i (i A N ( ' 1 E N T W [ N I N Q 



right angles to it, like those at the Cliff, Copper Kails, Northwest, and other neigh- 

 boring mines. The true lodes of the Quincy, Pewabic, Isle Royale, Portage, Huron, 

 and other companies adjacent to Portage Lake, are called ,w pa rallt Is," while those 

 further east belong to the system of "transverse" veins. 



In the winter of 1854-5, after the land had been explored and worked ten years, 

 a line of depressions was discovered on the summit of the range that attracted 

 immediate attention. On this elevated -round the old operators had discovered 

 and worked a rich deposit of copper which was nowhere visible upon the surface. 

 The direction of the line of pits is northeast and southwest, corresponding with 

 the range. 



The mines now in operation on this lode are among the richest of Lake Superior. 



At first view the excavations appeared to be irregular, like those in the gravel at 

 the foot of the bluff's, but after clearing away the growing timber, they assumed an 

 allignment such as 1 have given on the map. There are also veins in the vicinity 

 that have a hearing different from the general course of the pits. 



AYhen the cavities came to be opened, it was evident that a deposit of great 

 richness had been workfcd there in past times. Lumps of copper were found plen- 

 tifully in the bottom of the old works, and with them the usual evidences of ancient 

 mining. The pits are broad and deep, extending not far from half a mile. 



Me Royale Location. — This is on the south side of Portage Lake. Here the 

 ground does not rise so high as on the north side, hut is equally abrupt. The first 

 escarpment on this side is rocky, its crest being reached by an ascent of 300 feet. 

 The mining companies which have penetrated the rocky strata to a depth of at 

 least 250 feet, are the Isle Royale, Portage, Huron, and Albion; all of them on the 

 same vein, and situated near the south-easterly edge of the mineral range. The 

 beds in which these companies have worked are, therefore, geologically, nearly a 

 mile lower than those of the Quincy and Pewabic, which are near the westerly or 

 north-westerly side of the range. It was, therefore, in different ground that the 

 ancients sought for copper on the southerly side of the lake. 



After having attained the summit of the lake front on this shore, we find the 

 land nearly level for the distance of a mile, and the rocks covered with a shallow 

 depth of earth. On this plateau the ancients discovered a rich lode that did not 

 show itself on the surface. 



In the autumn of 1851, Mr. Douglass informed me that there were indistinct 

 si^ns of old works, half a mile from the lake on the northwest quarter of Section 

 1, T. 53, R. 34, owned by the Isle Royale Mining ( lompany. At the request of the 

 directors of the company, a close reconnoissance of the ground was immediately 

 made by myself. It required some assistance of the imagination to conceive- that, 

 the slight and irregular depressions, which were dimly visible among the trees, were 

 the works of men. Applying a compass to such of them as could he seen at one 

 view, and carrying this line forward, it passed over or near the successive pits for a 

 distance of one-third of a mile. We then set men to work to cut down a cross 

 trench through one of them, and in a few hours reached the bottom. The vein 

 and its walls were distinctly visible, having been worked out to a depth often feet. 



