The Wolverine Mohawk Location - Image courtesy of the MTU Keweenaw Digital Archives
Stamp mills are where valuable copper was separated out from the
massive amounts of "poor rock" it must be pried from. Rock was hauled from the mines, gigantic
steam-powered hammers crushed that, then water and
chemicals washed pulverized poor rock away, leaving the heavier copper.
What's left -- water, chemicals and pulverized poor rock alike -- is
waste.
Beginning near the turn of the 20th Century and ending in 1933, the
Wolverine Mohawk milling operations generated approximately 25 billion kg of stamp sands and an unknown
amount of chemical-laden water, all of which was funneled by the companies to
the Superior shore and into the lake. Natural currents and prevailing winds distributed
this toxic blend far and wide in ways that can barely be scientifically
measured and in this instance, that can also be easily seen.
Nearly 80 years after operations at this mill ceased, the waste
stretches all the way to Big Traverse Bay.
Behold one of King Copper's deserts, as seen from space:
*
While the Internet aspect of this project ranges from traveler's trivia
to historical research and touches most points between, the core fieldwork consists
of me doing what I've always done, which is documenting our footprint along the
Superior Basin.
I don't show much of that work here, for a variety of reasons. But the
Wolverine Mohawk site is about as extraordinary as there is, so today I'll make
an exception.
Here's a photo essay drawn from work done at the site, beginning near
the remaining stack at the mill and leading all the way down to what's been made of the Superior shore...
Mohawk Arch
Mohawk Pillars
Silent Owl
Rebar Madness
Love Among the Ruins
Battleship
Planet of the Apes
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