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From
the Archive: The First Book Written on Western Frontier Mining
By
Robert Sorgenfrei
When
one thinks of mining on the Western frontier, the California gold rush,
the Comstock Lode, or the Colorado gold rush come immediately to mind.
Numerous books chronicle events that took place in these regions. Written
in the latter half of the 19th century, they largely determine
our historical perception of mining in the West.
But when was the first book on Western mining written? The answer may be a
surprise. It was written in 1819, and did not document precious metal
mining, but rather lead mining in what was to become Missouri.
In 1803, Thomas Jefferson
purchased the Louisiana territory from France and overnight, nearly
doubled the size of the United States.
The purchase also planted the idea for Manifest Destiny, which proclaimed
that the country’s borders should span the continent. The Louisiana
Purchase meant new lands to explore and settle and natural resources to
exploit.
Lead had been discovered in the late 17th century in the
Louisiana territory and had been mined on a small scale by French settlers
throughout the 18th century.
After the purchase, Americans poured into the territory and soon were
developing lead mines in what is now western Missouri. (The mines in
southwestern Missouri that would produce large amounts of lead had yet to
be discovered). Western Missouri, on the edge of the far-western frontier
of the time, was seen by some as having great potential for the
development of a mineral industry. One such person was Henry Rowe
Schoolcraft.
Schoolcraft was born in 1793 near Albany, N.Y., into a well-to-do family.
Although he never attended college, he was well read and amassed a sizable
library in the sciences and was interested in mineralogy.
In 1808, he took over management of the family-run glass factories in New
York, New Hampshire and Vermont.
This venture ended in 1817, when he declared bankruptcy. Soon after,
Schoolcraft headed west. Because of his interest in mineralogy, he began
investigating mining and smelting operations. He published his
observations in A View of the Lead Mines of Missouri in 1819.
Missouri at that time was the far-western frontier and had been part of
the United States just over 15 years. Schoolcraft found the region rich in
mineral resources, particularly lead, which had a wide variety of uses.
He envisioned Missouri as equal in mining potential to Saxony, Germany’s
major mining region. His book urged that Missouri be developed using the
more advanced mining practices found in Europe. He describes U.S. mining
practices prior to the technical advances of the latter half of the 19th
century.
"The method of raising
the ores and the processes pursued in separating the metal are, upon the
whole, extremely simple.
A pick axe and shovel are the only tools in use for removing the earth,
and the drill, rammer and priming rod are added when it is necessary to
blast.
Having determined on the spot for digging, the process commences by
measuring off a square of about 8 feet, and throwing out the earth, spar,
and gravel, until the miner sinks beneath the depth he can throw the
earth.
A practiced hand will pitch his earth clear out of the pit from a depth of
10, 12, and even 15 feet. At this depth, a common windlass and bucket is
placed over the centre of the pit, and the digging continued by drawing up
the earth, spar, and ores, if any are found, in the manner pursued in
sinking a well.”
Schoolcraft
goes on the say that digging a shaft continues as long as promising ore is
encountered. If the ore is not of good quality, the pit is abandoned and
work starts again somewhere else. He noted that no one had exceeded a
depth of 80 feet and that no doubt there was far richer ore at greater
depth.
Schoolcraft’s
book is important, if for no other reason, because it shows just where
American mining was at the beginning of the 19th century. It
offers a startling comparison of how mining had advanced by century’s
end.
But the book contains more than just descriptions of primitive mining
operations. Some of Schoolcraft’s observations were prophetic and he
anticipated issues that would later confront the mining industry.
Schoolcraft realized that much of the mining operation was inefficient and
that smelting techniques were crude and wasteful. To deal with such
problems, Schoolcraft advocated the establishment of a mining school along
European lines that would teach and train experts.
Schoolcraft saw a fledgling
industry in disorder and advocated that the government step in and
regulate it.
He felt mining laws of the day were too restrictive and wanted to repeal
the three-year lease the government granted for mining on public land.
He also proposed that an office of inspector of mines be started in the
territory with a trained chemist in charge to establish some kind of order
and to publish accurate statistics on mineral production. All of these
things came to pass in later decades.
Although Henry Rowe Schoolcraft wrote the first book on Western frontier
mining, he is best known in history as an ethnologist and Indian agent.
He served for 19 years in the federal Indian service, serving as an Indian
agent. He became an expert on Native American tribes living along the
Great Lakes and wrote several books about them.
His best known is a six-volume work entitled Historical and Statistic
Information Respecting the …Indian Tribes of the United States
(1851-1857). Although uneven in quality, it remains a standard reference
work. Schoolcraft died in 1864 after a long illness.
Robert
Sorgenfrei is librarian/archivist, Russell L. & Lyn Wood Mining
History Archive, Arthur Lakes Library.
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