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

552 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
That conditions were rigorous for the pioneers of Ribbing- maybe
well imagined. It was almost inaccessible. The railway had not
reached it in 1892, and the journey along the "tote" road from Mesaba
Station, the nearest railway point, was well-nigh unbearable. The
traffic, along the dirt, and in the worst spots corduroyed, mountain
road to Mesaba Station in 1891 and 1892 was exceptionally heavy,
there being innumerable mining carnps needing supplies, with mining
equipment as well as provender, and the road was at time almost impassable.
The further to the westward the mining camp la)^ the
harder the conditions, and Hibbing at that time was almost the
farthest westward. During those first years of the nineties. Captain"
A. H. Stevens, who later joined Oliver in mining work, had about
thirty horses employed constantly in hauling supplies westward from
Mesaba Station, and to make a "round trip" between that point and
Hibbing seven days were needed. Today, the distance could be
covered, by auto, in a few hours at most. The freight rate from
Mesaba Station to Hibbing was six cents a pound, and mining companies
had the preference. Frank Hibbing paid $100 a ton for hay.
The hardships were made even harder in 1893 by the almost
universal depression. As the year advanced, money actually was not
to be had, and what work was not absolutely urgent was postponed.
Where work was found, payment was usually "in kind," food being
the most acceptable. Much of the exploration work was continued
on "grub-stakes," and one of the modes of payment in currency was
in "clearing house certificates." That state of affairs prevailed notwithstanding
that, from August of 1893, the great John D. Rockefeller,
was in command, to all intents, of the mining activities of Frank
Hibbing and his associates. What would have happened in Hibbing
had the great financier not taken hold at that time is hard to conjecture.
It is quite certain however that at that time Hibbing, Trimble,
and Alworth had little or no money. Atkinson quotes Conner
as stating that
:
The winter of 1893-94 was very dull; there was little or no work of any
kind going on. The "jumping lumberjacks" were paid anywhere from $6 to
$12 a month, and were compelled to accept due bills, payable the following
January. The discount on this paper was from 25 to 50 per cent, and jobs
were exceedingly hard to get even at that figure. Therefore, inducement
was not great to work in the woods, and there was very little exploring going
on. A few men were being employed by W. C. Agnew, for the Mahoning
Company, and it is history that Mr. Agnew created for himself the title of
"The Working Man's Friend." He employed all the men he could make room
for and paid them from $40 to $60 per month. After pay-day, a IMahoning
miner was looked up to with respectful awe in Hibbing, and the less fortunate
ones speculated on whether he could buy a railroad, a line of steamships, or go
to Europe for an extended vacation. Hibbing at that time was a mere handful
of buildings on the townsite proper, but there were all kinds of shacks, picturesque,
grotesque, and otherwise, in all directions. They were occupied for the
most part by men who did not know where the next meal was coming from.
In the early morning, a person might stand on the west end of Pine street^
(that being the only street in town) and not see another man. Between 9 and'
10 o'clock the shackers would begin to crawl out, and froni that time on could
be seen a continuous string of men coming in from all directions. That was
the army of "shackers" who lived in the woods on all sides of Hibbing. The
tract of land west of First avenue was then known as Cedar Dale.
First Business Men in Hibbing.—The first boarding house "of
any note" in Hibbing was that established by Patrick Slattery, though,
somewhat earlier, "a mining-camp shanty was run awhile by Joseph
Stewart." "Prior to August, 1893, all there was of Hibbing" stated
Mr. Atkinson, "was what was called the Hay Market, located north