Who Made the Ancietit Copper Implements? 103 



The conimissioners went prepared to remove the mass, with 

 a view of sending it to Washington. " We found it thirty- 

 five miles above the mouth of the Ontanogan river, Lake 

 Superior, on the west bank of the river, a tew paces above 

 low water mark. It consisted of pure copper, ramified in 

 every direction through by a mass of stone (mostly serpen- 

 tine, with calcareous spar), in veins of from one to three 

 inches in diameter, and in some parts exhibiting masses of 

 puie copper of over one hundred pounds. The entire weight 

 of the mass was estimated at from three to five thousand 

 pounds. It was found impossible, owing to the channel of the 

 river being intercepted by ridges of sandstone, forming three 

 cataracts with a descent in all of about seventy feet, to remove 

 this great national curiosity. Evidence was discovered in 

 prying the rock of copper from its position, confirming the 

 history of the past, which recorded the efforts of other 

 parties to extract wealth from this mass. These evidences 

 consisted in chisels, axes and various implements, which are 

 used in mining. This copper mass must have been much 

 larger in dimensions, as no doubt those formerly working it 

 removed much of the copper." (History of Indian Tribes of 

 North America, by Gen. McKinney, Vol. I, p. 159.) This 

 minute account is proof positive that long before 1826 per- 

 sons operated on this mass of copper with sharp tools. 



An extensive find of copper implements near the Sault 

 Ste. Marie has recently been made. It contained twenty-three 

 pieces, consisting of six awls, the largest six inches in length, 

 the smallest three inches, five knives of various sizes and 

 thirteen pieces composed of axes, hammers and chisels. 

 They were found lying piled compactly together, sur- 

 mounted by a little pile of stones. {American Antiquarian 

 Vol. 5, No. 1, p. 89.) 



The French penetrated to the Lake Superior region about 

 three hunired and fifty years since — a time quite sufficient 

 to account for all the old mining operations yet discovered. 



Newport was told by Powhatan with whom he banqueted 

 April, 1007, that the copper they had "•' was got in the bites 

 of rocks between cliffs in certain veins a great distance 

 north." (Dr. Pickering's Chronological History, p. 920.) 



