THE VERMILION IRON-BEARING DISTRICT 

 OF MINNESOTA. 



By J. Morgan Clements. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE DISTRICT. 



Il^TEODUCTION. 



The Vermilion iron-beariug district of Minnesota is like all of the other 

 iron-bearing districts of the Lake Superior region in that the rocks are of 

 very great geologic age. Its economic importance has been known, how- 

 ever, for a comparatively short period. The first statement of the existence 

 of iron ore in this district is credited to J. G. Norwood, who observed it upon 

 his explorations in 1850 and refers to it in his report." It was not until the 

 early eighties that a determined effort was made to develop the iron resources 

 which some then knew were in this district. In 1884 the raih'oad from 

 Duluth was completed to Tower, and the first shipment of iron ore was made. 

 From this time on the development of the iron resources of the district was 

 rapid, as is shown by the annual increase in the shipments of ore. This 

 increase, with minor fluctuations in 1893 and 1898, caused by financial 

 conditions, continued up to the season of 1902, when the maximum ship- 

 ment for the district, 2,083,784 tons, was reached. 



PREVIOUS GEOLOGIC WORK IN THE DISTRICT. 



Mr. Bailey Willis, special agent of the Census Office of the United 

 States, spent one month, October 10 to November 10, 1880, studying the 



a Eeport of a geological survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, by D. D. Owen, 1852, report of 

 3. G. Norwood, p. 417. 



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