My great-grandmother was born in Calumet (Houghton County, 1889).
My great-grandfather was born in Ishpeming (Marquette County, 1885).
All four of their parents were born in Cornwall (1847–1856) and came to settle in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I now forget the reason, but the experience of Cornish miners was well-suited for mining in northern Michigan's copper mines. And now, four generations hence, here I am.
Our mine tour was amazing. We only went a couple thousand feet down into one of the mine shafts, but this was no small-time operation. The No. 2 shaft was 9,260' (1¾ miles) long and went to a depth of 6,225' (1.18 miles). Think about the lengths of cable and the power necessary to lower teams of miners down that far, and haul out the copper-laden rock … and of course the teams of miners at the end of their shift.
And because of this heritage, I know what pasties are and I'm looking forward to having one later this week!
Today with our friend, Ellen—
» Tour of the Quincy Mine (a highlight of the trip),
http://www.quincymine.com/
» Calumet Visitors Center,
https://www.nps.gov/kewe/index.htm
» Beer at Shute's Saloon,
https://www.michigan.org/property/shute-s-bar
» Visited Italian Hall disaster site,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Hall_disaster
» Dinner at Fitzgerald's,
http://www.fitzgeralds-mi.com/
» Stopped at Keweenaw's snowfall thermometer,
https://www.pasty.com/snow/ (record: 390.4" in 1978–79)
[ IMG_2814S8x12Utm :: 17mm ]
