1921 Duluth & St Louis County MN, Van Brunt.pdf - Garon.us

514 DULUTH AXD ST. LOUIS COUNTY
the same writer (1906) stated that "Credit for discovery of the first
ore in the Eveleth field * * =^
is due to D. T. Adams and Neil
Mclnnis, who commenced explorations on * * * the Adams mine
on October 1, 1892. A lease on all the land in sections 30 and 31 was
taken by D. T. Adams, Neil ]\lclnnis, P. L. Kimberly and John
T. Jones, from Messrs. Robinson and Flynn, the Detroit lumbermen.
Ore was found in the first test-pit put down under the direction of
Mr. Mclnnis. The writer visited the camp in his company soon after
. the explorations were started."
Neil Mclnnis, in 1906, put into writing his "Recollections of
early mining explorations." After referring to the excitement that
followed the discovery of blue ore on the Biwabik in 1891, stated :
"The winter coming on shortly after this discover3% not very
much was done until the early spring of 1892, when numerous companies
were organized, and prospecting commenced in great earnest.
March of that year brought the writer from Tower, and associating
with A. E. Humphreys (one of the chief promoters of that day), had
immediate charge of twelve camps, beginning at the Hale and
Kanawha mines, section 1, town 58, range 16, to town 58, range 19,
the principal camp, known as headquarters, being in section 9, town
58, range 17, near the present city of Virginia. The results of these
explorations amounted to the following: the Kanawha, Cincinnati,
Lincoln, Commodore, Franklin, Lone Jack, Moose, and Auburn mines.
"Mention should be made of David T. Adams, of Duluth, as the
party selected by Mr. Humphreys to go out into the wilderness during
the severe winter of '91 and '92, and select the land above-stated
for exploration, and who, after severing his connection with
Mr. Humphreys and associating himself with John T. Jones, of Iron
Mountain. ]\Iich., and the late P. L. Kimberly, of Sharon, Pa., secured
option and afterwards leases on land now occupied by the great mines
—the Adams, Spruce and a portion of the Fayal.
"This brought the writer down from the Humphreys camp, and
on the first of October, 1892, began the exploration of lands in section
31, town 58, range 17, and showing up what is now known as the
Adams mine. A camp was established. One or two of the log buildings
can yet be seen. A force of 45 men was used during the winter
of 1892-93. Buckets and windlass, picks and shovels were the only
tools used to show up the big deposit and in the early summer of
1893 the lease of the Adams mine was turned over to the Consolidated
Mining Company, on the recommendation of their chief and capable
mining expert at that time, Mr. W. J. Olcott.
"With the summer of 1893 came the depression in the iron business,
and consequently in the prospecting, nothing doing; men we
had paid $40, or more, a month, and their board, now could not get
a day's work anywhere.
A small start was made to establish the town of Eveleth. Hank
Hookwith came in to open a saloon. Archie McComb had a hotel
building (afterwards destroyed by fire), and Jerry Sullivan had a
boarding house on the site of the future town * * * in September,
Mr. Adams, already referred to, and myself, in looking over the prospects
around the neighborhood, thought of doing a little work on lands
now covered by the great Fayal mine. I made known to the population
of Eveleth at that time, which consisted of the three named above, that
I was going to start a crew test-pitting, and the result was ]\IcComb,
Tookwith and Sullivan worked six months, sinking pits, at $1.25 a day,
during the fall and winter of 1893, resulting in showing to the world
the beginning of that great mine on section 5, town 57-17."