Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2011, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Containing a Full Account of it's Early Settlement; Its Growth, Development and Resources; An Extended Description of its Iron and Copper Mines. Also, Accurate Sketches of its Counties, Cities, Towns and Villages, Improvements, Industries, Manufactories; Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; Views of County Seats, Etc. Published by The Western Historical Company, Chicago; 1883 A. T. Andreas, Proprietor Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott May 24, 2011 =========================================================================== Topographical and Physical =========================================================================== Page 508 Ontonagon is an Indian name of the Chippewa dialect and means "my bowl is gone." In the primitive days of this region, a little Indian girl of the Chippewa nation came to the edge of the river, near where it empties into Lake Superior, with her little wooden bowl to get a drink, and, while dallying with it in the water, it slipped from her hand and glided off upon the moving surface beyond her reach, when she, in her moment of excitement and sorrow, exclaimed "On-to-na-gon!"--"Oh, my bowl's gone!" From this incident the name of Ontonagon was then given by the Chippewa Indians to the river which bore away into Lake Superior the bowl of their little bright-eyed girl; and subsequently the same name was given to the village, and then the county, when it was set off from Houghton. Like many of the rivers, villages and counties bordering on the great upper lake region where these once powerful nations of native Americans were monarchs of the vast domain, which bear names given by them, or selected by early missionaries, voyagers or pioneers. Ontonagon is a euphonious illustration of the Chippewa language. Ontonagon County is located in the extreme western limit of the Upper Peninsula, is triangular in form, with a north-western frontage on Lake Superior of about eighty miles, extending from the mouth of the Montreal River, or the lake, at the western triangular point--which river forms the line between Wisconsin and Michigan--to a point a short way east of Franklin, at the mouth of Misery or Carver River, on the south shore. On the east it is bounded by Houghton and Marquette Counties, and the southwest by Lincoln and Oconto Counties, Wis. It has an area of 2,500 square miles, and is subdivided into four townships--Ontonagon, Rockland, Greenland and Carp Lake. Physical Characteristics.--The general surface features of Ontonagon County are broken and rocky. The great water shed of the peninsula traverses from an east to west direction, extending from five to ten miles from its southern limit, upon which the various rivers and streams find their source and fall northward into Lake Superior. Of these rivers which thus travers the county are first, the Montreal, a small stream, navigable only for canoes from the falls at its mouth in high water periods. It is formed by the Pine and Balsam Rivers, some thirty-five miles southeastward from its mouth, and forms the dividing line between Michigan and Wisconsin. Its descent or fall is 804 feet. The Black River is the next of any size, which rises on the north slope of the water-shed, its general course being northward to the lake, with a fall of some eight hundred and forty feet; is thirty miles in length, and drains an area of 250 square miles of country. Presque Isle River, like the Black, has its source on the north slope of the water-shed, with a general northward course thirty-five miles to the lake, with a descent of over eight hundred feet, and, with its tributaries, draining an area of some 250 miles. It falls into Lake Superior about five miles below or east of the mouth of Black River. Between Black and Presque Isle Rivers, there are three small streams, which fall into the lake, but have their sources only a few miles back. The next of any importance on the east is Iron River. However, between the Iron and Presque is a small stream a mile or more east of the latter, and, some four miles farther eastward, the Carp River empties into the lake, having their rise only some eight or ten miles southeastward. The mouths of the Presque Isle and Iron Rivers are some twenty-five miles apart, between which are the Porcupine Mountains, skirting along the shore of the lake in a crescent form. Some three or four miles from the eastern spur of those mountains, the Carp River courses along their base to and around the western spur, falling into the lake within a mile east of the Little Le Carp. About midway of the mountains, and near their base, the Carp forms a lake about a mile long. Iron River rises some twenty-five miles southward from its mouth, near the northern limit of A-go-gebic Lake, having three or four branches, besides several smaller tributaries, which fall into it and its branches before it finds its outlet in the lake, and drains quite a large area of country. Between the mouths of the Iron and Ontonagon Rivers, a distance of some fifteen miles, there are some six minor streams, none of which find their source more than fifteen miles in the interior southward, the longest and most considerable of which are the Cranberry and Potato Rivers, which fall into the lake not more than two miles apart. The Ontonagon is the largest river in the county, and, in fact, the largest in the peninsula, except the Menominee. It has its source in the extreme southern limit of the peninsula, coursing northward and emptying into Lake Superior at the village of Ontonagon. It has three branches--the East, the Middle and the West--all having their sources nearly or quite as far southward as the main river, except the East Branch, which rises some fifteen miles in the northeast part of Marquette, coursing into Houghton and joining the South Branch in Ontonagon, about two miles below where it joins the main river, and some fifteen miles from its mouth at the lake. The West Branch forms Agogebic some ten miles from its source. The lake extends from southeast to southwest, is some fourteen miles in length, and about two and a half miles wide at its widest point. The West Branch, thus leaving the lower end of the lake, courses in a northeastward direction until it joins the main river some eighteen miles below its mouth. The East and West Branches traverse the county about equal distances from the main river from their sources for many miles, until they bear toward and join the main river, thus draining a large area of country--the main river, 460 square miles; the East Branch, 250 square miles, the West Branch, 600 square miles. The length of the main river is eighty-five miles; of the East Branch, forty- five miles; and of the West Branch, fifty miles. The fall of this river is some nine hundred feet from its source to its mouth. Excepting two small creeks some eight or ten miles in length, falling into the lake two or three miles apart, the next river is Flintsteel, which rises some twelve or fourteen miles southeast, near the village of Rockland; is twenty-five miles long, and discharges into the lake some seven miles below Ontonagon. East of this about a mile, the Page 509 Firesteel River falls into the lake, having its rise thirty-five miles southeast from its mouth. About two miles below Fourteen-Mile Point, Sleeping River empties into the lake, having its source fifteen miles southeastward, with a West Branch joining near its mouth. The next river of any moment is Misery or Carver River, which empties into a bay of the same name, just west of the northeast corner of the county. This river is twenty miles long, rising in Houghton County, and coursing in a northwest direction to the lake. These comprise all the rivers and streams of any note in Ontonagon County, and, as will be observed, give it a very complete drainage system, and of course disfigure its general surface by their valleys and erosions. Besides the drainage they furnish, many of these streams afford excellent water-powers for manufacturing purposes. While rivers, like the arteries and veins of the human system, serve as important functions in the economy of nature, so, too, do mountains have their importance in this grand economy of the earth's structure. The vapors which the rivers and lakes generate, the mountains cause to condense and fall in refreshing showers. Besides, they are the depositories of the rich treasures created for the use of the human family in the grandeur of its civilization. While the mountains of this region are not of the lofty proportions of the Rocky Range, yet they are lofty in natural richness, and grand in their arrangement in yielding to the human race the treasure which nature, in its wise economy, deposited beneath their towering summits. The main range of mountains in this county is what is termed the Trap Range, extending from the head of Keweenaw Point across Portage Lake at Hancock and Houghton, intersecting Ontonagon County some twelve miles south of the lake, thence through the county southwestward, bearing the same uniform distance, and thus into Wisconsin. As before mentioned, a spur of this range shoots off along the lake between Presque Isle and Iron Rivers, and forms the Porcupine Mountains, the highest in this section of the peninsula, being 1,380 feet high. On the south of the main chain, another spur branches off, and extends some twenty miles in a parallel direction. In fact, this great copper belt is made up of parellel ranges, presenting terrace-like declivities on the northern slope toward the lake, while the slopes on the opposite or southern side are more gradual. Near the main forks of the Ontonagon River, the cliffs of these are bold, and present an almost unlimited range to the eye. The western range is plainly marked, and the West Branch of this river flows along its base. However, the highest and most imposing cliffs are just north and east of Agogebic Lake, and farther west the ranges are more irregular and less precipitous, leaving much of the country thus traversed by these rocky, mountainous ranges in the form of rolling table-lands, which are susceptible of tillage. In Porcupine Mountain occurs a grand gorge, some two miles south of the Lake Superior shore, and in that distance the ground rises about a thousand feet in height. In ascending this high eminence, one suddenly finds himself on the verge of a precipice, extending some five hundred feet down, at the base of which gorge is a small clear lake--Carp Lake--lying in the semi-circle of the crescent-formed mountain, which is so hemmed and sheltered by the surrounding heights and native evergreens around its shores that one can hardly determine where its waters end and the shore begins. Through this lake flows Carp River, as before noted. It is thus so sheltered and protected that the roughest winds rarely ruffle its surface. It is a beautiful view, as occasional glimpses are caught of its winding through the narrow valley toward their great receptacle, Lake Superior. Extending for some five miles westward rises a perpendicular wall of rock some three hundred feet high, here and there broken by a transverse gorge, at the base of which walls are found fragments of copper rock, which have fallen from the high cliffs above. And farther on one beholds a panorama of rich foliage, of the hard maple, intermingled with the dark green of the coniferous species of trees--the pine, fir and cedar; and still farther on beyond, a level plain of table-land greets the view, extending for some twenty miles, covered with dense timber, while farther in the distance the hills skirting the Black River are seen, like blue azure, resting upon the horizon. Ontonagon County cannot be called a mountainous region, save the mineral range which courses through it and the spurs which shoot off from it, though it is rolling--hilly and rocky, with considerable stretches of table-land and valley plains, which are capable of tillage. The soil is sandy loam, warm, and of quick productive qualitites. To give a more definate idea of the physical or surface features of the county, we present the height of some of the principal mining points in the county, the base of these altitudes being the surface of Lake Superior, which is 627 feet above tide water. The Minesota Mining Company's office, on Section 15, Range 39, Township 50, is 637 feet high, the office of the Ontonagon Company, on Section 16, Range 39, Township 50, is 528 feet high; Trap Bluff, above Ontonagon, Section 12, Range 40, Township 49, 416 feet; Ohio Trap Rock Company's Mine, Section 12, Range 41, Township 49, 672 feet; a high bluff near the same, 781 feet; hill of quartzose porphyry, Section 30, Range 40, Township 50, 913 feet; bluff of red porphyry, Section 11, Range 42, Township 49, 1,089 feet; conglomerate ridge, northwest corner Section 24, Range 49, Township 48, 536 feet; Carp Lake, Section 14, Range 43, Township 51, 483 feet; cliff at Isle Royale Company's Mine, Section 14, Range 43, Township 51, 975 feet; and the same above Carp Lake, 485 feet; conglomerate hill, Section 30, Range 42, Township 51, 931 feet; ridge of altered sandstone, Section 16, Range 42, Township 51, 601 feet; cliff of jasper, Section 32, Range 43, Township 51; location of Delavan Company, Section 27, Range 43, Township 51. These give a pretty clear idea of the height of the most prominent localities along the highest of the great mineral range of hills and mountains of the county. These ranges are frequently cut into gorges an valleys by the numerous systems of rivers and streams, which find their general course from south to north into Lake Superior, after leaving high ledges of rocks and cliffs exposed in bold relief. There are quite a number of small lakes in the county, the largest of which is A-go-ge-bic, near its center, already noted. Among the others are Carp Lake, at the base of the Porcupine Mountains; Sunday Lake, Vieux Desert Lake, which is the source of the Wisconsin River, located near the southern limit of the county; Little Portage Lake, Windy Lake, Cross Lake, White Deer Lake, besides several smaller ones, or ponds, which are generally the source of all the rivers rising on either side of the water-shed. ===========================================================================