Chapter XIV · (continued 2)
Reading edition
This embraces a portion of the Saginaw Valley, and covers the high ground dividing the waters of Lakes Huron and Michigan. The eastern slope of the Peninsula embraces a variety of soil and timber somewhat different in its general features from other portions of the State. The pine lands of this region are near the coast of the lake, and lie in large tracts but with good agricultural land adjoining. There are in the Lower Peninsula, in round numbers, about 24,000,000 acres of land.
Taking Houghton Lake, near the centre of the State, as a point of view, the general surface may be comprehended as follows: The Muskegon Valley to the southwest following the Muskegon River in its course to Lake Michigan. The western slope of the Peninsula directly west, embracing the pine and agriculture districts along the valleys of several large streams emptying into Lake Michigan. The large and beautiful region to the northwest embracing the valley of the Manistee and the undulating lands around the Grand Traverse Bay. Northward, the region embraces the head-waters of the Manistee and Au Sauble, with the large tracts of excellent pine in that locality, and beyond, the agricultural region extending to Little Traverse Bay and the Straights of Mackinaw. To the northeast, the valley of the Au Sauble, and the pine region of Thunder Bay. To the east, the pine and hard timber extending to Saginaw Bay. To the southeast, the Saginaw Valley; and to the south, the high lands before described in the central counties.
That portion of the State south of Saginaw and the Grand River Valley is so well known that a description here would be unnecessary.
Thus we have yet undeveloped over half the surface of this Peninsula, embracing, certainly, 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 of acres, possessing stores of wealth in the timber upon its surface, reserving soil for the benefit of those, who, as the means of communication are opened, will come in and possess it, and thus introduce industry and prosperity into our waste places.
We have not the figures at hand, but it is probable that at least one-tenth of the area north of the Grand River is embraced in the pine region. The swamp lands granted to the State will probably cover nearly double the area of the pine lands proper. The remainder for the most part is covered with a magnificent growth of hard timber suited to the necessities of our growing population and commerce.
The statistics herein furnished will give some idea of the importance and value of the lumber traffic in this States. The trade in pine timber, lumber, shingles and other varieties of lumber, with the traffic in staves form one of the most important branches of manufacture and commerce in our own State, and this trade alone is now accomplishing more for the development and settlement of the country than all other causes in operation.
The lumber manufactories in Detroit and its suburbs are eleven in number. The following are the names of the proprietors and the amount cut last year by each:
ft. lumber. pcs. lath.
H. A. & S. G. Wight 6,500,000 2,220,000
Samuel Pills 3,500,000 482,000
— Moffat (est) 1,500,000
H. B. Benson 3,254,029
W. Warner & Co. 194,370
Brooks & Adams 3,800,000
Baughman, Hubbard & Co. 3,378,080 1,043,300
Kibbee, Fox & Co. 3,000,000 800,000
N. Reeve 800,000 20,000
Davis & David 2,000,000
Copeland 1,000,000
————— —————
Total 29,426,479 4,745,300
The aggregate of capital employed by these mills is $1,440,000. The above amount is no criterion of their capacity. The same mills cut 46,000,000 feet in 1856, and nearly the same in 1857, and their probable capacity is 54,000,000. Warner & Co., run their mill only about five weeks last year, and are now about retiring from business. One of the others sustained a temporary loss of business by fire. The product will in the aggregate be doubled next season.
The logs sawed in Detroit are procured from St. Clair River, Black River, Mill Creek and, Belle River. As a large share of that sold here has been on contract, there has been no great fluctuation in the market at this point. On the first of July the rates by the cargo were $25a$26 for clear and $19a$20 for second clear; on the first of October, $24 for clear, and $18 for second clear.
Last winter and spring were very unfavorable for lumbering. Owing to the small quantity of snow, but few logs were got out, and many of them being on small streams, owing to the failure of the usual spring freshets, were not sawed, so that upon the whole the mills of the State turned out only about half the amount of their capacity.
The market opened in the spring with flattering prospects. Buyers from a number of important points in the Eastern States, previously deriving their supplies from Maine, visited our State, anxious to secure contracts for choice lumber, and the opinion prevailed that the demand would exceed the supply. The prospect encouraged manufacturers to make unwonted exertions in turning out all the stock that could be rendered available, which involved increased expense. In some places, as was the case at Saginaw, a very large amount was got out in the early part of the summer. About the close of June, the market experienced a sudden and unlooked-for depression, after which prices tended speedily downward, falling to such a low point before the close of the season that manufacturers on the west coast generally suspended their shipments. Those on the east coast continued to ship, but their shipments to a very great extent still remain unsold. We are cognizant of 7,000,000 feet held in that way by only four manufacturers.
The accounts this winter are very favorable, but the idea that obtains, fixing the amount at a very high figure, is vague and erroneous. The true state of the case is, that manufactures, as a general thing, in view of the depressed condition of the trade, have been making calculations to do a light business, and got out their logs sooner than they expected, and will on the whole do rather more than they had anticipated, having gone into the woods lighthanded. The most experienced judges concur in fixing the amount of logs got out this winter on River St. Clair, at Port Huron and Saginaw Bay, but not including the rivers above, at 175,000,000 feet. In the Saginaws, it is ascertained that about 100,000,000 will be got out. Taking the entire east coast, it is thought the logs this winter would exceed those of last by fifteen to twenty per cent.
By Custom House statements of shipments, added to actual receipts at one of the receiving points—Chicago—it will be seen below that for 1859 a little over 269,000,000 feet is the amount of shipments arrived at. These figures, taken in connection with the estimates of those competent to judge, render it certain that the actual amount shipped out of the State did not vary materially from 400,000,000 feet. There being no penalty involved in the failure of masters of vessels to report, there is great carelessness in the matter. The Cleveland, Toledo and Sandusky shipments, are at the outside, not more than half reported. Those reported to Buffalo, Oswego, etc., are a little nearer the truth, but they fall considerably below the mark.
The amount made in 1859, did not vary materially from that shipped. In the district embracing the River St. Clair, Port Huron and the Lake Shore, 6,000,000 feet more were wintered over last year than this. On the west coast it was different generally, so that the variation in the aggregate cannot be much either way. The capacity of the mills in the pine lumber region is 900,000,000 feet, or possibly a little more.
As regards the amount of shingles made, even dealers are much in the dark. To add 50 per cent. to the Custom House returns would certainly be within bounds for the eastern coast. This would give 120,000,000 as the amount. For the west coast, if we take the amount received at Chicago, say 165,000,000, with an additional twenty-five per cent. for that received at Milwaukee, and then estimate that two-thirds of the whole amount were from the west coast of Michigan, which is doubtless true, we have 137,500,000 as the amount shipped by the coast, making 267,500,000 for the whole State.
The improved demand for staves has greatly stimulated the production, and in localities where the production of pine lumber is decreasing, that of staves is taking its place. At Saginaw 2,500,000 were got out last year, and this year there will be full as much, or more. The greatest activity prevails, and dressing by machinery has been started. At Lakeport, Burchville, Lexington, Port Sanilac, Forester, Point aux Barque, and Foresterville, 850,000 were got out last year; from Port Huron and St. Clair 750,000. The amount turned out in the whole State could not have been short of 20,000,000.
An immense amount of lath were turned out. A mill that can turn out three millions of lumber, generally makes one million of lath. On this basis about 133,000,000 must have been turned out. The supply generally exceeds the demand.
The lumber on the east coast is worth at the mills $9 per M.; that on the west coast $7. At the average of $8, the amount made last year would be worth $3,200,000. The value of shingles at $2 per M., was $515,000, and the lath at $1 per M., are worth $133,000.
We are enabled to present a nearly complete list of names of owners, with the amount of capital respectively, which will be of some interest, both at home and abroad. So far as the east coast is concerned, the figures are in the main entirely reliable, being upon the authority of one of the best men in the State who knows whereof he advises. Those for the west coast, thought not perhaps so strictly correct as the others, will as a general thing be found within bounds. We hope the statistics will prove an incentive to lumbermen to be more particular hereafter in furnishing information:
black river.
Name. Capital. Name. Capital.
J. & J. Bayard $15,000 Davis' mill 8,000
Sweetser & Bayard 7,000 R. Wadham's mills 10,000
Comstock mill 7,000
mill creek.
Bunce's mill 4,000 John H. Westbrook 4,000
L. Brockway 2 mills 5,000
port huron.
G. S. Lester 24,000 Avery 75,000
Haynes & Baird 24,000 Bunce 24,000
Howard & Bachelor 15,000 Hibbard 40,000
Fish, two mills 35,000 Black River mill 35,000
Welles 24,000
lockport.
Farrand 10,000
burchville.
Woods, two mills 30,000 John S. Minor 7,000
lexington.
Hubbard 8,000 Stevens & Davis 10,000
Jenks & Co. 20,000 Hitchcock & Co. 30,000
bark shanty.
Oldfield 10,000
forester.
Emely 50,000
gibraltar.
Colin Campbell 10,000
algonac.
Daniels & Ripley 15,000 Smith 24,000
newport.
E. B. Ward 20,000 B. S. Horton 10,000
Rust 10,000
st. clair.
Moore & Scott 20,000 Oaks & Holland, two mills 40,000
W. Truesdale 2 mills 60,000 St. Clair 30,000
E. Smith 15,000
Smith & Chamberlin 5,000
forestville.
E. B. Ward 50,000 Breckinridge 2,000
vicksburg.
Williams & Mills, three mills 55,000
cheboygan.
Three mills 100,000
cherry creek.
Peninsular Bank 15,000
huron county.
Luddington 12,000 Smith & Co. 50,000
Hubbard & Co. 50,000 W. R. Stafford 15,000
Donahue 30,000 Pt Austin Company 100,000
Armstrong & Co. 10,000 Crawford & Co. 10,000
bay city.
Clark, Ballou & Co. 35,000 McEwing & Brother 30,000
Moore & Smith 30,000 Bangor mills 35,000
Geo. Lord & Co. 24,000 Drake mills 24,000
Saml. Pitts 30,000 Henry Raymond 30,000
Beeson & Wheeler 24,000 Catlin & Jennison 10,000
Beebe & Atwood 10,000 Miller & Butterfield 14,000
Henry Doty 35,000 Frost & Bradley 35,000
portsmouth.
J. J. McCormick 10,000 Partridge mill 24,000
Portsmouth mill 15,000 H D Braddack & Co. 14,000
Budd's mill 14,000 Watson & Southard 14,000
zilwaukee.
J. J. Westervelt 35,000
carrollton.
Name Unknown 35,000
east saginaw.
Garrison & Co. 24,000 Cushing & Co. 36,000
I. Hill 20,000 L. B. Curtis 24,000
Holland 10,000 Wm. Gallagher 14,000
Copeland & Co. 10,000 Atwater mill 30,000
saginaw city.
V. A. Payne 30,000 G D Williams & Son 20,000
Curtis & King 30,000 D. Rust & Brother 50,000
New mill 20,000
tittibiwassee, pine river and swan creek.
Eight mills 65,000
cass, bad, and shiawassee rivers.
Seven mills 50,000
lapeer.
D. Farrer 8,000 N. H. Hart 21,000
W. Williams 15,000 Rogers & Jenness 24,000
Crofoot & Baldwin 15,000 Smith & Jenness 15,000
Manwaring & Co. 21,000 Smith 14,000
Wm. Peters 14,000 J. B. Wilson 14,000
Thorp's mill 14,000 James Farrell 10,000
H. D. Torner 8,000 White & Peter 10,000
Lawrence & M'Arthur 7,000 W. H. Crapo 60,000
Wm. Peter 30,000 H. L. Hemingway 6,000
Sixteen small mills 85,000
pine run.
McFarren 20,000
montrose.
Name unknown 30,000
alpena and vicinity.
G. N. Fletcher & Co. 35,000 Smith & Chamberlain 15,000
Lockwood & Miner 25,000 D. D. Oliver 5,000
Harris & Co. 35,000 Whitmore & Co. 25,000
sanilac county.
J. L. Woods & Co. 5,000 Stevenson & Davis 20,000
Mason & Luce 17,500
au sauble highlands.
Harris's mill 24,000
rifle river, saganin, coqualin, and sand beach.
Six mills 85,000
tuscola county.
A. Watson 10,000 Edmunds & North 14,000
W. A. Hart 10,000 Richardson & Bro. 14,000
Perry 5,000 Holmes 5,000
Others 30,000
flint and vicinity.
Eleven mills 715,000
There are also others on the east slope of the lower peninsula, representing a capital of say—$120,000.
Beyond the lower peninsula, there are some very heavy manufactories, particularly around Green Bay, (Michigan) generally estimated at $1,000,000, but which it would be safe to put at—$750,000.
Total capital, including Detroit,— $5,360,000
western slope—ottawa county.
Name. Capital. Name. Capital.
Ferry & Co. 50,000 Plugger & Nyn 24,000
W. M. Ferry, Jr. 50,000 Howard & Co. 14,000
Joseph Weld & Co. 30,000 Ryerson & Morris, 2 mills 65,000
T. W. White & Co. 50,000 Chapin, Marsh & Foss 50,000
Becker & Spoons 40,000 Smith, Forbes & Co. 35,000
Richard Roberts 24,000 Trowbridge, Way & Son 65,000
Jno. Haire 24,000 E. Jewitt 15,000
J. B. Bailey 14,000 L. G. Mason & Co. 35,000
Porter & Slyfield 14,000 Beidler & Co. 40,000
C. Davies & Co. 50,000 Mears & Co. 24,000
Durkee, Truesdell & Co. 40,000 Hill & Co. 24,000
George Ruddmain 40,000 Colgrove & Co. 18,000
Lewis & Davis 24,000 Wm. Thompson 14,000
Eldridge & Co. 24,000 Harris & Co. 8,000
Carleton & Co. 24,000 Jno. Ford 8,000
Ferry & Son 40,000 Denton & Co. 14,000
Lind & Slater 50,000 Carleton & Co. 10,000
Young, Savedge & Co. 30,000 Jos. Dalton & Bro. 10,000
Amos Norton 40,000 S. Lawrence 12,000
Benj. Smith 30,000 Edward Dalton 8,000
Rhodes, Cloyn & Co. 24,000 E. W. Merrill & Co. 14,000
Hatch & Merritt 15,000 Reed & Co. 10,000
C. Hart 10,000 Brown & Grist 8,000
kent county.
Jennison & Bro. 14,000 Reed & Plum 5,000
W. T. Powers 2,000 N. H. Withey 5,000
Seymour 24,000 Knickerbuck 4,000
Gooch & Webber 5,000 Robert Konkle 10,000
A. McFarland 4,000 A. Roberts & Son 25,000
Thos. Myers 21,000 White, Worden & Co. 25,000
George Funck 8,000 C. C. Comstock 9,500
S. Lapham 5,000 D. Porter 5,000
A. House 5,000 Chase, Harris & Co. 8,000
Farrell & Sons 10,000 C. W. Taylor 6,000
J. C. Clements 15,000 D. Caswell 12,000
T. Spencer 8,000 Hubbard, Hitchcock & Co. 16,000
Dewey & Co. 14,000
newaygo county.
Newaygo Company 80,000 J. M. Wood, 2 mills 25,000
Name unknown 24,000 James Botchford 10,000
R. P. Mitchell 5,000 Amos Bigelow, 4,000
Weaver 3,000
stony creek, oceana county.
Campbell, Wheeler & Co. 25,000
pere marquette, black creek and big sauble.
C. Mears & Co., 3 mills 95,000
spring creek.
Hopkins & Co. 24,000
manistee.
Coles 80,000 John C. Haines 55,000
McVicker &Ingleman 24,000 John Stranch 40,000
One near Manistee 24,000
grand traverse.
Hanna, Lay & Co. 32,000 A. S. Wadsworth 15,000
white river.
Amos Rathbone 24,000
mecosta.
Leonard, Ives, & Co. 20,000
montcalm county.
Bruce 10,000 E. Gregory & Co. 20,000
Slaght 14,000
lelanaw county.
Averill & Son 2,000
bec scie's river.
R. Gardner 15,000 Name unknown 2,000
Chamberlin & Co. 20,000 Harris & Co. 10,000
ionia county.
Estimated Aggregate 100,000
All others, on West Slope, estimated 350,000
Capital Western Slope 2,669,500
Total Capital of State $8,029,500
An intelligent gentleman who, at our instance, visited all the establishments around Saginaw, and procured statistics, reports the amount of lumber manufactured as follows:
Place. No. of Mills. Feet.
Bay City 11 20,000,000
Portsmouth 4 5,000,000
Zilwaukee 1 3,000,000
Carrollton 1 2,800,000
East Saginaw 8 19,750,000
Saginaw City 4 14,000,000
Bad River 2 4,500,000
Rafted Lumber 4,000,000
—————
Total 73,050,000
Valuation, at $8.50 per M. $620,925
Of the above lumber, 63,000,000 has been shipped; the rest is now on the docks.
Shingles manufactured 25,000,000 at $2.50 $62,500
Lath" 5,000,000 at 1.00 5,000
Oak Staves and shipped 2,000,000 at 30.00 60,000
Add Lumber 620,925
————
Total $748,425
The supply of pine in some few localities is becoming exhausted, and some few mills have ceased operating. This is the case at Lexington, but the machinery and capital have been taken elsewhere. At the present ratio of consumption, the supply of pine must rapidly become diminished, but profitable employment will then be found in the manufacture of hemlock and hard-wood. Some little has already been done in the way of turning out hemlock. The manufacture of hard-wood lumber is increasing very rapidly.
The copper interest of Michigan was first brought into public notice by the enormous speculations and the mad fever of 1845. The large spur of country which projects far out into the lake, having its base resting on a line drawn across from L'Anse Bay to Ontonagon, and the Porcupine Mountains for its spine, became the El Dorado of all copperdom of that day. In this year the first active operations were commenced at the Cliff Mine, just back of Eagle River harbor. Three years later, in 1848, work was undertaken at the Minnesota, some fifteen miles back from the lake at Ontonagon.
The history of the copper mines on Lake Superior shows that even the best mines disappointed the owners in the beginning. We give the facts relative to the three mines at present in the Lake Superior region to illustrate this. The Cliff Mine was discovered in 1845, and worked three years without much sign of success; it changed hands at the very moment when the vein was opened which proved afterward to be so exceedingly rich in copper and silver, producing now on an average 1,500 tons of stamp, barrel, and mass copper per annum.
The Minnesota Mine was discovered in 1848, and for the first three years gave no very encouraging results. The first large mass of native copper of about seven tons was found in a pit made by an ancient race. After that discovery much money was spent before any other further indications of copper were found. This mine yields now about 2,000 tons of copper per annum, and declared, for the year 1858, a net dividend of $300,000. The dividends paid since 1852 amount to upward of $1,500,000 on a paid-up capital of $66,000.
The same has been experienced at the Pewabic Mine. That mine commenced operations in the year 1855, with an expenditure of $26,357, which produced $1,080 worth of copper; the second year it expended $40,820, and produced $31,492 of copper; in 1857 $24,484 of expenses produced $44,058 worth of copper; 1858, the amount expended was $109,152, and the receipts for copper $76,538; the total expense amounts to $235,816, and the total receipts for copper to $153,168, leaving an excess of expenses amounting to $82,648, which is, however, amply covered by the extensive works established above and below ground at the mine.
The Pewabic will undoubtedly take its place among the dividend-paying mines of the present year.
It is scarcely ten years that mining has been properly commenced in that remote region. At that time it was difficult, on account of the rapids of St. Mary's River, to approach it by water with large craft. Being more than a thousand miles distant from the centre of the Union, destitute of all the requirements for the development of mines; every tool, every part of machinery, every mouthful of provisions had to be hauled over the rapids, boated along the shores for hundreds of miles to the copper region, and there often carried on the back of man and beast to the place where copper was believed to exist. Every stroke of the pick cost tenfold more than in populated districts; every disaster delayed the operations for weeks and months.
The opening of the Saut Canal has changed all this and added a wonderful impetus to the business, the mining interests, and the development of the Lake Superior country. Nearly one hundred different vessels, steam and sail, have been engaged the past season in its trade, and the number of these is destined largely to increase year by year, an indication of the growth of business and the opening up of the country. For the growth in the copper interest we have only to refer to the shipments from that region year by year. These, in gross, are as follows:
1853 2,535 tons.
1854 3,500 "
1855 4,544 "
1856 5,357 "
1857 6,094 "
1858 6,025 "
1859 6,245 "
The same facts of development would hold generally true, with regard to the other industrial interests of that vast country.
It remains yet almost wholly "a waste, howling wilderness." At Marquette, Portage Lake, Copper Harbor, Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, and Ontonagon, and the mines adjacent, are the only places where the primeval forests have given place to the enterprise of man, and these in comparison with the whole extent of territory embraced in this region, are but mere insignificant patches. What this country may become years hence, it would defy all speculations now to predict, but there seems no reason to doubt that it will exceed the most sanguine expectations.
The copper region is divided into three districts, viz., the Ontonagon, the most northern, the Keweenaw Point, the most eastern, and the Portage Lake, lying mostly below and partially between the range of the two. In the first are situated the Minnesota, the Rockland, the National, and a multitude of other mines of lesser note, profit, or promise. In the Cliff, the Copper Falls, and others. In the last are the Pewabic, Quincy, Isle Royale, Portage, Franklin, and numerous others. Each district has some peculiarities of product, the first developing the masses, while the latter are more prolific in vein-rock, the copper being scattered throughout the rock.
There have been since 1845 no less than 116 copper-mining companies organized under the general law of our State. The amount of capital invested and now in use, or which has been paid out in explorations and improvements, and lost, is estimated by good judges at $6,000,000. The nominal amount of capital stock invested in all the companies which have charters would reach an indefinite number of millions. As an offset to this, it may be stated that the Cliff and Minnesota mines have returned over $2,000,000 in dividends from the beginning of their operations, and the value of these two mines will more than cover the whole amount spent in mining, and for all the extravagant undertakings which have been entered upon and abandoned. While success has been the exception and failure the rule in copper speculations, yet it must be admitted that these exceptions are remarkably tempting ones. Doubtless there is immense wealth still to be developed in these enterprises, and this element of wealth in the Lake Superior region is yet to assume a magnitude now unthought of.
The copper is smelted mainly in this city, Cleveland, and Boston, the works in this city being the largest. There is one establishment at Pittsburg which does most of the smelting for the Cliff Mine, we believe; one at Bergen, N. Y., and one at New Haven, Conn. There are two at Baltimore, but they are engaged on South American Mineral. The Bruce Mines on the Canada side of Lake Huron have recently put smelting works in operation on their location. Prior to this the mineral was barreled up and shipped to London, being taken over as ballast, in packet ships, at low rates.
The amount of copper smelted in this city we can only judge by the amount landed here, but this will afford a pretty accurate estimate. The number of tons landed here, in 1859, was 3,088. The copper yield of Lake Superior will produce between 60 and 70 per cent, of ingot copper, which is remarkably pure. The net product of the mines for 1859, is worth in the markets of the world nearly or quite $2,000,000. This large total shows the capabilities of this region and affords us some basis of calculation as to the value and probable extent of future development.
Beside the amount already noticed as landed here there were 1,268 tons brought to this city from the Bruce Mines, and sent on to London. The mineral of this location is of a different quality from that of Lake Superior and not near so productive of pure copper. The price of ingot copper in New York the past season has arranged from 20-½ to 23-½ cents per pound, averaging full 22-½ cents.
There are indications that Michigan is slowly but surely taking the rank to which she is entitled in the manufacture as well as production of iron. The first shipment of pig iron of any consequence was made by the Pioneer Company in the fall of 1858. Dr. Russell, of this city, is turning out large quantities. His works went into operation about two years and a half ago, but were burned after running sixty days. They were immediately rebuilt by the enterprising proprietor.
The Lake Superior iron has been proclaimed the best in the world, a proposition that none can successfully refute. Its qualities are becoming known in quarters where it would naturally be expected its superiority would be admitted reluctantly, if at all. It is now sent to New York and Ohio, and even to Pennsylvania—an agency for its sale having been established in Pittsburg. For gearing, shafting, cranks, flanges, and, we ought by all means, to add, car-wheels, no other should be used, provided it can be obtained.
A large amount of capital is invested in the iron interest in Michigan, as the following figures prove:
Pioneer $150,000
Jackson 300,000
Collins 150,000
Cleveland 300,000
Lake Superior and Iron Mountain R. R. Co. 700,000
Northern Michigan Iron Company 110,000
Wyandotte Rolling Mills 236,000
Eureka Iron Company 117,000
Dr. G. B. Russell's 60,000
Ford & Philbrick's Steam Forge 25,000
—————
2,148,000
Marquette is the only point on Lake Superior where the iron ore deposits have been worked. There are deposits of iron in the mountains back of L'Anse, but this wonderful region leaves nothing more to be desired for the present. At a distance of eighteen miles from the lake, are to be found iron mountains named the Sharon, Burt, Lake Superior, Cleveland, Collins, and Barlow, while eight miles further back lie the Ely and St. Clair mountains. Three of these mountains are at present worked, the Sharon, the Cleveland, and the Lake Superior, and contain enough ore to supply the world for generations to come. The mountains farther back embrace tracts of hundreds of acres rising to a height of from four to six hundred feet, which, there is every reason to believe, from the explorations made, are solid iron ore. The extent of the contents of these mountains is perfectly fabulous, in fact, so enormous as almost to baffle computation. The ore, too is remarkably rich, yielding about seventy per cent. of pure metal. There are now in operation at Marquette three Iron Mining Companies, and two blast furnaces for making charcoal pig iron, the Pioneer and Meigs. The Pioneer has two stacks and a capacity of twenty tons of pig iron per day; the Meigs one stack, capable of turning out about eleven tons. The Northern Iron Company is building a large bituminous coal furnace at the mouth of the Chocolate River, three miles south of Marquette, which will be in operation early in the summer.
Each of the mining companies, the Jackson, Cleveland and Lake Superior, have docks at the harbor for shipment, extending out into the spacious and beautiful bay which lies in front of Marquette to a sufficient length to enable vessels of the largest dimension to lie by their side and to be loaded directly from the cars, which are run over the vessels and dumped into chutes, which are made to empty directly into the holds. The process of loading is therefore very expeditious and easy.
The amount of shipments of ore for 1859, from Marquette to the ports below, reaches 75,000 gross tons in round numbers, and the shipments of pig iron, 6,000 gross tons more. To this must be added the amount at Marquette when navigation closed, the amount at the mines ready to be brought down, and the amount used on the spot. This will give a total product of the iron mines of Michigan for the past year of between ninety and one hundred thousand tons. These mining companies simply mine and ship the ore and sell it. Their profit ranges between seventy-five cents and one dollar per ton.
The quality of the iron of Lake Superior is conceded by all to be the best in the world, as the analysis of Prof. Johnson, which we reproduce, shows. The table shows the relative strength per square inch in pounds.
Salisbury, Conn., iron 58,009
Swedish (best) 58,184
English cable 59,105
Centre county, Pa. 59,400
Essex county, N. Y., 59,962
Lancaster county, Pa. 58,661
Russia (best) 76,069
Common English and American 30,000
Lake Superior 89,582
The manufacture of pig iron at Marquette will probably be carried on even more extensively as the attention of capitalists is directed to it. The following may be considered a fair statement of the cost of producing one ton of pig iron at the Pioneer Iron Co.'s works:
1-½ tons iron ore, at $1.50 per ton $2 50
125 bushels charcoal at 7 cents per bushel 8 75
Fluxing 50
Labor 2 50
Incidental expenses 1 00
——
Cost at the works 15 00
Freight on R. R. and dockage 1 37
——
Cost on board vessel $16 36
The quantity of wood required for charcoal for both furnaces, is immense. The pioneer furnace requires 2,500 bushels of coal in twenty-four hours; and in blast as they are, day and night, for six months, and at a yield of forty bushels of coal to a cord of wood, it would require 15,000 cords of wood to keep them going. The company has had 120,000 cords chopped this season. This vast consumption of wood will soon cause the country to be completely stripped of its timber. Coal will then come into use. The business of manufacturing pig iron may be extended indefinitely, as the material is without limit, and the demand, thus far, leaving nothing on hand.
These facts exhibit the untold wealth of Michigan in iron alone, and point with certainty to an extent of business that will add millions to our invested capital, dot our State with iron manufactories of all kinds, and furnish regular employment to tens of thousands of our citizens, while our raw material and our wares shall be found in all the principal markets of the world.
The superior fish, found in such profusion in our noble lakes and rivers, while they afford a highly-prized luxury for immediate consumption, from one of our leading articles of export, and are very justly regarded as constituting one of our greatest interests.
It is estimated by men of intelligence that the value of our yearly catch of fish is greater than that of all taken in fresh waters in the thirty-two remaining States of the Union. This may at first blush seem like a broad assertion, but it is no doubt strictly within bounds. If the claim be not too much of the nature of a truism, we may add that so far as quality is concerned the superiority of our finny tribes is even more strongly marked than in regard to quantity. In the sluggish streams that abound in "ten degrees of more effulgent clime," the fish partake of the slimy properties of their native element; it is only in the limpid waters of the North that they are found of flavor so unexceptionable as to please an epicurean taste, or exalt them to the dignity of a staple of commerce. Fish possess peculiar qualities to commend them as an article of food, independent of the arbitrary preference of the epicure. They are universally esteemed as a wholesome and nutritious diet. In that pleasant work, Irving's "Astoria," a tribe of Indians are described who subsisted entirely on fish, whose rotund appearance contrasted strongly with the physique of their brethren of the forest. The profusion with which the finny tribes propagate their species is a peculiarity said to be imparted to those who partake freely and regularly of them for food, a supposition which would seem to be strongly supported by facts. Fishermen are proverbial for the number of their descendants. One of the tribe who dries his nets in Sarnia, is the happy father of nineteen children, and we can cite numerous proofs almost equally striking in support of this theory.
The fisheries have always been a leading subject in the government policy of seaboard nations. They are a prime source of revenue, and have been the cause of numerous wars. The serious controversy between the United States and Great Britain concerning the Newfoundland fisheries, is still fresh in the memory of our readers. Recently the earnest attention of the French government has been directed to propositions for the artificial propagation of fish, as a means of affording good and cheap food to the people at a merely nominal cost. The gradual diminution of the species, as well as the ultimate extinction of the large birds and quadrupeds, is everywhere a condition of advanced civilization and the increase and spread of an industrial population. To provide a remedy for the evil, the science of pisciculture has latterly attracted no small degree of attention, and, at this time, gentlemen prominently identified with our fishing interest have it in contemplation to stock lakes in the interior of Michigan with a view to the prosecution of the science.
Most of the fish packed on Lake Huron, and rivers St. Clair and Detroit, find their way into the Ohio market. The trade with that State has rapidly increased, but in its early stages it had some difficulties to contend with, to one of which we will briefly allude. Some twelve or fourteen years ago, a large quantity of fish, not less than 8,000 to 10,000 barrels, which had been caught in Lake Superior, were in the possession of a single dealer, who had them stored in the large warehouse recently torn down at the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway depot. He had opportunities to dispose of them at $8 per barrel, but refused to sell them for less than $10, and the result was that they were kept so long that many of them spoiled. They were complained of as a nuisance, and 1,500 barrels were turned out into the river at one time. Part of the lot was, however, sent to Ohio, and the effect was, for a time, extremely prejudicial to our trade, requiring a great deal of explanation before the Cincinnati dealers could be again induced to stand in the position of customers. But when confidence once more became fairly restored, the circumstance seemed to have the effect to precipitate the trade between the two cities. At least it grew rapidly from that day, our neighbors purchasing freely of our staple articles and sending us sugar and molasses in return. Thus, as in Samson's time, honey was gathered from the carcass of the dead lion. Ohio has become a very large consumer of our fish, and her influence is being extended rapidly into Indiana.
The habits of fish are as interesting as anything in the animal economy, constituting a beautiful study for the lover of nature; but this branch does not come within the scope of our article, and we must content ourselves with a brief description of the principal varieties, particularly such as are held in highest repute for packing, with such statistics as we have been able to procure.
Whitefish are more highly prized than any other kind found in our waters, being decidedly the most delicious in a fresh state, and when packed command a higher price than any other by $1 per bbl. They are found in the Straits and all the Lakes. They spawn in the fall, in the Straits, and in shoals and on reefs about the Lakes. They are caught in seines, gill nets, trap nets, and with spears; never with hooks. Those found in Detroit river come up from Lake Erie regularly in the fall to deposit their spawn. They were found in our lakes and rivers in vast quantities when the white men first visited their shores. They constituted, with other kinds, the principal food of the white and Indian voyagers as they coasted around the lakes, and were invaluable to the first settlers of the country, who, perhaps in some cases, but for the assistance they afforded, would have been compelled to relinquish their settlements. They could catch a supply at any time, and they then had an unfailing resort when their crops failed. Whitefish were a great favorite with the Indians. They would give many times their weight in trout or any other species in exchange for them. It is said that a person can subsist longer upon them than upon any other kind.
Their ordinary weight is from 3 to 5 lbs, length 15 inches, though some have been caught weighing not less than 18 lbs. They are a beautiful fish, and when first taken out of the water and struggle and flounder in the sun, they exhibit all the colors of the rainbow, but they soon expire, and when dead they are of a delicate white color. The trout, pike, and muscalonge devour them without mercy. Some of these voracious kinds have been caught with the remains of six white-fish in them.
The Detroit River white-fish are more juicy and better flavored than those caught in the upper lakes, probably from the fact that they feed on more delicate food, but those found in Lake Superior surpass all others in size. They were once so numerous that eight thousand were taken at a single haul. At present a haul of one or two thousand is thought a very good one. In all the rivers they are growing scarce very gradually, but surely. The ratio of decrease cannot be arrived at with any degree of precision. A few years ago they were mostly taken with gill nets, and when they fell of in one place, a corresponding increase would be found in another. Now they are taken with trap nets along the shore. The trap nets are a decided advantage over gill nets. They allow the fish to be kept alive, and they are taken out at leisure; they are therefore of better quality.
Pickerel are also held in high esteem. They are good either fresh, or salted and dried, and for packing, rank next in value to white, although held nominally at the same price as trout when packed. They generally run up the rivers and lakes in the spring to spawn, where they are caught in considerable numbers. Average weight, 2 lbs; large, 20 lbs; common length, 15 inches.
Lake or Mackinaw trout are as voracious as pike. They are chiefly caught on Lake Huron with gill nets and hooks. Saginaw Bay appears to be a favorite resort with them. Some winters large quantities are caught in the Bay through the ice, with a decoy fish and spear. They spawn in the fall, generally in the bays and inlets. Average weight 5 lbs; large 75 lbs.
Siscowits are mostly found in Lake Superior, and are preferred by some to any other kind. They are of the trout family, and for fat are unequaled; they are mostly taken in gill nets. They spawn in the fall, and are very superior for packing. They are also of some value for their oil. Common weight 4 pounds, length 16 inches.
Large herrings are very good fish, found only in the straits and large lakes. They spawn in the fall; but few are caught. Average weight 1-¾ pounds; common length 10 inches.
In addition to the above the muskelonge—a large and delicious variety—black and white bass, rock bass, perch, sturgeon, and at least twenty other kinds, abound in our waters; a minute description of which we are compelled to forego. Whitefish are taken both spring and fall, chiefly the latter; spring is the season for pickerel; trout are taken at all seasons.
Something over a year since some excitement was occasioned by a mode of fishing adopted by a party of fishermen on Detroit river, who stationed nets over a mile and a half in extent across the mouth of the stream, a proceeding that was not only calculated to destroy the value of the seine fisheries above, but which would ultimately have driven the fish out of the river altogether. A formidable opposition was of course arrayed against this unusual and unwarrantable proceeding, and the party found it expedient to desist, but the Legislature, which met shortly after, failed to pass an inhibitive measure. This action, or rather want of action, would have been considered extraordinary in a State less favored by nature.
We have fortunately been able to procure estimates of the amount of the catch at all the various fisheries, together with other leading statistics; and with the view of imparting to the subject a more general interest, we include two or three points beyond the limits of the State. The estimates are furnished by gentlemen of intelligence and experience, and may be relied on as substantially correct:
Sandusky fisheries, catch mostly sold fresh:
Whitefish, valuation $50,000
Pickerel, bass, etc 40,000
Value of seines and fixtures 16,000
Paid for wages 37,000
Maumee River, pickerel, white bass, etc., etc., mostly sold fresh:
Valuation $50,000
Seines and fixtures 15,000
Paid for wages 12,000
Maumee Bay and Monroe County, Michigan, white fish and pickerel:
Valuation $20,000
Pounds, seines, and fixtures 9,000
Paid for wages 10,000
Detroit River, nearly all white:
Valuation $75,000
Seines, fishing grounds, and fixtures 40,000
Paid for wages 20,000
St. Clair River and Rapids, mostly pickerel:
Valuation $11,000
Cost of fixtures 2,000
Paid for wages 1,200
Port Huron to Point au Barque, 3,000 barrels, mostly white:
Valuation $25,000
Au Sauble 6,000 barrels, ¾ white, the rest trout:
Valuation $50,000
Boats, nets, etc. 13,000
Paid for wages 7,000
Thunder Bay and vicinity, above Sauble River, 6,000 barrels, mostly white:
Valuation $50,000
Saginaw Bay and River, 2,000 barrels pickerel and 1,500 white and trout:
Valuation $32,000
Tawas, 600 barrels, mostly white:
Valuation $5,000
Between Thunder Bay and Mackinac, 500 barrels, mostly white:
Valuation $4,500
Mackinac, including all brought there, 7,500 barrels, ¾ or 7/8 white:
Valuation $62,000
Beaver Islands and neighborhood, 7,000 barrels, nearly all white:
Valuation $59,000
Green Bay in Michigan, 3,000 barrels, all white:
Valuation $25,500
Island between De Tour and the Saut, 1,000 barrels, 2/3 white, the rest trout:
Valuation $8,000
Green Bay in Wisconsin, 2,500 barrels white and 500 barrels pickerel, all packed:
Valuation $25,000
Of the catch of Lake Huron, only an inconsiderable amount are sold fresh. On Detroit River about 4,000 barrels were packed last year.
Having procured specific information of the cost of outfit and amount paid for wages at the Sauble fisheries, we have taken such expenditures as the basis for those of all the upper lake fisheries in proportion to the catch, which in the main will doubtless prove substantially correct. At the Sauble last season there were sixteen boats employed for two months, and eight for the rest of the season. The value of the boats was $200 each, and the nets, etc., cost an additional sum of $600 for each, making the aggregate value of the boats and their outfit about $13,000. About forty men were employed on an average during the season, receiving a probable aggregate of $7,000 for wages. Taking these outlays, etc., as a fair average, and we have the following result:
From Port Huron to the Beavers, inclusive, together with Green Bay in Michigan, and the Saut Islands:
Cost of outfit $83,500
Amount paid for wages 45,000
Average number of men 300
The amount shipped from Lake Superior, as appears from the report of the Superintendent of the Saut canal is 4,000 barrels. This is probably not a tithe of what might be done. The mouth of almost every stream in that region affords good fishing grounds, which is also true of most of the islands, particularly Isle Royale, where the siscowit is very abundant.
The fisheries on the east coast of Lake Michigan have for about six years past increased very rapidly in importance, some years gaining 100 per cent, on the year preceding. A few years since a party of Norwegians came on and embarked in the business, which they have prosecuted ever since with advantage and profit. Trained in the severe school of their rugged northern home, they exhibit the greatest daring, going out in their tiny craft during the heaviest gales. They frequently venture out twenty-five miles from shore, almost meeting their countrymen from the Wisconsin side of the lake, who are engaged in the same hazardous calling. We have the following returns:
Little Traverse, 600 barrels:
Valuation $4,000
300 nets and 6 boats, worth 1,800
Paid for wages 575
Big Point Sauble, 1,500 barrels:
Valuation $12,000
600 nets and 8 boats 3,600
Paid for wages 1,700
Little Point Sauble, 2,000 barrels:
Valuation $16,500
750 nets and 10 boats 4,500
Paid for wages 2,000
White Lake, 1,500 barrels:
Valuation $12,000
500 nets and 5 boats 3,000
Paid for wages 1,600
Grand Haven, 4,000 barrels:
Valuation $32,800
800 nets and 8 boats 4,000
Paid for wages 5,000
Saugatuck, 2,000 barrels:
Valuation $16,000
600 nets and 6 boats 3,600
Paid for wages 2,500
South Haven, 2,100 barrels:
Valuation $16,800
600 nets and 6 boats 1,200
Paid for wages 2,500
St. Joseph's 3,500 barrels:
Valuation $28,000
1,200 nets and 9 boats 7,500
Paid for wages
New Buffalo, 300 barrels:
Valuation $3,000
400 nets and 5 boats 2,600
Paid for wages 450
Michigan City, 3,000 barrels:
Valuation $30,000
1,020 nets and 18 boats 8,000
Paid for wages 4,400
Showing an aggregate of 21,000 barrels, of which about 18,000 barrels are salted; valuation $169,800; value of fixtures $43,600; estimated amount paid for wages, $22,000.
The fishing grounds of Michigan City are almost entirely within our State. The number of barrels include those sold fresh as well as salted, there being a considerable quantity of the former, in some of the fisheries last named, Michigan City and New Buffalo especially, from whence they are sent packed in ice to the different towns in Michigan; also to Lafayette and Indianapolis, Indiana, to Louisville, Kentucky, to Cincinnati, and also to Chicago, where they are repacked in ice, and some of them find their way to St. Louis, Cairo, etc. From St. Joseph and Grand Haven there are large quantities sent fresh to Chicago and Milwaukee, where they are repacked in ice.
At a fair estimate for the few small fisheries on this coast from which we have no return, together with those on the west coast of Lake Michigan, they are worth at least $60,000, but we have no data by which to form an estimate of the proportion packed.
The number of men employed, and the consequent expense, varies according to the method employed. With seines the occupation is very laborious, and requires a much stronger force than pound nets. One set of hands can manage a number of the latter. Some of the fisheries on Detroit and St. Clair rivers use seines altogether, to draw which, horse-power is brought into requisition in some cases. A double set of men are employed, working alternately day and night, and the exposure is a most disagreeable feature of the business, particularly in bad weather. The great bulk of the aggregate catch continues to be taken with seines or gill nets, but pound (or trap) nets are on the increase. They have been in use below Lake Huron more or less for the past four or five years, but it is only about two years since their introduction in the upper lakes. With these nets 100 barrels of white-fish have been taken at a single haul. Of course their general use must produce a material diminution in the supply.
As regards capital invested, there is in particular instances a wide difference. George Clark, Esq., nine miles below Detroit, has $12,000 invested in his grounds, owing mostly to the cost of removing obstructions. But this is an exception.
The barrels for packing constitute no inconsiderable item of this vast and important trade. Their manufacture is a regular branch in Port Huron, but most of them are made by the fishermen when not engaged in their regular vocation. They are made at all the villages and fishing stations on Lake Huron, pine being generally easy of access. The barrels are worth 62-½ cents each; half-barrels, 50 cents. Over two-thirds of the packages used are halves, but our estimated totals of the catch represent wholes.
Formerly the nets used also to be made almost entirely by the fishermen, who usually procured the twine from Detroit. Latterly, many of them have been brought from Boston already made.
Salt is another large item. For packing and repacking, about one-fourth of a barrel is used to each barrel of fish. For the amount packed, therefore, in the fisheries we have described, about 20,000 barrels are used.
Total proceeds of Michigan fisheries $620,000
Total proceeds of all enumerated 900,000
Total capital invested 252,000
Paid for wages 171,000
Aggregate of barrels salted, say 80,000 bbls.
Cost of packages 70,000
Cost of salt 22,000
The catch at the Sauble and Thunder Bay showed a falling off last season, owing not to the want of fish, but to the unfavorable weather. At these points they congregate only from October to the close, and the weather being very rough last fall, the catch was comparatively light.
Mackinac has been famous as the greatest fishing point on the lakes. Gill nets are mostly in vogue. The work in that locality is mostly done by half-breeds, in the employ of the merchants, the latter furnishes the salt, and paying them in trade, of which the outfit generally constitutes a part. But with the late general depression, prices declined some thirty or forty per cent., and consequently the business, previously quite lucrative, lost its attraction for the time being. The merchants advanced the means in summer, and could not realize until the ensuing year. Small holders were obliged to sell, some of the time by forcing the market, and this added to the difficulty experienced by large holders in obtaining returns.
Much has been said in reference to the coal fields of Michigan, and within the past two or three years, explorations, with a view of developing these deposits, have been conducted in different portions of the State. There is no longer any doubt of the existence of a valuable field of coal in central Michigan. There have been openings at different points in the State; at Jackson and Sandstone, in Jackson county; at Owasso and Corunna in Shiawassee county; at Flint in Genesee county, and at Lansing, coal has been found deposited in veins of from twenty inches to four feet in thickness. Most of the openings have been upon veins outcropping at the surface of the ground, and there has been little difficulty in procuring samples of coal from these veins in many localities in the State. These deposits of coal found at, and near the surface, are producing coal in limited quantities in different localities, but no works have been prosecuted with a view to supplying any but a limited local demand. From the surface evidences of a coal field on the line of the Detroit and Milwaukee Road near Owasso, and from explorations and developments already made, some specimens of the coal having been produced and shipped to Detroit, it has been determined to prosecute the work at that point.
In Jackson county, however, the matter of mining has become an enterprise of some magnitude, and we are enabled to give some facts and figures which exhibit in some measure the importance to the State of this new branch of industry. There are several "workings" of coal in the vicinity of Jackson, and several companies have been formed for the purpose of mining coal. Considerable coal has been mined and sold from these different workings and mines. The principal mine, and one which in all its arrangements and provisions is equal to any mine in the country, is that of the Detroit and Jackson Coal and Mining Company. The works of this Company are at Woodville station on the line of the Michigan Central Railroad, about three and a half miles west of Jackson city.
The mine is situated on the north side of the Railroad and about half a mile from the main track. The Coal Company have built a side track from the Central Road to the mouth of their shaft. The shaft from which the coal is taken is ninety feet deep, and at the bottom passes through a vein of coal about four feet in thickness. This vein has been opened in different directions for several hundred feet from the shaft, and with a tram-road through the different entries the coal is reached and brought from the rooms to the shaft, and then lifted by steam to the surface. This coal has been transported to different points in the State and is rapidly coming into use for all ordinary purposes, taking the place of many of the Ohio coals and at a reduced cost. The mine to which reference is made is within four hours' ride of Detroit, on the Central Road, and a visit of two hours (which can be accomplished any day, by taking the morning train, leaving the city at 9 45 and returning so as to reach here at half past six in the evening,) will repay any one for the trouble. The station is called Woodville, and is only three and a half miles west of Jackson.
Michigan, hitherto a heavy importer of salt, is in a fair way not only to have amply sufficient for her own wants, but something perhaps to spare. To aid in developing our saline resources, the Legislature wisely provided a bounty upon the production, which has already brought forth good fruits. At Grand Rapids, salt water has been discovered much stronger than that of the Syracuse springs, requiring only twenty-nine gallons to produce a bushel.—Arrangements have been almost perfected for commencing the manufacture upon a very extensive scale.
At Saginaw, within a few days, at the depth of 620 feet, copious volumes of brine were revealed. This is also stronger than any in New York. From some cause, it is sought to keep this information a secret, but it is fair to presume it would soon have leaked out. The salt both at Grand Rapids and Saginaw, is a beautiful article, of great purity.
When Nature formed the Grand River and Saginaw valleys, she seems to have been engaged in an animated contest with herself. The developments are such as to warrant the conviction that other and perhaps equally valuable salt springs lie hidden in the intervening space between those valleys. These and other discoveries plainly indicate that the employment of a large amount of capital in developing the latent resources of Michigan would amply "pay."
The inexhaustible plaster beds of Grand Rapids constitute one of the prime sources of prosperity of that enterprising metropolis of the Grand River Delta. Our whole State has also a great interest in the trade, the material being, it is admitted, a better fertilizer than the imported article.(Back to Content)