SOUDAN FORMATION. 213 



THE IROIS^-ORE DEPOSITS. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 



The first mentiou of the occurren ce of iron ore in the Vermilion dis- 

 trict was made by J. G. Norwood, who observed it during his explorations 

 in 1 850 and published a statement concerning it in the report accompanying 

 that of D. D. Owen." The iron that he observed is that which occurs near 

 Grunflint Lake, at the extreme east end of the district, and which geologic- 

 ally belongs with the ores of the Mesabi range. In this pai't of the Ver- 

 milion district the ores have never been exploited to any extent and are at 

 present of no commercial importance. 



Interest in what is now known as the Vermilion iron-bearing district was 

 aroused in the sixties by the reported occurrence of gold in the slates and 

 schists in the region of Vermilion Lake. There was considerable excite- 

 ment for several years and a small rush to the district. Shafts were sunk 

 and stamp mills were erected, the machinery having been packed in from 

 Duluth, partly on the backs of Indian packers, over the Vermilion trail. A 

 town site was laid out near Pike River,, at the southwest extremity of Ver- 

 milion Lake, and some buildings were erected. In all a good deal of money 

 was fruitlessly expended, as no gold deposits of any imjDortance were found. 



A reference to the possible occurrence of hematitic iron ore in the Ver- 

 milion district, in the strict sense, was made in Hanchett and Clark's report 

 for 1865. The State geologist says: 



Specimens of hematitic specular iron ore were obtained from a heav}- dejDosit 

 said to lay between a lake forming the affluence of the upper Embarrass River and 

 Vermilion Lake. The precise percentage of commercially pure iron contained in 

 this ore has not been ascertained.* 



A more detailed mention of the occurrence of the iron ore on- the 

 iron range at Vermilion Lake was made by H. H. Eames, who investigated 

 this district in regard to the reported occurrences of gold and silver and 

 described the iron-ore deposits as follows:" 



"Report of the Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, by T). D. Owen, 1852; 

 Eeport of J. O. Norwood, p. 417. 



i* Hanchett and Clark: Eeport of the State geologist, Aug. H. Hanchett, M. D., together with the 

 physical geography, metallurgy, and botany of the. northeastern district of Minnesota, by Thomas 

 Clark, assistant geologist, St. Paul, 1865, p. 6. 



« H. H. Eames, Report of the State geologist on the metalliferous region bordering on Lake 

 Superior, St. Paul, 1866, p. 11. 



