Iron Mountain – the Blending of Many Cultures [Born from Iron]

IRON MOUNTAIN –THE BLENDING OF MANY CULTURES [Born From Iron: Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1879-1979 by Mary Louise Dulan, pp. 138-150] [NOTE: The photographs and captions have Europe also came, the Germans, Polish, been added to the following articles.] Lithuanians and Hungarians. The immigrants from Yugoslavian states were called “Austrian” no matter what their THE BLENDING OF MANY nationality might be. The Croatian, Serbian CULTURES and Slovenian people came to the Upper By Mary Louise Dulan Peninsula to work in the mining and lumbering camps. Among the Jewish settlers was Abe The birth of Iron Mountain in 1879 Sackim, who came to Iron Mountain as an signalled [sic – signaled] the arrival of itinerant peddler, and stayed to found the A. people from many nations. The Boston and Sackim Company. New York companies who owned the iron The Arab settlers were represented in mines sought out the Cornishmen, who Iron Mountain, one of the early men being were said to have an eye for ore and a Sam Jacobs, who traveled from Lebanon disposition for the monotonous environment and later opened a jewelry store in Iron of the mine, in addition to valuable mining Mountain. experience. Cornwall’s once-rich tin and The montage of nations which has copper mines had run out, and its miners contributed settlers to Iron Mountain has were welcomed to the Upper Peninsula. allowed each in its own way to contribute a They usually became the mine captains, special input into our community’s growth shift bosses, and pump men. and development. Following are several It was common knowledge that “You predominant nationalities that helped create can’t get a Frenchman underground.” So the city of Iron Mountain. The skills, talents the French who came from Canada, with and traditions of these people have left their their love of the woods, worked in the mark upon Iron Mountain, both past and lumber camps or were the carpenters at the present. mines. The Scandinavian countries were represented in Iron Mountain with two THE COUSIN JACK prevalent groups: the Swedes and the Finnish. The hard-working Swedes, who By Joanne Black chose the Upper Peninsula because it was so much like their homeland, found work in “For the miner life was nasty, brutish, the mines and lumber camps. The Finnish and short, with endless physical toil and had a great love for the land and settled to often marginal poverty, 10 hours a day raise their families and build farms in the being spent underground, except mercifully Upper Peninsula. on Sundays.” Their working days were The Italians, with their love for life, found finished before 40, and few ever reached a good life in Iron Mountain. Dependable 60 years of age. and thrifty, they found jobs in the mines. Cornwall is a region in the extreme There was land to plant their beloved southwest part of England. Here the gardens, and often space to keep a cow. In secrets of mining were held for centuries. the fall, there was money enough to buy The Cornish miner, long ago, solved all the grapes and make wine. practical problems of blasting, timbering, The British Isles were represented in hoisting, flooding and ventilating. They Iron Mountain by the Welsh, Scotch, invented a language used in mining camps English and Irish. Peoples of Eastern the world over: “lode,” a vein of ore; “vug,” 1 IRON MOUNTAIN –THE BLENDING OF MANY CULTURES [Born From Iron: Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1879-1979 by Mary Louise Dulan, pp. 138-150] cavity; “stope,” chamber of excavation; and Iron Mountain was probably taken in the “deads,” waste rock. spring or summer of 1880. The camera is But even in the best of times, conditions facing west toward Pine Mountain. The were barely endurable. Employment of Menominee Mining Company Store, a large every member of the family, even the two-story white building, is located in the upper left and more of the settlement can be children, was necessary for its existence. seen in the background. Notice that with Children separated “deads” from ore, the exception of the company store all of the working nine to ten-hour shifts. Women buildings seem to be painted the same color worked above ground, hammering ore to – traditionally rusty red. These buildings reduce it to a smaller grade, and young girls probably belonged to the mining company, pounded it with a flat iron to half inch as many mining companies erected houses marble size. and boarding houses for their employees. Worn out copper and tin mines, poor Rent or room and board was subtracted management, and new deposits discovered from the employees’ wages at the end of in other parts of the world resulted in each month. Building operations began at immigration, the only solution to the both the mine location and the newly-platted townsite in early winter 1879-1880. Just widespread misery and unemployment. before Christmas Benjamin Marchand Families, using their homes as security for opened a boarding house which was cash, sent the young and the strong to the crowded to the limit until Jerome Rayome United States. They traveled by steerage opened another one two weeks later. Work and arrived possessing only their labor and on the first seven shafts was completed skills. under the supervision of Captain John The Cornish began mining in northern Wicks and Captain Elisha Morcom during Michigan as early as 1849. They settled the winter. The shaft house appears much first in the copper country of the Keweenaw more substantial than the makeshift Peninsula. The Cliff Mine, one of the hoisting apparatus in use the previous fall. earliest, was manned almost entirely by [Menominee Range Historical Museum] Cornish miners. Life was extremely difficult, though they adapted well to the Their previous knowledge of mining climate. enabled the Cornish to obtain top-paying jobs. By 1882, almost all the captains, superintendents and shift bosses were Cornish. One of the most respected people in a mining town as the Cornish mining captain. “Cousin Jack,” later a term of endearment, denoted envy, jealousy and even hatred, in the early struggle for survival. It appeared that every mine position was reserved for another “cousin” from Cornwall. The mine worked ten-hour shifts in gangs or “pairs” which might have 2, 4 or 6 men. More than six was a “party.” They instituted a system of contract direct bargaining with the company, a holdover from Cornwall “Saarvey Day.” Work clothing included heavy pants and Chapin Mine with Chapin Location, ca. coats and flannel underwear. They wore spring or summer, 1880: This early view of 2 IRON MOUNTAIN –THE BLENDING OF MANY CULTURES [Born From Iron: Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1879-1979 by Mary Louise Dulan, pp. 138-150] belts, not suspenders like the loggers, to the community, and sang hymns brought enable their arms to be free to climb from England. Laymen took turns ladders. Their hard hats were made of a preaching sermons. Clergymen from the mixture of wood and resin, with a lump of old country were much in demand, and clay on the top to anchor a candle. Extra many came to the Upper Peninsula. candles were hung from coat buttons. “Cousin Jack” was considered an expert miner, and “Cousin Jenny,” an expert cook. Traditional meat pies called pasties were made of “mayt” (meat), “turmits” (turnips), “tatys” (potatoes) and “l’onyons” (onions). These were wrapped in newspaper and carried daily into the mine, to be heated on a shovel held over a candle, and eaten with a flask of hot tea. Other favorites still eaten today are saffron buns and scalded cream. Unidentified Store, Rundle Brothers Hardware Store, Seibert’s Drug Store, 327, 329 and 333 South Stephenson Avenue, Iron Mountain, ca. 1885-1890: An early Iron Mountain band posed in front of Rundle Bros. Hardware and Seibert’s Drug Store during the mid-1880’s. George F. Seibert took over as sole manager of the Schaller & Co. Drug Store on the northeast corner of South Stephenson Avenue and Hughitt Street in mid-March, 1884. Thomas Rundle and Alfred J. Rundle were selling hardware and mining supplies from their two-story frame building by 1885. By the end of the decade the Rundle brothers had moved to their opera house building at 105-107 West Ludington Street, where the Iron Mountain Central Methodist Episcopal Church, 112 Post Office now stands. At the Ludington West B Street, Iron Mountain, ca. 1890-1900: Street site the opera house was on the The Central Methodist Episcopal Church second floor and the hardware store was was dedicated May 26, 1889, and this located on the ground floor. [Gene photograph, taken by Jorgen J. Eskil, Derwinski/Dick Ferris Photo] probably dates shortly thereafter. The corner of the parsonage can be seen at the right, and a corner of the Iron Mountain Co- The Cornish were good athletes, Operative Society, located in the Spencer outstanding in wrestling, footraces, and Block, is visible at the left. The church was hand-drilling of rock. Their grand destroyed by fire January 5, 1944. tournament of Community Fair also [Menominee Range Historical Museum] included “hop-step-jump,” hammer throw, three-hundred-yard dash, and the greasy The Cornish were of the Methodist faith pole climb. and deeply religious. Their white wooden Typical Cornish names are still churches are seen in every mining town. numerous in the Upper Peninsula They were generally the finest singers in telephone directories: Trevitich, 3 IRON MOUNTAIN –THE BLENDING OF MANY CULTURES [Born From Iron: Iron Mountain, Michigan, 1879-1979 by Mary Louise Dulan, pp. 138-150] Tregonnoun, Trevarrow, Palglaze, In 1892 A.M.

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