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

770 DULUTH AND ST. LOUJS COUNTY
age ability. In 1880 his son Charles came to this country and obtained
employment on the Mesaba, largely as a mechanic with boilers and engines.
A daughter, Bridget, came over in 1892, and she later became
the wife of J. H. Carlson of Hibbing.
In February, 1888, Gust Carlson joined the family in this country,
being at that time nineteen years of age, with a practical experience of
five years as a machinist. While at that time he could not speak a word
of English, he found compatriots at Hurley, Wisconsin, and being very
intelligent and anxious to learn it was not long before he had an excellent
working knowledge of the new language. At the time he was
a resident of Hurley that city was in its "wild and wooly" days, and
he remembers those frontier experiences very well. Leaving Hurley
Mr. Carlson worked in various mines, and in the fall of 1890 went to
Seattle, Washington, thence to California, and on April 1, 1893, landed
on the Mesaba Range, coming by rail as far as Mountain Iron, from
whence he went to the present site of the Pillsbury Mine, as an explorer
in the employ of Barnes & Upton of Duluth, who had an option
on what is now the Clark Mine. While making his explorations Mr.
Carlson lived principally at Hibbing. While he followed mining and exploring,
he gradually drifted into other avenues of endeavor. He worked
as a test digger, mined in the Sellers Mine for a time, and then embarked
in business as a driller contractor. For five years he continued in this
line, and then organized the Carlson Exploration Company at Hibbing,
of which he is yet president, although G. A. Wellner is now the active
head. For years he was vice president of the Miners & Merchants
State Bank of Hibbing, and for the past two years has been its president.
Mr. Carlson is also president of the First National Bank of
Chisholm. He is a part owner of the Morton Mine, and is financially
interested in the concentrating plant at Old Mesaba, which is for the
purpose of utilizing the low grade magnetic ores of the Eastern Mesaba
Range. This bids fair to become one of the great industries of the
ore business. In 1911, Mr. Carlson moved to Duluth, which has since
been his home. He belongs to the Duluth Commercial Club and the
Northland Country Club. At present he is activelv interested in the
development of the Cuyuna Range, and owns a one-third interest of the
ore body which has been under lease located on the southwest quarter
of the northwest quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southwest
quarter of section 17-46-29 on the Cuyuna Range, containing about
1.500.000 tons of good average grade of Cuyuna Range ore. This has
admirable conditions for open pit working. Mr. Carlson also owns a
third interest of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section
17-46-29, consisting of large deposits, some 3.000.000 tons, of merchantable
ore. Another holding of his is the Brainerd-Cuyuna mine fee
of that range, which is equipped and developed to ship.
In 1896 Mr. Carlson was married to Hannah Forsman, and they
have five children, namely : Oregon
Catherine. Lars M., Virginia. Gustav,
and William. Lars M. at the age of nineteen years was a student at
the Minnesota State LTniversity, to which he had gone after being- graduated
from Culver Military Academy, and was in the Students Reserve
Corps, prepared to go abroad for service during the World war. when
the signing of the Armistice made such action unnecessary.
Mr. Carlson is one of the interesting figures of Duluth, and his influence
in the development of the. great ore industries cannot be overestimated.
His knowledge of drilling and mining is practical and
thorouo-h. and combined with it has been a firm and abiding faith in the
possibilities of the Mesaba Range, which has enabled him to undertake