Iron Range Region: Historical Overview

Explorations in 1890 by the Merritt brothers of Duluth - known as the "Seven Iron Men" - laid the groundwork for their Mountain Iron Mine, which marked the opening of the great Mesabi Range. Their second mine, opened at Biwabik in 1891, secured the Mesabi Range's future legacy in rich hematite ore. The Merritt brothers' railroad, the Duluth, Missabe & Northern, carried its first carload of ore in 1892 to ore docks in Superior, Wis., across the bay from Duluth, itself a major shipping port. A decade later the Mesabi Range boasted over 100 open pit mines.

Last to be opened, the Cuyuna Range in Crow Wing County, about 100 miles west of Duluth, was discovered by Cuyler Adams in 1904. The range's distinctive name derived from the first syllable of Cuyler and his dog, Una. With both open pit and underground mines, the Cuyuna produced the relatively scarce metal manganese, supplying roughly 90 percent of the country's output during World War I.

The demand for men to work the iron ranges coincided with massive emigration from Europe. Because mining jobs required few English language skills and little skilled work experience, they were tailor-made for the new arrivals. By 1900 fully 70 percent of immigrants on the iron ranges came from Finland, Sweden, Slovenia and Croatia. They joined people from dozens of other countries, making northeastern Minnesota the state's great melting pot. While the various immigrant groups lived and worked together, their individual identities were preserved in churches, synagogues, social halls and other institutions that remain important in each community today.

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