This is a bird’s eye view of Calumet during its heyday.
A Capitol Decision
During the Year, I make quite a few personal appearances at events. I enjoy talking to people and I’m often asked historical questions. Over the years many erroneous stories about the Upper Peninsula have circulated and somehow stuck becoming U.P. myths. One of these stories I hear frequently, is that Calumet was once considered for Michigan’s Capitol. It was not.
In 1847, when the capitol was designated in Lansing, the village that would become Calumet, Red Jacket, didn’t exist yet. The capitol was moved from Detroit because of a fear of military capture. Detroit, the current capitol, was taken by the British in the war of 1812. Some feared it could happen again.
Since Detroit laid on the border of Canada, it was decided that maybe a more central location in the state was advisable. Also growing settlements on the west side of Michigan was pushing for a closer location. Candidates were Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Marshall, and Jackson. Lansing was picked because it was central to all of them, the Lansing area was nearly uninhabited at the time. So was the Upper Peninsula except for the Native Americans.
Calumet Wasn’t Born Yet
A couple from Red Jacket taken in the late 1800s.
Mineral rights were achieved in the U.P. with a treaty in 1843 with central and western Upper Peninsula Native Americans for mineral rights within those regions. This heralded the beginning of the copper boom.
Founded on the rising tide of copper mining, the city that would become Calumet, Red Jacket, became officially a town in 1864, almost 20 years after the capitol was chosen. It’s twin city Laurium, was originally called Calumet. Confusing I know. It became Laurium in 1895, and Red Jacket became Calumet in 1929. Though copper was being unearthed in the Keweenaw, its production was hindered until 1855 when the Soo Locks were opened. Settlements across the peninsula were few and far between until the 1850s. Again, all taking place after the capitol was moved to Lansing. At that time Calumet was but a glimmer in history’s eye.
For more information on Historical Calumet:
Walk in Big Annie’s Footsteps: A Historic Tour of Calumet, MI
An early engraving of copper mining’s beginnings in the Keweenaw.
What this does do, is give us a look into the faces that walked the streets of Red Jacket / Calumet in the 1880s and 90s. Walking along the streets one could easily encounter any one of these folks going about their daily business. The second picture is completely unknown though by looking at their faces, it appears that they are related. My guess would be brothers but it is impossible to be sure. It does illustrate the importance of labeling photographs of families. We don’t normally think of ourselves as historical but as time moves on all things become historical by their representations of days and people gone by.
The next picture, which is a typical Red Jacket couple, seem to be economically reasonably well off. If nothing else we know they are probably wearing their “Sunday best.” Most of the locals worked in the copper mines where the companies paid low wages and worked long endless days of hard labor. The early days of living on the Keweenaw were hard and cold, yet Red Jacket / Calumet thrived with art and culture. A dozen nationalities converged on the region all in pursuit of wealth from the copper deposits. Cornish, Irish, Italians, Finns, Swedes, and Slavs, all became the backbone of the copper community of the Keweenaw.
Like many communities, there were those that put on uniforms. Our fourth picture shows an unknown soldier from Red Jacket / Calumet. (For those that are unaware, Red Jacket is the original name of the town of Calumet. Calumet was the original name of Laurium. In the 1920s, they moved the name of Calumet to Red Jacket and Calumet became Laurium.) Not being an expert of the military, I’m not sure what this uniform is from. I believe he has a bayonet holder on his belt. It is his English style bobby hat he has next to him that has me guessing. It would be really great to put a name to this guy. Actually it would be really great to put a name to any of these pictures.
As I stated earlier, these are all people that one would have met on the streets during daily life. This last picture shows a pair of unknown women that still seem to have an old world connection. The embroidery on the dress of the woman on the right seems Scandinavian or Slavic. It is hard to tell if they are related. These pictures are around 150 years old. They depict the faces of those that came to one of the harshest places on Earth to establish their places in the American Dream. These are the pioneers of the Upper Peninsula. These are the faces of the U.P.’s past.