CULTURE. 53 



and tlieir families; in addition there are, of course, a relatively few people 

 who are employed in the iisual stores and small industries of varioiis kinds 

 which are essential to the life of a town of this size. 



Winten is a small village at the west end of Fall Lake. It is the 

 eastern terminus of the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad. It owes its 

 existence to the presence of two thriving sawmills, which are rapidh' cut- 

 ting all of the timber of this part of the district. There are about 500 

 people within a radius of a mile from the mills at Winten. 



The name Silvei* City is not infrequently employed in the conversa- 

 tion of explorers and travelers around Ely, and may lead to confusion in 

 the mind of the stranger. The name is applied to the site of an old 

 exploration which, in the sanguine owner's eyes, was the nucleus around 

 which there was to be developed a city of importance. Nothing exists 

 there now; in fact, the writer does not know that a single house was ever 

 built there. The location is at the White Iron Lake portage, in sec. 32, 

 T. 63 N., R. 11 W., and being on one of the canoe routes and frequently 

 used as a camping place, the name is still current among the woodsmen. 



The towns just mentioned are connected by the Duluth and Iron 

 Range Railroad, which is the only one that at present gives service in the 

 Vermilion district. Consequently this road handles all of the lumber and 

 ore that is shipped. The eastern end of the district is touched by the 

 Uuluth, Port Arthur and Western Railroad, which was projected to connect 

 Port Arthur and Duluth. This road was built from Port Arthur as far 

 west as Paulson's mine at Grunflint, in sec. 28, T. 65 N., R. 4 W. There 

 are a few houses here, but since the abandonment of the mine, no inhab- 

 itants. The two termini, Paulson's mine on the east and Winten on the 

 west, liave, however, never been connected except by the railroad survey. 

 At present the road within the United States for the 6 miles from the 

 boundary to Paulson's is impassable, the trestles and many ties having been 

 bui-ned. It would require extensive rebuilding before it could be used, 

 and if rebuilt a new route for a part of the way should certainly be 

 selected, as it would be almost imi^ossible to lay out any route that would 

 not be an improvement over some parts of its ^jresent location. Wagon 

 roads throughout the district are few in number. Those near the towns 

 are kept in fair condition, but elsewhere they are very poor. Even the 

 county road between Soudan and Ely is poorly kept. Very few branches 



