coppertalk

By Kris Palmer, CDA communications consultant

Kris Palmer is a communications consultant for the CDA.  She and her family toured the Quincy Mines and visited the Calumet Theatre in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in July.   She shares her adventures and insights about the copper industry in Coppertalk.

Two words came to mind as my family and I embarked on a tour in mid- July of the old Quincy Copper Mine overlooking Houghton and Hancock in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula…“Resilience” and “Ingenuity.”  To begin, the miners who worked in Quincy Mine, one of the first major copper producing companies in the world, used to climb long ladders down into the mine – we took the cog-wheel tram down a steep hill offering a panoramic view of the Houghton Lift-Bridge.  At the bottom of the hill we put on our hard hats and foul weather gear, provided by the Historic 1894 Hoist House, and took an underground train through a horizontal mine tunnel opening called an “adit.”  Our trip into the mine took about 15 semi-cozy minutes.  For the miner of 1846 a one-way trip could take up to 2 bone-chilling, dark hours.

Resilience

Inside, our guide led us through a chilly and damp 40-degree pitch-dark rock tunnel lit by bare bulbs.  Although we felt like we were miles beneath the surface, we were actually on only the 7^th level out of more than 90 levels and nearly two miles of tunnels below us now filled with water.  Our guide showed us how the copper miner’s did their work in 1846 when the mine first began operation – by candlelight. 

Photo Courtesy of Michigan Tech Archives

He flipped off the electrical switch before lighting a candle (with a modern-day lighter as it’s too cold & damp for matches, another problem the early-day miners’ confronted) and we stood in the pitch dark cold tunnel for what seemed like an eternity. 

When the candle was lit, we gained an appreciation and admiration for how the miners worked — in pairs.  While one held a long steel type of bit in hand, the other used a sledgehammer to hit the end in an effort break through the rock.  Doing this by candlelight brings new meaning to the word “partnership,” because if the miner swinging the sledgehammer in the semi-dark missed, his partner wouldn’t have much use of his hand(s).  Inside the mine we also saw an old tram car filled with rock.  Before the building of the shaft rock houses, men and mules carried the rock from the mine upwards.  We also saw the different types of

Photo Courtesy of Michigan Tech Archives

tools that were used by miners as automation and advanced technologies were introduced in the early 1900’s to extract the rich copper from the Quincy and other local mines in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Although the miners’ work was arduous, mining companies like Quincy provided jobs for hundreds of immigrants looking for work.  Homes were constructed near the mine, parents were able to support their families.