Settlement & Fishing on Lake Superior (1854-1930)
The collapse of the fur trade around 1840 was followed by a period of quiet in northern Minnesota, ending almost two centuries of trade between the Cree, Dakota, Assiniboine, and Ojibwe on the one side, and the French, British, and Americans on the other. Though the voyageurs' canoes and batteaux disappeared from Lake Superior, a limited commercial fishery was left behind by the fur companies. A handful of schooners served the lake trout and whitefish trade, operating out of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, LaPointe, Wisconsin, and Michipicoten, Ontario. Seasonal fishing appears to have persisted at Grand Portage, Isle Royale, Grand Marais, Encampment River, and perhaps Fond du Lac, where the American Fur Company had fished in the 1830s. The white fishermen were, however, just itinerants in the Native American's domain.
The LaPointe Treaty of 1854 ceded to the United States the entire Minnesota shoreline of Lake Superior, and white speculators were quick to move in. Attracted by rumors of copper and gold, scores of Yankee "land-lookers" moved to nearby Ontonagon, Michigan, and Superior City, Wisconsin, in 1852 and 1853 in anticipation of a treaty which would open up for their exploitation all of the rich resources which belonged to the Indians. During the weeks of negotiations leading up to the Treaty, some of the speculators paddled secretly up the North Shore to preempt claims in the most promising locations.
With adoption of the Treaty in September, 1854, dozens of men staked their claims along the North Shore, principally where copper was thought to be, and at the mouths of the larger streams. Many preempted land around Duluth, where several town sites were platted. Richard Godfrey went to Grand Marais and built a small shack to engage in fishing and trading. A man named McIntyre staked a claim at Knife River for the R.B. Carlton Company, where a miner named John Parry also preempted land. Several men also built cabins at Beaver Bay. In the next two years, there were settlers or preemptors at Buchanan (east of Knife River), Burlington Bay (Two Harbors), French River, Stewart River, and Silver Creek, in addition to the locations settled in 1854 and the older trading post at Grand Portage. Commercial fishing was practiced at several sites. The 1857 census indicates ten fishermen in St. Louis County and 89 in Lake County. Steamboats also made occasional calls to the wilderness locations.
Most of the claims were abandoned in the Panic of 1857. Copper was found at Talmadge, French, Sucker, and Knife Rivers in small amounts. The settlers at the Beaver Bay colony survived the lean years because the industrious Wieland family developed successful farms there. The North Shore did not recover until geologist Henry Eames began the "Vermilion Gold Rush" in 1865. Most of the men who came in that era were prospectors or land-cruisers trying to stake claims to mineral lands for outsiders, thought a few were fishermen or trappers. There were very few women at first. Many of the adventurers married Ojibwe women.
When construction started on the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad in 1869, Duluth began a period of spectacular growth. The population grew from 14 families in January, 1869, to 3,500 people by July of that year. A large percentage of the newcomers were Scandinavian immigrants. This marked the beginning of a flood of Swedes, Norwegians, and Finns to Minnesota. Soon there were sawmills, grain elevators, and warehouses on the waterfront, and homes all over the hillside. Steamboat lines from Buffalo, Detroit, and Chicago began making regular calls at Duluth, and the development of its magnificent harbor was begun. The Wielands erected a water-powered sawmill at Beaver Bay in 1869. They bought the 65-foot schooner Charley to trade with other Lake Superior communities. Beaver Bay was for many years the largest community between Duluth and Port Arthur. In 1871, Henry Mayhew and Sam Howenstine arrived in Grand Marais to found a village and begin a commercial fishing enterprise. The 1873 Panic put an end to the growth, however. After the Panic, Duluth's population shrunk to 1,300 souls.
Recovery took several years. In 1879 and 1880, confidence and stability returned. Conditions were ripe for genuine and sustained prosperity. Duluth grew very quickly as grain began to flow eastward from the prairie states, requiring expanded harbor facilities, huge new grain elevators, and a large workforce. Two Harbors was settled and developed as Minnesota's first iron ore port, bringing hundreds of laborers there, and to the mines far to the north. Railroads stretched from the Head of the Lake to the south, east, and west.
Duluth's growth, along with its rail connections to St. Paul and the West, brought passenger and package freight steamers, laden with merchandise and foodstuffs from the East, to the local docks daily from the lower Lakes. "Feeder lines" of smaller ships were established to run from Duluth to Port Arthur on the North Shore, and to Houghton and Hancock on the South Shore, supplying the needs of the outlying communities and transporting people all along the shores. The small lines also provided a market for fresh fish caught at many of the smaller ports.
In 1879, Duluth had 35 commercial fishermen. By 1885, 195 fishermen operated five steam tugs and nearly 40 Mackinaw boats out of Duluth, and there were dozens of others on the North Shore. Cooley & Lavaque and the Duluth Fish Company ran "collection steamers" up the shore to supply the fisherman at remote locations, as well as to pick up barreled whitefish and trout. These swift little craft enabled the fishermen to concentrate on fishing and roam far from the market points in search of their prey. The fish were sold in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Louis. This efficient system sustained a large number of Norwegian families on the North Shore. The Duluth Evening Herald, June 1, 1888, commented:
In 1889, A. Booth & Sons bought out Cooley & Lavaque, gradually taking over the collection business. They ran a series of different steamers on both the North and South Shores during the next decades, including the A. Booth, Hunter, and Hiram R. Dixon, during the 1880s and 1890s, and the larger Liberty, C.W. Moore, Bon Ami, Easton, and America around the turn-of-the-century. The 185-foot America was a favorite from 1902 until its accidental loss at Isle Royale in the spring of 1928. Until completion of the North Shore Highway (U.S. Highway 61) in 1926, the America was the only link with civilization for all the fishing folk along 200 miles of rugged and isolated shoreline. The America brought the groceries, mail, salt, ice, barrels, and all the other necessities, and took away all the fish that could be harvested from the big Lake.
Commercial fishing flourished at the Head of the Lakes during the early decades of the 20th century. The industry was dominated by Norwegian immigrants, though a number of Swedes and Finns were also involved. The annual catch varied over the years. The all-time high came in 1915, when nearly 10,000 tons were recorded at Duluth alone. The catch dwindled after the 1920s, so that many fishermen were forced to find other sources of income. By 1930, the yield dropped below 4,000 tons; it has since fallen below 1,000 tons. Whitefish dwindled in numbers in the 1890s, and were supplanted by lake trout in the commercial fishery. Predatory lamprey eels and over-harvesting nearly wiped out the trout in the 1950s. Finally, sports fishermen successfully lobbied for legislation that was unfavorable to the commercial fishing industry. A 1975 government report indicated that there were 137 full-time commercial fishermen in the Great Lakes and 2,800,000 sports fishermen.
During the 1870s, a trail was slashed through the woods along the North Shore. A wagon trail was established by 1880. The Duluth & Iron Range Railway was constructed between Duluth and Two Harbors in 1889, although a real road was not completed all the way up the shore from Duluth to Grand Portage and Port Arthur until the mid-1920s. The road dramatically changed the lifestyles of North Shore residents. It brought to an end their dependence on the collection steamers and enabled them to transport their fish by truck. It also brought tourists in ever-increasing numbers. Some of the fishermen began building resorts and renting cabins to supplement their income. The infusion of permanent settlers along the Minnesota North Shore ended around 1900. Since that time new arivals have been primarily summer residents whose permanent addresses are in the Twin Ports (Duluth-Superior) or the Twin Cities.
Associated Water Craft
While no remains of vernacular fishing craft have been found underwater in Minnesota, several areas have a high probability for such finds, including the sheltered harbors at Grand Portage, Grand Marais, Beaver Bay, and Two Harbors. The sidewheel steamer Lotta Bernard dates from the days of early North Shore settlement. It was lost on the Lake off Encampment River in October, 1874. Some abandoned fishing craft which have Minnesota connections have been reported at Isle Royale. The schooner Stranger foundered somewhere in Lake Superior after drifting in a helpless condition from Grand Marais harbor in December, 1875. The Wieland's schooner Charley is thought to have wrecked at her dock in Beaver Bay in May, 1881. The collection steamers Isle Royale, A. Booth, Mary Martini, and Liberty were all lost off of various North Shore locations. The first two are likely to retain full outfits of tools and equipment. There are also underwater components to historic fishing sites which merit study at places like Little Two Harbors, where fishing equipment has been reported by sport divers.
The collapse of the fur trade around 1840 was followed by a period of quiet in northern Minnesota, ending almost two centuries of trade between the Cree, Dakota, Assiniboine, and Ojibwe on the one side, and the French, British, and Americans on the other. Though the voyageurs' canoes and batteaux disappeared from Lake Superior, a limited commercial fishery was left behind by the fur companies. A handful of schooners served the lake trout and whitefish trade, operating out of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, LaPointe, Wisconsin, and Michipicoten, Ontario. Seasonal fishing appears to have persisted at Grand Portage, Isle Royale, Grand Marais, Encampment River, and perhaps Fond du Lac, where the American Fur Company had fished in the 1830s. The white fishermen were, however, just itinerants in the Native American's domain.
The LaPointe Treaty of 1854 ceded to the United States the entire Minnesota shoreline of Lake Superior, and white speculators were quick to move in. Attracted by rumors of copper and gold, scores of Yankee "land-lookers" moved to nearby Ontonagon, Michigan, and Superior City, Wisconsin, in 1852 and 1853 in anticipation of a treaty which would open up for their exploitation all of the rich resources which belonged to the Indians. During the weeks of negotiations leading up to the Treaty, some of the speculators paddled secretly up the North Shore to preempt claims in the most promising locations.
With adoption of the Treaty in September, 1854, dozens of men staked their claims along the North Shore, principally where copper was thought to be, and at the mouths of the larger streams. Many preempted land around Duluth, where several town sites were platted. Richard Godfrey went to Grand Marais and built a small shack to engage in fishing and trading. A man named McIntyre staked a claim at Knife River for the R.B. Carlton Company, where a miner named John Parry also preempted land. Several men also built cabins at Beaver Bay. In the next two years, there were settlers or preemptors at Buchanan (east of Knife River), Burlington Bay (Two Harbors), French River, Stewart River, and Silver Creek, in addition to the locations settled in 1854 and the older trading post at Grand Portage. Commercial fishing was practiced at several sites. The 1857 census indicates ten fishermen in St. Louis County and 89 in Lake County. Steamboats also made occasional calls to the wilderness locations.
Most of the claims were abandoned in the Panic of 1857. Copper was found at Talmadge, French, Sucker, and Knife Rivers in small amounts. The settlers at the Beaver Bay colony survived the lean years because the industrious Wieland family developed successful farms there. The North Shore did not recover until geologist Henry Eames began the "Vermilion Gold Rush" in 1865. Most of the men who came in that era were prospectors or land-cruisers trying to stake claims to mineral lands for outsiders, thought a few were fishermen or trappers. There were very few women at first. Many of the adventurers married Ojibwe women.
When construction started on the Lake Superior & Mississippi Railroad in 1869, Duluth began a period of spectacular growth. The population grew from 14 families in January, 1869, to 3,500 people by July of that year. A large percentage of the newcomers were Scandinavian immigrants. This marked the beginning of a flood of Swedes, Norwegians, and Finns to Minnesota. Soon there were sawmills, grain elevators, and warehouses on the waterfront, and homes all over the hillside. Steamboat lines from Buffalo, Detroit, and Chicago began making regular calls at Duluth, and the development of its magnificent harbor was begun. The Wielands erected a water-powered sawmill at Beaver Bay in 1869. They bought the 65-foot schooner Charley to trade with other Lake Superior communities. Beaver Bay was for many years the largest community between Duluth and Port Arthur. In 1871, Henry Mayhew and Sam Howenstine arrived in Grand Marais to found a village and begin a commercial fishing enterprise. The 1873 Panic put an end to the growth, however. After the Panic, Duluth's population shrunk to 1,300 souls.
Recovery took several years. In 1879 and 1880, confidence and stability returned. Conditions were ripe for genuine and sustained prosperity. Duluth grew very quickly as grain began to flow eastward from the prairie states, requiring expanded harbor facilities, huge new grain elevators, and a large workforce. Two Harbors was settled and developed as Minnesota's first iron ore port, bringing hundreds of laborers there, and to the mines far to the north. Railroads stretched from the Head of the Lake to the south, east, and west.
Duluth's growth, along with its rail connections to St. Paul and the West, brought passenger and package freight steamers, laden with merchandise and foodstuffs from the East, to the local docks daily from the lower Lakes. "Feeder lines" of smaller ships were established to run from Duluth to Port Arthur on the North Shore, and to Houghton and Hancock on the South Shore, supplying the needs of the outlying communities and transporting people all along the shores. The small lines also provided a market for fresh fish caught at many of the smaller ports.
In 1879, Duluth had 35 commercial fishermen. By 1885, 195 fishermen operated five steam tugs and nearly 40 Mackinaw boats out of Duluth, and there were dozens of others on the North Shore. Cooley & Lavaque and the Duluth Fish Company ran "collection steamers" up the shore to supply the fisherman at remote locations, as well as to pick up barreled whitefish and trout. These swift little craft enabled the fishermen to concentrate on fishing and roam far from the market points in search of their prey. The fish were sold in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Chicago, Kansas City, and St. Louis. This efficient system sustained a large number of Norwegian families on the North Shore. The Duluth Evening Herald, June 1, 1888, commented:
In 1889, A. Booth & Sons bought out Cooley & Lavaque, gradually taking over the collection business. They ran a series of different steamers on both the North and South Shores during the next decades, including the A. Booth, Hunter, and Hiram R. Dixon, during the 1880s and 1890s, and the larger Liberty, C.W. Moore, Bon Ami, Easton, and America around the turn-of-the-century. The 185-foot America was a favorite from 1902 until its accidental loss at Isle Royale in the spring of 1928. Until completion of the North Shore Highway (U.S. Highway 61) in 1926, the America was the only link with civilization for all the fishing folk along 200 miles of rugged and isolated shoreline. The America brought the groceries, mail, salt, ice, barrels, and all the other necessities, and took away all the fish that could be harvested from the big Lake.
Commercial fishing flourished at the Head of the Lakes during the early decades of the 20th century. The industry was dominated by Norwegian immigrants, though a number of Swedes and Finns were also involved. The annual catch varied over the years. The all-time high came in 1915, when nearly 10,000 tons were recorded at Duluth alone. The catch dwindled after the 1920s, so that many fishermen were forced to find other sources of income. By 1930, the yield dropped below 4,000 tons; it has since fallen below 1,000 tons. Whitefish dwindled in numbers in the 1890s, and were supplanted by lake trout in the commercial fishery. Predatory lamprey eels and over-harvesting nearly wiped out the trout in the 1950s. Finally, sports fishermen successfully lobbied for legislation that was unfavorable to the commercial fishing industry. A 1975 government report indicated that there were 137 full-time commercial fishermen in the Great Lakes and 2,800,000 sports fishermen.
During the 1870s, a trail was slashed through the woods along the North Shore. A wagon trail was established by 1880. The Duluth & Iron Range Railway was constructed between Duluth and Two Harbors in 1889, although a real road was not completed all the way up the shore from Duluth to Grand Portage and Port Arthur until the mid-1920s. The road dramatically changed the lifestyles of North Shore residents. It brought to an end their dependence on the collection steamers and enabled them to transport their fish by truck. It also brought tourists in ever-increasing numbers. Some of the fishermen began building resorts and renting cabins to supplement their income. The infusion of permanent settlers along the Minnesota North Shore ended around 1900. Since that time new arivals have been primarily summer residents whose permanent addresses are in the Twin Ports (Duluth-Superior) or the Twin Cities.
Associated Water Craft
While no remains of vernacular fishing craft have been found underwater in Minnesota, several areas have a high probability for such finds, including the sheltered harbors at Grand Portage, Grand Marais, Beaver Bay, and Two Harbors. The sidewheel steamer Lotta Bernard dates from the days of early North Shore settlement. It was lost on the Lake off Encampment River in October, 1874. Some abandoned fishing craft which have Minnesota connections have been reported at Isle Royale. The schooner Stranger foundered somewhere in Lake Superior after drifting in a helpless condition from Grand Marais harbor in December, 1875. The Wieland's schooner Charley is thought to have wrecked at her dock in Beaver Bay in May, 1881. The collection steamers Isle Royale, A. Booth, Mary Martini, and Liberty were all lost off of various North Shore locations. The first two are likely to retain full outfits of tools and equipment. There are also underwater components to historic fishing sites which merit study at places like Little Two Harbors, where fishing equipment has been reported by sport divers.
