. It was important also that the vein should be worked ex-
tensivelv and at once. He endeavored to hire two men to carry a message
to Pittsburg overland, as there was no other way to reach that point, but
it was impossible to get anyone to undertake the trip. It was a great dis-
tance through an unknown wilderness and no white person had ever un-
dertaken the trip on foot. Hays finally decided to go himself and suc-
ceeded in hiring two Chippewa Indians to accompany him as guides and
to carry his provisions and camp utensils. The storv of this trip, the first
ever made by a white man, is probably best told in Hays' own words as re-
lated sliortly before his death," as follows :

'T obtained these Indian guides through the influence of Rev. John
Pitzel. a missionarv located at L'Anse Bay. I borrowed of Charles Brush,
a sutler at Fort W'ilkins, one hundred dollars to enable me to pay the In-
dians and other expenses of the trip. On the i8th of December, 1844, we
left the mission at L'Anse Bav aufl began our journey. Before we started
I purcliascd snow shoes, blankets, flour, pork, tea and sugar, cooking uten-
sils, two axes, also a gun and a dog, which comprised our outfit. After
we got fairly started, we made, some days, very good time ; then again it
would become verv fatiguing on account of having to cut our way through
the underbrush. At night we would clear away the snow for our camp,
and then erect a wigwam, as the Indians call it, to shelter us for the night.
This was made with pine boughs, evergreen and bark. Thus, with our
blankets and a large camp fire made of birch bark and logs, we managed
to obtain a good night's rest. We could bake sufficient bread at night to

*|iihii Hays was born at Zcliciuiplc, IJutk-r t'ounty, Pa., on Oct. 9, 1804. and died in Cleve-
land in Aprii, 1902, ct t'.ie asc of iiiiicty-sevcn years and seven months. Through the strange
irony of fate Hays did not profit in the riches which he unearthed. lie added millions to the
iRcalth of the world but none of it clung 1o his own fingers.

THE COMMERCIAL DISCOVERY OE COPPER 15

last lis through the day. This, with our tea and pork and occasional!)' a
rabbit or partridge, which we shot, enabled us to perform our day's jour-
ney. In ten days we reached Kitsen's station on the iMenominee river, in
Wisconsin, fifty miles from its mouth. The distance traveled was about
two hundred miles. On account of the hard country we had to go through,
the underbrush and heavy snow — often on our hands and knees — and cum-
bersome snow shoes, made it impossible for us to make more than twenty
miles in a day. In crossing the Menominee river we unfortunately lost
our dog. The ice at one place in the river had given away, and he jumped
to swim across. The current proved too strong and it carried him under
and we never saw him again. Before reaching Kitsen's we were in close
quarters for provisions, and the Indians would undoubtedly have killed
the dog and eaten him if he had not been di owned. As I was very much
attached to him it was just as well, perhaps, that he was drowned, as it
would have made us all feel bad to kill him.

"Late in the evening of that day we struck an Indian trail, and in a
short time we heard a dog bark, and we knew that there was an Indian
camp close by, which we soon reached at the Great Falls on the Menominee.
The Indians at the camp had obtained some liquor and they were all in-
toxicated, and my Indians were somewhat timid in approaching the
strangers, for the}' were certainly a hard looking lot of red men. But we
were too hungry to be detained through fear, and we finally approached
them and explained to them our condition, and they invited us to partake
of some supper with them, which we did without much ceremony. The
meal consisted of boiled fish (sturgeon) and flour mixed with it, making
it into a kind of soup or paste. Although not very palatable, we were in
prime condition to do it justice. I purchased of them some flour, venison
and fish, and left them next morning at daybreak, all sound asleep from
their night's debauch Near Kitsen's we found a family from the state
of Maine. Thev were engaged in hauling saw logs for a saw mill they
were building. They insisted upon us taking dinner with them and we ac-
cepted the invitation. It was appreciated, for it was the first good meal
we had partaken of since we left L'Anse Bay. The Indian^ had a large
quantity of fish (sturgeon) piled up like cord wood and frozen hard.
This thev had to depend on for their living during the winter.

"After arriving at Kitsen's Station, which is an agency or station of
the American Fur Co. (Kitsen was a Canadian and was married to an
Indian woman ; he acted as agent for the fur company, bought furs and
did some farming) I settled with my two Indian guides and paid them,

16 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

according- to agreement, one dollar per day from the time they started un-
til thev returned to their homes at L'Anse. I also made a contract with
them to meet me on my return trip in March, 1845, ^t Kitsen's. I hired
Mr. Kitsen to carry me in his sleigh to Dr. Hall's saw mill, at the mouth
of the Menominee river, on Green Bay. Dr. Hall Avas a native of New
York state. He owned a large saw mill at this point, the first one built
on the river. He also practiced medicine and had a fine family. I here
met the mail carrier, Mr. Johnson, and he accompanied me as far as the
town of Xavarino,* on the Fox river, at the head of Green Bay. I intended
to make our next stopping place at Mr. Powell's at the mouth of the Pcsh-
tigo river ; but night overtook us and we were looking for a place to
camp v/hen we heard a dog bark, and after tracing it up we came to an
Indian wigwam and found it occupied by an Indian and his family. We
remained with them over night and left them early in the morning and
arrived at Powell's about 9 o'clock a. m. Powell was a trader and farmed
some. We remained w-ith him that day and I hired him to carry me to
Green Bay in his sleigh, a distance of twenty-five miles, for which I paid
him five dollars. Powell's horse had been used for racing in his younger
days and now in his old age he was stifif from the hard usage, and we had
to assist him to get up, but after he warmed up he showed his mettle. After
we arrived at Green Bay I secured the services of a Frenchman to carry me
to Fond du Lac, Wis., in his sleigh, for which he charged me four dol-
lars. This town at that time was small and consisted of the following
trades or business: One countrv store, keeping a little of everything; one
hotel, one liverv stable, a blacksmith shop and a doctor. From here to
Milwaukee I was compelled to foot it; from there to Chicago by stage;
then to Marshall, Mich., also by stage; from this town to Detroit by the
Marshall & Detroit railroad, a temporarv affair, made of strap rail

"At Detroit I met Dr. Houghton, the state geologist. He examined
some specimens I had brought with me and was astonished as well as in-
terested in the discoveries made. I took a stage for Pittsburg by way of
Cleveland, and reached the former place about the loth of January, 1845.
I immediatelv reported to mv associates, Hussey, Howe, Avery and the
others, and thev were surprised and much elated with the enterprises. We
then settled the business up to date, the whole expenditure amounting to
$1,854. Our investment was considered a very valuable one, and we could
have sold it for $250,000. We determined to push the development of the

*There was no such town of Navarino. Green Bay at that time was divided into two
wards, the lower one being Navarino and the upper one Astor. John Jacob Astor owned a large
portion of the platted portion of Astor.

THE COMMERCIAL DISCOVERY OF COPPER 17

property as far as possible. I remained in Pittsburg about six weeks, look-
ing up supplies and other matters, and then I returned to Lake Superior
by the same route, the Indians meeting me as agreed upon at Kitsen's,
near the mouth of the Menominee. We reached Copper Harbor on the 2ist
of March."

During Hays" absence the miners at Copper Harbor had taken out and
had ready for shipment the twenty-six tons of black oxide of copper,
which was sent to Roxbury Chemical Works, Boston, Mass. It yielded
eighty-five per cent of pure copper. During the summer of 1845 Hays
explored the district at Eagle river and found a large mass of copper
weighing 3.100 pounds at the base of the cliff. Later a mass of native cop-
per weighing eighty-one tons was unearthed. As he was not well he had
the company relieve him and Dr. Pettit of Pittsburg, took charge of the
property. Hays returned to Pittsburg, and remained there until the spring
of 1846, the Cliff mine meanwhile undergoing development. He returned
to Eagle river in 1846 and remained there until the spring of 1847.
Through his advice Dr. Edward Jennings was employed to superintend
the mining operations, as he was an expert in mining copper, having had
large experience in England. As the Cliff mine was running a large amount
of copper in masses from one ton up to eighty-one tons, it became necessary
to erect smelting works, so as to put it in marketable condition, that is to
cast it into ingots weighing ten pounds, more or less. For this purpose
Hays went to England to examine English furnaces, carrying with him
samples of copper, one piece weighing 3,852 pounds, and others from one
up to ten pounds. The large piece was sold to King's College on the
Strand and the smaller specimens were given to the British Museum.
There were no furnaces in England, however, for smelting mass copper.
The English obtained their copper from ore combined with sulphur known
as sulphate of copper, which had to be crushed and then washed, yielding
but five per cent of copper. The specimens that Hays left in England
created great excitement among scientific men, especially geologists, and
did much to enlist the interest of capitalists in the wonderful mineral re-
gion.

Hays returned to the United States determined to construct a furnace
on a plan of his own, provided that his associates were satisfied with it.
The company at once decided to construct the furnace and it was com-
pleted at Pittsburg during the year 1848. The top was removed by a crane
and masses of copper hoisted in by the same means. It proved to be a
great success. Hays superintended the work for the first eighteen months.

18 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

The first batcli of ingots was sold to Robert Fulton of Pittsburg. The
first sheet copper that was rolled west of the Alleghanies was rolled from
one of Hays' ingots at Shoenberger's mill and by Mr. Lutton and his son,
Wm. H. Lutton.

The Cliff mine proved a profitable investment, earning for its own-
ers, the Pittsburg & Boston Mining Co., in a period of ten years, from
1846 to 1856, $3,858,000 upon an original assessment of $108,000.

PART THREE OF THE PROLOGUE.

THE DISCOVERY OF IRON ORE.

""The original discoverer of copper in
the Lake Superior country was some
member of a prehistoric race. But with
iron the story is different. It is only a
little while ago. Iron was first discov-
ered by William A. Burt, United States
deputy surveyor, and party who were
engaged in surveying the upper penin-
sula. In the party were William Ives,
compassman ; Jacob Houghton, barom-
eterman; H. Mellen, R. S. Mellen,
James King and two Indians named
John Taylor and Michael Doner. While
running the east line of township 47
north, range 27 west, they observed on
Sept. 19, 1844, by means of the solar
compass the most remarkable variations
in the direction of the needle. These
fluctuations greatly excited Mr. Burt,
who was the inventor of the solar com-
pass, and when the compass indicated a variation of 87 degrees he could con-
tain himself no longer.

"Boys," said he, "look around and see what you can find."
Each member of the party began an independent search and found
outcroppings of iron ore in great abundance. In fact they could not fail
to find it, for a mere rip of the sod revealed the ore. Mr. Burt was well
advanced in life and was much more interested in the performance of his
compass than he was in the deposits of ore themselves.*

* Win. A. Burt was born in \\'orcester county, Massachusetts, June 13, 1792. In 1792 he
removed with his parents. Alvin and Wealthy Austin B'lrt, to Montgomery county, New York.
He had no advantage of public schools, but at 14 years of age had mastered surveying as then

WILI,IAM A. BURT.

20 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"How conld thev survey this country without my compass," he ex-
claimed, and after the manner of an old man, he repeated the remark a score
of times.

It is w^orthy of note that no member of this party of surveyors made
any effort to profit by the discovery. It does not seem to have occurred
to any of them to preempt one of the locations. They noted in their re-
port and on their maps that iron existed — and that was all. The cause of
this indifiference doubtless lay in the knowledge of the almost insuperable
obstacles which would have to be overcome before the iron could reach

known, and had gained much knowledge of astronomy. He worked on the farm during the day,
and, like the proverbial pioneer, studied at night by the aid of a pine knot. At 17 years of age
he removed with his father's family to Erie county. New York, which was then in the far west.
He saw service in the war of 1812, and in 1813 he married Phoebe Cole. In 1817 he made a
journey as far west as St. Louis, doing odd iobs of surveying along the route. In 1822 he
removed to Michigan and first built a saw mill at Auburn, Oakland county. He endeavored to get
employment as a government surveyor, but failing in this, bought a tract in Washington, INIacomb
county, in 1824.

From 1824 to 1832 he was engaged in mill building and local surveying. In 1826 and 1827
he was a member of the Michigan Territorial Council and did much towards inaugurating that
great improvement, the St. INIary's i-alls Ship Canal. From 1831 to 1834 he was county surveyor
of Macomb county.

In 1833 the United States surveyor general appointed him United States deputy surveyor
for the district northwest of the Ohio. He at once went into his field northward of ¥t. Gratiot,
on the borders of Lake Huron.

Mr. Burt found, what all surveyors had previously discovered, that the variations of the
magnetic needle led to inaccuracy in surveys. Mr. Burt did what other surveyors had not done —
discovered a remedy for the variations of the needle. He tho'ight that if the local disturbances
which led to these variations could be overcome, surveyors might be much more accurate than
they had been, and this led, at length to the invention of the solar compass by which the courses
and distances are controlled by influences far beyond the reach of terrestrial disturbances.

In 1835 he exhibited a model of the compass to a committee of the Franklin Institute, at
Philadelphia, the first scientific body of this country, and was granted a Scott's legacy medal. On
Dec. 14, 1840. he exhibited to the same institute a perfect solar compass, for which he received
the highest commendation. In 1847 he wrote a manual for the use of the solar compass. In 1851
he visited the World's Fair in London and received a prize medal for his solar compass from
Prince Albert, president of the Royal Commission.

The solar compass is an astronomical instrument. The sun is utilized in working with it,
although surveyors well versed in astronomical science sometimes use other planets. In the use
of the common surveyor's compass the only means available to determine the azimuth, or the true
meridian, is an observation of the transit, or the elongation of the pole star at night, which can
be done only on a clear night. Surveyors often, to secure good work, were compelled to cut down
trees and erect stakes, which was very laborious and expensive.

Various causes led to the deflection of the magnetic needle. Among them are local causes,
hid in the earth's crust, heat and cold, thunderstorms and the heat or magnetism of the body of
the operator. Often the pivot on which the needle swings would become blunt and the needle
not traverse twice alike. The solar compass is independent of the needle although it is constructed
with one and its use is invaluable in magnetic forces and in recording the variations from the
true meridian. It was said of Burt's compass that it seized a sunbeam as it fell and compelled
it to point out the magnetism and poles of the earth, and thus determine the latitude, true meridian,
azimuth, variation of the magnetic needle and local time, a mode of surveying independent of the
magnetic needle.

Mr. Burt possessed inventive faculties of the highest order. His last invention was the
Equatorial Sextant, though he did not live to perfect this instrument. lie also invented the first
typewriter. He died at his home in Detroit, August 18, 1858.

THE DISCOVERY OF IRON ORE

its market. However it is strange that none of them recognized the fact
that time was the only asset required to make them wealthy.

The work which William Ives did upon this survey was unusually faith-
ful and historically important. He performed it with the utmost care and
diligence, and indeed overcame many physical obstacles which would have
daunted a less courageous spirit. At one time, being wounded badly in
one foot, the party had to leave him at the mouth of the Carp river. The
next day Ives appeared among them at what is now Negaunee, having
traveled the entire distance upon a pair of improvised crutches. Any

THE SITE OF THE OLD JACKSON FORGE ON THE CARP RIVER, NEAR NEGAUNEE, SHOWING RE-
MAINS OF OLD DAM FORGE, BUILT IN 1847-48.

one who has traveled over the face of this rugged country will appreciate
the heroism of this performance.

It is a singular circumstance that the knowledge of the discovery,
made by the surveyors, while duly recorded in their reports, seems not to
have been known bv any one who could profit by the information. They re-
lated the discoverv to the Indians whom they met, but it seems not to have

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

reached the ears of any white man. Among those to whom they made men-
tion of the existence of iron' was Louis Nolan, a half-breed, living at Sault
Ste. Marie, and an old Indian chief named Madjigijig, whose wigwam was
at the mouth of the Carp river.

In the spring of 1845 P. M. Everett,*
of Jackson, Mich., excited by the reports
of the existence of copper and silver in
the Lake Superior region, made a jour-
ney into that country accompanied by
four men. When he reached Sault Ste.
Marie he met Louis Nolan, who related
to him the discovery of the iron deposits
l)y the surveyors and volunteered to show
him the way. Everett had not heard
of iron, Imt accepted the offer of Nolan
and employed him as a guide. Nolan
was a physical giant, as hard as a rock,
and proved an invaluable servant. Lie
escorted the party as far as Teal Lake,
but v.as unab.e to locate the iron de-
posits. Everett then started for
Copper Harbor, but on the jour-
ney thither fortunately fell in with
Madjigijig, the old Indian chief, to whom they related their fruitless
search. He at once undertook to show them the deposits and piloted them
directly to the Jackson Mountain and then to the Cleveland Mountain.
These terms, Jackson and Cleveland, are used because it was by these
names that the deposits were later known. Mad jigi jig's superstition re-
garding the deposits was such that he would not approach them directly,
so that the actual discovery of the Jackson deposit was made by two mem-
bers of Mr. Everett's party — S. T. Carr and E. S. Rockwell. In reward
for the services of the Indian on this occasion the officers of the Jackson
company subsequently gave him a written stipulation, of which the follow-
ing is a copy :

*Phi!o M. Everc-tt was born at Winchester, Conn., Oct. 21, 1807. He settled in Jackson,
Mich., bnt removed his family to the H[)per peninsula in 1848. He appears not to have profited
personally by his great discovery, for a few years later he is to be found employed in quarrying
ore for others from the very mines which he had discovered. He died at Marquette, Sept.
37, 1892.

PHILO M. EVERETT.

THE DISCOVERY OF IRON ORE 23

"River du Mort, May 30, 1846.

'"This may certify that in consideration of the services rendered by
Madjigijig, a Chippeway Indian, in hunting ores of location No. 593 of the
Jackson Mining Co., that he is entitled to twelve undivided one-hundredths
part of the interest of said mining company in said location No.

"A. V. Berry, Superintendent,
"F. W. KiRTLAND, Secretary."

The agreement on the part of the company was never fulfilled and
Madjigijig finally died in poverty. However, it is true that none of the
original members of the Jackson Mining Co. got anything out of their
holdings, and Madjigijig therefore fared upon an equal basis with them.
But this is overstepping the development of the story.

Everett's party had a number of permits in their possession, issued by
the secretary of war, to preempt mineral locations, and one of them, made
out to James Ganson, was used upon the Jackson location.* The party then
gathered up a little of the ore and returned to Jackson, Mich.,
with it. The following" spring another expedition was fitted out by
the Everett party, consisting of F. W. Kirtland, E. S. Rock-
well. \\'. H. ]\Iunroe and A. V. Berry, to visit the Jackson location.
They built a house upon it and returned to the mouth of the Carp river
with 300 pounds of ore upon their backs. Some of the party remained be-
hind to keep possession of the location, but Berry journeyed on to the Sault
with the ore. At the Sault he met J. Lang Cassels of Cleveland, a noted
mineralogist, who had been sent into the peninsula by a number of Cleveland
gentlemen to report upon its mineral resources. These gentlemen were anx-
ious to develop the mines, should any of promise be found. Berry, learning
that the men whom Cassels represented were of the highest integrity, made
known the Cleveland location to him, on condition that the expenses of keep-
ing possession and making roads should be borne jointly. Dr. Cassels took
Berry's canoe, visited the location and secured it by a permit. Berry pro-

* Air. Everett in a letter to Capt. G: D. Johnson, dated lackson, Mich., Nov. 10, 1845, says:
"I left here on July 23 last and was gone until October 24. I had considerable difficulty
in getting anyone to join me in the enterorise but I at last succeeded in forming a company of
thirteen. I was appointed treasurer and agent to explore and make locations, for which last
purpose we had secin-ed seven permits from the secretary of war. I t6ok four men with me
from Jackson and hired a guide at the Sault, where I bought a boat and coasted up the lake to
Copper Harbor, which is over 300 miles from Sault Ste. Marie. There are no white men on
Lake Superior except those who go there for mining purposes. W^e incurred many dangers and
hardships. We made several locations, one of which we called Iron at the time. It is a moun-
tain of solid iron ore, ISO feet high. The ore looks as bright as a bar of iron just broken.
Since coming home we have had some of it smelted and find it produced iron and something
resembling gold — some say it is gold and copper. Our location is one mile square and we shall
send a company of men up in the spring to begin operations. Our company is called the Jackson
Aiming Co."

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

ceeded to Jackson, Mich., with his ore, where he made two attempts to smelt
it in a cupola furnace and failed. Some of the ore was then taken to Mr.
Olds of Cucush Prairie, who succeeded in making a fine bar of iron from it in
a blacksmith's fire, the first iron ever made from Lake Superior ore.

In the summer of 1847 the Jackson
company constructed a forge on Carp
river, about three miles from the mine,
and on Feb. 10, 1848, the first iron ever
made in the Lake Superior region was
made in this forge by Ariel N. Barney.
A month later the forge went out of
commission, being carried away by a
freshet. Mr. Everett returned in the
summer of 1848, repaired the dam and
resumed the manufacture of blooms.
The first iron made was sold to E. B.
Ward, who used it in the walking beam
of the steamer Ocean. The forge had
four fires, from each of which a lump
was taken every six hours, which was
placed under the hammer and forged
into blooms four inches square and
two feet in length. The daily product
was about six tons, requiring two teams of six horses each to convey the
blooms to Marquette, which lay ten miles away. The roads were of unvary-
ing horror and breakdowns were frequent. The same difficulty which at-
tended the getting of the blooms to port attended the getting of supplies to
the forge — the ore and charcoal. After struggling with insufficient power,
for some time the Carp river ran pretty low, with the frightful grades and
the imspeakably bad roads, the forge met the death to which it was born.

Meanwhile there lived at Mackinaw a man of extraordinary qualities,
Avho was destined to give the central figure of this story a prodigious start
in life. His name was Robert J. Graveraet. Of him it might be said as
Hamlet said of his father :

The front of Jove himself —

An eye like Mars, to threaten and command,

A station like the herald Mercury,

New lighted on a heaven-kissing hill,

A combination and a form indeed

Whereon each good did seem to set his seal

To o'ive the world assurance of a man.

'* "■ ■ '-^

w ^kW"^ '

^^T^^ *;. ■■■ ^^3^^^^^^^^^^^^^r

ARIEL N. BARNEY

CHARLES BAWGAM, THE CHIPPEWA CHIEF.

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Graveraet was not an ordinary man. He would be singled out as a
natural leader among thousands. He was ambitious ; he had a will of
iron ; he had the faculty of winning men ; he was generous, gentle, but
firm ; he had great intelligence and energy ; and his mother had
given him a constitution that did not know the meaning of fatigue. For
grace of bearing and beauty of proportion Graveraet challenged instant
admiration ; and moreover his muscles were of steel. This man recognized
more quickly than any of his associates the immeasurable value of the
iron deposits. He believed that he had a claim upon two of the most
valuable of them — the Cleveland and the Lake Superior. The Lake Su-
perior was a third outcropping lying not far from the Cleveland mine

ORIGINAI. JACKSON MINE SHOWING STUMP UNDER WHICH IRON ORE WAS FIRST

DISCOVERED IN LEFT FOREGROUND.

and is called in this story Lake Superior because it was by that name it
subsec|uently became known. Graveraet induced John H. Mann and Sam-
uel Moody to undertake their preemption. A little later Dr. Edmund C.
Rogers went upon the Lake Superior location to assist in obtaining pre-
emption rights. How sadly Graveraet was mistaken regarding his pri-
ority of right will later be revealed.

In the summer of 1848 Graveraet met at Mackinaw Dr. Edward Clark
of Worcester, Mass., a representative of Mr. Waterman A. Fisher of

THE discovp:ry of trox ore

Worcester, who had become interested in the accounts of the mineral wealth
of tlie region and wdio had sent Clark to investigate. Fisher was the pro-
prietor of a cotton factory and was reputed to be a wealthy man, as wealth
was accounted in those days. Clark, like all the rest, was on the copper
scent until he fell in with Graveraet. Graveraet induced him to stop at
Carp river to inspect the iron mines. He took him to the Cleveland and
Lake Superior locations, where Moody, Mann and Rogers were holding
possession and showed him the apparently inexhaustible deposits. He also
took him to the Jackson forge and gave him a bloom of iron and some ore.
Clark returned to \A"orcester, where the iron was drawn into wire at a fac-
tory and proved most excellent. He had no trouble in enlisting Fisher'^
aid in developing the iron mines. Gra-
veraet, too, appeared at Worcester in the k
early winter, having made the journey V^-
from ]\Iarquette to Saginaw on snow
shoes. Graveraet had perfect mastery
over his physical resources and a
journey of this character was as
nothing to him. Fisher was charmed
with the man. He readily assent-
ed to advance the necessary capital,
Graveraet offering as security leases
from jNIoody and J\Iann upon the
Cleveland location and from Rogers jackson stump, detail of prkced-
upon the Lake Superior location. A.

R. Harlow', of Worcester, a practical mechanic, was also induced to join
forces, and he accordingly constructed the necessary machinery for a forge.

In ]\Iarch, 1849, the ^larquctte Iron Co. was organized, consisting of
W. A. Fisher, A. R. Harlow, E. B. Clark and R. J. Graveraet. It was de-
cided to ship the machinery to Marcjuette as soon as it should be finished,
and Harlow was to follow immediately thereafter. Graveraet returned at
once to Mackinac Island to engage a number of workmen for the mines,
because beyond the preemptors and a few copper miners there were no
white men wdiatever in the Lake Superior region. He had no difficulty
in enlisting the aid of nine men and a boy, though to all accounts the re-
gion to wdiich he invited them was as bleak and barren as the proverbial
wilderness. It is with the boy that this narrative is principally concerned.

28 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

In April, 1849, Graveraet and his party set forth for the promised
land in the little steamer Tecumseh. At the Sault they transferred their
few belongings to a Mackinaw barge, and after eight days of rowing, towing,
poling and sailing reached Carp river and anchored at Indian Town, now
known as Marquette. The first person to greet the little party was Charley
Bawgam,'^' a full blooded Chippewa Indian, lithe as a sapling and in the
prime of life. He was the son of Shauwano of Sault Ste. Marie, the last
of the tribal chiefs to make his headquarters at the rapids. Bawgam's
sister, Lisette, had married at Sault Ste. Marie, John Logan Chipman,
son of a learned judge of the Supreme Court of Michigan and himself
elected many times judge of the Superior Court of Detroit, and later a
member of Congress. Bawgam invited the party into his cedar wigwam
and his wife Charlotte, who was the daughter of the Chippewa chief,
Madjigijig, cooked a fine supper of fresh venison, wild duck, geese, fresh
white fish, potatoes, bread and coflr'ee. The place at which the little party
landed, the most interesting member of which was the hero of the present
tale, was known as lackson's landing, a name which would indicate, of

* Bawgam died in January, 1903, having reached the age of nearly 100 years. He had been
for fifty years one of the characters of the upper peninsnla, a splendid specimen of a dying race.
It was said of him that if he had had the advantages of education he would have rivaled Daniel
Webster in eloquence. His face while essentially Indian was nevertheless intellectual in cast.
Bawgam was certainly a link with the past. One little story will suffice to illustrate what the
life of the Chippewas was before the white man came to inhabit the peninsula. .\ colony of the
Chippewas lived on Presque Isle in peace; but because many of them had never drawn bow or
wielded the tomahaw-k in combat they were called squaws and were sorely taunted by a tribe of
warlike Indians who lived a considerable distance in the peninsula. Their insults finally became
so insufl'erable that a band of the Presque Isle Chippewas was organized to give them battle.
Before they set out one of their number was appointed as a runner whose duty it was, when they
approached the enemy, to station himself in some secluded spot where he might watch the outcome
of the combat unobserved. They stole upon their enemy silently and began the fight with such
s-uddenness and swiftness that, though they were outnumbered four times over, they slew half their
foes and put the other half to flight. The retreating enemy, however, overcome with chagrin at
being vanquished by so slight a number and by a colony which they had hitherto held in contempt,
rallied when their conquerors supposed them to be in full retreat, and returned to the attack with
great fury. They slew all, except the runner, who witnessed with dismay the annihilation of his
comrades and who later returned to tell the story w-hich established forever the courage of the
Presque Isle Chippewas among the tribes of the north. The runner was seen by Gov. ■ Cass soon
after his return and the governor listened with much interest to the story of the adventure.

The writer saw Bawgam in the spring of 1902. He was living with his wife Charlotte in
1 little cabin on Presque Isle which had been built for him by Peter White and Alfred Kidder.
The framework of his great figure was erect, gaunt and giant-like and indicates clearly what a
powerful man he must have been. He spoke of the blindness which had come upon him in 1899
with touching simplicity. His large grief was not that he could not read or view the myriad
delights of nature, but that his remaining solace had been taken from him. "I can no longer
fish," said he; and there was a world of meaning and of sorrow in the words. For it ' bespoke
the great love of outdoor life and the Indian's inherent right to wrest his living from nature. In
the 93rd year of his age a miserable game warden put the old man in durance for setting a sucker
net in a stream. Justice Creary, however, before whom the old Indian was taken, had a strong
enough sense of the fitness of things to peremptorily order his release.

THE DISCOVERY OF IRON ORE 29

course, that they were not the first white persons that had landed there.
In fact there were two small log houses at the point and five or six birch
bark w^igw^ams, the whole inhabited by Indians. Beyond this small clear-
ing was the forest and thicket.

The next morning Graveraet gave each member a pack strap and
blanket and directed him to use his own discretion in putting into the
pack what he thought he could carry a distance of twelve miles up hill.
Graveraet put into his own pack more than twice the quantity that any other
member of the party could carry, and thus equipped the caravan started
for the much-discussed iron hills. When they had journeyed about two
miles Graveraet observed that one member of the party, a well-formed
though slender lad, was staggering under his load, and as he passed
him whisked it from off his shoulders and threw it upon his own much
heavier pack as though it had been a feather. Even then the lad had
difficulty in keeping up with Graveraet's giant strides.'

"Jump on my shoulders, Peter," invited the leader.

There was no doubt of Graveraet's ability to carry Peter, pack and all,
but the boy's pride was a bit wounded. When the party halted at a little
brook for lunch, Graveraet again reached for the stripling's pack after
lunch was over.

"I will carry my own pack, sir," said Peter.

He has been carrying it ever since and several others along with it.
And thus w^e meet our hero — Peter White of Marquette — who, man and boy,
has had the most fascinating career of anyone who has ever been identified
with the history of the region of the great father of lakes. The theme
is fruitful.

CHAPTER I.

THE JOURNEY TO THE IRON MINES.

DETER WHITE was born at Rome. Oneida county, New York, on
October 31, 1830. The Whites liad Hverl at Rome for a great many
years and Peter is bound to that town today by ties of great affection. A
scene was enacted there that is worthy of a place in the annals of American
history, for it was out of his grandmother's pe;:ticoat that the first fl?.g of
the United States was made. The first recorded legislative action by the
American congress in session at Philadelphia for the adoption of the
stars and stripes was in a resolution offered Saturday, June 14, 1777, as
follows :

"Resolved that the fiag of tlic thirteen United States be thirteen stripes,
alternate red and white ; that the union be thirteen stars, woven in a blue
field representing a new constellation."

Although this resolution was not ofificially promulgated by the secre-
tary of congress until Sept. 3. 1777, it seems to be well authenticated that
the first flag hoisted as the stars and stripes was unfurled by Capt. Stephen
White on Friday, Aug. 6, 1777, over Fort Stanwix, commonly known as Fort
Schuyler, then a militar\- post on the present site of the city of Rome,
Oneida county. New York. This flag was hastily constructed from a
soldier's white shirt, an officer's blue overcoat and a woman's red petti-
coat. Captain Stephen White was Peter White's grandfather and in his
zeal to make an emblem for the new republic he employed one of his
wife's petticoats.

Peter \\niite's first trip into the world was made at the age of three
years when he began an independent exploration of the fastnesses of the
city of Rome, thus giving an early evidence of that intrepid nature which
has made his life so notable. There is lingering in his mind now only
vague memories of his first incursion into the world which consisted
largely of amazing high buildings, devious and bewildering alleyways,
vast stretches of unknown woodland and an endless procession of people,
strange and mysterious, who were scurrying busily in all directions without

THE JOURNEY TO THE IRON MINES 31

paying- special heed to the lone adventurer. Meanwhile two persons with
whom he liad hitherto made his abode, namely his father and mother, were
in hot hut fearful pursuit which lasted until the hardy young explorer was
found domiciled in a great castle, ten blocks from home, which had capit-
ulated upon his repeated attacks and wdicre he was enjoying the fruits
of his concjuest in the form of a piece of cake. The young soldier of for-
tune was hustled ofif home, given a bath and put to bed. He seems now to
have lain dormant for five }'ears waiting for other worlds to concpier. At
any rate nothing more is recorded of him until he reached the age of
nine years when his parents removed to Green Bay, Wis., and planted
cur young hero at the base of that country which was to become singularly
his own. The little lad that was trotting along the wagon road to Green
Ba}', knocking oil the tops of the tall grasses with a switch, was eventually
to give the country his name. The upper peninsula of Michigan is fre-
quentlv called "Peter White's country."

During Peter White's stay at Green Bay, Louis Phillippe visited the
place as the guest of Eleazer Williams, a half-breed of great character
and force. Peter rode with Louis Phillippe to Eleazer Williams' home
on the banks of the Fox river but it must be confessed that he rode
with the driver. He remembers the heir to the throne of France as a
man of distinguished bearing and gracious manners. Meanwhile Peter
was just an ordinary boy going to school and soaking into his system
such knowledge as a boy could get. He was an earnest, eager student but
the piping schoolboy times were not to his liking and he longed to make
his own way in the world. At the age of fifteen he left home. He might,
indeed, be called a fifteen year old runaway for he left home without the
consent of his parents and while he corresponded with them faithfully
he did not see them again for ten years. The world's base to him at that
time was ]\Iackinac Lsland, whither he went. It was just when the copper
excitement was at its height and the imagination of Peter was greatly in-
flamed bv it L'l a little while he left for the Sault in the hope of reaching
the promised land. In this venture he was unsuccessful and returned to
Mackinac Island. It is interesting to note that he arrived at the Sault on
the very day that James Schoolcraft was murdered and found the little
settlement in a perfect turmoil of excitement over the crime. One of
Peter's most vivid recollections is that of bending over the body of the
murdered man who was lying in the grass face downward with a bullet
through his heart.

On June 10, 1847, preparations were being made at Sault Ste. Marie

32 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

to haul the schooner Uncle Tom over the rapids. Preparatory to doing
so Capt. Brown of the schooner Swallow, John G. Parker, Capt. John
Stanard, E. G. Seymour, Tom Ritchie, William Flynn and Dr. Prouty got
into a yawl to go over the rapids to sound a channel for the schooner.
Capt. Brown was steering the boat, Capt. Stanard was forward piloting
her down and Parker was pulling the stroke oar. When the yawl came
to the first fall she took in some water and Parker took the precaution to
pull off his boots. When the yawl got to the big fall she filled forward,
weered badly in the eddy, then capsized and floated down the river bottom-
side up. When opposite McKnight's dock. Capt. Brown and Mr. Parker
clung to her bottom and were taken off by Capt. Redmund Ryder. Shawano,
the Indian chief, who was out fishing in his canoe, saw Seymour go down.
He paddled over to the spot and succeeded in pulling him up with his spear.
All the rest were drowned. That very afternoon Capt. Moore of the
schooner Merchant in going ashore at the Sault suffered a broken leg
by the oar striking the dock and as soon as Capt. Brown got into dry
clothes he was asked to take the Merchant up to Portage Entry. Just as
she was about to sail an active lad, who was extremely desirous of reaching
the copper country, asked for the privilege of working his passage on her.
He was refused because the boat had a full crew and a heavy passenger list.
It was fortunate for him and for this tale that this was so, for the boy was
Peter White. The Merchant never reached Portage Entry. She sank
near Grand Island with all on board.

Among the vessels lying at the dock at Sault Ste. Marie was the
schooner Bela Hubbard, then plying regularly between Detroit and the
Sault. Upon this vessel Peter White managed to secure an humble position.
This constitutes now an interesting period of his life because it
embraces all that is maritime in it. He sailed before the mast, as the
novelists say, on the schooner Bela Hubbard — and on the schooner Bela
Hubbard only. After the vessel had made about half a dozen trips between
Detroit and Sault Ste. Marie she capsized off Thunder Bay island. For-
tunately no one was drowned. After considerable buffeting they managed
to reach the island and were taken to Bay City by the propeller Chicago.*
The crew volunteered to w^ork their passage back to Detroit and were all en-
gaged. Before shipping, however, thev obeyed the natural instinct to see what
manner of place Bay City might be and improved the few hours of daylight
in that pursuit. In returning to the vessel after dark they had to crawl

* The Cliicago, Vandalia and Oswego were the first screw boats to be built on the great
lakes. They were all built at Oswego, the Vandalia being built in the winter of 1839-40, and the
Chicago and Oswego in the winter of 1840-41. The Vandalia was 80 ft. keel, 19i/$ ft. beam and 10
ft. moulded deptli. The Chicago and Oswego were 95 ft. over all, 19 '/4 ft. beam and 10 ft. moulded
depth.

THE JOURNEY TO THE IRON ^IINES

over piles of lumber 20 feet high, which, with the natural altitude of the
dock, made th.e deck of the Chicago below a somewhat indistinct mark to
jump upon. However, they all made it well except Peter. He jumped
into the fore hold and broke his left arm.

In all such primitive settlements
there is always one person without
special training who makes claim to
medical knowledge and by common
repute obtains an undeserved reputa-
tion for skill. In this particular case
it was a woman who attended Peter
with such success that by the time the
bov reached Detroit the arm had
swollen to three times its natural size
and was giving him excruciating pain.

He was taken at once to the office
of a physician, who after a cursory ex-
amination decided that the only thing
to do was to amputate the arm.
Doctors have an agreeable custom
when proceeding upon a capital opera-
tion in emergencies of this character
to invite a number of fellow surgeons
to witness the operation. They too
frequently gather merely as witnesses
and do not exercise their perceptive
■faculties on the patient's behalf as
natch as they should. Upon this occa-
sion Peter was put into a reclining chair and securely strapped. Several doc-
tors entered and exchanged greetings with the operating surgeon, but none
of them paid any attention to Peter. They drew their chairs about and
gathered around in a semi-circle and the operating surgeon proceeded to
select his instruments. Peter was silent and pale as a ghost. Presently
there entered the room a surgeon whose reputation, alreadv wide, was soon
to become national. His name was Zina Pitcher. Pie did not, as had those
who preceded him, merely take a seat, but went immediately to the patient
and examined the arm. It was frightfully swollen. He asked the operating
surgeon if any steps had been taken to reduce the swelling, and the surgeon
replied in the negative.

DR. ZIXA PITCHER.

34 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"We cannot tell an}'thino' about the condition of the arm until the
swelling is reduced," said Dr. Pitcher. "I think it would be well to delay
the operation for a couple of days.''

He gave instructions that hot whisk}- and water, as hot as it could
be borne, should be poured upon the arm at fifteen-minute intervals dur-
ing the next twenty-four hours. The eft'ect of this treatment was wonderful.
When Dr. Pitcher called twenty-four hours later the swelling was greatly
reduced He ordered the treatment continued for twenty-four hours longer
and the arm had by that time almost regained its normal size.

"AJv bov," said Dr. Pitcher, "I don't believe we'll amputate this arm
at all."

He securelv fastened Peter into a chair, and, working with the utmost
rapiditv, while the youngster screamed with pain, he pulled the bones into
place and put the arm into splints. Peter carried his arm in splints for four
months, but at the end of that time it was a good arm and is a good arm yet.

Some years later Dr. Zina Pitcher died and was borne to an unmarked
grave. The Detroit papers, conscious of the man's greatness, suggested
the advisability of a public subscription to erect a monument over his
resting place. This petition fell under the eye of Peter White, who im-
mcdiatelv subscribed to the fund. He never received acknowledgement of
the receipt of his monev. This, however, was not the fault of the paper.
It was prompth. acknowledgcfl though the issue in which it was acknowl-
edged did not reach him. Put as a matter of fact Peter White's money
did not go into the monument, but was devoted to a far more tender
and beautiful purpose. His contribution from Marquette, owing to the
inicertain mail service of those days, did not reach Detroit until the sub-
scription account was closed. Indeed the entire amount was subscribed
in a day. When Peter White's contributiori arrived, a florist, noting
the eloquence of the letter, offered to plant flowers each succeeding year
upon the grave, and to this jiurpose the mi)ne\- was pledged. (_)ne of the
most-prized treasures in Peter White's collection today is a photograph
of this sturdy old physician.

When Peter's arm had sufficier,tl\- mended to permit him to work
again he obtained employment as clerk in the store of Freeman & Bro., on
JeiYerson avenue in Detroit and remained with the firm for nearly a year.
He then shipped with a man who was going to keep the government light-
ship at Waugoshance reef in the Straits of Mackinac, but when he reached
Mackinac Island he found that the place which he sought had been filled.
He obtained emploxment in the sumiuer time with Capt. Canfield of the light-

THE JOURNEY TO THE IROX AITXES 35

house service, who ^\as l^uilding a crih at Waugoshance Reef, and in the
winter time he obtained a clerkship in the store of Edward Kanter with
a nmch vahied permission to go to school.

Projecting from one side of Canfield's tent Peter was accustomed to
see one of his trunks having his name and address painted on the end,
as is customar}'. It read, "Captain Augustus Canfield, Corps of Engineers,
U. S. A., Detroit. Mich." The supplies and special articles for the work
were usually addressed to "Captain Canfield, Topographical Engineers,
Waugoshance Lighthouse, Straits of Mackinac, Michigan." Having no
other copy. Peter used to imitate this writing and the lettering on the trunk,
as a boy desirous of perfecting himself in penmanship naturally would.
One day the corps ran short of stone and Captain Canfield ordered the
boat's crew, and taking along provisions for a trip of several days, pulled
across the straits. Captain Canfield made an exploration of the shore to
secure a place to open a quarrv of stone. C)n such exploring tours the
boat's crew had nothing to do but wait on the beach until the captain re-
turned from his tramp in the hills. Peter took advantage of one of these
halts to write on the san<l in letters six inches high, "Captain Augustus
Canfield, U. S. Topograi)hical Engineers. Waugoshance Lighthouse,
Straits of Mackinac, Michi;?;an," until he had practically filled the beach
with the lettering. Canfield had a sharp, incisive wav of speaking, and
when he returned he abruptl_\- asked,

"Who did that?"

Captain Lasley, the coxswain of the boat, pointed to Peter and said:
"That little cuss." Canfield then went about on other business, and Lasley,
\vho it appears could not read, gathered tliat the scribbling was derogatory
to Canfield. He rather frightened the boy with his forebodings of punish-
ment, and Peter was bv no means reassured when Canfield sent for him the
next morning. Canfield had nothing more in mind however than to pro-
mote him to the position of time-keeper at a fair advance in wages. The
clerk, it a]:)pears, was overliurdened with work and Canfield was glad to
discover that there was some one among his crew who could relieve him.

]\Iackinac Island is small, charming and highly romantic. It is one
of th.e most beautiful spots in the world. It rises abruptlv out of the
emerald water. It has a superb pebble beach, guarded by overhanging
cliffs of cragg\- rocks, trimmed with exquisite evergreens, but its great
attraction lies in its intense hunianitv, for its government has been Indian,
French, British and American in succession. Peter White spent two years
upon this island, and now, as the president of the Mackinac Island state
park commission, can look back with pleasure upon those years.

36 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Samuel K. Haring was the collector of customs of Mackinac Island,
in such a small commimity, where population is only a household, there
is much interchange of thought and confidence. Haring took an interest
in Peter, his hopes and his ambitions, and when Robert J. Graveraet ap-
peared upon the island in 1849 i" search of men to develop the iron mines
of Lake Superior, Haring urged the bov to join the expedition. Graveraet
was offering $12 a month and board, Peter was making $35 a month and
board, but Haring. who was a man of remarkable foresignt and who clearly
saw the advantages such a vouth would have in a country capable of untold
development, urged him to go. So Peter, eighteen years old, offered his
services to Graveraet and started out upon his life's work. There followed
the tempestuous voyage in the worthless little side-wheeler Tecumseh.
The party had gone but a few miles from Mackinac when a huge wave
took off the yawl boat, swept the decks clear of freight and sent Capt.
Pratt scurrying back into harbor again. The next day the boat started
out again with more passengers than it could either sleep or feed, for it was
not intended that the vessel should take over twelve hours in making the
trip to Sault Ste. Marie. After an heroic struggle the boat finally got
inside of the Detour and there met with such solid ice that she had to
back out again. It took the boat ten days to literally hammer Uer way
to the Sault. Meanwhile the supply of food had become exhausted and an
incipient bread riot occurred. This was quelled, however, by the boat
actually sinking to her deck, furnishing an excitement that temporarily
banished hunger. There was on board an old man, nicknamed Old Saler-
atus, who w^as the butt of every gibe and jest, but he proved the ship's
salvation, for his trade was that of ship carpenter. He found the leak
and stopped it.

Then followed the trip in ihe Mackinaw barge to Indian Town,
which has previously been noted, and the march to the iron hills where
Peter at the little brook resolutely picked up his own pack and carried it
the rest of the way. He dropped it at the Cleveland mine, which was then
known to the little party onlv as Moody's location. The tramp had been
a long and weorv one. The country was jagged, broken and mountainous,
denselv wooded and thick with underbrush, with only a tree blazed here
and there by the Indians to guide the way. There is not in the Lake
Superior region the even sweep of range and canyon, as in the far west,
which frequcntlv oft'ers level stretches for the traveler. It is a constant
grade which wearies the lungs as nuich as it does the legs. Peter was tired
when he dropped his pack.

CHAPTER 11.

THE FOUNDING OF MARQUETTE.

C AIMUEL MOODY and John H. Mann, who had spent the previous

winter and summer at the location, came out of a httle log shanty to
welcom.e Graveraet. They were keeping- possession for this indomitable
soul. The party was exhausted and lost no time in getting to bed, but
Peter was up betimes in the morning. He found Capt. Moody already
stirring.

"Come and help me dig some potatoes, boy," said he.

"What?" exclaimed Peter, who with the snow scarcely off the ground,
knew^ that it was not the time to plant potatoes, much less dig them.

"Come and help me dig potatoes," repeated Moody, and seizing a hoe
and an old tin pail he led the Avav to the top of the iron mountain adjoining.
About half an acre upon its pinnacle had been partially cleared and planted
to potatoes. The astonished Peter saw him open one or two hills and fill his
pail with large and splendid potatoes.

"I may as well get some parsnips and carrots for dinner while I'm
about it." said Moody, and suiting the action to the word, he began to pull
them up in great abundance before the eyes of the speechless Peter.

This was the ordinary method adopted by the preemptors to keep
their vegetables sound and sweet over winter and not, as Peter thought
for the nonce, the extraordinary perversity of nature.

Graveraet set Peter to work clearing brush and kept him at it for a
month. Thus he denuded the ore of its covering and prepared the way
for those immense shipments which have since swung the pendulum of
the world's manufacture of iron and steel west of the Alleghenies. It is
needless to say that Peter could not see the result of his handiwork. He
did not know that he was making history. He cleared brush energetically,
and incidentally fought black flies by day and mosquitos by night. The activ-
ity of these pests was so incessant that the surveyors in the Lake Superior re-
gion were forced to wear buckskin masks over their faces while running the
lines. As the masks speedily became grimy with dirt the sight of the sur-

38 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

veyors to the uninitiated was formidable and terrifying. On June lo, 1849,
the work of clearing- the brush was temporarily suspended and Graveraet
and his party went down to the shore of the lake to welcome Harlow and his
party from Worcester, whom he calculated would arrive about this time
with the machinery for the forge. They found that Mr. Harlow had arrived
with quite a number of mechanics, and what was most interesting of all,
a few of the gentler sex. They had reached Marquette the day before on
the schooner Algonquin from the Sault. When the vessel had passed
Laughing Whitefish point an east wind was blowing and Capt. John McKay
had previously decided that Iron Bay. now Marquette, was no place for a
schooner to be during an east wind. The prevailing opinion of navigators
was that Iron Bay was full of sunken rocks. He accordingly landed his
passengers on the beach just above little Presque Isle. They were about
thirty-five in number and had a large amount of baggage, including trunks
and tool chests, which was all dumped about the beach. They were com-
pelled to stay there over night without bedding and were a sadly bedraggled
and uncomfortable lot when thev reached Marquette the following after-
noon. Every one was enthusiastic, however, and the impulse to give reign
to the imagination was irresistible. All were seized by the same thought —
the founding of a great city.

"Let me fell the first tree," cried Peter, giving voice to the common
thought.

He cut a tree at the point of rock on what is now Lake street at
such an angle that it fell over the bank onto the lake shore. It was a young
tree that Peter selected, but it was the first. Instantly all grasped axes and
attacked the virgin forest. They decided to call the future city Worcester,
in honor of Mr. Harlow's native home. With the trees that were felled they
began the construction of a dock that very afternoon, because they ex-
pected the arrival of another vessel with more machinery in a few days.
The trees were carried into the water whole and piled lengthwise and cross-
wise until the structure, thus created, was even with the surface of the
water. Then they wheeled sand and gravel upon it and by the end of
the second week the dock seemed both capacious and substantial. Its
outer front was made of solid rock. The surface was corduroyed on the
third week and it was then ready for the reception of freight.

One morning of the fourth week, Peter White, who was always the
first out of bed, was surprised to find that the_dock had entirely disappeared.
Not a trace of it remained. The sand of the beach was as clean, smooth
and packed as it had been for centuries before. Peter could scarcely credit

THE FOUXDIXG OF MARQUETTE 39

!iis senses, but in a moment the humor of the thing caught him and he
merrily traced upon the sand :

"Tliis is the spot w here Capt. Moody built his dock."

Moody was wroth when he saw the havoc which the sea had made^
and more wroth }et when he saw what Peter White had written. He
obliterated the record and threatened to discharge the boy at the end of
the month ; but, as in the manner of impetuous and violent-tempered men,
straiffhtwav foreot about it. It was a long time before anyone had the hardi-
hood to attempt the building of a dock again.

Methods were primitive indeed. Boilers were plugged and thrown
overboard and other machinery was landed by the Mackinaw barge.
Cattle and horses were invariably pitched overboard to swim ashore. Pas-
sengers and perishable freight were landed with small boats. Under the
leadership of James Kelly, the head carpenter, who was from Boston, Peter
assisted in building a log house for his particular party, and when it was
finished it was called Revere house after the most fashionable hotel in
Boston. This building stood and retained its name as late as i860.

During the first week or so all labor was strictly manual. There was
no horse to be had. Xo matter how heavy a log might be the men pulled
and hauled it about as best they could. By some means, however, a horse
that belonged to Silas Smith came into possession of the party and Peter
was selected to drive him. The boy was immensely pleased with this task.
The horse was a useful animal and catholic in its appetite. It would eat
anything. Smith even warranted him to thrive on sawdust, provided it was
from hardwood. A week or so later an old man named Ganson wandered
into the camp with a team of oxen, a cow and a calf wdiich he sold to
Graveraet's party.

"Peter, can you drive oxen?" sang out Graveraet.

'T can," answered Peter gravely, but with some hesitation.

Peter did not know whether he could drive oxen or not. He knew
that "Haw" meant for the oxen to go one way and "Gee" the other, but
he did not know which was which. He reasoned, however, that if he did not
know the oxen did, and taking the gad he drove them straight ahead
until well out of sight of the camp, wdien he yelled "Whoa!" The oxen
stopped.

"Haw !" cried Peter.

The oxen turned to the left. Then Peter knew that "Gee" meant to the
right. When he returned to the camp and nonchalantly yelled "Raw**
everyone concluded that Peter had been driving oxen all his life.

40 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"Can you milk ?" asked Mrs. Wheelock, the boarding-house keeper.

"Yes," answered Peter unhesitatingly, for this he knew he could do.
And so he was let into the graces of a very good and kind woman who vol-
unteered to do his washing and mending and who invited him to eat at
the second table, for all of which he was truly grateful.

Peter was proudly driving his oxen a week later when a stranger over-
took him and demanded the cattle, claiming that they belonged to the
Jackson Iron Co. Peter declined to surrender them and drove them back
into camp. That night the cow and calf were stolen and it was reported
on reliable authoritv that the directors and president of the Jackson Mining
Co., who had just arrived at their mine, had had veal for dinner. ]\Iore
in sorrow than in anger the Jackson company rebuked old Ganson for
having sold the animals while he was in debt to the company for the freight
on them up. The old man's heroic reply was that the Jackson company
owed everybody, but that he chose to reverse the order of things and
owe the Jackson company. In that event, he said, there was a possibility
that the debt might some day be paid.

About this time Jim Presque Isle, whose real name was James Hilliard,
informed Capt. Moody that there was a large meadow a short distance from
Presque Isle covered with superb grass. The only trouble with it was that
the water on it was too deep to admit of mowing it. In a few hours, however,
he thoupht a drain could be cut out into the lake that would draw the
meadow dry. Moody collected his men, and, armed with shovels, axes,
scythes, rakes and pitchforks, they rowed to the meadow. Capt. jNIoody
was palpably nervous. He had never attempted to drain a field before,
but he deliberately staked out the proper place for the canal and ordered
the workmen to proceed. They dug each way from the center for four or
five hours, and then opened both ends simultaneously, when to the great
astonishment of the workmen and the no less great chagrin of Moody, the
waters of Lake Superior rushed in and submerged the meadow. The field
of scientific engineering was permanently abandoned by Moody and he
directed his workmen to resume the clearing of the land at Worcester for
the erection of the forge, the machine shop, the saw mill and the coal house,
which were to be, in his judgment and that of the entire party, the fore-
runner of a great industrial city. It should be noted that the name of
Worcester did not long continue. It was changed to that of the most
illustrious of the Jesuit missionaries, Pere Marquette, who now sleeps peace-
fully at St. Ignace.

Meanwhile the restless Graveraet had eone to Milwaukee and returned

THE FOUXDIXG OF ^lARQUETTE 41

in August on the little schooner Fur Trader, with a large number of
Germans, some Irish and a few French, to develop the iron mines. It
was the great cholera year and various parts of the country were affected
with the dread pestilence. The little schooner had a frightful voyage.
Ship fever broke out and was mistaken for cholera. Several died on the
voyage and many were landed very sick. No sooner did the report get
abroad that the ship was stricken with the cholera than every Indian de-
parted. Within sixty minutes the last canoe was out of sight, for the cholera
to them was more fearful than even the small-pox. Dr. Rogers was called
upon to lay aside the axe and resume the calling which, at a later date, he
practiced with such distinction at Chicago. He quickly saw that the men
were not suffering with cholera at all, but with ship and typhoid fever.
A rude building was constructed and used as a hospital. In a few days
Dr. Rogers himself was stricken wnth the disease, as, indeed, were a dozen
other powerful men, and the condition of all of them was desperate.

"Peter," said Graveraet quietly, "you will have to take your turn in
the hospital."

"Very well, sir," said Peter as quietly.

Mrs. Wheelock advised Peter to bathe the patients constantly. Whether
it was from knowledge or intuition or what not she directed him to do
that which the highest medical skill at a later day pronounced the best
treatment for those suffering with typhoid. Peter bathed them in cold
water incessantlv. Dr. Rogers, who was the weakest and worst of all,
endeavored from time to time to gather his scattered faculties and direct
the treatment of himself and others. He mumbled medical terms which
Peter could not understand, so he went on heroically plunging them into
cold water. Things looked hopeless for two weeks; the. men were seized
with the haunting deliriums which accompany this terrible fever ; they
shrieked for food and medicine ; but for answer the boy gave them a cold
bath. At the end of the second week Dr. Rogers looked at him calmly
and lucidly. The fever had fled and the light of reason was in his eye.

"Peter," said he, "you have saved us all, but if you could have under-
stood me vou would probably have killed us all."

It was a happy crowd when the fever was banished and the Indians
cautiouslv put tlie noses of their canoes against the beach in Iron Bay again.

Peter's next job was filling the first steam boiler ever set up in the
peninsula. It was likewise his first contract, and as is customary in such
cases, he bid too low. Peter's bid was $1.50 and as the work had to be done
by hand, it took him three days and two nights to do it. When it was

42 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

finished he surveyed it with sadness but with wisdom. As part compensa-
tion, however, he was installed as fireman and engineer, and only left
this place to enter the machine shop to become a mechanic.

The number of vessels on Lake Superior in those days was limited,
scarcelv more than half a dozen, and they were frequently out of repair.
The Fur Trader was the only one which endeavored to make regular trips
to Marquette, but even these were three or four weeks apart. Towards the
end of October she had not put in an appearance for over ten weeks.

One of the hardships of existence in the peninsula was the inability to
replenish the stock of provisions regularly owing to the infrequency of
communication. The stock of provisions ran quite low. Butter and other
luxuries entirely disappeared. Only a few barrels of pork and flour re-
mained and a short-ration order had to be issued. One of the men pre-
tended to discover a conspiracy among the Germans to seize the warehouse
and he volunteered to organize a guard to protect it. The prospect of a
long winter on a few mouthfuls of food per day did not appeal to the
Germans whom Graveraet had brought from Milwaukee, and one bleak
morning in November thev started out of the country by way of Grand
Island and Munising. But few of the party, however, ever reached Grand
Island. It was a trackless wilderness and many of them stumbled by the
way. They probably would have perished there but their hardier brothers
returning from Grand Island, where they had learned that a propeller loaded
with provisions had departed for Marquette, revived their spirits and all
came back to Marquette.

Graveraet, wdio had disappeared again — this time to Chicago — came
overland via ]\Iunising from Escanaba with a troop of horses. The horses
were needed for the purpose of drawdng the iron ore from the mines to Mar-
quette, where it was hoped that the forge under construction would shortly be
in operation. His purpose was to make Marquette a great iron and steel
manufacturing center. His dream was to make the peninsula an indus-
trial empire. The only thing which he possessed was resistless energy.
Never at any time in his life did he have the means to finance his projects.
If he had he doubtless would have stamped his individuality more power-
fully upon the peninsula. Graveraet is but a niemory now ; but while
he lived he was a force. He had practically no money to ofifer those who
associated themselves with him. When one realizes his limitations, the
spectacle of the man penetrating the wilderness with men, horses and equip-
ment becomes magnificent. It speaks volumes for an imperious will and
fascinating personality.

THE FOUXDIXG OF AIARQUETTE 43

This extraordinary man was attracted to Peter White, for they had
a common facihty of' language. Graveraet spoke EngHsh, French, German
and several Indian dialects. He was highly educated. Peter White spoke
several languages also, a gift wholly native, for his mind was practically
undisciplined. He seemed to have the facultv of absorbing language by
association. Throw him in contact with an Indian and Peter White would
acquire his tongue within a month. Graveraet was therefore attracted to
a boy ^^•hom the Chippewas followed after as though thev were his personal
retinue. The Chippewas liked Peter because he could tell them stories
in their own language. It was even said that he had a greater hold upon
the Infhans than Graveraet, who had lived among them for vears. There-
fore when Graveraet wanted anything done he summoned Peter. One day
he sent him upon a mission of some delicacv to Escanaba. This meant a
trip overland across the peninsula — a mere nothing nowadays, but a con-
j^iderable undertaking through a continuous forest for a boy of eighteen.
Two Chippewas, Mongoose and Jimmeca, volunteered to accompany Peter.
This is one of the chief recollections of the man's life, which is not sur-
prising since it was the first trip he ever undertook through the wilderness
on foot. They carried their provisions on their backs. The Indians were
of incalculable aid to Peter in following the trail. When one tree is blazed
the Indian seems to know by instinct where to look for the next blaze and
so the trail was followed with reasonable accuracy. There is nothing
more monotonous, however, than following a trail, either on horseback
or on foot. On the fourth day Peter began to despair. The woods seemed
endless. He thought of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Thev were
in it for forty years ; Peter was in it for four days. Poor children of Israel,
thought Peter. On the seventh day he came to Escanaba, then known as
Flat Rock, having scrambled through thickets and floundered through
swamps. He returned in five days and made a mightv resolve never to go
into the woods again. It will be shown, however, how quickly this resolution
was broken.

CHAPTER III.

THE OVERLAND JOURNEY TO ESCANABA.

'T'HE business of pioneering is tragic. There may be plenty of comedy here
and there, a deft touch of humor that puts a high hght occasionally
into the day's work, but the background is always somber. It is a tragedy
pure and simple. The initial year in the new country was not without its
sorrow. A. R. Harlow was the practical man in the settlement. He had
heard in some way of a new deposit of iron near the mouth of the Carp
river and resolved to secure it. It was necessary to make a journey to
the land office at Sault Ste. Marie to obtain the necessary papers. John H.
Mann, who with Moodv was guarding the mines for Graveraet, undertook
to make the journey in a small boat. i\ccompanying him were Jim Presque
Isle, Henry Emmons and a boy named Kellogg. Emmons was the monied
man of the party and carried the gold, amounting to a thousand dollars or
more, in his belt. He had joined the Marquette Iron Co. when it was or-
ganized at Worcester. They left Marquette on Nov. 27th. This is well
into the treacherous season and is an undertaking which no one, familiar
with the moods of Lake Superior, would attempt. Their boat was little
more than a row boat. The party never reached Sault Ste. Marie and never
returned to Marquette. Weeks later Jim Presque Isle and Emmons were
found, one in each end of the boat, dead, the' gold still undisturbed in Em-
mons' belt. The other two had doubtless been swept overboard before the
boat struck the shore. The fact that there was no iron near the mouth of the
Carp river makes the tale more pitiful and more tragic.

It was a wonder, too, that Moodv did not meet the fate of Mann. His
life was preserved for the civil war to put a quietus upon it but he gave the
peninsula plenty of chances to take it. Graveraet, as related, had brought
a number of horses from Chicago, depending upon the vessels to bring the
hay and grain for the long winter's feed later. The schooners Swallow and
Siscowit, with their cargoes of grain, were unable to make Marquette, ow-
ing to a storm, and ran to L'Anse, where they laid up for the winter. It

THE OVERLAXD JOURNEY TO ESCAXABA 45

was absolutely necessary to get this grain to keep the horses from starving,
and Capt. Moody, who had a heart of oak, started after it. He went upon
snow shoes to L'Ansc. accompanied by James Broadbent, an old salt-water
sailor. Upon their arrival there they found the vessels stripped, and what
was worse, frozen in the ice. It w'as a disheartening task but Moody
was equal to it. He and Broadbent began to refit the Siscowit.
Her captain, old Jim Bendry of L'Anse, later of Baraga, finding that he
could not physically prevent them from doing so, contented himself by
firing upon them as picturesque a stream of profanity as ever emanated
from human lips. Moody said later that he had a heap of respect for Ben-
dry's command of language. They filled the Siscowit with corn and oats
from the Swallow and employed a large number of Indians to cut a passage
between two and three miles long through the ice, so as to float her out
into the open water. They got her out on Christmas eve and arrived at
Marquette on Christmas day. the sails frozen stifle and immovable and the
ice a foot deep upon her deck. They had not seen land from the time they
left I-'Anse until thev got into Iron Bay. having all the time a heavy north-
west gale and snow storm. There was much rejoicing wdien the schooner
entered the bay. She was successfully unloaded, but in endeavoring to
get her into Chocolay harbor she missed the channel and went ashore in the
breakers, where she pounded to pieces.

During the winter the little colony at Marquette had only three or four
mails. Mr. Harlow, the deputy postmaster, employed the Indian Jimmeca
to go to L'Anse after the mail at the cost of $io a trip. The manner in
wdiich Mr. Harlow came to be deputy postmaster Avas thus : There had
been neither postmaster nor postoffice at Marquette the preceding sum-
mer. All mail intended for the little colony on the shore of the lake,
after being landed from the vessel, would be taken to the Jackson forge, nine
miles distant, and the mail l)ag there opened by the postmaster, P. M. Everett.
The mail intended for Mar(|uette. would then be returned to the carrier. A
settlement had grown up about the Jackson forge and was called Carp River,
because it was at the point of the settlement that the river was crossed.
The postofiice, therefore, was known as Carp River. After a mail had
arrived bv vessel it was particularly irksome to the little colony at [Mar-
quette to wait for it to be taken to Carp River, nine miles away, to be opened
and then returned. Letters were infrequent in those days and eagerly de-
voured. Newspapers were also eagerly sought and a single newspaper
would be read bv the entire population. It was carefully wrapped in cloth
as it passed from hand to hand to preserve it and its age was a matter of

46 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

indifference to the reader. Just before the close of navigation, P. AI. Ev-
erett brought down all the paraphernalia of his office to Marquette, which
consisted of merely a few books and mail boxes and appointed Mr. Har-
low as the deputy postmaster. Everett and nearly everyone at the Jackson
forge then left the country for the winter. Indeed not a vestige now re-
mains of this settlement at Carp river. The bridge is down, the forge is
gone, the houses have vanished and the forest has grown over the place as
though the hand of man had never disturbed it.

In the spring of 1850 the old Jackson Co. was about ready to suspend.
It had undertaken the herculean task of making iron a thousand miles
away from the market. It owed even to its own workmen. Mutterings
were heard among the men and the rumor became pretty well defined that
thev intended to hang the president of the company, Mr. Czar Jones. At
any rate Jones did not like the looks of things and sought out Peter White.
He told Peter that he had pressing business down below. "Down below"
was the usual way of designating one's home. He asked Peter to guide
him to Escanaba. Hard knocks had begun to put an edge on Peter. He
was growing to be a sharp hand at a bargain. Moreover, since the calf
incident he had a poor opinion of Jones. He declined to go. Jones raised
his bid from $1 per day to $3 a day and promised to pay him for sixteen
days, the time that Peter estimated it would take to go and come.

"If you will get Mr. Harlow as security I will go with you," said Pe-
ter finally.

Peter drew up a formal contract, but while Jones eagerly signed it
Harlow was most reluctant to attach his signature. Noting this reluctance,
Jones agreed to leave the money with Mr. Harlow to be paid to Peter upon
his return.

"You will take along a man to carrv the provisions?" asked Peter.

"Yes," answered Jones.

Peter used up full seven days in reaching Escanaba. Never since has
anyone attempted such a tortuous route across the peninsula. If there was
a jungle or a swamp Peter plunged through it with Jones a close second.
Peter was thinking of that stolen calf.

"Haven't vou lost the w'ay?" wailed Jones a dozen times a day.

r)n the fourth day Peter paused and wiped his brow. He gazed about
him with much perplexity of expression.

"Great heavens," said he, "I am lost."

Jones fell upon his knees. Despair was written upon his face.

"To pretend to be a guide," he said, "and not to know the way."

THE OVERLAXD JOURNEY TO ESCANABA 47

The truth of the matter was that Peter had been looking for the Es-
canaba river for a full day and had failed to find it. A little later, how-
ever, he came upon it. but Jones' nerves had been so wrought upon that
he no longer trusted his guide. He started up stream upon his own hook.

"Come back." roared Peter, "you're going the wrong way."

The old man stu!)bornly continued up stream until Peter running
after him broke the ice and showed him which way the current flowed. On
the seventh dav thcv reached Escanaba. Peter returned to Marquette in
three days.

The forge of the Marquette Iron Co. went into commission in the
spring and in the following T"ly Mr. W. A. Fisher and J\lr. Long of the
company visited Marquette. One day Peter was not a little surprised to
have Mr. Long send for him.

"We want you to have charge of the company's store, Peter," said Mr.
Long; "what wages will }OU expect?"

Peter had got out of the habit of expecting much from iron companies.
Graveraet had offered him $12, and sometimes he was getting it and some-
times he was not.

"I would expect $24 a month." he said faintly without much hope of
e'etting it.

"Indeed," replied Mr. Long with some surprise. "Very well. We
were expecting to pay you $45, but are glad to get you for $24."

Peter took the position but went out with a very sober face. He had

learned that it does not pay to have one's aim too low.

-•(

CHAPTER IV.

PROVING THE CLAIMS TO THE IRON DEPOSITS

T N the fall of 1850 the preemptors o;athercd at Sault Ste. Marie, where the

land office was established, to prove their claim to the iron deposits.

Samuel Moody and Dr. Rogers had left Marquette in a small boat for the

Sault. the former to claim the Cleveland
deposit and the latter to claim the Lake
Superior location. They were becalmed
and did not reach the Sault on the ap-
pointed day. The Cleveland company,
however, had not permitted its claim to
lapse for an instant since Dr. Cassel's
visit in 18-16. It had its representative
present. They defended the claim of
the original pre-emptor and conclusively
proved that possession had been under-
taken long before either Aloody or Mann
appeared. Papers were issued in the
name of Lorenzo Dow Burnell and the
contention of the Cleveland company
was later substantiated at Washington.
Graveraet seemed to have viewed this
with complacency, but was furious at
the non-arrival of Rogers, who was to
have secured the Lake Superior location in his behalf. He was white with
rage when Isaiah Briggs stepped up and secured it on liehalf of John Burt.
Briggs was a packer of provisions for the surveying parties and had built
a little shanty for himself and his pony on the Lake Superior location,
which he also used as a base of supplies. ( )n the strength of this residence
he secured the claim for Burt. Graveraet threatened to contest the claim
unless l!iin gave him a half interest in it at once, and Burt actually did

ALEXANDER L. CRAWFORD.

From a pliotograph taken in 1885.

PROVIXG THE CLAIMS TO THE IRON DEPOSITS 49

give to Graveraet an undivided one-half interest in this enormous deposit.
It has previously been shown that he had assigned a lease of this deposit
from Rogers to the Marquette Iron Co. He now assigned this undivided
one-half interest from I'.urt to the Marquette Iron Co.

The fame of Lake Superior iron was beginning to spread and was at-
tracting practical ironmakers from Pennsylvania and Ohio. The most pro-
gressive of these was Alexander L. Crawford, of Xew Castle, Pa., who as
earh' as 1849 ordered ten tons of the ore sent to Xew Castle for testing pur-
poses.* Ten tons are nowadays only the grab of a clam-shell bucket, but at
that time it was a considerable order and, in point of fact, it was the summer
of 1850 before the ore was actually transported from ^Marquette, being
brought down from the Jackson mine during the preceding winter on sleds.
Part of this ore Mr. Crawford used for puddler's fix in his rolling mill at
New Castle operated by the Cosala Iron Co., and the balance was used in Mr.
\A ick's rolling mill at Youngstown iov the same purpose. In both cases it
was found to be quite satisfactory. A\'ith the exception of the ore that was
actually carried on the backs of the original discoverers this was the first real
shipment of ore from the peninsula.

'^Alexander L. Crawford was one of the most remarkable men of his time. Tie was always a
very active man and business was his greatest pleasure. He w^as the ruling spirit in a number of
enterprises that would be considered big today and which were proportionately much greater then.
He was born near Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Feb. 5, 181S. He came of old
Irish stock, his maternal great-grandfather having migrated to this country from Ireland about the
year 1720, and settled near Norristown, where his grandfather and father were born. The farm
which was the birthplace of the subject of this sketch was in the possession of the Crawford
family for nearly a century. Both Andrew and Elizabeth Crawford, the parents of Alexander,
were natives of Montgomery county, where the father died in 1838, the mother having died in
1828. Andrew Crawford carried on an extensive farm and lime-kiln business in Montgomery
county up to the period of his deatli. Alexander was raised on his father's farm and worked
upon it until the latter's death in August, 1834, when he took charge of the large lime-kiln inter-
ests of the estate, for Messrs. Thomas and Hooven, who rented the property and carried on the
business, which employed fifty men, and burned about a thousand bushels iier day for three years.
Alexander then sold the property and in 1S36, married Miss Mary R. List, of Montgomery county.
He then went into farming, in which he continued until 1841, when he abandoned that busi-
ness as not sufficiently profitable, sold his farm and removed to New Castle, Pa. The first
rolling mill in New Castle was built in 1839 by James D. White. !Mr. Crawford with his
brother T. 'SI. Crawford and George K. Ritter bought this mill the day after he arrived there.
In 1850 the Cosala Iron Co. was organized with A. L. Crawford as president. It was this mill
that used the first shipment of ore from the Lake .Superior country, finding it quite satisfactory,
and credit should be given to ^Nlr. Crawford for this achievement. This mill was afterward
owned by Dithridge & Co., and still later called the Etna Iron Co. or Kimberly mill, located
between the Shenango and Neshannock rivers. In 1864 money was plenty and everybody wanted
to invest in substantial lines of business; therefore those in which Mr. Crawford was engaged
ranked high. He was so shrewd as to see that this was the time to turn his capital at a
profit, and accordingly sold out at "war prices." In 1842 he had purchased the Springfield
furnace, and made charcoal iron for the use of the rolling mill, and in 1847 he built the Tre-
r.iont blast furnace, near Xew Wilmington, Lawrence county, Pa., which he sold out ten years
later. In the summer of 1853 he bought the Mahoning furnace situated at Lowellsville, Ohio.

50 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

In the fall of 1850 B. F. Eaton and his brother, Watt Eaton, arrived
from Columbus. O.. to show the uncouth denizens of the peninsula how pig
iron was made. They came with men and horses and supplies and a great
liourish of trumpets and leased the Jackson forge. They swelled the natural
population of Marquette to a considerable extent, and, indeed, it had been
much augmented with other arrivals. The winter closed in without any pro-
vision for the delivery of the mail on the part of the government. During
these latter days with mail service every hour or so this privation cannot be
appreciated. It is one of the things which one has to experience to compre-
hend its annoyance. Every man at Marquette had either a mother or wife
and children behind. To see the winter inexorably close in and to know that

He built a railroad two miles to the coal mines to cheapen the cost of the coal used in the
furnace. He ran this furnace a month, when he blew it out and instituted many improve-
ments in it. By bringing the gas down from the tunnel head to the boilers and hot blast, he
was able to make a saving of $30 a day; making this the first furnace run in the United .States
with gas, successfully, with the boilers and hot blast located on the ground. The increased
quantity of iron per week was from thirty-five to eighty-five tons, with the same quantity of
blast. In ]\[ay, 1864, he sold this furnace at a good price. In 1S68 he built the two Etna
furnaces at New Castle, sold them out in 1872 when iron was high, and gave the owners for
four years' interest ISO per cent, besides their original capital. In 1S72-4, he builf two blast
furnaces at Terre Haute. Ind., one of which was afterwards removed to Gadsden, Ala. In
1876 he built the Sligo furnaces, in Dent county. Mo., which are still in operation, making fifty
tons of charcoal iron daily. In 187.S he built the Wabash rolling mill at Terre Haute, Ind..
and established the ^'igo Iron Co. In the fall of 1884 ^Ir. Crawford bought the Neshannock
furnace in New Castle. He made many changes in this furnace, increasing the output from 750
to 1,300 tons per week of Bessemer pig'. .\s early as 1855 ^Ir. Crawford had sunk the first
coal shaft in Mercer county. Pa., in the block coal, which works raw in the furnace; and in
1866 he sank the first coal shaft in the block coal in Clay county, Ind.

Mr. Crawford's remarkable discernment in regard to everything connected with his busi-
ness was shown in the year 1857 when the first blast furnace was built in Pittsburg by Caff,
Bennett & Co. They undertook to run the furnace on coke made from Pittsburg coal. Mr.
Crawford assured the firm that the attempt would be unsuccessful, which proved to be the case.
They tried it for some time, piling up iron which could not be used, until it grew to be more
than they could carry. They were in a bad position, when Mr. Crawford oft'erei to get them
out of the scrape, provided they would implicitly follow his directions, which they agreed to do.
lie sent them up to Connellsville to get a coal bank to coke the ccal on the ground, until they
could build some ovens, and bring it to Pittsburg and use it in their furnace, when he would
guarantee they would make good iron. All turned out ]:recisely as Mr. Crawford predicted.
yiv. Bennett was very anxious to find ou*" hov.- Mr. Crawford knew this, but the latter would
not tell him, and chuckled over the fact that he never had. From that small beginning arose
the vast Connellsville coke industry. Mr. Crawford made^ his first attempt at railroading when
he was nineteen years old. and he put in the first switch ever applied up to tliat time. 1834,
for switching a car or cars from the main track. The practice before that was to have a turn-
table, turn them by hand, and run them one at a time, out at right angles with the main
track. There were at that time just four locomotives in use in the United States. The Phila-
dcliihia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad liad the first one built by Mr. Baldwin, and called
the "Ironsides." It only weighed c:bout twelve tons, and had no cab. so that the company
advertised that on pleasant days the locomotive would pidl the cars, but on rainy days the
horse cars would run as usual. .Since that period Mr. Crawford had built the New Castle iS;
Franklin Railroad, and a number of short coal roads, while assisting to build the Voungstown
&. Ashtabida Railroad, the Lawrence Railroad, the St. Louis. Salem & Little Rock, the New Castle
& Beaver Valley, and the Nashville & Kno.xville Railroad in Tctniessee. One hundred miles of

PROVING THE CLAIMS TO THE IRON DEPOSITS 51

one may not hear from them again until spring is a condition which a
man who lo\'es his family cannot endure. The thought is ever present that
something has happened of which he is not cognizant. An imaginary evil
is always greater than a real one. After a month or more had gone by
without a mail the population became restless. A council was called in
the Marquette Iron Co.'s store to consider the mail question. Everyone
was present. The Eatons ofit'ered to give $500 to establish a mail service
during the winter and others swelled the total to $1,200. The meeting
disbanded after having instructed Mr. Harlow, the postmaster, to get
someone to go after the mail. ._^^^

Peter \Miite"s eyes had been standing out like saucers at the mention
of these enormous sums of money. When the last man had gone he turned
to Harlow and \ olunteered to become the mail carrier. Harlow laughed
at him.

"Pshaw," said he, "you're too yoimg. Besides you're not strong
enough."

White, a powerful, Inroad-shouldered man nowadays, was at that time
a slender chap. He was full-bearded, however, and looked more than his
age. His dress was picturesque. He wore a red flannel shirt in winter and
a hickory shirt in summer, and in the winter time wore moccasins large
enough to accommodate two or three pair of stockings. This was the usual
garb of the pioneer.

"Will vou hold mv job for me?" asked Peter, who did not want to sac-
rifice his clerkship in the store.

this latter road extends from Lebanon to the block coal fields of Overton county. These are
the largest fields of that kind of coal in the United States. It will make iron in the raw
state, as it comes out of the mine. Mr. Crawford was president of the New Castle & Beaver
Valley railroad, treasurer and general manager of the Nashville & Knox\'il!e railroad, vice presi-
dent of the National Bank of Lawrence County. Pennsylvania, vice president of the Sligo
Furnace Co. of IMissouri, president of the Kimberly Iron Co. of [Michigan, and president of the
Crawford Iron S: .Steel Co. of New Castle. Mr. Crawford had eight children, of whom only two
are now living — Hugh A. Crawford, of Napa, Cal., and John L. Crawford, of New York. 'Mr.
Crawford was a pioneer in the three most important industries in the United States, the production
of coal and iron and the building of railroads. He saw these interests grow from small beginnings
to vast proportions. Indeed, it is doubtful if the progress of either would have been so
rapid in the beginning of their history were it not for the shrewd, far-seeing judgment of Mr.
Crawford. The states of Pennsylvania, Indiana. Michigan, Missouri and Tennessee owe much
to him for the development of their latent resources in time of greatest difficulty. He was a
man of national reputation for the quickness and keenness of his perception, and the accuracy
of his judgment in regard to all those matters which he had made a life-long study. Gifted
with a memory of marvelous strength and accuracy, he could give the cost of prospecting and
running coal mines from the time the fields were discovered; and the cost o^ material and
building, and the earning of every mile of railroad with which he had ever been connected.
With regard to these subjects he was an indisputable authority, sought after and respected,
far and near. Mr. Crawford was an immensely active man practically up to the day of his
death. He was engaged upon a railroad deal involving millions when he was suddenly stricken
with la grippe, which developed into pneumonia, from which he was unable to rally. lie died
at New Castle, Pa., .\pril 1, 1890, at the age of seventy-six years.

52 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"Certainly, I'll do that," replied Harlow.

"Then I'll start the day after tomorrow/' announced Peter.

And start he did. He got two Indians to go with him. His influence
with the Indians was great and they would have gone with him to the pole.
Hundreds of letters were written by the men when they learned that Peter
was going to carry the mail. The whole town saw him off. The mail was
very heavy, and what with the provisions, which also had to be carried,
made a staggering load for his back. The mail was taken to L'Anse, where
other carriers were met. Peter established a station where he might meet
the carriers in the woods. It was as primitive as it well could be, Peter
hanging the mail bag to the limb of a tree where the relay might get it.
On the second trip he secured a dog sled and a team of dogs to ease hi?
burden. The sled was flat, like a toboggan, and the dogs were mongrels,
stout curs, capable of making between four and five miles an hour. They
had to be fed at short intervals to keep their temper and spirits at normal
pitch. They became wildly excited at the scent of wolves and were almost
unmanageable on such occasions. The mail was securely strapped to the
sled, Peter traveling alongside of it on snowshoes, controlling the leading
dog by a string rein and using a staff to stop the sleigh by pushing it into
the snow. He made nine of these trips during the winter and they furnish
the base for many of the legends of the upper peninsula. The lore of the
French Canadian, in particular, is full of stories of Peter and his Indians
and his dog sleds.

For these nine trips Peter received the aggregate sum of three dollars.
Eaton's $500 and the other pledges, amounting to $1,200 in all, never ma-
terialized. They never paid him a cent. Among those who attended the
meeting v/as Silas C. Smith, who had pledged $3. ^Meeting Peter on the
street one day he gave him the money.

"What's this for?" asked Peter.

"Your mail service," replied Smith.

Peter, to Smith's astonishment, handed back the money without ex-
j)Ianation.

"I'll tell you some day," said he.

A year later he told Smith that he didn't want him to stand the whole
expense of the nine trips. Peter has never regretted this experience, how-
ever. It sti-cngthened his muscles and his constitution, and gave to him that
wonderful physical base which even today makes him one of the most active
of men.

CHAPTER V.

FIRST ORE HAULED FROM CLEVELAND MINE.

T T was during the winter of 1850 that ore was first hauled from the Cleve-
land location, which was, as shown, claimed by the Marquette Iron Co.
The ore had been mined during the previous summer and put into the stock
pile to await the winter's haul. Owing to the abominable condition of the
roads, and in some places to the absence of any roads whatever, it was im-
possible to haul ore to the lake during the summer. The Cleveland mine
lay two miles beyond the Jackson mine and the distance was regarded as
a considerable item. During the preceding winter of 1849 the snows had
been so heavy that no attempt was made to haul ore from the Cleveland
mine. The little quantity that was hauled from the Jackson mine during
the winter of 1849 ^^''^s speedily consumed, and the forge had to suspend
operations during a part of the summer for want of ore. Another great
difiicultv was the impossibility of keeping a sufficient stock of charcoal on
hand to keep the forge running. The charcoal in those days was all bm-ncd
or charred in pits. Such a thing as a charcoal kiln of brick or stone was
unknown. The deposits fortunately needed no appliances such as drills
or powder to work them. If the}" had they probably would not have been
worked as there was neither drills nor powder in the peninsula. Nature by
frost or some other means had loosened up thousands upon thousands of
tons of as pure ore as ever was mined, so that any common laborer had
only to pick it up in his hands and carry it to the stock-pile. In some in-
stances the pieces had to be sledged into smaller dimensions in order to be
lifted into the sleigh. During the winter of 1850 about twenty-five double
teams were employed in hauling the ore to the forge at the lake, where it
was crushed and then made into bloom iron, ready for shipment. This
venture of making blooms was most disastrous. The cost of hauling the
ore to the lake, the cost of the operation of the forge, the long carriage to
the mills of Pennsylvania and Ohio made the cost of the blooms so excessive
that it was impossible to recover. By the time the blooms were laid down
in Pittsburg they had actually cost $200 a ton and the market rate for iron

54 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

was then $80 a ton. None of the ore itself was shipped below. This thought
had not occurred to the pioneers. In the spring of 1851 Ben Eaton, who
had come into the country so bravely the year before, fled. He went to the
most remote corner of the globe that he could find — Australia — and so far
as known, never returned.

In the summer of 185 1 Peter White went fishing. He might, indeed,
have gone fishing all summer for all there was doing. It was a time of
woeful stagnation. There was no money and little of anything else in the
peninsula. When he returned from his fishing expedition he found that
the county of Marquette had been organized and that he had been elected
county clerk and register of deeds. Peter protested that he was not yet of
age. He was promptl}' told to keep still about it, as it was necessary that
the county clerk should be a person who could write and that he was one
of the few who could. At that time Peter would readily have passed for a
man thirty years of age. He wore a full black beard which gave him a
mature look. The appointment of clerk carried with it membership in the
school board and he was elected treasurer of that body, an office which he
has held continuously since. In the selection of Peter Wliite as county
clerk there was probably an intention in the minds of the inhabitants of
Marquette to compensate him for services rendered. He had really earned
the office of county clerk. Alarquette had previously been attached to Hough-
ton county, the county seat of which was Eagle River. One of Peter's
thrilling experiences had been a trip to Eagle River, on foot and alone, to
get the county clerk's certificate to a lot of legal documents. This intrepid
young man, who seems to have been born without fear, went first to L'Anse,
then across the ice to Portage Entry, then up the river and over Portage
lake and across the portage to Eagle River. His business despatched, Peter
prepared for the home journey.

■'When do you return?" asked Mr. Kelsey, the county clerk.

"Tomorrow," reolied Peter.

"Oh, no," answered Kelsey, "we never allow a winter visitor to de-
part under two weeks. Moreover, you are the first man that ever came from
Marquette up here by land, and we must give you a good time."

Peter was somewhat frightened by the prospect. He never had been
a social lion and he didn't want to be one. He would much rather have
been permitted to go home quietly, and he thought for a time of cutting
and running-. But thev wer6 all so very friendly and so courteous that
his fears were dismissed. And, indeed, they very well might be. The very
next evening they gave a big party in honor of Peter White and scheduled

FIRST ORE HAULED FRO^r CLEVELAND MTXE 55

an even more elaborate one for the following evening. Peter protested that
his apparel was not suited for parties, and for reply thev took him to John
Senter's store and made him don the most elegant suit of clothing in his
shop. This round of festivitv continued for nine days. He will tell you
candidly today that it has not been equaled in all his varied career since.
When he came to leave he was offered all the silver specimens and agates
that he could carry. But Peter had been attracted by the cuisine, and, more-
over, his wants were very simple.

"Let me take two cans of those elegant cove oysters to my Carp
River friends," said he, "and I will be delighted."

Peter worked his way back as far as Portage Entry and found the ice
in L'Anse bay all broken up. At that time copper mining on Portage Lake
had not been dreamed of. Upon his arrival at the Entry he was laid up
for three days with "le mal de raquette" or snow-shoe sickness. As soon as
he could travel he set out through the woods for the Catholic mission. He
knew nothing of the route except to keep in sight of the bay, and this he
soon found was impossible, owing to the impenetrable nature of the under-
brush. So he struck back into the woods for better walking. The distance
he had to go was seventeen miles and it seemed to him as though he had
already traveled thirty. It was very cold, twenty degrees below zero, he
had had no dinner and night was coming on. Pie crossed a little valley, and
as he mounted a hill, looked back and caught the only glimpse of the sun
he had had that day. He knew that in order to reach the head of L'Anse
bay he ought to be going towards the setting sun instead of from it. He
changed his course in that direction and presently came across a single
snow-shoe track, and was pleased to think that he was getting where some-
one else had so recently been. In a little while he crossed other tracks, and
shortly thereafter another, and it soon dawned upon him that thev were all
his own. He had been traveling for hours in a circle, only enlarging it a
little each time. It was now growing dark rapidly, and Peter had to make
preparations for spending the night with the wdld beasts of the forest.
He had no axe or provisions, except the two cans of cove oysters, but for-
tunately he had a few matches. He succeeded in starting a fire at the foot
of a dead cedar that leaned over into the forks of a hemlock, and as fast as
it would burn to a coal it would slide down a little and thus replenish itself.
Peter w^as too much excited to be either tired or hungry that night. He
slept a little in an upright or sitting posture before the fire. The snow was
about five feet deep. He had shaped an indentation of his own figure like
a chair into the snow and lined it with balsam sprigs, so that it was quite

56 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

comfortable. In the morning' Peter broke every blade of his congress
knife in trying to open the cans of oysters. Failing in the attempt, he
boiled them in the can and endeavored to eat them. Endeavored is used
advisedly. He did not eat them. They refused to be eaten. They would
not stay upon his stomach.

Bishop Baraga had left the Entry after Peter, and therefore knew that
he was either hurt or lost. He sent an Indian after him. The Indian found
him about 3 o'clock and took him to the mission.*

*Peter White wrote the following account of the adventure for Rev. A. J. Rezek's "History
of the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette":

Over fifty years ago, one winter, I was making my way to Keweenaw county; that
trail led us from L'Anse by way of the Portage Entry, Portage River, and from there overland
to Eagle River. In crossing Portage Lake I met, or rather overtook Father Baraga and his
guide, on their way to Eagle Harbor. .'\s I spoke the Chippewa langauge, Father Baraga seemed
delighted to meet me and in course of our conversation, while walking on, he most cordially
invited me to call on him at the Mission, and I cheerfully promised him that I would at the
first opportunity. This was my first intimate acquaintance with Baraga, though I had met him
before, I believe the first time in Abner Sherman's store at L'Anse. We separated then, after
going a few miles together, because my party of three wanted to go faster than Father Baraga
was taking it. I spent two weeks at Keweenaw Point — and other points — on my way back I
stopped over night with one of the two men who lived at "the Entry" and started about eight
o'clock next morning for L'Anse. I soon found the swamps that bordered the shore impene-
trably thickly wooded so that I preferred to wade along the shoie in the water. Finding the
water too cold for traveling convenience, I struck inland and to my satisfaction saw an open
space of considerable size. Without hesitation I took for the open route and passing from one
to the other I must have struck and crossed seven or eight of these marshes. It was splendid
snow shoeing! I followed them regardless of proper direction and bye and bye I struck nice
hardwood timber and traveled on faster and faster realizing that I must have lost some time on
the meadows. I had not seen sun all that day: at 4 p. m. I came to a little valley — a brook
running through its bottom — I crossed the brook and ascended the little fifteen or twenty-foot
hill on the other side, and as I got to the top, to my astonishment, I noticed the bright reflec-
tion of the sun on the trees ahead of me! I knew at once that in order to reach L'Anse — the
head of the Bay — I should have been going west, towards the setting sun. So I turned back,
crossed the brook again and struck fast in the direction of the last glimpse I had of the sun.
In fifteen or twenty minutes I found a snow-shoe trail and said to myself "now I am all
right again," but in another twenty minutes I struck another trail. I then measured the tracks
with my own snow-shoe and to my dismay foimd that I was the fellow who was running
around in a circle. By this time it was getting rapidly dark. I was in possession of a good
double blanket and had plenty of matches, but no axe. However, I experienced no trouble
finding enough dead limbs to make a roaring fire; but did not sleep much that night. I realized
that I was lost and did not know which way to go, except, perhaps, to follow my tracks of
the day before, some twenty odd miles back to the Portage Entry, if I could find them again.
I had two cans of oysters, one I had already eaten. In the morning about seven o'clock I was
about to start on my exploration when I heard an Indian yell off to the left and soon another
one to the right. I kept answering them and in twenty minutes two Indians reached me from
opposite directions. "The priest sent us to find you," they said, and in less than an hour I
was in Father Baraga's house. F"ather Baraga returning from his tramp to Eagle Harbor arrived
at the Entry an hour after I left there; they did not follow my trail, for they knew a better
one, consequently arrived at the Mission that night. Father Baraga knew that I had not passed
there and at once surmised that I must be in the woods and had probably lost my way. So
he sent those two Indians to look for me next morning as soon as they could see. Father
Baraga did me a good turn, and perhaps actually saved my life. If my strength did not fail
me, I could have gotten out before night. Still, I often say that "he saved my life." Hence
my debt of gratitude.

CHAPTER VI.

PETER WHITE BECOMES POSTMASTER.

■yVZ H. BRUCE was the general mail contractor for the upper peninsula
with headquarters at Green Bay, Wis. In widely-scattered and prim-
itive settlements the government has a habit of letting the distribution of
the mail by contract. It saves the bother of Washington forever seeking
or finding a man for some place which is so small as not to be even defi-
nitely located upon the map. So W. H. Bruce of Green Bay, Wis., was
in general charge of the mails for the upper peninsula. The forwarding
of the mails in the winter time didn't worry Bruce much, for he realized
the utter impossibility of reaching some of the more remote settlements
through the great banks of soft and yielding snow. And so it happened
that during certain seasons of the year Marquette and vicinity were shut
out from the rest of the world. \\'hen Bruce examined his lists he came
across P. ^I. Everett's letter resigning the postmastership of Carp River,
which had been forwarded to him by the postoffice department.

"Carp River is vacant," said he to himself. Bruce knew or thought
he knew that Carp River was quite an important settlement in the rising
iron country. He had heard a great deal of it. He had not heard of the
processes of decav wdiich had already resulted in its virtual abandonment.
Meanwhile Mr. Harlow had secured the definite appointment as postmaster
of Marquette. Bruce accordingly cast about for a postmaster at Carp
River. Peter White's father was managing Bruce's business at Green
Bay, and it was very natural that he should think of Peter White. As a
matter of fact, he couldn't think of anyone else, for Peter White was the
only person he positively knew to exist in the peninsula. Accordingly he
instructed the postoffice department to appoint Peter White postmaster at
Carp River. It never occurred to him to say anything to Peter White
about it. The entire population of Marquette was therefore considerably
astonished when the first vessel to arrive in the spring of 1852 brought a
formidable lookins: letter, thick and bulkv, bearing the seal of the United
States government, stamped free, and addressed in big handwriting to

58 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Peter White. Peter was the most astonished of all. He did not suppose
that anyone beyond his circumscribed little world had ever heard of him, and
especially not so mysterious and mighty an institution as the United States
government. It was the use of the franking privilege that bewildered him,
for he was the first person to be ever so addressed in the peninsula. Peter
flatly declined to open the letter. He was afraid of it. He said that he
hadn't done anything against the government and he didn't want the gov-
ernm_ent to do anything to him. Moreover he did not want to put him-
self in the position of being responsible to the government for any of his
acts and he felt that he would be if he opened the letter. He declared that
it was perfectly clear that the letter was not intended for him even if it
bore his name. There had been some mistake to which he did not care to
be a party.

Letters in those days of infrequent mails were common property, and
a town meeting was held to discuss the purport of the prodigious document
addressed to Peter White. The meeting was held in Peter's boarding house,
and Mr. Jacobs, a somewhat forceful character, acted as chairman.

"I will open the letter," said Jacobs, "and take the consequence."

Jacobs opened the letter and read :

Post Office Department,

Appointment Office,
Washington. Oct. 13th, 1851.
Sir:—

The Postmaster General has re-established a post office by the name of
Carp River, in the County of Carp River and State of Michigan, and ap-
pointed you Postmaster thereof, in which capacity you will be authorized to
act upon complying with the following rec[uirements :

1st. To execute the enclosed bond, and cause it to be executed by two
sufficient sureties, in the presence of suitable witnesses, and the sufficiency of
the sureties to be certified by a qualified magistrate.

2nd. To take and subscribe the oath or affirmation of office enclosed,
before a magistrate, who will certify the same.

3rd. To exhibit your bond and qualification, executed and certified as
aforesaid, to the Postmaster of Marquette and then to deposit them in
the mail, addressed to me.

You will then be entitled to enter upon the duties of the office without
waiting for a commission.

A mail key is enclosed. Blanks will be sent from the P. M. at Buffalo,
N. Y.

PETER WHITE BECOAIES POSTMASTER 59

After the receipt, at this Department, of your bond and qualification,
duly executed and certified, and the approval of the same by the Postmaster
General, a commission will be sent to you.

It will be your duty to continue in the charge of the office, either per-
sonally or by assistant, vmtil you are relieved from it by the consent of the
Department, which will be signified by the discontinuance of your office,
or the appointment of your successor.

\'ery respectfully.

Your obedient servant,
FiTz Henry Warren,

Second Assistant Postmaster General.
Peter White, Esq.

If Peter had been alarmed before he was greatly mystified now. He
could not conceive how the government could have possibly become pos-
sessed of his name.

"It isn't meant for me and I'll not accept the office," said Peter.

Jacobs without replying read aloud again the provisions of the appoint-
ment. He came to the clause which provides that the appointee must receive
the indorsement of the postmaster of Marquette. Jacobs knew that it would
be useless to refer the matter to Harlow for indorsement, because Harlow
knew that there was no necessity for a postmaster at Carp River.

Jacobs was lost in thought for a moment and then said :

"We will send this appointment for indorsement to Mr. Ashmun, the
postmaster at the Sault. And we'll all sign it."

Capt. Caldwell volunteered to take the application to the Sault. In the
course of two or three weeks a mail bag with complete postal equipment
came for Peter White, together with his .appointment as postmaster at Carp
River. Peter viewed his new office with considerable fear. He was afraid
that his employer, Mr. Harlow, postmaster of Marquette, would incon-
tinently discharge his clerk, the postmaster of Carp River. But Harlow
took no cognizance of his rival. All mail, of course, came to the village of
^Marquette. Gradually, it was noted, however, that more mail was addressed
to the postoffice at Carp River than was addressed to Marquette. A circum-
stance which aided this diversion of the mail was the fact that Harlow held
the postoffice in his house. There was ever present, therefore, that deli-
cacy which prevents a man from freely entering another one's home, even
when public afifairs call him there. Peter held his postoffice in the store,
where everyone, of course, felt himself free. The residents of Marquette
were putting the words "Carp River" on their letter heads while writing.

60 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

The diversion of the mail eventually became so complete that Harlow was
merely receiving and transmitting the mail of his own family. The stamp
of the Marquette postoffice was therefore 'placed upon an extremely
limited number of letters, while the stamp of the Carp River postoffice on
an adjoining lot was being imprinted upon hundreds. The postoffice de-
partment finally concluded that the population of Marquette was well nigh
extinct but that the population of Carp River was growing rapidly. When
the postal department reached this conclusion it notified Mr. Harlow that
the postoffice at Marquette would be discontinued as follows :

Post Office Department,

Appointment Office,
August 20th, 1852.
Sir:—

I have the honor to inform you that the Postmaster General has dis-
continued the Post Office at "Marquette," Marquette Co., Michigan, of
which A. B. Harlow was Postmaster. This leaves "Carp River" with Peter
White as Postmaster for that town.

I am very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,
Nathan G. King,
Acting First Assistant P. M. General.

This constitutes probabl}- the only instance on record where a town of
1,500 inhabitants had two postoffices. The mail of Marquette continued
to bear the Carp River stamp for some time thereafter, or indeed until the
inhabitants suggested to Peter White the advisability of writing to \\'as]i-
ington and having the name of the Carp River postoffice, formally changed
to Marquette. This was later done, and Peter White continued in office
as postmaster altogether for twelve years.

CH7\PTER VU.

FIRST LAKE SHIPMENT OF IKON ORE

HTHE pioneers in the iron industry in the peninsula had httle money.
There was no influx of eastern capital to help them over the periods
of depression. They were compelled to take all the knocks that adversity
had to administer, and some of them were pretty severe. The weaker
failed ; but those who had faith in the ultimate development of the mines
gripped a tighter hold and hung on. Men placed in crucibles of fire come
out either heroes or villains. The cruel process develops some and destroys
others. The struggle certainly bred a race of hardy men and a few of them
were even great. Peter White, the boy, had the advantage of association
with those men, and could not fail to be improved by it.

It has been told that the only method of bringing ore to the lake
from the mines was by means of sleighs during the winter time. It became
apparent that if any considerable business was to be done the means of
communication would have to be improved. The average load of a sleigh
was 3,600 pounds, or a little less than ij/2 gross tons, and it was impossible
for a team to make more than one trip a day. Indeed the whole winter's
haul rarely exceeded 1,000 tons. Morever, it began to be apparent that
the great business of the region was to be done in the mining and shipping
of ore, and not in the manufacture of blooms. Among the men attracted
to the peninsula was Heman B. Ely, who, as soon as he saw the deposits
recognized the need of a railway. He approached both the Cleveland and
Jackson iron mining companies upon the subject, and in November, 1851,
drew up an agreement wherein he agreed to build a railway from Mar-
quette to the Jackson and Cleveland mines in consideration of receiving the
carrying trade of both companies at certain reasonable rates of toll. The
companies agreed to pay $1 per ton for the transportation of ore over
the road during the first two years and 50 cents thereafter until the amount
reached an annual total of 70,000 tons, when a graded rate gradually di-
minishing to 30 cents, when 125,000 tons per annum had been reached,
should obtain. This road was to be known as the Green Bay & Lake Su-

62 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

perior Railroad Co., a title which sufficiently indicates that Mr. Ely had in
mind its extension to that other ore outlet upon Lake Michigan. Mr. Ely,
however, had difficulty in enlisting capital in the enterprise. Men with
monev looked coldly upon the project of building a railroad in a wilderness
and the undertaking consequently lagged. Money was, indeed, so stringent
that upon one occasion in 1852 Mr. Ely had to sell some of his provisions in
order to obtain the means wherewith to get out of the country. This act
caused Air. Tower Jackson, the first mining agent of The Cleveland Iron
Mining Co., to deliver a philippic against steam railroads in general, and to
declare that a plank road was precisely what the region needed. He main-
tained that a plank road would promote agriculture in that it would be of
direct benefit to the farmers and would stimulate ore shipments in that
it would provide a means of communication to the mines all the year round.
A steam railroad he insisted would merely fill the pockets of eastern capi-
talists and ruin the iron country. To Air. Jackson belongs the credit of
having first suggested the plank road, now of historic memory.'''

Aleanwhile Peter White performed an important act. He made a bit
of history. He wrote the bill of lading of one of the earliest shipments of
ore that ever left the upper peninsula. The shipment consisted of six bar-
rels and was consigned to B. L. Webb of Detroit, by the Alarquette Iron
Co. It was shipped to Sault Ste. Alarie on the steamer Baltimore. This
bill of lading has fortunately been preserved, and in now hanging on the
wall in the office of Oglebay, Xorton & Co., Wade Building, Cleveland, in
an appropriate frame. A fac-simile of it is herewith reproduced.

The Cleveland and Jackson companies waited patiently for over a
year for Ely to begin the construction of his railroad, and perceiving
no signs of any movement on his part, undertook jointly the con-
struction of a plank road from the lake to the mines. This was a con-
siderable undertaking and was prosecuted with as much vigor as any un-
dertaking could be which was nearly 1,000 miles removed from the super-
vision of the home office and which had to be built under adverse financial

^I'ollowinc; is the context of Jackson's letter to the Cleveland company:

"Dec. 5, 1832.

"We want a plank road to the Cleveland mountain. It would be better than a railroad,
for if we had a plank road we could haul the year around and the farmers can haul you all
the coal you want which you cannot transport on a railroad. A plank road would build up you
a nice town and a railroad will not. One hundred teams which would run daily on a plank
road would occupy a good many men and teams and the people would settle here and clear up
farms, make coal and haul their product to market, and that would make the country prosperous;
but a railroad will fill the pockets of a few eastern men and that would be an end to your
business. The only prospect of a railroad in my opinion is that it never will be built. Mr.
Ely, the agent, had to sell some of his flour to get money to go down with at $5.50 per barrel
when he had just come from below. I think tliat looks squally."

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FIRST LAKE SHIPMENT OF IRON ORE 65

circumstances. Director after director of the Cleveland and Jackson com-
panies visited the iron region to superintend the work and the most ener-
getic of all was Dr. Morgan L. Hewitt, the first president of the Cleveland
Company.

Anoth.er undertaking which like the railroad seemed almost a dream
was the construction of a canal around the rapids of the St. Mary's river,
connecting Lake Superior and Lake Huron. It was a dream because it
had been discussed for years and seemed no nearer realization than in the
beginning. There was absolutelv no sympathy in Washington with the
enterprises of the peninsula. Daniel Webster's declaration, that never
would he vote one penny to bring the bleak, barren, rocky and uninhabitable
shores of California one step nearer Boston, was on a par with a similar
declaration of Henrv Clay, who, in discussing the project to build a canal
around the rapids of St. Mary's river, to use his express language, said
th.at it was "a work beyond the remotest settlements in the LTnited States,
if not in the moon." Clouded and confused opinions also obtained in the
minds of statesmen as to the constitutional rights of congress to improve
rivers and harbors and to construct canals around rapids — opinions which
seem strange nowadays but ivliich were nevertheless sufficiently potent at
the time to split political conventions asunder.

The discovery of iron, however, following that of copper, brought its
commercial importance more clearly before Congress. The iron pioneers
had sent John Burt to Washington to lobby for the measure. In 1852 Con-
gress granted the State of ]Michigan 750.000 acres of land for the purpose
of aiding in the construction of a canal around the falls of St. Mary's river,
and in consideration of it a number of gentlemen undertook the construction
of the canal, as will be related shortly.

In May, 1853, the Marquette Iron Co. gave up the ghost and Dr.
Morgan L. Hewitt moved his small familv to Marquette — two most impor-
tant events in the life of Peter Wliite — for through the first he became con-
nected with the Cleveland Company and through the second he met Ellie
Hewitt, Dr. Hewitt's daughter. The Marquette Iron Co. had had a hard
time of it. Mr. W. A. Fisher, the capitalist of the company, gradually lost
heart when he found that the Cleveland company had really a prior right
to the claim and his support for two years had only been lukewarm. It was
a constant drain upon his resources, with mighty slim chances of any return,
and he welcomed the opportunity extended to him bv the Cleveland company
to reimburse him for the improvement which he had made. Indeed the
Cleveland company exhibited the utmost generositv toward its rival. It

66 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

purchased the assets of the Marquette company and incidentally purchased
Peter White, who was keeping the store for the Marquette company. All
the stockholders of the Marquette company were satisfied, with the ex-
ception of Graveraet, who recognized in it the bursting of his industrial
bubble. Included in the assets of the Marquette company was the lease
for the undivided one-half interest in the Lake Superior location, which
Graveraet had secured from Burt. Graveraet insisted that he had never
received any consideration for this interest, and that it was no part of the
Marquette company's property. He claimed it as a part of his individual
estate, which the Marquette company, not being an incorporated body, had
no right to transfer, and his contention was sufficient to give the Cleveland
company considerable concern, though it was later effectually quieted by
Peter White.

CHAPTER VIII.

FIRST USE OF THE ORE IN PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO.

T T has been related that Peter White shipped six barrels of ore to B. L.
Webb, the secretary of The Jackson Iron Co., in 1852. It might be well
to follow these early shipments and trace them through the furnaces of Ohio
and Pennsylvania because they certainly constitute the first use of Lake
Superior ore in a blast furnace. In September, 1853, the Cleveland com-
pany shipped to the Sharon Iron Co., Sharon, Pa., 152 tons of ore for use
in its blast furnace. It took four vessels to move the ore from Marquette
to Sault Ste. Marie, where it was portaged over the falls. It was landed
at Erie, Pa., and sent by canal to Sharon. The first boat load was delivered
at the Sharpsville furnace, owned by David and J. F. Agnew. Describing
the event David Agnew wrote :

"The ore was used in the furnace partly alone and partly in mixture
with native ores and the experiment was highly successful, the furnace
working well and producing an increased yield of metal, which was taken
CO the Sharon Iron Works and there converted into bar iron and nails of
very superior quality. The second boat load was also brought to Sharps-
ville, but having been intended to be left at the Clay furnace, owned by
the Sharon Iron Co., was returned and used at the establishment."

General J. P. Curtis, president of the Sharon Iron Co., wrote the fol-
lowing letter to the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. concerning the test :

"As you are anxious to hear the result of our test of Lake Superior
ore in a blast furnace, I hasten to give it to you. It was fully successful,
more than we asked for. We worked the furnace for several days on
Lake Superior ore entire, no mixture whatever with it. and yielded fully
80 per cent of metal per ton. We have not tried the metal, but it looks very
well and there is no doubt of its quality. This settles the question as to
the matter of converting the ore and calls for a road at once. There are
furnaces now built on the canals, on the Cleveland and Erie, to use all
the ore that we can mine the first year and there should be no delay in
pushing our road and dock."

68 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

It was indeed the very circumstance of this initial success that changed
the destiny of the old plank road. It was decided to convert it into a
strap railroad at once and the rails were accordingly sent up from Sharon.

Fierce has raged the controversy as to whether these early shipments
were really successfully smelted as far as furnace practice is concerned.
The iron produced was of good quality, but it left the furnace in a bad
state. It must be remembered that the blast furnaces of those early days
bore little relation to the blast furnaces of today. Mr. Frank Allen, the
manager of Clay furnace, has always insisted that the initial working of
Lake Superior ore at the Sharpsville furnace in 1853, was not a success.
In a letter to the Sharpsville Advertiser he wrote :

"On the last day of November, 1853, one of the proprietors of the
Sharpsville furnaces said to me that they had tried more experiments with
that ore than had been profitable and that they would never put another
pound of it into their furnace. The same day Samuel Clark boated a load
of the ore from the Sharpsville furnace to the Clay furnace landing. We
put it through the furnace and sent the product to Sharon. The next sea-
son all the Lake Superior ore left over at Sharpsville furnace was sent over
to us and during the years 1854-55 and until August, 1856, we had used
in all about 400 tons of Lake Superior ore, some of it alone but most of it
mixed with other ores and up to that time the working of it was not a
success. In October, 1856, we gave Clay furnace a general overhauling,
putting in new lining and hearth, and made material changes in the con-
struction of the same, put her in blast late in the fall and in a few days
were making a beautiful article out of iron from Lake Superior ore alone,
and this was then considered to be the first real and successful working of
Lake Superior ore in a blast furnace."

When Mr. David Agnew saw this article in the newspapers he replied
as follows :

'T have no desire to engage in newspaper controversy with Mr. Allen
in regard to the first successful working of Lake Superior ore in the blast
furnace ; still I cannot let his article pass unnoticed. I should have re-
plied sooner but wished to hear from my brother, J. P. Agnew, before
doing so. My brother and myself were the proprietors of the Sharpsville
furnace at the time referred to. He writes :

" T notice Mr. Allen's article published in the Sharpsville paper and
am greatly surprised at its contents and am sorry to have to contradict
his statements. All the circumstances connected with that event (the work-
ing of the ore) are as fresh in my memory as if they had transpired within

FIRST USE OF THE ORE IN PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO 69

the last month. Cy arrangement with Gen. Curtis, president of the Sharon
Iron Co., and at his desire, as well as our own, a quantity of the ore (I
think about thirty tons) was ordered, which, however, cost about as much
as pig iron was worth at the time, being subject to a long wagon trans-
portation. This ore we worked in our furnace very satisfactorily. In-
deed our furnace never gave better results than while working this ore.
We commenced by charging one-fourth Lake Superior and three-fourths
common ore. The iron thus produced w^as worked at the Sharon rolling
mill into boiler plate, bar iron, nails, spikes, etc., samples of which were
shipped to New York and there submitted to the usual tests, and declared
to be of the very best quality.'

"So much for my brother's statement. In regard to the shipment of
Lake Superior ore from Sharpsville to the Clay furnace, I have to say that
the second shipment of lake ore to Sharpsville was in mistake. The Sharon
Iron Co., having purchased Clay furnace, wished to work the ore there and
directed it to be left at that furnace landing but the boatman by mistake
brought it on to Sharpsville, from whence it was reshipped to Clay furnace
for the reason stated and that only. Now, in view of all these facts, am I
not justified in claiming that D. and J. P. Agnew were not only the first
to use, but to use successfull}', Lake Superior ore in the production of pig
iron ?"

]\Ir. Allen then grew earnest and wrote :

'T have very repeatedly said within the last twenty years that Lake
Superior ore was never successfully worked in a blast furnace at Sharps-
ville, Clay furnace or elsewhere in the Shenango valley until it w'as done
at Clav furnace late in the fall of 1856. And now I repeat it again with
emphasis. I know that it was not done at Clay furnace, and will briefly
state why I believe that Agnew brothers did not work it successfully at
Sharpsville. On the morning of Nov. 30, 1853, the late Gen. J. B. Curtis,
president of the Sharon Iron Co., did, at their office in Sharon, and in the
presence of Air. D. Agnew (then bookkeeper for said company) say to me,
'I have this morning sent Sam Clark to Sharpsville with his boat to get
a load of that cursed ore and take it to Clay furnace landing, and want
you to put it through the furnace and send the iron from it here, that we
may have it made into iron and nails, before the annual meeting of our
stockholders,' which was soon to be held.

"I replied to him that the road from the furnace to Canal landing had
been so badly cut up by hauling over it, and now partly frozen, that it was
now almost impassable, and said to him : 'Whv not have Messrs. Agnew

70 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

put it through their furnace and save hauHng both ore and iron over such
very bad roads/ Here and then Mr. David Agnew turned from the table
on which he had been writing and said: 'We have tried more experiments
with that ore than has been profitable, and will never put another pound
of it into our furnace,' and I verily believe that they never did use any
more of it.

"I then started for home and without stopping at the furnace, rode
on to the canal landing, engaged John Buchanan to assist me in placing
plank to unload on to, and left him there to help Mr. Clark unload his boat
when he should arrive. The same evening I reported to Mr. C. Davis, our
founder, that there would be a load of Lake Superior ore at the landing
some time during the night, and also that Gen. Curtis' instructions were to
put it through the furnace without delay. Here I encountered a very
strong opposition, Mr. Davis refusing to have it put into the furnace,
saying that it had never been and could not be worked in a blast furnace
successfully; that he had blown the Sharon furnace for Mr. Agnew a few
years previous ; had been at Sharpsville repeatedly since the ore had been
received there, and knew all about the success they had had with the small
amount worked in their furnace, and finally closed by saying that if Gen.
Curtis wanted a boat load of that ore put through Clay furnace he might
come and direct the putting of it in himself, and if he stayed until it came
out in the shape of pig iron he would stav a long time. I replied that Gen.
Curtis' orders must be obeyed, and if the furnace chilled up or was lost
on account of using the ore we had nothing at stake and would not be
blamed. He said : 'You may feel that you have nothing at stake but I
have.' I asked what. He replied : 'My reputation as a founder, and I
pride it as highly as Gen. Curtis does his money.' And thus we parted for
the night.

"On the 5th of December, 1853, we commenced using the ore, put in
a few charges mixed with native, and then charged with Lake Superior ore
alone. Were glad when it was all done. Mr. Davis and I were well sat-
isfied that if there had been much more of it the furnace would have been
in a bad condition. It took several days to get the hearth clear as it was.
We sent seventeen tons of the iron to Sharon. I also attended a meetinsr
of the stockholders above referred to, and there, in tlie ofiice of the com-
pany found a large amount of iron, nails and spikes of a superior qual-
ity, said to have been made from the Lake Superior iron we had sent
there a few days previous. During the years 1854-55 we worked several
hundred tons of Lake Superior ore but not successfully. When charging

FIRST USE OF THE ORE IN PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO 71

the furnaces with lake ore alone we could run but a few days, and thjen
resorted to mixing; and as regards the quality of iron made it was not
considered good for forge purposes, which I doubt not Mr. D. Agnew rec-
ollects. T well remember of once receiving an order from the Sharon Iron
Co. for a boat load of our best mixture and we shipped it by Capt. Pat
Sullivan, selecting the very best we had. The next day while eating dinner
the captain called at the door, and for a few minutes it was nothing but
'them d — d fellows at the mail, and Gen. Curtis and Mr. Agnew and that
d — d iron.' He handed me a letter from Mr. Agnew, the contents of which
as near as I recollect, was this : 'Mr. Allen— The iron you sent us is not
suitable for our purpose. We sent it back. Either have it unloaded at the
landing or send it to Erie as you think best.' Having plenty of the 'd — d'
mixture on hand we gave Pat a new shipping bill and he went on his way
rejoicing.

"In the fall of 1856 at the request of Mr. Samuel H. Kimball, president
of the Sharon Iron Co., I fitted Clay furnace up with a new lining based
upon my experiments of three years back. We blew in about the last of
November, and immediately after the statement of our first week's work
had been received by Mr. Kimball at Cleveland, Mr. Garrett and Dr.
Hewitt came to Sharon. Gen. Curtis brought them to Clay furnace in his
carriage and the first thing Mr. Garrett said to me was, 'Mr. Kimball
has shown us your weekly statement about the working of lake ore in this
furnace, and we don't believe it is correct. We don't want to be humbugged
any more about this matter and will stay with you until we are satisfied that
you are not trying to fool anybody.' They did stay until they were satisfied
that all was right.

"In a short time manv of the eastern stockholders of the Sharon Iron
Co. paid us a visit, the late Major M. C. Trout with them. I cannot name
all of them now, but among them was Mr. Oliver of Philadelphia, Shelton
of Connecticut, Greer, Hix and Cook of New York. They remained with
us one day, and were vvdid with excitement, as well they might be. The
great oroblem had been solved. Lake Superior iron ore for the first time
had been successfully worked and the large amount they had invested in
it would not be lost. And how was it with us poor devils at the furnace
who had been working for three long years to accomplish this great and
grand result? We felt like new men. Instead of cursing Lake Superior
ore and wishing it all safely landed in hell, or some other seaport, the
more that was sent us the better we were pleased.

"And now a few words in reply to Mr. Agnew's article and I have

12 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

done. He said he worked thirty tons Lake Superior, mixed with native ore,
and while so doing changed the burden four times and was satisfied with
the result. I would like to know wh)- he did not use more of it — at least
the balance that he had burnt and fitted ready to put into the furnace.
Was this a mistake to have a large amount burnt when there was but a
few. tons to be used? If so, to say the least it was a foolish waste of labor
and fuel. And right here I would say to J. P. that there are men living
that worked at the furnace while this puny test w^as being made whose
recollection of the success attending it differs very materially from his.

"The fact is that previous to November, 1856, all furnacemen that
had tried Lake Superior ore were in the fix the family were that ate the
cat. When they had taken a mouthful apiece all round they wanted no
more. I cheerfully accord all credit to the Messrs. Agnew for having
worked thirty of the first 429 10-10 tons of Lake Superior ore shipped
into this valley, yet contend that there was not enough used (and it was
mixed with other ore) to satisfy any practical furnacemen that the test
thus made had been thorough and successful. What! Thirty tons if used
alone would not fill a furnace half full, and not more than enough to last
one of our furnaces fifteen hours when in full blast. Is there a man on
earth that would invest his money in building a furnace for the purpose
of working ore that had been thus tested and thus only? No. You might
as well put it through a cofi^ee mill, then into a pepper box, shake it over
the trunnel head once a dav for a week, and then come to him and sav
that the ore had been worked successfully in a furnace and the iron made
from it A No. i."

The extended remarks of Mr. Allen caused Mr. David Agnew to make
the following reply :

"I presume Mr. Allen will admit that the first attempt to use Lake
Superior ore in a blast furnace was made at the old Sharpsville furnace.
If so, the only matter in controversy is : \\'as the result of that trial suc-
cessful ? My brother, who was in charge of the business, was present at
the time and had therefore the best means of knowing the facts, says :
'This ore was worked in our furnace very satisfactorily. Indeed our
furnace never gave better results than while working that ore,' and pro-
ceeds to state how the ore was used, the quality of the iron, etc. Does this
indicate failure? But Mr. Allen says that in the presence of himself and
Gen. Curtis I acknowledged the experiment to be a failure. Admitting that
such an interview took place, of which I have no recollection, still Mr. Allen
must have entirel\- misapprehended the language used on that occasion. I

FIRST USE OF THE ORE IX PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO 73

believed then and have ever since beHeved that it was a success. That I
should have asserted the contrary is not at all reasonable. The great cost
of the ore, as explained in a former communication, was of itself a sufficient
reason for not wishing to continue the experiment any longer than to
prove its adaptation to furnace use and to judge of the quality of the iron.
Both these objects were demonstrated to our entire satisfaction. We could
not have continued the experiment if we had desired to do so, from the
fact that the second shipment of ore was intended to be used at Clay fur-
nace, owned by the ore company, and was consequently reshipped from
Sharpsvillc (where it was brought in mistake) to Clay furnace for that
purpose. Mr. Allen ridicules the idea that any correct opinion could be
formed of the working, or of the metallic qualities of the ore from the small
quantity employed. I readily admit that such a quantity of ore in one of our
present furnaces, yielding thirty to forty tons per day, would afford no
proper test of its quality in cither of these respects but the trial under con-
sideration was made under entirely different circumstances.

"The average product of the Sharpsville and other furnaces in this
valley at the time of this experiment was only about four tons per day.
Thirty tons of Lake Superior ore mixed with the common ores,, as ex-
plained in my last, was sufficient to produce at least thirty tons of metal,
and allowing one or even two tons per day additional for the increased
percentage of iron in the mixture would supply the furnace for five or six
days. Will Mr. Allen say that such a trial affords no ground on which
to base a correct opinion of the result? I have no desire, nor is it nec-
essary that I should impugn the veracity of mv worthy friend. He evi-
dently got a wrong impression in the beginning, hence the error into which
he has fallen. Having, as I think, presented sufficient evidence of the fact
that my brother and myself were the first to use, and to use successfully
Lake Superior ore in the production of pig iron, I now take leave of the
subject with the kindest feelings' for mv respected but mistaken competitor
for that honor." David Agnew.

Mr. Allen concludes the controversy with the following letter :
"If our respected friend, D. Agnew, Esq., thinks that his last article
will satisfv any practical furnacemcn that the working of Lake Superior
ore in the old Sharpsville furnace under his administration was a success,
he is mistaken. We, at Clay furnace, succeeded much better with the first
boat load, sent us in December, 1853, as we worked enough of it alone
without mixing other ores, to produce fully seventeen tons of iron, and
while so doing, did not have to cast over the dam. And yet we know that

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

neither of the furnaces in the shape they were then, could have been run
on Lake Superior ore alone two days in succession successfully. To prove
this fact we have only to refer to Mr. Agnew's article. He says it took
them six days to put thirty tons through the Sharpsville furnace, making
about four tons of iron per day. Now why was it that this same old Sharps^

ville furnace in 1859, under the man-
agement of John J. Spearman, Esq.,*
and being no larger or better than
when Agnew owned her, was mak-
ing from twenty to thirty tons of ex-
cellent iron per day (as much in a
day as Mr. Agnew could make in a
week). It was simply this: Mr.
Spearman in having her fitted made
the changes in the shape of lining,
hearth and bosh, that we adopted at
Clay furnace in 1856 when Lake Su-
perior ore for the first time, was
successfully worked in a blast fur-
nace without mixing.

"As stated in a former article
we wish to accord to Mr. Agnew all
honor for having worked thirty tons
Lake Superior ore mixed with native
ore, and that, too before any Lake
Superior ore had ever been received
at Clay furnace, even if it did take

JOHN J. SPEARMAN AT 22.

*.ToIin T. Spearman was born at McKee's Gap, eight miles from Hollidaysburg, Bedford
county, Pa., Dec. 27, 1S24. His father was a miller and the Spearman homestead later became
the site of Dr. Peter Schoenberger's Martha furnace. Spearman began work at the age of
eleven years manipulating leather blacksmith bellows which forced air into the shaft to the
working miners at the Hopewell ore mine at Bedford county, Pa. From bellows boy he was
promoted to the position of driver of a horse and cart. He left the furnace business at the
age of fifteen and entered a general country store, returning two years later to Dr. Schoen-
berger's employ at the Sarah furnace. In the spring of 1842 he was employed in the Rebecca
furnace in Huntington county as a bookkeeper and head clerk, remaining until 1845. He was
then transferred by Dr. Schoenberger to the Maria forges as assistant manager of the works.
In 1847 Dr. Schoenberger acquired an interest in the Sharon furnace, Sharon, Pa., and Spear-
man, who was then twenty-three years of age, was transferred there as assistant manager. In
1852 he bought the Mazeppa furnace on his own account.

He was manager of the Sharpsville furnace during' its early experience with Lake Superior
ore. In 1862 Mr. Spearman entered the employ of James Wood & Sons, Wheaton, P'p.., and the
next year became partner, selling his interest out, however, in the year 1870. In the fall of
1871 he organized the Spearman Iron Co. This plant was sold to W. P. Snyder of Pittsburg
in 1901. Mr. Spearman is at present president of the First National Bank, of Sharon, Pa., and
notwitl.standing his great age attends regularly to his duties at the bank every day.

FIRST USE OF THE ORE IN PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO

six days. And we now say that if it had taken six months to get this trifling
amount through their furnace we would still be willing to give them all
praise for having done it. We spent three years at Clay furnace experiment-
ing with lake ore, and notwithstanding the fact that during the whole of

that time we succeeded much better than
Mr. Agnew ever did at Sharpsville, we
never worked it successfully until the
fall of 1856."

The following letter corroborative
of Mr. Allen's contention was received
from J. J. Spearman, owner of the
Sharpsville furnace :

"The first Lake Superior ore
worked in the Shenango Valley was at
the old Sharpsville furnace, then oper-
ated by D. and J. P. Agnew ; onlv a
small quantity was used in a mixture of
native ores. The first Lake Superior
ore worked alone was at the Clav fur-
nace (now abandoned). This furnace
was owned by the Jackson Iron Co., and
managed by Mr. Frank xAllen. This
furnace was the first in the Shenango From a photograph taken in igoy.
Valley, and as far as I know in the Unit-
ed States to use alone and successfully work any large quantity of Lake
Superior ore."

There is corroboration also of Mr. Allen's contention in the following
letter sent to W. J. Gordon, president of the Cleveland Iron Mining Co., by
M. C. Trout, a director of the Sharon Iron Works :

"Oct. 27, 1855.
"W. J. Gordon :

"The experiments with Lake Superior ore in blast furnaces have not been
made under circumstances to enable me to state the best method of using it.
The improvements now being made at Clay furnace will enable us to test
that metal this fall or winter. The usual method of lining a boiling furnace

T. J. SPEARMAN.

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

is to build around the sides of the furnace while cold with small lumps of
ore and then when the furnace is heated melt sufficient ore to fill up the
crevices by dashing the melted ore against the sides with a furnace bar. The
bottom of the furnace is generally made by luelting scraps and spreading on

the bottom some two or three inches

thick.

"Yours truly,

"M. C. Trout."

It is quite well authenticated that
the first person to manufacture iron
from Lake Superior ore in Ohio was
Charles Howard, proprietor of the
Falcon Iron Works at Youngstown.
Howard's first order was for 500
tons at $8 per ton and was placed
with The Cleveland Iron Mining Co.,
in August. 1856. It was shipped to him
via the canal.* Howard had estab-
lished the Falcon furnace a few years
previously. Describing his experience
in later years in a letter to Mr. J. H.

Sheadle, secretary of the Cleveland Cliflfs

Iron Co., he said :

M. S. MARQUIS IN 1850.

*The letter appended herewith from Capt. M. S. Marquis, of New Castle, Pa., illustrates
quite picturesquely the conditions surrounding the transportation of early shipinents of ore by
canal. Capt. Marquis and Capt. John Reeves of Beaver Falls are the two oldest surviving canal
boat captains. Capt. Marquis is now a banker, being president of the Home Trust Co., and
has not for many years been connected with canal work. Concerning his early experience he
writes:

"The Alpha was the first boat to run from New Castle to Pittsburg. When she was built
I was four years old. I drove on the canal in 1845. In 1846 I run my first boat, which was
called the Farmer. In 1848 I ran the Ashland Farmer, belonging to Capt. John Reeves, and
carried 75 passengers out of Cleveland. In 1849 I run the Aliquippa for four months, then
I bought the J. 11. Whistler from Capt. Green. I then built several boats, the names of
which as near as I can remember were as follows: Arabella, Youngstown, F. K. Beshore. I
also built the following steamboats: Seagull, ]\Ionitor, Ilemrod and Sligo. Then I built two
horse boats, named the O. H. P. Green and 'SI. S. ^Marquis. Other boats which I bought and
owned for some time I cannot remember the names of, but I had at one time fourteen boats.

"I think in 1848 I freighted gray ore from Cleveland to Pittsburg, for a firm named For-
sythe, at $3 per ton. I also carried copper ore; it was in large pieces, weighing one, three, four
and five tons each. It was melted by C. C. Hussey & Co. in Pittsburg. I think the gray
ore was used as "fix" in puddling furnaces. There was not much ore used before the railroad
v/as built. I think there was a little furnace at Niles, O., of about two tons per day capacity;
one at Brier Hill, capacity about ten or fifteen tons per day; and one at Lowellville about the
same capacity. Rhodes & Co., Bingham S: Co., L. O. ]\Iatthews, and Chamberlain were the
shippers.

FIRST USE OF THE ORE IX PENNSYLVANIA AND OHIO 11

"In 1847 or 1848 a company of ^^^elshmen built a furnace in Summit
county, Ohio, not far from a place known as the Old Forge, near Akron,

Ohio, and expected to get the coal from
a mine that was being worked a little
near Tallmadge. five miles from Akron.
They put up a good stack and good
machinery, but after several trials
found out that the Tallmadge coal
would not do for smelting, so they
quit, gave up the whole thing as a
failure, leaving machinery and every-
thing standing there. I bought the
whole thing for a small sum, took it
down and moved it to Youngstown.
built the Falcon furnace and used the
Welshman's machinery and everything
else I could use. I had saved up $700
of my salary, and I thought I was
rich enough to be an iron master on
my own account. I found out later
that $700 was not anything like enough
money to build and run a blast fur-
nace ; so after running one year I sold out to James Wood & Co. of Niles,
Ohio, went to Massillon, Ohio, and built the first Massillon furnace for
Marshall Wellman^ who was president of the Massillon bank. Later I re-
turned to Youngstown and bought back the Falcon. I rebuilt the stack
and made improvements of different kinds but the iron made from the lean
ores from about Youngstown was not just what was altogether suitable
for the Pittsburg rolling mills in making iron and nails. That being the
principal market ore that would mix with the native ore and improve the
quality of the pig iron was much desired and sought after. So in 1856
when I saw a notice in the Cleveland Herald that the Cleveland Iron Min-
ing Co. had received a cargo of Lake Superior ore and was prepared to

JOHN T. EEEVES.

"M. S. MARQUIS.

"I think I must have owned in all about twenty or twenty-five boats. I would be four
days and nights going from Cleveland to Pittsburg. It was slow traveling, but there was
plenty of fish and game. The passengers would hunt and fish, as they could walk four miles
per hour, and my boat traveled only two. This gave the men a good time to hunt, and the
ladies would walk ahead and fish. I sometimes had in all seventy-five passengers, some of
whom were emigrants."

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

supply blast furnaces and rolling mills on reasonable terms I made a trip
to Cleveland in order to see the ore and get some idea of what it would
yield and what it would cost delivered in Youngstown. I met with the

president and with Mr. Tuttle. who was
secretary, and found them to be anxious
to have the furnaces commence the use
of their ore. They said they were pre-
pared to furnish a steady supply, so I
made arrangements with them to send
me a few carloads at once. Let me say
that the idea prevailed at that time
among the furnacemen that Lake Su-
perior ore could not be smelted with raw
coal ; that the ore would have to be
roasted first and the coal made into coke
before using. But there was nothing of
this necessary. It worked nicely from
the start, improving the quality of iron
by giving it body and very much in-
creasing the output of the furnace p2r
day and making the cost per ton for
labor less, and the iron more salable as

CHARLES T. HOWARD. WCll."

CHAPTER IX.

PETER WHITE AND HIS DOG SLEDS.

HTHE work of converting the plank road into a strap railroad and the grow-
ing fame of the iron hills had caused quite an influx of people so that
Marquette was beginning to have quite a respectable number of inhabitants.
These recruits saw the last boat depart and the winter close in upon them
with feelings of uneasiness, which gradually gave way to uncontrollable
impatience when they realized that they were not going to get any mail
during the entire winter. It was the old story over again. In fact the
last mail was delivered on Oct. 17. On Jan. 8, 1854, the people could
stand it no longer and sent for Peter White to attend a mass meeting
which they had called. Intense and fervent speeches were made, but
all had the same ending — that Peter White should go for the mail. No
one else was thought of. He was regarded as some mysterious genie who
with a dog and sled could penetrate the trackless wilds and bring the pre-
cious mail out of its hiding place. So with six Indians and three dog teams
of three dogs each, Peter White again went after the mail. Peter atid the
Indians took away nearly 1,000 letters to be posted. They plunged into
the woods at the mouth of Carp river, but found snow-shoeing tedious
work, as the snow was very soft. On the seventh day, while making slow
work of it in the deep, wet snow which covered the ice of Cedar river,
near the waters of Green Bay, they espied in the dim distance what appeared
to them at first like five immense loads of hay slowly crawling toward them.
A little later the strange spectacle came more definitely into view and was
seen to be five double teams with five sleigh loads of United States mail,
bound for Lake Superior places, via Escanaba and Marquette, in charge of
Daniel M. Whitney, ol Green Bay. This mail weighed between seven and
eight tons. It may be imagined that the meeting of these two caravans was
most joyful.

Mr. Whitney said that the postoffice at Green Bay was filled to over-
flowing with mail and that the postmaster at that place had taken the
most doubtful responsibility of employing him to make one trip. Whitney

80 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

had engaged ten men, Indians and French, to help him. Peter White took
charge of the party, and loading up his dog sleds with the contents of
one of the sleighs he sent the entire party, dogs, sleds, French and Indians
on to Escanaba and Marquette while he and Mr. Whitney drove in the sleigh
which had just been unloaded to Green Bay.

It mieht be well to follow the mail before following the immediate
adventures of Peter White. After great tribulations, delays and troubles,
the mail reached Marc|uette on Jan. 21, which was really very good time
considering the fearful conditions of the roads, which were made almost
impassable by melting snows. The dog teams were dispatched ahead of
the others with the letter bags. Nearly half the population of Marquette
went down as far as the Carp river to meet the mail and to help carry it into
town. As the savages of some of the southern climes are wont to gorge
themselves with food to unspeakable excess and then sleep for days there-
after, so did the people of the little village give themselves up to a riot of
reading. No work was done for two days. The paper mail came a week
later but it was so worn and wet that most of the addresses were unde-
cipherable. However, that was no matter, as perfect communion prevailed
in the ownership of newspapers in those days.

Meanwhile the subject of our story was holding a heated argument
with the postal authorities and with Gen. Lewis Cass, who was Michigan's
representative in the United States Senate. On his arrival at Green
Bay, he found that Mr. Hicks, the postmaster, had on hand twenty-four
bags of mail matter for Lake Superior. Eacli bag held four bushels. He
found, moreover, that the mail was accumulating at the rate of six bushels
a day, and the Green Bay postmaster was in a quandary as to what to do
with it. He had employed Mr. Whitney to make one trip to Marquette
at enormous cost on doubtful authority.

"Something's got to be done/' said Peter, who had before him at
all times the frenzied population of Marquette, and who did not want to
return without the message that he had arranged a definite schedule for
the mail.

The nearest telegraph point was Fond du Lac and thither he journeyed
to wire Senator Cass. The extraordinary number of words which the
young man used (for telegraph tolls were very high then), the vigor of
language, the fact that he transmitted the major part of the resolutions
adopted by the citizens of Marcjuette setting forth the immense value of the
iron and copper mines and denounced in unmeasured terms the apathy
of Gen. Hester L. Stevens, their representative in congress, to the need?

PETER WHITE AND HIS DOG SLEDS 81

of the community, together with the withering scorn and invective directed
against the postoffice department, convinced Gen. Cass that an insurrection
was imminent in the peninsula, and he hastened at once to the postmaster
general with the dispatch from his impetuous young constituent. But
even this was not enough for Peter. He bombarded Cass for two days
with telegrams so impudent that he would not dare today to send them to
anyone. Gen. Cass replied that he appreciated the importance of his mission
and told him that he had written him at Green Bay and to await the receipt
of the letter. In three days the letter came inclosing several from the first
and second assistant postmasters general, informing him that the Hon.
Henry Hart, a special agent of the postoffice department at Adrian, Mich.,
had been wired to meet him at Green Bay. The telegraph operator sought
to beguile away the interval of time by presenting Peter with a bill for $66.
Peter was ever a thrifty lad and the size of this bill was to him appalling.
He supposed that he had contracted an expenditure of about six dollars.
He found some, though not a total consolation, in the fact that it would
not have to come out of his own pocket.

In his frequent visits to the postoffice at Green Bay Peter had noticed
that the postmaster had accumulated a lot of empty canvas mail bags,
perhaps 200 in number, and they were folded double and piled up like
stove wood in neat piles in the woodshed attached to the postoffice. The
postmaster consented that Peter should try any desired experiment with
them provided he did not injure them. So Peter diligently employed the
days while awaiting the arrival of Special Agent Hart in making packages
of these bags by stuffing them into other bags leaving a vacuum of about
18 in. in the top of each package of bags into which he closely packed mail
matter addressed to Lake Superior points. He then carefully closed them
with the puckering strings, leaving an opening on top of each bag of 5 or
6 in. wdth the addressed side of each paper upward, so that the merest look
would convince anyone that that was a bag of mail for Lake Superior.
Then these deceptive bags were stacked, end on end, in tiers three stories
high nearly reaching the ceiling in the back room of the postoffice and
woodshed. Thus the thirty odd bags of mail had grown into 120 large
bags of mail. When the special agent arrived in the course of four or five
days, he surveyed the accumulation of mail with wonder and saw that an
emergency existed. He surveyed the accumulation however, upon a full
stomach, for Peter w^as careful to meet him at the stage and to escort him
to the Astor House, where a supper of oysters and champagne was given
to him before proceeding to business. Peter was very polite indeed to Mr.

82 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Hart. The special agent at once approved the temporary contract that
had been made with Mr. Whitney for the one trip and authorized a new
contract for one trip a week from Green Bay to Lake Superior. Peter con-
tinued to entertain him for two or three days thereafter with such princely
liberality that Mr. Hart made an order increasing the service to three times
a week before he left. The peninsula never thereafter lacked for mail
facilities and Peter White's return to Marquette was one of triumph.

CHAPTER X.

BUILDING THE OLD STRAP RAILROAD.

]Y/TExA.N WHILE Peter White was doing a lot of thinking. He saw the

gradual unfolding of the industrial panorama and he began to perceive

opportunities for making money on his own account. He was shut out

from making iron ore investments, for that required capital and he had

only his savings. He possessed, how-
ever, the natural instinct of a mer-
chant. He was essentially by dis-
position a buyer and seller, and re-
signing his position with the Cleve-
land company he opened a store of
his own. He conducted it with pro-
fit but sold out when he saw a better
opening in the insurance business.
Pie has always had the eyes of a
hawk for opportunity. Then he be-
gan the business of banking in a
small way. When W. J. Gordon, af-
terward a well known capitalist and
])hilanthropist of Cleveland, visited
the iron region for the first time in
18.^4, having joined the Cleveland
company, he was attracted to Peter
White instantly — and W. J. Gordon
could see through a cast iron vault.
To take a man's measure at once
was an instinct with him. He was
a truly great man, many-sided, bold
and complete. He grasped the na-
ture of the iron ore deposits, their marvelous extent and future influence

W. J. GORDON.

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

almost before any man did.* He saw, too, that Peter White was as sensible
a young man as lived in that region and he came to. rely upon his judgment.
He never submitted a proposition to his directors when he was in the penin-
sula that he did not first submit to Peter.

But what days of stress and turmoil they were. The Cleveland com-
pany permanently abandoned the making of blooms when the forge burned
down in December, 1853, and devoted itself to the mining and shipping of
ore. There were approximately 1,000 tons of ore on dock when the season
of navigation opened in 1854. The winter had been a bad one for hauling
the ore in sleighs. The average load was a gross ton and only about fifteen
tons could be brought down per day. The tariff for the haul from the
mine to the lake was $3 per ton and the price of the ore on dock at Mar-

THE SIDE WHEEL STEAMER ILLINOIS.

quette was $8 per ton. The cost of mining was 50 cents per ton — a mag-
nificent profit, indeed, if any volume of business could be transacted. Nearly
the whole of the 1,000 tons of ore on doc'k when navigation opened in

*Mr. Gordon thus described his impressions of the iron mines in a letter to the Cleveland
Company written after his first visit to the mines:

"Aug. 22nd, 1854.

"I visited the iron mountain week before last and have examined our property generally
and am entirely satisfied with my investment. It does not vary much from my expectations, as
my sources of information before coming here were reliable and intelligent. Yet the mind can
scarcely realize the wonderful deposits of iron in our hills without the aid of actual personal
observation, it being almost incredible."

BUILDING THE OLD STRAP RAILROAD 85

1854 was taken by the Forest City Iron Co. It was wheeled aboard the
propellers Sam Ward, Napoleon and Peninsula in barrows and dumped
upon the deck. x'Vt the Sault it had to be unloaded and carried over the
portage, where it was again wheeled upon vessels and taken to the lower
lake ports.

In the business of portage, Sheldon McKnight and his old gray horse
and French cart occupy a picturesque and commanding position in the
history of the Sault. This faithful animal had the distinguished honor in
1845 of hauling every pound of freight that passed to and from Lake
Superior, a point of special significance when it is borne in mind that today
the commerce which passes this point is far greater than that which is
exchanged between New York and Liverpool ; when the transfer of com-
modities to and from this great father of waters, which was well within
the capacity of this old gray horse to handle, has grown within the life-
time of the hero of this sketch to dimensions more than three times as ereat
as the commerce which annually passes through the Suez canal. The dis-
covery of the mineral deposits, however, brought such a flood of prospectors
and miners that McKnight and his old horse had more than they could do
to handle the material. So McKnight with J. T. Whiting, built a strap
railway about a mile long across the portage in 1850. He placed a number
of cars upon it and drew them with horses and this was the first railway of
any kind to be built in the upper peninsula of Michigan. What with the
transit of iron and copper down, with machinery and provisions of all
kinds up, McKnight did a flourishing business and the Sault became a dis-
tributing center. The thought of a canal at the Sault was gall and wormwood
to McKnight. He fought the project bitterly, opposing it at every step, de-
claring that it was unnecessary and that it would kill the Sault. This last
argument found a responsive chord in many a breast, for a number of men
gained their livelihood in the rehandling of freight at that point. The project
of the canal was not advanced by any of the Saulteurs.

The strap railroad from Marcpiette to the mines was not
ready for use during the winter of 1854 and the ore was car-
ried down in sleighs as usual. The projectors called it the Iron
Mountain Railway Co. Fleman P. Ely was busily engaged also
in the construction of his railroad, which he called the Iron
Mountain Railroad Co. — a distinction in tern:s sufficient to confuse
anyone who endeavors to trace the history of the peninsula from
the very manuscript of those who made it. However, they were distinct
corporations, as was quite apparent at the time, for Ely served an endless
number of injunctions upon the contractors and workmen who were engaged

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

upon the Iron Mountain Railway. There were innumerable disputes regard-
ing the rights of way and things finally got to such a pitch that Charles T.
Harvey finally suggested to the contending interests that they permit him
to act as arbitrator. Both sides recognized his eminent capacity for work
of this kind and agreed to abide by his decision. Harvey thereupon caused
maps to be drawn defining where each roadbed should be laid and determin-
ing how nearly they should approach each other at important points. He did
his work well and his voluntary services were appreciated by both sides.
Nerves were at the highest tension, for work upon the canal at Sault
Ste. Marie was progressing rapidly, and everyone wanted the line of com-
munication to the mines to be finished first in order to care for the heavy
shipments that were bound to follow.

But. alas, notwithstanding the heroic
efforts put forth, the canal was opened
before the strap railroad was finished. It
was an era of the wildest excitement in
the peninsula. Cholera had broken out
once and hundreds had died in building
the canal, but now the great work was
done, ^^'ater was let into the canal on
April 19, 1853, and on June 18, it was
opened to commerce with John Burt as
its first superintendent. The steam-
er Illinois was the first vessel to
pass up and the Baltimore the first
to pass down on the day of the
opening. On the following day the
propeller Gen. Taylor passed through
up bound and on the 20th the
passenger steamer North Star en-
tered up bound. The North Star was the first vessel to reach Marquette
through the canal, having made the trip from the Sault in a little less than
eight hours. The schooner Freeman, Capt. J. H. .Andrews, master, passed up
July 3 and was the first sailing vessel to make the complete trip from the
lower lakes into Lake Superior.

When the trim hull of the North Star shot into Iron Bay the people
of Marquette nearly went wild. She signified so much to them. She had

CAPT. J. H. ANDKKWS

BUILDING THE OLD STRAP RAILROAD 87

come as a deliverer. She had burst the bars that had so long- caged the
peninsula and was the first to bring the message of emancipation. Her
name, too, North Star, was so appropriate for this great northern sea.
The people on seeing her gave vent to a mighty outburst of patriotism. Dr.
Morgan L. Hewitt was deeply stirred, as a letter written by him upon the
occasion shovv'S. He ran up the American flag upon the city flag-staff and
every man who had a gun fired it off.

Heman E. Ely suggested that appropriate exercises be held on the
Fourth of July to celebrate the opening of the canal which meant so much
to the iron country. Mr. Ely, who was a patriotic and generous man, bore
the expense of the entire celebration, providing music and fireworks and re-
'freshments for the entire village. Speeches were made by Dr. J- J- St. Clair,
agent for the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. ; Mr. George King, of the Jackson
Iron Co., and Mr. Ely, who was the principal orator of the day. Peter White
followed the speakers by merely reading the Declaration of Independence.
Ely's address was praised by everyone except William O'Brien, an Irishman,
who had helped himself quite liberally to punch. He was heard describing
the occasion in the following language:

"There was Docther Sinclair; he was the prisident of the day and made
a tolerably dacent spaach, good anuff for any other day but Ford-a-Julv !
Thin there was Misther King, the Jackson Company dark ; he made a little
talk, good anuff for the childers, but no account for a Ford-a-July spaach.
And then Mr. Ealy he got up ; he talked about rivers and harbors and rail-
roads an tiligrafs, shtame boats, canals and sich like. Oh, begobs ! it was
tadious but I would have called it a fine spaach for any other day but a
Ford-a-July, but for that day it was no spaach at all. But I will tell yez
w'ho did make a good spaach — it was ]Mr. Pate White. He got up and he
talked like a book. He talked about liberty and aquality and the rights of
the min and he w^as down on King George and the parleymint and sor, he
made the bist Ford-a-July spaach of them all."

The Honorable Peter White

PART II

Sault Ste. Marie Before the Canal

Lake Superior Shipping Before the Canal

Construction of the Canal

CHAPTER XI.

SAULT STE. MARIE BEFORE THE CANAL.

CINCE no single act of man has conferred so wide a blessing, industrially
considered, on the American people as the construction of the first canal at
Sault Ste. Marie, it might be well to set down in detail the history of the
site of this splendid achievement. As the story unfolds it will be shown in
what manner the locks of Sault Ste. Marie have altered the face of the
country; but for the present let us deal with Sault Ste. Marie itself. There
are two pictures — Sault Ste. Marie before and after the canal and each
differs widely in aspect. To us Sault Ste. Marie is one of the most romantic
places in the world.

There has always been an Indian settlement at the Sault. When
Nicollet went to Sault Ste. Alarie in 1634 he foimd a permanent Indian
town there. Elsewhere the Indians are nomadic ; wdien they have hunted a
region out they take down their tepees and migrate, but at Sault Ste. Marie
they remained and lived in peace. The reason was that the rapids were
always open and accordingly they could fish all the year around. Fish
constituted their principal food during the winter season. In 1641 Charles

Raymbault and Isaac Jogues held a brief mission at the rapids and called
it Saint Mary. In 1661 Radisson and Grosseilliers camped there for a little
while ; but the permanent settlement is to be dated from the establishment of
the mission by Father James Marquette in 1668.*

* Father James jSIarqiiette was born in Laon, Picardy, France, in 1637. He began his
scholastic career at an early age, nltimately ioining the Jesuit order and being ordained a priest.
In 1666 he voluntarily gave up the tranquillity of the cloister for the arduous work of the
missionary, and joined the ranks of the pioneers of New France, arriving in Quebec, Sept. 20,
1666. In April, 1668, he was dispatched in company with a brother of the order to assist in
the Northwest. He established a new mission station at Sault Ste. Marie, near the foot of the
rapids, and in 1669 set out to take charge of the La Pointe mission, near the present site of
Ashland, reaching it after a perilous iourney in September. It was here he conceived the daring
idea of attempting the discovery of a great river in the West, of the existence of which he had
learned from the Indians. His plan was to go there in the fall of 1670, but was frustrated
by a war which broke out between the Hurons and Ottawas on one side and the Dakotas on
the other. The Ottawas finally fled, leaving Marquette with the Hurons. The Hurons resolved
to leave La Pointe for the rich fisheries of Mackinac, and there, in 1671, Father Marquette began
the mission of St. Jgnace. To Marquette's great joy he was then appointed by the Jesuit
superior to accompany Joliet, the royal hydrographer of New France, on a tour to extend French

92 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Sault Ste. Marie is the oldest town in Michigan, antedating Detroit
by more than thirty years. In 1750 the French estabhshed a military post
at Sault Ste. Marie for the purpose of preventing the English, as far as
possible, from obtaining a foothold on Lake Superior. When Alexander
Henry visited Sault Ste. Marie in 1762 he found it to consist of a fort and
four houses. The fort was even then in a state of abandonment, the French
having evacuated it in 1760 after the surrender of Canada to Britain.
The village was French and Indian until the Jay treaty and the session of
1796.

Sault Ste. Marie has had its captains of industry and of romance. Its
great captain of romance was John Johnston. He was an Irishman of noble
birth. He ^^■as born in Antrim county, Ireland, near the village of Colraine,
Aug. 25, 1762. His father was a civil engineer who planned and executed
the waterworks at Belfast. His mother was the sister of Mary Saurin, wife
of Bishop Saurin of Dromore and also a sister of the attorney general for
Ireland. Johnston emigrated to America in 1792 and was received by Lord

territory southward. They left St. Ignace May 17, 1673, passing into Lake Michigan and
following its north shore. Roing down Green Bay to the Fox river. The two travelers ascended
the Fox river to its head, crossed by a short portage to the Wisconsin river, and following that
stream, reached the Mississippi June 17, 1673. They continued their journey until they reached
the month of the Arkansas. Ketnrning, Marquette ascended the Illinois river and continued his
journey to (ireen Bay by way of the lake, and reached there late in September. That winter
and the following si'.mnier Marquette spent at Green Bay. He embarked again March 30, with
two attendants, and reached the Illinois on April 8. He observed, however, that his strength
was declining, and resolved to return to St. Ignace. He and his two Indian followers coasted
along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan until they reached the mouth of the river that after-
wards bore his name. Marquette realized that he was dying, and pointing to a rising piece of
ground, gave directions for his interment there. On Saturday, May 18, 1675, he died and
was bv.ried by the two Indians where he directed. Two years later the body was disinterred
by the Ottawa Indians and accompanied by a funeral of nearly 30 canoes, was taken to St. Ignace.
Under the s'.'.nervision of F'ather Nouvel the body was deposited in a little vault in the middle
of the church at St. Ignace, on June 9, 1677.

The second volume of La Hontan's Travels contains a description and plan of the mission
at St. Ignace, as it was in 1688, 11 years after Marquette's burial. It was through the aid of
this plan that Marquette's remains were discovered 200 years after they were buried and after
all trace of the mission had been totally obliterated. The plan plainly indicated that the
old mission house must have stood in no place else than at Point St. Ignace. A large cross
was known by the French and Indians to have stood on or near the beach of East Moran Bay,
and the tradition is that the cross marked the site of the old church that once stood there. On
May 4, 1S77. nearly 200 years after Marquette's burial, Peter Grondin, occupied in clearing
ground on claim 19 for Patrick Murray Jr., discovered a rude foundation 36x40 feet, the
smaller side facing the lake. This old foundation consisted of flat limestones covered with sand
or soil. Immediately adjoining to the west were plain traces of a large building divided into
three compartments, and having three fireplaces. The whole plan looked like the mission of the
Jesuits, with the church adioining, the house, .sacristy and workshop. The Rev. Father Jacker
became deeply interested in it and caused excavations to be made. Pieces of glassware, broken
statuary r.nd other indications of a church were found, and near the western end of the cellar,
two feet below the ordinary cellar, what was supposed to be a box containing Marquette's
remains was found. It contained a number of small pieces of bones from different parts of
the human frame, such as the skull, hands and feet, limbs and spine.

SAULT STE. MARIE BEFORE THE CANAL 93

Dorchester, Governor General of Canada, to whom he presented such fine
letters of recommendation that the governor begged him to remain in Mon-
treal until an opening for him should occur in the British service. Johnston,
however, soon joined a trading party bound for Lake Superior. He spent
some months at Sault Ste. Marie and then followed Lake Superior as far
west as La Pointe opposite the Twelve Apostle islands, where he established
a trading post.

It was while trading for furs with Waub-O-jeeg,'" chief of the Chip-
pewas, that he met the chief's beautiful daughter O-shaw-gus-co-day-way-
qua, which translated means Daughter of the Green Mountain. This forest-
bred girl seems indeed to have been of singular beauty of person and
nobility of character. Johnston with all the impetuosity of his race fell
madly in love v/ith her and immediately asked the chief to give her to him
in marriage. Waub-0-jeeg refused.

"Your customs are not our customs," he said. "Your ways are not our
ways. The white man desires our women only so long as they please
the eye."

Johnston protested so eloquently and so sincerely that Waub-O-jeeg
finally counseled him to return to Montreal and to remain some months

*Waub-0-jeeg was the second son of the famous Mongazida. Once when the latter went
out to his fall hunt, on the grounds near Sioux territory, taking all his relatives with him
(upwards of twenty in number), they were attacked by the Sioux at early dawn. The first
volley had gone through the lodges: before the second could be fired Mongazida rushed out and
proclaiming his own name with a loud voice demanded if Wabash, his mother's son, was among
the assailants. There was a pause, and then a tall figure in his war dress, and a profusion of
feathers on his head, stepped forward and gave his hand to his half brother. They repaired to
the lodge in peace together, but the moment the "Sioux chief stooped to enter, Waub-O-jeeg, then
a boy eight years old. who had planted himself at the entrance to defend it, struck him a blow
on the forehead with his little war club. Wabash, enchanted, took hiin up in his arms and
prophesied that he would become a great war chief and an implacable enemy of the Sioux.
Subsequently this prophesy was accomplished and Waub-O-jeeg commanded the nation in all
the war parties against the Sioux and Ottagamies. He was generally victorious and so entirely
defeated the Ottagamies that they never afterwards ventured to oppose him but retired down
the Wisconsin ' river where they settled. But Waub-O-jeeg was something more and better than
a successful warrior; he was reinarkable for his eloquence and composed a number of war songs
which were S'.mg through the Chippewa villages and some of which his daughter often repeated.
He was no less skillful in hunting than in war. His hunting grounds extended to the river
Broule at Fond du Lac; and he killed anyone who dared intrude on his district. The skins
he took annually were worth $350, a sum amply sufficient to make him rich in clothing, arms,
powder, vermillion and trinkets. Like Tecumseh he would not marry lest it should turn his
attention from war, but at the age of thirty he married a widow by whom he had two sons.
Becoming tired of his elderly helpmate he took a young wife, a beautiful girl of fourteen, by
whom he had six children; of these Mrs. Johnston was the eldest. She described he'r father as
domestic and affectionate. "There was always plenty of bear's meat and deer's flesh in the
lodge," she said. He had a splendid lodge 60 feet in length which he was fond of ornamenting.
In the center there was a strong post, which rose several feet above the roof, and on the top
there was the carved figure of an owl which veered with the wind. This owl seems to have
answered the purpose of a flag. It was the insignia of his power and his presence. When
absent on his long winter hunts the lodge was shut up and the owl taken down.

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

there among his own people. He reasoned with him that he would find a
girl among the French and English there more to his liking, but Johnston
protested vehemently that he would not. Waub-O-jeeg, however, remained
obdurate.

"If," said he, finally, "the women of the pale faces do not put my child
out of your mind, return in the spring and we will talk further."

Johnston spent a disconsolate winter in Montreal but returned in the
spring of 1793 to claim his Indian bride. Waub-O-jeeg gave her to him
upon the injunction that she was to remain his wife forever.

^rm

L'/i.lk*

^iliilti^^

i.w.

Johnston's house as it appkars today — a view from the street front.

Previous to her marriage, according to the Indian custom, she fasted
for a guardian spirit. To perform this ceremony she went away to the
summit of an eminence and built herself a little lodge of cedar boughs,
painted herself black and began her fast in solitude. She fasted for ten
days during which time her grandmother brought her water at intervals.
At the end of the tenth day she returned to her father's lodge carrying green

SAULT STE. ^lARlE BEFORE THE CANAL

cedar boughs which she threw upon the ground stepping upon them as
she went. When she entered the lodge she threw some more down upon
the place where she usually sat and then took her seat next to her mother.
During the ten succeeding days she was not permitted to eat any meat nor
anything but a little corn boiled with a bitter herb. For ten days more she
ate meat smoked in a particular manner and then partook of the usual food
of the family.

But notwithstanding the fact that all the presentments which she could
conjure up during her ordeal were favorable, she seems to have felt nothing

JOHNSTON S HOUSI-: AS IT APPEARS TODAY — A VIEW FROM THE RIVER FRONT.

throughout the whole negotiations for her hand but reluctance, aversion and
terror. On being carried with the usual ceremonies to her husband's lodge
she fled into a dark corner, rolled herself up in a blanket and would not be
comforted or even looked upon. It is to the honor of Johnston that he
took no advantage of their mutual position but that during ten days he
treated her with the utmost tenderness and respect and sought by everv

96 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

gentle means to overcome her fear and to gain her affection. One traveler
referring to this incident says that it was touching to see how tenderly and
gratefully this w^as remembered by his wife after a lapse of thirty-six years.
On the tenth day, however, she ran away from him in a paroxysm of terror,
and after fasting in the woods for four days, reached her grandmother's
wigwam. Meantime her father, Waub-0-jeeg, who was far off in his
hunting camp, learned that his daughter had not conducted herself according
to his advice, and he returned in haste, a two days' journey, to see after
her. He whipped her with a stick and threatened to cut off both her ears.
He then took her back to her husband with a present of furs and Indian
corn, and with many apologies and protestations of good faith on his part.

Johnston succeeded at last in taming this shy wild fawn and took her
to his home at Sault Ste. Marie. When she had been there some time she
was seized with a longing to revisit her people. Her husband had lately
purchased a small schooner to trade upon the lakes. He fitted the vessel
out and sent her with a retinue of his clerks and retainers and in such state
as became the wife of "the great Englishman," to her home at La Pointe,
loaded with magnificent presents for all her family. Apparently from
motives of delicacy and that there might be no constraint upon her feelings
and movements he did not accompany her himself. A few months resi-
dence amid comparative splendor and luxury with a man wdio treated her
with respect and tenderness enabled her to contrast her former with her
present home. She soon returned to her husband voluntarily and lived most
happily with him until his death.

Johnston built a large house near the site of the old cemetery on the
river bank and just below where old Fort Brady was built later on. The
house was elegant for its time and has become historic. It was a long, low,
well built log house in a beautiful old-fashioned garden. On the great
sideboard in the dining room were arranged many pieces of solid silverware
brought from Ireland and always in the same place.

Johnston's sons and daughters were sent away to school but were
trained at home to the strict conventionalities of the life in which he had
been reared. In 1807 Johnston visited Ireland, taking with him his daughter
Jane in whose society he seems to have taken especial delight. He traveled
throughout Europe with his daughter completing her education. Several
propositions were made to him while abroad to remain. The Duchess of
Devonshire, it is related, desired to adopt Jane. Johnston's own friends
and relatives joined to keep him among them, but to all influences and per-
suasion to remain he turned a deaf ear.

SAULT STE. MARIE BEFORE THE CANAL

When Johnston returned to Sanlt Ste. Marie from a long stay in
Europe, Jane became the wife of Henry R. Schoolcraft, the historian and
writer, upon whose Ojibway legends which he was at great pains to collect,
Longfellow founded his beautiful poem of Hiawatha.

The great business of the peninsula in those days was the taking of
furs. In 1797 the North West Company, which was at first a rival of the
Hudson Bay Fur Co. but later consolidated with it, constructed on the
Canadian side a sluiceway for the passage of loaded bateaux around the
falls of St. Mary by a gradual incline to a lift lock 38 ft. long and 8 ft. 9 in.
wide, with a lift of 9 ft. which was about half the total fall at the rapids.
A tow path was made along the shore for oxen to pull the bateaux and

THE OLD HUDSON BAY CO. S LOCK, AS RESTORED BY MR. FRANCIS H. CLERGUE.

canoes through the remainder of the rapids.* This old lock was demolished
in 1814 by United States troops from Mackinac Island under command of
Alajor Holmes, when every building in the vicinity was burned. The man-
ner of its destruction was this :

*Tl;e life of this old lock, which was built of dressed timber, was about sixteen years, and
it had been completely forgotten that such a channel had ever existed. In 1889 Judge Joseph
H. Steere, of Sault Ste. Marie, a man whose recreation has consisted largely of looking' up the
history of former conditions in the Lake Superior country, ran across the following description
of the old canal and lock, writtc-n by Capt. Bruyeres, of the English armv, under date of Sept.
10, 1802:

"The landing is in a bay immediately at the bottom of the fall on the nearest channel to
the land of the north shore. A good wharf for boats is built at the landing on which a
store house 60 ft. long, 30 ft. wide, is erected. The wharf is planked and pathways made and

98 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Lieutenant Colonel Croghan of the United States Army was sent to
capture the British position at Mackinac then , commanded by Colonel Mc-
Dowell. McDowell learned of their coming and sought the aid of Johnston
and his friends at the Sault. Johnston provisioned and equipped a force
of lOO Indians and set out to the relief of Mackinac. Major Holmes was
sent to intercept Johnston and his Indian band but they evaded him by
taking the unknown route west of Sugar island (now Hay Lake channel)
and then through Neebish. When Holmes reached Sault Ste. Marie he was
so enraged that those whom he had set out to intercept had evaded his
vigilance that he completely destroyed the village of Sault Ste. Marie. He
then returned to Mackinac to aid in the assault under Colonel Croghan and
was among the number killed in the affair of August 4, 1814. His sword
was stolen by the Indians and presented to George Johnston, the second son
of John Johnston.

At the peace of 181 5 Johnston appealed first to the British and then
to the United States government to compensate him for his losses in the
destruction of Sault Ste. Marie, but met with no success. The evidence
showed that Johnston was an officer in the British service during the war of
1812 and it was largely for this reason that the Commissioner of the General
Land Office at Washington refused to confirm his claim to a tract of land
at Sault Ste. Marie, which had been improved and a number of buildings,
including the Johnston residence, built thereon.

The American occupation of Sault Ste. Marie may be said to have
begun in 1820, when General Cass went up in bateaux with a force of
sixty-six men to establish a trading post. They found the British flag still
flying and Cass pulled it down Avith his own hands and obtained the con-

planked all around it. Close to the store a lock is constructed for boats and canoes, being 38 ft.
long, 8 ft. 9 in. wide. The lower gate lets down by a windlass; the upper has two folding
gates with a sluice. The water rises 9 ft. in the lock. A leading trough of timber, framed
and planked, 300 ft. in length, 8 ft. 9 in. wide, 8 ft. high, supported and leveled on beams of
cedar through the swamp is constructed to conduct the water from the canal to the lock. A road
raised and planked 12 ft. wide for cattle extends the whole length of the trough. The canal
begins at the head of it, which is a channel cleared of rocks and the projecting points excavated
to admit the passage of canoes and boats. This canal is about 2.580 ft. in length, with a raised
bridge or pathway of round logs at the side of it 12 ft. wide for oxen to track the boats.
About 170 ft. from the upper part of the canal a store house is built. 36 ft. long, 23 ft. wide.
An excellent saw mill for two saws is constructed and placed in a line with the lock, parallel
to it."

Judge Steere was greatly interested in this description and calling to his aid his fellow
townsman, Joseph Cozzens, provincial land surveyor of Sault Ste. Marie, Out., and 1*-. S.
Wheeler, general superintendent of St. Mary's Falls canal, they jointly made a search and were
rewarded by finding the remains of this, the earliest of the artificial waterways of the great
lakes. When Francis H. Clerguc established the group of industries at Sault Ste. Marie that bear
his name, he caused this old lock to be restored in stone, affording a striking object lesson of
the commercial growth of a century.

SAULT STE. ^lARIE BEFORE THE CANAL 99

cession from the Indians to build a fort. At that time there were fortv
lodges of Chippewa Indians and two hundred inhabitants at Sault Ste.
Marie. This treaty of cession, however, would probably not have been ob-
tained had not Mrs. Johnston taken an active interest in it. She perceived
that the Indians were suspicious of the newcomers and were even plottin'g
an attack upon the general and his party at night. She acted with the ut-
most celerity and called the leading chiefs to her for a secret conference at
a neighboring rendezvous, where with much directness she enlightened
them as to the object of the visit and the ultimate futility of resistance.
So great was the respect in which they held her judgment that the chiefs
later counseled the gathering braves to disperse and the treaty was signed
forthwith. General Cass was fully sensible of Mrs. Johnston's offices and
always maintained that the United States Government owed her a debt of
gratitude while he himself probably owed her his life.*

* All of the early travelers to the Lake Superior country speak of the charming hospitality
of the .Tohnston family, hut probably the most interesting account of all is that written by Col.
Thomas L. McKenney, of the Indian department at Washington, who was a joint commissioner
with General Cass in negotiating the treaty of Fond du Lac in 1826.

This trip to-day would be regarded as an extremely hazardous undertaking, for upon this
occasion Cass and McKenney traveled the entire distance between Sault Ste. Marie and Fond
du Lac in canoes. While at the Sault General Cass and Colonel McKenney were entertained
at the Johnston homestead, and in a letter to his wife Colonel McKenney described the home
as it appeared at that time. He said:

"A personal acquaintance with Mr. Johnston and his family I esteem to be among the
most interesting circumstances of my, so far, agreeable travels. Mr. Johnston is in his sixty-
fourth year; and Mrs. Johnston in her fifty-fourth. He is feeble and decrepit, A free liver
in earlier life he now feels the burden of sixty-four winters to be great, and in addition to the
infirm state of his health, he has the dropsy in one foot and ankle, which at times occasions him
great pain, and often deorives him altogether of ability to walk, which he never does without
limping, and then by the aid of a staff. His education and intercourse with polished society,
in early life, indeed up to his thirtieth year, has given him many very striking advantages over
the inhabitants of these distant regions, and indeed fit him to shine anywhere; whilst the
genuine Irish hospitality of his heart, has made his house a place of most agreeable resort to
travelers. In his person Mr. Tohnston is neat; in manners, affable and polite; in conversation,
intelligent. His language is always that of thought, and often strikingly graphic. He is always
cheerful — even when he is afflicted most. There is something charming in such an autumn. It
gives place to winter so gradually as to make its retirement imperceptible. In height Mr.
Johnston is about 5 ft. 10 in. — and before he was bent by age and infirmity his figure was
doubtless fine. His hair is of the true Scotch yellow, intermixed with gray. His forehead,
though retreating is high and full, especially about the brows. His eyes are dark, small and
penetrating, and full of intelligent expression. His nose and mouth (e-xcept that the loss of
teeth has changed the character of the latter some, though his lips have yet great firmness) are
well formed, and judging from what is left, and from a portrait which hangs over the fireplace
in the drawing room of his residence he must have been very handsome when young.

"Mrs. Johnston is a genuine Chippewa without the smallest admixture of white blood.
She is tall and large, but uncommonly active and cheerful. She dresses nearly in the costume
of her nation — a blue petticoat of cloth, a short gown of calico, with leggins worked with beads,
and moccasins. Her hair is black. She plaits and fastens it up behind with a comb. Her eyes
are black and expressive, and pretty well marked, according to phrenologists, with the development
of language. She has fine teeth; indeed her face, taken altogether with her high cheek bones
and compressed forehead and jutting brows, denotes a vigorous intellect and great firmness of
character, and needs only to be seen to satisfy even a tyro like myself in physiognomy that she

100 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

At the treaty of Fond du Lac, concluded August 7, 1827, one section
of land was given to Mrs. Johnston and also one section to each of her
children and grandchildren. Part of this land was selected from the high-
lands of Sugar island, a few miles below the Sault.

'required only the advantages of education and society to have placed her on a level with the
most distinguished of her sex. As it is she is a prodigy. As a wife she is devoted to her
husband, as a mother tender and affectionate, as a friend faithful. She manages her domestic
affairs in a way that might afford lessons to the better instructed. They are rarely exceeded
anywhere, whilst she vies with her generous husband in hospitality to strangers. She under-
stands but will not speak English. As to influence there is no chief in the Chippewa nation
who exercises it when it is necessary for her to do so, with equal success. This has been often
tested but especially at the treaty of cession at this place in 1820. Governor Cass, the commis-
sioner, was made fully sensible of her power then, for when every evidence was given out that
the pending negotiation would issue, not only by a resistance on the part of the Indians to the
propositions of the commissioner, but in a serious rupture, she, at a critical moment sent for
some of the principal chiefs, directing that they should, to avoid the observation of the great
body of Indians, make a circuit and meet her in an avenue at the back of her residence; and
there by a luminous exposition of their own weakness and the power of the United States, and
by assurances of the friendly disposition of the government towards them, and of their own
mistaken views of the entire object of the commissioner, produced a change which resulted, on
that same evening in the conclusion of a treaty. I have heard Governor Cass say that he felt
himself then, and does yet, under the greatest obligations to Mrs. Johnston for her co-operation
at that critical moment; and that the United States are debtor to her, not only on account of
that act, but on many others. She has never been known in a single instance to counsel her
people but in accordance with her conceptions of what was best for them, and never in opposition
to the views of the government. So much for the father and mother.

"I will now make you acquainted with some of the children. Of Mrs. Schoolcraft (Jane)
you have doubtless heard. She is the wife of Henry R. Schoolcraft, author of travels and other
works of great merit, and Indian agent at this place. She is a little taller and thinner but in
other respects as to figure resembles her sister, Mrs. McMurray (Charlotte) and has her face
precisely. Her voice is feeble and tremulous. Her utterance is slow and distinct. There is
something silvery in it. Mildness of expression, softness and delicacy of manners as well as
of voice, characterize her. She dresses with great taste and in all respects in the costume of our
fashionables, but wears leggins of black silk, drawn and ruffled around the ankles. You would
never judge, either from her complexion or language or from any other circumstance that her
mother was a Chippewa, except that her moderately high cheek bones, her dark and fine eye and
breadth of jaw slightly indicate it; and you would never believe it, except on her own confession
or upon some equally respjonsible testimony, were you to hear her converse, or to see her
beautiful, and some of them highly finished compositions, in both prose and poetry. You would
not believe, not because such attainments might not be universal, but because, from lack of the
means necessary for their accomplishment, such cases are so rare. Mrs. Schoolcraft is indebted
mainly to her father, who is dotingly fond of her, for her handsome and polished acquirements.
She accompanied him some years ago, and before her marriage, to Europe; and has been the
companion of his solitude in all that related to mind, for he seems to have educated her for the
sake of enjoying its exercise. The old gentleman, when in Edinburgh, had several propositions
made to him to remain. The Duchess of Devonshire, I think it was, would have adopted Mrs.
Schoolcraft; and several propositions besides these were made to settle upon her wealth and its
distinctions, and his own friends and connections joined to keep him among them by offers of
great magnitude. But he told them he had married the daughter of a king in America and
although he appreciated, and was very grateful for their offers to himself and his Jane, he must
decline them and return to his wife, who through such a variety of fortune had been faithful
and devoted to him. Mrs. Schoolcraft is, I should judge, about twenty-two years of age. She
would be an ornament to any society; and with better health, for at present she enjoys this
great blessing but partly, would take first rank among the best improved whether in acquirements,
in taste or in graces.

"Charlotte comes next in order, being younger than Mrs. Schoolcraft by some two or
three years. Here again, without the advantages of education to the same extent, or equal

SAULT STE. MARIE BEFORE THE CANAL 101

Following the death of her husband, which occurred on Sept. 22, 1828,
Mrs. Johnston turned her attention to the manufacture of maple sugar on her
estate and each year marketed several tons. In the fall she would go with her
people in canoes to the entrance of Lake Superior to fish in the bays and
creeks for a fortnight, and return w^ith a load of fish cured for winter con-
sumption. In her youth she hunted and was accounted the surest eye and
fleetest foot among the w'omen of her tribe. Her talents, energy, activity and
strength of mind, and her skill in all the domestic avocations of Indian
women, maintained comfort and plenty within her dwelling in spite of the
loss of her husband. Her descent from the blood of ancient chiefs rendered
her an object of great veneration among the Indians, who in all their mis-
eries, maladies and difficulties appealed to her for aid and counsel. She died
at Sault Ste. jMarie in 1843.*

opportunities for improvement, but with no deficiencies in these matters you have a beautiful
specimen of female mixed blood. This interesting yoimo; lady has but little of her mother's com-
plexion. She possesses charms which are only now and then seen in our more populous and
polished circles. These are in the form and expression of a beautiful face where the best and
most amiable and cheerful of tempers — the loveliest and most captivating ornament of her sex
— sits always with the sweetness of spring, and from whence the graces seem never to have
departed even for a moment — and all this has imparted to it an additional interest in her own
total unconsciousness of their presence and of her powers to please. Her eyes are black but soft
in their expression and between her lips, which I have never seen otherwise than half parted
with a smile, is a beautiful set of ivory. Her style of dress is neat and in all respects such as
we see in our cities. She would be said to be rather tall. Yet her person is good. She sings
most sweetly but seems unconscious of it. My opinion of Charlotte is that she would be a belle
in Washington, were she there, as I find she is here. No one speaks of her but in terms of
admiration of her amiable disposition and in praise of her beauty; and according to my observa-
tion and taste she merits richly all the praise that is bestowed.

"Eliza, who is older than either Mrs. Schoolcraft or Charlotte, has never yet consented
to speak English. I have not, therefore, been able to judge of her improvement. She appears
to be a fine young lady and of excellent disposition. Her complexion is more like her mother's
than the rest. The youngest, Anna Maria, is now about twelve years old and is growing up,
I think, in most respects like Charlotte. She certainly bids fair to be handsome. When I look
upon this group of interesting children, and reflect that their mother is a native of our wilds,
I wish for the sake of the Indians that every representative of the people, and all who might
have influence to bring abovit a complete system for the preservation and improvement of at
least the rising generation, could see them too."

* There were eight children in the Johnston family, all born at the Sault: Louis, born
1794, died at Maiden, 1825; George, born 1796, died at the Sault, Jan. 6, 1861; Jane, born 1800;
Eliza, born 1802. died at the Sault, 1888; Charlotte, born 1806, died at the Sault, 1878; William,
born 1811. died at Mackinac, 1866; Anna Maria, born 1814, died at Pontiac, 1856; John Mc-
Dougall, born 1816. died at the Sault, Feb. 14, 1895. Of the children several were prominent
in making history three quarters of a century ago. Louis served on board the Queen when
she was captured by one of the United States gunboats under Commodore Perry on Lake Erie
in 1813. George served in the British army and was in the engagement at Mackinac Island,
August 4. 1814. William was an Indian interpreter at various times for the United States
government. John McDougall was for a number of years Indian interpreter to his brother-in-law,
Henry R. Schoolcraft, and afterwards acted in that capacity for the United States government.
Jane was married in 1823 to Henry R. Schoolcraft, the historian and writer. Eliza never
married. Charlotte becam.e the wife of an Episcopal clergyman named W^illiam McMurray, a
missionary at the Sault at the time but subsequently archdeacon of Niagara. Anna Maria
became the wife of James L. Schoolcraft, who was mysteriously murdered at the Sault in 1846
as narrated elsewhere in this book.

102 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

It was on Get. 9, 1828, that the Rev. Abel Bingham arrived at Sault
Ste. Marie to establish a mission. After holding services in the morning
for the white population it was his custom to hold a service on Sunday
afternoon for the Indians. Miss Charlotte Johnston was his first inter-
preter. For a time life occupied the same building where Lewis Cass made
the government treaty with the Indians and where his daughter Angelina
was born. He built, however, a mission house on government property
and moved into it on Nov. 16.

His first acquaintance among the Indians was with Shegud, one of the
minor chiefs, who afterwards became a deacon of his church. He extended
his mission work among the Indians as far wxst as Marquette, in summer
traveling in his canoe and in winter on snow shoes with his dog train.
The hardships endured during these journeys were great. Many times in
midwinter he was obliged to take off his moccasins and wade barefoot
through streams not entirely frozen over, he and his interpreter carrying
the dog train.

In 1837 it is recorded that there were three merchants at the Sault
and that one Indian was taxed. Truly this Indian must have felt civ-
ilization not to be an unmixed blessing. This was the year following
Michigan's admission as a state and one of its first acts inspired by Gov-
ernor Mason was to authorize a survey for a canal at Sault Ste. ]\Iarie. The
American Fur Co. at the time maintained quite an extensive store for the
purpose of supplying its agencies scattered throughout the Lake Superior
region with dry goods, hardware and groceries. Meanwhile Dr. Houghton
had been appointed state geologist and his reports of the discovery of cop-
per in the peninsula, cautious as they were, had inflamed the country and
prospectors were beginning to arrive in the Lake Superior region in consid-
erable numbers. The prospectors found a curiously interesting little colony
at the Sault, consisting of about two hundred persons of all nations, colors,
grades and languages, exclusive of the Indian lodges. The Indian popu-
lation found its main aim in life to consist of hunting and cutting wood to
supply the garrison and traders with fuel. In the spring they made sugar
and fished, using birch bark canoes, scoop nets and spears in the latter
employment; in the summer they made the hay for the household use in
making beds as well as feeding the little stock that was then to be found
about the Sault ; in October and November they laid in the winter supply of
fish which they cured by drying and smoking, and sometimes by frost.
During the winter white fish, trout and herring were caught by the use
of spears through the ice, for as a rule the Indians were improvident and
lived from hand to mouth.

SAULT STE. MARIE BEFORE THE CANAL 103

The Indians divided the years, as intimated, into fonr seasons ; in the
winter hunting and chopping; in the spring sugar-making and fishing;
in the summer haying, and in the fail again fishing. Each Indian secured
from the traders an outfit for himself and his family at the beginning of
each season. It must be admitted that the prices which the traders charged
the Indians were exorbitant, as for instance, $1 a yard for common calico
and the same price for coarse, flimsy unbleached cotton ; $2 to $3 a pound
for tea and tobacco, and from $50 to $75 for a pair of Mackinac blankets.
If the trader ever had any conscience on this score it was Cjuieted by the
invariable habit of the Indian in maintaining that he had wiped out what-
ever indebtedness stood against him when he turned over the result of his
season's eft"orts to the trader, and he would never thereafter acknowledge
any indebtedness whatever for his outfit.

The influx of miners made it necessary to establish two hotels at Sault
Ste. Marie in 1845. One was the Van Anden House, kept by Mr. Joshua
Van Anden, and the other was the St. Mary's Hotel opened by Mr. Moses
W. Stevens. Sault Ste. Marie began to assume an air of importance. It
was the distributing center for the new copper country and a growing
business was being done in portage. Up to 1845 the line of communica-
tion to the Sault consisted principally of the steamer Detroit, which made
one trip a week from Sault Ste. Marie to Detroit. In the spring of 1846,
however, one or two additional vessels were put on. Passengers were ar-
riving, however, in greater numbers than could well be accommodated in
the small hotels, and they accordingly had to go into camp, which was
usually done on a pleasantly-situated point near the foot of the rapids,
where amusement could be had in watching the Indians and half breeds in
their birch bark canoes catching the delicious white fish.

The social amusements of the little settlement were very limited and
usually consisted in the winter season of dances given at the homes of the
half breeds. These balls were invariably inaugurated through the giving
of a small dance at the house of one of the half breeds having one or more
daughters. In the course of the evening one of the daughters would quietly
dance up to one of the white guests and unknown to him pin a ribbon upon
his coat collar, indicating that he had been selected to be the king and giver
of the next ball and that she would gladly be his partner and queen for the
occasion. The music was furnished by an old French fiddler, who from
the frequency with which his fiddle string broke, was known throughout
the village by the cognomen of "Excuse a la cord."

The one character at the Sault who was the "bogie man" to the chil-

104

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

dren and a source of worry to nearly everyone, was John Tanner, common-
ly known as "old Tanner." He lived in a neat, comfortable, white-painted
honse under a large spreading elm tree a little below the Indian agency on
the banks of the river. He had been stolen by Indians while a child and
had been brought up by them. He lived their life and married an Indian
woman. Upon her death he was married to a white woman living at the
Sault. Tanner was subject to fits of violent temper so intense and raging
as to amount almost to insanity, so that his white wife eventually lived in
constant fear of her life. This had been noticed bv the Saulteurs for some

THE i-:lms uxni-K which tanner's house stood as they appeared in 1905.

time, so that during a temporary absence of Tanner from home she was
aided by Rev. Mr. Bingham and the Schoolcrafts in escaping and returning
to her old home in Detroit. Tanner was in a fearful rage about it and went
to Detroit and tried to persuade his wife to return, but without success.
From that time on Tanner was more or less insane. He nurtured his
hatred in characteristic Indian fashion and threatened to kill everyone who

SAULT STE. MARIE BEFORE THE CANAL 105

had been concerned in spiriting his wife away. He Hved alone in his cot-
tage, since none of his children by his first Indian wife could live with him on
account of his violent temper. He was a man of striking personal appear-
ance, with a line face and long, flowing white hair, parted in the middle and
put back at the ears. His countenance, however, became fearful when he
was enraged, and mischievous children could invariably be quieted by
threatening that "old Tanner" would get them if they did not behave.

On the night of July 4th, 1846, Tanner's house was burned down and
Tanner himself was never seen again. On the Monday afternoon follow-
ing, James Schoolcraft sauntered in slippers and dressing gown from the
old Johnston homestead where he lived, for a walk through his own
grounds. Directly south of the homestead in the near woods was a clearing
where Mr. Schoolcraft raised vegetables and which he called the farm.
While in the clearing he was shot through the heart by some one hidden be-
hind a little clump of bushes nearby, the passage of the bullet being distinctly
cut through the foliage. Whether he saw his assailant or not will never
be known. He was instantly killed. The shot was heard and the news
of the murder immediately communicated to Major Kingsbury at the fort,
who immediately evinced the utmost agitation. Rev. Mr. Bingham was
with Major Kingsbury at that very moment talking over the advisability of
imprisoning Tanner for threatening the lives of several white citizens. In
the crowd which soon collected about the prostrate form of Schoolcraft was
a bov fifteen vears old named Peter White — a voung roustabout looking for
work. The wadding of the gun was found close by on the ground and
proved to be a leaf from a hymn book used at the Baptist mission chapel
services where Tanner had formerly been employed as interpreter at the
Sunday afternoon services, which were conducted in the Indian language.
The excitement precipitated by this murder was intense. Men and boys
armed with guns started out to hunt Tanner with the intention of shoot-
ing him at sight, but it was a noticeable fact and much laughed at later that
no one ventured very deeply into the woods where, if anywhere, he was
sure to be. There were many wild stories of seeing Tanner; of finding a
man's bones, gun and clothing ; also of a mysterious white man with long
white locks but with Indian nature being seen among the wild Indians in
the North, who told wonderful stories and did strange things ; but none
of these were ever sufficiently authenticated to aid in clearing up the mys-
tery of the tragedy. That season at the Sault was called the Tanner
summer and was full of exciting incidents. Everyone was afraid of Tanner
in some way or other. The militarv post for two months sent a regularly-
armed guard everv night to patrol the Baptist mission grounds and many

106 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

tragic scenes and narrow escapes from being mistaken for Tanner and shot
by the guard occurred. People who went out evenings went armed to
sjioot "old Tanner," and he was conjured up in their imagination in every
dark corner. Every animal that died old Tanner had killed ; everything
that was lost old Tanner had stolen ; everyone who was missed or was
behind time old Tanner had slain. The youngsters at Sault Ste. Marie
shivered and shuddered throughout the entire summer.

During the Mexican war, Lieut. Tilden, who had been stationed at
the Sault at the time of the tragedy, was sent to the front with his regiment.
He became involved in some trouble there causing him to be court martialed.
During the trial it was hinted that he was suspected of the murder of James
Schoolcraft, which was likely to affect the verdict of the court, and Lieut.
Tilden accordingly Avrote to Rev. Mr. Bingham asking him to get signers to
a circular among the citizens exonerating him from this suspicion. This
was the first that Mr. Bingham had heard of Tilden's name in con-
nection with the murder. He was glad to help Mr. Tilden and asked
citizens to sign the circular. To his surprise Judge Samuel Ashman,
at the Sault, refused to sign, saying that he was not satisfied that Tilden
was not the guilty man after all. To Mr. Bingham's great aston-
ishment others were of a like opinion, and upon investigation he found
that James Schoolcraft and Lieut. Tilden had had some sort of dispute not
long before the murder and that Lieut. Tilden in speaking of it had been
heard to say that "cold lead would settle it." Major Kingsbury knew of
this, which accounted for his visible excitement when the news of the
murder reached him. No steps were ever taken to connect Lieut. Til-
den with the tragedy, however, and the story that he had anything to
do with it is both wild and improbable. It was claimed that on the after-
noon of the murder two soldiers came in from pretended hunting in the
woods with their guns, the barrel of one being empty, and that these sol-
diers had been hired by Lieut. Tilden to shoot James Schoolcraft. It is
not probable, however, that Tilden, having made public his hostility to
Schoolcraft, would have hired two men instead of one to do the dreadful
business. It is probably true, however, that these two men did come in
from the woods at this time with their guns, and it is singular that about
a month after the murder w-hile they were standing with a group of sol-
diers near the front gate of the fort, there suddenly came up one of those
lightning strokes and thunder claps out of a clear sky, accompanied by an
almost instant downpour of rain, and immediately after the explosion it
was seen that the two soldiers had been struck and killed by lightning,
while everyone else in the group remained unharmed. Their bodies were

SAULT STE. MARIE BEFORE THE CANAL 107

only slightly marked and Dr. Byrne, post surgeon, worked over them for
a long time, but without avail. They were borne with muffled drums to
the military cemetery and buried with military honors.

The records of the War Department show that Lieut. Tilden resigned
in 1848 and died ten years later. While Tanner had an avowed inten-
tion and a given motive for killing James Schoolcraft, and while it is
known that he disappeared immediately after his house burned down (none
of his bones were found in the ruins) yet there were members of the School-
craft household who believed that it was Tilden and not Tanner that killed
Schoolcraft. Martha Tanner, the half-breed daughter of John Tanner,
who lived to a great age at Mackinac Island, deepened the mystery of the
deed by maintaining that Tilden had upon his deathbed confessed to the
crime.*

The hauling of the schooner Uncle Tom over the rapids on June 10.
1847, with Peter White's unsuccessful attempt to secure passage on the
schooner Merchant bound for the copper country, has already been de-
cribed. It would be well if there could be introduced a more extended pen
picture of the social life of this little settlement, but the main purpose of this
story is to relate the conditions that surrounded the early development of
the iron fields. But there were characters at the scene both lovely and
picturesque. The fame of La Branche, one of the snowshoe travelers,
still lives. It is related of him that at the instigation of James L. School-
craft he made a special trip from the Sault to Mackinaw and return within
thirty hours. L^pon his return he remained outside of the Sault on Coalpit
hill over two hours in order that he might reach Schoolcraft's store in the
fort at the expiration of the time allowed. He feared that an earlier return
might deprive him of the extra compensation he was to have. La Branche
celebrated his success by dancing the greater part of the same night.

In 1849 the cholera made its appearance at Sault Ste. Marie, the first
victim being Morris W. Stevens of the St. Mary's hotel, who was attacked
on Saturday and buried the following day. The disease became epidemic
and spread with fearful rapidity, numerous deaths following, so much so
that the boat which was to leave for Detroit at 2 P. M. the following
Wednesday was detained for two hours to enable the passengers to bury
their dead and leave for their homes in the lower peninsula. Within a half
hour after the boat's leaving not a living being could be seen upon the

* Hanging on the wall in the library of Peter White's home at Marquette to-day is a
portrait of John Tanner, showing a striking and virile face. Peter White has never shared in
the belief of Tilden's connection with this crime; nor does he regard the confession, if made,
of any importance. He says that men have been known to confess to crimes which they did not
commit, as for instance by brooding long upon an event to actually imagine that they committed it.

108 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

main street of the village ; nor was there a guest left at either of the hotels.
In 1852 congress passed the act granting 750,000 acres of land to the
state of Michigan to aid in the construction of the canal, and in 1853
Charles T. Harvey broke ground for the improvement. The first shaft was
dug right down through the Indian burying ground to the great distress
of the surviving Indians, to whom this spot had been reserved forever by
treaty of the government. Shegud, the Chippewa chief, solemnly protested
against this desecration and urged the fulfillment of the government's prom-
ise.* He had native powers of eloquence but he was persuaded that his
protest would be in vain.

* In the old town of Sault Ste. Marie there is a burial ground probably first used over two
centuries ago by the early French missionaries, explorers and fur traders. It was directly on
the banks of the river but has now been obliterated for nearly a century. A most interesting
relic found not long ago in an excavation there is a little crucifix, made in France, exquisitely
wrought in iron and silver, much discolored, but otherwise perfect, buried with some faithfal
French priest of the Roman Catholic church. How quietly the sleepers have lain there on the
banks of the river, unmindful of the changes passing by — summer and winter; the swift flowing
water and the solid ice; the wild war cries of the savages in combat and the planting of the
cross and the intoning of chants of the Christian church; birch canoes flying past with quick
strokes of the paddles, accompanied by shouts and weird songs; bateaux of the fur traders
from Montreal and Quebec with their voyageurs keeping time to their strokes with quaint
Canadian boat songs; the patient gliding of sail vessels with their modest freights; the little
high pressure steamboat puffing its way up with great importance at stated periods; the larger
steamers in occasional trips with their loads of tourists, until in the march of civilization the
birch bark canoe with its paddle, the bateau with its voyageurs, have given place and yielded
possession to giant steamers that even the oceans of the world can scarcely rival.

CHAPTER XII.

LAKE SUPERIOR SHIPPING BEFORE THE CANAL.

CO enormous has the shipping of Lake Superior grown since the canal
was built that it might be well to state what it was before the canal
existed. It seems probable that after the unfortunate Griffin,* which it is
conceded was the first vessel to be constructed upon the Great Lakes of
North America, sail navigation had an earlier development on Lake Superior
than on Lake Erie. It appears, indeed, that a Frenchman named La-
ronde built a bark of 40 tons above the St. Mary's Falls about 1731, the
riggino: and other material beingr sent from lower Canada in canoes. It is
stated by Capt. Jonathan Carver, Avho traversed Lake Superior in 1766,
that "The French, while in possession of Canada kept a small schooner on
this lake." The loss of this vessel is reported soon after the conquest of

* The Griffin was built by Cavalier de la Salle in May, 1679. La Salle landed at the mouth
of the Niagara river on the spot now known as Fort Niagara, in December, 1678. He secured
from the Seneca chieftain permission to build a vessel to navigate the inland waters. The site of
the construction of the Griffin has been located as nearly as possible on the farm of Jackson

Angvine, close to the
Niagara river. The
vessel was between
45 and 60 tons bur-
den, both figures
being given by vari-
ous historians. She
was fancifully pic-
tured as a schooner,
but the schooner rig
was not introduced
until about thirty
years after the Grif-
fin was launched. The
correct rig of the
Griffin is conveyed in
the acompanying line
drawing which was
discovered by Rich-
ard P. Joy, of De-
troit, in a little leath-
er covered French

THE CORRECT RIG OF THE GRIFFIN.

book published by Father Hennepin in 1711. It is probable that La Salle obtained the design
tor the vessel when in France, and that her rig was the prevailing rig for vessels of that period.

110 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Canada by the British. The discover}- of copper led to the building of a
sloop of 70 tons above the St. Mary's Falls, which was launched in 1772.
It was used in prosecuting mining enterprises until their collapse a year
or two later, when it probably passed into the hands of the fur traders,
who from this time monopolized the commerce of Lake Superior for many
years.

The early history of the commerce of Lake Superior cannot be under-
stood without reference to the remarkable commercial organizations which
were formed mainly for trade in furs. The first and most important was
the Hudson Bay Co.. which was chartered by Charles IL in 1670, under the
name of "The Governor and Company of Adventures of England Trading
Into Hudson Bay." It had exclusive right to trade in and govern all the
territory draining into Hudson Bay. For more than a century it exercised
these privileges without opposition except as operations brought its agents
in contact with the French, then in control of the basin of the Great Lakes.
Soon after this territorv passed under British control in 1763, the superior
advantages of the Lake Superior route to the region northwest of it became
manifest.

In 1783, the year when the independence of the United States was ac-
knowledged by treaty, the Northwest Co. was organized at Mon-
treal and at once became a vigorous competitor of the other company, ex-
tending its operations across the continent. Its success stimulated the form-
ation of other companies, among them the American Fur Co. by John
Jacob Astor. The interests on the British side of the border were prac-
tically unified in 1821 by the amalgamation of the Hudson Bay and North-
west companies under the name of the former.

The Northwest Co. employed sailing vessels soon after it Avas or-
ganized, and before the end of the eighteenth century had at least one on
Lake Erie and one on Lake Huron. At the beginning of the war of 1812

On her main mast the triangular latteen sail was used then universally, and on her fore mast
the two so'.'.are sails, also common on vessels of the time. As the triangular jig or staysail did
not come into use imtil the early part of the eighteenth century, it is probable that the Gritfir
carried a si)ritsail on her high bowsprit. Even as late as the year 1750 the spritsail was
common to all sea-going vessels.

The Griffin is the first mystery of the Great Lakes. She sailed out of the Niagara river
on August 7. 1679, under command of La Salle. The vessel was navigated by an old salt
water seaman who acted as pilot, and in four days the Detroit river was entered, and along
its banks the members of the ship's company killed bear, deer and other game. The Griffin
reached Mackinac in good season. After a short stay at Mackinac she set sail for Green
Bay and took on a cargo of fur at one of the islands there. On Sept. 18, 1679, she began
her return voyage to" the Niagara river in charge of the pilot. La Salle and his company
remained behind and explored the Illinois river. This was the last seen of the Griffin and
her ship's company. She was never heard from again and her fate remains even to this day
enveloped in mystery.

LAKE SUPERIOR SHIPPING BEFORE THE CANAL 111

the companv reported to the Canadian government that it would place at
the disposal of the government on Lake Superior a vessel of 120 tons,
which couUl carry six or eight guns, and another of 60 tons. These and
three others were captured hy the Americans; a fourth, cleverly hid in an
obscure liarbor on Isle Royale, escaped detection, and at the end of the war
was run down the St. Mary's rapids for service on Lake Erie.

The year after the war closed congress passed an act prohibiting Brit-
ish fur traders from prosecuting their enterprises within the territory of
the L^nited States. This gave the American Fur Co. its opportunity,
and before many years had elapsed it had sailing vessels both above and
below St. IMary's rapids. It is not certain that the British companies
again placed sailing vessels on Lake Superior.

The British, however, were not entirely driven from the lake. They
had a steamer in service in 1822 and 1823 in which Lieut. Bayfield of the
Royal Xa^•y made a survey of the lake. This schooner was probably the
Mink, furnished him by the Hudson Bay Co. Considering the time con-
sumed and the means at hand, Bayfield's work was wonderfully well done.
The shore line and depths of water, islands and sunken rocks were rep-
resented with surprising accuracy and detail, and Bayfiehhs charts remained
standard for fifty years.

Previous to 1829 the fur companies had in their employ on Lake Su-
perior the following" vessels : Invincible, Otter, Mink, Recovery and Dis-
covery. They were schooners varying in size from 20 to 100 tons bur-
den and were all built on Lake Superior. The Invincible was wrecked
on White Fish Point ab:)ut the year 1822. The Discovery went to pieces
in running the rapids at the Sault. The Mink went ashore on the Canadian
side above the rapids and was entombed there. The Recovery safely run
the rapids in 1829 and was purchased by Merwin & Giddings, of Cleveland,
and ended her days on Lake Erie. The fate of the Otter is unknown.

During the six years that followed 1829 the only vessels that navi-
gated Lake Superior were bateaux and birch bark canoes.

In 1835 George W. Jones built above the Sault a schooner of 113 tons
and named her John Jacob Astor. She made her first voyage in August
of that year under the command of Charles C. Stanard, who upon that
selfsame trip (at 4 p. m., August 26) discovered the celebrated rock which
bears his name. He continued to sail the Astor mitil the end of the sea-
son of 1842. The next year his brother. Capt. Ben A. Stanard, succeeded
him in command and he was on her when she was wrecked at Copper
Harbor, Sept. 20. 1844.

112

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

The schooner Wilham Brewster, named after the agent of the Amer-
ican Fur Co. at Detroit, was built for that company above the rapids in
1838. She was sailed first by Capt. John Wood, and he had command un-
til the fall of 1841, when she was laid up at La Pointe. In 1842 Capt. Ben

SilOWING ALT, THAT IS LEFT UF THE ALGONQUIN IN THE BULRUSHES AT DULUTH.

Stanard fitted her out and sent her to Detroit, thus ending her Lake Su-
perior career.

The schooner Algoncjuin, 50 tons burden, built at Cleveland by Rich-
ardson & Mendenhall, was hauled over the portage at Sault Ste. Marie in

LAKE SUPERIOR SHIPPING BEFORE THE CANAL 113

1839 and made her first trip on Lake Snperior in 1840. She was the first
vessel to be hauled over the portage into Lake Superior, and was success-
ively commanded by Captains Rockwood, Goldsmith, Smithwich and Mc-
Kay. It was this vessel under command of Capt. McKay which made the
rescue of Angelique on Isle Royale in the spring of 1846, as is elsewhere re-
lated in this history. It was the Algonquin which carried John Hays to the
scene of his wonderful discoveries of copper, and for a considerable
period of time she was the only thing bigger than the bateaux on Lake
Superior and after the loss of the John Jacob Astor practically handled alone
the serious commerce of this mighty lake for a year. The Algonquin in-
deed had a long and honorable career and her hull is resting even to this
day in the bulrushes near Duluth, where she sunk in 1856. There was some
talk during the World's Fair of 1893 of resurrecting the Algonquin and
sending her to the exposition as an exhibit of what was once the most splen-
did craft on Lake Superior, but the project was abandoned. It would indeed
have been a striking object lesson.

The schooner Madeline, belonging to the American Fur Co., 20 tons
burden, w'as built at La Pointe in 1839. She was sailed by Capt. John
Angus and was wrecked at Isle Royale the same year.

The schooner Siscowit was later built by the American Fur Co. and
sailed by Capt. Angus. Subsequently she was owned by Capt. Bendry
of L'Anse, later of Baraga. The manner of her death has been told in the
chapter devoted to the early discovery of iron in the Marquette district.

This practically embraced the list of vessels on Lake Superior until
1845, when the growing commerce made it necessary to increase the ton-
nage. It was found more convenient to haul the vessels over the portage
than to actually build them on Lake Superior.

In 1845 the following vessels were taken over the portage into Lake
Superior: Schooner Ocean, 15 tons; schooner Fur Trader; schooner Chip-
pewa, 20 tons, Capt. Thomas Clark, master and owner ; schooner Florence,
20 tons, owned by Antrim & Keith, taken over on the Canadian side and
sailed by Capt. David Keith. Then followed the schooner Swallow of 80
tons' burden, which was sailed by Capt. Smithwich and which finally be-
came the property of Capt. James Bendry, of L'Anse, later of Baraga.
Bendry later concluded that she was too large for the traffic of Lake Su-
perior and sent her to the lower lakes.

The schooner ^Merchant was hauled over in 1845 and was sailed in
1846 by Capt. Brown. She was wrecked and sunk with all on board off
Grand Island in 1847. It has already been stated that the subject of this

114 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

sketch vainlv endeavored to take passage on t'le Merchant for Copper
Harbor on this trip but was refused because she was already overloaded
with passengers.

The first steamer ever to sail the waters of Lake Superior was the
propeller Independence, of about 280 tons burden, which was put over
the portage in 1845. "•' Capt. A. J. Averill was her master and part ow-ner.

* The first trip of the Independence on Lake Superior, as well as the conditions obtain-
ing at that time, are well told by Mr. Lewis Marvill, of Parksville, St. Joseph county, Michigan,
who was a member of the crew of the Independence. He states:

"My memory carries me back to the spring of 1845, or more than one-half of a century,
and I have a vivid recollection of standing on Dorr & Webb's dock, in Detroit, early in the
spring vi'atching the process of transforming a little tub of a sloop of about 15 tons, into a
fore-and-after, called the Ocean. My funds being rather low I decided to ship if I could, and
ship I did. We took in a cargo of fish for Sandusky and Milan, O., and in due time sailed
for these ports, and returned without any mishaps. We then received orders to fit up for Lake
Superior, which we accordingly did, but being slightly indisposed when w-e got ready, I could
not proceed with the vessel, which sailed without me. Some time in June, the same firm that
owned the Ocean bought and fitted up the topsail schooner Merchant of about 75 tons, Capt.
John W^atson, for the same trade, i. e.. Lake Superior, and I being determined to visit that
famous lake, shipped on her, with the understanding that I might join my own ship (the Ocean)
at the Sault if I felt so disposed. In due time we took on board all the necessary materials
for taking both vessels, the Ocean and the Merchant, over the rapids and reached the Sault,
where we found the Ocean waiting for us. We fell to and worked her over in short meter,
and then tackled the larger one, the jMerchant. They were taken over on rollers, the same
as buildings are sometimes 3iioved. When we had her about half way across, word came that
a steamer had just arrived from Chicago, with all the rigging on board, to be taken over the
rapids. A few days after a misunderstanding arose among the crew of the Merchant, and a
part of them quit and left her. Hearing that they were in want of a porter on board the
newly arrived steamer Independence, then lying at McKnight's dock getting ready to be hauled
over, I applied and got berth of porter and immediately began my duties as such.

"Everything being in readiness the ship was hauled out of the water and began its transit
across the neck of land forming the rapids. No mishaps occurring the progress of hauling
progressed slowly but surely, and in about seven weeks we were again launched in the river at
the head of the falls. In the meantime the schooner Napoleon of about 150 tons was being
put together (her whole works having been got out and shipped there already) and she was
launched a short time before the Independence, and so was the Merchant, she having stuck in
the process of launching, which caused considerable delay. I!y this time it had got to be quite
late in the fall and it began to be feared that we would not be able to make the trip before we
were frozen in. But we finally got away with a crew of fourteen men and steamed up the lake.
The first place we touched at was Copper Harbor, or Fort Wilkin'^ (no such place as Marquette
then being thought of), where we found a small garrison and two or three log huts. The next
in order was «Eagle Harbor, where there were a few prospectors, and then on to Eagle river,
where we discharged most of our cargo, but before we could throw off some fifty kegs of
powder the wind raised from the northwest and kicked up such a sea that we had to weigh
anchor and leave. We shaped our course for La Pointe, but made very poor headway, the wind
being almost ahead. Vve, however, persevered till we got within sight of the Apostle Islands,
when the wind freshened into a gale and we had to turn about and run before it and make
for the lee of Keweenaw point, the nearest harbor that wc dare enter with safety. In the
meantime the sea got running so high that it tossed our little steamer like a shell and rolled
so heavy that the stoves broke loose from their moorings and lunitiled all over the floor. When
it is remembered that it was not generally known among passengers and crew that we had fifty
kegs of powder aboard it made rather lively work for us straightening things up. We suc-
ceeded in reaching our objective iioint of safety, where wc cast anchor and laid by three O!
four days waiting for weather, rcjairing and laying up a stock of wood which we had to chop

LAKE SUPERIOR SHIPPING BEFORE THE CANAL 115

•

She made a trip to Eagle river and La I^)inte that faU and then returned
to the Sault, where she laid up for the wintsr. The Independence was huilt
in 1843 by ]\Ir. Averill, father of A. J. Averill, on the north side of the
Chicago river, where Kirk's soap factory now stands. She was schooner-
rigged, foresail, mainsail and jibs, with two rotary engines to propel her,
which in a dead calm would drive her about four miles an hour. Her
career was full of vicissitudes and was brought to an abrupt end in 1853'
by the bursting of her boiler about a mile above the rapids. Capt. John
McKay was master of her at the time and Jonas W. Watson was clerk.

The schooner Napoleon was built at the Sault in the summer of 1845.
She was sailed by Capt. John Stewart. In the winter of 1848-1849 she
was overhauled and changed into a propeller. This vessel had a most un-
enviable reputation for heavy rolling. Her curve of stability seems to have
been most extraordinary. One passenger in describing his experience on
her declared that she picked up fish with her smokestack. After the canal
w^as completed she ended her days doing lighterage work on the St. Clair
river helping vessels over the shoals.

The schooner Uncle Tom was put over the portage in 1847.

The first sidewheel steamer to sail Lake Superior was the Julia Pal-
mer, belonging to Capt. W. F. P. Taylor, which was hauled over the
portage in 1846. Her career lasted only one season. On the last trip
she ever made she was out of sight of land for fourteen days and a most
perilous time was had by those on board. Upon her return to Sault Ste.
Marie her machinery was taken out of her and she was towed to Wiaskia
Bay and used as a wood dock.

The schooner George W. Ford was hauled over in 1850.

When the propeller Manhattan was taken over the portage in 1850,
Lake Superior was blessed with a staunch and excellent vessel. She be-
longed to Spaulding & Bacon and w^as fast and safe. In June, 1851. the
propeller Monticello was taken over the portage bv Sheldon McKnight, to

and take off in our yawl, rather slow but sure work. \A'e again set sail, and this time having
favorable weather we succeeded in reaching Eagle river, where we bid good-bye to our danger-
ous cargo (powder), and where some of us strolled up the Cliff mine and there saw the first
stamp mill (rather a primitive one) in operation in that now famous region. Returning on
board we again steamed up the lake to La Pointe. our final destination fno such jilace as On-
tonagon then being thought of), which we reached in safety, and gave the natives a dreadful
scare with the appearance of our craft and the noise of our steam whistle.

"Our trip up the lake now being accomplished, we started on our return to the Sault, which
we reached in safety. The season being now far advanced, we immediately proceeded to dis-
mantle the steamer and laid her up for the winter, in company with the following named crafts,
which then constituted the available fleet of the greatest of the Great Lakes: The Ocean, about
15 tons; Chippewa, about 20 tons; Algonquin, about 30 tons; Swallow, about 40 tons; Merchant,
about 75 tons; Napoleon, about 150 tons, and the Independence, about 365 tons, the first steamer
that ever ploughed Lake Superior. Thus ended the memorable first day trip by steam to the
mining regions. We found below the falls the steamer Baltimore, which was hauled over either
in the winter or early spring. The Napoleon was fitted up the next summer with engines. '

116 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

compete with the Manhattan. A war of rates was pursued and the feel-
ing between the two hues was very bitter ; but the Monticello had scarcely
been on the lake three months when a collision occurred between her and the
Manhattan. This has never been satisfactorily explained, though it was
the general opinion at the time that it could have been avoided. The Man-
hattan was cut down and sunk near Parisian Island. The Monticello
stood by and cared for all of her passengers so that no lives were lost
by this desperate proceeding. Mrs. A. R. Harlow, of Marquette, who has
the honor of being the first white woman resident of Marquette, was a
passenger on the A-Ianhattan at the time. The Manhattan was resurrected
and again placed in commission in six weeks. Upon her reappearance at
Marquette a deputation of young ladies all dressed in white and carrying
bouquets, marched down to the Cleveland dock and presented Capt. Cald-
well, the blunt, scarred and weather-beaten master of the vessel, with the
American flag, while a high-flown old gentleman, Dr. Livermore, mounted
a cast iron cylinder which stood on the dock and read a series of reso-
lutions eulogizing the Manhattan and ending with the prophecy that Mar-
quette was destined to be the greatest place in the world. Two of the reso-
lutions read as follows :

"Resolzed, That in our opinion Marquette has become a place of busi-
ness and resort sufficient to warrant its being made a stopping place by
all boats on their upward as well as downward trips and, that the time
is not far distant when the commercial business growing out of these
rich and inexhaustible mountains of iron will alone require more ship-
ping than at this time floats upon this lake.

"Resolved, That in our estimation those iron companies who have
been the pioneers of operations here, and who have had incredible and
unforeseen difficulties, disappointments and misfortunes to grapple with are
deservinp- of a favoring- and fosterino- consideration, and it is a source of
much gratification that the smoke of their fires and the clink of their
hammers give indications that days and years of prosperity are in store
for them."

The two iron companies which he referred to were the Marquette Iron
Co. and the original Jackson Iron Co., both of which failed later.

A few weeks later the Monticello after coming out of Ontonagan was
discovered to be taking water rapidly. Both sea and wind were very high
and she made lier way slowly. Finally her fires were put out by the
water rising- to the furnaces and she went on the rockv shore about twenty
miles above Eagle river and pounded to pieces. Shp had undoubtedly been

LAKE SUPERIOR SHIPPING BEFORE THE CANAL 117

cracked from stem to stern in the collision, but during her brief life she
was undoubtedly the star vessel on Lake Superior. The Manhattan was
wrecked in trying to enter Grand Marais harbor in 1858.

The hauling of vessels over the portage continued, the fine sidewheel
steamer Baltimore being hauled over by the McKnight line in 1852. She
was commanded first by Capt. Jack Wilson, then by Capt. Redmund Ryder,
Capt. John Shooks, and finally by Capt. John Reed.

The propeller Peninsula was put over the portage by the McKnight
line in 1853. She was commanded by Capt. John Reed, and was wrecked
the same year at Eagle river. She did not carr}^ passengers to any extent
but was a large freight carrier.

Capt. Eber Ward also hauled the sidewheel steamer Sam Ward over
the portage in 1853. The Sam Ward was the last vessel to be launched
in this manner on Lake Superior, as actual work on the canal had now been
begun.

CHAPTER XIII.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL.

jWI ICHIGAN was admitted into the union as a state in 1836, and Gov. Ma-
son in his first message to the legislature, convened in 1837, ad-
vocated the building of a canal by the state of Michigan. This is the first
action on record regarding the construction of the canal on the American

side of the rapids. On March 21,
1837, the legislature of Michigan
passed an act authorizing a survey for
the canal and appropriating $25,000
for the work. This original survey,,
made under the direction of John
Almy, recommended a canal 75 feet
wide and 10 feet deep, with two locks
each 100 feet long, 32 feet wide and 10-
feet deep, the total cost to be $112,544.
On Sept. 7, 1838, the state of Michi-
gan entered into contract for the con-
struction of the canal with Messrs.
Smith & Driggs of Buffalo. Work
was not begun until May, 1839. The
route of the canal traversed the U. S.
military reservation, and as the fed-
eral authorities had not approved of
the undertaking, the officer in com-
mand, acting under orders from.
Washington, marched a detachment of soldiers to the scene of operations
and forcibly ejected the contractors, who had 'begun their work by filling
up a government mill race on the military reservation. Thus ended the first-
attempt at canal making.

Michigan, however, did not drop the matter. On March 27, 1840, the

JOHN BURT.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL

119

Michigan legislature passed a joint resolution protesting against federal
interference with the work. Three days later a memorial on the subject
was presented to congress. A bill was also introduced in congress to
grant 100,000 acres of land to aid in the construction of the canal.

It is interesting to observe that the passage of the measure was ad-
vocated mainly on the ground that it would "stimulate the fisheries of Lake
Superior," estimated to be worth $1,000,000 per annum. It was incidentally
added: "In the country bordering the southern shore of Lake Superior
copper and other minerals are Ijelieved to exist in abundance." The bill,
however, was not passed. In 1843 ^ further attempt was made, but the
great Henry Clay opposed it on the ground, to use his own words, "that it

ORIGIN.\L UPPER LOCK OK 1 855.

contemplated a work beyond the remotest settlement in the L^nited States,
if not in the moon."

Thus the matter rested until the meeting of the legislature in 1843. On
January 24 a joint resolution passed that body asking congress for an appro-
priation for the construction of the canal. Copies of this action were sent
to the legislatures of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin,
soliciting their co-operation. Similar appeals followed in 1844, 1848 and
1849, proving that ten years of futile effort had not discouraged the pioneers.
In 1849 John Ingersoll, representative of the legislature from Chippewa
County, and Jonathan P. King, from Mackinaw, took hold of the matter
again and secured the passage of a joint resolution by the legislature, asking

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CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL

121

congress to appropriate $500,000 in money for the construction of the canal.
Congress, however, took no action.

In 1851 John Bacon, of Chippewa County, and E. J. Roberts, of Hough-
ton County, secured the passage through the legislature of a similar resolu-
tion calling upon the general government for $500,000. Meanwhile Judge
William A. Burt and his son John Burt were working loyally in Washington
to interest congress in the enterprise. They supplied Senator Felch with all
material facts relating to the great natural resources of the region in iron

PROFILE
Top of Tow Path 5 Feet above Water

Water Sxirfacc.lake Superior

Level ofXake Superior \

__^.„^T 6 0 4 3

2 1 23 22 21

20 19 16 17 16 15 U 13 12 11 10 1|a « 1 t

*^ ■~2jst.'^-ttLli£e w;ater Surface Leiow the TUipicU

Horizontal Scale of Feet

■Vertical Scale of Feet

0 100 500

1000 10 5 0 10 20 30 40 50

FIRST MAP OF PROPOSED CANAL AND LOCKS AT SAULT STE. MARIE. PREPARED BY
CAPT. CANFIELD AND JUDGE BURT IN 1852.

and copper and did much to convince congress that the construction of
the canal was not the dream of a few enthusiasts, but a great commercial
necessity. Through the indefatigable energy of John Burt all the powerful
men in the peninsula, including Abner Sherman, Heman B. Ely, Peter White,
Samuel W. Hill, J. Vernon Brown, Samuel Ashmun and P. P. Barbeau,
lent their efforts to the furtherance of this project. Committees from the
peninsula spent the winter of 1851-52 in Washington presenting indisputable
evidence to congress that the canal was needed as a great artery of trans-
portation. As a result of this effort congress passed an act on August 21,
1852, granting 750,000 acres of land of the state of Michigan to aid in
building the canal. Congress required that the canal should be at least
100 ft. wide and 12 ft. deep, with locks at least 250 ft. long and 60 ft. wide,
allowing three years for beginning the work and ten years for its com-
pletion.

122 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Thus after fifteen years of almost constant effort governmental aid was
secured, but in such questionable shape that even the promotors felt far from
satisfied. There was no assurance that any company could be prevailed
upon to build the canal for the land grant. Mr. Vernon Brown returned
to the Sault and published a very discouraging article regarding the pros-
pects. In fact about the only person that had any faith was John Burt.

Immediately upon the passage of the act by congress, Governor McClel-
land, of Michigan, requested the secretary of war to make an immediate
survey of the proposed canal. For the want of a specific appropriation for
this purpose the request was not complied with. The governor then se-
cured the services of Captain Canfield, United States topographical engineer,
to make the survey. It was necessary that this should be done at once
in order that the matter might be laid before the legislature, which con-
vened the coming winter, otherwise a delay of two years would ensue.
To be assured of prompt action by the legislature, John Burt with the aid of
his friends secured the nomination of his father as a candidate for the legis-
lature from Macomb County and also prevailed upon Heman B. Ely to
secure the nomination in Chippewa County. Judge Wm. A. Burt imme-
diately joined Captain Canfield and together they made a survey of the
route and prepared plans, profile and estimates of the cost of the canal,
which were submitted to the legislature. This map is reproduced herewith
showing locks 300 ft. in length and 60 ft. in width with a lift of 10 ft.
This survey was incorporated by Governor McClelland in his message
to the legislature. While congress had provided for locks 250 ft. long, the
plans proposed locks 300 ft. long at the urgent request of leading inter-
ests in the Lake Superior region. John Burt, however, was quite insistent
in urging that the locks be 350 ft. long and 70 ft. wide. At one time it ap^
peared as though the whole project would fall through owing to the great
diversity of plans.

In this connection it is interesting to publish the following letter
from Eber B. Ward, then the largest individual vessel owner on the lakes,
and the foremost man of his time in the lake region, protesting against the
increase in the size of the locks to 350 ft. on the ground that the narrow,
shallow and rocky channels in the St. Mary's river would forever deter the
largest class of steamers from navigating these waters. A fac-simile of the

letter is also printed.

"Detroit, Jan. 29, 1853.
"Hon. Wm. A. Burt.

"Dear Sir : — The deep anxiety I feel in common with the rest of the
community for the early completion of the Sault Ste. Marie canal induces
me to write to you on the subject.

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124 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"I fear the defeat of our long cherished hopes.

"The legislature in their anxiety to prevent undue speculation by those
who would be disposed to contract to do the work are in great danger
of going to the opposite extreme, and make such requirements as will
deter competent men from taking the contract for the land. The size
proposed by the senate bill, 350 by 70 foot locks, is entirely too large for
the locks. The- crooked, narrow, shallow and rocky channels in the St.
Mary's river will forever deter the largest class of steamers from navi-
gating these waters. Aside from the impediments in the two lakes George,
there are several places where the channel is very narrow, with but 11 feet
of water clear of rocks, and the channels too crooked for the large class
of steamers to pass in safety.

"This I regard as a conclusive argument against making the locks
so large as is contemplated.

"I do not believe there is the least necessity for making the locks over
260 feet in the clear and 60 feet wide, as no vessels of larger dimensions
than could pass such locks can be used there with safety without an expen-
diture of a very large sum of money in excavating rock at various points
alonp- the river, a work that is not likelv to be undertaken during the
present century.

"The value of wild lands may be estimated bv ascertaining the amount
actually realized by the state for the large grants that have heretofore been
made for purposes of improvement when no taxes were collected until
lands were sold to settlers. I think it will be difficult to find the value of
25 cents per acre for all such grants made to this state. A well organized
company might make the lands worth 75 cents per acre, provided they were
not taxed while held by the company. I have no doubt the smallest sized
canal required by the act making the grant of land would cost $525,000 or
70 cents per acre. Add eight cents per acre for interest during the con-
struction of the work and 15 cents per acre for selection and location,
brings it to 93 cents per acre, a price at which any quantity can now be
located without any risk of loss and with much greater chances of making
desirable selections. If the legislature will appoint a committee who shall
act with the governor to make the best contract for the state they can,
holding them responsible for a faithful discharge of their duties, I feel con-
fident we shall succeed in securing the great object of our wishes. But if
the bill should materially restrict the governor in his powers I think we
have good reason to fear that the inost vital interests of the state will be
delayed for years to come.

"Hoping for a favorable issue to this absorbing question, I remain,

"Truly yours,

"E. B. Ward."

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL 12:

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CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL 12/

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THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

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The arsfument in this letter from a
business standpoint was a good one
nevertheless because an amount of
land equal to that granted by con-
gress could have been purchased at
the regular rate for less money ; but it
should be remembered that the ship
canal company had the valuable privi-
lege of selecting lands not yet thrown
upon the market, which privilege
thev were to exercise later with the great-
est wisdom and great good fortune.

The act was finally passed on Feb-
ruarv 5, 1853, and the governor was
authorized to appoint commissioners to
contract for the construction of the
canal. The governor appointed Chaun-
cev Joslin, Henry Ledyard. John P.
Barry, Shubael Conant and Alfred ^^^il-
liamson as commissioners.
Nothing more was now necessary than to secure the construction of the
canal for the compensation that the state had to offer. During the preced-
ing summer there had been at the Baptist mission at the Sault a young
man named Charles T. Harvey, recuperating from the wasting effects of a
severe attack of typhoid fever. He was in the employ of Messrs. E. & T.
Fairbanks & Co., scale manufacturers of St. Johnsbury, W., as general

CAPT. EBER B. WARD.

COXSTRUCTIOX OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL 129

western agent in charge o£ the estabhshing agencies for their weighing
machines in the large western cities. He had been sent to the SauU bv
his employers primarily for his health, but incidentally to inquire into the
mining resources of the region as his returning strength permitted. The
bent of his mind was intensely practical, and upon learning of the land grant
act he immediately examined the locality where the canal must be built with
special attention. His practical mind saw the immense possibilities of the
venture. He wrote to his employers expressing his views upon the subject
lucidly, pointing to the immense mineral wealth lying latent, the probability
that lands of great value could be selected and to the general lack of public
kno\\ledge concerning the country and the magnitude of the enterprise.
He asked and was granted permission to devote his time to the project.
Going to Xew York state he secured the services of one of the most ex-
perienced engineers on the Erie canal. Air. Xichols, of Utica, and returning
with him to the Sault on the steamer Northerner in November, he organized
a surveying party. While Xichols made a survey of the canal site. Harvey
made a trip down St. ]\Iary's river to explore for a suitable quarry to furnish
stone for the locks, locating one eventually on Drummond's Island. When
the legislature con^'ened Harvey attended the sessions and proved a valu-
able guide and source of information to the members.

When the bill was passed Messrs. Fairbanks invited well-known cap-
italists in X^ew York and X"ew England to join with them in making the
necessary bid, whicli was formally tendered and accepted ]\v the state
commissioners on April 15, 1853. The first name in the list of bidders was
that of Air. Joseph P. Fairbanks, his associates being J. W. Brooks, Eras-
tus Corning, August Belmont, H. Dwigiit, Jr. and Thomas Dwver. Their
sureties were Franklin Moore, Geo. F. Potter, John Owen, James F. Joy
and Henrv P. Baldwin.

As soon as the bi'l was signed, Harvev secured from the governor of
]\lichigan an appropriation as special agent for the state to select the lands
to be donated within its border by congress in aid of the canal. He en-
gaged a steamer to take him to St. Alary's river, which was then closed by
ice, and dispatched a special messenger on snow shoes to the United States
land office at the Sault, authorizing a deputy to withdraw lands from sale
in certain localities which Harvev designated. He then went to Wash-
ington and secured from the United States Land Commissioner confirmation
of his power to do so, which was afterwards litigated but sustained by the
courts. The knowledge upon which he had acted he had gained in his
tour among the mines during the previous summer, and the 140,000 acres,

130 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

more or less, which he secured in the upper peninsula realized millions and'
millions of dollars to his principals in later years. It is sufficient to state-
that among the lands selected by Harvey was the location which was after-
wards developed into the Calumet and Hecla mine, this mine having de-
clared to date over $75,000,000 in dividends.

The constitution of Michigan at that time forbade all special charters,
and Harvey accordingly went to Albany, N. Y., and secured a charter
for the St. Mary's Falls Ship Canal Co. from the New York legislature.
To this company Fairbanks and his associates, who had bid as individuals,
assigned their contracts at a meeting which was held in the building at the
corner of William and Wall streets. New York, then as now occupied by
the Bank of the State of New York. The company was organized by the
election of officers and directors as follows : President, Erastus Corning,
Albany, N. Y. ; Vice-President, John W. Brooks, Detroit, Mich. ; Erastus
Fairbanks, St. Johnsbury, Vt. ; John M. Forbes, Boston, Mass. ; John F.
Seymour, Utica, N. Y., and Benjamin Tibbits, Albany, N. Y., board of di-
rectors.

Harvey was made general agent of the company, with unlimited exec-
utive powers and a substantial stock interest assigned to him for promoting
the enterprise. The sum of $50,000 was placed to his credit in a bank at
Detroit, and he was authorized to draw on the treasurer for further funds as
needed.

Harvey was then practically told to go ahead and dig the canal. Here
he was, practically alone in the world, not much beyond his twenty-fourth-
birthday, charged with the execution of an engineering undertaking that,
considering the times, was simply stupendous. The locality was almost as
uncivilized, the resources of the surrounding countrv were almost as un-
developed as when white men first set eyes upon it two centuries before.
Harvey's thoughts as he made his solitary exit from that room were ver^
solemn ones.

He went north. He stopped at Detroit and made it his temporary
headquarters. There he engaged C. W. Chapel as foreman of excavation
work, purchased horses, tools and supplies, and securing from the United
States Indian Agent the rental of the agency premises for his own resi-
dence at the Sault, loaded the steamer Illinois to the guards with horses,
tools, lumber, provisions and supplies and about 400 men, and set out for
Sault Ste. Marie, where he arrived on June i.

Harvey is one of those men that lose no time. The moment the Ill-
inois touched dock the horses were hitched up into teams, the lumber hauled

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL 131

to the canal reservation and in forty-eight hours the men were housed in
improvised buildings and regular meals provided for them. On June 4,
1853, the third day after landing, the workmen were organized into work-
ing gangs of thirty, each under selected forem^en, formed in ranks, marched
to the site where Harvey, with his own hand, broke ground and wheeled
out the first barrow of earth from the cut amid the plaudits of the workmen.*
Work upon the canal was prosecuted with the utmost vigor and under
conditions which would daunt anyone but the most determined. As stated,
Sault Ste. Marie at that time was a comparative wdlderness. The nearest
machine shop was several hundred miles away ; the nearest telegraph station
was at Detroit, 450 miles away. Everyone of the many thousand kegs of
powder had to be transported from the States of Connecticut and Delaware.
It took six weeks for a letter to reach New York and return a repl}'.
There was not sufficient labor at the Sault to build the canal and agents
had to be sent East to board incoming ships, hire immigrants and take them
in gangs to Sault Ste. Marie, paying their fare. Some wealthy citizens
now living in the upper peninsula might be named who thus found their
way into that district. There was at that time a scarcity of labor in the
West owing to the railroad construction which was taking place in all
parts of the country. It recjuired, in fact, considerable maneuvering to
circumvent the railroad agents who were continually endeavoring to per-
suade the men to leave their work and go with them. All drilling had to
be done by hand. There was no way of hastening work except by putting
on more men. At one time as manv as 2,000 men might have been seen at
work within the space of one mile.

The winter days were very short, there being only eight hours of sun-
light. The cold was also verv severe, the thermometer frequentlv register-
ing" 35 degrees below zero. A man was constantly stationed at the head of
each runway for barrows with orders to rul) vigorously with snow any
man's face which gave indications of being frostbitten, thus preventing the
workmen from suffering and obviating the necessity of any man leaving
his work. The winters then were far colder than they are now. Indeed

* Mr. Harvey's life is one that offers powerful testimony to the virtue of total abstinence.
He has lived a most active life and has done a prodigious amount of work. Yet to-day, though
he is approaching eighty years of age, his energy is astounding and is far greater than that
possessed by most men of forty. He was actively hostile to the saloon interests during the
construction of the canal, so much so that upon one occasion when Mr. Hargreave, the Hudson
Bay Co.'s agent on the Canadian side, brought out a bottle of wine, upon his first meeting with
Harvey, from the company's reserve stock that was nearly a century old and priceless in value,
Harvey astounded Hargreave by declining to drink to anyone's health in it. Hargreave was con-
siderably provoked but was appeased when he saw the depth of Harvey's conviction on the subject.
Mr. Harvey established a Presbyterian church at Sault Ste. Marie which was one of the first,
if not the first, to be established in the north.

132

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

the customary method of preserving meat over winrer ai Sault Ste. Afarie
was to cut it into roasts and steaks, salt it thoroughly and put it in a barrel
in the woodshed. \\'hcn a steak or roast was needed it was simply chopped
from the frozen mass, the meat keeping sweet until spring.

MR. CHARLES T. HARVKV AS HE li TODAY.

During the progress of the work upon the canal in 1854 an epidemic
of cholera broke out and carried off fullv one-tenth of the workmen. Everv

CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL 133

effort was made Ijy the management to keep the knowledge of the real
nature of the disease from the colony. Therefore all burials were quietly
performed at night. The men died like flies, and yet notwithstanding the
ravages of the disease the work was not suspended for a single day ; and
owing- to the swiftness and secrecv with which the dead were removed the
frightful decimation was not noticed by those who were not visited by the
dread pestilence.

But one strike occurred during the progress of the work and that was
concluded within twenty-four hours. When the strikers were marching
about the town making a long procession of i,ooo or more, Harvey caused
the provisions to be removed from the shanties and when dinnertime came
and the men returned with good appetites they were informed by the care-
takers that orders had come from the office that no regular meals were
to be served on such occasions. Fasting was the only alternative, and
before bedtime a company of the strikers called on Harvey to say that
if he would provide rations they would return to work the next morning.
The proposition was accepted and work resumed.

In 22y> months the great work was finished. ( )n April 19, 1855^
Harvey opened the sluice gate to the outer cofferdam on the Lake Superior
level and let its waters flow into the finished canal prism, doubtless never
to be entirely excluded so long as the world endures. The canal was 5.700
ft. long, 64 ft. wide at the bottom and 100 ft. at the water surface, and 13
ft. deep. The locks, two in number, were each 70 ft. wide and iij/^ ft. deep
on the miter sills, with a lift of about 9 ft. each.

The actual cost was $999,802.46. On June 18 following the steamer
Illinois passed up and the steamer Baltimore passed down, and these were
the first two vessels to use the canal which opened to mankind the greatest
mineral domain in the world and which has conferred a vast blessing upon
the country ; and without which the United States would indeed today be
occupying, not the first as it is, but the least of places among the industrial
powers. Shortly thereafter there passed through the canal the North Star,
which, as has been related, was the first to bring the message of deliverance
to the struggling iron companies at Marquette.

The Honorable Peter White

PART III

First Shipments of Ore
Discovery of Other Ranges
Development of the Ore Carrier
Industries at Sault Ste. Marie

CHAPTER XIV.

FIRST SIIIP^EEXT OF ORE THROUGH THE CANAL.

It is a matter of historical importance that the Cleveland Iron Alining-
Co. was the first to utilize the Sault Ste. ]\Iarie canal for the shipment of
ore. The propeller General Taylor could easily have had the honor of carry-
ing the first cargo of ore through the canal from ]\Iarquette to the lower
lakes, as she was the first vessel that occasionally consented to take ore to
reach Marquette after the canal was opened, but it appears that the General
Tavlor went on to Ontonagon and did not call at Marquette on the return
trip.* Though the canal was opened in June, it was August before any ore
was shipped through it directly from Marquette. J. H. Andrews, master of
the schooner Freeman, which was the first sailing vessel to make the com-
plete trip from the lower lakes into Lake Superior, relates that he took
a cargo of ore down on his return trip, but this was a jag of ore that had
been left at Sault Ste. Alarie by the Xapoleon before the canal was finished.
The brig Columbia, Judson Wells, master, left Alarquette on August 14 with
132 tons of ore consigned to the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. and passed
through the canal on August 17. The bill of lading of this first shipment
of ore, which has been preserved by the Cleveland Iron Mining Co., reads.

as follows :

"Marquette, Mich., August 14, 1855.

"Shipped in good order on board the brig Columbia. Wells master, by
the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. the following articles consigned as per
margin.
"For Cleveland Iron Alining Co.,

"Care of Crawford & Price, Cleveland, Ohio.
Unless otherwise ordered by W. J. Gordon, of Cleveland, Ohio. One hun-
dred tons iron ore $2.75 = $275. ob.

"J. Wells."

*0n June 22, 185S, J. J. .St. Clair, the mining agent of the Cleveland Iron Mining Co..
wrote to Mr. Samuel L. Matlier as follows:

"Yesterday and last night we were gratified at seeing at our dock the propeller General
Taylor and the North .Star from below, affording us the pleasing certainty that we are now in.

FIRST SHIPMEXT OF ORE THROUGH THE CANAL 137

The second shipment of ore was made by the schooner Geors^e Worth-
ington, four days later, the bill of lading reading as follows :

"Shipped on board the schooner George Worthington. Donahue, master,
in good order the following articles, consigned as per margin :

"Marquette, Aug. IS, 1.S55.
"Cleveland Iron Aiining Co.,

"Care of Crawford & Price. Cleveland, Ohio.
Cnless otherwise directed by W. J. Gordon, of Cleveland, Ohio. Two hun-
dred and seventy-eight tons of iron ore more or less.
"Forest City Iron Co.,

"Care of \\ . j. Gordon, Cleveland, Ohio.
"Deck load iron ore, 60 tons more or less. Freight to be paid in Cleveland.

"P. DOXAIIUE."

The third cargo was carried by the propeller General l^a\lor, owned
by Tlussey «&: St. Clair, of Cleveland, consisting of fifty tons of ore at
$3 per ton freight. The bills of lading in the case of the Columbia and
George Worthington are not accurate as to actual weight. The actual
cargo of the Columbia was 132 tons and of the Worthington ^22 tons, upon
which ^2.7S per ton freight was paid. The Columbia was 91 ft. long, 24
ft. beam and was built at Sandusky in 1842. As she had no foreboom her
deck was pretty free forward. During the year the Cleveland Co. shipped
in all 1,447 tons of ore, which constituted the entire shipments of the
^peninsula for the season, the other two companies, Jackson and Lake Su-
perior, not being able to ship any at all. The little dock at Marquette
was a flat structure without trestle work and the vessels were loaded by
means of wheelbarrows. The crew^s of the vessels loaded the ore, being
paid for doing so at the rate of 25 cents an hour. Nearly all the early ship-
ments were carried in schooners. Steamers could not be got to take the ore,
and several propellers and sidewheelers found it convenient to decline to
stop at Marquette on their way down the lake even after having promised to
do so. The fact is that all steamboats in those days carried passengers
an4 were ill fitted to carry ore. Such a thing as a steamer for purely
freight purposes had not been thought of. The steamers had good reason
to avoid taking cargoes of ore. They had no accommodations for it and it
got the steamboat into a disgraceful condition for passenger service. More-
direct communication with the whole world and the rest of mankind. The Illinois is said to
be above — could not come down on account of the fog. The North Star was only about eight
hours from the Sault — a great revolution in steamboat traveling on this lake. You can send a
propeller as soon as you please to get that ore of ours. The largest part is now on the dock
and the balance will soon be."

«
o

o
o

W «

X <

w ■

FIRST SFIIPMENT OF ORE THROUGH THE CANAL

139

over, the only way a steamer could be loaded was by listing her against the
dock and trimming the cargo later.

It might be well for the sake of history to follow these few early car-
goes to Lake Erie docks. The cargoes of the Columbia and Worthington
were delivered at Crawford & Price's dock near the old river bed, Cleve-
land. The General Taylor's cargo was delivered to Hussey & St. Clair's
dock. Naturally the members of the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. were much
interested and paid frequent visits to their little stock pile. Mr. W. J. Gor-
don, president of the Cleveland Iron Mining Co., sent 117 tons of the ore to
W. F. Cary for experimental use in the Orizaba Iron Works at New Castle,
Pa. A few days later F. K. Beslion, of the Orizaba Iron Works, wrote

to Mr. Cary concerning the experiment as follows :

"Sept. 20, 1855.
-^'W. F. Cary, Esq.,

"Dear Sir : — Yours of the 19th to hand. I have given Lake Superior
ore a fair trial but am sorry to say we had to abandon its use for the pur-
pose intended. ' The shape and size
of the pieces are such that it was im-
possible to build it in the form
around the plates compact enough to
stay until it had been heated and
glazed together, and whenever a por-
tion fell out it would fly to pieces
from the heat. What remained in
and around the plates would stand
the heat well, much better than the
Champlain. Another objection by
the workmen was that iron worked
from it was so dry and free from
cinder or nourishment that the iron
would not squeeze. The nature of
the metal that we are using requires
all the cinder that it can contain.
The iron made while using the Su-
perior ore, though made from the
same metal, was not so firm and
tough as when made with the Cham-
plain. We intend to try some in the blast furnace next week when I will
be able to give you a better opinion of the quality, etc."

It has been related earlier in this history that the initial efforts to smelt
Lake Superior ore in the little blast furnaces were of doubtful outcome, and

JACOB REESE IN 1855.

140 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

it can ver\- readilv be seen that Beshon's letter to Cary was not very con-
solino-. A few davs later A\'. J. Gordon might have been observed, as a
novelist would say, inspecting the little stock pile on Crawford & Price's
dock, when he was approached by a man who was to give the Cleveland
Co. the first definite encouragement it had received regarding the superior-
itv of Lake Superior ore. This man was Jacob Reese of Pittsburg.*

Jacob Reese was a dealer in iron ores and appears to have had confi-
dence in the Lake Superior product at once. It was through him that a
considerable portion of the first few shipments reached the furnaces. His
first order to the Cleveland Iron Mining Co. read :

'Tlease deliver to E. X. Parks & Co., 35 tons iron ore (Lake Superior).
Cleveland. Sept. 27, 1855. Jacob Reese."

After talking to him Air. Gordon wrote and asked him to look into the

New Castle experiment. 'Mr. Reese's reply was quite interesting and was

as follows :

"Pittsburg, Oct. 4.

"\V. J. Gordon,

"Dear Sir: — Yours of the 25th at hand and in reply would say I have
25 tons of Lake Superior ore coming here for the purpose of making a thor-
ough trial of it as a fixing for the furnace, and therefore cannot go to New
Castle at present as I desire to personally attend to the trial. Am not sur-
prised to learn that they did not use it to advantage in Xew Castle. Ordi-
narily in fixing the ore is placed in the bottom of the furnace and subjected
to sufiicient heat to melt it. The furnace is then allowed to cool so that
the ore becomes semi-licjuid and in this pasty state it is removed from the
bottom to the sides of the furnace where it remains as a protector of the
chills or air plates of the furnace. The Lake Superior ore in the block or
quarry form is the most refractory ore that I have ever seen. It cannot
be melted in our boiling furnace. However, when it is reduced by stamp-
ing or otherwise so that it is susceptible of being thoroughly penetrated by
the atmosphere it melts at a very low temperature, and when it becomes

* Jacob Reese was born in 182S in Wales and came to America with his parents in 1832.
The family settled in Pittsburg within a few months after its arrival in this country. James
Reese gravitated naturally into the iron business, as that was the business of his father.
Between 1850 and 1860 he sold over 50,000 tons of Lake Superior ore in Pittsburg for fettling.
He invented quite a number of useful processes in the manufacture of "ron and established
the firm of Reese, Graff & Dull, whose mills were in Lawrenceville. H*. retired from active
business over twenty years ago, locating at Darby, a suburb of Phila'delphia. He mamtamed a
winter home in Dayton, Fla. He died at Darby, March, 1907, one week after his return
from his winter home. He wrote a communication to the Bulletin of the American Iron and
Steel Association a few days before his death, which proved that he had never lost interest in
the great iron business of the United States, of which he was a tower of strength in the
days when it most needed help.

FIRST SHIPMENT OF ORE TIIROFGII THE CANAL

141

solid again it is as refractory as ever. One fixinq- thus put in will last as
long as three fixings of Lake Champlain ore. I have also taken it in its
rough form and piled it in and around the furnace as compact as possible
and melted a small (|uanlit\- of Lake Superior ore and daubed up the crev-

-*>

JACOB REESE IN 1906.

ices. A fixing of this kind has lasted three or four days whereas with the
Lake Champlain ore the operation has to be renewed every twenty-four
hours. I make these remarks thinking it probable that they may be of
some use to vou.

142

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

cargoes to Lake Erie docks

"P. S. Have just seen a boiler from Sharon who says that it is the best
fixing that he has ever seen and when properly put up will last a week."

On Oct. 22, 1855, Mr. Reese followed up his experiments with a more
substantial order. He wrote :

"I shall need from 400 to 500 tons of Lake Superior ore this fall. Yoa
will please retain that amount for my order. Would like to have some of it
at your most early convenience. Let me have some of the new kind, if
possible. Parties that have tried it here without exception pronounce it
superior. I would like to have the refusal of 1,000 tons this fall."

It might be well for the sake of history to follow these few early

It has been shown that it was put aboard the
little schooners by manual labor of
the severest sort and at a cost per
ton that would today be absolutely
fabulous. It took about four days
to load a cargo of 300 tons. The
unloading of the cargo was an even
more arduous undertaking. When-
ever possible only deck loads were
carried by the schooners owing to the
difhculty of getting the ore out of
the hold. To get the first cargoes
out of the hold of the vessel staging
had to be built in the hold about half
way up from the bottom. The ore
was shoveled upon this staging ; then
from the staging to the deck and
then from the deck to the dock,
making three handlings in all. By
this process it took nearly a week
to unload 300 tons. It was mighty
tedious and expensive work. The
next method was to unload it by means of block, tackle and a horse. A
block carrying a manila rope was fastened to the ship's rigging and a tub at-
tached to the rope was lowered into the hold. Another block through which
the rope ran was fastened on the dock and the horse hitched to the end of this
rope. The tub was filled by hand shoveling and then hoisted by the horse
walking forward. To get the tub back into the hold it was necessary for
the horse to back up. Planks laid upon wooden horses, both on the dock
and on the deck of the vessel, furnished a roadway upon which the men could

DR. GEORGE B. RUSSEE.

W
O

1=3

o
n

""•7 1

144 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

wheel the barrows of ore off the vessel, two men standing above this
temporary staging on deck to empty the ore from the tub into the barrow.

Among the property purchased from the old Marquette Iron Co. by
the Cleveland company was sixty-four acres of land in Marquette, and in
1855 the company turned the management of this estate over to Peter White.
This got the young man into the real estate business head over heels, in
which he has continued ever since with marked success, for Marquette is
practically built upon land which Peter White has sold.

The old strap railroad went into operation on Nov. i, 1855, and lived
a strenuous life for two years. The motive power was mules and the cars
held about four tons each, which, said Dr. Hewitt in a letter home, "is
enough for any car to carry." The cars were flat bottom aft'airs and when
they were first loaded it was found that the load bore so heavily upon the
trucks that the wheels scraped against the bottom of the car, which was
remedied bv cutting away a portion of the platform just above the wheels.
A team could not make more than one trip a day, sometimes not that, and
for the entire motive power to move 35 tons from the mines to the lake
was accounted a big day's work. The grades were simply frightful and the
cars frequently ran away, mangling the mules and jumping the track at the
first curve. At the first sign of trouble the driver could slide off the car
into the soft sand at cither side of the track, but the poor mules had no
protection. It was pretty expensive business. Mules were costing $1,400

*It should be stated here that George B. Russel, of Detroit, a farsighted and progressive
gentleman, who had established a ship yard in Hamtraneck in 18S4, conceived the idea of a
carrier exclusively for the bulk freight trade and built in 1856 the pro])eller B. L. Webb, which
was the first lake boat to be constructed with a beam of over 30 ft. and designed with special
reference for carrying ore. Unfortunately the Vv'ebb was burned on her first trip to Lake
Superior in November, 1856, while en route from Sault Ste. Marie to Marquette with provisions
and mining supplies. so that she never carried any ore at all. On her

passage up wliile in shelter in \\'iaskey Bay she took fire, burned to the
water's edg'e and sank, causing the destruction of her entire cargo. The consternation
which this loss occasioned in Marquette may well be imagined. It was the last trip of the
season and the cargo of the Webb consisted of feed for the horses and provisions for the men.
The feed for the horses is mentioned first because it was the most important item, as there was
scarcely a ton of hay left in the village nor was there any means of obtaining any until spring.
It was at this time that Mr. J. Tallman Whiting, who was associated with Sheldon McKnight
at the Sault and in the vessel business, came to the rescue. He decided upon his own responsi-
bility to duplicate the cargo and to send the propeller Gen. Taylor from Detroit as a relief
vessel to Marquette and other ports. It was an expensive and hazardous undertaking as no
insurance could be obtained on the vessel or cargo and moreover the crew would have to remain
with the vessel over winter at Marquette. The trip was successfully made and though higli
rates of freight were charged the inhabitants of Marquette were very glad to pay them. Freight
was carried by the barrel bulk in those days and not by weight. Upon this particular trip the rates
were $3 per barrel to Sault Ste. Marie. $4 to Marquette, $5 to Eagle Harbor, and $6 to On-
tonagon. There was a consignment of stovepipe aboard which was charged at the modest rate
of SO cents per joint. The Gen. Taylor reached Ontonagon in safety and was laid up there for
the winter.

FIRST SHIPMENT OF ORE THROUGH THE CANAL 145

per pair in the peninsula and hay occasionaUy went to $50 per ton. The
track, too, was constantly getting out of shape.

Both companies realized that the strap railroad would never do, and
when congress passed the land-grant act to stimulate the construction of
railways in 1856 overtures were made for consolidation with Ely's steam
railroad. At this juncture Heman B. Ely suddenly died in Marquette, but
the w^ork which he had undertaken was assumed by his brother, Samuel
P. Ely. The legislature of 1857 was to distribute the lands granted by con-
gress and it was of vital importance that a person familiar with the situation
in every detail should represent Marquette in the assembly. The result was
that Peter \Miite ran for the legislature. There was someone else running
also somewhere in the peninsula and as far as known he may be running
yet for he was not heard from at the polls.

Peter's appearance at Lansing created a sensation. It took him fifteen
days to get there. He made the journey on snow shoes from Marquette to
Escanaba, took the stage to Eond du Lac and w^alked the rest of the way to
Lansing. Everyone was on the qui vive at Lansing for the representative
from Marquette, for they realized the almost insurmountable obstacles
which stood in his wa^■. Peter was heartily cheered as he took his seat
among them. Something of his reputation had preceded him and he
always had an audience in the committee room eager to listen to the story
of his experiences in the trackless north. Legislation then was beset with
the pitfalls and handicaps that mark it now. There w^as much wrangling
over the distribution of the grant — far more, indeed, than i^U'e exigencies
of the case demanded — and Peter quickly observed that with the lobbyists
out of the wav the representatives could readily dispatch in an honorable
manner the business for which they had gathered. He made a speech in
which he pointed out the unwarranted interference of those who were
serving no great constructive interest and who did not have the development
of the state at heart and declared that they were "thick as autumnal leaves
which strew the brooks in A'allombrosa," a simile so apt and so sonorous
as to establish a reputation for erudition instantly. They did not know that
Peter the evening previous had begged a learned friend to furnish him
some quotation that would fit the particular point he wished to score. Hence
Vallombrosa. Peter did good work in the legislature and the grant was
carefully distributed. He walked back to Marquette and it was twenty
years before he again served the people in a legislative capacity. He was
now known as the Honorable Peter White

CHAPTER XV.

STEAM RAILROAD FINISHED TO THE MINES.

PTLY'S steam railroad was finished to tlie mines in September, 1857. One
of Peter White's recollections is rowing out in a row boat some time

durino- the preceding year to inspect the locomotive Sebastopol brought up

from Paterson, N. J., as it stood upon
the deck of the brig Columbia in Iron
liav. This was the first locomotive to
reach the peninsula. It was built by
the New Jersey Machine & Locomotive
Works, Paterson, N. J., and was de-
signed for a gauge of 4 ft. 10 in., hav-
ing cylinders 6 ft. 2 in. and drivers
of 5 ft. The locomotive weighed 25
tons, and cost $11,000. This locomo-
tive was soon followed by a second,
which was brought up on the schooner
E. C. Roberts in 1857 and was named
C. Donkersley, in honor of the first
superintendent of the railway. The
carrying capacity of the railway
with this motive power was esti-
mated, when all conditions were
favorable, at 1,200 tons per day.
The conditions obtaining at the
time can probably be more graphic-
ally conveyed by reprinting an
editorial published in the Lake Su-
perior Journal on August 15, 1857, which was two or three weeks
before the railroad went into operation.* It is amusing today to think

* "The exrcriment witli the ligbt oars on the T mil, of wliich we spoke last week, works
to perfection; indeed we are informed that they run better, even, than on the strap rail, and

PETER WHITE IN THE 6U'S.

STEAM RAILROAD FINISHED TO THE MINES 147

that 1,200 tons was ever regarded as an avalanche, but it is a fact that no
one identified with the iron industries comprehended the future demand for
iron and the enormous consumption destined for it. Indeed the evohition
of the world was necessary to beget such comprehension. Industrially the
world was pretty young even as late as 1857. The Iron Mountain Railroad
issued a big poster on freight rates, a fac-simile of which is produced here-
with. It was during this year that Fayette Brown went into the peninsula to
assist in developing the iron mines. He was most active and successful.
The name of Brown was later to become indissolubly linked with the hand-
ling of iron ore on the great lakes.

It was in 1857 that the land office was transferred from Sault Ste. Marie
to Marquette and Peter White was made register. A little later he added
to his duties that of collector of customs of the port of Marquette, the city
being made in that year a port of entry in place of Sault Ste. Marie. It
might be supposed that these various offices would keep the young man
busy, but Peter White perceiving that there were certain minor cases arising
constantly to be adjudicated in the little town, undertook the study of law
in order that he might be the better prepared for anv emergency that might
arise. Paint you no picture of a man sitting at the feet of some learned
authority and drinking deep of legal lore. There was neither lawyer
nor judge in IMarquette then. Rather paint a picture of a young man

more safely. The result of the first week s trial shows a perceptible increase in the amount
of ore brought down, and the probabilities are that it will be still more increased next week.
There are now twelve sail vessels and one propeller loading and waiting to load with ore, and
there is not a pound on the dock except that which comes down from day to day. At this
rate it will take about four weeks to load those that are now here, to say nothing of more
which may arrive. This is a point at which we did not expect to arrive this season, and hence
our repeated request to send along vessels. But it is useless to deny the fact that our present
facilities for bringing down ore are insufficient, and our present circumstances with so many
vessels waiting, are anything but desirable. But it is an old but true saying, that 'it is always
darkest just before the dawn,' so now. our companies are having their greatest difficulty in
supplying their vessels, just before the time when the ore can be brought down like an avalanche,
at the rate of 1.200 tons per diem, with the present motive power at command. Were it not
for this we might apprehend trouble in the future, from the present delays of vessels, but they
all understand this, and will undoubtedly be ready to go on with the business again next season,
notwithstanding the vexatious delays now. The amount of ore taken out of the mines can
only be limited by the number of men employed, so that there is no cause of apprehension on
that score. If a sufficient amount of ore was now on the docks, the amount shipped would
be at least one-fourth more than it will be as it is, yet we trust that next season will more
than make the present loss good. The receipts on the dock, for the week ending Aug. 14th,
are per Cleveland I. M. Co., 654 gross tons; Sharon Iron Co., 650 gross tons; total, 1,304 gross
tons.

"Shipments during the same time: Cleveland I. M. Co., per Schr. Consuello, 254 gross
tons; Prop. JMineral Kock. 10614 gross tons; total. 360'/4 gross tons. Sharon Iron Co., per
Prop. Mineral Rock, 102 gross tons; Schr. Exchanee, 429^ gross tons; total, 531J^ gross tons;
total for the week, S82 gross tons. A portion of this week's receipts is now on board of vessels
that are not fully freighted."

148 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

studiously reading the standard works of law by the light of a candle and
conning them quite thoroughly until he had the great branch of equity at
his finger tips. A college of law will teach equity last, but Peter took it
first. The pine knot and the tallow dip have taken their place in American
fiction because so many characters, famous in American history, have em-
ployed them to lay the enduring foundations of their education. Peter
White is one of them for the United States Supreme Court later admitted
him to practice before it upon the information which he had wrung from
the law books in the days when he was pioneering. He later formed the
law firm of White & Maynard, but after ten years practice surrendered the
entire business to his partner.

On Sept. 29, 1857, the Rev. Henry Safiford united in marriage Ellen
S. Hewitt and Peter White.

The Cleveland company was the first in the world to adopt the pocket
system of loading ore in the construction of the dock. The idea came from
the coal fields of Pennsylvania where coal was handled by means of a chute.
The Cleveland companv built a trestle work upon its dock, and by 1858
had constructed nine or ten pockets with chute attachments. The pockets
held only a few tons and were small in comparison with the immense
structures of today, but nevertheless they were the forerunner of the
present wonderful system of loading iron ore whereby 8,000 to 10,000
tons may be loaded upon a vessel within a few hours. Peter White had
his hand in it. He secured the contract to furnish all the pine to be used in
the construction of the dock, but Gordon beat him down on figures so that
there was absolutely no profit in it. As he was leaving with his contract
Gordon called him back and said :

"We'll pay $5 extra per thousand for all the Xorway pine you furnish,"
mentioning the measurement.

"V>ry well, sir," said Peter.

He did not tell Gordon that he could furnish nothing but Norway pine,
as there was not a stick of white pine in the immediate vicinity of Marquette.
So the contract was a good thing for him after all.

At this time there came to live in the Harlow family, as a cook, an
Indian woman named Angelique, whose story as related is the most tragic
in the annals of Lake Superior history. The good God was kind to this
woman Avhen He gave her grreat resistance to suffering and an exhaustless
reservoir of physical endurance. She had need of them. She was forest
born and inured to privation from her birth. She was free limbed, full grown
and was possessed of enormous strength. She seemed indeed to be fash-
ioned to demonstrate to what reaches of suffering the human frame could

STEAM RAILROAD FINISHED TO THE .AIINES

149

IRON MOUNTAIN

Umn REGDUTIOIV!!!

All freight received for traH^portation mu^^t be accompa-

""d with a mrmoruiiduni to b* siKnoxl by (he owner, or ronMiKiiir.KiviiiK dri«cription ofarliclcs, consigoment, weight and
••"' Kailroad chargcn to tK-colU-cted upon di'liviTj ar^^ording to the freight tariff. Blanks for thix purpose will be furnished
'*j the Compan;. lipoo delivery a receipt muHt be given bj the Cousigiiec.

Freight in packages mu§i be distinctly marked with the name of the consignee and place of delivery.

Property shipped in bulk must be loaded and unloaded by the owner or consignee. Cars so loaded most be unloaded
and delivered upon the Company 'Htmck VI ilhin six working hours after arrival at their place of destination. TEN DOLLARS
will b«' charged for every 44 hours detention Ihereatter.

Tlie Company is not responsible for damages occasioned by uua> oidable delays, nor for damages from frost or heat to
arlirles aflecicd thereby, nor for articles not suitably parked for transportation.

OUfVPOWDER,FRICTIOI\ MATCHES,

And combustibles generally, will not be received in the Com|>any's buildings, nor transported except underspecial contract.

The t'onipany will not become responsible for the transmission of money or valuable papers, nianufUctures of gold and
silver jewelry and the like. None of its agents are aiithori/.ed to take rlurge of or receive compensation for carrying
property of this description.

Oaiinn Cor damages upon pro|»er(y transported must hi- in ide an<l settled iM-fore its removal by the owner or consignee.

l'rop<'rty lor transportation from the way stations where Depot buildings ha>e not been established, is at the owner's risk
until reeeite<l on the cars, and proptrty transported to such stations is at the owner's risk after delivery from the cars,

A II standing freight arrounts are to be settled weekly.

IVo (rains will he run on Sundav.

FREIGHT TARirr.

lintil further notice this Company will carry freight nl Ihe tolloning rates:

Iron and iron ore, from Pioneer rurnace aad Jackson MoUBUin to Marquette, - - TOcts ptr. ton of 9090 lbs.

From Cleveland !Wouotain to Marquette, - - - ... Jfv*-. .i i> "

From Lake Superior Mountain t« Marquetle, - - ' * ". . '-~"

The e«rs to be loaded and anloMted bv the owwrsor consigBfesof (be property, and to be driivercd upon this Company s
track, as provided in the general r< sniations. For all other ftti^tn douMe the above rates wiU be charged.

For all freiglrt. excepting articles specified below from Marquette to Franklin, - ' 5 cents p«-r lOO lbs.

From Marquette to Duncans Miltsr ^ . . .- ' ' o il .^ ..

" " Pioneer Furnace and Jackson Mountain, ' - ' m .i " "

ki " Cleveland Mountain, - - - * ii u " "

" "* Lake Superior Mountain, - - ,„."., ,. j .i, i-i „

For enii.lv barrels, boxes, f<;.lliers and the like, double the above rates will fte charged. Brick, «<6oe, lime and the like

inriuaiUilies of Htonsand upwards, loadedandunloaded by tJw owners, will l)etakenat half theabo»ei*tes.Snialler quantities

•■( , re.luetioii of -25 per eeiK lion, tl.i al.o.e rales. BrUk arc reckoned at 4 lbs. eacMud stone at 3<t lbs. p»r cubic yard.
' Ch .reoal and all extra bulkv articles, machinery Bntraire^;tra heavy articles will be taken only under special contract.
TltciollowiuE are the rates lor Lumber in quantities of <»«00 lbs. and upwards .it any one time.

Hainre timber and saw logs arc to bi- reckoned by the lOOO feet board measure. Timber over 20 feet lonRw ill be charged
extra according to length. For quaiilHies less than et)OOIeet, 'i5 p«r cent more than the above rates will be charged.
>. 1$. The (..i.is inall cases tolM- -itKHUbs. ... , , , ,.

Ill) oices amounting to less than sJi) edits at regular rates will 1m' charged -io cents.

I I unu ptr a^

**>Ar >■ ud rrt> Ui-^.Kii' a> i>

■ WtMaiMMUh#tb

THE OLD IKON MOUNTAIN RAILROAD S FIRST HAND lill.L.

150 THE HONORABLE PETER WPHTE

go and still withstand the shock, for it is not conceivable that any other
human being could have possibly endured it. Her husband, a Frenchman
named Charlie jNIott. perished miserably. This woman was actually left
on Isle Royale with her husband from July 1, 1845, until the following
spring with only half a barrel of flour, six pounds of butter and a few beans
as provisions. Her thoughts, her sensations, her struggles, her ruses to
cheat hunger, the horror which she felt lest she might awake some day from a
delirium to find herself eating her dead husband provide a tale of somber
tragedy which is unrelieved by a single ray of light. She lived by snaring
rabbits with deadfalls made out of the hair of her head. She was rescued
in the spring by the crew of the Algonquin, of which Capt. John McKay,
the father of Capt. George P. McKay, the present treasurer of the Lake
Carriers' Association, was master.*

* Angeliqiie later gave the following graphic account of her winter on Isle Royale, which
IS submitted for the tremendov.s force of the narrative:

"When I and my husband Charlie Mott were first married we lived at La Pointe. Mr.
Douglas, Mr. Barnard and some other 'big bugs' from Detroit had come up there in the schooner
Algonquin, looking for copper. From La Pointe Charlie and I went over with them, on their
invitation, to Isle Royale. After landing with the rest I wandered a long wav on the beach
until I saw something shining in the water. It was a piece of mass copper. When I told the
.Mgonquin people of it they were very glad and determined at once to locate it. They said if
Charlie and I would occupy it for them Charlie should have $25 a month and I $5 a month to
cook for him. Having agreed to the bargain we returned to the Sault to lay in a good supply
of provisions. There I firtit met ATendenhall, the man who brought us into all this trouble. He
said there was no need of carrying provisions so far up the lake and at so heavy an expense
as he had plenty of provisions at La Pointe. When we got to La Pointe we found that this
was not so. All we could get was a half barrel of flour (which we had to borrow from the
mission), six pounds of butter that smelt badly and was white like lard, and a few beans. I
didn't want to go to the island until we had something more to live on, and I told Charlie so,
but Mendenhall over-persuaded, him. He solemnly promised him two things: First, that he
would send a bateau with provisions in a few weeks; and then, at the end of three months, he
would be sure to come himself and take us away. So, very much* against my will, we went to
Isle Royale on the first of July. Having a bark canoe and a net, for a while we lived on fish,
but one day about the end of summer a storm came and we lost our canoe; and soon our net
was broken and good for nothing also. Oh, how we watched and watched and watched but no
bateau ever came to supply us with food; no vessel ever came to take us away; neither Menden-
hall's nor any other. • When at last we found that we had been deserted and that we would
have to spend the whole winter on the island, and that there would be no getting away until
spring, I tell you such a thought was hard to bear indeed. Our flour and butter and beans
were gone. We couldTi't catch any more fish. Nothing else seemed left to us but sickness,
starvation and death itself. All we could do was to eat bark and roots and bitter berries that
only seemed to make the hunger worse. Oh, sir, hunger is an awful thing. It eats you up so
inside, and you feel so all gone, as if you must go crazy. If you could only see the holes I
made around the cabin in digging for something to eat you would think it must have been some
wild beast. Oh God, what I suffered there that winter from that terrible hunger, grace help me.
I only wonder how I ever lived it through.

"Five days before Christmas (for you may be sure we kept account of every day) every-
thing was gone. There was not so much as a single bean. The snow had come down thick and
heavy. It was bitter, bitter cold and everything was frozen as hard as a stone. We hadn't any
snow shoes. We couldn't dig any roots; we drew our belts tighter and tighter; bi:t it was no
use; you can't cheat hunger; you can't fill up diat inward craving that gnaws within you like a
wolf.

STEAM RAILROAD FINISHED TO THE MINES 151

It is strange that this tale, so pitiless, so absolutely unrelieved in its
cruelt}', has never found its way into fiction. The mind of the novelist has
depicted no suffering to equal it.

The year 1857 was one of panic. When iron's down it's down. When
things are generally flat iron is the flattest of them all — and things were
pretty generally flat in 1857. Money was not to be had at all. It apparently
did not exist. The iron companies were hard put to it to get working
capital and keep their men in good humor. It was at this time that the
genius of W. ]. Gordon came into play. He devised a medium of exchange
which later came to be known as ir(")n monev. This form of exchange was in
the rhape of neatlv-engravcd and printed drafts for small denominations

"Charlie suffered from it even worse than I did. As he grew weaker and weaker he lost
all heart and courage. Then fever set in; it grew higher and higher until at last he went clear
out of his head. One day he sprang up and seized his butcher knife and began to sharpen it
on a whetstone. 'He was tired of being hungry,' he said, 'he would kill a sheep — something to
eat he must have.' And then he glared at me as if he thought nobody could read his purpose
but himself. I saw that I was the sheep he intended to kill and eat. All day, and all night
long I watched him and kept my eyes on him, not daring to sleep, and expecting him to spring
upon me at any moment; but at last I managed to wrest the knife from him and that danger was
over. .Vfter the fever fits were gone and he came to himself, he was as kind as ever; and I
never thought of telling him what a dreadful thing he had tried to do. I tried hard not to
have him see me cry as I sat behind him, but sometimes I could not help it, as 1 thought of our
hard lot, and saw him sink away and dry up until there was nothing left of him but skin and
bones. At last he died so easily that I couldn't tell just when the breath did leave his body.

"This was another big trouble. Now that Charlie was dead what could I do with him?
I washed him and laid him out but I had no coffin for him. How could I bury him when all
around it was either rock or ground frozen as hard as a rock? And I could not bear to throw
him out into the snow. For three days I remained with him in the hut, and it seemed almost
like company to me, but I was afraid that if I continued to keep up the fire he would spoil.
The only thing I could do was to leave him in the hut where I could sometimes see him, and
go off and build a lodge for myself and take my fire with me. Having sprained my arm in
nursing and lifting Charlie this was very hard work, but I did it at last.

''Oh that fire, you don't know what company it was. It seemed alive just like a person
with you, as if it could almost talk, and many a time, but for its bright and cheerful blaze that
put some spirits in me, I think I would have just died. One time I made too big a fire and
almost burned myself out, but I had plenty of snow handy and so saved what I had built with
so much labor and took better care for the future.

"Then came another big trouble — ugh — what a trouble it was — the worst trouble of all.
You ask me if I wasn't afraid when thus left alone on that island. Not of the things you speak
of. Sometimes it would be so light in the north, and even away up overhead like a second sunset,
that the night seemed turned into day; but I was used to the dancing spirits and was not afraid
of them. I was not afraid of the Mackee Monedo or Bad Spirit, for I had been brought up
better at the mission than to believe all the stories that the Indians told about him. I believed
that there was a Christ and that He would carry me through if I prayed to Him. But the thing
that most of all I was afraid of, and that I had to pray the hardest against was this: Sometimes
I was so hungry, so very hungry, and the hunger raged so in my veins that I was tempted, O, how
terribly was I tempted to take Charlie and make soup of him. I knew it was wrong; I felt it was
wrong; I didn't want to do it, but some day the fever might come on me as it did on him, and when
I came to my senses I might find myself in the very act of eating him up. Thank God, whatever
else I suffered I was spared that; but I tell you of all the other things that was the thing of
which I was the most afraid, and against which I prayed the most and fought the hardest.

"When the dreadful thought came over me, or I wished to die, and die quick, rather
than suffer any longer, and I could do nothing else, then I would pray; and it always seemed

152 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

upon the treasurer of the home office of the iron companies, issued by the
mining agents in payment for labor and material. These drafts bore a
general resemblance to ordinary paper currency. The banks accepted them
as readily as they accepted government currency. Why not? Surely the
United States government had no greater reserve for its paper than had
these mining drafts. The reserve consisted of mountains of precious ore.
When the banks had accumulated a hundred or a thousand dollars worth
of the drafts they were sorted out according to the companies which issued
them and presented to the home office, when a ninety-days' draft, interest
added, would be given for them. This iron money helped to relieve a
stringency which otherwise would have stalled the iron mining industry of
the peninsula. Owing to the restricted communication between Lake Su-
perior and the lower lakes — none whatever while the boats were not running

to me after praying hard something would turn up, or I would think of something that I had not
thought of before and have new strength given me to fight it out still longer. One time in
particular I remember, not long after Charlie's death, and when things were at their very worst.
For more than a week I had had nothing to eat but bark, and how I prayed that night that the
good God would give me something to eat, lest the ever increasing temptation would come over
me at last. The next morning when I opened the door I noticed for the first time some rabbit
tracks. It almost took away my breath and made my blood run through my veins like fire. In
a moment I had torn a lock of hair out of my head and was plaiting strands to make a snare
for them. As I set it I prayed that I might catch a fat one and catch him quick. That very
day I caught one, and so raging hungry was I that I tore ofif his skin and ate him up raw. It
was nearly a week before I caught another, and so it was often for weeks together. The thing
seemed so very strange to me that though I had torn half the hair out of my head to make
snares never once during the whole winter did I catch two rabbits at one time.

"Oh how heavily did the time hang upon me. It seemed as if the old moon would never
wear out and the new one never come. At first I tried to sleep all that I could but after a while
I got into such a state of mind and body that I could scarcely get any sleep night or day.
When I sat still for an hour or two my limbs were so stiff and dried up that it was almost
impossible for me to move them at all; so at last, like a bear in a cage, I found myself walking
all the time. It was easier to walk than to do anything else. W'hen I could do nothing else to
relieve my hunger I would take a pinch of salt. Early in March I found a canoe that had
been cast ashore and which I mended and made fit for use. Part of the 'sail I cut up and made
the strips into a net. Soon the little birds began to come and then I knew that spring was coming
in good earnest. God indeed had heard my prayer and I felt that I was saved. Once more I
could see my mother.

"One morning in May I had good luck fishing and caught no less than four mullets at
one time. Just as I was cooking them for breakfast I heard a gun, and I fell back almost
fainting. Then I heard another gun and I started to run down to the landing but my knees
gave way and I sank to the ground. Another gun — and I was off to the boat in time to meet
the crew when they came ashore. The very first man that landed was !Mendenhall and he put
up his hand to shake hands with me which I did. 'Where is Charlie,' said he. I told him he
was asleep. He might go up to the hut and see for himself. Then they all ran off together.
W'hen Mendenhall went into the hut he saw that Charlie was dead. The men took off Charlie's
clothes and shoes and saw plain enough that I had not killed him but that he had died of
starvation. When I came up Mendenhall began to cry and to try to explain things. He said
that 'he had sent off a bateau with provisions and didn't see why they didn't get to us.' But
the boys told me it was all a lie. I was too glad to get back to my mother to do anything. I
thought his own conscience ought to punish him more than I could do."

Angelique died at Sault Ste. Marie in 1874. It is related of her that once she made a
wager with a Frenchman that she could carry a barrel of pork to the top of an adjoining hill
and back. She won it with ease, and upon her return volunteered to carry the barrel up again
with the Frenchman on top of it.

STEAM RAILROAD FINISHED TO THE MINES 153

—the iron companies could not get money with which to pay their labor,
so they had to give paper of some sort. The drafts were signed by the
mining agents as issued and were negotiable in the stores for general
merchandise. This conception on the part of Mr. (iordon was really a
stroke of genius for it enabled the companies to be prompt in paying their
workmen. Some of the miners were an unreasoning lot and once struck
because a boat which had just arrived had not brought currency with it. it
being absolutelv useless for the mining agent to explain that the particular
boat had not connected with the Cleveland steamer.*

In 1857 quite a settlement had grown up about the Jackson mine and
it was decided to give it a name. A council was held with the Ojibwa
Indians and the name Negaunee was chosen, which signifies in their lan-
guage, the first, or pioneer. It was quite appropriate, as the tirst mine
was opened there and the first furnace, the Pioneer, established there. The
following year the growing town about the Cleveland mine demanded a name.
The citizens appealed to Samuel P. Ely, who in turn appealed to Peter
White.

"The ridge of land upon which the Cleveland mine is located," quoth
Peter White, "is the highest ground between Lake Superior and Lake
Michigan It is the divide where one mav sec the waters of the Carp
flowing into Lake Superior and the waters of the Escanaba flowing into
Lake Michigan. Ojibwa for an altitude of this character is Ishpeming."

"Let's call it Ishpeming," exclaimed Ely, "it is a beautiful word."

"It also means Heaven in an abstract sense," added Peter.

"That's better than ever," replied Ely.

And so the town was christened Ishpeming.

Iron money remained in circnlation on the peninsula for a number of years, or to be
exact, from 1857 to 1872. This form of exchange was suspended when there was no longer
occasion to employ it. Tlie issue ceased in 1872 because the railroads had then penetrated the
country and actual currency could readily be obtained. In 1874 Col. Wm. A. (layett was sent
as a special agent to the., treasiu-y department from Washington to ascertain the volume of circula-
tion that iron money had obtained in the peninsula and to assess and collect a retroactive tax of
10 per cent, on each bill for overy time it had been paid out. Some of the mines had put
millions of this money in circulation. Cavett's figures on the amount of iron money circulated
in the entire peninsula during these years made a total of $100,000,000, and the tax would
therefore amount to $10,000,000, distributed among the various iron companies. It must be
understood that while a great deal of the iron money was even then in actual circulation, none
of It was being issued by the iron companies. Peter White went immediately to Washington,
and with the aid of Zachary Chandler, obtained the passage of a relief bill. Obviously had such
a retroactive tax been levied none of the ore companies could have stood the blow.

CHAPTER XVI.

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA.

MO sketch of the Lake Superior country would be complete without ref-
erence to the iron making industry as distinguished from ore mining.
As a merchant dealing in pig iron Peter White made money; but when he

invested his little capital in enterprises
for the manufacture of pig iron, he like
all the rest, lost. The time was not ripe
for iron making in the peninsula. There
was no consuming population wdthin the
limits of its natural market.

The first pig iron produced in the
Lake Superior region was made in 1858
by Stephen R. Gay, who leased the forge
of the Collins Iron Co., and converted it
in two days at an expense of $2 into a
miniature blast furnace. The forge of
the Collins Iron Co. was the third to be
established in the Lake Superior country,
having been built in 1854, by Edward
K. Collins, the owner of the famous Col-
lins Line of steamers then plying be-
tween New York and Liverpool, Charles
A. Trowbridge, of Detroit, Robert J.
Graveraet, of Alarcjuette, and others.
The two which had preceded it were the
forges of the Jackson and ^larquette iron companies as related in the pro-
logue of this story. The pig iron produced by Mr. Gay was, of course,
purely experimental. The first blast furnace in the Lake Superior region
was built by the Pioneer Iron Co. at what is now the city of Negaunee.* It

'The following account of the building of the first blast furnace in the peninsula and
the discovery of hematite ore was written for this book by L. D. Harvey, who was the practical
man at the Pioneer furnace. It is a chronicle of extreme importance. Mr. Harvey is still
living at Harvey. Mich., near Marquette.

D. C. Whitwood, a schoolmate of my father's, had moved to Detroit, Mich., in 1848, but

L. D. HARVEY IN 1856.

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA 1S5

was called the Pioneer furnace. Work upon the furnace was begun in June,
1857. and was finished in February, 1858. Mr. E. C. Hungerford was the
agent and Stephen R. Gay superintendent. The circular issued to stockhold-
ers of this company at the time of its formation called attention to the qual-
ity of iron made from Lake Superior ores in the little Catalan forges. It will

his mother and sister remained on the old homestead and he looked after their interests and he
spent the winter of 1857 at the old homestead. He was C. T. Harvej^'s supply agent in build-
ing the Sault. Ste. Mary's canal in 1853-4. In 1857 C. T. Harvey organized the Pioneer Iron
Co., the furnace to be built where Negaunee City now stands. The place was then a dense
wilderness. In February, 1857, D. C. Whitwood came to me at the Berkshire Iron Co. plant in
West Stockbridge, Mass., where I was employed as master machinist over the furnace and three
ore beds. He told me that there would be two men from Lake Superior the last of March or
the first of April looking over the furnaces, about there and to find men to go to Lake Superior
to build one or two furnaces. About April 1 two men came into the furnace inquiring for me
and they were directed to the shop where I was at work and wanted to know if this was
Lorenzo D. Harvey. I told them yes. Then they introduced themselves as Charles T. Harvey
and Edward C. Hungerford of Lake Superior and that they had formed a company to build a
charcoal blast furnace there known as the Pioneer Iron Co., and that I had been recommended
by D. C. Whitwood as the man they wanted to build and run it. They wanted to look over
the furnace and other furnaces there. In the meantime I had introduced S. R. Gay to D. C,
Whitwood and he told Mr. Gay what an opening there was out there and that the Collinsville
forge for making bloom iron was lying idle and had been for the last year, and that he was
acquainted with the parties that controlled the property, a IMr. Trowbridge of Detroit, and
there should be no trouble in making almost any arrangement to run it. And Mr. Gay was
very much taken up with the prospect and wanted to see the two men from Lake Superior when
they came. In the meantime I had told Mr. Gay that if I arranged to go to Lake .Superior I
would not go there alone to put up a furnace a couple of thousand miles from civilization and
if he would go with me and see that all material was got to my hand I might arrange to go
and build it. With that and the prospect of the Collinsville forge he was willing to take the
chances with me, provided we could make satisfactory arrangements.

I wish to say just here that ]Mr. Gay was the agent of the Berkshire Iron Co. and I
was employed by him. About that time the company changed hands, but Mr. Gay could have
continued under the change if he preferred to, but with the prospect of doing better he pre-
ferred to make the change in case all went satisfactory. As I have said before, when Mr.
C. T. Harvey and E. C. Hungerford came and introduced themselves and I found out what
they wanted I soon found Mr. Gay and introduced them, then after they explained to him
what they were after, we looked over the Berkshire Iron Works. But that was a hard coal
furnace. What they wanted to see was a charcoal furnace. We told them there were three, the
Richmount, Van Dusenville, Lennox. They then wanted to see them, so we soon had a livery
rig and on the way to Richmount furnace. .\fter looking that over they wanted to know how
much iron it was making every twenty-four hours. When told that seven tons was the largest
day's work it had ever made, they w-ere somewhat taken back, as they were looking for ten or
twelve tons per day. From there we went to the Van Dusenville. They w-ere making seven to
eight tons per day and that was considered a good day's work at that time. With 35 to 40
per cent ore, about three tons of ore to the ton of iron, with 35 to 40-foot stack and two 2-in.
tuyeres and one and a half pounds blast that was all they thought a charcoal furnace could
stand then. On our way home they told us everything', told how rich the ore was, 65 to 70 per
cent, and the splendid birch and maple timber there, and that they had contracted for the
chips in the Jackson mine for all the ore they wanted already broken for the furnace at one
dollar per ton of iron made and they wanted to put up something that could make 20 tons a
day or more.

Mr. Gay and myself talked the matter over. Taking the rich ore and birch and maple
timber, we concluded tliat we would be safe in recommending two stacks of ten tons each. We
laid it before them. They consulted each other about five minutes and came in and wanted to
know if we were ready to contract to go to Lake Superior to build the furnaces, and provide
suitable help to run them. This was about supper time. I told them not until I had consulted

156 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

be understood that all of the first iron made in the peninsula was what is
known as blooms. This is a form of wroug-ht iron made in open fire by
charcoal and brought into shape under the trip hammer. Iron drawn from

my wife. So we adjourned for supper to meet ?.t :Mr. Gay's house at eight o'clock. They went
to the hotel. After getting my supper and consulting my wife on the subject her answer was go
at once. Then I went to Mr. Gay's house. lie met me at the door feeling good. "What is the
word," he said. "Go if they will pay enough." We soon agreed on the price; SI. 000 a year
and all expense there and back, and at the appointed time we all met. After a few minutes
Mr. C. T. Harvey turned to us and said, "What conclusion have you come to?" Mr. Gay said,
"We have made up our minds to go if all can agree on terms." Mr. Harvey asked, "What are
your terms?" It was in writing, signed by both of us. I stepped to the table and gave it to
Mr. C. T. Harvey. He looked it over and gave it to ]Mr. Gay and said, "W^ill you put that in
writing and give me a copy?" When the contract was drawn and signed, then the manner of
building was discussed. We told them that the two stacks would be ample for 20 tons per day.
They said that was satisfactory. Then they wanted to know if there could be a bank half the
height of the stack where they wanted to locate. The answer was any height, so we told them
we could have plans drawn with that understanding. Then the style of engine and blowers
came. We showed them the drawing of the blowers in the Berkshire Iron Works made at Cold
Spring on the Hudson river. Then they said, "We will depend upon you for all necessaries,
engine, blowers, hot blast, everything to complete the works except boilers." Those were lying at
Marquette, that was used in the Marquette forge, and that settled everything. Then the time
for starting was arranged: we were to be at Detroit by May 20 to take the first boat. As soon
as we got the drawings of the furnace we went to Cold Spring and contracted for engine,
Dlowers, hot blast and all necessary pipes to complete the two stacks. About May 20 we left
Westockbridge, Mass., for Detroit with twenty-two men and families and arrived at Detroit
about May 22. The steamer Gilmore left the day before and we lay there five davs before the
aext boat, the General Taylor, came. In our five days at Detroit we went to Wyandotte fur-
^ace to see if there was any improvement in making iron from the old eastern style. There
we found them in the same old rut. W^e also wanted to find how they used the Lake Superior
ire. They did not use it clear; they had found what they called Blackband ore that they used
ibout one-quarter. The founder said that the Lake Superior hard ore was too rich to use clear,
that it did not furnish any cinders to make the furnace work pliable and economical. On the
first trip of the General Taylor we set sail for Lake Superior about six o'clock in the after-
noon May 27, 1857, the first steamboat I was ever on. She went slow but safe, used wood as
fuel. We landed at the Sault the second day about noon, had a good run for the afternoon,
)ut towards night we saw ice ahead. We went through one field into another all right. We
Tot opposite of Grand Island the next night and struck another field of ice. We could not
make one foot of headway until after midnight. Then the captain shut off steam and lay
■here until eight o'clock the next morning. Then the ice parted some and the captain made for
\n open channel and by hard work we landed at Marquette about eleven o'clock, June 3, 18S7,
md I was a happy man. I said then I would never go on that trip again and I never have,
for I am no water bird. After landing we took dinner, then got a one-horse rig and four of
js got in for Collinsville; before we had got ten rods on Main street the horse gave out. The
;and was knee deep; all got out and pushed the rig up to W^ashington street and we got in
ind rode through the pines up to about where Ridge street now crosses Third street. Then
\e found a passable road.

We landed at Collinsville, found that there had been some money spent there and
everything appeared in good working' order, and Mr. Gay said as soon as he could be spared he
would try his hand at it, making bloom iron. We then returned to Marquette and in the
evening met Mr. C. T. Harvey and Mr. Hungerford and arranged to make a start the next
norning for the Pioneer furnace location twelve miles w-est of Marquette by plank road and
•nule team, the only way of getting there then. We got there before noon, took dinner at the
Jackson Boarding House, then started for the place where the furnace was to be built. We
looked it over and found the ground would suit our plans, water handy for boilers and stack.
The next question was, "Where are the stones coming from for the bank wall and stack?" Mr.

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA 157

these blooms had undergone various tests but by far the most significant
test of its breaking strength was that recorded In' D. V>. Alartin, engineer in

Huiigerford said tliat there was any amount of rock just above the Jackson mine, a quarter of
a mile to haul. I told him that 1 wanted to see it. We all went up and found the rock. The
question was how to haul it. They said they could arrange to use the plank road by building
a train track from it to the furnace, nearly a quarter of a mile farther. That made a haul
about three-quarters of a mile. That settled the stone question. On our way up we stopped at
the Jackson mine and saw the chips ore contracted for. Not being acquainted with the ore it
looked all right. It was in the dump where coarse ore had been broken vip in hand ])ieces. I
will have more to say further on.

From there we took short cut back of the Jackson mine straight to the furnace location.
About half way through the woods I ran close to the roots of a large maple tree that had
blown over. I stopped a moment and looked at it. Mr. Gay was some ways ahead of me. I
called to him, "See here. Gay; here is some of the old Salisbury hematite oite." They all
came back. Harvey and Hungerford said, ''Oh, that is nothing but rotten ore," and Mr.
riungerford kicked some of it with his foot, but that did not stop me and I shall have more to
say again about it. We kept on to the furnace location and selected a place to pitch our
shanties and then returned to Marquette to prepare for and move the next morning with lum-
ber, nails, tools, bread, blankets and provisions. We loaded two mule carts with men and sup-
plies and at the gorge, about half way, we loaded four more carts with lumber at Lewis
Switzer"s mill and got to the location about eleven o'clock. With m.en and axen we commenced
clearing for our shanties and by noon we had enough cleared for all buildings. After eating
lunch of hard tack we began building shanties and by night we had the roof on two and two
more under way. We all stayed at the Jackson boarding bouse that night. In the morning I
left the carpenter to lay floors and finish doors and windows. At about ten o'clock two fami-
lies came up with stoves and furniture and at noon the two shanties were smoking. I then
took the laborers to clear a road to the furnace location and also the ground there. The third
day I broke ground and the earth was removed ready for the back walls, as soon as we could
procure stone and derrick to handle them. The steam railroad was being graded between our
shanties and the furnace, the timber had been cut just wide enough to do the grading, and on
the third day after supper Joseph Luther and myself took a walk up the railroad to see how
near the grading was to our location. We had not gone a thousand feet before we discovered
to the north a ledge of rock fifteen to twenty feet high. We soon made an investigation of it
and found it just what we wanted to build all walls and stacks. I soon returned and reported
to j\Ir. Gay and it was not long before jNIr. Gay and myself were back there again and saw it
was as I had reported. We then went to the furnace location and found it was less than a
quarter of a mile from the furnace and independent of plank road and down grade. On the
fourth day we had a road cut and cleared to the quarry and ready for drilling and blasting,
The train track was laid to the quarry, and derricks were erected at furnace and quarry for
handling large stones. From that time on every part of construction was pushed with all speed
possible, even for cutting wood for cliarcoal. The only delay was the steam railroad did not
get through to the furnace until about the middle of August to deliver our bricks and heavy
freight, but she brought us five carload of brick — the first freight she ever left Marquette with.
As the rail was not laid a hundred feet beyond where the brick was unloaded, after that every-
thing was at our hand. During the fall after the railroad was graded past the Jackson mine, I
happened to go up the track and a little east of the mine a small cut was made through a vein
of hematite ore as good as I ever saw. And that 'same vein has since proved to be a large
mine.

A sketch of our boarding house: The fare consisted of corned beef, salt pork, hard tack
and potatoes. Our cook was a salt water sailor from Connecticut and would not bake bread,
nor cake of any kind, only what he could make out of hard tack. He would make puddings
and dried apples for sauce and if any one complained he was ready to fight. I have seen
plates flying straight across the dining room, for he was no respecter of persons. But it lasted
only about two months, for Mr. Gay sent east after his colored cook. Then things went very
well for a couple of months. But after Mr. Hungerford got -Mien Whiting and his wife to

158 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

chief of the United States navy, to J. C. Dobbin, then secretary of the navy.
His report was brief as follows :

"A piece was drawn down to one-half inch diameter (round), made into

take the boarding house, everything that a laboring man could ask for was provided — clean and
wholesome beds and rooms kept in first-class order. During the summer I was prevailed on by
Mr. Hungerford to bring my family to :\farquette. After consulting my wife she was willing
to come providing a house could be had near my work. Mr. Hungerford said that he would
see there was one built in time, but it was not finished until about Christmas. My family
arrived the fore part of September and I rented a small house on Washington street. Then I
soon made the change. After I had got the furnace under way, so that my mind was on the
machinery, I had the two boilers from Marquette brought up and found it would need the third
one. I made plans of the two old boilers and for the new one with smoke stack, made draw-
ings for steam dome and all necessary steam pipes and fi.xtures to set and complete the boilers
and sent them to Detroit to be made and delivered as soon as possible. They wei-e to send a
man to put them up when we were ready for them, also the Cold Spring Co. was to send a
man to put up the engines and blowers. It was necessary to bring all bank walls and both
stacks up on a level with the boiler foundation in order to turn the three arches under the hot
blast and boiler. As navigation would close about Nov. 20, it would be impossible to bring
those men here and back by boat, as I could not be ready for them before Christmas or New
Years. The only way was, then, to bring them overland. The nearest railroad to the upper
peninsula was at Oshkosh, W'is., and a tough journey for eastern men to undertake, and besides
expensive. Mr. C. T. Harvey's headquarters were in Marquette on other matters aside from
building the furnace. About the first of November he sent up word to have Mr. Gay come
down the next day to arrange about bringing those two men. I told him before leaving that
we could not get ready to set either engine or boiler before the middle of January. He re-
ported to Mr. C. T. Harvey and on his own responsibility said that there was no need of either
of those men's services, as L. D. Harvey could jnit the machinery up as well as any men
imported at an expense of four or five hundred dollars. j\Ir. Harvey turned to Mr. Gay and
asked: "Is he machinist enough to handle the machinery?"' Mr. Gay then said that he had
worked for him at the Berkshire Iron Furnace three years and seven months and that he had never
had a job of any kind to do that he could not do and, moreover, he had put in a set of blowers
at the Berkshire furnace built at Cold Spring, where the Pioneer engines and blowers were built,
and nothing could work better than they always had. Mr. C. T. Harvey asked: "How is it
about the guarantee of their machinery doing the work if put up by another man than their
own?" Mr. Gay said, "We will take the risk if L. D. Harvey will undertake it." C. T. Har-
vey said: "Send him down in the morning." Mr. Gay returned and reported what he had
done and turned to me. "Will you undertake it?" I said to Mr. Gay: "Did you ever ask me
to do any job in the last three years with you at the Berkshire Iron Works that I could not
do?" As my family was living at Marquette I was glad to take the trip. I reported to Mr.
Harvey. He soon broached the subject. He said: "Is it not too big an undertaking for you
without more skilled workmen than you have?" "No, sir, that machinery is made to go together
and no man can put it otherwise. All there is is to get it in line and a solid foundation. All
the trouble will be in making the steam pipe connections, and I think I can overcome that as
well as the men from below could. .\t all events I will run the risk." INIr. C. T. Harvey
replied: "That settles one important question and is a great relief to me and I will see that
you are rewarded for your extra energies in pushing the works to a completion." I returned to
the works and made a list of tools, gas pipe, packing iron to complete the work and they
arrived in good time. Then I had everything my own way and as fast as the works would
receive any part of the machinery or boilers, hot blast, it was shoved in place ready for the
next, until it was all in place. I had no trouble in finding men to help. There were men that
knew nothing about machinery only as I told them and helped them. It took about all of my
time looking after the carpenters and masons. I was told that it did not thaw from the first
of November until the first of May, and when I plowed through the ice in Marquette Bay on
June 3, 1857, I began to think there was something in it. But about Jan. 5, 1858, we had a
January thaw that kept us busy all one day to clean the snow from our mason work that was
not finished and in -April the snow all went off about the clearings, but that winter we had
about S ft. of snow.

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA 159

a chain link, tested in the chain proving machine and broke at 75/:. tons or
169,120 pounds."

The force of this test can be appreciated when it is known that the

Just before navigation closed we imported a founder, Daniel Woodruff, from Bennington.
V't., a man tliat was brought up in a furnace, recommended by Mr. Gillison, our boss fire brick
mason, from the same place, and he had the hearth and tuyeres placed after the style of those
days — two tuyeres, brick dam and temp, and I was on time with hot blast engine, boilers and
hoist. About the middle of April I fired up the boilers to test the steam pipes and engine and
everything went as smooth as though it had been running a year, except that a few steam
joints had to be tightened up, not two hours' work. When I got them all right I let her go.
The engine-room was filled with men and women, the whistle was blown for ten minutes after I
had tested everything. She was shut down until a day or two before starting the furnace, then
she was started. Everything was ready for the blast. The builders of the engines and Mr.
C. T. Harvey were notified that every part of the machinery was up and had been tested and
every part worked like clock-work, and it was a big load off of my shoulders to see it start off
without a hitch. It was a big undertaking without a machine shop nearer than Detroit. When
the six-inch cast iron steam pipe came together it was a foot too long owing to a bed of quick-
sand T struck in setting the engine foundation. That I cut off and a wrought iron flange
shrunk on in place of the cast iron one cut off. But notwithstanding mishaps all was on time
with other parts of construction work. About April 20 we were ready to make a start. We had
a kiln of ore. In those days all ore must be roasted before going into the furnace. I will
explain the roasting process. It consists of a layer of logs on the ground, say thirty feet
square, then a layer of ore a foot thick, then a layer of coal braze six inches thick, then
another layer of ore, so on as high as handy to throw up. By drawing each layer in, it would
be half tlie size on top of the first layer; then settling fire to it, it would burn a week. The
ore was broken up to the size of butternuts before using it. This will seem strange to the
manufacturers of iron at the present day. Starting to make the first iron, the stack was filled
in the morning about half full with charcoal, the balance with light charges of ore and flux and
fired at the hearth. Now Mr. Gay said to me, "Give us wind and water, and Woodruff and
myself will make the iron." "All right, you shall have all you want," said I, as I knew that
the engine and pumps were capable of doing' twice the amount of work. The furnace took the blast
all right to all appearance and everything looked favorable for a good start until the next morning
when the ore began to come into the hearth. It did not separate, iron and cinders, but all came to-
gether. It was what we call stog. Then the lime was increased, but it did not overcome. The ore
was ta-ken off and changed for two days and night. Finally she began to work a little better, but
Mr. Gay and Woodruff were about played out for sleep. The second night about twelve o'clock
they came to me and said they must have some rest. I told them both to go to their bunks
and I would take a man and look after it until morning, but if she took a turn backwards I
would call them. But it improved slowly and about four o'clock in the morning I saw that she
liad separated and cinders were at the tuyeres, and soon made a pig bed, of a dozen pigs and
let the hearth fill with iron and cinders up to the tuyeres. Tlien I tapped her and got the
first five pigs of iron made on the upper peninsula. At six o'clock the whistle blew and out
came Mr. Gay and Woodruff. "Well, how is she?" they asked. I pointed to the five pigs.
They bothed laughed and said they knew she was all right or they would not have left her. If
Mr. Gay is entitled to the credit of the first iron made, I am also, as we both came to build
and start her. But under the circumstances I claim the credit, though it may not belong to me.
We will let the readers decide. From that time on she never worked well. Some days she
would warm up and appear as though she was all right. The next day she would be cold and
black, the iron would not separate from the cinders. Then she would take a turn and so on
for about ten days. At last the foundryman notified me that he wanted to be relieved from all
responsibility of making iron from Lake Superior ore and lime. He said that no man could.
As we had a small stock of coal on hand we made up our minds to blow her out and relieve
Woodruff and let our coal accumulate, and in the meantime try some other man and do the
necessary repairs to the furnace ready for another start. As soon as we concluded to blow-
out and try another foundryman, Mr. Gay sent a letter to Joseph Harris, the man that was
foundryman at the Wyandotte furnace, below Detroit, where we made a stop on our way to

160 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

British admiralty proof of chain cable at that time, of which the round
iron is seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, was fourteen tons, and the
American proof chain of the same dimensions was fifteen tons. The piece

Lake Superior. This was about the opening of navigation. We made him an offer and he
was on hand about the first of June, 1858. The first failure of tlie furnace in not starting off
any better was not all the fault of the foundryman. The most fault was in the chip ore after
a close examination. As I have said before, the company had a contract with the Jackson Iron
Co. for the chips of their mine, that is, the small pieces that could not be picked up by hand
were shoveled into carts and dumped outside the mine. It will be perfectly plain to any man
that the good ore must mix with the rock and Jasper that they came in contact with in mining
the ore. .Such pieces of rock and Jasper that were large enough to handle were thrown into
carts and what was called chips was shoveled ore, Jasper, and rock all together. I do not think
the Jackson mine was an underground mine at that time. It was an open pit in the side hill
where the train track went into it on a level with the main track. The Jasper and rock was
responsible for a part of the first block up and a part in the new hearth all being built in the
winter and not being thoroughly dried before starting, the Jasper and rock referred to was near
one-quarter of the chips used and it took twice the amount of coal to melt them as it did the
pure ore. After blowing out we concluded to make the next start on a part of the rotten
liematite ore as it was called in those days. Between the time of blowing out and starting the
second time we had about fifty tojTs mined and hauled to the furnace and as soon as Mr. Har-
ris arrived, we were ready to start, after he had arranged his tuyeres and made some small
changes. When he came he said that we would have some trouble with clear hard ore, as
they had at Wyandotte until they got a mixture of what they called the black band ore. He
was formerly from the east near the old Salisbury ore district and when we showed him the
fifty tons of hematite ore he exclaimed: "Why, where did you get that? Why, that looks like
our eastern ore." It was some time before he could believe it was here, as he had been told
that there was no other on Lake Superior but the hard ledge ore. It was but a short distance to
the railroad cut where I found it the year before. "So come," said I, "and I will convince
you that it is not imported ore." When he saw it he said, "I am not afraid of making a start
with one-half of it with hard ore." When all was ready he had the stack filled and lightly
charged with the mixture of ores and lime and fired and in six hours the blast was put on
and she started off very well and made a cast the next morning. But it was a week or more
before he could handle her, but made some four to six tons a day. After she got warmed up
and increased the hematite ore, she made what she was built for and more. The number of
tons she made I do not remember. Now our founder was an eastern man and would not submit
to the first improvement from the old style of tymp or dam. Twice a week we had to shut
down abovit two Iio\irs to put in a new tymp and dam and sto]) the stack back with clay in
order to put in the fire brick. I got tired of it and told the founder that I would put in a
water tymp and dam. Lie said I would chill the furnace up with them. "I will run the risk
of it," I told him. After fooling with the old style of tymp about two months, I made a
pattern for a tymp, dam and dust plate and bent the gas pipe to fit and cast them in the
pig bed, and the next tymp was a water one. The furnace took a turn about that time and it
was all laid to the water tymji. Harris came to me and said that it had chilled the furnace.
I said: "Shut off the water for a spell and let her warm up," and after a couple of hours the
furnace was all right again, and the next day he said it was the nicest thing he ever saw for
a tymp and when the next dam was wanted in went the water dam and dust plate. The next
day we stopped to put in the old style tymp and dam and we were from one to two tons
short of iron. They were a new thing for a charcoal furnace, but all hard coal furnaces
used them and I could not see why tliey could not be used in a charcoal one. At all events I
was bound to try them and they were a success and all the furnaces built on Lake Superior
from that time on used the same pattern. Our coal was all made in coal pits, but during the
summer of 1858 and the winter of 1859, I built brick coal kilns and one cast iron, cone shaped,
lined with one layer of brick four inches thick got up by C. T. Harvey. It worked very well
at first, but it would not stand the expansion. The flanges ttiat held it together gave out and I
put three bands of wrought iron around it. It was in use that way some two or three years,
hut the sheet iron kilns gotten nj) by him later on were a success in all respects in making

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA 161

of iron tested by Chief Engineer Alartin, therefore, was more than five
times the proof test required of chain Hnk of nearly twice the diameter.
Think of tlie sensation which Chief Engineer JNIartin must have received.

coal. They held thirty cords of wood. They were emptied twice a month, making from twelve
to thirteen hundred bushels each time. In June, 1859, I left the Pioneer furnace and moved
to Marquette to take charge of the building of the Northern furnace, four miles south of Mar-
quette, and a man by the name of Spillman took charge of the Pioneer furnace. He gradually
decreased the chip ore and added the hematite. His term was short and Mr. J. B. Case took
his place in 1S60. He was a practical furnace man and he stopped using the chips and opened
a mine and mined his entire stock of ore. It was on the Jackson Company's land. I think the
royalty was the same as when the chips were used.

This is a true statement of my labor and experience from Tune, 1S57, to June. 1859, and
I think I am entitled to the credit of building the first furnace on Lake Superior and making
the first pig iron; also the finding and using the first hematite ore, as it is the only ore that is
sought for and used by all manufacturers of pig iron at the present day.

In the winter of 1859 C. T. Harvey organized the Northern ^Michigan Iron Co., to be
located at the mouth of the Chocolay river, four miles south of Marquette. I was engaged to
build and superintend the work. The engines and blowers were built at Cold Spring. N. Y., a
duplicate of the Pioneer Iron Co.'s mach.inery except much larger, as the furnace was to be a
hard coal one. It was not finished that fall. The propeller Manhattan that was to bring out
last stone and brick went ashore near Grand Marais, but a duplicate of her cargo came the next
spring. She was finished during the summer and a stock of coal also shipped. Our ore was
hauled from Marquette dock by scows, and a steamboat called the Foggie. She would make four
miles an hour if all was calm, but if she had a head wind enough to make the least ripple on
the lake she would just about hold her own until the wind went down. We made a point to
start down just before sunset. Tlie furnace was started and ran about two months. Then the
stock of coal was used up. We were surrounded Ly farmers and they complained ab3ut the
building of a hard coal furnace in the woods. What they wanted was a charcoal furnace so
they could clear their farms and offered to give all their wood if the company would change it
to charcoal. In the winter and summer of 1861 she was changed and ten eighty-cord kilns were
built. In the meantime we gave all a chance to make pit coal at seven dollars per hundred
bushels and we accum.ulated a small stock of coal by using the kilns as fast as they were
finished, btit they did not furnish coal to run her steady. In the same summer "Mr. C. T.
Harvey had a sheet iron kiln built below, the same size and shape as the cast iron kiln at
Ncgaunee, all in sections, to put up for a trial, lined with four-inch brick, and it proved a suc-
cess. But the steamboats charged double freight, owing to the sections being so large the only
place they could put them was on top of the cabin deck. As the furnace had to lay idle a
part of the winter, I said to Mr. Harvey. "Have the sheet iron and angle iron cut in right
shape and bundled up and shipped here and I will punch and rivet them here and keep my
men at work." He hardly believed it could be done, but I said. "Send me everything' for
twelve kilns and if they are not up and smoking before next ^lay you can discharge me without
pay." Before blowing the furnace out of cast, all necessary plates to shape the iron and
punch them, I had them all in the work, but soon had them so advanced I could set one up
every week after I got them under way and masons to line them. They were all smoking on
time, a hard thing to believe, but ten of them did turn out more charcoal each month than the
ten eighty-cord square brick kilns. They held thirty cords each and turned twice a month with
all ease. We ran vmtil the farmers' wood was all used up, and all other wood to be had within
hauling distance. Then she was blown out and I was left in charge of the property. All
teams and wagons, harness, sleighs, were disposed of. After it was decided to make the next
start with hard coal again in 1873 she was changed, but the big panic struck before she was
finished wdth a large stock of hard coal at the furnace. It was sold to Mr. Wheaton and
hauled to the rolling mill furnace at ^Marquette by teams. That was the last of her until 1890.
She changed hands and I changed her back to charcoal again and ran eleven months and stopped
as the price of pig iron was below cost of manufacture, and I have had the care of it up to

FIG IROX .MAXUl'ACTURE IX TtlE PENINSULA

163

The chain should have broken before the weight had reached twelve tons.
The wonder grew as the weight increased from ten to twenty, to thirtv, to
forty, to hfty. to sixty, to seventy and yet the chain withstood it until live and
one-half more tons were added. The test established a new breaking strength
for iron.

The circular of the Pioneer Iron Co. was as glittering as the modern
prospectus. The circular stated that the company controlled 4,134 acres of

THE FURNACE AT FOKESTVILLE, NEAR MARQUETTE, BUILT IN 1860.

this day. In 1S"0 I superintended the building of the P.ay furnace at Grand Island. In 1871
or 187 J I remodeled the Bancroft furnace over by raising her stack ten feet and moved her
hot blast from top of stack into the ground, and raised the top house aside from all furnace
cares. In 1860 I built a house here and have occupied it ever since. The township of Choco-
lay was organized about the same time and I filled the office of justice of the peace eight
years, and moderator of schools until 1888, and postmaster from 1866-1896, and supervisor of the
.township from 1866 to 1881, and aside from that I have built five sawmills, several houses and
barns, and done about all the surveying of the townships of Chocolay, Yalmer. West Branch and
.Sands, and have all the work that I can handle. I am not a retired man, but should be but for
iTiisfortunes that I will not exiilain.

The above is a true statement from my memory for the last forty-eight years, as it is
impossible for me to tind any records or dates I never supposed I would have the opportunity
to put them in writing.

Written by Lorenzo D. Harvey, born in the township of Austerlize. Columbia county, N.
v., Sept. 24, 1831. Written at Harvey, Mich., November, 190.S.

164

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

timber land which "at
the usual estimation that
a cord of wood will pro-
duce 40 bushels of char-
coal of which 125-
bushels will furnish fuel
to melt one ton of iron,
and assumin^^ that each
acre will yield sixty

THE OLD CHARCOAL KILNS NEAR NEGAUNEE. COrds of WOOd, tllC COUl-

pany's lands will furnish fuel for nearly 80,000 tons of iron ore sufficient to

supply two stacks for ten years." The circular estimated that the cost of

making iron w^ould be $19.75, delivered

at Chicago, and the cash price for char-
coal pig being then $38, the profit

would be $18.25 per ton. With this

very encouraging prospect the directors

felt bold enough to announce that they

intended to erect that year (1857) one

stack capable of turning out ten to twelve

tons daily.

The first stack of the Pioneer Iron

Co. went into blast in April, 1858, and

the second one in J\Iay, 1859. The

prospects of large dividends, however, were rudely shattered. The annual

report issued in September, 1859, stated that beside the capital fully paid

in of $125,000, a floating debt of $95,000 had accumulated and that
;j^'" the company was losing money on

every ton of iron turned out. The
quality of its charcoal iron, however,,
was above criticism.

A number of other furnaces fol-
lowed the Pioneer, being located at
various points with reference to dif-
ferent advantages for the manufacture
of iron, one locating near a belt of
hardwood, another near a limestone
quarry, a third near an ore deposit
and a fourth to secure the benefit o£
GKEENwooD FURNACE, EUH^T IN 1864. watcr privileges.

MORGAN FURNACE. BUILT IN 1863.

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA

165

The furnace history of the upper pen-
insula, however, has been one of general
abandonment, the Pioneer being the only
one of the early furnaces to have sur-
vived. One can wander into the wilder
portions of the Marquette range today
with a feeling that no one has ever pene-
trated that portion of the wilderness and
suddenly come upon the remains of an
old charcoal furnace with its battery of
ruined kilns, embankments and roadways
■ — mute testimonials of earnest but unre-
warded effort.

The first canal at Sault Ste. jMarie was

'■'■'"^^.^

'*.:

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'f^f

CLARKSBURG FURNACE, BUILT IN lS66.

a state aft'air and was under control of
a Board of Control. It seems incredible
now but in 1859 in the middle of the
shipping season the board concluded to
close the canal for two months, begin-
ning with the first of August, for repairs.
The three mining companies, the Cleve-
land, Jackson and Lake Superior, made
common cause of this and sent the fol-
' owing petition to the board, which is
.■ery interesting reading at this time.

CHAMPION FURNACE, BUILT IN 186/.

"The trade in Lake Superior iron ore
is just beginning to establish itself and
it possesses the elements of indefinite in-
crease. It now occupies fourth-fifths
of the shipping employed on this
lake, and will undoubtedly be the
chief source of revenue to the
canal. The oresent season is a most

MUNISING FURNACE, BUILT IN 1 868.

166

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

critical period for this great interest. The ores of Canada and Missouri
have been brought into close competition with Lake Superior ore and at
the points of consumption of more than four-fifths of it those ores meet our
own on equal terms of facility of transportation and comparative cost.
There is no essential difference in the purity of Missouri ore and our own —
the developm.ent of the former has been stimulated and the cost of its
production diminished by a state contribution of nearly $2,000,000 to the
railroad which transports it to the river. The occupation of our markets

GRACE FURNACE, MARQUETTE, MICH., DESIGNED FOR ANTHRACITE COAL. EUILT IN 187I.

by the Missouri and Canada ores the present season would be an advantage
which could not be regained in years. The low price at which Lake
Superior ore must be offered at the lowest lake ports obviously limits its
production to the amounts that can be shipped at modern rates of freight
during the most favorable season of navigation. Of the 30,000 tons
shipped from this port last year not more than 1,000 tons were shipped
after October i. Its shipments must always be principally by sailing vessels,
because it cannot bear as high rate of freiglit, and as it is principally confined

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA

167

to the months of June, Jnly, August and September. After the latter
months not only is the navigation of Lake Superior somewhat hazardous,
but the advanced rates obtainable for other freight precludes the shipment
of ore. The companies represented are under engagement to supply this

PL\X OF THF PIONEER FURNACE IN 1857.

season some 60.000 tons; should the canal be closed during two of the above
months it will be impossible for them to furnish more than half the quantity,
and the furnaces which are their customers, will supply the deficiency for
the winter's manufacture with other ores. Not onlv would this occasion

168

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

the absolute loss to the canal revenues of the diminished amount of this
year's shipments, but the undue advantage thus obtained at a most critical
period of the business, by competing ores, would undoubtedly be perpetuated
through several years in a comparatively diminished demand for our own
Droduct. Our companies are the pioneers of the iron production on Lake

Superior; for ten years past we have
been continually increasing our invest-
ments and have made expenditures to
the amount of more than $1,000,000 in
the development of this production with-
out ever having realized a dollar of divi-
dends or returns."

It is gratifying to relate that the peti-
tion of the company was successful.
The common ore carrier was the sail-
ing vessel and, as the petition relates,
vessel owners believed that ore would
always be carried in them principally.
They were being towed through the
rivers, the tug Champion towing fre-
c|uently as many as seven or eight at one
time.

The immediate effect of the break-
ing out of the war in 1861 was an
added depression in the iron business,
and it forced a number of the little
Gay, who had been instrumental in intro-
ducing blast-furnace methods in the peninsula and under whose guidance
the Pioneer furnace was built, had started the Bancroft furnace in i860.
Peter White had loaned him what little money he had to spare, but Gay
was unable to weather the storm, bred by the rebellion, and Peter White
had to step in as secretary and treasurer to protect his own interests. He
was busily engaged, too, in organizing a company to go to the front and he
was elected its captain. At this stage Marr^uette protested. It felt that it
needed him more than the war required his services and he was persuaded
not to go.

Marquette had now grown to be a village of nearly 2,000 inhabitants of
the substantial character. Peter's duties were growing upon him, and he
prepared to relinquish the office of postmaster which he had held for nearly
a dozen years. He was, however, before surrendering the office, to have an

L. n. HARVEY AS HE IS TODAY.

furnaces to the wall. Stephen R.

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170 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

experience which remains with him quite vividly today. Wherever there
is wood chopping to be done there is a Frenchman to be found. The
Canadian-French went to Marquette in great numbers, for all the furnaces
were fed with charcoal. Many of them could neither read nor write, but
nevertheless they took sweet pleasure in letters from home. They had num-
erous legends of Peter White. They knew that he had disappeared in years
gone by whenever the mail was uncommonly late and had come back with
letters for them. Some of the poor creatures thought that he went as far
as Montreal for the mail. They could not understand it otherwise. He
was a mysterious being to the French and their families, and was always
associated in their minds with dogs, snow shoes, sleds and Indians.

In April and May, when government delivery had been regularly es-
tablished, the mails were frequently late owing to- the deep snows. One
night a steamer arrived, the first of the season, bringing the accumulations
of a month of mail. Peter had taken it to his office and was distributing it
as expeditiously as possible by candlelight, as he knew that at six o'clock
in the morning a large crowd would have congregated for their letters. The
postoffice was merely a small room in the rear of the store, just large enough
for a table, chair and the mail bags. Peter had dumped the mail upon the
table and was standing distributing the letters into their respective boxes
when he heard a slight noise in the forward part of the store. Michel
Belloin, a tall and powerful Frenchman, was approaching. It needed but
one look at Michel to observe that he had been drinking heavily.

"You got any letter for Micho, Monsieur Pete," asked he, staggering
up to the rail.

"Come in the morning," answered Peter. 'T am just assorting the
mail now."

'T guess I will come into your little poss offis and sit on dat little chair
and see you put dose lette in that box," answered ^Michel, and suiting the
action to the word he undertook to enter the narrow door.

"There isn't room for you," exclaimed Peter. "It is against the law.
You cannot come in." ■ - , : !

"Oh, ho! What you "spose I care for de law or you neder? I will
come in anyhow You can't stop me."

As he lifted one foot he stepped over a mail bag at the door, Peter gave
him a quick push which caused him to fall backward to the floor and very
much enraged him. Arising he paced backward and forward across the
store floor, grating his teeth and clenching his fists, calling Peter all
manner of names and uttering all sorts of imprecations and epithets in

PIG IRON MANUFACTURE IN THE PENINSULA 171

French. Finding tliat Peter was paying no attention to him he stopped
at the door of the httle postoffice and shouted :

"You want to preten you don stand French. Mon Dieu, you don talk
good HingHsh. You just a half a breed, half French and half Hinjin. I
know what you want. You want me to strike vou in vour little
dam hofis then you bring me on the justes hofis tomorrow morn-
ing and make me pay five clolar. Aha ! You can't fool French-
man like dat. You come on to de street if you want me to
strike you. If I strike yuu I won't leave two greas spot on you. If I
strike you you will think it is a French horse kick you. You see dat spit
down dere? The sun he come he dry it up. Dat's just like you. If I
strike you you can't fine yourself anymore. You wouldn't know where you
gone to. I come to your poss hofis to 'cjuire for some lette, and I hax you,
just so polite I can, if you got any lette for Micho, and you say 'Get out,'
Ain't you shame yourself — don't you sorry you treat me that way? I'm
going to tell you something make you sorry that you say so cross to me.
I tink I will make your face come red. Some Frenchmen been come here
good many year ago; he ben tole me dat you use to carry de mail on your
back and a pack on your back, a hax in your hand, snow shoe on your feet
and sometime tree poor littel dog on a train draw de mail tru de woods,
and your tree littel dog was so poor you could see right tru him. (And here
the excited speaker held up his hands with fingers widely distended to rep-
resent the visible ribs of the poor dog.) Cos you was so damn poor. You
didn have money to buy provision for dat dog. Now you got to be the pos
hofis master and _\ou tink )ou are the biggest big bug on dis town — and when
I come to your poss hofis just so polite I can and hax you you got any lette
for Micho, you say 'Get out dar' like one dam dog. I like to know if dat's
the way to treat a gentleman. I guess vou didn't tot dat I know I could
tell you all dat. You tink now you biggest big bug on this whole town."

CHAPTER XVH.

PETER WHITE AS A BUSINESS MAN.

"^TN 1862 the Cleveland and Jackson iron companies declared their first

dividend and in 1863 Peter White incorporated his bank into a National

bank, calling it the P'irst National Bank of Marquette. The national

bankinq; law was then a little more than a vear old. He induced Samuel

P. Ely to accept the presidency while he himself became the cashier. Mean-

VILLAGE OF MARQUETTE ABOUT 1851.

while he was selling off and on a little iron to vesselmen. When no

other freights offered, vesselmen were in the habit of buying a little iron

in the hope that they could sell it for a few dollars extra at the lower lake

: ports and thus earn. a fair freight rate for the trip. If iron could be bought

PETER WHITE AS A BUSINESS MAN

173"

at $15 at Marquette and sold for $20 at a lower lake port there was fair re-
muneration in it for the vessel owner.

Peter had come into possession of considerable iron through his con-
nection with the Bancroft furnace and he had disposed of it gradually to
vessels as they called at ]\Iarquette. There are some men wdio are gifted
with prophetic vision. Possibly it is only reasoning power developed to the
highest sense. Grant was slowly but surely hemming the Confederate armies •
in and the country was assuming a healthier and more normal tone. All
at once it dawned upon Peter White that the nation would need iron and
that the foundries and mills were going to be caught without an adequate-"

MARQUETTE DOCKS AND SHIPPING ABOUT 1861.

supply of their raw material — pig iron — on h.and when the demand came.
He packed his grip and started on the track of vessels to which he had
been selling iron for months previously. He found a quantity of his own
iron on several of the docks, particularly Detroit, and he bought it back at
an advance of $6 per ton over the price at which he had sold it — surely a
good profit for the vessel man. He bought all that he could find upon
this trip, and then he went to Cleveland. Almost before he got there the

174 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

demand came, greatly stimulated by heavy orders from the government for
guns and railway equipment.

"Want any pig- iron ?" asked Peter White, walking into the office of the
Otis Foundry Co. in Cleveland.

"I should say we do," replied Otis, "and I'll pay $42 a ton for it if I can
get any."

Peter sold 1,000 tons at that figure before the day was done. He had
paid $24 a ton for it. In tw^o weeks he had cleared $35,000. He kept mighty
still about it, though. He had the shrewdness to know that it is good policy
to keep still when you're making money and to keep still when you're losing
money. For the charcoal iron of the Bancroft furnace he received before
the year was out $85, $90 and $95 per ton according to the various grades,
the highest figure iron has ever reached in the history of the country. It
was these transactions in iron which laid the foundation of Peter White's
fortune.

The iron companies by this time got fairly upon their feet and were
returning handsome dividends upon the capital invested. The Lake Superior
region had. however, scarcely been scratched. The shipments of 1,449 ^^^^^
in 1855 had increased to 114,401 tons in i860 but had fallen to 49,909 tons
in 1861 upon the outbreak of the civil war. They reached the total of
243,127 tons in 1864 showing a decided revival in the iron trade. The iron
resources of Lake Superior were never carried forward as a mere specula-
tion but as a legitimate business enterprise, to which fact is probably due
the scant recognition that the industry received in the newspapers of the
day. It is doubtful whether the existence of the companies was known on
the stock exchanges of New York and Boston. It may seem surprising
at this day, now that we know so much of what the iron companies actually
possessed that the financial part of the enterprise should have been in
doubt. But it was, and seriously so. Time was the asset which all of these
iron companies needed.

One Sunday afternoon in 1864 Peter White was down at the dock
watching the unloading of a steamer which had just arrived. A distin-
guished-looking gentleman approached him. who turned out to be none
other than Mr. Breckenridge, the vice-president of the Confederacy, and
who had just been placed upon parole upon his honor. He was enroute
for Canadian territory with a party of Southern gentlemen upon a hunting
expedition and telling Peter White that he had just been informed that he
was the banker of the town, asked him if he would let him have gold for
his paper currency.

PETER WHITE AS A BUSINESS MAN

175

Peter \\'hite instantly took the vice-president of the Confederacy to his
bank building, and, unlocking the door with his private key, entered. The
teller. \\\w had a room overhead, was seated in the bank reading. Peter
introduced his distinguished companion, and stating his mission recjuested
the teller to open the door to the vault. To the intense astonishment of the
vice-president of the Confederacy, and no less to that of Peter White him-
self, the teller refused to do anything of the kind.

'T do not beHeve," said he. "that business of any character whatever

MARQUETTE HARBOR IX 1863, SHOWING THE TYPE OF ORE CARRIER PREVAILING AT THAT

TIME.

should be transacted on Sunday. This gentleman can doubtless wait until
tomorrow morning."

Mr. Breckenridge explained that his steamer was to leave that very
afternoon and that, unfortunately, he could not wait. He added that he
would not have sought the favor had it been possible for him to wait un-
til the morrow. It became Cjuite clear, however, that the teller's religious
scruples were too deeplv rooted to be disturbed bv the plight of the vice-

176 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

president of the Confederacy. The more they argued the more resolute
he grew.

"A'ery well," said Peter, "write the number of the combination on a
piece of paper and I will open the safe. You can just scribble the figures
in an absent-minded way."

"That would be equivalent to opening the safe," replied the teller.
"It would be merely whipping the devil around the stump. I cannot trans-
act business on Sunday, either directly or indirectly. I decline to give you
the com.bination of the safe."

Most men would have exploded and Peter White is not to be blamed if
his color heightened a bit. But he said nothing.

"I believe I can get the money elsewhere," he said, turning to jNIr.
Breckenridge and leading the way out of the bank.

He secured the gold from a friend and Breckenridge went on his way
rejoicing. The next morning the teller entered Peter White's private of-
fice and tendered his resignation.

"T don't suppose," said he, "that you will have any further use for my
services."

Peter White tore up the letter of resignation.

"I am not going to discharge you for sticking to your principles," said
he. "I couldn't discharge any man for defending his conviction. I would
not, however, have acted as you did. I don't believe you displayed good
judgment."

A little later when the teller wanted to go into business for himself
Peter White gave him $10,000 without securitv.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNLOADING ORE.

TT was in 1865 that the Peninsula Raih-oad Co. organized by Chicago and
New York capitaHsts as a part of the Chicago & Northwestern system,
was extended from Escanaba on Green Bay to the iron mines of Ishpem-
ing and Negaunee, a distance of 62 miles, thus affording another outlet
for the shipment of ore through the Straits of Mackinac.

It was during this year also that George B. Stuntz concluded that
he would pay some attention to what Joe Posey had been telling him.
Stuntz had gone to the Lake Superior country in 1852 and settled in the
village of Superior. There was no Duluth in those days. Posey was a
woodsman and had gone all through the region north of Lake Superior
on the trail which for a hundred years had been traveled by the traders
and guides of the fur companies. In the course of his travels through
the north, Posey had crossed Vermilion Lake and had seen what he took
to be great mineral outcroppings on its eastern side. Stuntz, who knew
of the Marquette development, thought it possible that the iron formation
might be repeated. It was in October, 1865, that Stuntz left Superior
with Indian canoe men and guides for Vermilion Lake. It was not the
three-hour trip that it is to-day over a solid railway but a weary tramp
of weeks. There is the portage from the Fond du Lac, "the head of the
lake" around the rapids of the St. Louis river, a scramble of nearly ten
miles through brush and over windfalls, then a canoe ride of nearly lOO'
miles along the swift and black St. Louis, a portage of five miles across
to Pike river and a further voyage of 30 miles along the watershed before
the southern end of Vermilion lake was reached. Curiously enough in
traversing this watershed he was crossing the greatest ore body in the
world — Mesabi — but he had no knowledge then of the wealth beneath
his feet. Stuntz found two outcroppings where Posey had indicated,
one of which later became the Lee mine and the other the Breitung pit.
He broke ofif 60 pounds of it with sledges, a beautiful specular hematite,
which his party had to shoulder together with their supplies for a weary

1/8

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

tramp back to Superior, for the rivers by that time had all frozen. Stuntz's
attempts to interest capital were futile, as the distance was considered
too great. Vermilion was not to be developed then.

The Cleveland Company's dock at IVIarquette with its ore pocket
was loading the little schooners with considerable dispatch, but the prob-
lem of unloading the vessels at Cleveland and other Lake Erie ports by
means of a horse, hoisting the ore out of the hold with blocks and tackle
was extremely slow and tedious work. The firm of Bothwell & Ferris,
which operated the Nypano docks (now the Erie railway), in the old river

THE SCHOOXKK JAMES V. JuV.

This vessel was owned by tlic late George \V. Bissell, of Detroit, and was the
sjreatest carrier on the lakes when she was built in 1866.

bed at Cleveland, usually employed about forty horses in the work of
unloading the schooners. The horses pulled the tubs to the deck of the
schooner and the ore was then dumped into barrows and wheeled ashore.
It ordinarily took two days and more to unload a cargo of 400 tons which
was accounted a considerable cargo in those days. One day in the spring
of T867 J. D. Bothwell, who was watching a small engine lifting piles

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNLOADING ORE 179

into the air preparatory to driving them into the river bed, conceived the
idea that an engine of somewhat similar design, could also hoist the ore
from the holds of the vessels. He approached Robert Wallace, of Wal-
lace, Pankhnrst & Co., with the idea, and Wallace at once designed
and built a little portable 6 x 12 engine, fastened to the side of the boiler.
It could be moved about the dock to any desired position and could per-
form the same work which the horses were doing. After the engine had
teen installed the first vessel to come along was the bark Massillon, under
■command of Capt. Smith Moore, with a full cargo of 400 tons. When
Smith saw the queer little thing moving to its position alongside the
v^essel he inquired for what purpose it was being placed there, and upon
teing told that it was for the purpose of unloading his vessel, he swore
roundly. It is on record that he strode the deck of the Massillon in a
towering rage and demanded with energetic and eloquent profanity that
the horses be substituted on the ground that he did not want to remain
in port during the balance of the week. Notwithstanding Smith's protest
the Massillon was the first ore vessel to be unloaded by machinery. The
little engine proved to be much more expeditious in its work than the
horses, for before the day was done the bark was vuiloaded. Smith's
anger faded as he saw the little engine bend to its work, and was delighted
to find that he was ready to leave that very evening. Bothwell & Ferris
paid Wallace, Pankhurst & Co., $1,200 for the engine. It was the means
of making the firm of Bothwell & Ferris rich, for they were enabled to
do the work quicker and cheaper, and as their contract with the railway
was based upon a fixed percentage of the tonnage handled, quickness and
cheapness meant a double advantage to them. The little engine created
a furore along Lake Erie docks and Wallace, Pankhurst & Co. received
orders for nine of them immediately thereafter.

"It meant a big boost in our business too," said Robert Wallace,
telling the story. "I remember what a mighty big thing those contracts
seemed to us — and to have nine of them, one right after the other. It
literally put us on our feet."

These little engines did no more than to haul the ore to the decks in
tubs, from which it was dumped into barrows and wheeled ashore on
the runway. The little engine operated three strands of rope fall, hoisting
from the hold of the boat three tubs of ore at one time. In the hold there
were two shovelers and a sharacker to each shovel. The sharacker was paid
by the shoveler one-third of his wages. On the runway above there was a
wheeler and dtunper who took care of the lines and gave the signal to the
engineer to hoist the tub out of the hold. The tub was dumped by the

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNLOADING ORE 181

wheeler and dumper into the barrow and wheeled out on the runway on
wooden horses to the ore pile on dock and dumped. There were three
wheelers and one dumper to each hatch of the boat. This method of unload-
ing continued for nearly fifteen years thereafter.

Marquette in its center slopes gently to the lake and both east and west
the descent is abrupt. The western part is known as the Ridge, a most ap-
propriate name, since it is both rugged and high. It commands a view of
the entire city, the beautiful Presque Isle and a vast expanse of the waters
of Lake Superior, sometimes turbulent and sometimes as placid as a pond.
It was upon this ridge, directly overlooking the lake, that Peter White
secured thirteen acres of land and in 1867 built the house which is his
home to this day. It is the most splendid residence in Marquette.

In 1868 the town of Marquette was burned to the ground, but Peter
White's house on the ridge was not a part of the catastrophe. The only
thing of a business kind saved was the Cleveland dock. Among the ruins
was the plant of the Mining Journal, owned by Peter White. He sold the
good will and subscription list to A. P. Swineford for $100. There was
little else to sell at that moment, but even at that it was a great bargain.
Swineford resurrected the remains and made a good paper out of it.

Peter White had now grown to be an influential citizen and was
clearly and unmistakably the first man in Marquette. He succeeded
to the presidency of the First National Bank in 1869, which office he has
held continuously since. As banker, real estate agent and capitalist he was in-
variably consulted when any new enterprise was started in the town. If it
was worthy he encouraged it by a personal investment, and by this policy
he both made and lost money.

"I have bought," said he in later years, "considerable stock in various
•companies, but I have never sold a share in any of them. Some have been
good and some have been very bad, but on the whole I have come out a lit-
tle ahead. At any rate, by this policy I am sure that no person has ever
lost any money through me."

He also started a general insurance business with special reference to
marine insurance, both hull and cargo, which later became extensive.

In 1869 the first steamer to be designed for ore carrying purposes
exclusively was built by Peck & Masters, of Cleveland. This was the
R. J. Hackett, and she was built to carry the ore of the Jackson mine.
The Hackett was 211 ft. long and 33 ft. beam. The following year the
Forest City was built as her consort. The Forest City was 213 ft. long
and 23 ft. beam. The system of propeller and consort grew in popularity
and gradually displaced the crude sailing vessel. It abolished the profit-

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SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNLOADING ORE

183

able business of towing up and down the rivers which the tugs had en-
joyed. To counteract it the tugs would occasionally tow the sailing ves-
sels all the way from lower to upper lake ports and back, but this effort
was only temporary, the sailing vessels gradually abandoning their inde-
pendent existence and becoming consorts to steamers themselves.

When the town of Marquette was incorporated and was entitled to
have a mayor the people turned instinctively to Peter White. He consented
to run. He was a Democrat in principle and is so yet, but he severed his
affiliation with the party when it seemed willing to make a sacrificial of-
fering of the financial credit of the country upon the altar of free silver a

THE STEAMER v. H. KETCHUM, I^AUNCHED TN 1 874.

VESSEL ON THE LAKES.

SHE WAS THE LARGEST

few years ago. Now envy is one of human nature's frailties, and when
Peter White consented to run for mayor a certain number got together and
nominated a rival candidate. Peter White made no campaign and neither
did his supporters ; but the opposition worked night and day. They toured
the highways and byways incessantly, and when the votes were counted it
was found that the opposition had elected their candidate by a majority of
sixty-one. Great was the indignation of Marquette. They felt that an
outrage had been committed. The successful candidate was fearfully mor-

184

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

tified over the result. He declared that he went into the contest as a joke
and that he would not have gone into it at all if he had had the remotest
idea that he was going to be elected. He implored Peter White to take
the office and when Peter White declined he actually wept. Four years
later when Peter White was out of town he was unanimously elected mayor
of Marquette. This is probably the only instance on record where a man
obtained a mayoralty without a single dissenting vote. But he sent in his
declination by wire. And so he never has been mayor of the town.

A lasting friendship was formed between Peter White and Samuel P.
Ely, and when Mr. Ely was elected mayor of Marquette in 1872, Peter
White commemorated his administration by building a library and dedi-

THE WOODEN FLEET IN SHELTER AT SAND BEACH — A SCENE OF TWENTY YEARS AGO.

eating it to the city. It was a small affair but it was the germ of a splendid
structure. A little later he presented to the city ten thousand volumes from
his own private library.

In 1874 the steamer V. H. Ketchum was built at Marine City, and
thousands gathered to see her go overboard, for she was 20 feet longer
than anything afloat and was regarded as a floating monster. She was,
in fact, far in advance of dock facilities, and though she was not profitable
at first she subsequently earned fortunes for her owners. The Ketchum
was 233 ft. long, 41 ft, beam and 24 ft. deep.

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186 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

In 1875 a number of Detroit capitalists began to project a railway from
St. Ignace to Marquette, under the title of the Detroit, Mackinaw & Mar-
quette Railway, and Peter White w-as again sent to the legislature to see
about the grant to aid in the development of this enterprise. Upon this oc-
casion he went to the senate. His influence was felt instantly and irresistibly.
It had been nearly twenty years since he had made the trip to Lansing on
snow shoes, but the memory of it had not been forgotten. This time he went
by railway. Through his effort the projected railway became an assured
undertaking and the people of Marquette went out to meet him upon his re-
turn from the senate. A delegation endeavored to intercept his train at
a little railway station about twenty miles from Marquette, but these he suc-
cessfully evaded. Not so at the railway station at Marquette, however. The
whole town had congregated there to greet him and the enthusiasm was un-
bounded. Amid laughter, shouting, fireworks and general rejoicing they
unhitched the horses from his sleigh and drew him to his home.

Meanwhile George B. Stuntz was endeavoring to interest capital in
the iron ore deposits near Vermilion Lake, which he had discovered ten
years previously. He induced W. W. Spalding of Ontonagon and George C.
Stone of Duluth to look into the deposits. They took with them A. H.
Chester, professor of geology in Hamilton college. These men went to
examine what had been reported to Spalding as an immense iron deposit
south and east of Vermilion lake. It may be noted that this w'as the first
examination for iron ore ever made upon the iron range which has since
become the wonder of the world — Mesabi — and the fact that it was made
upon a part of the range which has so far proved of no real value does not
militate against the enterprise. Stuntz endeavored to lead Chester to his
former finds upon Vermilion lake but the latter was skeptical. He did,
however, furnish Stuntz two Indians and a keg of powder. Stuntz soon
found his old location, commenced drilling and shot the first blast in the
history of iron mining in Alinnesota. What with digging and blasting they
broke off about sixty tons of ore which, it was afterwards found, ran from
65 to 66 per cent in iron of Bessemer quality. Prof. Chester, who was at
work upon the Mesabi, was at once summoned and was astonished at the
result.

:188 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"Why," said he, "with three men you have obtained more ore than I
have found down there with twenty-two men."

Ahhough this excellent showing w^as made and although Stuntz called
Chester's attention to finds further east at what later became the Breitung
-pit, the capitalists backing Chester were so discouraged at the poor showing
on the other range that nothing was done. Vermilion was not even to be
•opened then.

Another iron ore district was undergoing exploration, however, and was
presently to become an important factor. Why the Alenominee, lying con-
tiguous to the Marquette range, should have remained so long unknown is
not readily understandable nowadays but it was doubtless influenced by an
impression then prevalent that iron ore in paying qualities was not to
be found in districts whose geological formation did not correspond with that
-of the Marquette range. Certainly tract after tract, from w^hich millions
of tons of ore have since been won, was stripped of its standing pine and
abandoned. Even the experts in locating the lands of the St. Mary's Canal
Company unsuspectingly released many valuable deposits wdiich had been
withdrawn from the market until the company had completed its selection.
■One of these was the Ouinnesec mine, the outcropping of which was dis-
covered in the fall of 1871, by John L. Buell in company with John Arm-
strong, on a tract which had been entered by Sales & Lasier in 1864, but
which had been cancelled to allow the canal company to complete its selec-
tion. It was not until the spring of 1873 that the title to this tract was re-
stored to Sales & Lasier and in May of that year Buell resumed his ex-
plorations with a force of fifteen men. A deposit of blue ore was struck on
Aug. 3. In the spring and summer of 1874 fifty-five tons of it was hauled
to Menominee on sleds and wagons and smelted in the furnace there with a
mixture of Jackson hard ore and Winthrop. Robert Jackson, superintend-
ent of the furnace, tried the last charge with ^Menominee ore alone, working
it successfully and proving its tractability. This was the first practical test
of Menominee range ore and development was rapid thereafter. It be-
came a regular shipper in 1877 and has been an increasingly valuable source
• of mineral wealth since. The Menominee range lies in the northern part

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNLOADING ORE

189'

of Menominee county and the southern part of Marquette county in Mich-
igan, extending also into the adjoining county of Florence in the state of
Wisconsin.

In 1876 Peter White estab-
lished his reputation as a stump
speaker by campaigning in the
peninsula in behalf of Samuel J.
Tilden, who was the democratic
nominee for president of the
United States. Peter White's
friendship for him began in 1864,
when Mr. Tilden became identi-
fied with the iron mines of the
peninsula, and no more active
campaign was ever waged in that
section of the country than ]Mr.
White waged for the friend
whom he has always believed was
elected to the great office of
president.

Two ranges were now contrib-
utors to the stream of ore going
down the lakes. Vessels were
gradually growing larger and
more numerous, but the meth-
od of unloading had actually made no progress since Robert Wallace
installed his little portable engines on the docks. Vessels were being un-
loaded by means of the wheelbarrow and gang plank with infinite toil and
delay. Alexander E. Brown, a young man of great mechanical ingenuity,,
saw in the situation a most attractive engineering problem and from
a knowledge of the business gained in the office of his father, Fayette Brown,
he was aware that it possessed indefinite commercial possibilities. In i88o
he directed his inventive powers to the problem with the result that he
developed a system of hoisting and conveying by machinery that has since
been brought to a high state of efficiency. The first Brown machine was
established on the Erie dock at the foot of Pearl street and the old river bed.
It was popularly called the old Tom Collins. It was a single cable-worked

ALEXANDER E. BROWN.

190

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

rig, the stop being subject to lowering and dumping the bucket. There
were five rigs with the machinery all in one house. The bucket was filled by
hand shoveling. The Tom Collins and the Brown hoist, which succeeded it

on the Erie docks, containing three
workins: legs on each hoist, served the
combined purpose of direct transfer
from vessels to cars, transfer from
vessels to storage and reloading from
storage to cars. This development
on the part of ]\Ir. Brown of high hoist-
ing and conveying speeds produced
reallv remarkable results and reduced
the time greatly for unloading ; but
nevertheless the fact that the tubs had
still to be filled by hand and that the
loads were relatively small militated
seriously against large hourly ca-
pacities in unloading. The time for
unloading, however, was materially
reduced by nesting or grouping these
machines so that ore could be taken
from all hatches simultaneously. Dur-
ing the winter of 1882 Robert Aspin
established on the docks of the Illi-
nois Steel Co. at South Chicago the
Champion ore hoist. The machines went into operation at the opening of
navigation in 1883 and were the first ore unloading machines to be used on
Lake Michigan.*

*Robert Aspin, popularly known as "Bob" Aspin, was a man of many parts. His life
was an exceedingly interesting one. He was born at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and early turned
to the sea to gain his livelihood. He had circumnavigated the globe before he was out of his
teens. Being e.xtremely fond of adventure, he joined the British navy and served throughout
the Crimean war with distinction. He became a lake sailor in the sixties and settled in Chicago
some time before the fire of 1871. When the North Chicago rolling mills were established he
was one of the first men to be employed and remained with the company until 1879. He was
then transferred to South Chicago, where the Illinois Steel Co. had erected a little plant, and was
given charge of the design and construction of its docks. The chief problem was the unloading
of ore and to this Mr. Aspin gave his undivided attention. He evolved the Champion ore hoist,
the general plan of which is w^ell portrayed in the accompanying drawing and photograph. So
well did it answer its purpose that it was not superseded at the south docks of the Illinois Steel
Co. until 1906, when Hoover & Mason grabs were erected there. The Champion hoists are still
in use at tlie docks of the International Harvester Co. at South Chicago. Mr. Aspin was for
twenty-five years the superintendent of docks for the Illinois Steel Co. He died in August,
1906. His son, Robert .\si)in, is superintendent of docks for the National Tube Co. at Lorain.

ROBERT ASPIN.

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THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

It was in 1880, that Geo. C. Stone succeeded in interesting Charle-
magne Tower, Sr., and others in the VermiHon district, and a second
report was requested from Chester. Tower comprehended the situation im-
mediately and took hold of it with vigor. Sioux scrip was laid on the
land and the development of what was later known as the Minnesota mine
began. They made one of the greatest surface showings ever known in an
iron ore location. The next year the construction of the Duluth & Iron

CHAMPION ORE HOISTS, SECTIONAL VIEW.

Range Railway was begun. It was through a territory barren, steep, rocky,
broken and bewildering, but the projectors had what the pioneers of the
Marquette range never had, money and modern machinery. But their faith
was majestic, for there was not an ounce of traffic in sight other than what
could be obtained from the single undeveloped mine. The new mine, the
Minnesota, made its first shipment of 62,124 tons in 1884. It is an interesting

SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF UNLOADING ORE

193

commentary to make that the shipments of this original mine are now but
3 per cent of the total annual shipments of the Vermilion range. Had there
been no more ore than what was contained in the original mine, which
was all that the original projectors had to go upon, the enterprise would
never have justified the outlay in railway construction.

In 1884 the- Gogebic range, lying west of the Menominee, became a
shipper. The first examination of this range was made by Col. Charles Whit-
tlesey, of Cleveland, who was the assistant of Owen when he made his first
governmental survey in 1848-9. No development was attempted until after
the completion of the Wisconsin Central railroad to Penokee Gap in 1873,

DIAGRAAI OF CHAMPION ORE HOIST.

although several companies had been organized prior to 1860. These were
the Magnetic Iron Co., of which Col. Charles Whittlesey was president ;
the Wisconsin & Lake Superior Co., Angus Smith, president, and the La
Pointe Iron Co., Plon. H. B. Payne, president. The La Pointe Iron Co. is
still in existence, owning several thousand acres of land immediately west
of the Gap. In 1873 the company sank a shaft to a depth of nearly 100 feet
in a body of magnetic ore, analyzing 56.9 per cent of metallic iron according
to Prof. Irving, of the University of Wisconsin, who made his tests the
following year. The panic of 1873 caused a suspension of operations on the
La Pointe company's lands and to this day they have not been resumed.

194

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

The Colby, at Bessemer, was the first mine to be opened on the Gogebic
range. Ore in quantity was discovered on this property in the summer of
1880 by Capt. N. D. Moore. Richard Langford, "the hermit of Lake Su-
perior," maintains that he is the real discoverer of the Gogebic range, claim-
ing that he found the Colby outcrop beneath the roots of a birch tree that
had been leveled by the wind and that he apprised Capt. Moore of the loca-
tion. At any rate it is known that Langford, who was a trapper, carried
many samples of ore into Rockland years before the range was exploited.

THE CHAMPION ORE HOISTS AT THE ILLINOIS STEEL CO. S PLANT THE FIRST ORE

UNLOADING MACHINES TO BE INSTALLED ON LAKE INIICHIGAN.

The first shipment of ore from the Colby mine was made on flit cars over
the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western railway in October, 1884, via Alil-
waukee, to Erie, Pa. This ore was shipped from Milwaukee on Nov. 11,
1884, by the Penokec & Gogebic Development Co. on the schooner Gawn
and was delivered at Erie, consigned to Tuttle, Oglebay & Co. It consisted
of 966 gross tons. The original bill of lading has been preserved, is appro-

SOLVING THE rROr.LEM OF UNLOADING ORE 195

priately framed and is now in the office of Oglebay, Norton & Co., Cleve-
land, successors to Tuttle, Oglebay & Co. It is interesting to state that this
ore was mined by a steam shovel under the direction of Capt. Joseph Sell-
wood, the first ore to be so mined in the Lake Superior country. The com-
mon impression is that the steam shovel was first introduced on the Mesabi
but that is because the Mesabi is so vast a steam shovel proposition as to
overshadow all the rest.

Peter White had been campaigning in the peninsula for Grover Cleve-
land as vigorously as he had for Tilden, eight years before, and there is to
be observed in his scrap book in the small, delicate handwriting of the great
Democratic president a letter of regret that he should have left Washington
without calling at the White House after the inauguration. That letter from
the president, who was desirous of having Peter White in his administration,
reached Marquette almost as soon as Peter \\'hite did. But Peter White
wanted no office.

During the years in which he was connected with the Cleveland Com-
pany as its real estate manager, Peter White sold hundreds of thousands of
dollars worth of property, the principal transaction being the sale of the
Cleveland dock to the IVIarquette & Western Railway in 1882, a branch of
the Detroit, Mackinaw & Marquette, which was constructed to tap the iron
mines and was the omy rival the old Iron ]\Iountain Railway ever had.
The rivalry did not last long, however, as the Marquette & Western quickly
absorbed the Iron Mountain. They are all a part of the Duluth, South
Shore & Atlantic.

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CHAPTER XIX.

DISCOVERY OF THE MESABI RANGE.

IT was in 1890 that the first successful exploration for iron ore began on the
Mesabi range. The credit for the early development of this range
belongs to Alfred and Leonidas ]\Ierritt, as the Mountain Iron mine was
found X^ov. 16, 1890, by a crew of workmen under Capt. J. A. Nichols,
who was in the employ of the Merritts.

In August following the Biwabic group was discovered by John Mc-
Caskill, Wilbur Merritt and Captain Nichols. A few months later the
Merritts found the Missabe Mountain ore body, now a portion of the
Virginia group, and shortly thereafter Frank Hibbing and others brought
the great ore body of the Hibbing district to light. The Fay^l bend was
traced the following year by J. Uno Sebenius, D. T. Adams and M. Van
Buskirk. Meanwhile, regardless of all physical obstacles, the Duluth,
Missabe & Northern railroad had been projected and completed to the
Mountain Iron mine in November, 1892. On Nov. 11, 1892, the Mountain
Iron Mining Co. made the first shipment of ore made from the Mesabi
range, shipping 2,073 g^'oss tons from the Mountain Iron mine. This was
consigned to Oglebay, Norton & Co., Cleveland, who, according to their
custom, have preserved and framed the first bill of lading. It is dated
Nov. 11, and was shipped on barge 102. A second cargo was shipped by
Oglebay, Norton & Co., bringing the total to 4,104 tons. Being late in the
season it froze in the dock pockets and the whole operation attending the
initial shipments from Mesabi were inauspicious and discouraging. The ore
was divided among the Carnegie Steel Co., the Thomas Furnace Co.. the
Isabella Furnace Co. and the Oliver Iron & Steel Co. Then followed the
Eveleth group by the discovery of the Adams mine by J. Uno Sebenius and
Louis Roucheleau. In September, 1893, the great Stevenson mine was dis-
covered and explored by Edmund J. Longyear. These mines still remain the
chief center of mining and ore tonnage upon the Mesabi range.

Mesabi is the Indian word for giant, and this range is most appro-
priately named. It is the giant's range, outrivaling any ore deposit known

DISCOVERY OF THE ^lESABI RANGE

199

to exist on earth, the leading mines sending forward from 1,500,000 to
2,000,000 tons of ore annually. Enormous deposits of it lie loose like dust
and is mined as cheaply as the proverbial dust is shoveled. In fact Mesabi
is largely a steam shovel proposition.

Mesabi was discovered at the time when, notwithstanding the then
unprecedented demand for iron ore, the other ranges had no difficulty in
meeting all requirements. Indeed more ore w'as piled up on Lake Erie
docks at the close of the season of 1892 than at any previous period in the

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THE BROWX GRAB BUCKET IN THE HOLD OF THE STEAMER WOLVIN.

history of the Lake Superior region. Under such conditions the discovery
of unlimited millions of tons of soft ore tributary to these same docks and
the same trade could not but be serious to many of the old range companies.
Such a depreciation in the value of mines and mining stocks, which were
earning a good dividend, as followed on the heels of this discovery has
seldom if ever been witnessed in this country. It is incredible that men
of experience in the iron ore industry, who had seen one new ore range

200

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

after another discovered and developed, and who were heav^ily interested
in iron mines, should have been so short sighted as to refuse to accept the
opportunity repeatedly offered to them to secure holdings in the new field
and thus recoup themselves for any loss that might be sustained in their
old range holdings in competition with the greater abundance and lower
workiner cost of ore in the new range. What a commentary on the blind-

THE HULKTT CLAM-SHELL BUCKET IN THE WOLVIN S HOLD.

ness of human nature it is that the greatest iron range ever discovered
should have been disregarded by those best able to appreciate it and that
the owners of the newly discovered mines should have knocked vainly for
assistance on the doors of offices in Cleveland, Pittsburg, Chicago and other
headquarters of the iron trade.

There is this to be said, however — that the first results of Mesabi
ore in the blast furnace were as disappointing as the first results of Mar-

202 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

qnette ore in the blast furnace. The proportion of fine ore in some of the
mines was very large, and in smelting it considerable of this fine ore blew
over with the gas. The prejudice against Mesabi ore was as strong as was
the prejudice against the soft hematites when they were first introduced.
Many exaggerated and some humorous stories bearing on the fine character
of Mesabi ore were told, such as how all the boiler fires at one furnace
had been put out by the large quantity of flue dust in the gas, and how
a train load of 500 tons was caught in a windstorm en route to Pittsburg,
only 250 tons finally reaching Pittsburg furnaces. But this prejudice was
rapidly overcome and the industrial supremacy of the United States now
rests on the fii'm basis of ]\Iesabi. Though only twelve years old its total
shipments iiave already exceeded those of Marquette, the earliest of all the
ranges. The record of the ranges to date is : Mesabi, 122,742,938 gross
tons; Ad^arquette, 80,857,801 tons; ^Menominee. 58,676,485 tons; Gogebic,
50,467,906 tons; Vermillion, 25,100,159 tons, making a grand total with
some minor unclassified shipments of 338,173,135 tons.

Meanwhile inventive genius continued incessantly at work to further
solve the unloading problem and to perfect the unloading equipment. The
McMyler A/[anufacturing Co. put on the docks a revolving crane with
self-dumping bucket attachment which did excellent service. Ore was be-
ing hoisted out of the holds rapidly but the tubs were still being filled by
hand. The problem was to fill the tubs automatically. This has now been
remarkably facilitated by three firms. Hoover & Mason, of Chicago, the
Wellman-Scaver-Morgan Co., of Cleveland, and the Brown Hoisting Ma-
chinery Co. of Cleveland. Air. Mason invented an automatic bucket which
fills itself in any grade of ore and applying the bucket to a hoisting tower
of the same general construction as is commonly used in the unloading
of coal. The general features of the Hoover & Mason bucket are its great
weight, its tremendous spread when opened and the peculiar movement
of the blades when closing. The bucket has a capacity of five tons of ore
and a spread when open of about 18 ft. The first motion of the blades on
closing is downward to efTect a partial penetration of the ore ; but during
the early stages of operation of closing the blades swing towards the hori-
zontal, giving a scraping action for almost the entire reach. It is this
scraping action that differentiates the bucket from the clam-shell or orange-
peel type, and it is by virtue of this action which gathers together the loose
ore on the pile that the bucket closes itself so successfully.

DISCOVERY OF THE ^lESABI RANGE

203

In 1899 Mr. George H. Hulett, of the Wellman-Seaver-Morgan Co., in-
duced the Carnegie Steel Co. to establish on its docks at Conneaut an un-
loading machine of his own design. This machine later estabHshed the un-
loading record for the lakes. The Hulett machine is entirely original. A
very massive gantry traveling on rails parallel to the wharf supports a car-
riage which has a traverse at right angle to the face of the dock. This car-
riage in turn supports a tilting girder at the water end of which hangs a leg
carrying a clam-shell bucket. This bucket is rotatable in either direction
around the axis of the ram, thus
affording the opportunity to reach
not only the ore that lies under the
hatch opening, but also that portion
which is filled up between the hatch-
ways. The leg carrying the bucket
is ahvays kept in a vertical position
by means of a parallel motion de-
vice fixed to its head. When un-
loading from vessels the carriage car-

rymg

tilting

_ arm moves for-
w^ard, bringing the arm over the
hatchway. The arm is then tilted,
the leg descends into the vessel
and the bucket is brought intn
contact with the ore. The bucket
is of the clam-shell type with its
blades swung from the outer cor-
ners so as to give a w^ide reach.
It is operated by a hydraulic cylinder
or electric motor and in closing is aid-
ed by the unbalanced load of the

tilting arm. insuring thereby a full load of ore. The buckets are of ten tons
capacity. Each bucket is controlled by an operator who is located immedi-
ately above the bucket and who. therefore, descends into the vessel with the
bucket. The unloading record of the great lakes was established by these
machines on the steamer Augustus B. Wolvin, at Conneaut. in July, 1904.
The actual time the Wolvin was under the unloading machines was four
liours and thirty minutes, or from 7:22 a. m. until 11 :52 a. m. The average
time that the four Hulett machines were working on her was four hours

GEORGE H. HULETT.

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THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

and six minutes, during which time they took out 7,257 gross tons of ore.
The maximum amount taken out in any one hour was 681 tons by the No.
3 Hulett machine. The Wolvin's cargo upon this occasion was 9,945 tons,
of which the remaining 2,688 tons was taken out in three hours and forty-
one minutes by four electrical machines of the Brown type. This record
has now been broken a trifle bv these same machines — four Huletts and four

THE BROWN ELECTRICAL UNEOADIJS'G MACHINES AT CONNEAUT.

Browns — taking 10,514 tons out of the steamer George W. Perkins in July,.
1905, in four hours and ten minutes. This ore was put directly aboard cars,
but owing to the fact that some cars begun by one machine were finished^
by the other, it was impossible to accurately determine the amount taken out
by each type of machine.

CHAPTER XX.

SUBSEQUENT LOCKS OF SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL.

T ESS interest attaches, of course, to the subsequent development of the
canals at Sault Ste. Marie, but as they have regulated not only the
growth of commerce but the increasing dimensions of the vessels as well
it would be best to outline their growth completely. When the first canal
was completed Lake Superior was, of course, a wilderness. There were no
cities along its shores, no great wheat fields in the region beyond, and com-
merce, therefore, increased slowly. The first canal, however, served to fix
for many years the depth of water to be obtained in the harbors and in the
channels connecting the lakes. The depth of the water in but few of the
lake harbors was as nuich as 12 ft., while in the channels connecting the lakes
there were serious obstructions. In the Sault Ste. Marie river a channel
several miles long had to be dredged before the limited commerce to and
from Lake Superior could make use of the full draught provided at the canal,
while the St. Clair fiats presented a like obstacle to the far greater commerce
passing there. The Civil War which broke out six years after the canal
was comnleted absorbed the energies of the countrv and all other interests
became secondarv to it. At the close of the war the principal articles trans-
ported by water were grain and lumber. The receipts of grain and lumber
at Buffalo in 1866 Avere about 1.500,000 tons. The receipts of lumber at
Chicago alone were about 1.400,000 tons by lake, while the iron ore ship-
ments of all the lake ports were less than 300,000 tons and the coal tonnage
but a little greater than that of iron ore.

The Federal government then began to pursue a somewhat more liberal
policy toward internal improvements, and plans were executed to make the
depth of lake harbors equivalent to the locks at Sault Ste. Marie. This
depth of 12 ft., however, sufficed only for a few years. By 1870, or soon
thereafter, vessels drawing 13 ft. and upwards could enter the more impor-
tant ports, such as Buffalo, Cleveland and Chicago, and a demand for a depth
of 16 ft. became general. The initiative was again taken at Sault Ste. Marie
by a project for increasing the depth from 12 to 16 ft. and building a new

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SUBSEQUENT LOCKS OF SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL 211

lock 515 ft. long and 80 ft. wide, overcoming the entire difference of level
of about 18 ft. by a single lift. These dimensions v^'ere unprecedented in
canal construction and the lift of 18 ft. w^as almost universally criticised
as injudicious.

The improvement commenced in 1870 was completed in 1881 at a cost
of $2,200,000. In the meantime the State of Michigan ceded the canal to
the United States by act approved March i, 188 1, and the latter assumed
control on June 9 of that year. The new locks were known as the Weitzel
locks. They were built under the direction of Alfred Noble though de-
signed by Gen. O. M. Poe. Before the increased depth could be made fully
available the St. Mary's river had to be deepened in numerous places, the St.
Clair fiats canal dredged and a cut made through the reef of rock at the
mouth of the Detroit river. The 16 ft. channel was completed in 1884. In
the meantime the principal harbors were put in readiness and a fleet of large
vessels was built to take full advantage of the new facilities. The growth
of traffic had been notable. The average annual receipts of grain at Buffalo
had increased about 50 per cent. The shipment of coal by lake at the
beginning of the period was almost nil ; at the end it was nearly 4,000,000
tons, or more than half the entire Suez canal traffic. Iron ore shipments
had increased from 300,000 tons in 1866 to 2,300,000 tons in 1884. The
number of vessels on the lakes had increased but slightly but the gross ton-
nage had increased about 50 per cent. Freight rates had fallen remarkably;
on iron ore from Lake Superior to Lake Erie ports the rates had fallen
from $3.00 to $1.35, and on wheat from Chicago to Buffalo from 9 to 2j4
cents a bushel. The net registered tonnage through the St. Mary's canal
had increased 440 per cent.

It has been the history of lake improvements for the past thirty years
that they become inadequate even before they are completed. Before the
project for 16 ft. navigation had been full)^ carried out it was clearly seen
to be inadequate and measures were taken for increasing^ it. Largely
through the foresight of General O. M. Poe, then in charge of harbor and
river improvements between Lake Erie and Lake Superior, the new work
was undertaken on a liberal scale.* A new channel was opened through the

*General Orlando M. Foe died Oct. 2, 189S, while lake commerce was in its comparative
infancy, yet no man understood its possibilities better than he, and one of the illuminating
thoughts of his energetic mind has been again and again referred to by various speakers on
lake commerce during the past decade. In January, 1891, he wrote: "For thirty-five years I
have watched the increase of the great lakes commerce, but neither I nor anyone else has been
able to expand in ideas at the same rate. The wildest expectations of one year seem absurdly
tame by the side of the actual facts of the next." That General Pbe's vision was prophetic is
proved by the fact that at that time the highest point that lake commerce had reached, as meas-
ured by the canals at Sault Ste. Marie, was 9,041,213 tons. This truly great man had in his

GEN. 0. M. POE.

SUBSEQUENT LOCKS OF SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL 213

system of small lakes and straits known as the St. Mary's river, saving ii
miles in distance and practicable for navigation. Indeed, the extent of im-
provements in tlie connecting channels of the Great Lakes is much greater
than is generally realized. Between Lakes Superior and Huron the aggre-
gate length of new or deepened channels is 20.3 miles and between Lakes,
Huron and Erie, 2T.2 miles. The commerce between Lake Superior and

■mind's eye the future commerce of the great lakes more clearly than any other man of his
time. It was especially fortunate, therefore,' that he should have been selected to plan the
improvements to care for this commerce, for he laid his plans upon a comprehensive, far-reach-
ing and mighty scale. So thoroughly identified with lake commerce was General Poe that one
is wont to forget his unusually brilliant career during the civil war. A West Pointer, when
the war broke out, he accepted the appointment of chief topographical officer with the depart-
ment of Ohio, and for a time served on General McClellan's staff at Washington. In 1861 he
was appointed Colonel of the Second Michigan Infantry. He was in command of that regiment
in several battles and commanded brigades at the second battle of Bull Run and at Manassas.
In 1862 President Lincoln nominated him to be a Brigadier General, serving in the Rappahan-
nock campaig'n, and in the battle of Fredericksburg in 1863 he commanded a divisiori of the
Ninth Army Corps. Later in the same year he was appointed chief engineer on the staff of
General Burnside. participating in the march to East Tennessee and the occupation of Knox-
ville. During the last two years of the war General Poe served on the staff of General Sher-
man and a close friendship formed between them. He was with General Sherman on the famous
march to the sea and at the surrender of the Confederate army under Gen. J. E. Johnston.

In the general army establishment, General Poe was breveted a Major, July 6, 1864, for
■gallant services in the siege of Knoxville, and Lieutenant Colonel Sept. 1, 1864, for gallant
services in the capture of Atlanta, and on INIarch 13, 1865, was nominated to be a Brigadier
■General. General Sherman had the highest opinion of Poe. In speaking of him some years
after the war, he said: "I considered him one of the most accomplished officers in the army.
■If I should die tomorrow, he is perfectly capable of filling the place I occupy."

In 1865, General Poe was appointed engineer secretary of the lighthouse board, serving
in that capacity for five years. He served as engineer of the ninth and eleventh lighthouse dis-
tricts for three years and as a member of the lighthouse board ten years. His activities in the
lighthouse service extended over eighteen years, during which time he had charge of many im-
portant works, and executed them with consummate skill. The lights at Spectacle Reef and
Stanard Rock are notable examples of his work. General Poe's chief handiwork on the lakes,
however, is at Sault Ste. Marie. It was in 1870 that General Poe was directed to turn his
attention to the canal at Sault Ste. Marie. The iron interests of L^pper Peninsula had for two
or three years previously been clamoring for deeper draught in the locks, as vessels had grown
in size and could not pass through the locks loaded to their full capacity. John Burt advocated
"the deepening of the locks during the winter months, so that navigation might not be obstructed.
As opposition was developing in Congress to any appropriation, owing to the fact that the canal
was a state affair, preliminary negotiations were entered into for the transfer of the canal to
the nation. Before negotiations were concluded, however, Congress authorized a report on the
importance of the work based on 14 ft. draught. The making of the report was assigned to
Gen. O. ]\I. Poe. General Poe finished his e.xamination on Sept. 20, 1870, and sustained not
only all the claims which had been made regarding the importance of the proposed improvement,
but even went further and declared that the demands of commerce would warrant the construc-
tion of a new lock, or a set of locks, as might be decided upon. He proceeded to prepare
the plans for two locks, but after much consultation the plans were finally changed and one for
a single lock substituted providing for a draught of 16 ft. The general plans for the work
were completed during the administration of General Poe, Mr. Alfred Noble being in local
charge as assistant engineer. General Weitzel succeeded General Poe May 1, 1873, and the lock
since known as the Weitzel lock went into commission in 1881. At the time of its completion,
the W'eitzel lock was the most splendid engineering structure of its kind in the world. Capa-
cious as it was, however, it was not adequate to care for the rapidly growing commerce of the
.lakes.

214

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Lake Erie aggregating 35,000,000 tons per year passes through all of these,
a total of 41.5 miles of artificial waterway. This is five miles greater than
the length of restricted waterway to be made for the Panama canal. These
improvements included a deepening of the St. Mary's canal to 25 ft. and
the building of a new lock, now known as the Poe lock, 800 ft. long and 100
ft, wide, with 20 to 22 ft. over the mitre sills. It was begun in 1888 and
completed in 1896. It is the largest lock in existence and yet it had scarcely
been finished before it was realized that it was really too small. When it
was projected it was expected that four vessels could be locked through it

THE GREAT CANxXUIAN LOCK AT SAULT STE. MARIE.

General Poe returned to the lakes in 1883 and with fine imagination laid broad and deep
the plans for future development. Indeed, in a formulative way they had been in his mind
since 1871. So comprehensive were they that although he has been in his grave for twelve
years, the projects for improving the channels for the lakes that are still being authorized by
Congress, are upon his original design. His handiwork is to be observed from Sault Ste.
Marie to the Lime Kiln Crossing, between which points he caused to be constructed an artificial
waterway of over forty miles, an artificial cut, longer in fact, than is proposed for the Panama
Canal. His crowning monument is the Poe lock at Sault Ste. Marie, the largest structure of
its kind in existence. In September, 1895, General Poe was summoned to Sault Ste. Marie to
examine a break in the lock. The damage proved to be a trifling matter, but in making his
inspection General Poe slipped and scraped his left leg badly. Returning to Detroit it was
found that blood poison had set in and he died a few days later.

Speaking of his work, the inspector general of the army wrote in 1902: "The magnitude
of the work and the intricacy and precision of detail was a revelation to me. I could find in
the methods adopted by Colonel Poe as applied to the works under his charge, and his personal
knowledge and control of the details, nothing wanting in thoroughness and efficiency. I cannot
close without referring to the great responsibility resting on the shoulders of this officer — a re-
sponsibility of a character which cannot be well understood or appreciated except from a per-
sonal knowledge of this great work."

SUBSEQUENT LOCKS OF SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL

215

at once. It had hardly been finished before it was seen that not more than
one of the modern vessels could be locked through at one time, so rapid has
been the increase in dimensions of the lake steamers.

The Poe lock was projected on the site occupied by the original locks
built by Charles T. Harvey. General Poe felt some compunction over the
necessity of destroying these old locks, for in his report to the government
he writes :

"On the whole, the canal was a remarkable work for its time and pur-
pose. The construction of the locks especially bore evidence of a master's
hand in their design and execution, and it is no reflection on the engineer in
charge that experience developed certain objectionable features. These

INDIANS FISHING IN THE RAPIDS.

locks are now being torn out to make room for a new one, and every step
in their destruction reveals the excellence of the workmanship, the honest
character of the materials employed and the faithful compliance with the
conditions of the contract under which they were built, not merely in the
letter but in the spirit. All honor, then, to every man connected with their
design and construction. They were long in advance of their day, and if
commerce had not outgrown their dimensions they would have done good
service for a century. I must confess to a feeling of great regret that it
has become necessary to destroy these first locks. Inanimate though they
were, they seemed to appeal to every sentiment of respect. They had never
failed to respond to any demand within their capacity ; they had contributed
in a higher degree than any other one feature to the development of the

216

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

country to the westward of them, and having done such good work are now
to be obliterated in the interest of that very commerce they did so much to
estabHsh. The man who, knowing their history, can see them go without
compunction is made of other stuff than I am, and if an engineer has no
genuine love for his profession nor pride in the achievement of those who
successfully apply its teachings to the best examples of his art."

When the Poe lock was building the Canadian government decided to
have a canal of its own on their side of the river, and built it at a cost of
about $4,000,000. The lock is 900 ft. long, 60 ft. wide and 22 ft. deep. It
was opened to navigation in 1895. Ten years later, or in 1905, the first bulk
freighter appeared that was too large to pass through this magnificent lock.
This was the steamer William G. J\lather, of the Cleveland-Clififs Iron Co.'s
fleet, which was built w^tli a beam of 60 ft. Three others have since ap-
peared, the L. S. DeGrafif, W. M. Mills and William B. Kerr, of the Weston
Transit Co.'s fleet.

Doubtless other vessels of similar or greater beam will folhjw rendering
useless this magnificent structure as far as they are concerned and proving
that it is impossible to adequately gauge the growth of the lake steamer even
a few years ahead.

The lockage facilities of Sault Ste. Marie now comprise three im.portant
locks, each overcoming the entire difference of level at the rapids and each
equipped with hydraulic or electrical machinery for all operations. Plans
are now being prepared for a greater lock than ever on the American side.

THii Ai'i'KUACll TO bAULT STE. MAKIE CANAU

CHAPTER XXI.

FRANCIS H. CLERGUE AND IIIS INDUSTRIES.

"M OAV comes a part of the story which shows with what ridiculous ease
money and modern methods may accomplish in a few months what cost
the hardy pioneers of the Marquette district infinite toil and hardship and
years of unremunerative labor. In the summer of 1897, Benjamin Boyer,
a prospector searching for gold in the Michipicoten country 125 miles north
of the Sault, found an outcropping of hard hematite." As he had no funds
with which to explore the deposit he went to Sault Ste. Marie and offered
to point out the location to Mr. Francis H. Clergue for $500, submitting at
the same time samples of the ore. The chance was easily worth the sum
asked. Diamond drills were later taken to the property and examinations
made both in the land and through the ice of an adjacent lake, now known
as Boyer lake, at whose bottom, 120 feet down, the ore was found to con-
tinue.

It was August, 1899, when it was decided that the iron must be utilized,
A scow loaded to the guards with tools, supplies, horses, workmen and engi-
neers was towed from Sault Ste. Marie to the perfectly landlocked bay of
Michipicoten, and the engineers spent the first day in cutting a hole in the
forest large enough for their tents. The ore lay twelve miles to the north-
ward over as difificult a country to journey as one might possibly imagine.
The conditions were similar to those which confronted the Cleveland and
Jackson Iron Mining companies in 1849 when Peter White landed at Mar-
quette. The ore of the Alarquette range also lay fourteen miles from the
lake over mountainous country. Probably no more illuminating picture of
the advance of a half century could be presented than that which is afforded
by the mere contrast of the development of the Marquette and Michi-
picoten ranges. The very next day after Clergue's engineers landed at
Michipicoten Bay they began a survey to the mines and the laborers began
the grade. They had a wilder country to work in than the Marquette pio-
neers because it was far more mountainous. Winter was coming on — it
comes on early in the Lake Superior country — and every article needed,

MR. FRANCIS H. CLERGUE.

FRANCIS H. CLERGUE AND HIS INDUSTRIES 219

from steam shovels to locomotives, would have to be landed in the wilderness
before winter put its seal upon the onlv avenue of communication open to
them. Supplies not on the ground by November were not to be had at any
cost till April. Neither food nor men could be obtained in the interim.

When Clergue's engineers began the task in August the forest loomed
an apparently impenetrable wall before them ; the hills rose almost straight
from the water's edge and the entire country to the mine was a succession
of gaping fissures, vast upheavals of rock and deep water courses. Eleven
months later, or to be exact, on July 12, 1900, the first cars of ore passed
down and out of the open mine over a track laid in 80-pound steel rails in
cars of 50-tons capacity pulled by iio-ton locomotives. The ore was
dumped into pockets of a dock that had been constructed during the winter
in Michipicoten harbor, and from these pockets it slid by means of chutes
into ships that had been purchased in Britain for the purpose. What a

MICHIPICOTEN HARBOR.

contrast this furnishes to the little strap railroad of fifty years ago with its
little cars of 4-tons capacity, laboriously pulled by mules. The Helen mine
on the Michipicoten range, named after Mr. Clergue's sister, shipped about
50,000 tons during its first season ; on the Marquette range they could not
haul ore at all in the summer time owing to the roads and work as hard as
they might with sleighs during the winter they could never get a stock pile on
the docks by spring of more than 1,000 tons.

Francis H. Clergue is the great industrial captain of Sault Ste. Marie.
His was the primal force in the development of the new Ontario and no
one will ever be able to rob him of that distinction. In the management of
the work which he established others may come and go and be forgotten,
but Clergue will always be remembered as the bold and original man who
founded an industrial empire in the Canadian wilderness. It was he who
changed the countenance of Sault Ste. Marie and made its physical aspect
so distinguished from what it was when Johnston wooed and won his bride.

220

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Subtract Clergue and the face of things would not have materially altered
since Johnston's time ; add him, and a hundred enterprises including rolling
mills, steel works, pulp mills and railways spring into being. It is regretted
that only hurried mention can be made of him in this work. Clergue was
about thirty-five years old when in 1893 he went west at the solicitation of
some Philadelphia friends to search for some available water power that
might be developed. At that time capital was being generally attracted to
the tremendous possibilities of water power. Clergue visited a number of
places and finally in his journey reached Sault Ste. Marie. He was imme-
diately impressed with the possibilities of the place for water power develop-
ment. The St. Mary's river had a fall of from 17 to 18 feet, and Lake Su-
perior was its inexhaustible mill pond. On the Canadian side he found a

THE GROUND WOOD PULP MILL.

small and practically abandoned water power canal, the charter of which he
had little difficulty in securing. The canal was rapidly placed in working
order and in a short time the company had 20,000 horse power for sale.
To Clergue's very great surprise nobody wanted any water power. The
panic of 1893 was on, and capital would neither develop old enterprises nor
invest in new ones. To save the improvement already made, Clergue turned
his attention to utilizing the water power himself. It was clear that in a set-
tlement as remote from the center of population as Sault Ste. Marie, an en-
terprise to be successful should proceed upon the principle of utilizing the raw
materials at hand. It was natural, therefore, that Clergue should turn

FRANCIS H. CLERGUE AND HIS INDUSTRIES

221

his attention to the woods. He conceived the idea of making paper pulp.
He was aided in this by previous training, because he had been identified
with paper mills about his home in Maine as a young man. A pulp mill
with a capacity of lOO tons a day was erected to turn out wood pulp. Wood
pulp was then shipped wet to the paper factories, and in addition to the
added cost of freight on 55 per cent of water, there was the loss caused by
decomposition. This circumstance naturally limited the market, and the
paper makers of the great Wisconsin district looked at the Sault Ste. Marie
plant as a valuable adjunct to them in the way of furnishing raw material
but of no particular importance to its own stockholders. In fact, during
the hard times succeeding the panic of 1893, there was no active demand for
pulp and as it had to be stored wet it spoiled on the company's hands. This

THE GREAT POWER CANAL ON THE AIICHIGAN SIDE.

obstacle to winning a profit from the business set Clergue to thinking, and
he turned the question over to the mechanical experts of the company to dis-
cover whether pulp could be manufactured dry. The result was the inven-
tion and installation of drying attachments which worked with perfect suc-
cess. Instead of a market confined to a contiguous state or two Clergue
foimd the whole pulp-consuming world at his feet. Dry pulp can be shipped
any distance without loss and, in fact, the company was soon filling orders
from Europe and the Orient. This industry has become extremely profit-
able ovv^ing largely to the natural advantages in manufacture, the enormous

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224

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

and practically free supply of spruce wood and the cheap and excellent power
furnished by Lake Superior. The pulp mill is one of the largest in America
and its output is welcomed by the paper makers because it is always clean
and white,, the water from Lake Superior being one of the sweetest and
clearest known and uniform all the year round. Moreover, the plant is
operated on the principle of water power itself, which never stops. The
mill is running night and day and uses about 14,000 horse power continu-
ally. Later a sulphite mill was erected for the manufacture of chemical
pulp which is more valuable than ground pulp. The sulphite mill soon
reached a capacity of 70 tons a day. Nickel mines were bought in the
Sudbury district, 100 miles east of the Sault, from which to obtain sulphur

HEAD GATES, POWER CANAL, MICHIGAN, LAKE SUPERIOR POWER CO.

and the Manitoulin & North Shore Railway was projected to reach it and
other contiguous nickel deposits.

Clergue determined to preserve everything at Sault Ste. Marie that
would be of historical interest. In buying the old Hudson Bay Co.'s station
for a mill site he rebuilt the old block house upon it and used it as his home.
The stone walls are those built by the Hudson Bay Co. more than fifty years
ago. The old loop holes remain. The upper, or overhanging portion, made
of logs, had to be rebuilt, but the original design has been preserved.

One of the greatest of Clergue's enterprises was the construction of the
power canal on the Michigan side of the St. Mary's river. This canal is
2I/3 miles long from the mouth of the intake above the rapids to the overflow
far below the entrance to the ship canal. Like an immense river 220 feet

FRANCIS H. CLERGUE AND HIS INDUSTRIES

225

broad and deep enough to float the deepest vessel that sails the lakes, it
serves to convert the city of Sault Ste. Marie into a city of two parts, with
the island part now completely surrounded by water as the business section,
and the balance of the city given over to the residences of its citizens. Its
average width is 224 ft. and its depth 22 ft. This great canal in its course
through the city traverses thirteen streets and is spanned by a number of
fine steel bridges. At the lower end the canal widens out into the forebay,
or millpond, for the purpose of securing sufficient frontage for the uniform
distribution of the water to all of the turbines which are installed along the
river face of the forebay in the power house. The river front of the fore-
bav is closed by the power house, the duplicate of which cannot be found in

^' Iff ff !*

rilE CHEMICAL LAEORATORY AXD SULRHITE PULP MILL AT SAULT STE. MARIE

the United States, and which, more than any other structure, contributes to
tiie turreted and embattled aspect which Sault Ste. Marie now presents in
contrast to the days when existence there was dream-like and romantic.
This power house is constructed of red sandstone, is over a quarter of a mile
in length and 100 ft. wide, and is 125 ft. high. This massive structure rests
upon a foundation of piles covered bv log sills and caps and covered with
Portland cement concrete to a depth of 3 ft. The substructure consists of
81 masonry walls 100 ft. long, 20 ft. high and 3 ft. thick. The stalls or pits
thus formed, aside from supporting the building, serve to deliver the water

226 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

from the turbines into the river. The penstocks are all of uniform dimen-
sions, 40 ft. long-, 15 ft. wide and 20 ft. high. The dynamo floor occupies
space on the same floor on the river side of the power house. The floor
above is used for the machinery which converts the energy of the water into
electrical power. The energy converted by this great canal is estimated at
40,000 H. P., which is developed by 320 turbines. Four of these turbines
in pairs are placed in each penstock. All of the turbines are joined to one
high shaft of pressed steel. Thus the power is produced to turn the dynamos
awaiting on the floor above. The electrical equipment of the power house
consists of eighty dynamos, and the power thus generated is transmitted by
means of wires to the doors of the various plants purchasing it.

An interesting feature of the canal is the big movable dam constructed
at the head of the canal to control the volume of water. This dam is made
up of four leaves 50 ft. long and 28 ft. high, suspended from and operating
between piers of solid masonry. \A'hen the water is entering the canal freely
these leaves are suspended, and when it is desired to stop the flow, the leaves
are lowered against a sill in the canal bed.

Naturally, no such engineering work as this, designed to relieve Lake
Superior of 30,000 cu. ft. of water per second twenty-four hours a day, 365
days a year, would be permitted to be constructed without assurances that
the interests of navigation, which are paramount, would be safeguarded in
every vv'ay. The actual construction of this canal had proceeded well along
towards completion before the attention of the Federal government was
drav.^i to it. Before water was turned into the bed of the canal the subject
was brought to the attention of the Rivers and Harbors Committee, at
Washington, and Clergue had his engineers there present a plan to quiet all
objections of the vessel interests. This plan involved the construction of
compensating works at the head of the rapids just west of the Internationa!
bridge. These Avorks are designed to stop as much of the flow of the rapids
as will be taken through the power canal. The compensating works con-
sist of a monolithic concrete breakwater with steel gates, and in addition a
submerged dam. When lowered tlic gates practically stop all flow of water
and they can be raised to their full height in six minutes. The importance
of these compensating works is not confined to the special purpose for which
they were built. Leading engineers are of the opinion that they really pre-
sent the first step towards conserving the level of the lakes, a subject which
must eventually become of primary importance to the interests associated
with the Great Lakes trade, since the level of the lower lakes has for several
years been steadily declining.

Meanwhile the Algoma Central Railroad was being pushed steadily

FRANCIS H. CLERGUE AND HIS INDUSTRIES

227

north from the Sanlt to connect with the Canadian Pacific 200 miles away
and with the uhimate intention of reaching Hudson Bay, 500 miles away.
For the projection of this railway, together with that of the Manitonlin &
North Shore Ry., the company received great grants of land and practically
a million dollars in money from the Dominion government. A grant of
1,650,000 acres was given in consideration of projecting the Algoma Central
to tap the Canadian Pacific trunk line. For the stretch of 300 miles beyond
the junction of the Canadian Pacific, the Dominion government ofifered a
grant of 3,000.000 acres of hmd. This was indeed an empire in itself. These

THE BLAST FURNACES AT SAULT STE. MARIE.

grants from the government include the mineral and timber rights and con-
stitute assets of enormou.s potentiality. The timber on the land is largely
spruce, and as spruce is indispensable for paper making and is becoming
somewhat scarce elsewhere the value of this single asset is great. There
are also splendid growths of maple, birch and other hardwood adaptable for
the manufacture of fine furniture. Clergue put into the field hundreds of
expert mineralogists, geologists and woodsmen, locating bodies of timber

228 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

and favorable mineral bearing lands and verifying and correcting previous
information from all sources.

A fine laboratory was established at the Sault in which the company
tested any minerals brought to it from any part of the country near its
operations. Twelve chemists were constantly employed in analyses and
experimentation. The completeness of the technical library in connection
w'th the laboratory may be indicated when it is said that one hundred tech-
nical publications, monthly and weekly, were received, were repaged consec-
utively, completely indexed, and bound.

Correlation is one of the significant characteristics of Clergue's mental
make-up, and having acquired iron mines it was natural that he should
desire a blast furnace ; and having a blast furnace, steel works would natur-
ally follow ; and as the Dominion was extending its railways rapidly, it was in-
evitable that a rail mill should be added to meet the demand. Clergue estab-
lished at Sault Ste. Marie a Bessemer steel plant and rail mill under the cor-
porate name of the x^lgoma Steel Company. The entire mechanical equip-
ment of this plant was installed and was practically ready to run at the end of
1901, but owing to delay on the part of contractors for the structural
work and the lack of girders and columns to support the cranes without
which the mill could not be operated, it was impossible to put the plant in
operation until 1902. The starting of this mill was an event of no little
importance in the history of Canada, as it marked the rolling of the first
rail in the Dominion of Canada of steel made from Canada pig iron, smelted
from Ontario iron ore. The steel was unfortunately not of Bessemer qual-
ity. Two furnaces, one for the use of charcoal and the other for coke were
under construction, and the steel works for a short while during 1902 ran
on purchased pig iron. There were difficulties, however, in the way of
running a steel works with purchased pig iron in insufficient supply, and the
company finally closed the works until its own furnaces could be put into
blast. Moreover, the bounty which the Canadian government was paying
could only be earned on steel as the pig iron bounty was paid only on pig
iron made from ore mined within the Dominion.

The steel works and rail mill, however, are among the finest in the
world. The construction of the plant is such that material can be handled
at a minimum labor cost and an unusually large output per man is thus ob-
tainable. The availability of electric power at much lower, cost than steam
is one of the great advantages enjoyed bv this plant. Certainly no plant in
the world liad the advantage of such cheap power as this with Lake Supe-
rior harnessed in a canal at its doors. Adjacent to the blast furnaces and
steel works, a battery of twenty by-product retorts was constructed with all

FRANCIS H. CLERGUE AND HIS INDUSTRIES

229

the necessary equipment for recovering the products of distillation. In the
operation of the charcoal retorts the recovery of the waste products —
acetate of lime and wood alcohol — were practically made to pay the cost of
making the charcoal. In addition to these by-products, bee-hive kilns were
built on points of the Algoma Central Railway where supplies of hard wood
could be obtained to the greatest advantage.

Clergue attacked his various problems with tlie utmost energy. Lake
Boyer^ on the shore of which the Helen mine is located, he caused to be
drained and developed the property in such manner as to make it possible
to win the largest amount of ore in the shortest space of time. Shafts were

GENERAL VIEW OF BLAST FURNACp;S AND WATp:r APPROACH.

sunk and at different levels workings Avere extended into the solid body of
ore. A second deposit now known as the Josephine was discovered ten
miles beyond the Helen mine, and the railway was immediately extended
to it. There were none of the troublesome questions of finance and equip-
ment to be met with that had bothered the Marquette pioneers. The means
were at hand and the railway was constructed within a few months.

In the Sudbury region work was steadily pushed forward on the nickel
property. Large amounts of nickel ore were raised both from the Gertrude
and Elsie mines. The first smelter at the Gertrude mine was put into
operation in June, 1902.

Sawmills and veneer mills were established to utilize the hardwood

230 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

timber on the company's grants of land. Only those parts of hardwood
which could not be worked up into fine furniture were used in the charcoal
kilns. The veneer mill, the only one in Canada, had sold its product for
months ahead to makers of fine furniture and from its own natural advan-
tages, cheap raw material and cheap power, was capable of earning an
enormous percentage upon its own investment.

An electric light plant was constructed at Sault Ste. Marie to light the
towns. Street railways were built and water works established^ the sub-
sidiary companies deriving power from the canal.

A Hulett automatic unloader, electricallv driven, was installed on the
dock at Sault Ste. Marie to take ore from the vessels.

With ore from its own mines, brought in its own ships, fuel from its
own lands carried on its own railway, with a large government bounty, with
the cheapest known power on earth and an abundant market, the Dominion
government at that time being activeK' engaged in the projection of new
railways and with the necessity foj the renewal of some 18,000 miles of rail-
road then existing, Clergue had reason to look forward with confidence to
the future of his business.

Clergue went to the Sault in 1894. He found it a primitive settlement
with no industries whatever. He left it eight years later with machine shops
and foundries splendidly equipped, blast furnaces with the most modern
and improved devices for unloading and charging the stack, with rail mills
whose economy of operation is the delight of the practiced engineer, with
saw and veneer mills, sulphur reduction works, with car shops, brick yards,
street railways, ferry lines, freight and passenger steamers, with the Al-
goma Central & Hudson Bav Railroad in operation for 106 miles and graded
for 99 more, with the Manitoulin &: North Shore Railway in operation for
fifteen miles, with iron ore and nickel ore mines in complete development,
with great power canals and power houses in complete operation, and with
numerous subsidiary enterprises springing up around him.

The great Michigan power canal had taken six years time and had cost
$6,500,000: the blast furnaces and steel mills had cost $4,500,000; the rail-
ways and ships had cost $9,500,000; the pulp mills $1,000,000; the mining
properties $1,000,000; the ferro-nickel works $500,000, and other sums
making the aggregate cash investment approximate $25,000,000.

Clergue's ability in organizing was so great and his faith in the natural
resources of Canada so steadfast that he won completely the confidence of the
Dominion government. No man had greater influence at Ottawa than
Clergue and he got all that he ever asked for. He agreed to settle annually
1,000 immigrants in the wilderness of Algoma and he had 2,000 men chop-

fra:\xts h. clergue and his industries

231

ping wood for him continually in the country north of Sault Ste. Marie.
He had molded a group of industries into a beautiful system, one feeding
the other, so that no profit in the various processes of manufacture escaped.
The whole plan, even if extravagantly executed, was nevertheless well
thought out and will yet prove the wisdom of its founder. Disaster fell
upon Clergue at the ver\' moment when he had least cause to expect it.
The last plant to complete the group of industries had practically been com-
pleted wdien the financial crash was precipitated. Had he been granted a
little more time, had capital to operate been given as freely as it was to es-
tablish, Clergue could doubtless have g*ot the group working as a unit, but
during his wdiole connection with it the company cannot be said to have

THE RAIL MILL AT SAULT STE. MARIE.

been a sroing concern at all, since his whole energies w^ere consumed in
the construction of the correlated plants. He never saw them in operation
as a unit though it is as a unit that thev must be operated to produce the
greatest profit, since one is dependent upon the other. Clergue was
practically superseded in the management of the property in the fall of
1902.

Clergue's habit of thought is not that of the ordinary promoter, who in
projecting enterprises invariabh' seeks a quick return in profits. Clergue
pushed his enterprises from the other direction. He believed in solidity
as the primal requisite. The consequence is that the w'orks at the Sault are
built to remain. They are as impregnable as fortifications, and fifty years
hence tl:e:r construction will stand for tens of thousands of dollars per an-
num in the profit and loss account. In their turreted, castellated anrl em-

232 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

battled appearance they remind one of the architecture of raediseval
Europe.

Expectation of profits on the Clergue enterprises at the Sauk have been
deferred, it is true, but they have never been disproved. There may have
been and probably were grave initial errors in the construction of some of the
plants. Money was doubtless spent freely in the establishment of new works
before the old ones were brought to a paying basis, which eventually made
their finances hopelessly inadequate to the complete and successful operation
of the plants and finally led to their sale for a fraction of their original
cost.

But the assets, non-existent ten years ago, that Clergue has left are
vast, not the least of which are the 1,800,000 acres of land already earned,
covered with splendid forests of pine, spruce, maple, birch and oak, which
when cleared is well adapted for farming, and much of it, moreover, miner-
alized with many deposits of copper, iron and gold known to exist ; then
again, there is the absolute control of the water power of Lake Superior,
since the company controls the riparian rights above and below the rapids.
These are assets the potentiality of which for gathering riches are, as Dr.
Johnson would say, "beyond the dreams of avarice."

CHAPTER XXII.

PETER white's MONUMENT IS PRESOUE ISLE.

/^NE of the most beautiful edifices in Marquette is the chapel built of
brown stone, which adjoins St. Paul's Cathedral. It was built by Peter
White in memory of his son Morgan. This chapel, which is known as the
Morgan ]Memorial Chapel, has never been consecrated, as it is the wish
of Peter White that it should be available at all times for the use of the guilds
for entertainments, both musical and dramatic. Mr. White is personally an
Episcopalian, but his purse from his slenderest days has been undenomina-
tional. He has assisted in the establishment of every church in Marquette
— Methodist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and others. He was
instrumental, too, in founding St. Luke's hospital.

Many things has Peter \Miite done for the upper peninsula of Michi-
gan ; many things doubtless will he yet do. Marquette in return is speak-
ing of a monument to him, but his real monument is his own handiwork
and its crowning figure is Presque Isle. This is a tract of land densely
wooded, 328 acres in extent, and is, as its name signifies, "almost an island."
It lies a little to the west of J\Iarquette harbor. It has a rock-bound shore
which lends itself to rugged and picturesque effects. Some of the forma-
tions, particularly Arch rock, are most unique.

"What a park it would make," soliloquized Peter White.

But alas, the government had reserved Presque Isle for light-house
purposes and government is inclined to be set in its ways. It presents the
most frowning aspect to any suggestion of change from its customary
method of doing things. It has a special and particular horror of estab-
lishing a precedent. The light-house board, having established a station
on Presque Isle, that island was forever dedicated, as far as the light-house
board was concerned, to that purpose. The light-house board would re-
gard any suggestion that it be used as a park as little short of anarchy.
Having been once a light-house station it could never be anything else —
things go on the same year in and year out in Washington. Peter White
■could see the rock-ribbed, green-topped island from his study.

234 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"Moffatt," said he. "why can't we have that as a park?"

Moffatt — he was the peninsula's congressman — was speechless at the
suggestion. It was an involuntary reflection of the attitude of the light-
house board on his part. He knew that that was the way the light-house
board would act when the subject was broached to it — stiffen and freeze at
once.

"It can't be done," said Moft'att.

Peter White packed his grip and went to Washington and saw the
members of the committee on public lands of the house. They were all
very glad to see him — the six Democrats and seven Republicans — but they
were verv sorry indeed that nothing could be done for him.

"Can't do it," said the six Democrats and seven Republicans in chorus.

"Will vou report the bill favorably if the senate passes it?" asked Peter
White.

As there was no hope in the minds of the committee that the senate
would pass it, they unanimously agreed to this proposition. Peter White
went into Senator Tom Palmer's room in the senate \wmg of the capitol.
Palmer knew him of old and was genuinely glad to see him. The story of
Peter White's life was an old one to Palmer, but the incidents in it were
ever new. He told what he wanted as simply as he could.

"I am going to get a couple of senators in here." said Palmer, "and you
repeat to them just what you have told me."

Palmer went out and accosted two or three senators. Peter related his
unselfish mission to them. The story wasn't much, but the man back of
the story loomed up a gigantic figure before them. It wasn't w^hat he said
about the beauties of the island that moved them ; it was the knowledge that
here was an original character that had hewed a city out of a wilderness ;
that had cheerfully submitted to untold privation and hardship in order to
give the iron frontier the benefit of a civilized life ; that had time and again
plunged into a desolate waste in the dead of winter to snatch a few comforts
for his fellow beings. It wasn't what he said that had carried them away ; it
was the force of forty years of incessant toil and manly living. Senators
straggled in by twos and fours and met the northern stranger. In the face
of such service as he had rendered to the country, Presque Isle seemed to
them a pretty small recompense. Time-honored practices and fear of prece-
dents were flung aside, and the bill giving Presque Isle to the city of Mar-
quette for park purposes was passed at once. The breath of the committee
on public lands of the house was nearly taken away, but the members were
true to their promise. They recommended the bill and it passed the house

• PETER WHITE'S MONUMENT IS PRESQUE ISLE 235

promptly. Peter White got the president to sign it and he returned to Alar-
quette with a draft of it in his pocket.

The bill contained the natural provision that the park was to be accepted
by the council of Marquette and maintained by the city. The usual obstruc-
tionist was in the council. He made a liery speech in which he declared that
the park would benefit only the rich and that the citizens of Marquette would
be forever saddled with the expense of keeping the driveways in condition
for those who rode in carriages. The workingman would get no pleasure
from it whatever. He pictured the oppressive nature of the burden so zeal-
ously that the council actually decided to reject the gift. At the next meet-
ing Peter White appeared before them. He was sorely vexed that the city
was to be deprived of so magnificent a pleasure ground through the short-
sighted policy of a council.

'T understand, gentlemen," said he, "that your only objection to accept-
ing this park is the cost of its maintenance."

"Yes, sir," said the spokesman.

"I will not argue with you tonight how mistaken you are," said Peter
White, "in declining a gift which will eventually be of the greatest boon
to the workingman and which will provide an eternal pleasure ground for
your children and your children's children. I will, however, meet the only
objection which you have raised. If you will accept the park I will per-
sonally pay the cost of its improvement and maintenance during the next
five years."

The park was accepted instantly. Usually when men devote great sums
of money to improvements of this character an ulterior motive is likely to
obtain. They may hold contiguous property which will be greatly improved
thereby. But Peter White held no property contiguous to Presque Isle.
There is no available property contiguous to Presque Isle. It is all unre-
claimed. The first thing that Peter White had to do was to build a roadway
a mile or more long across this unreclaimed stretch. Water to a depth of a
foot or two had to be filled in and the roadway built upon it. That cost $30,-
000. The improvement and maintenance of the park cost $35,000 in addition,
a generous and unselfish contribution. The effect, however, has been to
make the whole city of Marquette a park. Presque Isle is a lovely spot
today and has an extensive and well-kept zoo upon it.

In 1893 Peter White was appointed one of the World's Fair commis-
sioners, and to his energy is due the extraordinary mining exhibit that
Michigan made at the fair. Tons of metal were transported to the fair, and

236 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

there was reproduced out of the material strata showing the formation of
mineral deposits in the earth.

As an illustration of how little things may affect the current of one's
life, the visit of Judge A^tatthews to Marquette is given as evidence. The In-
dians were adepts in making models of birch bark canoes, but the gradual
elimination of the Indian has eliminated also their handiwork. Birch bark
canoes are becoming very scarce but the judge was anxious to obtain one.
Seeing a beautiful little model of one in the First National Bank, he asked
Peter White where he might get one.

"You may have this one," said Mr. White.

"I do not want that one," answered the judge. "Where will you get
another ?"

"The Indians may as well make me one," replied Mr. White. "I've got
to support them anyhow."

The judge took the model and the incident might have been regarded
as closed. But later it became necessary for the judge to appoint a master
in chancery for the Pewabic Copper Co., and the parties to the suit were un-
able to agree upon a proper person to act.

"If you fail to reach any conclusion I have a man in mind," said the
judge. "His name is printed on that canoe with dififerent colored porcu-
pine quills in letters an inch high — Peter White, Marquette."

The parties agreed to the selection and Peter White was appointed
master in chancery for the Pewabic Copper Co. He later sold the Pewabic
mine to Mason & Smith, of Boston, for $710,000.

When the state of Wisconsin placed a marble statue to Father Mar-
quette in the rotunda of the capitol at Washington, A. E. Archambeau, pres-
ident of the St. Jean Baptiste society, suggested to Peter White that it would
be fitting to have a bronze replica made for the city of Marquette. Mr.
White heartily approved of it and undertook the labor of getting the neces-
sary subscriptions. The statue was unveiled at Marquette, July 15, 1897,
with appropriate ceremonies, Hon. Don M. Dickinson making the principal
speech. Later Peter White put an oil painting of Don M. Dickinson in the
court house of the county which is named after Mr. Dickinson, in the
upper peninsula.

When the Cleveland company, celebrated the semi-centennial of its in-
corporation in 1900, it was Peter White who made the chief address. He
recounted the development of the company from its earliest days ; of how
it was the only company that was prepared to ship any ore through the canal

PETER WHITE'S MONUMENT IS PRESQUE ISLE

237

when it was finished in 1855, and how it had continually shipped ore through
since, more than 1.000,000 tons some years, and how it had extended its op-
erations into the various collateral enterprises, such as the making of a fine
grade of charcoal pig iron, and had become the greatest of all the independent
companies in the peninsula — meaning, of course, by independent companies
those iron mining companies which are not affiliated through ownership with
steel-making concerns. For this is a form of ownership which has latterly
swallowed a number of individual undertakings, so that today the steel-
making companies are the largest owners of the iron mines of the Lake Su-
perior country, and the largest owners of lake vessels as well. He told also

FElEk WHITE DELIVERIXG THE ADDRESS AT THE CLEVELAND CO. S SEMI-CEXTEXXIAL

of the struggles of the pioneers, of which he was the participant, and of
which he is the living witness — and it was very, very interesting indeed.

The Universitv of Michigan conferred upon Peter White the title of
M. A. in 1900. The new^spapers had it LL. D., which caused Mr. George
H. Russel, of Detroit, to write to him as follows :

'T have some misgivings and fear that the new title which comes to you
will bring with it such added dignity that you must necessarily refrain from
being the same old Peter White and give up your good French stories and
other things and put on, as becomes a learned doctor of the law, a black
stock, silk hat and cotton gloves."

238 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

In the spring- of 1902 Peter \\'hite was nominated for regent of the
University of ^Michigan and was elected the first ]\Ionday in April by the
highest number of votes of anv man on the ticket.

No man has greater influence in Washington than Peter White ; nor is
anv man more welcome to the senators and representatives. He has kept
them up half the night with his stories. General Grosvenor relates an inci-
dent at a dinner party where he and several other representatives attended
with Peter White, and they were surprised to discover after listening to a
number of his I'rench stories, that it was two o'clock in the morning. Dr.
H. C. Potter sa\s that lie never knew a man who could tell a story that was
funny enough to stop a railroad train until he met Peter White. \\'hether
he is entertaining senators and representatives or stretching his legs under
the mahogany of the president of the L'nited States at the ^^'hite Plouse,
which he frequently visits, he is not telling stories for the story's sake alone.
There is always some ulterior purpose, some kind intention, some unselfish
act for the betterment of the upper peninsula.

It has been a labor of love on his part to clierish and develop the little
library which he started in 1872. It grew gradually, new quarters being
provided as the expanse of the library exceeded the limits of the old one,
until he set aside a portion of his bank building for the use of the library,
and after decorating it, offering its use free to the city. But the library
passed from larger to larger quarters imtil it became apparent that it would
need a home of its own. Through the generosity of a few leading citizens,
headed by Peter White, a new library building was erected and dedicated to
the public in September, 1904. The new structure, which is known as the
Peter White Library, is an imposing building of Bedford limestone. It was
erected at a cost of $47,000, exclusive of the land. The Bedford limestone
is white and makes a striking building with the red tile roof. The interior
is of marble and weathered oak and the whole effect is beautiful. It is ex-
pected that the library will answer the requirements of Marquette for a great
many years. The city of ]\larquette placed a marble bust of Peter White
in the library in honor of the founder. Some years before when Andrew
Carnegie had called upon Peter \\diite during a visit to the iron mines, Peter
had suggested to him the founding of a library in ]\Iarquette, and oft'ered to
surrender the name of Peter White if he would establish one. But Carnegie,
willing as he is to give libraries to deserving communities, would not listen
to it. He felt that Marquette belonged to Peter White and that she had been
well cared for in that particular respect by him.

There has been but latelv established at Marquette its new normal school

PETER WHITE'S MOXUAIENT IS PRESQUE ISLE

239

for the upper peninsula. The buildings are as yet but three in number, com-
prising" the main normal school building, a dormitory and a science hall. The
science hall is known at The Peter Wdiite Hall of Science, a just and graceful
recognition of the continued, unwearied and practical benefits this rare, and
let us hope typical American citizen, has planned and secured for the growth
and culture of Marquette. This honor came to Peter White unsought. He
had given a thousand dollars a year for a period of five years to the art de-
partment of the normal school, but Principal D. B. Waldo announced that
the selection of a name for the science hall had not been dictated by any
monetary consideration. When this science hall was dedicated men from
all parts of the country came to attend. The\' came, not to dedicate a new

PEIEK WHITE I'UiU.lC LIUKARV.

branch of an educational system, but to see an honor done to Peter White.
"That is all I came for," said Don M. Dickinson, bluntly.

Dickinson had suggested the year before that there should be placed at
the entrance of Presque Isle, where it would be seen of all men entering upon
that beautiful spot, a colossal bronze statue of Peter White. "Let us have the
sturdy figure," said he. "upon the sturd\- legs with a kindly face in colossal
brass and bronze at the entrance of the park."

It was to this dedication that Dr. H. C. Potter wrote that there had long
been a conviction in his mind that if there had been no Peter White there
would have been no upper peninsula.

240 . THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

But it was left to the late Dr. Wm. H. Drummond of Montreal, a life-
long friend, to say the rare and proper thing, to limn him in a line: "Strong-
in his gentleness, wise in his simplicity, practical in his enthusiasm, pioneer in
an age of pioneers, the man whom children on the street know only as Peter
White, stands today, it seems to me, the very highest ideal of that civilization
of which the American people are so proud. When such men build the
foundations, easy it is to raise the superstructure, and the trail Peter White
has cut through life is blessed by acts of private charity and deeds of public
devotion that will serve as a guide to those who follow in the footsteps of a
truly great, and above all, good man." Drummond dedicated Johnny
Courteau to Peter White with the exquisite lines from The Merchant of Ven-
ice: "The dearest friend to me, the kindest man, the best condition'd and un-
wearied spirit in doing courtesies."*

*Following" is one of Dr. Drummond"s poems about Peter White :

PIERRE LEBLANX.

Ev'y State upon de Union, w'en dey write her up today,
Have so many kin' of story not many understan' ;
But if you lissen me you can very quickly see
How it's easy t'ing remember de State of Michigan.
An' me I know it's true, cos ma fader tole me so.
How dat voyageur dey're callin' Pere Marquette
Come a-sailin' hees canoe, wit' de Injun from de Soo,
On de year so long ago dat I forget.

But wan t'ing I can say, w'en Marquette is reach de shore

W here w'at you call hee statute is stickin' up today

Dere's a lettle French boy dere say, "Comment ca va, mon pere.

You been so long a-comin' I hope you're goin' to stay."

An' he show heem safes' place w'ere he put hees birch canoe,

An' de way he talk an' boss de Injun man.

Wall, it's very easy see dat between you'se'f an" me

Dat leetle feller's born to coniman'.

An' Marquette he's moche surpisc at de smart boy he has got,
W'ere he come from, w'at's hees name, and ev'ry thing ;
But de boy he go ahead feexin' up de camp an' bed,
For he always treat hees fricn' jus' lake de King.
Marciuette he den fin' out w'at de lettle feller know.
An' w'at he never see, an' all de Grosse Pointe law ;
How it's mixit up so moche ev'ry body's scare to touch
An' de name he call hese'f is Pierre LeBlanc.

Wall, Marquette he's not a fool, so he's savin" "Au revoir,"
P'or leetle Pierre LeBlanc's too wide awake.
No chance discoveree so far as he can see
Less he fin' some newer place upon de lake.
So dere he stay upon de shore, de lettle Pierre,

PETER WHITE'S MONUMENT IS PRESQUE ISLE 241

During the last ten or twelve years Peter \\'hite has been the president
of the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. Under his management
this island has been literally transformed. It is probably without exception

An' buil' de fines' log house he can get.

Purty soon he have a town on de place he settle down,

An' call it for hees frien' M'sieu Marquette.

But de folk he's bringin' dere fin' it hard w'en winter come

An' ev'ry place is pilin' wit' de snow.

Den who is volunteer bring de letter 'way up here

From de contree lyin' off dere down below ?

Was it feller six foot high is do de job,

Carry letter all de waj^ from Canadaw,

Wit' hees fourteen dog-traineau bangin' t'roo de ice an' snow?

No sirce. It's only leetle Pierre LeBlanc.

But the way he treats hees dog dey say is very bad,

Many folk is takin' all about it yet.

So of course dey're comin' back lak de racer on de track

For hees dog dey don't get not'ing till dey're passin' on Marquette.

Wall, I s'pose he's very poor, Pierre LeBlanc,

An' de pay he's gettin' for it's purty small,

An' he got to eat hese'f, or niebbe he was lef.

So we never get our letter after all.

An' den he start to grow, an' de way he work dey say

For de folk on ole I\Iarquette an' all aroun'

jNIak' heem very populaire on de contree ev'ry w'ere.

Till he t'ink he was de beeges' man in town.

Den hees head begin to swell, 'cos my fader tole me so,

And first t'ing, he was puttin' on de beeges' style he can.

But he ought to be ashame for de way he change hees name

To Peter White, an' try to pass for only Yankee man.

Mcbbe lettle Injun, too, can't say for dat mese'f.

For he always spike sauvage de same as Ojibway.

An' w'en he want to swear it's enough to raise de hair

To hear heem sayin' "Wabigoon ah — goozah — goozah — gay."

An' lak de Injun, too, very hard to tell hees age

For he mus' be over bonder dough he's lookin' forty year

An' he's alway on de rush, you can't lose heem on de bush.

An' he's eye is lak de eagle, strong an' clear.

An' he's leevin' wit' us now, Pierre LeBlanc dit Peter White,

But he won't say not'in' more about hees name

Let heem try it if he can, makin' out he's Yankee man.

But never min' for Pierre LeBlanc he's good man jus" de same.

So if you want to know de State of Michigan

Very easy to remember — in case you might forget

Only two man make her go, 'cos ma fader tole me so,

An' wan is M'sieu Pierre LeBlanc, de oder Pere Marquette.

— W. H. D.

242 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

the most beautiful spot on the chain of lakes, and the most liberal policy
dominates its management. The little village that was there when Peter
White first visited it in 1845 is there yet, quaint, curious and insular ; but
all else is changed. It is a perfect fairyland now and is the summer resort
of the north.

Does anyone imagine that there would have been any celebration at
Sault Ste. Marie in August. 1905, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of
the opening of the first canal which made navigation possible between Lake
Superior and the lower lakes, had it not been for Peter White? There would
not. It was an opportiuiity to be seized upon, but the chief beneficiaries of
the iron companies and vessel interests were too busy with their own affairs
to give it thought. But Peter White had been in the Lake Superior
countrv before the canal and he has been there since. He knew what one
would be without the other. He knew also that a celebration was the very
thing to bring the commercial importance of Sault Ste. Alarie before congress
and the nation to the end that the canal might continually be developed. He
began his plans for the celebration as early as 1902. This untiring and un-
selfish soul went to Washington and saw congress about it. He told con-
gress that Sault Ste. J\Iarie belongs to the nation, and that it was the iron
in the Lake Superior hills that was making the industrial blood of the coun-
tr} run a healthy. red. In twos, in fours, and in committees he told the sen-
ators and representatives about it, and he even told the president, producing
his figures to prove the statement. Day after day he paced the corridor lead-
ing from the senate to the house and was finally promised an appropriation
if he would bring the subject to the attention of congress at the next session.
Early in 1905 he went to Washington to have that promise kept, but the
crv of economy was there ahead of him. The senators would not listen to
an appropriation. Peter W'hite was disappointed but not defeated.

There was a little dinner one night, just a friendly, informal affair in
the senate restaurant, that w^as attended by Speaker Cannon, Senator Bur-
rows and Congressman Hemenway, chairman of the conference committee,
and others. Peter WTiite, who dearly loves the French-Canadian character,
was a guest at this dinner, and he told a great many stories, both humorous
and pathetic, of life in the peninsula, and once in a while he let a remark drop
to show wdiat a tremendously solemn thing the iron business of the Lhiited
States has become, with its magnitude and its responsibilities, and how some
day in the near future another lock would be needed at Sault Ste. Marie to
facilitate the feeding to the iron trade of its raw material, iron ore.

PETER WHITE'S MONUMENT IS PRESQUE ISLE 243

"I g^uess we better give Peter White an appropriation," said Speaker
Cannon.

"Nothing less than $10,000 will do any good." said Peter White.

"Well," said Hemenway, who was drafting the general deficiency bill,
■"if you'll get the signatures of every Michigan senator and representative
that Michigan wants this appropriation, we will put it in the bill."

Peter White quickly secured the signatures of all but one representa-
tive, who after a considerable search, was found in an out-of-the-wav cor-
ner very busily engaged in writing. He was shown the paper, but after
reading it with a very ironical expression on his face returned it without
his signature, saying that he had spoken against the Lewis & Clark cele-
bration and the Jamestown Exposition and could not therefore with good
grace vote for an appropriation for his own state. Peter cordially endorsed
the representative's course but added that the cases were by no means anal-
ogous, that while the expositions were comparatively local affairs the Sault
Ste. Marie canal was a national institution and that for the nation to cele-
brate its semi-centennial was fitting and proper. He became eloquent as he
enlarged upon his theme, and when he concluded the representative had
nothing more to say. He signed the bill and Peter White hurried back to
Hemenway with it. The appropriation was inserted in the bill and passed,
but the ink had scarcely dried upon the measure when the clock struck
twelve and congress had adjourned for the session.

With his bill in his hand Peter White went to Lansing. He has privi-
leges at Lansing because he has earned them. The legislature went into
open session to hear him. He told his story simply, told of the scope of Mich-
igan's great contribution to the material welfare of the country ; told what
congress had done and asked that Michigan participate in the proposed cele-
bration and take charge of it. He did not tell them that he had spent freely
of his own time and money to bring it about. But the legislature saw it.
appreciated it and appropriated $15,000. The governor of Michigan ap-
pointed Peter White president of the commission to conduct the celebration.

Then Peter White appointed Charles T. Harvey, who built the first
canal, chief marshal of the celebration, a fitting, thoughtful and sensible thing
to do, and then he went among his friends, the iron companies, and asked
them to contribute to its success. They all did so with pleasure, giving
not only money but offering ships as well.

The Sault Ste. ]\Iarie Canal Semi-Centennial celebration is the latest
triumph of Peter White. It focused the attention of the country upon this
canal which, while geographically remote, is commercially the most impor-

244 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

tant artificial waterway in the world. The dissemination of general knowl-
edge among the people upon this point will do more than anything else to in-
spire a liberal policy by the national government towards the waterways of
the great lakes. Approximately $50,000,000 has been spent on lake channels
by the government, but the iron ore alone which has been transported along
them has already exceeded $1,000,000,000 in value. In fact the saving in
freight rates on Lake Superior alone in a single season is equal to the total
sum expended by the general government on the whole chain of lakes since
it begun the improvement of its waterways. Since the canal was built
450,268,919 tons of freight of various kinds have passed through it, of
which 349,024,457 tons have been the movement of the past twelve years.

Peter White returned to Marquette to face the greatest sorrow he has
ever known — the death of his wife, who for forty-eight years had been his
constant companion and helpmate, and w^ho had presided with infinite tact
and graciousness over an ideal home. He bore this great afl^iction with
noble fortitude and resignation as he had borne before the loss of five of
his children, whose fingers were tightly clutched on the strings that lead to
the heart.

And thus we bring our hero down to the present day, full of years and
of honors and of sorrow, too, for that is the heritage of life.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

It IS a very common thing for a lec-
turer to illustrate by stereopticon
images the places that he has visited,
the scenes that he has witnessed or the
things that he has done ; but how rare it
is for a speaker to illustrate his lecture
with the actual thing itself ! Right at
the base of the great Weitzel lock at
Sault Ste. Marie Peter White was de-
tailing the growth of lake commerce, its
magnitude and wonderful expansion, the
development of vessel property from the
small schooner to the giant steamer,
CHARLES T. HARVEv, CHIEF MARSHAL, wlicu just as lic spokc tlic stcamcr Sax-
on, upbound, entered the canal with the
ease and silence and caution that had marked the passage of the Indian canoe
half a ceiitury ago. The speaker's back was turned and he did not see the
living stereopticon that was illustrating his very words, but the thousands
>vho were facing him saw it and were greatly impressed.

The Semi-Centennial celebration of the completion of the first canal at
Sault Ste. ]\Iarie to commerce was held on Wednesday and Thursday, Aug.
2 and 3, 1905, and was attended by several thousand citizens. The Semi-
Centennial celebration was under the direction of a commission consisting
of Peter White of Marquette, Mich., Horace M. Oren of Sault Ste. Marie,
and I\Ir. Charles Moore of Detroit. Mr. Charles T. Harvey, who built the
first canal, and whose locks were continuously in use from 1855 to 1887,
acted as chief marshal of the occasion. The attendance of vessel and iron
ore interests was surprisingly small, being represented only by W. C.
Mather, J. H. Sheadle, Capt. J. C. Gilchrist, William Livingstone, Capt.
James Stone of Cleveland; John Russel, Detroit, and J. C. Evans, Buffalo.
Miss Betty Poe, daughter of the late General Poe, was a guest of honor.

246

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

At sunrise on Wednesday morning a naval salute was given by the govern-
ment fleet in the harbor. At nine o'clock the band concert began in the Old
Fort Brady park on the canal front, and was participated in by the regi-
mental band. First United States Infantry, the band of the Third ^Michigan
National Guard, and the Calumet & Hecla band. Simultaneously began
the naval parade through the locks, making a very effective display, as will
be seen from the accompanying photographs. This parade was under the
command of Peter White, created admiral of the dav. and whose flag flew

THE FLAG OF THE ADMIRAL OF THE DAY.

The Peter White flag presented to the [Marigold by Henry 'Si. Campbell and flown
at the foremast of that vessel during the celebration.

from the masthead of the Marigold. It was unfortunate that there were
no giant freighters to join the procession, but notwithstanding their absence
the effect was impressive. The first squadron consisted of the United States-
steamers Marigold, Tuscarora, Morrell and Mackinac, accompanied by a
fleet of other vessels. These vessels were locked through the great Poe

THE SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENx\IAL CELEBRATION

247

lock. It is interesting- to state that they were all locked through at once.
They then proceeded across the St. iMary's river above the rapids and
passed down through the Canadian ship canal and locks. The parade was
then joined by every conceivable craft in the harlior passing in review and
exchanging salutes with the gunboat Wolverine and the Michigan Naval
Reserve steamer Yantic.

The military parade of the afternoon was under the direction of Mr.
Charles T. Harvey, chief marshal. It was headed by the First United States
Infantry band and followed by a battalion of regulars from Fort Brady.
The balance of the military display was made up of the state troops of

ADMIRAL PETER WHITE S FLAGSHIP MARIGOLD.

Michigan. It was interesting to note the difference in deportment between
the state troops and the regulars. The regulars marched with their eyes
straight ahead, glancing neither to the right nor left and apparently obliv-
ious to the fact that they were on parade. The state troops, however, had
eyes for everyone along the sidewalk.

Vice President Fairbanks with Governor Warner, of Michigan, headed
the list of carriages which contained the distinguished visitors, the members
of the senate and the house of representatives of Michigan and other state
officials. The parade was reviewed by the vice president of the United
States and the governor of Michigan from the reviewing stand at Old Fort
Brady on the canal.

248

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

The latter part of the afternoon was given over to an exhibition of
Indian Hfe by a few Ojibway Indians, who had built their tepees on the
canal park. The Indians all, men, women and children, presented an ad-
mirable appearance. Their performance was under the general direction
of Mr. W. O. Armstrong of Montreal, who has done much to preserve the
record of Indian life as it existed in the peninsula prior to the advent of
the white man.

...^■'■'\

9^ J:tj,n

THE LAND PARADE, SAULT STE. MARIE CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

Wednesday was given over to band concerts and fireworks. It must be
admitted that in this particular the Canadians did far better than the Amer-
icans. They gave a magnificent display of fireworks, which was enjoyed
by thousands long after the last rocket had been shot off on the United
States side. As a concluding piece the Lake Superior Corporation illum-
ined its great rail mill from one end to the other with innumerable incan-
descent lights, marking the outline of the building completely and repeating
it on the following evening also.

The commemorative exercises were held in the speakers' stand in the

THE SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

249

south park of the canal on Thursday. The invocation was given by Arch-
deacon Arthur H. Lord of Sault Ste. IMarie, and in the absence of Mayor
Frank Perry, the Hon. Chase S. Osborne of Sault Ste. Marie delivered the
address of welcome. Mr. Osborne was especially felicitous and happy in
his remarks, particularly in reference to the great, black, business bateaux
of 10,000 tons that have taken the place of canoes of the vovageurs.*

The Hon. Peter White, who presided, then introduced Gov. Fred M.

INDIAN TEPEES AT SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.

*Feter White in presiding used a gavel made from the timbers of the old steamer Inde-
pendence which was presented to him on the day of the celebration with the following poem:

For sure mebba, I don' do right, to sen' pres'sen' to Petare W'ite,
Of co'rs' he's man I've heard a good deal, but jus' de sam' I halways feel
Dat w'en you try to 'blige a man, 'tis bes' furs t'ing to onnerstan'
Wedder dat man weel welcom' you, een w'at you say or try to do.
An' so — but den, oh dear, L'enfant! — I of 'en heard of Pierre Le Blanc;
He's kin' of man who'll halways greet de poores' purson h'on de street,
An' so ma frien', I don' feel frade, to spick with dis beeg ace o' spade.
Nor h'am I frade he'll fin' eet hard, to tak' dis' token of regard
From wan who knows heem but een nam', but t'inks he's "W'ite man" jus' de
sam'.

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252 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Warner of Michigan, who read an address upon the subject "The State of
Michigan and the Building of St. Mary's Canal," saying :

"The great work, the completion of which we are now commemorating,
is one of the connecting links between the governments of our Nation and
of our State. Fostered by both, the construction and improvement of the
St. Mary's Ship Canal have borne no small part in maintaining the interest
which the government at Washington has in our commonwealth. As we
look upon conditions as they exist today, and consider the wonderful devel-
opment of our State and commercial relations which have been established
between Michigan and the entire world beyond our borders, we too often
overlook the agencies which have brought about these results. In the con-
summation of great enterprises and in the enjoyment of the benefits result-
ing from them, the difficulties overcome and the courage and energy of the
men who champion them are too often forgotten. This is especially true
as to the construction of this canal. How seldom do we now think of the
discouragement with which its promoters were well nigh overcome, and
the splendid faith and untiring perseverance of the men who, under most
unfavorable circumstances, could still see hope of success and promise of
achievement.

"It is because of this that the setting apart of an occasional day for
the purpose of perpetuating in our memories the great events in the State's
•development may wisely be encouraged, and it is to the credit of the last
legislature that it made an appropriation for the proper participation by
the State in this celebration.

"The act of the Legislature in making the appropriation was a fitting
recognition of the importance of the canal in the development of the great
material and industrial interests of Michigan. When, in the settlement of
the difficulty between the States of Michigan and Ohio, that part of the
State now embraced in vvdiat is known as the Upper Peninsula was practi-
cally forced on the State, the country was believed to be of little value, and
it was with great reluctance that Michigan accepted the territory in lieu of
the valuable tract ceded to Ohio. What a revelation there has been since

So, Pierre Le Blanc, or Petare W'te, for sure you'll geev me great delight,
Eef you'll accep' dis leetle cane, dis paper knif, wit nice h'oak grain,
An' las' of h'all, dis gavel, too, w'ich 1 'av' mad' express for you.
Dey each wan formed — now, ain't dat queer — formed part of dat h'ole pioneer,
Dat steamed de lake — I jus' forget — I tink 'tween .here an' h'ole Marquette,
For sure dat's honder year ago, you's here dat tam', so you mus' know;
For I 'av' heard, you're purty h'ole, tree honder year so I've been tole,
Excuse to me, for spick of h'age, dough dat's de garmin' of de sage.
An' wan I know you wear jus' right, for peep' h'all say dat, Petare W'ite.

H'am yours vera trula,

MoisE St. Pierre.

THE SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

253

that time to the people of Michigan and of the country as to the marvelous
resources and untold wealth of the then despised Upper Peninsula. Here
are located the greatest copper producing mines of the world. Here are
to be found well-nigh exhaustless deposits of iron ore. Here, notwithstand-
ing the carrjing on of extensive lumbering operations for many years, still
exist vast forests of valuable timber. And now this peninsula is astonish-
ing the people below the Straits by the rapid advancement of its not incon-
siderable agricultural interests.

SHOWING VICE PRESIDENT FAIRBANKS, GOV. WARNER, CONGRESSMAN BURTON, SENATOR BUR-
ROWS AND WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, PRESIDENT OF THE LAKE CARRIERS'
ASSOCIATION, IN THE FOREGROUND IN THE SPEAKERS' STAND.

"In the development of these great and still unmeasured resources the
St. Mary's Ship Canal has borne the leading part. It has been and is the
gateway through which have poured the products not only of this peninsula
but of the entire northwest — iron from the Mesaba range, wheat from the
fertile plains of the Dakotas and Manitoba — constituting a tonnage greater
than that which passes through the Suez Canal.

254 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

"We of the Lower Peninsula, priding ourselves on the rapid develop-
ment of all our resources, congratulate you of the Upper Peninsula that,
largely through the building of this canal, you have been ab^.e to make equal
progress in the development of your resources. We are interested in all
things that pertain to your welfare as we know that you are interested in
everything that pertains to ours.

"Let us not forget that this feeling of mutual interest is making of these
two peninsulas one commonwealth, not only in name but in fact — a State,
one of the greatest in the sisterhood of states.

"It is surely not expected of me that I speak at length of the history
of this great enterprise, or in detail of its effect upon the industries of the
State, the Nation, and the world, for that privilege is properly left to one
who is as much a part of this great north country as the very rocks them-
selves ; one who has been an important factor in its every development, and
who because of his good works is as well known to us below the Straits as
you above. I can thus refer to no other than Michigan's honored citizen,
Peter White.

"Michigan deeply appreciates the interest which the national govern-
ment, the people of our sister States and our friends across the border, have
taken in these commemorative events, and I consider it especially fitting
that the great English speaking nation of Europe should, through the rep-
resentatives of the Canadian government, participate in this celebration, for
it is to these two great English speaking nations, the one of the old world
and the one of the new, working hand in hand, that the world must largely
look for its standard of civilization through the centuries to come.

"It becomes my delightful duty to welcome you, one and all, to this
spot which plays so important a part in the great business activities of the
world."

The principal address of the morning was. of course, the historical
address upon the development of the Lake Superior region by Peter White,
Marquette.'''

*In Api-il, 1849, I was and for two years had been living on the island of Mackinac, then
in many ways relatively a much more important place than it is now. A depot of the American
Fur Company was there, and there was another at the -Sault. I do not know which of the two
was the more important. The business of Mackinac Island dealt very largely with the skins of
wild animals.

I had a position in a mercantile establishment, which gave me leisure in winter to go to
school. Hon. Edward Kanter, afterwards of Detroit, a very well-known man, was my employer,
and I liked my place very much indeed. But with the coming of this particular spring there
was a good deal of excitement in the air over an expedition overland to California, and another
one which was being fitted out under Mr. Robert Graveraet, to go to the so-called "iron moun-
tains" of Lake .Superior. The copper excitement began some time earlier, and there had been,
as early as 1846, some exploration and mining, not far from where Marquette now is, for silver
lead. JJut now the iron excitement was something new.

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256

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

A rather touching incident occurred at the conclusion of the exercises
during the afternoon. When Peter White stepped down from the platform
he was met by Bill Wiaskia, a Chippewa Indian, and two other Indians. At

CANADIAN LUCK WITH GATES CLOSED.

It had been long known by the Indians and others that there was copper in the Lake
Superior country, very accessible and very pure. Just why the miners delayed so long in going
after it is hard to say. But somehow the Mexican war — the first foreign difficulty in many a
long year — and the discovery of gold in California seem to have operated to wake up adventur-
ous spirits everywhere.

Eighteen hundred forty-nine was a great year for the American explorer. The '49er of
Lake Superior has often clasped hands with the '49er of California, and indeed the men of
one of these districts often sought the other extreme of the country to continue their work.
The late John H. Forster, of Portage Lake, was a California pioneer of '49. Mr. Robert Grav-
eraet, who captained the proposed expedition to the Lake .Superior region, was a man of remark-
able strength, energy and commanding character; and I was advised by prominent citizens at
Mackinac, like Mr. Samuel F. Haring, collector of the port, that the iron mountain country was
likely to afford a fine opening' for an energetic young man. Mr. Haring had always been very
friendly in his attitude toward me, and his advice influenced me a great deal.

It required a good deal of faith, for Mr. Kanter was paying me $35 a month, with

THE SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 257

that moment Mrs. Thomas D. Gilbert, of Grand Rapids, daughter of Rev.
Abel Bigham, who established a Baptist mission at the Sault in the early
days and who was herself born there, joined the party. Though it has been

board, and the coveted school privilege; and I was to have only $12 a month and board, for a
year, with the expedition. Nevertheless, I joined willingly. Our trip up the lake and river
from Mackinac to the Sault was a tedious and difficult one. We were in the old steamer Te-
cumseh, a side wheeler, and a mere pigmy compared with the steamers which now ply the lakes.
It took us eight days to make the trip, as the ice was only just bginning to break up, and
side wheelers always made poor work of ice. A railroad in this country had never been
thought of; indeed, railroads were then in their infancy in the United States. Railroads in
America are only about as old as I am. There were then only about 1,600 people in the whole
northern peninsula — perhaps a thousand if we leave out the settlements at Mackinac Straits. I
have no means of knowing how many Indians there were.

Those Indians who came to Mackinac numbered about 10,000 each year, but they came
from south of the Straits as well as north, and from as far away as the islands in Green Bay.
They were migratory in their habits, ranging far and wide in search of game, fish and furs.
There were, of course, a few Indian trails, but none of them led to the iron mountains of Lake
Superior. The water route, I might say the ice-water route, was all there was for us. The trip
on the St. Mary's river, with all its remarkable beauty, is, of course, entirely familiar to all
present. But beautiful as the river now is, it has changed immensely both for the better and
for the worse since I first saw it. It has changed for the better, since it seems that the world
was created for man, and man has now subdued, changed and possessed this stream for his
residence, his solace, his recreation , and his commerce. This was before the days of lights,
dredges, buoys, ranges and channel improvem.ents. I doubt if a draught of over 10 or 12 ft.
could have been successfully brought up to the foot of the rapids at that day.

The river has also changed for the worse, as its perfectly wooded banks were then abso-
lutely unspoiled by the axe or devastating fire. The forest was unbroken, enormous, beautiful in
the extreme. The river was leaping with fish, and the woods full of deer, bear and small
game. The beaver were everywhere.

I do not remember all the stops we made, but the Sailors' Encampment was one of them.
When we reached the Sault we found also a place very few here would recognize, though many
old landmarks persisted here not many years ago. The Rapids were the same as to the central
fall, but the canals and buildings have very much altered the appearance of things, and the
Hay Lake cut, especially down by the Little Rapids, almost more than all. There were few
wharves and almost no shipping. My recollection on the Canadian side is that only five or six
small buildings made any show on the river. On the American side was old Fort Brady, by
the water's edge, a few houses on the river bank below it; but the principal part of the town
was above it. There was one wide street starting from the fort grounds, and several very nar-
row little streets running out of it, as in all Trench towns. There may have been 500 people all
told. Many were French, some were half breeds, some were Americans, some were the resident
Indians. The first Jesuit explorers noted that the Sault Indians were not migratory like the
others. Some stayed the year through, as fish could always be caught in the rapids, and it
was a sort of neutral zone.

The houses were mostly small and low. I do not remember who the commander of the
post was, unless it was Lieutenant Russell or Capt. Clark. The garrison could hardly nuriiber
50 men besides officers. I remember that there was a Baptist mission, presided over by a
clergyman whom everyone called Father Bingham. I knew the family afterward quite well and
nice people they were. One daughter, named Angeline, afterward became the wife of Hon.
Thomas D. Gilbert, at one time mayor of Grand Rapids, and a regent of the University. His
widow, an estimable lady, still lives in Grand Rapids. Capt. Sam Moody, one of our party,
thought so much of Miss Bingham that when he found a beautiful lake near Ishpeming, he

258 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

a great many years since Mrs. Gilbert left the Sault she was recognized by
the Indians and when she asked them if they still remembered the old
Indian hymn that was sung at the mission they nodded and followed both

called it Lake Angeline after her, and "thereby hangs a tale." The ore under Lake Angelina
proved so much more valuable than the water in it that no lake is there now.

There were several stores at the Sault then, and we purchased here the outfit for our
expedition. For our prospective voyage on Lake Superior we had a Mackinac boat between 35
and 40 ft. long, which had to be hauled and poled up about a mile of rapids, near the shore.
My recollection is that it took about three hours to get up past the swift water. ' Among those
residing here then, with whom I became acquainted, was John Tallman Whiting, afterward of
Detroit. Here he had charge of the warehouse and dock belonging to Sheldon McKnight, a
warehouse and vessel-man, who owned in his time many steamers, among which were the Lon-
don, Baltimore, General Taylor, Illinois, Pewabic and Meteor. Mr. Whiting, a most intelligent
and agreeable man, was long my correspondent and friend. The agent of the American Fur
Company at the Sault was an autocrat named John R. Livingston, as Judge Abbot was at
^Mackinac.

There were two hotels in those days at the Sault, the Van Anden and the Chippewa.
Smith kept the Chippewa, bought the Van Anden also and kept it for many years. The Chip-
pewa House, some of you remember, was not the original. That building burned down. Then
Van Anden, who kept the Van Anden House, desiring to remove to Ontonagon, to keep a
new hotel there called "The Bigelow," sold out his hotel to Smith, who immediately rechristened
it the Chippewa.

When we say there was no canal, we ought to add that there was then on the Canadian
side of the Rapids a liliputian lock, where it may still be seen. It was said to belong to the
Northwest Fur Company. It does not remind one of the present canal locks very much, but
then Peter Cooper's locomotive with a barrel for a water tank doesn't look much like a modern
mogul, but it is the same thing nevertheless. The number of real vessels, not counting craft
like our own, then sailing the waters of Lake Superior, was very small, and none of them
measured over 200 tons burden. As they had not been built on the big lake, you may wonder
how they got over them. They were hauled over on wooden ways, very much as houses are now
moved with rollers and windlasses. The Julia Palmer, a side wheeler, and the Independence
and Monticello, both propellers, came over the portage that way. The Napoleon was first a
sail vessel, but metamorphosed into a propeller. It was said that in a heavy sea she would
dip water with her smoke pipe and thus put out the fires. The side wheelers Sam Ward and
Baltimore and propellers Manhattan, Samuel Taylor, Peninsula and several more were brought
over the ])ortage in the same way.

A Parisian, once a passenger on the Baltimore, when she was making very slow progress
up the lake against a heavy head wind, walked out on deck just before dark, took a look at
the Pictured Rocks, and was much pleased with the view. In the morning before breakfast he
again came out on deck and the panorama astonished him. He exclaimed: "What ees dis
beautiful sight you have here?" He was told, "You are again looking at Pictured Rocks."
He exclaimed, "What a great countree! Before you go to bed you walk on de deck. You
have a grand view de Picture Rock, den you go to bed, you sleep well all night — de steamer
is go ahead all the time — you come out on deck in de morning, you see Picture Rock again.
What a big country you got and what big Picture Rock!" No one told him that the captain
finding that he could make no headway against the wind and the waves had run back to
Whitefish Point during the night, and that the Frenchman was now looking at the same rock
pictures he had seen the previous evening.

Lake Superior was uncharted, and only poorly lighted, and navigation was therefore quite
as dangerous, or more so, for these steam craft of moderate power, as for our Mackinac boat.

A merchant citizen of the Sault named Peter B. Barbeau, a very prominent man and an
old settler, one day met a stranger from off a boat lying at the dock. The stranger said to
him, "I take it tliat you live in tliis place?" "Yes sir: I do." "Well, then, I would like

260 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

the tune and words as she gave it. Peter White thereupon broke into an
Indian song with dance accompaniment to the great delight of the Indians,
who immediately began to sing the song and go through the steps with

to ask you how this town got its curious name, Sault Ste. Marie?" "That, sir," replied Bar-
beau, "is a corruption. The town was originally named after a lady called Susan Maria, and
by mispronunciation it has become 'Soo Ste. Mary.' "

According to my recollection I was back at the Sault twice after the first visit, before the
canal was opened. Once I came down by lake, taking a steamer passage to reach here. On
the second occasion I came down with the Hon. .'\bner Sherman on land-office business. We
wanted to enter some land at the United States Land Office, which was then at the Sault. We
v/alked all the way, and the journey was one of enormous difficulty and hardship, and a good
deal of danger. It took nine days. I wish I had time to tell you incidents of the trip. The
distance now from the Sault to IMarquette by railroad in almost an air line is about 153
miles, but we couldn't take any such direct route; we had to follow the shore all the way.
Fordin.^ streams like the Au Train was very dangerous, and one came near costing me my
life. Skirting the great Tahquamenon swamp was another heart-breaking task. We would be
in the water up to our waists for miles, but we lived through it nevertheless. Such were
things before the canal was built. The difference in the appearance of town, shore and vessels
was not more marked than the difference between our dress then and now. We hardly ever
wore coats, but hickory shirts in summer and flannel shirts in winter. Very occasionally we
had blanket coats with capote, but more usually if we were cold we put on more shirts.
Most housekeepers of today would be greatly surprised at the thickness and beauty of the five-
point blankets, which was one of the annual treaty payments to the Indians, one blanket to
each advilt. Such a blanket was nearly as stiff as a board and was wonderfvilly warm.

When pay time came, besides the blankets, enough money was distributed to make either
($18 or $22 to every Indian man, woman and child. I do not remember whether the Indians
were ever paid at the Sault, but I have seen 10,000 or 12,000 paid at one time at Mackinac,
and the whole beach full of wigwams for miles. The inhabitants were very willing to have
them with their attendant drawbacks, as it made trade. But all the northwest furs came down
this way to flotilla from Fort William. Before the canal the Lake Superior country was the
land of romance, but was closed except to the limited traffic I have mentioned. But the ocm-
merce was both the key that opened it. and the result of the opening. Enterprising as were
the great French explorers, no trade but the fur-trade was important in their eyes. It was
to their interest, as they saw it. to keep the country wild, a fur-bearing country. The canoe
and the bateaux were big enough for them. They never thought of displacing the Indians by
large settlements. But when the lumbermen, the miner and the heavy freighter came, the canal
became a necessity.

From our present standpoint the projectors would have been satisfied with small things.
How would a lock 100 ft. long strike you now? Yet such was actually planned, indeed actually
determined upon by some persons in authority at a time not far from the achievement of state-
hood. What surprise would now be felt to hear that the United States government ever op-
posed the canal! Yet soldiers from Fort Brady actually chased away the first laborers employed
by the State to dig the canal, because they were trespassing and had entered on without per-
mission, a military reservation. The State and National authorities were at cross purposes for
some time.

In passing here is an item worthy of note: In 1840 a bill was introduced in Congress
in accordance with a memorial from the Michigan Legislature asking for an appropriation of
100,000 acres of land to aid in building the canal; but Henry Clay, the famous orator and
statesman, made a speech against llie hill, saying, to quote his own language, "it is a work
quite beyond the remotest settlement of the United States, if not in the moon"— and the meas-
ure was defeated.

THE SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

261

him. Mrs. Gilbert was so affected by the singing that it was with difficulty
that she restrained her tears.

A most significant demonstration occurred at the afternoon meeting.

And who would be supposed to be more alive to the uses of a canal, and more intent
to see one built, sufficient for all future demands, than the vessel-men? Yet the vessel-men
would have been satisfied with a much smaller canal than the one actually built. I have in my
possession a copy of a letter by Capt. Eber B. Ward, long acknowledged Grand Mogul of all
vessel interests, the heaviest proprietor of lake shipping of his day. In his letter he protested

NAVAL VESSELS IN CANADIAN LOCK.

most vigorously, but fortunately in vain, against building the canal locks over 260 ft. long.
The lock was actually made 350 ft. long, but 260 would have allowed the passage of the long-
est vessel he then had, and he did not foresee the demand for anything bigger. But what
really dictated his letter was the fear that if a lock 350 ft. long were begun, it would never
be finished. There was the vast land grant of course, but Captain Ward had so little faith in
the value of the granted lands, that he estimated their selling value at only 25 cents an acre.
He thought they would sell for enough to build a canal lock 260 ft. long, not one of 350 ft.
Captain Ward died, as it seemed to some of us, only a few yesterdays ago, and doubtless lived

262 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

There were seven speeches altogether at the afternoon session, all of them
delivered under a hot sun and with a natural fatigue, both to speakers and
audience, inseparable from so long continued a session. Yet the audience,

to change his mind. But with our present knowledge of the ores that have been dug, the tim-
ber cut, and the crops shipped from Lake Superior districts, his fears were as erroneous as his
land valuation. Two reflex influences are here to be noted. The canal made the ore trade,
and then the ore trade made the canal. Without a canal ore could not be shipped at all. With
a small shallow canal the finished product of the smelter seemed a more reasonable freight
than the ore. But still the ore trade began, and the tonnage of all sorts speedily outstripped
the capacity of the canal. It was enlarged and enlarged again, so that a trade which employed
at first vessels of two or three hundred tons burden, is now rapidly tending to be monopolized
by carriers of 8,000 to 10,000 tons capacity, each with a consort, so that one engine can pull
to Cleveland, Ashtabula or Erie, 16,000 to 18,000 tons of ore. In 1855 it was estimated that
30,000 tons of freight passed the canal. In 1881 the tonnage had grown to 1,567,000 tons. In
1886 the enlarged locks carried 4,527,000 tons. In 1901 the second enlargement with the canal
open 230 days, 25,000,000 tons of freight were passed — three times the commerce of the Suez
canal, and six times that of Kiel.

My thesis is this: The opening of the Sault canal has been of the largest benefit to the
whole United States of any single happening in its commercial or industrial history.

Every state in the Union has benefited by it. A long water-haul is so enormously cheaper
than rail-haul, that the ability to ship large cargoes direct from Lake Superior ports, 1,200 to
1,500 miles, or even across the seas, has transformed the United States and changed her posi-
tion among the nations. The grain of the northwest now finds an eastern or foreign market
with surprising ease. Flour goes direct from Duluth to Liverpool. Many fields and millions of
acres are now under plow in Dakota and the Canadian northwest, as the result of the canal.
Bread is cheaper in Massachusetts than otherwise would be possible, and thus the canal helps
the happiness of the laboring man. The lumber of Michigan, W^isconsin, Minnesota and now of
Oregon and Washington, has passed or is passing through the canal. Without this transport
it would be impossible that the American people could be so comfortably housed, or that Amer-
ican timber could have been sold abroad for our national wealth and supremacy. The copper
of Michigan is the purest in the world; it is usable for results not attempted with the product
of other mines of other regions. It is sold all over the world, after passing the canal. It
carries the telegraph, the telephone, the electric railway everywhere. It is used in all arts. The
age of electricity is due to the canal. The iron of Michigan, the ores of unexampled purity
have passed and are passing the canal. Before this movement began the iron industry of Amer-
ica, chiefly engaged with the lean Pennsylvania ores, was having a fierce struggle for existence.
The Lake Superior ores are rich enough and varied enough to mix with the Pennsylvania ores,
and have saved the iron and steel industry of Pennsylvania, and so in America. The iron
industry is the key of the commercial supremacy of the world. Before the canal we were
dependent on the British Isles. Now we can undersell the world. The canal made Pittsburg
the great city that it is today; it made cheap rails and railways possible; it made cheap tools,
cheap wire, and has fenced the woodless prairies; it has made cheap nails and implements of
all kinds. It has sent our rifles, shovels, hammers, reapers, bridges, and rails, all over the
world. The American ironclad is the child of the canal.

Kitchener went to Khartoum with the freight of this canal. No English company would
agree to furnish the Albany bridge necessary for his advance in less than eighteen months.
An American contractor set it up in three months. Carnegie builds libraries and rewards heroic
virtue with the fruits of a business impossible without the canal. The coal of the south returns
by the canal to temper our winters and to drive our engines.

Population is the child of the canal; industry another; comfort another; education and
philanthropy twins of the canal; agriculture, manufactures, transportation, world intercourse,
commercial supremacy, and the world's acreage the offering of the canal. The canal has reduced
the price of steel rails from $150 a ton to $26 and occasionally even less. King Iron used to
reign from an English throne, now his throne is in America. We are now the great creditor
nation, and as such have the greatest possible inflvience in the peace of the world.

THE SAULT CANAL SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 263

tired as it was, called for Clergue and refused to disperse until he had
appeared and said a few words to them. Mr. Francis H. Clergue in re-
sponding to the calls said that he was now to be regarded only as appear-
ing in the role of a day laborer, but that he had not lost faith in the future
or in Sault Ste. Marie, and predicted that before the centennial of the canal
could be celebrated Sault Ste. Marie would be the metropolis of the west.

The principal speaker at the afternoon session was Vice President
Fairbanks, who was listened to with great attention, and who packed a great
deal of excellent matter into very small space.

Bill Wiaskia. the Chippewa Indian, occupied a seat on the platform
and was invited to speak just before the celebration came to its official close.
It was a connecting link with the past that he should have renewed the
protest of Shegud, made fifty years ago. The original canal lock went
through the old Indian burying ground, which had been forever reserved
by treaty to the Indian. Shegud eloquently pleaded for the observance of
the compact, but it was useless. Wiaskia related how. fifty years ago, he

On the authority of a Bishop of the English church, I assert that the United States lias
now the greatest power for world-peace of any nation, or that any nation ever had. Our power
is largely the result of this canal. If any one knows of anything bigger in the history of
civili ration I should be glad to hear of it. \ATiat was the Colossus of Rhodes? What is the
great Pyramid? Where are the hanging gardens of Babylon? The biggest thing on earth is
known by its results, and the biggest thing is the .Sault canal. But bigger than anything created
is the creator; and larger than anything conceived of is the mind that conceived it.

The Erie Canal, that has done so much for the State of New York, is 363 miles long from
Albany to Lake Erie, and was completed Nov. 4, 1825. The first shovelful of dirt was taken
out of it at my birthplace, at Rome, N. Y., July 4, 1817. Its completion was celebrated on a
certain day. All the nations of the world were invited to participate in the celebration, and
every nation that had a war vessel sent one with representatives to assist in the celebration,
bringing all manner of gifts as offerings. One vessel brought barrels of water from the River
Jordan which were poured into the canal at Albany to bless and prosper the wonderful great
waterway. The whole cost of this canal was over $62,000,000, including all enlargements. In
1883 its use was made free. It makes a continuous water connection from the Great Lakes to
the .\tlantic Ocean, and yet, great as its benefits are, it cannot for one moment be compared to
this canal, only a little over one mile in length.

Let me give you a few figures to indicate how sensibly the world's production of iron and
steel has been influenced since this canal came into being. First of all I will give, for com-
parative purposes, the production of pig iron in the United States and Great Britain for some
years prior to the construction of the canal.

PRIOR TO THE CAN.\L.
UNITED ST.\TES. GRE.^T BRITAIN,

Pig Iron. Pig Iron.

Year. Tons. Year. Tons.

1820 20,000 1820 400,000

1830 165.000 1830 677,417

1840 286,903 1840 1,396,400

18S0: : 563,755 1850 2,210,000

1854 657,337 1854 3,069,838

Thus it is seen that in no year prior to this canal, which made the Lake Superior de-
posits available, did the United States produce much more than 600,000 tons of pig iron. Let
me now exhibit a statement tracing the rise and decline of the British pig iron industry and
showing as well the constant ascendancy of the United States in pig iron production, coincident
ith the annually increasing flow of Lake Superior ore through this canal.

264

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

had journeyed to Detroit and how Gen. Cass, who drew the original treaty,
had told him there that aside from the actual strip occupied by the canal the

remainder with its adjoining islands was part and parcel of the Indian res-
ervation, to remain in their possession "so long as the water flowed past it."

SINCE THE CANAL WAS COMPLETED.

Total Shipments Pig Iron Pro- Pig Iron Pro-
Lake Superior dnction in tlie duction in
Ores. United States. Great Britain.
Cross Tons. Cttoss Tons. Gross Tons.

1SS5 1,449 700,159 3,218,154

1856 36,343 788,515 3,586,377

lf^57 25,646 712.640 3,659,377

1?58 15,876 629,548 3,456,064

1859 68,832 750,560 3,712,904

1860 114,401 821,223 3,826,752

1S61 ■ 49,909 653,164 3,712,390

1862 124,169 703.720 3,943,469

1863 203,055 846,075 4,510,040

1864 243,127 1,014,282 4.767.951

1865 236.208 831,770 4,825,254

1866 278.796 1.205.663 4,523,897

1867 473,567 1,305,023 4,761,023

1868 491.449 1,431,250 4,970,206

1869 617,444 1,711,287 5,445,757

1870 830,940 1,665,179 5,963,515

1871 779,607 1,706,793 6,627,179

1872 900,901 2,548,713 6,741,929

1873 1,162,458 2.560,963 6,566,451

1874 919,557 2,401,262 5,991,408

1875 891,257 2,023,733 6.365,462

1876 992,764 1,868,961 6,555,997

1877 1,015,087 2,066.594 6,608,664

1878 1,111,110 2.301,215 6,381.051

1879 1,375,691 2,741,853 5,995,337

1S80 1,908,745 3,835,191 7,749,233

1881 2,306,505 4.144.254 8,144.449

1882 2,965,412 4,623,323 8,586,680

1883 2,353,288 4,595,510 8,529,300

1884 2,518,692 4,097,868 7,811,727

1885 2,466,372 4,044,526 7,415,469

1886 3,568,022 5,683,329 7,009.754

1887 4,730,577 6,417,148 7,559,518

1888 5,063,693 6,489,738 7,998,969

1889 7,292,754 7,603,642 8,322,824

1890 9,012.379 9.202.703 7.904,214

1891 7,062,233 8,279,870 7,406,064

1892 9,069,556 9.157,000 6,709,255

1893 6,060,492 7,124,502 6,976,990

1894 7,748,932 6,657,388 7,427,342

1895 10,438.268 9.446.308 7,703,459

1896 9,916,035 8,623,127 8,659,681

1897 12,469,638 9,652,680 8,796,465

1898 14,024,673 11,773,934 8,609.719

1899 18.251,804 13,620,703 9.421435

1900 19,059,393 13,789,242 8,959,691

1901 20,593,537 15,878,354 7,928,647

1902 27,571,121 17,821,307 8.679.535

1903 24,289,878 18,009,252 8,935,063

1904 21,822,839 16,497,033 8,562,658

From this table it will be seen that the United States reached its high-water mark in pig
iron production in 1903, when 18,009,252 tons were produced as against 8,935,063 tons in Great
Britain, or more than once again as much as Britain. The present year of 1905 is, however,
expected to be the record-breaking year of all when more than 30,000,000 tons of Lake Superior

ore will come down the lakes, and when the furnaces of the United States will, according to
the monthly rate of the present year, safely make more pig iron than Great Britain, Germany

and France combined. It is an interesting commentary to be able to state as a fact that one
single company in the United States, viz., the United States Steel Corporation, produced in the
year 1904 a greater steel tonnage than was made in the whole of Great Britain.

266 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Wiaskia maintained that this agreement too had been violated without ade-
quate satisfaction. Wiaskia, who is a big man, spoke easily, with large and
graceful gestures, and with great dignity. He left the speaker's stand with
a giant's stride and with the profound respect of all who heard him. All
things considered, it was fitting that the exercises should have been closed
in this manner. It brought the two beginnings of the two half centuries
together. Who knows but what the Indian, who confessedly has not had
his just deserts, may be better treated at the close of this half century than
he was at the close of the last? The exercises were concluded bv singing
"America."

In commemoration of the Semi-Centennial celebration the commission,
of which Peter White was president, caused to be erected at Sault Ste.
Marie an obelisk of hammered Stony Creek red granite. The shaft is 45
ft. long, 5 ft. 5 in. square at the foot, tapering to a dimension of 1 ft. square
and then finished to a point. It weighs sixty tons. The commemorative
tablets upon it are as follows :

The total amount of steel produced by the United States Steel Corporation last year
was 9,167,960 tons, out of a total in the United States of 14,422,101 tons. Great Britain's total
production was in 1904, 5,134,101 tons of steel, a little over one-half as much as the United
States Steel Corporation product and a little over one-third as much as tlie whole United States
product.

That shows the great advantage that this country has in the manufacture of iron and
steel since the entire steel making capacity of the United States Steel Corporation is exclusively
from Lake Superior ores. Last year the United States produced more pig iron than Great Brit-
ain and Germany combined. There are plenty more very interesting figures for us to contem-
plate, but I fear I will tire you and so forbear. The increased mileage in railroads in the
United States since 1855 is astounding and worthy of comment, but time forbids.

But I cannot close without pointing out the fact that the freedom of the canal is almost
greater in its influence than the canal. This great waterway is free to the British flag as to
our own. as are all the canals of the United States government. The Canadians themselves
have been as generous in allowing us the free use of their canal on the other shore at all
times and under all circumstances as we could possibly desire them to be. They have set us
an example of liberality of good will that we must always profit by, and be just as generous
in return. This, then, as we hinted, is Lake Superior's declaration of independence.

This vast land-locked sea with all its tributaries is free, and its freedom means these
infinite results, the greatest addition to freedom since freedom came. And we who have seen
its development and have worked the forests and mines which have chiefly made its commerce,
may pause in wonder that so few and so feeble a people living under so cold a sky should
have been permitted to share so largely in changing the seat of empire, and enlarging the hap-
piness of the world.

Who that celebrates this mighty triumph can forget the men who dreamed it and the
men who made it? Governor Mason had it in his mind, but failed to bring it to pass. A great
thought is next in honor to a great deed. We have Charles T. Harvey, the builder of the
first lock, with us today. General Weitzel, who built the first enlarged lock, was the officer
who took possession of captured Richmond. Poe, whose name adorns the largest lock, was
famous on many a stricken field. Both wrought themselves as well as their names into these
locks, and both were capable of more. If men, whose genius made these locks, and those whose
interests and ability urged on, expanded, and used them, were named together, it would prove
that peace is greater than war, that commerce is the handmaid of peace, and if the men of the
twentieth century outstrip those of the nineteenth, who wrought this wonder, the race of giants
must return.

THE SAULT CANAL SEMl-CENTEXNIAL CELEBRATION

267

[SOUTH TABLET]

this monument, erected by the united states, the state of mich-
igan, and the mining and transportation interests of the great
Lakes, commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of
saint marys falls canal, celebrated august 2 and 3, 1905 ; theodore
roosevelt being president; fred m. warner, governor. celebration
commissioners: peter white, fiorace mann oren, charles moore,
chief marshal: charles t. harvey.

THE MONOLITH, ERECTED AT SAULT STE. MARIE BY THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL COMMISSION, TO

COMMEMORATE THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST HALF CENTURY

OF THE canal's USEFULNESS.

[EAST TABLET]

THE XXXII. CONGRESS HAVING MADE A GRANT OF PUBLIC LANDS TO AID
THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SHIP CANAL AROUND SAINT MARYS FALLS, THE
STATE OF MICHIGAN CONTRACTED WITH JOSEPH P. FAIRBANKS, JOHN W.
BROOKS, ERASTUS CORNING, AUGUST BELMONT, HENRY DWIGHT, JR., AND
THOMAS DWYER, PRINCIPALS; AND FRANKLIN MOORE. GEORGE F. PORTER.

268 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

JOHN OWEN^ JAMES F. JOY, AND HENRY P. BALDWIN, SURETIES, TO BUILD A
CANAL ACCORDING TO THE PLANS OF CAPT. AUGUSTUS CANFIELD, U. S. A.
THE WORK OF CONSTRUCTION WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY CHARLES T. HARVEY,
C. E., WHO OVERCAME MANY SERIOUS OBSTACLES INCIDENT TO THE REMOTE
SITUATION. TIIE CANAL, OPENED JUNE 18, 1855, WAS OPERATED BY THE
STATE UNTIL JUNE 9, 1881, WHEN IT WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE UNITED
STATES AND MADE FREE TO ALL VESSELS. SUPERINTENDENTS UNDER THE
STATE: JOHN BURT, ELISHA CALKINS, SAMUEL P. MEAD, GEORGE W. BROWN,
GUY H. CARLETON, FRANK GORTON, JOHN SPALDING.

[NORTH TABLET]

BESIDE THESE RAPIDS, JUNE 14, 1671, DAUMONT DE LUSSON, NICOLAS
PERROT, LOUIS JOLIF.T AND FATHERS DABLON, DRUILLETTES, ALLOUEZ AND
ANDRE CLAIMED POSSESSION OF ALL THE LANDS FROM THE SEAS OF THE
:VOkTH AND WEST TO THE SOUTH SEA, FOR LOUIS XIV. OF FRANCE. IN \76^,
THE LAKE REGION WAS CEDED TO ENGLAND AS A PORTION OF CANADA, AND AT
THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION, SAINT MARYS RIVER BECAME PART OF THEJ
NATIONAL BOUNDARIES. IN 1797, THE NORTH WEST FUR COMPANY BUILT A
BATEAU CANAL AND LOCK ON THE CANADIAN BANK. IN 1820, LEWIS CASS,
GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN TERRITORY, HERE ESTABLISHED THE AUTHORITY OF
THE UNITED STATES FROM THE GREAT LAKES TO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

[WEST TABLET]

IN 1856, CONGRESS FIRST MADE APPROPRIATIONS TO IMPROVE ST. MARYS
RIVER UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U. S. A. CAPT. JOHN
NAVARRE MACOMB AND CAPT. AMIEL WEEKS WHIPPLE HAD CHARGE OF THE
WORK UNTIL 1861 ; AND COL. THOMAS JEFFERSON CRAM, MAJ. WALTER McFAR-
LANE AND MAJ. ORLANDO METCALFE POE FROM 1866 TO 1873. THE WEITZEL
LOCK WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1876 AND 1881 BY MAJ. GODFREY WEITZEL, AS-
SISTED BY CAPT. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. MAJ. FRANCIS ULRIC FARQUHAR
AND CAPT. DAVID WRIGHT LOCKWOOD WERE IN CHARGE, 1882-3. FROM 1883
TO 1896, THE CANAL WAS ENLARGED AND THE POE LOCK BUILT BY COL. POE
ON THE SITE OF THE .STATE LOCKS. FROM 1895 TO 1905 THE OFFICERS IN
CHARGE SUCCESSIVELY WERE LIEUT. JAMES BATES CAVANAUGH, COL. GARRETT
J. LYDECKER, COL. WILLIAM H. BIXBY, MAJ. WALTER LESLIE FISK, AND COL.
CHARLES E. L. B. DAVIS. GENERAL SUPERINTENDENTS UNDER THE UNITED
STATES: ALFRED NOBLE, EBEN S. WHEELER, JOSEPH RIPLEY. SUPERINTEND-
ENTS: JOHN SPALDING, WILLIAM CHANDLER, MARTIN LYNCH, DONALD M.
MACKENZIE.

jm^^^m

EPILOGUE.

A REVIEW of Peter White's life would be a review of the history of the

Lake Superior country. His life compasses all that is modern in the

history of that princely territory — the richest in a mineral sense that has

ever been discovered. The only part of it which his life does not embrace

is the pre-industrial period.* What antedates him is largely legend or frag-

*The following excellent poem, illustrating the popular impression of tlio

longevity of Peter White in the peninsula, appeared in the Detroit Free Press,

Sept. 27, t8q7.

You know one man call Petare Wite
What live up by Marquette,
Was born four hundred year ago
An I'm glad she hain't daid yet.

Perhaps you tink dat one big lie,
But if you doan' b'lieve true,
She's live for last two t'ousand year
I'm goin' prove to you.

Deys got a Sunday school up dere.
An' one day not long ago
Ze teachare hask em question
To see how much dey no.

"Who's was the one dat run aliead.
Say, 'Mak' road and mak' 'em strait'?
Come, hanser me dat question now,
Doan' keep me long to wait."

Jus' one in hinfant class what no^

She was six year hole and bright.

Now, T always s'pose 'twas Jean Baptiste —

But she say "Petare Wite."

An' now I've prove ze haige to you,
I'm goin' on wid my story.
It's more about dat Petare Wite,
An' more as to his glory.

Long time she was call Pierre Le Blanc,
'Bout two tree hundred year
Before 'twas change to Petare Wite,
By dose English peeps 'roun' here.

EPILOGUE 271

mentary exploration, and even of this history he has gathered as much as
he could and has preserved it in the imperishable pigment of prose. But
it is because he has lived throughout the entire industrial era that his life
has great historic value. The changes since he ripped the sod off the iron
ore of the Cleveland mine in 1849 have been vast. That blow altered the
face of a continent. Instead of the stubborn and rebellious mule hauling
a four-ton car on a little strap railroad there are now plying to this self-
same range some of the most powerful locomotives ever constructed, and

One day she walk down by ze rocks,
'Bout sixteen sixty-four,
An' scratch hees haid and wink hees hye
At lit' speck far out from shore.

Ver soon dat lit' speck was a canoe,
Bimeby it came to shore,
A man jump out, strange French man,
What she never saw before.

An' dat man say "Bon jour, my fren',
I doan' know you, and yet
I guess your name is Pierre Le Blanc —
Mai name ees Pere Marquette.

"1 hear 'bout you from mai grand-pere,
Dat you could not be beat,
An' I tought I'd stop and get acquaint'
So two good mans could meet."

An' Petare say, "Dat's very good,
I'll tell you what I'll do—
I'll build a town on dis here spot
An' call it after you."

An' Petare tak' him to hees house.
An' fill him to hees jaw

Wid everyting she had was nice,
Champagne and poisson blanc.

Dat good pries' stay for two, tree week,
An' den he say "Good-bye,"
Wile great big tear run down hees cheek,
Two, tree stan" on liees hye.

An' den he iump in hees canoe
An' shove off from ze bank,
An' look up to ze sky and say,
"God bless you, Pierre T.e Blanc."

An' Petare built dat city.

An' did more' as dat, you be,t.

He also built one monument

For hees young fren Pere Marquette.

A F. W.

272 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

the freight traffic along the old road bed is among the heaviest in the world.
Instead of a i co-ton schooner receiving its cargo of ore upon a gang plank
there is a 1 0,000-ton steamer being loaded by means of a trestle dock with
its pockets and chutes in far less time than it took to load the little schooner
— and all coming from the self -same deposits. To be exact, the great
steamer Augustus B. Wolvin has loaded 10,245 gross tons of ore at the
Great Northern docks, Allouez Bay, in 89 minutes. Nine thousand tons
of this load were put on in 34 minutes and the Wolvin was at dock a total
period of only 180 minutes, which included shifting. Instead of the old
strap railroad at the Portage and Sheldon McKnight and his old gray horse,
there is the great Sault Ste. Marie canal, whose traffic is more than three
times as great as that of Suez, the ungated highway to nations that were
old before the dawn of history. Instead of the painful loading and un-
loading of cars by human labor there is the steam shovel, the drop bottom
car and the great unloading machines with automatic buckets. Instead of
an annual output of 1,449 to"s there is an average yearly output of over
20,000,000 tons, with the probability of the output reaching 42,000,000
tons during the present year ; instead of a freight rate of from $3 to $6.25
per ton from Marquette to Ohio ports as it was in 1866, there is the present
trip to trip rate of 75 cents and a contract rate over a term of years of even
less than that figure. The Ocean, the Fur Trader, the Algonquin, the
Baltimore and the Mineral Rock, have given way to an ore-bearing fleet
of steamers, rivaling in dimensions and carrying capacity the great Atlantic
liners. Witness the ore-laden fleet as it passes out of Duluth harbor; follow
it a little down the lake until it joins the squadron emerging from Two
Harbors to be joined by a third defiling from Ashland. Eastward they
sweep, uniting with the old guard at Marquette, bearing down upon the
Sault in a mighty throng, staggering the imagination to believe that they
are plying water that knew only the birch bark canoe scarcely half a cen-
tury ago. Ask what genii is it that has rubbed Aladdin's lamp to such
purpose, and the answer is Iron. Onward they sweep and debouching into
Lake Huron join another detachment coming through the Straits of Macki-
naw from Lake Michigan. Down Lake Huron they continue, a vast and
evergrowing procession, closing in at Port Huron for the passage of the
Straits. Then the great parade, moving steadily onward, enters the Detroit
river. It is no state occasion that one beholds, but the common business of
the day. Never-ending, never-stopping, like shuttlecocks in some great
machine they ply, making up the most impressive commercial pano-ama
that the earth can show. Sixty million tons are passing in review, 40,000,000

EPILOGUE 273

of it being iron ore to be worked up by countless hands to do service to
mankind in innumerable ways.

Forty millions of it to furnish employment to a dozen railways that
lead from Lake Erie ports to the furnaces of Ohio and Pennsylvania. Day
and night, month after month, all the year round, along the up-grade from
Cleveland, giant locomotives at front and rear, pulling, pushing, puffing,
may be seen moving heavy ore trains, the locomotives yearly growing
higher in the air and the cars growing longer and longer as though both
were swelling with the strain of keepmg up with the torrent of ore that
never ceases and is ever growing. The scene is repeated at Fairport,
Ashtabula, Conneaut, Erie, Buffalo, Toledo. Huron, Sandusky and Lorain.
It has been going on for fifty years, this toil of Titan, this transfer of red,
brown, blue and purple earth from the Lake Superior mines to the hungry
and roaring furnaces of the Ohio and Pennsylvania valleys. When will
it end? Its profusion and its cheapness of transit have contributed more
than anything else to the industrial success of this country. It has made
its presence felt in every form and condition of existence. Truly, as Peter
White said in Washington, the iron trade of the United States is a mighty
solemn fact. It has lifted a people to the very apex of industrial supremacy
among nations. How long will it maintain them there? Within the space
of fifty years it has distributed the blessings of wealth among a greater
number of individual families in the United States than any other nation
can boast of though it be a thousand years old. How long is this benefi-
cence to continue?

'Tis a far cry from the six tons of bloom iron per day that were made
in the Jackson forge in 1849 to the 25,307,191 tons of pig iron that were
produced in this country in 1906. Peter White, w^ho labored with the iron
makers in the beginning, the day of small things, saw a single American
company, working with Lake Superior ore exclusively, produce last year
more steel than was made in the whole of Great Britain. The United
States Steel Corporation produced in 1906 13,511,149 tons of steel, against
6,462,274 tons in Great Britain, exclusive of castings. Peter Wliite's six
barrels have grown indeed. He saw this same company ship 20,500,000
tons of ore from the Lake Superior country in a single season. What a
contrast to the sleigh that held a single ton when he was a boy, to the time
when i8 tons was considered a big day's haul, when a stock pile of i,ooo
tons was all that could be accumulated over winter.

What has this man seen? He wrote the bill of lading for one of the
earliest, if not the first, shipments of ore to leave the Lake Superior country.

274 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

He saw it carried away in a little schooner to be portaged over the falls and
to be loaded again upon equally tiny vessels. He saw it carried in sailing
vessels because steamers were largely at that time passenger craft and such
a thing as a steamer for bulk freight purposes exclusively was not even
dreamed of. It was a period of unlighted channels and navigation was there-
fore impossible by night. He saw these little sailing craft delayed by cur-
rent and unfavorable winds in the rivers and he saw the old steamer Gore,
an old-fashioned British-built paddle craft, lash a sailing vessel on each side
of her and carry them through the rivers.

He saw this system of towing speedily abandoned in favor of the astern
towing by the handier propeller and he saw the Hamilton Morton, Peck
Castle and John Martin built for this purpose. Then the tug Champion
followed with double engines and power sufficient to tow seven or eight
sailing vessels. Occasionally an increasing north wind would compel the
Champion to release one of her tows so as to make headway with the rest
against the current and then great would be the profanity of the skipper
so abandoned, a cyclone being but a summer's breeze to his vast and
awful bluster. In 1869 he saw the steamer R. J. Hrckett built to carry
the ore of the Jackson mine. She was the first steamer to be built ex-
clusively for the ore trade. She was the first to be built with machinery
aft with a continuous hold and hatches spaced 24-ft. centers. The next
year her consort, the Forest City, was constructed. They are the parents
of a very numerous and much improved family. This system of a steamer
and its consort began gradually to displace the sailing vessel and to counter-
act its effect the owners of sailing vessels frequently employed the tugs to
tow them all the way between upper and lower lake ports.

He saw iron supplant wood as a shipbuilding material in the construc-
tion of the Onoko in 1882 at the Globe Iron Works, Cleveland. The Onoko
was 287 ft. long and 38 ft. beam, and was the largest dead-weight carrier
on the lakes for many years. He saw steel supplant iron in ship construc-
tion by the building of the Spokane for the Wilson Transit Co. by the Globe
Iron Works, Cleveland, in 1886, until now it is the only material used of
which to build them. The Spokane was 310 ft. long, 38 ft. beam and 24
ft. deep. He saw the one great departure in the construction of the ore
carrier made by Alexander McDougall in 1888, when he conceived a form
of construction known as the whaleback, and built No. loi and thirty like
it only to discover after all that the type did not embody the points of
highest efficiency for ore carriage. He saw how cautious was the growth
in the size of the ore carrier, the main dimen<?ions even as late as 1894
being under 300 ft. He saw in 1895 the first of the 400-footers, the Victory
and the Zenith appear, and in 1897 noted that the Bessemer Steamship Co.

EPILOGUE 275

gave orders for a steel steamer and two consorts larger than anything pre-
viously built, the steamer being 475 ft. over all and the barges 450 ft.
These dimensions stood until 1900, when Mr. A. B. Wolvin placed an order
for four 500-footers. These vessels are the John W, Gates, Wm. Edenborn,
Isaac L. Ellwood and J. J. Hill. They are called 500-footers because they
approach it so nearly, being less than 2 ft. short of 500 ft.

He saw in Mr. Wolvin the boldest experimenter in ship construction,
not only in the size of ships but in the method of building them. The unit
of construction spacing for an ore ship is the length of the ore car in use
on Lake Superior. This car is 24 ft. long. The dock pockets are there-
fore 12 ft. wide center to center and, therefore, the ship has her hatch
openings 24-ft. centers. With these openings she could load from every
other pocket and when a series of pockets was emptied, a 12-ft. shift along
the dock would put the hatchways in front of another series. Now the
human ore handler is wedded to strike and holidays when the pressure on
the docks is greatest, and the new type of ship's deck was demanded with
opening sufficient to permit the unloading machines to operate all over the
interior of the vessel. Mr. Wolvin accordingly built the steamer James
H. Hoyt in 1902 with nineteen hatches all spaced 12-ft. centers. She took
on her cargo of 5,250 tons of ore in the record-breaking time of 30.5
minutes, and unloaded it by means of the Hulett unloading machine in 3
hours and 52 minutes. These records have since been superseded by those
obtained on the steamers Wolvin and George W. Perkins. Mr. Wolvin
then went a step further — a considerable one, it must be admitted. He
built in 1904 the steamer Augustus B. Wolvin, 62 ft. longer than any other
ship ever constructed on the lakes. She is 560 ft. over all, 540 ft. keel, 56
ft. beam and 32 ft. deep with thirty-three hatches spaces 12-ft. centers. In
constructing the Wolvin hold stanchions were dispensed with and a system
of girder arches were substituted in their place to support the deck as well
as the sides of the ship. This system, first introduced on the Sahara, built
a few months prior to the Wolvin, has since become the accepted mode of
modern construction since it leaves the hold entirely free from any obstruc-
tion which might interfere with the unloading machines. Another novelty
lies in the shape of her cargo hold. This is built in the form of a hopper
with sides that slope from her main deck down to the tank top and the
ends built on the same slopes. The hopper extends in one continuous
length of 409 ft. without bulkheads or divisions of any kind and in width
measures at the top 43 ft. and at the bottom 24 ft.

Recent, however, as is the construction of the Wolvin, she has already
been greatly superseded in size. Mr. Harry Coulby, president and general

276 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

manager of the Pittsburg Steamship Co., which is the corporate name un-
der which the ships of the United States Steel Corporation are operated on
the Great Lakes, placed orders with the American Ship Building Co. for
four steamers 9 ft. longer than the Wolvin. Their names are Elbert H.
Gary, Wm. E. Corey, Henry C. Frick and George W. Perkins. Scarcely
had they been built before he placed orders for eight ships of even greater
dimensions — the J. Pierpont Morgan, A. H. Rogers, P. A. B. Wide;-.er,
Norman B. Ream, Thomas Lynch, George F. Baker, Thomas F. Cole and
Henry Phipps — all of them being 600 ft. over all with the exception of the
Cole which is 605 ft. 5 in. Even these were hardly in the water before they
were outstripped by W. M. Mills' three ships — the W. B. Kerr, W. M. Mills
and L. S. DeGraff, with their overall length of 607 feet and beam of 60 feet.
These are the record cargo carriers of the lakes, moving in a single trip-
over 12,000 tons.

How vivid this recital is by contrast. A single full cargo of one of
these steamers represents seven times the movement of ore through the
Sault Ste. Marie canal in 1855, and one of these vessels could alone have
carried the entire ore commerce of the lakes for a number of years there-
after. Progress has been rapid on the great lakes during the past few
years but it has nevertheless been cautious. Even as late as 1897 two
big consorts were constructed for a steamer then building. The year 1897
is not so very far in the past, but it is reasonably assured that no one
to-day would place an order to build a consort. The highest economy of
operation is reached by the single steamer of large carrying capacity and
low power. There was justification for the consort system in the days
of wooden ship building because a fleet of sailing ships was in existence
whose natural destiny in the evolution of trade was that of consort. But
it was not economy to build a new vessel for consort purposes. It took
the vessel owners a long time to come to the conclusion that it was really
expensive business to put machinery of high power in a steamer for the
purpose of enabling her to tow a consort. She burned a great deal of
fuel, and moreover lost considerable of her own time in port waiting for
her consort. The Elbert H. Gary has the same engines that the Manola
had which was built by Pickands, Mather & Co. in 1890. The Manola
could carry 3,000 tons of ore ; the Gary over 10,000 tons.

In 1905 the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co., the same old Cleveland company
changed in title a bit but not a whit in its fine character, named one of its
great steamers in honor of Peter White. She was built by the Great Lakes
Engineering Works of Detroit. She is of large carrying capacity and low
power and represents the highest type of modern ore freighter.

CONCLUSION.

IT was said of George Washington that there was something about the man
that was finer than anything he ever said or did, and probably those
who read this sketch may be searching through it for some justification for
the great hold that Peter White has upon the affections. Splendid as his
work has been for the betterment of social conditions there is something
about the man that is higher and better than his work.

We will take leave of him at his camp — the kingly side of him. The
camp is twenty-four miles from Marquette and four miles from the railroad.
Do you think that Peter White rides from the railroad to the camp? Not
a bit of it. He walks, walks with the quick, impulsive, springy, forward
movement of the second Frederick and acts as though he were tireless, as
indeed he probably is. The camp is 800 acres in extent and consists of
virgin forest with river, swamp and lake and a little clearing in the center.
The clearing is at the side of a maple grove and in it stands the camp
■dwelling, constructed most picturesquely of logs. The clearing is devoted
to a garden where all fruits and vegetables that the peninsula will raise
are cultivated. The river, called Whitefish river — probably because there
are no whitefish in it — flows past the door. The whitefish is a dainty feeder
and loves clear and sparkling water. The water of the Whitefish river,
lijce many of the little rivers in the peninsula, is stained by the roots of
trees and shrubs through which it passes. But if there are no whitefish
in the river there are far greater attractions in the camp. Free, wild and
unfenced, as it is, it is the natural haunt of the deer. They are very abun-
dant and in summer are very tame, and one may see them eating at a dis-
tance ; but in fall and winter they are very wary, and it is only a wild crash
through the bushes that notifies one that he has encroached too closely to
their presence. There are wolves, too, far more plenty than is comfortable
for the defenseless classes of wild animals, and Peter White and his com-
panions go on an annual expedition of extermination. The camp is filled

278 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

Kvith the trophies of the chase.* His son-in-law, George Shiras, son of
Justice Shiras of the United States Supreme Court, who married the only
living child of Peter White, hunts with the camera and has made some

*AN IMPROMPTU MUSE.

The following bit of impromptu verse was written by Walter Russel on his re-
turn to Detroit from a visit at Peter White's camp, where he hunted in company with
George Russel, Jere Hutchins, and other 'Detroiters :

When Pierre LeBlanc hung out the sign,

Calling the Nimrods into line ;

While he would show he ne'er could tire,

In heaping logs upon the fire,

He Httle dreamed as flames waxed bright.
And smoke shot upward like a kite,
That hunters' hopes should also melt.
As waves of fire that he then felt.

The hunters come in one by one.
Shake from shoe packs, snow by the ton,
And snap from rifle's death, there stor'd.
And hoped would partly pay their board.

Each had gone out with feeHng bold.
That when returned, he sure would hold
Across his back and lying low,
A great warm Buck or timid Doe.

But each came back with lanquid air.
And softly would have taken chair.
Except for the noise his great feet wrought
When shaking free the snow they caught.

And each one told of trails he ran,
And miles he cover'd, but not a man
Did tell of the rivers he cross'd,
Or why or when, was almost lost.

: So Pierre laughed low in merry way,

And "try it again," he said, "Next day."
As days did come and days did go
They sallied forth with footsteps slow.

And one, they say, with awful thirst
For blood, did bet he'd get deer first;
And choosing Bob to flush the game.
Quite near the camp, a Doe did maim.

I '■ And this was Jerry of Street Car fame,

: No title Lord or Baron tame.

But butcher bold, with air sedate,
'■■ ■ ■ Blown in from that great Texas state.

And when that night with 'lectric stride,
And brimming o'er with gory pride,
He tossed the carcass on the floor,
• ' They knew full well their hunt was o'er.

CONCLUSION

279

wonderful photos of deer at the camp by flashHght at midnight. These
photos took the world's prize at the Paris exposition. He adjusted a

headlight to his canoe and pad-
dling silently towards shore was
enabled, after innumerable at-
tempts, to photograph the deer
by flashlight. While the slight-
est noise will frighten deer the
mere presence of light does not
seem to concern them. It is
probably because instinct has
taught them to regard it as some
phenomenon of nature. The
boom and crash of a great boul-
der down the side of a hill will
scarcely make a deer look up
from its grazing, while the faint-
est click of artificial sound will
send them flying in terror. It
will be noted that in the photo-
graph reproduced herewith the
picture was taken before the doe
had time to raise its head ; the
click of the mechanism of the
camera in the unrecorded part
of a second thereafter sent the peter white on the front lawn of his home.

frightened creature flying
through the woods.

Any biography of Peter White would be incomplete without reference
to two things — his celebrated signature and the equally celebrated punch
which bears his name. The extraordinary precision in the formation of
the letters and their great size are both well displayed in the fac-simile
reproduction, actual size, in the frontispiece of this book. The sight of

But Pierre LeBlanc had other schemes ;
And one, the wildest of his dreams,
Was from his guests, in mildest way,
To make them think that it would pay.

To draw and fill at cards in sport,

And thus at bay to hold the fort ; ■ ■

"Swipe, if you must, from this gray head,

'Tis only for St. Luke's" he said.

*T3

H
C

2
o

O
H

r
>
I/)

W
r

M
W

H
tfi'

282 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

this signature once caused Walter S. Russel to write a poem about it.* The
Peter White punch is a famous concoction. A great open air reception
was once held for distinguished company at the Peter White home, the
rooms being opened so that guests freely passed through the house from
the front lawn to the rear lawn. On the porch steps leading to the rear
lawn were huge receptacles, filled with Peter White punch, while the punch
glasses were suspended from the porch vines. Each guest helped himself
in his discretion, some possibly more than others, one of the guests who

*LA BLANC SIGNATURE.

Can mak" run on de State w'erever you pleas",
Tak' bateau for go pas' Marquette,
Kip going an' go till de bad place freeze,
Go t'ousand mile an' kip go yet.
My frien', it's a fack, you will never fin',
In book, de bes' of literature.
Any "sig," so beeg, for it fill ten lin',
Bel Pierre LeBlanc Grand Signature.

Don' mak' no matter on w'at page is writ'.
If you get on hees curve so swell,
Mos' ev'rywan t'ink it was clean out of sight,
An' he work it to beat de — well
About as mouche as an Banquier dare;
For dat "sig" is no p'tit miniature.
Oh it curl de blood, an' it raise de hair,
Feroce Pierre LeBlanc Grand Signature.

Wen un vrai Banquier is mak' I'argent lent.
You s'pose he go lef discount slip.
An' writ' dat beeg "sig" for less ten per cent,
Besid' hav' collat', in hees grip.

Not mouche, me dear frien', he tak grand beeg slice.
An' he buy mahog' furniture,
Some tim' he even tak' de discount twice
Mauvais Pierre LeBlanc Grand Signature.

Dat "sig" fool des Indian when he's still garcon,

An' hees dog, dey was tryin' eat,

De shadow it cas' on de snow below.

For de flourish grand seem surely meet,

For such as un honnette homme would ecrire.

Or one at leas' w'it some culture

Instead of a courrier avec no fear,

Malin Pierre LeBlanc Grand Signature.

Oh, it's wide an' it's high and got plaintee dash.
If you see it on tail d'un draf,
Maybee' jus' as good and better d'an cash
For by gar' it moss' mak' me laf.
But now I tell you, an' I tell you encore,
Dat "sig" so lak' reg'lar French gesture
Is twice more better d'an fort jaune d'or
^ Bon Pierre LeBlanc Grand Signature.

Walter S. Russel.

CONCLUSION

283

was something of an artist and a poet as well, later designing the pen and
ink sketch reproduced herewith.

One day Peter White's butler, Charles, in walking from the railroad to
the camp with his employer noted a little girl, about eight years old, limping
about on a crutch with one leg drawn up and the foot about two inches from
the ground. He had seen the little girl limping about in that fashion dur-
ing the preceding summer.

"Isn't it too bad," said he, "that that little girl should have to limp all
her life like that. There is probably something the matter with her knee
that prevents her straightening her leg."
"Hey ?" said Peter White.

Charles repeated his observa-
tion, together with the fact that
he had seen her in that condition
during the previous year.

"Go to the house at once and
see what's the matter with her,"
commanded Mr. White. "If her
folks can't afford to pay for
medical treatment I will."

The little one was taken to St.
Luke's hospital in Marquette,
where it was found that she was
suffering from a hip disease
which prevented her from
straightening her leg and was
the result of an injury received
over a year before. The physi-
cians stated that had it been at-
tended to at once it could have
been remedied within a week,
but that now bones would
have to be broken and
pulled into place through
pressure, and that months
would be required for the cure. The operation was performed and the
child has now two sound limbs.

Peter White as a raconteur is unexcelled. His French-Canadian stories
are of particular excellence. On the annual runs of the Marquette Snow

PETER WHrrE IN HIS FLOWER GARDEN AT HOME.

1907.

284

THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

'N THe'QueBuCiTY OF FAlRMAR<iUCTTE.
O/v the: BujESupe/7'OR'^ shoHE-

WhEHE the Wf^HOERIHG STRMUGEH '^ C^^'? *^ '

IS ^7/?0f /? NfCT/)*? TW^T GOOO) PLIGHT Slp_ -
^*"^£ ■^'PPIHG,W0I^LO CfJLL FOR MORE

Oh,WONDHOVS COf^pt€\ ISTHI<, EflMVUS COMPOUND,

WiTH'/l 0^5«ar TH/S(?)wH»LEST/f?f?ING /GROUND

Dtrr IT H/^S quEER E EfECT IH // CUP TOO MUC H
roij Tue ffaCKLESS //no 'tiOiSCREE T

^Uo DID IT hfiPPEN To OenR FATHER Kjf^RQ.VErTE
He "cot QrF HIS BfiSe" OE 6roNE:

t-of^Tue NIQHT W/)S D/?f?H fiNO THC f^tCHT W/1S WET, ,y; /^ ,/
fl^JO HE w»i, we/7/?V OF BEING /^LONC.

^E 5»I0"I \A/ILLQenRCH fINO TRY TO GET
■Spr^e HCffHB6l^l'n~NTi>jEOl\ILy{ ^ BONE ''

Wf W/JcKCD TO R HOVSe fiT THE TOP OP T(* E H I l-t-,-

^i ijff^vEL HIS Ferr DID crfuNCEi-

'n the EfEfM^OFTHE Houi,E WHERE /ILL W/iS ^TILE
>S/?T /? aoiA/L or THE COVETED LUNCH ,

"Rh!h/]^.!this will"cr(ed he, "Just- eili. the bill ,
IVt 5TRUCK THE Pet Ef^WntTe PoNCH "

It OIO FICL THE BlLL,/iNO IT EILLE D THE GOOD P/?»f6T.
Of^CE T/ISTING HE COULCHJ'ri>rOP' ,

/xi /? CH/fNCE or A LIEE TIME TO H fiV€ SUCH R FEfE^T,
fjf^O HE DRHNI( THE VERVEf^^TOROp- , c a <.T-

Uofy WH»T Hf^PPENED N^XT- PID HE CRRE INTHE Lt h:> /,
foR THE \MOf}LP SWUNG f^ROUNO L.IHE R TOP

f\ FH^iHO t>R'^i*ie By /?r THE ENO OF THE NIGHT,
h'WD THIS l^JcRRS OLD WitCHT >» fi Veq\ ^f]0 PLIGHT

^HD TooH mr^i ^ICK mi*jE ey the d/iW/'-s E/f/fuY u&h t.

HT^ .<|VG THiSCEFe^N IjSHf ClimBEO TO HIS HE/SH T-

yy^Ef^TEo /r/6A/r/V'n^P'vM|*t.
i/Y A;i'.5rs/?y th»t this T/f^E YmJ t^ff^B ''-'''' i^-^:% '■'if
TE£f)T£o i^e'/Wnfre," l^i^^f '

CONCLUSION 285

Shoe club, of which he is president, to some famihar spot, the members
gather round the wood fire after supper to Hsten to Peter White's dialect
stories — in fact the tumult can never be stilled until he has related dozens
of them. Whenever he visits the legislature at Lansing the house goes
into committee of the whole and he is invited to relate the adventures of
his first trip to that house, consuming days and nights in the journey, when
the only voices he heard were those of the wild beasts of the thicket.

No delegation upon the public's business can visit Marquette without
the home of Peter White being thrown wide open to them. The latest evi-
dence of this was the visit of the rivers and harbors committee of the house
of representatives to Marquette on Sept. 20, 1907. Although the steamer
was allowed by her schedule to lie at Marquette but one hour, and was
moreover six or seven hours late, the committee found Peter White await-
ing their arrival. They were taken in carriages and automobiles about the
harbor and around Presque Isle, the drive terminating at Peter White's
house where a delightfully informal reception was held, Mrs. Shiras, his
daughter, and Miss Joplin, his granddaughter, receiving. While refresh-
ments were being served the usual demand arose for Peter White's dialect
stories and they were enjoyed with much relish in the private library. The
committee were delighted with the cordiality and informality of the recep-
tion and all agreed that it was the most delightful hour they had spent on
the whole trip. The congressional party consisted of Hon. and Mrs. E. F.
Acheson of Pennsylvania, Hon. D. S. Alexander of New York, Hon. and
Mrs. James H. Davidson of Wisconsin, Hon. and Mrs. Edgar C. Ellis of
Missouri, Hon. and Mrs. Joseph E. Ransdell of Louisiana, Hon. George F.
Burgess of Texas, Hon. and Mrs. John A. Moon of Tennessee, and Mrs.
Adam Bede of Minnesota. Mr. George Marr, secretary of the Lake Car-
riers' Association, accompanied the partv with Mrs. Marr.

Following is the recipe for the Peter White punch:

3 Doz. good lemons

1 Ot. Jamaica Rum

1 Qt. Santa Cruz Rum

1 Qt. Brandy

1 Bottle Curacoa

1 Bottle Chartreuse.

1 Bottle Maraschino

A piece of ice 8 in. square set in middle of punch bowl.

If made two or three hours before serving, it will improve.
One hour before serving the punch put in one quart strong cold English breakfast
tea and five lbs. white sugar.

One-half hour before serving put in two bottles good Charnpagne — at same time slice
thinly one-half doz. lemons and one-half doz. oranges. Let skin of all lemons go in.
Sometimes I add two bottles of .^pollinaris at same time the Champagne is put m.
When you do not use it all, skim the lemon peel and bottle it and you can ice and
at another time. It is good to serve at Ladies' Lunch if frozen into an ice.
It will keep good for months in cool place if tightly corked.

use

286 THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE

It must be a source of peculiar pleasure to live to witness the wondrous
evidences of change and progress in the wild districts which his rare recol-
lection may any day conjure up to amuse himself and delight his friends.
Gifted with rare powers of delineation, conversant with the tongues of the
Indian and the Frenchman, his memory stored with volumes of reminiscence
and story, his activities embracing church
and state and his heart humanity, it
is not strange that the name of
Peter White is known from ocean to
ocean.

Though he belongs in the United
States senate as a fine type of American
citizen, we will leave him at his camp, sit-
ting before a crackling fire of wood and
telling stories to a little circle of com-
panions. He has lived an upright life and
he views the past with satisfaction and the
future with resignation.

"The way to riches is through hard
work and thrift," said he.

It is not always the pioneer who pros-
pers, but this pioneer wrested a fortune
from the frontier and is putting it to hon-
orable use. There are innumerable legends
concerning him. Some think that he is
French-Canadian and that his name is
Pierre le Blanc ; some think he is an Indian
and that his real name is Shob-wau-way ;
and some believe that he is the reincarna-
tion of Pere Marquette. But he is a simple
American gentleman, seventv-seven years

^ - ■' THE HONORABLE PETER WHITE AS HE

old, and sturdy as an oak. is today.

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

LOAN DEPT.

This book is due on the last date stamped below, or
on the date to which renewed.

Renewed books are subjea to immediate recall.

1
> 1 riAn'ronT^

1 1 uec d2DT|P

MAR 1 1 1^W

LD 2tA-50w-3.'62
(C7097sl0)476B

General Library

University of California

Berkeley

ivil69595

THE UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA LIBRARY

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