Iron Range History, — //. V. ffinchell. 165 
portant, consequences fall upon the miner and mine owner 
himself. In the first place he does not discover his hidden 
wealth so soon as he would if he read understanding^ the 
geological reports of his region. In the second place he 
wastes his money in developing his mine. These statements 
are not made ill-advisedly. Many such instances have come 
under the writer's personal observation. The money that is 
wasted in every new mining district, simply because of ignor- 
ance of its geology, would purchase several of the best mines 
subsequent^ developed there. 
The second result affects the geologist. He does not receive 
the credit which is his due for the work which he may have 
performed years before in unraveling the tangled geological 
history of the district in question. Perhaps the very mode of 
deposition and manner of occurrence of the ores was pointed 
out, in plain language, and their discovery announced or pre- 
dicted in that identical locality. Nevertheless, when at some 
later period these discoveries are accidentally confirmed or 
made as predicted, the poor geologist is forgotten or misrep- 
resented by the declaration that "he always said there was no 
ore there and discouraged exploration.* 1 And the miners 
have forthwith another instance of the worthlessness of geo- 
logical investigation. 
Although not original nor the first time dwelt upon, these 
reflections arise with renewed force on reading the recent 
articles in the Engineering Magazine on the "Iron Ore-Region 
of Lake Superior."' by Mr. H. A. Parker of Marquette. "Van- 
ity of vanities, all is vanity," may well be the wail of any 
geological prophet who expects to receive honor in his own 
country. For here again comes one who should lie posted on 
such matters, and professes to give a historical and descrip- 
tive sketch of the discovery and development of these iron 
ore ranges, and yet we find the same old story of "rumors | in 
1883] of the occurrence of soft red hematite" and ••the dis- 
covery of ore beneath the routs of a tree'" on the Penokee- 
Gogebic range. Furthermore, the Vermilion range is said to 
have been found in 1ST") by explorers, and of tin- Mesabi* it 
*This is the spelling adopted by the National Geographic Society, 
the U. S. Geological Survey and the Minnesota Geological Survey. It 
has been used on all authoritative maps since 1866. 
