RECOVERY
OF THE MINE HOIST
The
following was
Evidence
of Michigan’s nineteenth century copper mining industry can be found today in
Chassell, Michigan. An eleven ton steam hoist from the depths of the Copper
Falls Mine stands in front of the Alpha Chapter house of the Sigma Rho
Fraternity. It was retrieved and restored by members of the fraternity of
Michigan Technological University engineering students. They took on an
eight-month project to “mine out” the abandoned hoist from eight and a half
levels down — approximately eight hundred and fifty feet below the surface.
The project took about three thousand man-hours from early October 1954 until
late May 1955. Following is a brief history of the project and how the hoist got
to where it stands today.
Discovery
The
project actually began in 1950 when Robert (Speed) Burns, a graduate student in
geology at Michigan Tech, came across the hoist during his wanderings to many of
the old copper mining properties. He found it intact as it had been when it was
lifting copper during the nineteenth century. It had been last greased and laid
to rest in 1892 by George Conley of Hubbell. It was Speed’s idea to take out
the hoist and put it on public display. Speed and Dr. Joseph P. (Joe) DobeIl,
Professor of Geology at Tech, outlined the project to the members of Sigma Rho.
After several meetings in the Chapter living room the members decided to go for
it!
Owners
of the property, the Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, were contacted and asked
to help in this difficult undertaking. The company showed the students how to
take the necessary steps to ensure safety and provided them with safety and
other gear. The mining company also sent one of their inspectors down into the
mine to make sure that it was safe from cave-ins, falling rock, air blasts, and
other hazards that might be found in a mine that old.
Retrieval
The
only access to the hoist was through an air ventilation adit which lead to a
drift that intersected
the main Owls Creek shaft at the second level. The shaft was cut into the ground
at a 27 to 30 degree angle. Thirty degrees was much steeper than any had
expected — it was almost like working on a vertical wall. The ventilation shaft led
to the second level where all the overnight camping was done. There was
incessant running water, darkness like none ever experienced and thousands of hibernating
bats with wet shimmering coats composed of droplets of dew, hanging on the overhead rock like pears on a
tree.
The plan was to dismantle the hoist and take it up piece by piece. There was no
skip available and only about 200 feet of intermittent track in the shaft. In
order to bring the parts up it was necessary to construct a skip and lay 600
feet of track. The future engineers built a skip with wheels and axles that were
found in the seventh level stope. To lay the track they had to fill in washouts,
erect trestles, replace rotten ties, and gather tracks wherever they could find
them in the mine. The work crew generally included five to ten men working
two or three days a week. On weekends they frequently operated on a two-shift
basis, each working from six to eight hours a day. Professor Dobell was the job
supervisor while George Sinko, graduating senior and Archon (president) of the fraternity,
acted as coordinator of the students. By January the hoist was dismantled, the
tracks were laid and they were ready to begin bringing the parts to the surface. The parts moved up the shaft on the skip which was pulled by an
electric tugger borrowed from the Army and powered by a generator donated by
Michigan Tech. With its mechanical advantage of 150 to l, the tugger moved the
skip at a snail’s pace. During the piece-by-piece raising of the hoist,
walkie-talkies and field telephones donated by the University’s Army ROTC
department at the University provided communication and coordination between
the various levels.
The group remembers the day the generator was brought to the mine as one of the
hardest work days they encountered. The generator was hauled to the mine on an
Army 6 x 6 truck provided by the Permafrost Research Establishment stationed at
the airfield There were three feet of snow on the ground, and the mine was
about a mile and a half from the highway. 25 men shoveled or pushed for nearly
12 hours. Fortunately Michigan Tech’s Forest Products and Research Division
had loaned the services of a small bulldozer which helped clear the way.
Perseverance
Probably
the dominant aspect of the project was the plain hard work. In addition to the
back-breaking chore there were the elements: snow and cold in the winter and
rising water in the spring. Relaxation after a hard day’s work, particularly
on Saturday, was at the Sportsman’s Bar in Kearsarge. It was a welcome sight
to see the log cabin with its big fireplace and whittled chain hanging over the
bar. Many long neck bottles of Bosch and hearty ham dinners were enjoyed.
By
spring the water began to rise in the mine endangering the project to failure if
it reached the hoist and equipment. George Sinko with the help of Fred Ross
rallied the troops for one last non-stop push. The task became a desperate
struggle to get the parts up before they were submerged. Many of the pieces were
still at the eight and a half level and the water was
Restoration
The
hoist pieces were hauled to the Sigma Rho house which was at the top of a steep
40 foot hill. The original plan was to erect the hoist half way up the front
lawn. Those plans were put on hold in 1956 when it was learned that school
officials intended to purchase the house grounds, raze the ‘old house’ and
extend Wadsworth Hall. The Sigma Rho Fraternity was then relocated to
Chassell in a vacant old manor house built by a lumber baron in the late
1800’s The wooden house needed a lot of work so remodeling projects occupied
the fraternity membership until 1961. By that time all the members involved in
the original hoist project had graduated. A new group of Sigma Rho members with
the same spirit began to clean and assemble the hoist and place it on display.
The work began in earnest in the spring of 1961. The hoist parts had been stored
in the carriage house which was used as the work center. Sandblast guns, hoses,
blast pot and compressor were borrowed from Herman Gundlach Construction
Company. Years of rust, paint and dirt caked on the castings proved hard to
remove. Most of the blasting was done by Pete Cayler and his brother Jim who was
Archon (fraternity President) that year. Cleaned parts were dragged outside and
got a coat of red lead paint under the supervision of Larry (Rigger) Willett.
While cleaning and painting continued, another crew under the coordination of
Bill Hicklen hand dug a foundation set concrete forms and poured the base for
the hoist. In the final rush to finish, a pair of small cement mixers operated
continuously for 24 hours.
The
main shaft of the hoist was set in place in the fall of 1961 with the remaining
pieces assembled and painted in the spring of 1962. The completion was almost 12
years from the date Speed Burns first discovered the old machine in the Copper
Falls mine some 850 feet below the surface. The hoist now stands as an excellent
example of 19th century mining machinery and makes a significant contribution to
local history.