Located on the north shore, was surveyed in October, 1856; proprietor, W. G. Cowell.
ST. LOUIS FALLS
Was surveyed in 1857, by C. E. Clark; Thos. H. Hogan, attorney for proprietors.
FREMONT ISLAND.
A peculiar feature of St. Louis bay has been the formation of floating islands, possibly the result of the collection of driftwood and other debris at the mouth of St. Louis river. The rafts thus formed in time became consolidated by the deposition of earthy materials, leaves, twigs and vegetable matter, and are covered with a rank growth of vegetation, at first shrubby, but at last arboreous. The roots of the shrubs and trees interlace, and hold the material of the raft more tightly together. These island rafts are sometimes loosened and float into the bay, and are driven about by the winds from one side of the bay to the other.
One of these islands, supposed to be stationary, known as Fremont island, was surveyed and platted in 1856, by C. P. Heustis and Chas. A. Post. On the completion of the canal it broke loose from its moorings, floated away and disappeared, in all probability going to pieces in the rough waters of the lake.
TOWER,
Located on the southern shore of Vermillion lake, was surveyed Aug. 4, 1884. The proprietors are the Minnesota Iron Company, of which Charlemagne Tower is president. The iron mines located in this vicinity are amongst the richest on the continent. Attention was first called to the Vermillion by the reported discovery of gold. Machinery for crushing and smelting was transported thither, but the thousands who rushed to the reputed gold field expecting to become suddenly rich, returned disappointed and disheartened. Attention had long before been called to the fact that there were rich iron mines in the district, but the circumstances were unfavorable for their development. They were in a remote position and accessible only by a journey of several days through woods and swamps. These mines could be reached and developed only by state aid, which was given in the shape of a grant of swamp lands, to be applied to building a railway from the lake to the mines. This grant having been obtained, Mr. Tower and other capitalists at once invested their millions in the mines, purchasing some 8,000 acres of land, covering the larger portion of the iron deposits in the district, embracing the present site of the village of Tower. A railroad sixty-eight miles in length was constructed from Tower to Two Harbors, a point twenty-seven miles north of Duluth. This road was completed in the spring of 1884, and the first shipment was made July 3d of that year, the total shipments for the year being 62,124 tons. The shipments for 1885 were 225,484 tons, and for 1886, 304,000 tons. Over $3,000,000 was paid to laborers in the Tower mines in 1887.
Col. George E. Stone, of Duluth, is deserving of praise for his foresight and energy in opening the Tower mines. Mr. Stone labored with untiring zeal after the land grant to aid in building the road was given until the road was built and the mines opened.
George R. Stuntz is well known as the government surveyor of the Lake Superior region, whose work covers thousands of miles of North Wisconsin lands, lying along the southern shore of the lake, and who has accurately mapped the meanderings of the influent streams, the bays and shaggy projecting shores of the great "Unsalted Sea." There is no better topographical authority than Mr. Stuntz, and no one better posted as to the location and value of the Northern Wisconsin areas and the Vermillion mines.