Paulson Mine

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Paulson Mine
Paulson Mine.JPG
Paulson Mine, October 2012
Location
USA Minnesota location map.svg
Schlaegel und Eisen nach DIN 21800.svg
Paulson Mine
Location in Minnesota
Location Cook County
State Minnesota
Country United States
Coordinates 48°05′13″N90°50′28″W / 48.086827°N 90.840975°W / 48.086827; -90.840975 Coordinates: 48°05′13″N90°50′28″W / 48.086827°N 90.840975°W / 48.086827; -90.840975
Production
Products Iron ore
History
Opened1888
Closed1893

The Paulson Mine is a former iron ore mine located in Cook County, Minnesota, United States, 53 kilometres north-west of Grand Marais, Minnesota near the end of the historic Gunflint Trail. The Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway was built to the mine in 1892 to access the ore, but both the mine and railway failed.

Contents

Early history

The existence of iron bearing rocks in the Gunflint Lake area was first mentioned as early as 1850. [1] Eventually these deposits would be linked to the famous Mesabi Iron Range and this eastern portion which extended into Ontario became known as the Gunflint Range. [2] Conclusive evidence of the quality of iron in the area would not come until 1886 when Grand Marais pioneer Hazael "Henry" Mayhew made discoveries at the western end of the lake. [3] This then attracted the attention of investors in the state capital.

In late 1886 an enterprise known as the American Realty Company was incorporated in Minnesota. Several of its promoters had ties to the recently established State Bank of Minneapolis, namely John Paulson and Kristian Kortgaard. [4] [5] [6] With financial backing from the bank, the American Realty Company would purchase large tracts of land in Township 65, Range 4 West (T65, R4W) of Cook County. Later in 1892, Paulson and Kortgaard, along with Orrin D. Kinney of Ely would incorporate the Gunflint Lake Iron Company to mine the iron deposits. [7] [8]

The mine required an outlet for its ore, and that would be provided by a Canadian line, the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western (PAD&W). Originally chartered in 1883 as the Thunder Bay Colonization Railway, the line changed its name and route in 1887 to tap the iron deposits of the Gunflint Range. Construction began in 1889, and by 1892 the rails had been laid to the Canadian terminus at Gunflint Lake and work had begun across the boundary. A US charter was obtained, known as the PAD&W of Minnesota, to allow construction to the mine and eventually to Ely to link with the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad. Work was completed in late 1892 and the line was opened for traffic in January 1893.

Explorations in T65, R4W began sometime in 1888, but really did not gather much steam until the railway began to approach the area in 1891. Work was concentrated in sections 28 and 29, three and a half miles southwest of the Gunflint Narrows. Numerous test pits were dug to ascertain the quality of the ore, and eventually three timber-lined mine shafts were completed. The principle shaft, the "Paulson Mine," was located in the northeast quadrant of section 28 and was approximately one hundred and five feet deep. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

Gunflint City

Located 350 metres southwest of the Paulson shaft was a mining encampment established at same time that explorations in the area began. Eventually it was decided that this site would become a permanent settlement for the soon-to-be expansive mining operations. Work began in the late winter of 1892 and continued into the spring; this American metropolis would be christened "Gunflint City." [14] [15] [16] The promoter of this new town was the American Realty Company, the same company that owned many sections of land in the area. They would publish an elaborate plat map in early 1893 entitled "Gun Flint Iron Range" which spoke of the great promise of the area. [17] [18] Located at Gunflint City was a unique business established by Fort William, Ontario "entrepreneur" Margaret "Mag" Matthews. Mag was a very well-known madame in Fort William and she was obviously hoping to cash in on the business generated by the railway and the iron mine. Her "Hotel de Marguerite" was completed in November 1892 and in January 1893 she received the first liquor license granted in Cook County. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]

Today

The Paulson Mine, as well as the other nearby shafts and test pits lie within the confines of the United States Forest Service's Superior National Forest. It is adjacent to the renown Boundary Waters Canoe Area, as well as the Kekekabic Trail.

In 1999 the entire Boundary Waters area was hit by an intense weather system that caused massive blowdowns, and became known as the Boundary Waters – Canadian derecho. [25] In 2007 the area was burned by the Ham Lake Fire that originated at Ham Lake south the Gunflint Trail. [26] [27] The Forest Service used the fire as the impetus to create a new hiking trail. Opened in 2009 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Forest Service, the 3.3 mile Centennial Trail allows hikers to walk along portions of the old railway grade and visit some of the shafts and test pits (but not the Paulson shaft). [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

Cook County, Minnesota County in the United States

Not to be confused with Cook, Minnesota in Saint Louis County.

Grand Marais, Minnesota City in Minnesota, United States

Grand Marais is a city in Cook County, Minnesota, United States. It is a northern town on the North Shore with a population of 1,351 at the 2010 census.[6] It is also the county seat and sole municipality of Cook County.[7] Prior to inhabitation by French Canadian settlers and prior to Minnesota's statehood, Grand Marais was inhabited by the Anishinaabe indigenous people, the thriving woodland people also known as the Ojibwe. The Ojibwe name for the area is Gichi-biitoobiig,[8] which means "great duplicate water," "parallel body of water" or "double body of water", a reference to the two bays which form the large harbor of Lake Superior.[9]

Ely, Minnesota City in Minnesota, United States

Ely is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,460 at the 2010 census. It is located on the Vermilion Iron Range, and is historically home to several iron ore mines.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Wilderness area in Minnesota

The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, is a 1,090,000-acre (4,400 km2) wilderness area within the Superior National Forest in northeastern part of the US state of Minnesota under the administration of the U.S. Forest Service. A mixture of forests, glacial lakes, and streams, the BWCAW's preservation as a primitive wilderness began in the 1900s and culminated in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978. It is a popular destination for canoeing, hiking, and fishing, and is one of the most visited wildernesses in the United States.

Iron Range

The term Iron Range refers collectively or individually to a number of elongated iron-ore mining districts around Lake Superior in the United States and Canada. Despite the word "range", the iron ranges are not mountain chains, but outcrops of Precambrian sedimentary formations containing high percentages of iron. These cherty iron ore deposits are Precambrian in age for the Vermilion Range, while middle Precambrian in age for the Mesabi and Cuyuna ranges, all in Minnesota. The Gogebic Range in Wisconsin and the Marquette Iron Range and Menominee Range in Michigan have similar characteristics and are of similar age. Natural ores and concentrates were produced from 1848 until the mid 1950s, when taconites and jaspers were concentrated and pelletized, and started to become the major source of iron production.

Minnesota State Highway 61 is a 148.843-mile-long (239.540 km) highway in northeast Minnesota, which runs from a junction with Interstate 35 (I-35) in Duluth at 26th Avenue East, and continues northeast to its northern terminus at the Canadian border near Grand Portage, connecting to Ontario Highway 61 at the Pigeon River Bridge. The route is a scenic highway, following the North Shore of Lake Superior, and is part of the Lake Superior Circle Tour designation that runs through Minnesota, Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

County Road 12 (Cook County, Minnesota) highway in Minnesota

County Road 12, also known as the Gunflint Trail, or County State-Aid Highway 12, is a 57-mile (92 km) paved roadway and National Scenic Byway in Cook County, Minnesota, that begins in Grand Marais and ends at Saganaga Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA), near the U.S. border with Ontario. It provides access to many of the entry points in the BWCAW.

Arrowhead Region

The Arrowhead Region is located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota, so called because of its pointed shape. The predominantly rural region encompasses 10,635.26 square miles (27,545.2 km2) of land area and includes Carlton, Cook, Lake and Saint Louis counties. Its population at the 2000 census was 248,425 residents. Aitkin, Itasca, and Koochiching counties are also sometimes considered as part of the region. This would increase the land area to 18,221.97 square miles (47,194.7 km2) and the population to 322,073 residents.

Vermilion Range (Minnesota)

The Vermilion Range exists between Tower and Ely, Minnesota, and contains significant deposits of iron ore. Together with the Mesabi and Cuyuna Ranges, these three constitute the Iron Ranges of northern Minnesota; they were deposited in the Animikie Group. While the Mesabi Range had iron ore close enough to the surface to enable pit mining, mines had to be dug deep underground to reach the ore of the Vermilion and Cuyuna ranges. The Soudan mine was nearly 1/2 mile underground and required blasting of Precambrian sedimentary bedrock.

Gunflint Range iron ore deposit in North America

The Gunflint Range is an iron ore deposit in northern Minnesota in the United States and Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The range extends from the extreme northern portion of Cook County, Minnesota into the Thunder Bay District, Ontario.

Cuyuna Range

The Cuyuna Range is an iron range to the southwest of the Mesabi Range, largely within Crow Wing County, Minnesota. It lies along a 68-mile-long (109 km) line between Brainerd, Minnesota, and Aitkin, Minnesota. The width ranges from 1 to 10 miles.

North Shore (Lake Superior) Shore on the north side of Lake Superior in Canada and the United States

The North Shore of Lake Superior runs from Duluth, Minnesota, United States, at the southwestern end of the lake, to Thunder Bay and Nipigon, Ontario, Canada, in the north to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, in the east. The shore is characterized by alternating rocky cliffs and cobblestone beaches, with forested hills and ridges through which scenic rivers and waterfalls descend as they flow to Lake Superior.

The Kekekabic Trail, commonly referred to as 'The Kek', is a hiking trail that runs about 41 miles from Snowbank Road near Ely, Minnesota to the western terminus of the Gunflint Trail in northwestern Cook County. The Gunflint then proceeds southeastward, with its terminus at Grand Marais, Minnesota on Lake Superior. The Kekekabic Trail runs through the center of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and begins opposite the Snowbank Trailhead on the Ely side. Most of the trail lies in Lake County.

The Border Route Trail is a 65-mile (105 km) long hiking trail that crosses the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) in the far northeast corner of Minnesota (Arrowhead) and follows the international border between Minnesota and Ontario, Canada. It connects with the Superior Hiking Trail on its eastern terminus and with the Kekekabic Trail on its western end at the Gunflint Trail. In addition to the eastern and western termini, the Border Route Trail can be accessed through several spur and connecting trails, allowing for hiking trips ranging from short day-hikes to multiday backpacking expeditions.

Wilderness Canoe Base is a Christian youth camp that borders the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on Seagull Lake near the end of the Gunflint Trail, about 50 miles from Grand Marais, Minnesota, USA. The camp hosts canoe camping trips and work-service trips for youth during the summer as well as retreats for all ages year round. Part of the camp is on the northern half of Fishhook Island and another tract resides on nearby Dominion Island. It has been under the management of Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp, Inc. since 2002.

The Rove Formation, is a sedimentary rock formation of Middle Precambrian age underlying the upper northeastern part of Cook County, Minnesota, United States, and extending into Ontario, Canada. It is the youngest of the many layers of sedimentary rocks which constitute the Animikie Group.

Leeblain Ghost town in Ontario, Canada

Leeblain is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on the north shore of Gunflint Lake in the Thunder Bay District. Part of the ghost town is located within La Verendrye Provincial Park and is adjacent to the well known Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Boundary Waters between Canada and the United States.

North Lake Station railway station in Ontario, Canada

The North Lake Station is a former railway station located near North Lake, Thunder Bay District, Ontario. It lies close to La Verendrye Provincial Park and to the well known Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Boundary Waters between Canada and the United States. It was constructed in 1907 as a major station along the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway.

Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad

The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad (G&LS) is a defunct Minnesota logging railroad that operated in the Thunder Bay District of northwestern Ontario and in Cook County of northeastern Minnesota.

The Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway (DM&N) was a railroad company in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was one of the earliest iron ore hauling railroads of the area, said to have built the largest iron ore docks in the world, and later was one of the constituent railroads in the merger that formed the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway.

References

  1. ↑ Frank Holmes Minnesota in Three Centuries Vol 4 Mankato, MN: Publishing Society of Minnesota, 1908 p.381-382
  2. ↑ Ontario Department of Mines Annual Report 1892-1894 Vol. 2-4 Toronto: Warwick Bros & Ruffer, 1893 p. 67-69
  3. ↑ Willis Raff. Pioneers in the Wilderness Grand Marais, MN: Cook Cty Historical Society, 1981 p.147-156
  4. ↑ St. Paul Globe January 6, 1887
  5. ↑ St. Paul Globe July 30, 1885
  6. ↑ St. Paul Globe May 16, 1886
  7. ↑ Raff, Pioneers in the Wilderness p.147-156
  8. ↑ Gunflint Lake Iron Company Articles of Incorporation. Index of Corporations, 1:274, A-J, State of Minnesota Archives, Minnesota Historical Society
  9. ↑ Holmes, Minnesota in Three Centuries p.381-382
  10. ↑ Ontario Department of Mines, Annual Report 1892-1894 Vol. 2-4 p. 67-69
  11. ↑ Raff, Pioneers in the Wilderness p.147-173
  12. ↑ W. Emmons & F. Grout. Mineral Resources of Minnesota #30 University of Minnesota Geological Survey Minneapolis: University of Minn Press, 1943 p.22-23
  13. ↑ U.S. Grant. Geology of the Akeley Lake Plate Geology of Minnesota Vol IV St. Paul: Pioneer Press, 1899 p.461-480
  14. ↑ New York Times March 27, 1893
  15. ↑ Duluth Tribune June 4, 1893
  16. ↑ Willis Raff. Pioneers in the Wilderness Grand Marais, MN: Cook Cty Historical Society, 1981
  17. ↑ Willis Raff. Pioneers in the Wilderness Grand Marais, MN: Cook Cty Historical Society, 1981
  18. ↑ Diamond Litho-Pubg. Co. : Gun Flint Iron Range. Minneapolis, [Minn.]
  19. ↑ Aly Boltman. Finding Old Mag Grey County Historian. No.23 March 2010
  20. ↑ Willis Raff. Pioneers in the Wilderness Grand Marais, MN: Cook Cty Historical Society, 1981
  21. ↑ Elinor Barr Thunder Bay to Gunflint Thunder Bay: TBHMS, 1999
  22. ↑ FWJ 5 November 1892
  23. ↑ FWJ 26 November 1892
  24. ↑ FWJ 30 November 1892
  25. ↑ Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal July 5, 1999
  26. ↑ Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal May 13, 2007
  27. ↑ Star Tribune Story on the Gunflint Fire Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ↑ http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/superior/recreation/rocks-minerals/recarea/?recid=40351&actid=73
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