Known as the Cliffs, near Phoenix, MI, these rocky hills are an attraction for snowmobiliers, four-wheelers and rock climbers alike. Paul and Nathanlie Brandes (Capt. Paul and Dr. Nat) explored around the Cliffs area on their recent visit and share these photos with us today. Views looking up, views looking around and views looking down, none of which do it justice like standing in those spots in person will do, but they are a pretty close second. The fourth shot is what remains of the boiler stack from Cliff Mine #4 there. Back in the 1840’s this was the first successful copper mine in the Copper Country and was the most productive copper mine in the United States from 1845 to 1854. It continued to produce copper under various owners through 1887, but not as large scale as those earlier years. Total production from this mine was 38.2 million pounds of refined copper.

We get to go on a Cliff Mine Tour, courtesy of a video from the ClffMap Project. It’s touted as an introductory video for anyone visiting the Cliff Mine site.

Beautiful pictures.

Is it possible to drive an ATV to the top, or at least get close?

We drove our Jeep Wrangler up to the top overlook with no problems.

I think Capt. Paul and Dr. Nat need to live back up
here!!

Isn't there a Jewish Cemetery up on the cliffs
someplace?

Donna,
The only cemetery i'm aware of in the area is this one: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/722/cliff-catholic-cemetery

Donna, there is a cemetery right at the base of
the cliffs, commonly called the Protestant
cemetery. The Catholic cemetery that jbuck
mentioned is slightly further away closer to
Phoenix. Visit this site
for slightly more detail: https://99wfmk.com/old-
miners-graves-cliff-mine/

By Donna (Donna) on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 - 08:39 am:

I think Capt. Paul and Dr. Nat need to live back up
here!!

Well Donna, we are currently working on that..... ;-)

As far as I know, there are only two cemeteries around Cliff; the Catholic one off US41 (also known as the Hillside Cemetery) and the Protestant one off Cliff Drive and across Eagle River. I do not know of any Jewish cemeteries in the area of Cliff, but some people swear one exists.

The pix are bursting with UP color...what a treat.

Yes, beautiful shots of the area! I'd be planning to move back too!

How much taller was the stack originally?

Greetings:

There probably is a Jewish cemetery in the Copper Country but I don't think that there was one at the base of the Cliffs. I would have to do some serious research.

Hancock had the Temple Jacob (Jacob Gartner) and per their sequence, a cemetery was first on the list.

Since there were Jewish families in Houghton / Hancock up to Calumet / Mohawk I would think that the Boston area would be the place to look.

See (> https://www.michjewishhistory.org/assets/docs/Journals/Michigan_Jewish_History_1998_11.pdf <)

JT

Thank you everyone...and Capt...come on HOME!!!

I HAVE heard folks talk about the Jewish cem up
there...it's hiding, not many know about it...but
it's there!

Where do you access the trail that goes back to the mine ruins as shown in the video.

Here is the Jewish cemetery in the area: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2375093/congregation-peniel-jewish-cemetery

Thank you JBuck:

I believe that you have found the cemetery.

8 out of the 10 graves fit the time slot (1880-1940), and the cemetery seems to be about the right distance by horse and cart to bury the dead.

It does not exclude that there might be another Jewish cemetery in the Copper Country but I kind of doubt there is.

There just weren't a lot of Copper Country Jewish citizens to support one of the 12 tribes let alone two or three tribes.

JT

If you read the death certificates for the Altmans and Lizzie Sharp you'll see they were all from Russia and died from drowning on the same day. It looks like it says from a burning steamer on Lake Superior. From my research it looks like it may have been:

List of shipwrecks: 10 May 1901, Bon Voyage, United States

The steamer caught fire between Ontonagon, Michigan and Hancock. She was beached and burned to the waterline.

Thank you JBuck:

I wonder if "fire" in English sounds like "stay in your cabin" in Russian?

Perhaps the Russian individuals did not have a rudimentary understanding of English. Many came to this country knowing only their native language.

It begs the question where was the ship, Bon Voyage, and the Russians headed to.

I'm assuming that the Altman's and Ms. Sharp were not residents of the Copper Country, but simply died and were buried on land as close as possible per their religion.

Thank you again, for digging in to the history. Funny how an unknown cemetery location quandary could turn into a fact finding mission.

JT

JT, you may be right about the language barrier. Here's the rest of the story:

The Bon Voyage was originally built in 1891 by Rogers and Bird in Saugatuck, Michigan. The wooden propeller vessel was the sister ship to the “Bon Ami.” She operated the first season on the Rochester and Thousand Islands route. On May 10, 1901, the vessel caught fire on Lake Superior, six miles northwest of the Portage Ship Canal entry. She was traveling along shore near Houghton, MI, when the vessel caught fire. Passengers attempted to swim to shore, but unfortunately two women and two children drowned. The first reports listed the lives lost at five, but it was later determined only four perished. All of those who passed away came from the Altman family of Laurium, MI. The vessel was beached near Red Ridge, Michigan, and her machinery was later removed by Clow & Nicholson, of Duluth, Minnesota. On June 20, 1901, the vessel was surrendered and final enrollment recorded in Duluth, MN.

Greetings JBuck and all:

Thank you JBuck for looking in to the last trip of the Bon Voyage. My internet skills need lots of time to find things.

On the find-a-grave website for the Jewish cemetery outside of Calumet did you notice how many of tombstones were of very young children.

The city where I grew up had an Angel Hill section of the public cemetery (all denominations) that was only for children. I assumed all these years that the graves were holding graves until the parents had a plot for the family.

Next time I'm in the Calumet area I'll look for the Congregation Peniel Cemetery and see if there is an adult graveyard nearby.

The Jewish cemetery is just a hop West from the former Homestead Bar. A place that I have wanted to see what 50 "Winters" has done to the place.

JT

By J T (Jtinchicago) on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 - 10:22 pm:
… I wonder if "fire" in English sounds like "stay in your cabin" in Russian?

Well, "asbestos" I can tell, no!

Not in Russian:

English	Russian	Pronounced
FIRE!	ПОЖАР!	POZHAR!
STAY IN YOUR CABIN!	ОСТАВАЙЕСЬ В СВОЕЙ КАЮТЕ!	OSTAVAYYES' V SVOYEY KAYUTE!

… nor in Hebrew
(sorry, no help with the pronunciation):

English	Hebrew
FIRE!	!אש
STAY IN YOUR CABIN!	!הישאר בתא שלך

… nor in Yiddish:

English	Yiddish	Pronounced
FIRE!	FIRE!	FIRE!
STAY IN YOUR CABIN!	!בלייבן אין דיין קאַבינעט	BLEYBN IN DEN KABINET!

One last comment JT ~
The information in Find A Grave is user entered. The entries in a cemetery are almost never complete - not even including active cemeteries. So there very well could be many more graves in the cemetery, including many adults, which have not been put in yet. The 10 memorials have been entered by 3 or 4 different people. All the pages with headstone photographs were done by the same person in 2010, so maybe those are all that are readable. Whatever the case, it will be interesting to hear what you find when you go looking!