This is the piece of raw iron ore given recently to the Negaunee Historical Society. (Photo courtesy of the NHS)

NEGAUNEE — One hundred and sixty years ago there was no such place as Negaunee. It wasn’t until the discovery of iron ore and mining began at the Jackson Mine, that plans for a settlement began.

The first residents started arriving in 1846. The settlement consisted of only about six roughly built log houses in the location of the Jackson Mine. One of those houses was moved from that location to a location near the football field. It was dismantled and restored and is now a wonderful artifact at the entrance to “Old Town.”

In those early years, the only means of travel was a plank road from Negaunee to Marquette on which mules were used as locomotives to haul iron ore to Marquette and to bring supplies back to Negaunee. There was no blare of car horns, or the noise of trucks, or the occasional mine whistle that called men to work or to signal danger at the mine. There were no clanging of the bells on trains. The only sounds to be heard were probably the call of the loons on Teal Lake.

This place was a paradise for the Indians before the white man came. All streams were abundant with fish, and Teal Lake had ducks and geese, there were partridge, rabbits and deer. Wolves were a terror for those early pioneers, as they could hear them howling in the night.

There was very little amusement going on at that time as people were busy clearing land and trying to make a living. The principal food was salted meat, bread and dried apples. Later on, chickens and cows were brought in. Everything was pretty crude. Settlers made their own furniture, consisting of a table and some chairs and some beds. It was nearly a year after the discovery of iron ore in September 1844 that Philo Everett came to Sault Ste. Marie and met an Indian woman of the Chippewa tribe who told him of a rock which was too hard for the Indians to use.

Philo Everret is a seen in a white coat at cente, at the Jackson Mine in Negaunee. (Photo courtesy of Jack Deo, Superior View Studio, http://www.viewsofthepast.com))

They arrived at a small Indian village at the east end of Teal Lake. The Indians with their chief spent most of the night dancing, which was a sign of respect. They called it a dance of discovery, which referred to good hunting, with an abundance of wild game. Their chief, Marji Gesick, took Philo Everett’s party to the rocks of jasper and iron. This was the discovery of the Jackson Mine.

The first ore mined at the Jackson was in the shape of boulders. Two weeks ago, the Negaunee museum became the recipient of such a boulder that was mined at the Jackson mine. The gentleman that brought it in said, it was found at the site of the old Pioneer Furnace that was built in 1857 behind the firehall.

The ore from the Jackson Mine was brought to the blast furnace to make pig iron. This was quite a find and we thank the guy for bringing it in to us. It is a great specimen of what the Indians described as the “shining mountain.” They thought it contained evil spirits because of its reflection on the water.

Because of the discovery of iron ore, Negaunee grew from a village in 1865 to a city in 1873. Negaunee will be celebrating its 160th year of becoming a village during the week of July 7-12