Ironwood-Bessemer, Michigan

city mural of Ironwood miners

1,896 miles

March 30 – After crossing the Montreal River which is the state border, I‘ve arrived in Michigan!  My stopover is between the towns of Ironwood & Bessemer, and the metal-related names drew my attention to the mining history of the region. 

Ironwood was named for James Wood, an iron mining captain.  His boss Frederick Rhinelander named the mining camp and the developing town in honor of his captain, adding “iron” as if it was Wood’s nickname.  A small park at the corner of North Suffolk and Fredrick Streets is also named in honor of James Wood.  Fredrick Street was named after Fredrick Rhinelander for whom Rhinelander, Wisconsin was also named.

Ironwood has one high school, officially named Luther L. Wright High School, but informally called Ironwood High School. Their mascot is the "Red Devils," historically referring to the miners who got covered with red dust from the iron ore.  Unfortunately the mascot has morphed into a fierce Satan.

The city population is about 98% white, with ancestral ethnicity declared as: 25% Finnish, 17% German, 15% Italian, 13% Polish, 10% English (probably many Cornish) and 10% Swedish.

Ironwood is famous for its Cornish pasties, which appeared in Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.  The premise of the story is that the gods of Scandinavia came to North America with their immigrant believers. They all walk around disguised as ordinary people.   The mysterious character called Mr. Wednesday is actually an old Norse god once known as Odin the All-father who is roaming America rounding up his forgotten fellows in preparation for an epic battle against the upstart deities: "gods of credit card and freeway, of Internet and telephone, of radio and hospital and television, gods of plastic and of beeper and of neon."  And Ironwood pasties are involved.

Bessemer Process for purifying iron to make steel

When Bessemer was platted for a new town in 1884, it was named after the nearby Bessemer Mine, which was named in honor of Henry Bessemer, a British metallurgist.  Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) was an English inventor, whose steelmaking process became the most important technique for making steel in the nineteenth century.

Bessemer’s process involved using oxygen in air blown through molten pig iron to burn off the impurities and thus create steel.  This made steel easier and quicker to manufacture, and revolutionized structural engineering. Bessemer also made over 100 other inventions in the fields of iron, steel and glass.

Unlike most inventors, Bessemer managed to bring his own projects to fruition and profited financially from their success.  In 1856 Bessemer first described his iron-purifying process to a meeting of the British Association in Cheltenham which he titled "The Manufacture of Iron Without Fuel."  It was considered so interesting and important that The Times newspaper in London published the article in full.  

Another inventor, James Nasmyth, had been working on a similar idea for some time.  He was a reluctant patentee, and was still working through some problems in his method.  When he heard Bessemer’s presentation at the British Association meeting, Nasmyth abandoned his own project.  Bessemer acknowledged the efforts of Nasmyth by offering him a one-third share of the value of his patent, but Nasmyth turned it down as he was about to retire.

cross-country ski trail

This area is known as Big Snow Country because of heavy snowfall influenced by nearby Lake Superior, and is often referred to as a snowbelt.  The area is now known for its downhill skiing resorts as well as its cross-country skiing resorts and snowmobiling trails.

info:  Wikipedia.com, Amazon.com

ski trail image:  http://wxpr.org/post/snow-continues-pile-northern-wisconsin-and-upper-peninsula