a wisconsin heritage area

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In the late 1660's, with beaver hats the rage in Europe, Native Americans and French and English fur traders traveled through Iron County on the Flambeau Trail, linking European markets to the much desired Northern Wisconsin commodity. Native Americans traded locally-mined copper internationally via this wilderness "highway" trail.

 

 

The 1800's brought the lumbermen, and Iron County's white pine resources provided valuable lumber needed to build homes in growing industrial cities. Railroad logging, development my timber barons like William Roddis, next moved hardwoods to waiting mills. As the timber was exhausted, lumber companies converted their land holdings to capture more revenues. Where there were lakes, resorts sprang up in the cutover, providing destinations for city vacationers. Immigrants, eager to farm their own land, settled the cutover.

Iron County's iron mining history had a unique and profound impact. "Red Gold" drew immigrants here since the 1880's, to mine the iron ore needed by a growing industrial America. Through the extraction of iron from the hills of Northern Iron County's Penokee Range, Wisconsin made significant contributions to the fast moving industrial revolution of the world, particularly in production of steel, building materials and automobiles. By the mid-1960's, iron mining ceased and Iron County turned to tourism, successfully establishing itself as a major downhill skiing and snowmobiling destination in Wisconsin and the Midwest. Today, Iron County's natural and historic resources make it an important four-season tourism destination in Wisconsin. As a Wisconsin Heritage Area, it a "living" example of how the interaction of its people, with its resources, influenced Wisconsin's place in the national and international community.

Flambeau Trail

Follow the footsteps of Native Americans, voyagers, and first settlers as they journeyed through Iron County on the famous Flambeau Trail. Learn how transportation, via this ancient “woodland highway” and later by railroad opened up northern Wisconsin to new settlers and development.

Saxon Harbor: Gateway to The Flambeau Trail Native Americans and voyagers landed their canoes here to portage beaver pelts and trade goods between the Chippewa villages and Northwest Fur Trading Posts. The route used for these trips from La Pointe, on Madeline Island, to Lac du Flambeau, 90 miles to the south, became known as the Flambeau Trail.

Superior Falls: An ancient Native American footpath, called the Flambeau Trail, originally started here at the Mouth of the Montreal River. Ninety foot high Superior Falls offers visitors a spectacular sight, but it was the first of many impassable obstacles that forced travelers for centuries to portage their goods and gear 45 miles over the Flambeau Trail to reach the closest navigable waterway.

Little Finland: The proud heritage of the area’s Finnish immigrants is preserved at the National Finnish American Cultural Center (Little Finland). The building’s timbers, once part of the huge Ashland ore docks, are notched together using unique Finnish “fish tail” construction. Visit the Harma House – an authentic Finnish homestead. Special celebrations on traditional festival days feature dancers and choral groups. Traditional Finnish gifts and hospitality.

Flambeau Trail Crossing: Early travelers to Iron County may have stopped to rest here after following the first 27 miles of the Flambeau Trail uphill from Lake Superior and over the rugged Penokee Mountain Range.

Continental Divide: Stand on the geological dividing line where water flows north to Lake Superior and the Atlantic Ocean or south to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Since the rivers north of the Divide were not navigable, early travelers had to portage 45 miles from Lake Superior across this point before they could reach a navigable waterway that flowed south.

Turtle Portage: For centuries Native Americans and voyagers using the Flambeau Trail carried their heavy birch bark canoes and cargo across the wide “plain” between Echo and Grand Portage Lake. This was a summer camping site favored by Chippewa Indian bands, who raised corn and potatoes here.

Mercer Depot: In 1889 travel by rail replaced travel via the Flambeau Trail when the first passenger train reached Mercer. The Mercer Depot, the only remaining wooden rail depot in Iron County, has been restored to its turn-of- the –century quaintness. It houses a delightful collection of railroad memorabilia and the Mercer Historical Society. Open to the Public.

Manitowish: Timberman William Henry Roddis built a logging mill here and established Manitowish as a railroad shipping point for timber throughout the mid-1930’s. No longer would logs have to float down the manitowish River to mill. Hardwood timber brought the railroad and helped to “open up” this area for development.

Apostle Island Vista: View the Apostle Island archipelago and learn how the islands of this National Scenic Lakeshore were formed. On U.S. 2, 13 miles west of Hurley.

Penokee Iron Range State Historic Marker: The rugged Penokee Range provides the backdrop for the story of how the discovery of iron ore shaped the area’s history. On U.S. 2, 12 miles west of Hurley.

Eagle Bluff Scenic Overlook: A spectacular vista of two states and Lake Superior. South of U.S. 2 on County D at the Eagle Bluff Golf Club, one mile west of Hurley.

Annala Round Barn: The only barn in Wisconsin entirely made of massive field stones. Built in 1917 by Finnish master stonemason Matt Annala, it is privately owned. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One mile north of the corner of Dupont and Rein Roads, five miles south of Hurley.

Travel the same water routes used in the 1600s by Native Americans and Fur Traders for transporting their goods to markets around the world. Historic Guide Map To Canoe/Kayak Routes in Iron County, Wisconsin (Historical map graphic) Iron County was designated a Wisconsin Heritage Area by Governor Tommy Thompson in 1994. Its rich history played a significant role in establishing Wisconsin's place in national and international trade as the State was settled.

The beaver hat rage in Europe opened up international trade routes in the county as early as the 1600's. Later, iron ore mined in the region fed the growing automobile industry. Iron County's unique history is "Rooted in Resources," not only the resources found in the iron ore mines and the lush forests, but in the people who settled the region opening up Wisconsin's Northwoods for the future.

The Flambeau Trail surfaced as the key transportation route for Native Americans centuries before white exploration. Later, the Flambeau Trail hosted voyageurs, fur traders and settlers during their journeys through out the region. The Flambeau Trail crossed the Continental Divide linking Lake Superior and Mississippi watersheds. The trail connected two important Native American Settlements, La Pointe, on the shore of Madeline Island, and Lac du Flambeau, inland to the South, which be came centers of fur trading commerce.

North of the Continental Divide, rivers contained natural barriers as they flowed north to Lake Superior, making travel by canoe impossible. On this section of the trail, travelers portaged goods 45 miles. South of the Divide, rivers flowed freely to Lac du Flambeau and the Mississippi, offering easier water transportation routes.

Words from the Diary of Reverend Sherman Hall, 1831, reference his departure from Madeline Island, using the Flambeau Trail to reach Lac du Flambeau:

"This morning I left LaPointe for a visit to Lac du Flambeau accompanied by one man, to carry my provisions and baggage and as my guide through the woods. About 4 p.m. we reached the place where we were to leave the lake. Here we laid up our canoe, formed our baggage into packs, my man taking our provisions and cooking utensils, and I my blanket and coat and a gun, and commenced our march across the Forty-Five Mile Portage. We had gone but a few rods from the trading post at the Mouth of the Montreal, before we found ourselves immersed in a thicket of large hem lock, birch, and maple timber."

The original Flambeau Trail commenced on land at the mouth of the Montreal River. Supplies and trade goods to be carried on the Flambeau Trail were broken down into packs weighing 80 - 90 pounds. Each man carried two packs. The Flambeau Trail was called a "120 pause" portage, so named for the number of times the voyagers had to stop to rest. Depending on the load and the motivation of the travelers, the Flambeau Trail took between 2.5 to 7 days to complete.

The Flambeau Trail continued overland south east to the Continental Divide at Long Lake. At Long Lake, canoes were used for the remainder of the route south to Lac du Flambeau. This portion of the route required a number of short portages.

Some of the earliest accounts of traveling the Flambeau Trail were by, Raddison and Groselliers, who may have been the first non-Indians to set foot on the trail and in Iron County. In 1661, they reported that they followed their Chippewa guides south from Lake Superior along the Flambeau Trail "to win the shortest way to their nation at Lac du Flambeau". By that date the Trail must have been extensively used as noted in this excerpt from the 1661 Raddison diary:

"Near this river (the Montreal) a few of Raddison's Huron Indian companions left them to proceed over land by a well worn trail to their village about the source of the Chippewa River (now called the Flambeau River)."

Some of the most descriptive remembrances of travel on the Flambeau Trail come from the Journal of Francois Malhiot, a 28 year old clerk assigned to oversee operations for the Northwest Fur Trading Company at Lac du Flambeau, 1804: 28th Saturday. . .

"I started this morning from Lake Superior with seven of my men to proceed to Lac du Flambeau. I took with me a bale of merchandise, a roll of tobacco, 20 pounds of bullets, three quarters of a sack of corn, a barrel of run double strength, and all my baggage. Today we did forty pauses.”

29th Sunday . . .

“Today we did 20 pauses because I suffered too much from a toothache last night. It is now four o’clock in the afternoon and several of the men are complaining greatly of pains in their legs and it is necessary to spare them.”

"How weak they are! I gave each man a drink of shrub, two double handfuls of flour, and two pounds of pork which they began to eat with such avidity that I was twice obliged to take the dish away from them; fortunately they all escaped with slight twinges of colic. Of all the spots and places I have seen in my thirteen years of travels, this place is the most horrid and the most sterile. The Portage road is truly that to heaven because it is narrow, full of overturned trees, obstacles, thorns and muskegs. Men who go over it loaded and who are obliged to carry baggage over it, certainly deserved to be called ‘men’.”

J. G. Norwood was an Assistant Government Geologist who participated in reconnaissance of the country from the Mouth of the Montreal via Lac du Flambeau, and the headwaters of the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien in 1847. His journal vividly catalogs the natural landscape. He reports crossing the Montreal River, at a point which must now be flooded by the Gile Flowage:

September 23 . . .

“We crossed (the West Branch) at 7 o’clock and commenced ascending hills of slight elevation . . . until we reached a ridge one thousand and seventy-eight feet above the lake (Superior). One mile beyond this station, we reached the summit of the highlands, dividing the waters of Lake Superior from those of the Mississippi. At least it appeared to me to be the highest point on the route. I could not verify this however, for half an hour before reaching it, I was so unfortunate as to slip from a root in the trail and in the endeavor to save my barometer, struck it against a tree and broke it.”

Norwood continues his adventure in 1847, through Long Lake to what is now the town of Mercer. The land between what is now called Echo Lake (historically called Big Turtle Lake) and Grand Portage (Little Turtle) Lake is a historic portage and encampment area for native Americans and voyagers, as Norwood documented in his 1847 report: September 24 . . . “[We] finally entered Big Turtle Lake, from the east of which there is a portage of about 600 yards to Little Turtle Lake. At this place, we camped just in time to escape the rain.”

September 25th . . .

"Turtle Portage is an excellent one, over the plain lying between the two Turtle Lakes. At the east end is an Indian village, inhabited during the summer months by one of the Chippewa bands. At present it is deserted, the band having gone north to their winter hunting grounds. Potatoes and corn are raised at this village.”

From Echo Lake, a variety of water highways could be taken. If the traveler wanted to go to Lac du Flambeau, as did Francois Malhiot in 1804, it was necessary to “leap frog” by paddling and portaging from Little Turtle lake (Grand Portage Lake), to Mercer Lake, and finally to the Manitowish River. The Manitowish offered an easy downstream paddle to the Bear River, which then had to be paddled upstream to Lac du Flambeau.

These are just a few of the historical stories of exploring, traveling and moving goods along the Flambeau Trail. We hope they will make your trip along the waterways of Iron County more enjoyable as you recount what life was like for those who have gone before you.

 

Penokee Iron Range Trail

Iron County, Wisconsin

“Go for the Iron” and learn how the rush for the “red gold”, we call iron ore, shaped the people and places along the Penokee Iron Range Heritage Trail from the 1880’s to today.

The birth of Iron County was “Rooted in the Resources” – iron, timber, people. The structures left behind, such as the Plummer Mine Head Frame, shown above, helped to tell the story of the transformation of the area.

Hurley’s Lower Block: If buildings could talk, they could tell you how the “Lower Block” added a spicy touch to Hurley’s history. From the street level store fronts that fronted bootleg operations to the upper level “sleeping rooms” discover how architecture dictated the function and intrigue of early Hurley.

Historic Silver Street: “Hurley, Hayward, Cumberland and Hell”. Early Hurley’s reputation as boisterous, lusty town lives on. Famous Silver Street, where saloons and “variety clubs” once provided diversion for work weary miners and lumberjacks, invites you to discover why Hurley is still called the “Life of the Northwoods”.

The Iron County Historical Museum was the original town hall for the Town of Vaughn, and later the iron County Court House.

Iron County Historical Museum: This unique turreted structure was originally built for the Town of Vaughn in 1893. Today it is home to the Iron County Historical Museum and the area’s most extensive collection of Penokee Iron Range artifact and displays. Rag rug weaving demonstrations and sales. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Open to the public.

Gile Falls: Huge vast rock tailing piles stand like pyramids across from picturesque Gile Falls as a testament to the area’s iron mining days. Learn how “upside down” mining was used to extract iron ore from almost a mile underground.

Mining a mile down, in the world’s deepest iron ore mine, was the livelihood of many residents until the 1960’s.

Montreal Location: From the huge native field stone building that served as the company’s machine shop to the Hamilton Club recreation center, Montreal Location was a self contained community centered on iron mining.

Montreal Company Town: Neat white frame houses, gently curving streets, and gracious landscaping mark the City of Montreal—the only planned mining company town in Wisconsin. Designed in 1921 to accommodate the nationality and temperament of mine workers, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Charming white, “company town” houses lines the streets of the Montreal Historic District.

Pence: Over 20 unique log buildings, representing different styles of log construction “handiwork”, are visible from side-streets giving Pence the greatest concentration of log buildings in Wisconsin for a community its size.

Plummer Mine Interpretive Park: The 80 foot high Plummer Mine Headframe is the last of the steel giants that once dominated the skyline of the Penokee Iron Range. Today it is the only remaining mine headframe in Wisconsin and the focal point of an interpretive park that honors the Penokee Range iron miners and their families.

The Plummer Mine Headframe is the last standing headframe in Wisconsin, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Other Penokee Iron Range Trail Attractions

Wisconsin Travel Information Center: State historical marker, displays and photos interpret the history of iron mining on the Penokee Range. A unique outdoor sun dial depicts the dawning and decline of iron mining mining. Cores of solid rock taken from a mine shaft surround the sun dial. State and area travel information. Rest area and picnic sites. Immediately south of the US 2 and Hwy. 51 interchange in Hurley.

1st Presbyterian Church of Hurley: Possibly Hurley’s oldest original structure, built in 1886, 4th Ave. South in Hurley.

Cary Mine Building: The “art deco” architecture of the Cary Mine Building once housed a working iron mine. From 1886 to 1964, the Cary produced high grade iron ore that provided steel for a growing country. It’s closure marked the end of 80 years of iron mining on the Penokee Range. Located one mile west of Hurley off Hwy.77 on Ringle Drive.

Gile Flowage: This 3,384 acre flowage was created in 1941 by damming the West Branch of the Montreal River. Fishing, boat launch, swimming, play and picnic area at Gile Town Park. South of Hwy. 77 in Gile.

City of Montreal State Geological Marker: Learn how the community of Montreal grew up around iron mining at the worlds deepest iron ore mine, while neighboring Gile developed as a lumber company town. Hwy. 77 in Montreal. Picnic and pavilion area along the scenic West Branch of the Montreal River.

Roddis Line

Take a ride on the Roddis Line Heritage Trail and relive the days when railroad logging was the only way to get the “big” timber out of the woods.

Lake of the Falls: Lumberjacks drove white pine logs over beautiful Lake of the Falls to mills downstream until the pine was cut over in 1905. The valuable virgin hardwood timber that remained didn’t float. Find out how a new solution to moving timber from logging camps to the mill was found.

Turtle Flambeau Flowage: Called the “Crown Jewel of Northern Wisconsin” this 19,000 acre flowage was purchased by the State of Wisconsin in 1990 as a “special recreation area” to preserve its natural character and scenic value. Excellent opportunities for boating, canoeing, island camping, and wildlife viewing. Located between County Hwy. FF and State Hwy. 182 in the Mercer and Springstead areas.

Area Resorts: Recognizing that the area’s clear lakes and cool summer air could draw weary city dwellers, enterprising pioneer settlers opened resort businesses here as early as 1905. Area resorts continue to provide gracious lodging and dining cuisine that has made memorable northwoods vacations for nearly a century.

Turtle-Flambeau Hydro Dam: “The Hoover Dam” of Iron County. Built in 1926 at the junction of the Turtle and Flambeau Rivers, it created the Turtle Flambeau Flowage. Picnic area and canoe put-in for the North Fork of the Flambeau River. On Turtle Flambeau Dam Road on County FF.

Pinery Road

Timber! Follow Pinery Road back to the days when white pine was king and the immense” inexhaustible” stands of timber brought French Canadian loggers and settlers eager to make their fortunes in Iron County’s pinery.

The Legend of Emerson: Was it curse or coincidence that the Emerson Brothers established a lumbermill town here only to tragically lose their lives in a freak lightning storm and cause the town of Emerson to fade into history?

Springstead Historic District: For centuries, Native Americans bands came each spring to tap ancient maple trees on the bank of Stone Lake, French Canadian loggers built log cabins here at the turn of the century. At this site the town of Springstead grew, was abandoned, and is now being restored. Site development in progress. Open to the public. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

As the white pine was depleted, the lumberman transferred their attention to establishing resorts, many of these are still in existence today.

Oronto Trail

Harbor Drive follows an old wagon trail, built in the late 1850’s, to connect the Flambeau Trail at Lake Superior to the city of Ashland. This rustic road “tunnels” through the dense hardwood canopy, passing near the graves of Chippewa Chief Oronto and his daughters.

Ironton Trail

Highway 122 parallels the Ironton Trail, blazed in 1856 to connect the city of Ironton and Lake Superior to the platted community of Springdale. Neither town was ever developed. This scenic drive winds over the top of the Penokee Mountain Range, through towering hardwood trees.

Iron County, Wisconsin has long been "Wisconsin's Vacation Paradise." Tourists discovered the natural beauty of the woods and waters around the turn of the century. Entertainment establishments found their roots in the days of lumbering and mining in the 1800's.

Iron County was a timber rich area before the lumber barons logged off the virgin timber. By the early 1900's the virgin timber had disappeared and the lumber companies looked to another source of revenue to come from the large land holdings. This land had beautiful lakes and an abundance of fish and wild game for sportsmen. Thus, the development resorts and tourism in the area began. Iron County has long been known for its recreation and tourism and the buildings have many stories to tell. Iron County represents the tale of Wisconsin's Northwoods' wilderness development into a tourist haven.

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