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esIDe-oftobs ir 8 e-safely.Ancient Mining.Sero-P-lclelet.les-tor,iniro11fe;tI-efisui-di-i.fcdThe Portage Lase Mining Gazette says the Lake Superior C^°r Rangeabounds in evideuces or ancient mining, though ail the work is rude io comparison with the operations of the present day.in examining' these old workings in all parts of the mineral region, it is evident that they have been made at two different periods, by two different races of people, one of whom-simply removed the soil, and by the ageuey of fire and their rode stone hammers have pounded out the small horns of copper that. protruded from the out crop of the deposit. The others have sunk several leet into the rock, have driven dn short levels, or rather burrowed into the rock a considerable distance.These works are probably the most ancieut of the two, as the others have undoubtedly ' -been mado by the old Indian tribes, who used only the rude3t tools, stones gathered from the shore of the lake. 'The more ancient workers appear to have had some kind of tools with which they could cut copper and rock, and as many tools of copper have been found, in shape ond size resembling the chisels of the carpuntcr, it is quite reasonable to suppose that .they had some method of, hardening copper until it could be used in the i same manner os iron at the present day.With these tools they have worked into the rock for a considerable distance, and have taken out large pieces of me-talic copper. In an old working ut the Minesota Mine a mass of six tons was found raised on skids 20 feet below the surface, but it appears to hove been abandoned. This pit could not have been made bv the Indian workers, os it was too deep for them to have '' been made by fire and stone hammers. r In all these workings a noticeable v feature is the almost entire absence of the rade stone hammers, which are l~ found in abundance in and around the pits made by.', the Indians, showing pretty clearly that they had better tools to operate with than their successors. And their work is another » evidence that they were a superior people to the Indiaus, though inferior to us.8 In cleaning and digging around theso workings noj, a single stone hammer » has been found, nor any trace of the action of fire; and we lt;ftn only suppose that they possessed tools but little io-ferior to those now in use. These they most . have had, for it is impossible to suppose these excavations in solid rock were made without the aid of tools of hard metal. But what that I metal was, or how it was fashioned, wc have notathc slightest trace as yet.—‘Jacksoa Haines, the celebrated* Amnrirnn Rlratpr lino issued n nlinl.
Newspaper Details
Sturgeon Bay Door County Advocate
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, US
Thu, Nov 10, 1864
Page 1
Full Page
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Badgerlink
WI, USA 12 Oct 2017
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