Earl}/ Man in Northeastern Minnesota — Stuntz. 83 



localities on the lake that show signs of similar improvements 

 and the planting of oaks, lindens, elms and plum trees. 



The query naturally arises: What induced these people to oc- 

 cupy these northern regions? Could it have been the summer resort 

 of a people who admired the beautiful scenery and the excellence 

 of the food supply — the fish, the rice and the game? It hardly 

 seems possible that they would devote time and labor in improving 

 these rivers if they did not have something more weighty to trans- 

 port than ordinary baggage or provisions . The indications are that 

 the}' were miners and came here to work the mineral deposits, and 

 that these improvements on the streams were made to transport 

 their products to a southern market. 



On the north side of the bluff in section 27, Town 62, Range 

 15, is an excavation made in solid jasper, one of the hardest rocks 

 known, and exceedingly tough and consequently difficult to break. 

 The depth of this cut is not known, as the sides have given way 

 ^nd the pit is partially filled. Here masses of rock, from three to 

 ten cubic yards in size, have been detached and removed out of the 

 cut to the dump. There are no marks to indicate how these im- 

 mense blocks of jasper were detached, or what mechanical appli- 

 ances were used to hoist them out of the cut and place them on 

 the banks. There are evidences that fire was used in working cer- 

 tain portions of the rock; in the dump pile fragments of charcoal 

 «and ashes are quite frequently found. A gravel walk is still visi- 

 ble and in tolerable repair, leading from the cut to the dump. 

 This evidently was built for carrying out the materials of the mine. 

 An examination of the bluff a short distance to the east of this cut 

 disclosed a slate vein, carrying a notable quantity of yellow and 

 redocher. This may have been the material mined for; what- 

 ■ever it was the vein has been worked to the westward for the dis- 

 tance of several hundred feet across a flat, and to a depth below 

 water level. For 200 miles to the eastward, along the international 

 boundary, are improved river courses and ancient diggings, requir- 

 ing a vast amount of labor and leaving monuments in stone of 

 the patience, skill and industry of this ancient people. 



I regret that I have not time to describe localities farther to 

 the eastward or to enlarge on the engineering skill displayed in the 

 construction of the stone dams. They effectually stop or hold 

 the water at a given height in its low stages, and let it down an 

 easy grade over a wide expanse in time of floods. 



