on the Northern Shore af Lake Superior, &¥c. 355 
thither; and I should not be surprised to hear of their employ- 
ing people to work the mine. Indeed, it might be well worthy 
the attention of the British subjects to work the mines on the 
north coast, though they are not supposed to be so rich as those 
on the south *,” 
The attention of the United-States government appears first 
to have been turned toward the subject during the administration 
of President Adams, when the sudden augmentation of the navy 
‘rendered the employment of domestic copper in the equipment 
of ships, an object of political as well as pecuniary moment; and 
a mission was authorized to proceed to Lake Superior, Of the 
success of this mission, as it has not been communicated to the 
public, nothing can with certainty be stated; but from the in- 
quiries which have been instituted during the recent expedition, 
‘it is rendered probable, that the actual state of our Indian rela- 
tions at that period arrested the advance of the commissioners into 
the regions where the most valuable beds of copper were sup- 
posed to lie, and that the specimens transmitted to Government 
were procured through the instrumentality of some friendly In- 
dians employed for that purpose. 
Such are the lights which those who have preceded me in this 
inquiry have thrown upon the subject, all of which have operated 
in producing public belief in the existence of extensive copper 
mines upon Lake Superior, while travellers have generally argued 
that the southern shore of the lake is most metalliferous, and that 
the Ontonagon river may be considered as the seat of the prin- 
cipal mines. Mr. Gallatin in his report on the state of American 
manufactures in 1810, countenances the prevalent opinion, while 
it has been reiterated in some of our literary journals, and in the 
numerous ephemeral publications of the times, until the public 
expectation has been considerably raised in regard to them. 
Under these circumstances the recent expedition under Goy. 
Cass entered the mouth of the Ontonagon river on the 27th of 
June, having coasted along the southern shore of the lake from 
the head of the river St. Mary, and after spending four days upon 
the banks of that stream in the examination of its mineralogy, 
proceeded on the first of July towards the Fond du Lac. While 
there, the principal part of our force was encamped at the mouth 
of the river, and the governor, accompanied only by such persons 
as were necessary in the exploration, proceeded in two light 
canoes to the large mass of copper which has already been de- 
scribed. We found the river broad, deep, and gentle for a di- 
stance, and serpentine in its course,—then becoming narrower, 
with an increased velocity of current, and before reaching the 
* Mackenzie's Voyages, p. 29. 
Yy2 copper 
