Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2017 All Rights Reserved USGenNet Data Repository Please read USGenNet Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Rachel Fuller for the USGenNet Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ =========================================================================== Formatted by USGenNet Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== A History of the Northern Peninsula of Michigan And Its People, Vol. I by Alvah L. Sawyer Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago - 1911 [217-221] FOUNDING OF MARQUETTE Marquette county had little white population prior to 1850, though the discovery of iron brought in explorers and a few men engaged in the development of mining properties before that date. Interest in the mining resources of the county was awakened immediately following the discovery of iron ore in 1844, and that interest increased as discoveries and develop- ments continued. Mr. Peter White, one of the earliest of the permanent settlers, came to Marquette in a company of ten associates, in 1849, and of the trip there, and the then existing conditions, he writes: "We succeeded in crowding" our large Mackinac barge up the rapids, or falls, at Sault Ste. Marie, and, embarking ourselves and provisions, set sail on Lake Superior for the Carp River iron region. After eight days of rowing, towing, poling and sailing, we landed on the spot immediately in front of where Mr. George Craig's dwelling house stands. That was then called Indian Town, and was the landing place of the Jackson Company. We put up that night at the Cedar House, of Charlie Bawgam. It is true his rooms were not many, but he gave us plenty to eat, clean and well cooked. I remember that he had fresh venison, wild ducks and geese, fresh fish, good bread and butter, coffee and tea, and splendid potatoes. "The next morning, we started for the much talked of iron hills; each one had a pack-strap and blanket, and was directed to exercise his own discretion in putting into a pack what he thought he could carry. I put up forty pounds and marched bravely up the hills with it for a distance of two miles, by which time I was about as good as used up. Graveraet came up, and, taking my pack on top of his, a much heavier one, marched on with both, as if mine was only the addition of a feather, while I trudged on behind, and had hard work to keep up. Graveraet, seeing how fatigued I was, invited me to get on top of his load, saying he would carry me too, and he could have done it I believe; but I had too much pride to accept his offer. When we arrived at the little brook which runs by George Rublein's old brewery, we made some tea and lunched, after which I took my pack and carried it without much difficulty to what is now known as the Cleveland Mine, then known as Moody's location. On our way we had stopped a few minutes at the Jack- son forge, where we met Mr. Everet, Charles Johnson, Alexander McKerchie, A. N. Barney, N. E. Eddy, Nahum Keys, and others. At the Cleveland we found Capt. Sam Moody and John H. Mann, who had spent the previous summer and winter there. I well remember how astonished I was next morning when Capt. Moody asked me to go with him to dig some potatoes for breakfast. He took a hoe and an old tin pail, and we ascended a high hill, now known as the Marquette Iron Company's mountain, and on its pinnacle found half an acre partially cleared and planted to potatoes. He opened but one or two hills when his pail was filled with large and perfectly sound potatoes - and then said: 'I may as well pull a few parsnips and carrots for dinner, to save com- ing up again'; and, sure enough, he had them there in abun- dance. This was in the month of May. "From this time till the tenth of July, we kept possession of all the iron mountains then known west of the Jackson, employ- ing our time fighting mosquitoes at night, and the black flies through the day; perhaps a small portion of it was given to denuding the iron hills of extraneous matter, preparing the way for the immense products that have since followed. On the 10th of July, we came away from the mountains, bag and baggage, arriving at the lake shore, as we then termed it, before noon. Mr. Harlow had arrived with quite a number of mechanics, some goods, lots of money, and, what was better than all, we got a glimpse of some female faces. "At one o'clock of that day, we commenced clearing the site of the of the present city of Marquette, though we called it Worcester in honor of Mr. Harlow's native city. We began by chopping off the trees and brush, at the point of rocks near the brick blacksmith shop, just south of the shore end of the Cleveland Ore Docks. We cut the trees close to the ground, and then threw them bodily over the bank onto the lake shore; then, under the direction of Capt. Moody, we began the construction of a dock, which was to stand like the ancient pyramids, for future ages to wonder at and admire! We did this by carrying these whole trees into water and piling them in tiers, cross- wise, until the pile was even with the surface of the water. Then we wheeled sand and gravel upon it, and, by the end of the second day, we had completed a structure which we looked upon with no little pride. Its eastward or outward end was solid rock, and all inside of that was solid dirt, brush and leaves. We could not see why it should not stand as firm and as long as the adjacent beach itself. A vessel was expected in a few days, with a large lot of machinery and supplies, and we rejoiced in the fact that we had a dock upon which they could be landed. On the third day, we continued to improve it by corduroying the surface, and by night of that day, it was, in our eyes, a thing of beauty to behold. Our chagrin may be imagined, when, on rising the next morning, we found that a gentle sea had come in during the night and wafted our dock to some unknown point. Not a trace of it remained; not even a poplar leaf was left to mark the spot. The sand of the beach was as clean and smooth as if it had never been disturbed by the hand of man. I wrote in the smooth sand with a stick, 'This is the spot where Capt. Moody built his dock.' The Captain trod upon the record, and said I would get my discharge at the end of the month, but he either forgot or forgave the affront. It was a long time before anyone had the hardihood to attempt the building of another dock. "The propellers would come to anchor, some times as far as two miles from the shore, and the freight and passengers had to be landed in small boats. Our large boilers, when they arrived, were plugged, thrown overboard, and floated ashore, and the other machinery was landed with our Mackinac boat, or a scow which we had constructed. Cattle and horses were always pitched overboard and made to swim ashore. "Under the lead of James Kelly, the boss carpenter, who was from Boston, we improved our time, after six o'clock each even- ing, in erecting a log house for sleeping quarters for our particular party. When finished, we called it the Revere House, after the hotel of that name in Boston. This building stood on its original site as late as 1860. "We continued clearing up the land south of Superior street, preparing the ground for a forge, machine shop, sawmill and coal house. Some time in August, the schooner Fur Trader ar- rived, bringing a large number of Germans, some Irish and a few French. Among this party were August Machts, George Rublein, Francis Dolf, and Patrick, James and Michael Atfield. All these have resided here continuously, * * * . It was cholera year; Clark died at the Sault on his way back; several others had died on the vessel, and many were landed very sick. We were all frightened; but the Indians, who lived here to the number of about one hundred, had everything embarked in their boats and canoes within sixty minutes, and started over the waters to escape a disease to them more fear- ful than the small-pox. "At this time, the first steam boiler ever set up in this county was ready to be filled with water, and it must be done the first time by hand. It was a locomotive boiler. A dollar and a half was offered for the job, and I took it; working three days and a night or two, I succeeded in filling it. Steam was got up, and I then was installed as engineer and fireman. "That summer there were but few boats of any kind on the lake. The reliable mail, freight and passenger craft was the schooner 'Fur Trader,' commanded by the veteran Capt. Calvin Ripley, from whom the picturesque rock in Marquette bay took its name. "During the winter we had three or four mails only. Mr. Harlow was the first postmaster, and hired the Indian Jimmeca to go to L'Anse after the mail at a cost of ten dollars per trip. I believe the cost was made up by subscription. "The Jackson Company had about suspended operations; their credit was at a low ebb; their agent had left in the fall, and was succeeded by 'Czar' Jones, the President, but nearly all work was stopped, and the men thought seriously of hanging and quartering Mr. Jones, who soon after left the country. In the spring (1850) the Jackson Company 'bust' all up, and all work at their mine and forge was suspended. By this time the Mar- quette Iron Company's forge was nearly completed and ready for making blooms. Many dwellings, shops, etc., had been erected, together with a small dock at which steamers could land." Thus the beautiful and prosperous city of Marquette had its beginning in the last year of the first half of the nineteenth century and was equipped for a good start of what proved to be a prosperous future. ===========================================================================