Show S 4 FAMOUS MINING STRIKES by THOMAS E STEWARD S K M great source of american steel of dollars worth of gold BILLIONS silver copper and other metals had been extracted from american mines before the mines which were to be more important than any others were even thought of this reference la to the colossal deposits of iron ore in northern minnesota which in less than 40 years have bean the basis on which the american atnel industry has risen to a position 0 almost world supremacy and this remarkably important deposit was only discovered and proved up in the same year in which the comstock lode wa found the kesabl iron district lies in the part of minnesota walh Is northwest of lake superior charles K belth a celebrated geologist hav described it as extending from grand rapids on the mississippi river northeastward for miles to birch lake its width varying from two to dpn miles avei most of the extent of this range the ore Is in a relatively loose earth v form and lies so near the surface that it Is extracted by open pit mining the surface Is scraped aft tracks are run into the pit and steam shovel load the ore into cars the main topographic t mature of the district Is the ridge or of hills known as the giant or kesabl range bi ang the indian word tor gannt at its west end the range gradually slopes off to the level of the surrounding country about 1400 dept above sea level or feet abe the level of lake superior toward the eastern end the range becomes higher and higher rising at a maximum 1000 feet above sea level and to feet above the country between it and the great lakes this iron range as call it has added interest because it Is part of the height of land that divide the waters flowing through the into the gulf of mexico from those that flow northward into bud son s bay and the arctic regions in its climate and vegetable life the iron range savors strongly strong lv of the great borth it lies indeed well in side the famous minnesota north woods ft ath their deer moose bear trout and landl ocl ed salmon over much of the actual range however the scene Is a relatively desolate one pit mines old and new have thrown great scars of across the land where they lie vellow reddish or blue green according to the immediate nature of the soil like mam moth wounds in the clear green sur face of the surrounding forest old chopping windfalls wind falls flics under brush and thick swamp combine to make the near by country difficult to travel alanskas wealth in copper gold was the source of alaska s fame as a mining country copper was the first valuable found in that territory and it Is to copper and coal that alaskan miners have returned for the most pait though scattered scitt ered adventurers still extract a livelihood from the pla er gold deposits along alaskan ahers today the leading copper mine in alaska Is the kennicott named after the famous kennicott glacier past which so many thousand weary pros trudged in 1898 99 and 1900 when the rush to the interior was on bv vay of valdes as well as over the skagway pais copper was farst reported in alaska by the bering expedition in 1741 before american capital began to devel p alaskan copper deposits the na lives of the copper river country were knan to hive access to easily work able deposits the natives used it tor arrowheads later for bullets and cook ing utensils and copper knives were sald still to be in use when the whit nun first visited the country ahe indians obtained their copper bv washing the particles out of sand alons the rivers just as the ameri cans obtained their gold they did not have the means tor working mines in the rock and little of the tree copper in rich nuggets that DP caine so weh known in upper michigan has bien found in alaska it 1 stated hy the united states tint the copper mines of the indians were mostly along rivers n that had been freed from ice for a few hun dred years following the retreat of the glaciers this make more remarkable alie swift of copper articles within the short period after the natives discovered its maluy the true extent of alaskan copper deposit was not discovered so much by private initiative as oy an expedition of the united states geological survey that was sent into the coppa alver country in by the goic mant rhe difficulties of the atio lure were too great tor individual prospectors to attempt especially at a time when practically all attention was turned toward the gold fieldi aft the yukon prior to these explorations the alaskan shore and part of the Inter loi ad been visited by a long series ot explorers including the famous cap aln cool and a long list of english and russian scientists sol adlers and adventurers the farst american expedition was sent out in HIT mrtin valas |