Patrick E. M a rt i n In the United States, historic mining sites and lore occupy an important place in our collec- tive memory and popular culture, whether it be stories of the Forty-Niners, coal mining in Industrial A rc h e o l ogy Appalachia, or gold prospecting in the Black Hills. Several states continue to base their identity on mining heritage, such as the Silver State of and Historic Mining Nevada; the totemic Badgers of Wisconsin, re f e r - ring to the badger-like diggings of early lead min- ers; or, the California state slogan, “Eureka!” The Studies at Michigan Te c h cultural and technological importance of mining v e n t u r es to our national development is re f l e c t e d ecent years have seen an incre a s - in these expressions of shared identity, even if the ing awareness and concern for historic distribution of benefits was limited to industrial heritage in Nort h investors and owners. America and intern a t i o n a l l y. Public Few types of human habitation and enter- and privateR interest in the rise of industrial soci- prise generate such profound impacts on the land- ety is readily visible in the creation of industry - scape as mining operations. The scale of eart h - focused national parks such as Saugus, Lowell, moving, re s o u rce consumption, and enviro n m e n t a l A m e r i c a ’s Industrial Heritage Project, Steamtown, impact associated with mining generally exceeds Keweenaw National Historical Park, as well as that resulting from any other activity. The often state and community-recognized sites like Slater rapid growth of communities devoted to the mining Mill, Sloss Furnace, Eckersley Village, and enterprise, the development and spread of distinc- Fayette State Park. tive cultural and technological forms, and the per- P r ominent among the sites and communities sistence of a “mining mentality” also attract atten- that highlight industrial heritage are the locations tion and curiosity. In addition, the very notion of of former mining activities, both here and abro a d . extracting essential and/or precious minerals fro m I n t e r p retive eff o r ts on major mining sites have the bowels of the earth, working in perpetual dark- been especially successful in Australia. Care f u l l y ness, and the attendant technologies for accom- designed and located interpretive signs combined plishing these feats generate sincere interest at a with walking and driving tours provide import a n t basic emotional and humanistic level. i n f o r mation to visitors at Broken Hill, Burr a , Scholarly interest in mining towns and land- Moonta, and Kapunda, among other sites. A major scapes has also penetrated the realm of social i n t e r p retive center at Sovereign Hill in the gold science. Several historians have focused their fields of Victoria is one of Austalia’s most success- re s e a rch inquiries on mining as an economic enter- ful tourist attractions, drawing visitors to a care- prise and, in recent decades, interest has extended fully re c o n s t r ucted, if not fully faithful and accu- into other disciplines. For example, the well- rate, historic mining complex. Something of a cro s s respected studies of Anthony Wallace on between Disneyland and Wi l l i a m s b u r g, the Pennsylvania coal mining towns demonstrates the S o v e r eign Hill complex is an excellent re p re s e n t a - analytical power of anthropological community tion of several stages of mining activity from an studies. Archeologists have also been drawn to isolated tent camp to a fully developed village, mining sites across the country because of both complete with mills, machines, mollock heaps, re s e a rch interest and cultural re s o u rce manage- steam engines, pubs, housing, and costumed inter- ment concerns. Identification and management of p re t e r s . historic mining sites frequently arise when envi- In Cornwall, through the eff o r ts of the ronmental evaluations are necessitated by federal Trevithick Trust and other organizations, the exten- or state-sponsored projects. Numerous studies sive mining history of the English countyside is have also been conducted by federal agency arc h e - being studied, pre s e r ved, and interpreted for the ologists and/or private consultants on lands admin- public. Engine houses for pumping and hoisting i s t e r ed by agencies such as the Forest Service, the have been acquired and rehabilitated, interpre t i v e , and the Bureau of Land centers have been housed in mining company Management, where pertinent data on historical buildings, and former mining tramways have been significance are needed for short and long-term developed as interpretive trails linking key sites for management plans. walkers. These imaginative schemes pre s e rv e A rcheologists at Michigan Te c h n o l o g i c a l i m p o r tant elements of the mining landscape and University began studying mining sites in the allow visitors to appreciate their role in the history vicinity of the university in the mid-1980s. of the re g i o n . Michigan Tech, founded in 1885 as the Michigan

4 CRM No 7—1998 Mining School, is located in the midst of a nation- Patrick and Susan Martin carried out historical ally important copper mining district and near to and archeological surveys that provided detailed extensive iron mining regions. Copper mining i n f o r mation about the National Mine near the flourished from the 1840s until the 1960s, while town of Rockland. Mining-related sites also com- i ron mining is still active in the Lake Superior posed a significant portion of the cultural re s o u rc e region. Michigan Tech has expanded into a com- database generated by Patrick and Susan Mart i n p rehensive science and engineering university in for the Cultural Resource Overview of the Ottawa the 20th century, but its surroundings and historic National Forest, completed in 1979. beginnings continue to provide an unparalled As Michigan Tech University’s curr i c u l u m o p p o rtunity for studying former mining operations. evolved during the 1970s and 1980s, the The remnants of mining ventures litter the physical D e p a r tment of Social Sciences developed a faculty and social landscape. Mining-related machines, focus on “Science, Technology and Society” as a buildings, transportation systems, and waste unifying theme among the several disciplines re p - deposits dominate the small communities that sur- resented (anthro p o l o g y, history, geography, politi- vive. The social stru c t u re of mining enterprises, cal science, and sociology). Adoption of this philo- with their rigid and hierarchical ranking systems, sophical and methodological approach resulted in have left unmistakable traces in the housing stock traditional American historians gradually being and settlement patterns. Heavy dependence on replaced by historians of technology, a shift that immigrant labor also produced a diverse mix of f u r ther encouraged study of historic mines and ethnic and national minorities, a mix distinctively mining. As a result, Larry Lankton was hire d unlike other communities in the Midwest. s h o r tly after he had led a Historic American F o rt u i t o u s l y, the mining school’s focus during its Engineering Record team that had documented the early decades resulted in the gathering of an Quincy Mining Company operation in Hancock. In i m p ressive collection of documentary re c o r ds and the early 1990s, this departmental emphasis con- re s o u rces related to mining, thus providing an tinued as a Master’s degree program in Industrial The Kennecot Mill, especially rich source of insight into technological A r chaeology and was formally developed to take operated between m a t t e r s . advantage of both faculty expertise and local 1908 and 1932, Michigan Te c h ’s unique location and history o p p o rtunities for re s e a r ch. Establishment and with glacial moraine and have made it a convenient setting for the study of expansion of the program resulted in the hiring of mountains in the historic mining. Faculty in the Department of two additional full-time archeologists (Susan background. Social Sciences have taken advantage of the setting M a r tin and David Landon) and an arc h i t e c t u r a l Located within the for several decades, dating at least to the mid- historian (Alison K. Hoagland) in order to comple- Wrangell St. Elias 1960s, when the late Lawrence Rakestraw studied ment the historians of technology (Larry Lankton, National Park, Alaska, this site historic copper mines within Isle Royale National Te rry Reynolds, and Bruce Seely) and the cultural has been the focus Park. In the late 1970s, archeology was added to a n t h ropologists (Carol MacLennan and Josiah of a cultural land- the depart m e n t ’s curriculum when Patrick and Heyman), whose interests focused on industry and scape study by Susan Martin joined the faculty; the arc h e o l o g i c a l w o r k . Michigan Tech examination of mining sites commenced almost A r cheological field school students docu- University and the National Park i m m e d i a t e l y. For example, when the Ottawa mented a variety of mining-related site features in Service. Photo by National Forest initiated planning eff o r ts for devel- 1984 at the Quincy Mine near Hancock. While the author. oping trail systems within the Ontonagon District, l e a r ning archeological methods and techniques, student crews re c o rded surface features, systemati- cally collected artifacts from looters’ backdirt piles, s u rface collected in plowed fields, and excavated test pits in a residential area associated with the mine. Patrick Martin and Larry Lankton also u n d e rtook a re s e a rch project under contract with the Ottawa National Forest that year. This work intensively examined the Norwich Mine complex in Ontonagon County and involved documentary b a c k g r ound and surface survey to guide decision- making for routing a major hiking trail through the mining site. Martin and Lankton documented sev- eral mining companies and their associated physi- cal remains that were still visible within a square mile area. In addition, the re s e a rch generated a National Register inventory-nomination for the site as well.

CRM No 7—1998 5 In 1986, Michigan Tech University entere d s e r ve management and interpretive purposes in the into a multi-year Cooperative Agreement with the f u t u re . National Park Serv i c e ’s Midwest Arc h e o l o g i c a l In the early 1990s, our attention re t u r ned to Center to conduct archeological survey and evalua- the Norwich Mine complex. The Ottawa National tion of sites within Isle Royale National Park. F o rest was ready to develop their trail system and University-based crews focused their attention on a new resident Forest Archaeologist was intere s t e d historical sites, particularly those related to copper in partnering a Passport in Time project. After mining on the Island. Several interesting sites were p reparing a Cultural Resources Research and located and mapped; limited test excavations were Management Plan, Michigan Tech University and also conducted at the Siskowit Mine. Part i c u l a r the U.S. Forest Service collaboratively commenced attention was paid to mining sites that were pre v i - two years of archeological investigation using ously known but incompletely understood. industrial archeology graduate students, USFS D o c u m e n t a r y re s e a r ch preceded fieldwork, allow- employees, and numerous enthusiastic volunteers. ing for more thorough appreciation and interpre t a - Mapping and surface collection was the primary tion of surface features. Michigan Tech University focus of early work, while later stages concentrated s t a f f produced detailed maps that will continue to on archeological excavation. Crews discovered a

G e o l ogy National Historic Landmark Theme Study The Geology National Historic Landmark Theme Study, under development by the National Park Service since 1990, focuses on the identification and evaluation of geology-related sites. Many are of major importance in the history of Economic Geology (Mining). The list of potential NHL sites includes the following:

ARKANSAS MISSOURI Bauxite Mines, vicinity of Little Rock Meramec Spring Park, St. James Barite Mines, Hot Springs County Schaperkoetter Clay Pit Crater State Park (Diamond Mine) NEW JERSEY Novaculite Quarries (Quachita Mountains), Blanhard Bog Iron and Batso Village, Hammonton Springs Franklin-Sterling Hill Mineral District, Sussex County Schuyler Copper Mine, Bergen County Cheshire Barite Mines, Cheshire OHIO Higley Copper Mine, East Granby Samuel P. Hildreth House, Marietta Hoadley Neck Quarry, Guilford Jinny Hill Barite Mine, Cheshire PENNSYLVANIA Old Newgate Prison Copper Mine, East Granby (NR) Wyoming-Lackawanna Coal Field, Wilkes-Barre and Old Mine Park Archaeological Site, Trumbull (NR) Scranton Ore Hill Iron Mine, Salisbury SOUTH DAKOTA Portland Brownstone Quarries, Portland Homestake Gold Mine (part of the City of Lead Strickland Quarry, Portland Historic District), Rapid City (NR) Hale Pegmatite Quarry, Portland Branchville Pegamite Quarry, Ridgefield TENNESSEE Iron, Mining and Furnace Sites (multiple properties) COLORADO in Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Rulison Project Site Kentucky, and Alabama GEORGIA UTAH Soapstone Ridge, Dekalb (NR) Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine ILLINOIS WISCONSIN Lead Hill, Hardin County Mineral Point Hill, Iowa County (NR) Rose Hotel, Hardin County (NR) Neda Open Pit Mine, Dodge County IOWA Pendarvis House, Mineral Point (NR) Mines of Spain, Dubuque County Trimborn Quarry Site, Milwaukee County Harry A. Butowsky LOUISIANA NPS Historian Salt Mines and Offshore Oil Drilling Site (various ______locations) (NR) denotes listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

6 CRM No 7—1998 number of important and interesting feature s In 1997 Michigan Tech University entere d including several stru c t u res associated with the into a Cooperative Agreement with the National various companies that had operated within the Park Serv i c e ’s Alaska Regional Office to undert a k e a r ea. Field and archival studies identified and cultural landscape studies on two mining com- e x p l o r ed an 1840-1850s residential area as well as plexes within the Wrangell St. Elias National Park. the milling facilities associated with the Ohio Tr a p Working with archeologist Ann Wo r thington and Rock Mine. While excavating portions of the stamp landscape architect Cathy Gilbert of the National mill, built to crush the basaltic bed rock and Park Service, Patrick Martin and graduate students remove native metallic copper, the well-pre s e rv e d Paul White and Will Updike initiated work at the remains of some unusual features were discovere d . famous Kennecott Mine and the nearby Bre m n e r Two large wooden buddles, circular devices 8 to 10 gold mining district. Inventory work by Michigan meters in diameter, had been used to separate Tech University archeologists will supplement the finely crushed rock from the copper part i c l e s . extensive historical re s e a r ch and documentation Buddles were common in the tin and copper mines that has been previously accumulated on of Cornwall, England, in the 18th and 19th cen- Kennecott. t u r y. This technology was evidently employed in A perspective that emphasizes the physical the early stages of the site’s mining development, n a t u re of artifacts and stru c t u r es and the integra- but apparently did not work efficiently in the local tion of associated landscape features, and leavened situation. The unique characteristics of the ore with an understanding of mining and milling tech- bodies did not lend itself to this separation method nologies, makes for a diff e r ent level of interpre t a - and it was quickly abandoned. Prior to the discov- tion than might be generated by a landscape arc h i - e ry of these exceptional examples, no wooden bud- tect or historian. The complexity of Kennecott’s dles had been recognized elsewhere at any Nort h landscape and development, as well as the massive American mining site. The accidental burial of the scale of the site makes for a challenging pro s p e c t , Ohio Trap Rock Mine buddles in copper-rich stamp but an exciting one. The project combines tradi- wastes pre s e r ved them for 150 years, leaving them tional pedestrian survey and re c o r ding techniques available for the unexpected discovery by with Geographic Information System technology Michigan Tech University archeologists. [For fur- for presentation and interpretation. The combina- ther information, see: “Archaeological Perspectives tion of an archeological approach with the perspec- on the Diffusion of Technology: An Example fro m tives of historians and landscape arc h i t e c t s the Ohio Trap Rock Mine,” (Landon and Tu m b e rg p r omises an interesting and informative pro d u c t . 1996), IA: Journal of the SIA, 22(2): 41-57.] While historic mining is a major intere s t A National Register- r elated project adminis- a r ea, mining sites are not the only focus of the t e r ed through the Michigan Historical Center pro- Industrial Archaeology program at Michigan Te c h duced an intensive survey of historic mining sites U n i v e r s i t y. Student thesis re s e a r ch has also in a single Upper Peninsula County. Ontonagon focused on a foundry in Alabama, worker housing County saw significant copper mining activity in in the Lake Superior mining district, a water- p o w- the 19th and 20th centuries, including the last cop- e red sawmill in Wisconsin, and an early Lake per mine to operate in the area, the White Pine Superior lighthouse. Michigan Tech University’s Mine, which ceased its operations only re c e n t l y. definition of industrial archeology has been estab- While some sites were prominent and well known, lished in a broad and inclusive way by its staff and many others had faded from both sight and mem- students. But the study of mining sites, technolo- o r y and were obscure to land managers and deci- gies, and communities promises to remain the core sion makers. The need for a systematic survey was a r ea of re s e a r ch in the near future. Of part i c u l a r well recognized. Grant Day, a Michigan Te c h i n t e r est are comparative studies, using data and University student, conducted the documentary perspectives from Upper Michigan to illuminate and field survey under the faculty guidance of mining sites and communities around the world. Susan Martin and Te rry Reynolds. The well- ______re s e a r ched final survey re p o r t, Copper Mines and Patrick E. Martin is Associate Professor of Mining in Ontonagon County, Michigan: An Archaeology and Director of Graduate Studies in Intensive Level Survey of Historic Era Mining Sites Industrial Archaeology with the Department of Social (Day 1996), was recognized with an award fro m Sciences at Michigan Technological University. He the Michigan Historic Pre s e rvation Network as an also serves as the Editor of IA, Journal of the Society outstanding contribution to the state’s pre s e rv a t i o n for Industrial Archeology. e ff o rt s .

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