Much has been said in reference to the coal fields of Michigan, and within the past two or three years, explorations, with a view of developing these deposits, have been conducted in different portions of the State. There is no longer any doubt of the existence of a valuable field of coal in central Michigan. There have been openings at different points in the State; at Jackson and Sandstone, in Jackson county; at Owasso and Corunna in Shiawassee county; at Flint in Genesee county, and at Lansing, coal has been found deposited in veins of from twenty inches to four feet in thickness. Most of the openings have been upon veins outcropping at the surface of the ground, and there has been little difficulty inprocuring samples of coal from these veins in many localities in the State. These deposits of coal found at, and near the surface, are producing coal in limited quantities in different localities, but no works have been prosecuted with a view to supplying any but a limited local demand. From the surface evidences of a coal field on the line of the Detroit and Milwaukee Road near Owasso, and from explorations and developments already made, some specimens of the coal having been produced and shipped to Detroit, it has been determined to prosecute the work at that point.
In Jackson county, however, the matter of mining has become an enterprise of some magnitude, and we are enabled to give some facts and figures which exhibit in some measure the importance to the State of this new branch of industry. There are several "workings" of coal in the vicinity of Jackson, and several companies have been formed for the purpose of mining coal. Considerable coal has been mined and sold from these different workings and mines. The principal mine, and one which in all its arrangements and provisions is equal to any mine in the country, is that of the Detroit and Jackson Coal and Mining Company. The works of this Company are at Woodville station on the line of the MichiganCentral Railroad, about three and a half miles west of Jackson city.
The mine is situated on the north side of the Railroad and about half a mile from the main track. The Coal Company have built a side track from the Central Road to the mouth of their shaft. The shaft from which the coal is taken is ninety feet deep, and at the bottom passes through a vein of coal about four feet in thickness. This vein has been opened in different directions for several hundred feet from the shaft, and with a tram-road through the different entries the coal is reached and brought from the rooms to the shaft, and then lifted by steam to the surface. This coal has been transported to different points in the State and is rapidly coming into use for all ordinary purposes, taking the place of many of the Ohio coals and at a reduced cost. The mine to which reference is made is withinfour hours'ride of Detroit, on the Central Road, and a visit of two hours (which can be accomplished any day, by taking the morning train, leaving the city at 9 45 and returning so as to reach here at half past six in the evening,) will repay any one for the trouble. The station is called Woodville, and is only three and a half miles west of Jackson.
Michigan, hitherto a heavy importer of salt, is in a fair way not only to have amply sufficient for her own wants, but something perhaps to spare. To aid in developing our saline resources, the Legislature wisely provided a bounty upon the production, which has already brought forth good fruits. At Grand Rapids, salt water has been discovered much stronger than that of the Syracuse springs, requiring only twenty-nine gallons to produce a bushel.—Arrangements have been almost perfected for commencing the manufacture upon a very extensive scale.
At Saginaw, within a few days, at the depth of 620 feet, copious volumes of brine were revealed. This is also stronger than any in New York. From some cause, it is sought to keep this information a secret, but it is fair to presume it would soon have leaked out. The salt both at Grand Rapids and Saginaw, is a beautiful article, of great purity.
When Nature formed the Grand River and Saginaw valleys, she seems to have been engaged in an animated contest with herself. The developments are such as to warrant the conviction that other and perhaps equally valuable salt springs lie hidden in the intervening space between those valleys. These and other discoveries plainly indicate that the employmentof a large amount of capital in developing the latent resources of Michigan would amply "pay."
The inexhaustible plaster beds of Grand Rapids constitute one of the prime sources of prosperity of that enterprising metropolis of the Grand River Delta. Our whole State has also a great interest in the trade, the material being, it is admitted, a better fertilizer than the imported article.(Back to Content)
Desirableness of a trip to the Lakes — Routes of travel — Interesting localities — Scenery — Southern coast — Portage Lake —Dr.Houghton — Ontonagon — Apostles' Islands — Return trip — Points of interest —St.Mary's River — LakeSt.George — Point de Tour — Lake Michigan — Points of interest — Chicago.
A trip to the northern lakes, for variety and beauty of scenery to such as are seeking enjoyment and pleasure, possesses advantages over every other route of travel in the United States, and with the exception of the works of art and the classical associations of the old world, is unsurpassed by any on the globe. To such as are in quest of health, no comparison can be instituted, as it has been demonstrated that the Northwest, especially in the region of the lakes, possesses the most invigorating climate in the world. A reference to the mortuary tables removes all doubt on this point. In the town of Marquette, on Lake Superior, containing a population of over three thousand, there were during the last year but eightdeaths, and only a portion of that number was from disease.
Our object in this chapter is to notice the various routes of travel to the interesting localities in the Northwest. During the summer months the most pleasant mode of conveyance is by water. The Hudson River boats, compared with which no inland steamers are superior, leave, every day, the foot of Courtland street for Albany. By taking passage on an evening boat, after a quiet night's rest the traveler will find himself at Albany the next morning, where he can take the cars for Buffalo, at which point he will be able to take a steamer for Detroit. From thence he can take a steamer for Superior City, passing through LakesSt.Clair and Huron, and up the SautSt.Mary to Lake Superior. On the route from the Saut he will pass the following points, Point Iroquois, White-Fish Point, Point Au Sable, Pictured Rocks, Grand Island, Marquette, Manitou Island, Copper Harbor, Eagle Harbor, Eagle River, Ontonagon, La Point, Bayfield and Point De Tour. The usual time occupied in passing over this route is about twenty-four hours. In leaving the Saut above the Rapids the steamer enters Lequamenon, passing Iroquois Point fifteen miles distant on the southern shore, while Gros Cap, on the Canada shore,can be seen about four miles distant. The porphyry hills, of which this point is composed, rise to a height of seven hundred feet above the lake, and present a grand appearance. North of Gros Cap is Goulais Bay, and in the distance a bold headland named Goulais Point can be seen. Indeed the whole north shore presents a scene of wild grandeur. Near the middle of Lequamenon Bay is Parisien Island which belongs to Canada; opposite to this island on the north is seen Croulee Point, an interesting locality in the vicinity of which are numerous islands. Still further on the steamer passes Mamainse Point, another bold headland once the seat of the works of the Quebec Copper Mining Company, but now abandoned in consequence of their unproductiveness; some fifteen or twenty miles further north, is located the Montreal Company's copper mine. The traveler has now fairly entered the vast mineral region of Lake Superior, and passes along a coast hundreds of miles in extent, "abounding in geological phenomena, varied mineral wealth, agates, cornelian, jasper, opal, and other precious stones, with its rivers, bays, estuaries, islands, presque isles, peninsulas, capes, pictured rocks, transparent waters, leaping cascades, and bold highlands, lined with pure veins of quartz, spar and amethystine crystals, full to repletion with mineralriches, reflecting in gorgeous majesty the sun's bright rays, and the moon's mellow blush; overtopped with ever verdant groves of fir, cedar, and mountain ash, while the back ground is filled up with mountain upon mountain, until, rising in majesty to the clouds, distance loses their inequality resting against the clear vault of Heaven."
On the southern shore, beyond White Fish Point, immense sand hills can be seen rising from four hundred to one thousand feet in height. After passing Pictured Rocks, which we have elsewhere described, the steamer approaches Grand Island, the shores of which present a magnificent appearance. This island is about one hundred twenty-five miles from the Saut and is about ten miles long and five wide. It is wild and romantic. The cliffs of sandstone broken into by the waves form picturesque caverns, pillars, and arches of great dimensions. Forty-five miles further is the town of Marquette one of the most flourishing places on the borders of the lake, and the entrepot of the vast mineral wealth in that region. Near this place are the Carp and Dead rivers, both which have rapids and falls of great beauty. Sailing in a northwestern direction the steamer passes Standards Rock, a solitary and dangerous projection, rising out of the lake at the entranceof Keweenaw Bay. At the head of this bay stands the harbor of L'Anse a short distance from which are located a Roman Catholic and Methodist mission house and church, both of which, on each sides of the bay where they are located, are surrounded by Indian tribes and settlements.
Passing along, the steamer enters Portage Lake an extensive and beautiful sheet of water extending nearly the entire breadth of the peninsula of Keweenaw Point, which is a large extent of land jutting out into Lake Superior, from ten to twenty miles wide and sixty in length. This whole section abounds in silver and copper ores. After passing Manitou Island, Copper Harbor, one of the best on the lake is reached. At this place there is a flourishing village. The next points are Agate Harbor, Eagle Harbor, and Eagle River Harbor. It was at this point that the lamentedDr.Houghton was drowned in October 1845. He was the State Geologist of Michigan, and while coming down from a portage to Copper Harbor, with his four Indian companionsdu voyage, the boat was swamped in a storm about a mile and a half from Eagle River. Two of thevoyageurswere saved by being thrown by the waves upon the rocks ten feet above the usual level of the waters.
The next point, three hundred and thirty-six miles from the Saut, is Ontonagon situated at the mouth of a river of the same name. A flourishing town is located here having several churches. In its vicinity are the Minnesota, Norwich, National, Rockland, and several other copper mines of great productiveness; silver is also found intermixed with the copper ore, which abounds in great masses. La Point, four hundred and ten miles from the Saut and eighty-three from Superior City, which is next reached, is situated on Madeline Island, one of the group of the Twelve Apostles. It was settled at an early day by the Jesuit Missionaries and the American Fur Traders. The population is mixed, consisting of Indians, French, Canadians and Americans. It has long been the favorite resort of the "red man" as well as the "pale face," and possesses a historic interest to travelers. The adjacent islands of the Twelve Apostles grouped together a short distance from the main land, present during the summer months a most lovely and beautiful appearance. Cliffs from one to two hundred feet, may be seen rising above the waters, crowned with the richest foliage. Passing Rayfield, a village on the mainland, and Ashland, a settlement at the head of Chag-wamegon Bay, and the Maskeg and Montreal Rivers, the steamer, after roundingPoint de Tour, enters Fon du Lac, a noble bay at the head of Lake Superior, twenty miles in width and fifty miles in length, on the shore of which stands Superior City, near the mouth ofSt.Louis River. This is a flourishing place, possessing great commercial importance, and which, at no distant day, must be connected with the mouth of the Columbia River and Puget Sound. On the return trip coasting along the northwest, the steamer passes numerous points of interest. At the extreme west end of Lake Superior, seven miles northwest from Superior City, stands the village of Portland. Along the shore northward are bold sandy bluffs and highlands which are supposed to be rich in mineral wealth. Encampment, the name of a river, island, and village, is a romantic spot. Immense cliffs of greenstone are to be seen rising from two hundred to three hundred feet above the water's edge; northward along the shore porphyry abounds in great quantity. This point is noted for the singular agitation of the magnetic needle. Hiawatha, Grand Portage, Pigeon Bay, Pie Island, Thunder Cape, and Thunder Bay, surrounded by grand scenery; Isle Royale, Fort William, a strong post of the Hudson Bay Company. Black Bay, Nepigon Bay, on the extreme north of the lake.St.Ignace Island, State Islands, PicIsland Michipicoten Island, formerly the seat of Lake Superior Silver Mining Company of Canada. Montreal Island, Carabon Island and other points of interest.
Re-entering the Saut the steamer shapes her course for Mackinaw. The Garden River settlement, an Indian village ten miles below the Saut, is on the Canada shore. A mission church and several dwellings occupied by Chippewa Indians may be found here. TheSt.Mary's River presents the finest scenery. A traveler in describing it says, "There is a delicious freshness in the countless evergreen islands that dot the river in every direction from the Falls to Lake Huron." The next point is Church's Landing on Sugar Island, opposite to which is Squirrel Island belonging to the Canadians. Lake George twenty miles below the Saut is an expansion of the River which at this point is five miles wide. The steamer soon enters the Nebish Rapids, after passing Lake George, and the main land of Canada, stretching out to the north in a dreary wilderness, is lost sight of. Sugar Island which is a large body of fertile land belonging to the United States, near the head ofSt.Joseph's Island is next reached, and then in succession, Nebish Island, Mud Lake, another expansion of the river, Lime Island, Carltonville,St.Joseph's Island, a large and fertile body of land belonging to Canada, once the site of a fort; Drummond Island, belonging to the United States, and Point De Tour, at the mouth of the river, the site of a light-house and settlement. The other points of interest are Round Island, Bois Blanc, at the head of Lakes Huron and Mackinac, all of which we have elsewhere described. At east the steamer enters the Straits of Mackinaw, and the site of the old fort and town heave in view. These straits are from four to twenty miles in width, and extend east and west about twenty miles.
Lake Michigan now spreads out its beautiful sheet of water, second in size to Superior, and invites the traveler to sail along its shores and among its islands. The points of interest are, La Gros Cap, a picturesque headland; Garden and Hog Islands, Great and Little Beaver Islands, Fox Island, on the west of which is the entrance to Green Bay, and on the east the entrance to Grand Traverse Bay, the Great or north Manitou, and the Little or south Manitou Islands, Kewawnee, Two Rivers, Manitoulin and Sheboygan, Port Washington, Milwaukee, Racine, Waukegan and other places of minor importance. After passing the localities on the western shore, at length Chicago is seen in the distance,stretching along for miles and presenting a fine appearance. From this point the traveler can return to New York, by way of Detroit, through Canada on the railroad, or he may if he chooses take a southern route. Such are the facilities for travel that the tourist will be at no loss during the entire season in finding excellent steamers and good accommodations. Steamers of the first class leave Cleveland on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays of each week, for Lake Superior, touching at the various ports on the route. Persons in the West or South, who may desire to visit the lakes can thus be at any time accommodated.
Should the tourist prefer taking another route from Buffalo, instead of passing over Lake Erie and up the Detroit River, he can go direct to Collingwood at the foot of Georgian Bay, and from thence can take steamer for SautSt.Mary, Chicago or any other point he may desire in the Northwest.(Back to Content)