Anyone interested in Copper Country history, should visit Chuck Voelker's site, Copper Country Reflections. He has preserved the history of the area in old photos and postcards like this one. You can spend hours wallowing in nostalgia.

I know today's quiz wasn't too hard for folks familiar with Calumet, MI, formerly known as the Village of Red Jacket. This is a shot looking down Oak Street, with the Vertin building on the left and the First National Bank building across 6th Street. That's a lot of snow in the road! Remember this view of Oak St., back in December 2003, taken from the top of the Vertin building? I'm wondering if the Vertin brother's were the original owners of that building --

These shots are some of my favorites too! Thanks!

Good morning, Toivo, glad to see you're at the helm. Mary Drew will be editing the weekday Pasty Cam remotely over Pasty.NET's Nationwide Dial-in network this week, as she and Jim are cruising south for a few warmer days.

Just a reminder, something's always happening in the Keweenaw. Today concludes the Michigan High School Cross Country Ski Championship with awards ceremony this afternoon up at the SDC at Michigan Tech. For the schedule, visit KeweenawTrails.com, one of several dozen non-profit websites we host on Pasty.NET, as part of our members' service grant program for the community.

Toivo budy, the phrase "wallowing in nostalgia" hits too close to home. A carton of Moose Tracks ice cream, a spoon, a mouse, Copper Country Reflections, and pretty soon I'm wishing I was back in da UP.

So back in the "good ol days" how did they get rid of the snow? It would seem the phrase "Man your shovel" would be the only way. Nice pictures, we are suppose to seee snow in Virginia tonight, so once again the shovel will come out.

I always enjoyed a trip to Vertins when I was a kid. They had the elevator where I took my first ride. Great thrill. Must have been, as I remember it well, even today. It was a big deal to drive from Houghton to Calumet during the 1930's to do some looking in stores. Even with gas at low prices there was not a lot of money. As a kid I never realized just how bad things were for many people. Especially the merchants. My Uncle Bobby (my grandmother's brother) was an out of work miner who used to hang out at the old Laurium fire hall (the little building behind it). I think he worked part time as a janitor at a school. I remember when he got a surplus army overcoat from a traincar load sent in when winter was starting. Some in the family were a bit embarassed, but glad that he would be warm.

Hey Jeff In Norfolk, I think the snow removal program was called "Spring" or maybe June. ;>)

Thanks Toivo for another memory. Even today, walking around in "Red Jacket" you can feel the history around you and imagine how life must have been "back then".

http://www.pasty.com/discuss/messages/994/1087.html

Here is a link showing how snow was handled before plows. It is provided by Pasty.com of course!

Hi, My mother was born in Calumet in 1915. I have inherited a kitchen clock purchased in Red Jacket On June 14 1892. I was surprised to see that Red Jacket is the former name of Calumet. I always wondered about the little town. Enjoying all the pictures and all the talk of Pasties. Grandma made the best ones. She even initialed them for the ones who didn't like onions etc.NO GRAVY.used to have Forman's Piccililli or Catsup. Keep up the good work. It makes the winter just a little shorter.

thats a old pictures when and were and who is that and how is that

GREAT LAKES FISH HOUSE is now opened in Largo Fl. I have no connection but would like Michiganians to know of this restraunt just opened in the Tampa, Fla area. Wall decorations are provided by artist Leo Kuschel from Taylor and at the next store opening they plan on having pictures also by Jim Clary of Port Huron.

""Plenty of folks will be just as delighted with this catch: perch, bluegill, walleye and whitefish. The clue should have been in the maps and nautical charts on the walls, which unlike those that decorate most fish houses here, show water almost completely surrounded by land. These are called lakes, the Great Lakes that we learned about in geography class years ago.

Me, I have bigger fish to fry - or grill or blacken, such as the walleye or the wild king (chinook) salmon from the lakes. The best for me was a long, thick side of walleye from Lake Superior, solid flakes of moist, rich meat and flavor that seasoning salt can't hide. I ran into a few very small bones and a scale or two. I mention that not as a warning but as welcome confirmation that these fish have not been homogenized.

Michigander Rick Bonin (Gibraltar)and his fellow restaurant owner Wally Ogrodowski (Rockwood) have plunked an authentic-looking knotty-pine fish house in Largo, Fla.
St Petersburg Times Feb 4, 2004

Those poor people... gosh :(

Bob Brown - who was your uncle? Yes there was a little building behind the Laurium firehall. In my days the snow was moved with a tractor pulling a scoop and delivering and pileing it up behind the Laurium Quality. The pile during the winter months would be as high as the home on the corner of Kearsarge and 4th street. Thats were King of the Mountain was played.

If they rolled that snow real tight, could it last until, say, August?

Ed: With the possible exception of whitefish, none of those fish you mentioned could have come from the Great Lakes. This is because of declining populations and DNR rules; not that they are not there. What gives? Well, I back off; I am thinking Lake Superior and Michigan.

Cool!

Anyone know why Calumet was named Red Jacket? There is a large memorial (or grave) of Chief Red Jacket in Buffalo, NY's Forest Lawn Cemetary with a large likeness of the indian chief.

Paul R Sitting here in Biloxi Ms. looking at Oak street. I walked four times a day on my way to and from CHS.

Kathy in NY,
Red Jacket was the name of a mine shaft, there were shafts named Yellow Jacket and Blue Jacket and maybe more, I haven't a map of the area handy. Communities around the shafts were housing for the miners and families and named for the local shaft. Possibly the mine owners or folks just bought jackets of that color for easy identification of neighbors/friends but that would be conjecture on my part...

There is a memorial for a girl that fell into the Red Jacket shaft and died at the opening of the shaft today. A movement to cap all openings into abandoned shafts was stopped as they had become home to little brown bats which thrive on the night bugs of the area. Grids were put in place which allowed the bats access but were too small to fly through so raccoons found easy pickings for a while when the bats slowed to enter and exit through the grids. The grids were changed to a form that allows free flight access for the bats but keeps out people.

Kathy I believe it was called Red Jacket because of the mine. That is where Red Jacket Shaft was. Also, my son in Texas found several pictures in an antique store there. One has the name R.H. Rickard, City Art Gallery, Red Jackt, Mich. on it. Also two from Lake Linden. P.W. Wark and Comee. I was born in Hubbell and the only studio I knew of in Lake Linden was Dupuees. Any one ever hear of any of these?

Looking at this picture brings me to ask "What do you think of the 4-way stop at this intersection and also the angle parking on one block of Sixth Street?" To Jim, Arlington Texas: See my note on February 14th CamNotes.

Hi all,
Checking in again with Pasty Net's Nationwide Dial-In network....wow, is this great. No matter where we end up stopping on the road, I have access to my email and the internet!

Speaking of stops, we had to get off the road early today. We had hoped to make it as far south as Atlanta, GA today, but, believe it or not, it was snowing so hard around Nashville, TN and south, that we finally stopped in a town called Manchester, TN, just south of Nashville. We made a gas stop and were told that we were heading into the worst of the snow, slush and ice...6" or more on the freeway and travel was reduced to 30 mph. Sure didn't expect to have snow this far south, but they said to wait until tomorrow, it'd be gone by then, because they don't keep anything long in these parts!! :-) Jim took a couple pictures of me in the Tennessee snow, but my laptop won't recognize my camera to upload them...hey Toivo or Charlie...any ideas?

to bill in bham, ala. I remember seeney strucel driving a cat=pillar tractor no blade, but pulling a sno scraper and piling the sno on several lots in calumet notably the lot across from the calumet theatre next to the firehall he had a ramp that would climb up and and attachment that would release the snow blade and the scoop discharged evenly the snow, always ready for the next trip big fella calumet

Mary all we have had here is plain old rain.No snow and no ice. We were hoping to get some but for some reason it usually passes us by.

My favorite method of snow removal - "let He who put it there, take it away". Good for those of us who procrastinate. Cold here in Milwaukee today - but sunny.

Dick B.
Eino and Toivo were girl watching at the Copper Country Mall when a Girl walked by in a red jacket. They inquired as to where she was from and she replied Red Jacket. A short time later another lass walked by all in blue and when asked replied Blue Jacket. Next came a gal in yellow -- she was from Yellow Jacket. The mall proprieters had a heck of a time getting them to leave at closing. They were looking for someone from Bear Lake.

Thanks Charlie, finally got the pictures uploaded....This was taken in Manchester, TN, sure feels like home in the U.P....

Now the story I heard..though someone may have been pulling my leg.....is that Yellow Jacket was named after the hornet of the same name. The hornet population was very high and it was nicknamed that jokingly. Some other residents assumed that the word "jacket" was a mining term and began naming other areas with different color "jackets". And it stuck. Maybe only fokelore, but it is worth a chuckle.

Thank you Dick B and JD. I always wondered if there was a Buffalo-Calumet connection in the Red Jacket name. For anyone intrigued with the UP and the mining days, I recommend "Copper Country Tales" by Roy W. Drier. I read it in one sitting after visiting the UP. Hope it's still in print.

Re: 6th street angle parking- not nearly enough room! Some vehicles stick out into the traffic lane. As for the 4-way stop...maybe it creates a small space in traffic down by the Mine Street Station- enough space to pull out from the parking lot on a busy day? Doesn't seem effective for much else.

Hey JD the photographic shop was "Dupuis". The shop was owned by my uncle Clarence.

Kathy, NY
According to wikipedia.org (online encyclopedia) Red Jacket village did indeed derive its name from the Seneca (Iroquois) Indian Chief when it was officially made a village back in 1864.

I understand the chief fought with the British during the civil war and was a given a red coat by the soldiers, who later named him "Chief Red Jacket".

The Boston Mining Company was one of the first to establish in the area, I wonder if they brought the name?

Sorry,
That would be the revolutionary war, wouldn't it?

The Vertin building does bring back memories. My sister-in-law Norma (Kivela) Dulong operated that elevator at Vertins for awhile before she went to work at the C&H Mining company. We all got a kick out of riding the elevator. Thanks for the memories.

By Beverly, San Jose, Ca. February 16, 2004 Thanks for the memories. I remember when I lived in Calumet, on Mine Street, and my sister Virginia and I would skate from home to the ice rink in Laurium,and shovel snow off the rink, skate for 2 hours, than skate back home. That was in the early 50's. The rink was near the Laurium Airport. Do you remember?

Hi Mary, nice to see you instead of just consuming your work. Now, I seem to recall that there was a pic of Charlie somewhere, and I thought, oh, so that's him - is there somewhere more than a silhouette of you? Just curious.

Red Jacket the village existed before C&H began sinking the Red Jacket Shaft. Red Jacket was the main commercial section of the district. The village was named after the Native American cheif. The other "Jackets", Raymbaultown, Opeechee, etc. were villages or neighborhoods that made up what is now Calumet. There never were any Blue Jacket, or Yellow Jacket shafts. The little girl was lost in one of the Tamarack #4 shaft not too far from the Red Jacket shaft.
The name Calumet is also of Native American origin and was applied first to the great conglomerate lode that lies under the town. Hecla is the name of a volcano on Iceland that evidently captured the imagination of folks back in the 1860's when Calumet & Hecla was founded.
Once the mine took off, the area became known as the Calumet location or district after the Calumet Conglomerate Lode. There never was a "Calumet" until the 1920's.

As near as I can figure, the Iroquois Indian "Red Jacket", who was an indian orator and highly respected for his oratory and political skills by both the NY Iroquois Conferation of Indians and the white settlers, was never in the UP. But the immigrants coming to Calumet via the Erie Canal or by stage coach as my great grandparents did, probably heard of the legendary man as they passed through the Iroquois tribal lands in the early-to-mid 1800's. Incidental to this is that Hiawatha was the spiritual founder of the peaceable Iroquois Confederation of Indians 300 years earlier and Red Jacket was often called "the last Iroquois". The "calumet" was the peace pipe they fashioned and used, according to legend, from the red cliffs in the mid west.

I am wondering if the "little girl" lost in Tamarack 4 is Ruth Ann Miller.