Calumet and Hecla Mining Company
Encyclopedia
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
-mining company based in the Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
Copper Country
Copper Country
The Copper Country is an area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, including all of Keweenaw County, Michigan and most of Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties. The area is so named as copper mining was prevalent there from 1845 until the late 1960s, with one mine ...
. In the 19th century, the company paid out more than $72 million in shareholder dividends, more than any other mining company in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during that period.
History
In 1864, Edwin J. Hulbert discovered a copper-bearing section of what became known as the Calumet Conglomerate of PrecambrianPrecambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
age. The find was in Houghton County, Michigan
Houghton County, Michigan
-National protected areas:* Keweenaw National Historical Park * Ottawa National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 36,016 people, 13,793 households, and 8,137 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile . There were 17,748 housing...
, between the rich Cliff mine
Cliff mine
The Cliff mine was the first successful copper mine in the Copper Country of the state of Michigan in the United States. The mine is at the now-abandoned town of Clifton in Keweenaw County. Mining began in 1845, and the Cliff was the most productive copper mine in the United States from 1845...
to the northeast, and the copper mines of Portage Lake to the southwest, but a long way from either. Hulbert formed the Calumet Company in 1865, with Boston investors. The company spun off the Hecla Company the following year, and assigned shares in the new company to Calumet shareholders.
Hulbert was a major shareholder in both companies, and was in charge of mine operations. But despite the rich ore, Hulbert did not have the practical knowledge to dig out the ore, crush it, and concentrate it. Frustrated with Hulbert’s lack of success, the company sent Alexander Agassiz, son of famous geologist Louis Agassiz
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
to Michigan to run the mine.
Under Agassiz’ expert management, the Hecla company paid its first dividend in 1868, and the Calumet company began paying dividends in 1869. The two companies merged in May 1871 to form the Calumet & Hecla Mining Company, with Quincy Adams Shaw
Quincy Adams Shaw
Quincy Adams Shaw was a Boston Brahmin investor and business magnate whowas the first president of Calumet and Hecla Mining Company.-Family and early life:...
as its first president. In August of that year, Shaw retired to the board of directors and Agassiz became president, a position he held until his death.
The town of Red Jacket (now named Calumet
Calumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
) formed next to the mine.
By 1901 the underground mining complex had 16 shafts. The company operated a large ore treatment facility at Lake Linden, Michigan
Lake Linden, Michigan
Lake Linden is a village in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census. The village is mostly within Schoolcraft Township, though a tiny portion lies in Torch Lake Township.-History:...
. The first smelter was built at Hancock, Michigan
Hancock, Michigan
Hancock is a city in Houghton County; the northernmost in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, or, depending on terminology, Copper Island. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 census...
, but in 1887, the company moved its smelting to the new smelter at Lake Linden. The company later built a second smelter at Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, which took advantage of the cheap electricity generated from Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
to electrolytically refine copper. Electrolytic refining had the advantage that it separated out the silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
from the copper.
Annual copper production from the mines peaked in 1906 at 100 million pounds (45,000 metric tons), then declined in response to lower prices to 67 million pounds (30,000 metric tons) by 1912. Output dropped to 46 million pounds (21,000 metric tons) of refined copper in the strike year of 1913, but rebounded due to high copper prices during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
to 77 million pounds (35,000 metric tons) in 1917. The boost in production was attained partly by purchase of the Tamarack Mining Company in 1917. But copper prices fell drastically after the war, and in 1921 copper production fell to 15 million pounds (6,800 metric tons) as the company shut the Osceola (amygdaloid) mine in 1920, and shut down mining on the Calumet conglomerate in April 1921.
Hancock, Michigan
Hancock is a city in Houghton County; the northernmost in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, or, depending on terminology, Copper Island. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 census...
.
The company had always disposed of the mill tailings (locally called stamp sand
Stamp sand
Stamp sand is a coarse sand left over from the processing of ore in a stamp mill. In the United States, the most well-known deposits of stamp sand are in the Copper Country of northern Michigan, where it is black or dark grey, and may contain hazardous concentrations of trace metals.In the 19th...
s) in lakes adjacent to the mills, but about 1900 began investigating methods to recover the copper remaining in the waste tailings. Beginning in 1915, C&H began reprocessing the stamp sands at Lake Linden
Lake Linden, Michigan
Lake Linden is a village in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census. The village is mostly within Schoolcraft Township, though a tiny portion lies in Torch Lake Township.-History:...
, using a finer grind and ammonia leaching. Once the process proved profitable, the Tamarack mill also began reprocessing tailings. Through 1949, the company had recovered 535 million pounds (243,000 metric tons) of copper by reprocessing tailings. One of the dredges used, Calumet and Hecla Dredge Number One, is currently sunk in shallow water in Torch Lake
Torch Lake (Houghton County, Michigan)
Torch Lake is approximately 2,700 acres lying mostly within Torch Lake Township and having portions within Osceola Township and Schoolcraft Township. The lake is fed by the Traprock River....
.
Labor issues
Calumet, Michigan
Calumet is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County, in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, that was once at the center of the mining industry of the Upper Peninsula. Also known as Red Jacket, the village includes the Calumet Downtown Historic District, listed on the National...
(then named Red Jacket), Laurium
Laurium, Michigan
Laurium is a village in Calumet Township, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan, in the center of the Keweenaw Peninsula. The population was 2,126 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, and Lake Linden
Lake Linden, Michigan
Lake Linden is a village in Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,081 at the 2000 census. The village is mostly within Schoolcraft Township, though a tiny portion lies in Torch Lake Township.-History:...
were virtual company towns. The mining superintendents (called “captains”) were traditionally Cornishmen; the workers were Finns, Poles, Italians, Irish, and other immigrant nationalities.
Calumet and Hecla was a pioneer in providing employee benefits. The company built and ran a hospital for employees. It established an Employee Aid Fund for disability and death benefits; each employee paid in 50 cents per month, and the company matched the amount. The company maintained employee clubhouses and free libraries, and donated land and funds for churches. However, the all-encompassing company presence also led to charges of “paternalism
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
.”
In July 1913, the Western Federation of Miners
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
called a general strike against all mines in the Michigan Copper Country
Copper Country
The Copper Country is an area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the United States, including all of Keweenaw County, Michigan and most of Houghton, Baraga and Ontonagon counties. The area is so named as copper mining was prevalent there from 1845 until the late 1960s, with one mine ...
. Hundreds of strikers surrounded the Calumet and Hecla mine shafts to prevent others from reporting to work. All Calumet and Hecla mines shut down during the Copper Country Strike of 1913–1914
Copper Country Strike of 1913–1914
The Copper Country Strike of 1913–1914 was a major strike affecting all copper mines in the Copper Country of Michigan. The strike, organized by the Western Federation of Miners, was the first unionized strike within the Copper Country. It was called to achieve goals of shorter work days, higher...
, although the workers were said to be sharply divided on the strike question. The union demanded an 8-hour day, a minimum wage of $3 per day, an end to use of the one-man pneumatic drill
Jackhammer
A jackhammer is a pneumatic tool that combines a hammer directly with a chisel that was invented by Charles Brady King. Hand-held jackhammers are typically powered by compressed air, but some use electric motors. Larger jackhammers, such as rig mounted hammers used on construction machinery, are...
, and that the companies recognize it as the employees’ representative.
The mines reopened under National Guard protection, and many went back to work. The companies instituted the 8-hour day, but refused to set a $3 per day minimum wage, refused to abandon the one-man drill, and especially refused to employ Western Federation of Miners
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
members.
On Christmas Eve 1913, the Western Federation of Miners
Western Federation of Miners
The Western Federation of Miners was a radical labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles...
organized a party for strikers and their families at the Italian Benevolent Society hall in Calumet. The hall was packed with between 400 and 500 people when someone shouted “fire.” There was no fire, but 73 people, 62 of them children, were crushed to death trying to escape. This became known as the Italian Hall Disaster
Italian Hall disaster
The Italian Hall Disaster is a tragedy that occurred on December 24, 1913 in Calumet, Michigan...
. The strikers held out until April 1914, but then gave up the strike.
Calumet and Hecla employees were not unionized until 1943, when the company signed an agreement with the CIO
Congress of Industrial Organizations
The Congress of Industrial Organizations, or CIO, proposed by John L. Lewis in 1932, was a federation of unions that organized workers in industrial unions in the United States and Canada from 1935 to 1955. The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 required union leaders to swear that they were not...
-affiliated International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers.
The end of copper mining
During the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, copper prices dropped, and as a result most copper mines in the Copper Country closed, including Calumet and Hecla. Many mines reopened during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when wartime demand raised the price of copper. After the war copper prices plummeted, and most copper mines closed almost immediately. However, Calumet and Hecla was able to stay afloat due to C&H’s practice of acquiring many of the formerly great mines in the Keweenaw during and before the depression, and as a result outlasted nearly all other mining companies.
The company branched into other minerals after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. C&H geologists drilled into a major lead-zinc ore body in Lafayette County
Lafayette County, Wisconsin
Lafayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 16,137. Its county seat is Darlington.-Geography:According to the U.S...
southern Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
in 1947. Ore minerals were galena, sphalerite, calcite, and marcasite. The mine, named the Calumet & Hecla mine, opened in 1949. C&H sold the mine to the Eagle-Picher
Eagle-Picher
Eagle-Picher Corporation is a privately held, American, manufacturing and resource extractive company known for its storage battery technology. It was founded in 1842 as a paint manufacturing firm using the name Eagle White Lead, and became Eagle-Picher Lead in 1916 with its merger with a lead...
Company in 1954. The company also diversified into copper-based products, including a copper tube manufacturing business and fertilizers.
Calumet and Hecla opened the Kingston mine in 1965, the first new native copper mine opened in more than 30 years. By 1967, the company was operating six mines in the region. However, the company by this point was not even able to produce enough copper for its internal uses. Universal Oil Products (U.O.P.
UOP LLC
UOP LLC, formerly known as Universal Oil Products, is a multi-national company developing and delivering technology to the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemical production, and major manufacturing industries....
) bought Calumet and Hecla in April 1968. But in August of that same year the more than one thousand Calumet and Hecla employees went on strike. The last of its copper mines shut down, and as labor and management were unable to agree, the company shut down the dewatering pumps in 1970. The mines have remained idle ever since, and most are permanently capped.
Today, many Calumet and Hecla company mines and buildings are part of Keweenaw National Historical Park
Keweenaw National Historical Park
Keweenaw National Historical Park is a unit of the U.S. National Park Service. Established in 1992, the park celebrates the life and history of the Keweenaw Peninsula in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan...
.
Popular culture
Folksinger Woody GuthrieWoody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
wrote and sang 1913 Massacre
1913 Massacre
"1913 Massacre" is a topical ballad written by Woody Guthrie, and recorded and released in 1941 for Moses Asch's Folkways label. The song originally appeared on Struggle: Documentary No. 1, an album of labor songs, it was eventually re-released in 1999 on Buffalo Skinners: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 4...
, a song about the Italian Hall disaster
Italian Hall disaster
The Italian Hall Disaster is a tragedy that occurred on December 24, 1913 in Calumet, Michigan...
. His son Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Guthrie
Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...
also recorded the song.
See also
- Solar compassSolar compassThe solar compass, an astronomical instrument, was first invented and made by William Austin Burt. He patented it on February 25, 1836, in the United States Patent Office as No 9428X. It received a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851...
- Copper mining in MichiganCopper mining in MichiganWhile it originated thousands of years earlier, copper mining in Michigan became an important industry in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its rise marked the start of copper mining as a major industry in the United States.-Geology:...
- Calumet and Hecla Industrial DistrictCalumet and Hecla Industrial DistrictThe Calumet and Hecla Industrial District is a historic district located in Calumet, Michigan and roughly bounded by Hecla and Torch Lake railroad tracks, Calumet Avenue, Mine and Depot Streets...
- Copper Country Strike of 1913-1914