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The Making of a Mining District

Keweenaw Native Copper 1500-1870

David J. Krause

American History, History, Michigan, Upper Peninsula

Great Lakes Books Series

Paperback
Published: December 1992
ISBN: 9780814324073
Pages: 300 Size: 6x9
$25.99
Review

Krause's well-told tale of heroes, madmen, and entrepreneurs should become a standard in understanding the early economic and social foundations of Michigan.

— Michigan History Magazine

The Keweenaw Peninsula of northern Michigan is the only place on earth where large amounts of copper are found in the pure metallic "native" state. The Making of a Mining District is the first book to fully document how the value of these unique deposits came to be recognized, from the time Europeans first became aware of the native copper shortly after 1500 to the establishment of the region as one of the great copper mining districts of the world.
Krause focuses on the period from 1820 to 1865, when the district's true mining potential became clearer to many and when American science changed from a pleasant amateur diversion into a more rigorous professional discipline, a change clearly reflected in attitudes toward this unique region.

David J. Krause teaches in the Science Division at Henry Ford Community College, Dearborn, Michigan. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

The story of Keweenaw copper is one that should be a strong part of Michigan folklore and tradition . . . Krause's well-told tale of heroes, madmen, and entrepreneurs should become a standard in understanding the early economic and social foundations of Michigan.

– Michigan History Magazine