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This journal reflects the experiences of Hiram B. Crosby, a New York City lawyer, during his trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the fall of 1872. As part of a prospecting party, Crosby analyzed the potential for iron mines near Iron Mountain, Michigan. He recorded his impressions of local scenery, commented on his daily activities, and described the area's Native American settlements and peoples. The volume contains 24 pen and ink drawings.

This 127-page journal reflects the experiences of Hiram B. Crosby, a New York City lawyer, during his trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula in the fall of 1872. As part of a prospecting party, Crosby analyzed the potential for iron mines near Iron Mountain, Michigan. Crosby began the journal on September 26, 1872, as he left New York City, traveling by railroad to Menominee, Michigan, via Sandusky, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois. While in Ohio, he visited Jay Cooke on Lake Erie's Gibraltar Island (September 30, 1872), and pasted a pressed flower from the island onto the journal's first page.

After his arrival in Menominee, Crosby joined the members of his party and together they started out for Iron Mountain, where they planned to inspect specific areas for iron mining potential. In daily journal entries, Crosby recorded details of the group's travels along the Sturgeon and Menominee Rivers, particularly regarding local scenery and people. A few days into the trip, he fell from his horse while attempting to shoot a partridge, and suffered a fractured wrist (October 4, 1872); despite his injury, the trip proceeded smoothly, aided by the expertise of local Native Americans the group hired to make camp and guide the mining party. Crosby and the others frequently traveled by canoe, and he often described the guides and local Native American settlements, particularly at "Bad Water," near Iron Mountain.

On October 10, 1872, the explorers reached Iron Mountain and proceeded to examine the area. They set out again for Menominee shortly thereafter, and reached the town on October 15. There, Crosby inquired about the prices of shipping iron ore to Cleveland by boat (October 16). From Menominee, Crosby traveled to Escanaba, Marquette, and Houghton, Michigan, before heading to Detroit, which he described in several entries in late October. Crosby wrote the final entry in Detroit on October 26, 1872.

Three items are inserted into a flap in the front cover of the journal: 2 assurance tickets for Hiram B. Crosby from the Railway Passengers Assurance Company (November 14, 1872) and an advertising card for the Douglass House in Houghton, Michigan. A printed view of Marquette, Michigan, is pasted onto page 108 of the journal.

The journal also includes 24 pencil and ink drawings depicting scenes from Crosby's travels in the Upper Peninsula. See the Additional Descriptive Data section of this finding aid for an index of the illustrations.

Lake Superior Scenery consists of 26 watercolor sketches produced by artist Albert L. Rawson during a steamboat tour of the Great Lakes (primarily Lake Superior) in 1865. The sketches were compiled into a presentation album gifted to Louise C. Ely, a fellow traveler befriended by Rawson during the tour.

Lake Superior Scenery consists of 26 watercolor sketches produced by artist Albert L. Rawson during a steamboat tour of the Great Lakes (primarily Lake Superior) in 1865. The sketches were compiled into a presentation album gifted to Louise C. Ely, a fellow traveler befriended by Rawson during the tour.

The album (27 x 35.5 cm) has full pebbled burgundy Morocco leather covers replete with gilt decoration and blind-stamped ornamentations. The words “Presented to Mrs. Louise C. Ely By ***** ***** A Lake Superior friend,” “Album,” and “Lake Superior Scenery” are gold stamped on the front cover, spine, and back cover respectively. The binder’s ticket of “Dean Smeal & Hoffman Blank Book Manufacturers and Book Binders 148 Lake Street up stairs, Chicago” appears on the inside of the front cover, likely indicating that Rawson traveled through Chicago at some point during the 1865 steamboat tour. A calling card of “Mrs. C. Arthur Ely” is also tipped-in and includes an inscription reading “Elyria, Lake Superior Views in Water Colors.”

• No. 1 Grand Portal Pictured Rocks.
• 2 Grand Portal, Interior.
• 3 Miners Castle.
• 4 Cascade.
• 5 Cliff, where Steamer Superior was wrecked 1859.
• 6 Sail Rock and Profile.
• 7 Wrecker’s Hut.
• 8 Stranded Fleet.
• 9 Carp River. Near Marquette.
• 10 Cascade near Miner’s Castle.
• 11 [blank] (untitled scene showing railroad tracks, a train with smoke billowing, a river, and a colorful sky)
• 12 Lake Michigumi. Round Islands.
• 13 Chapel. From the Water.
• 14 Chapel and Fall, East.
• 15 Dead River, near White’s Burnt Mill.
• 16 Grand Island Harbor.
• 17 Superior Iron Mine.
• 18 In the Woods near Chocolat.
• 19 Fort Mackinac.
• 20 Washington Harbor - Lake Michigan.
• 21 Lake Michigami.
• 22 Marquette from Chocolat.
• 23 Marquette from the Water.
• 24 Picnic Point, near Presque Isle.
• 25 View near Marquette. Partridge Isle, Picnic Point Presque Isle and grand Island in the distance.
• 26 Chapel, West.

The table of contents accurately lists the relative position of each watercolor within the album except for the first two items (“Grand Portal Pictured Rocks” appears to be located on pg. 2 while “Grand Portal, Interior” is located on pg. 1).

• Eight views depicting various formations of The Pictured Rocks such as the Grand Portal, Miners Castle, Sail Rock, Stranded Fleet, and the Chapel.
• The view titled “The Wrecker’s Hut” (No. 7) showing a man sat near a birch-bark hut erected on Chapel Beach close to the site where the steamer Superior was wrecked in 1856. The view titled “Cliff where Steamer Superior was wrecked 1859” (No. 5) appears to have gotten the year of the wreck wrong.
• The view titled “Cascade Near Miner’s Castle” (No. 10) showing the steamboat Comet (built 1857 as a cargo vessel before being converted to hold passengers; she sank in 1875 while carrying seventy tons of Montana silver ore, making her the one and only treasure ship of Lake Superior)
• Several views of scenes near Marquette, Grand Island, and Lake Michigamme.
• The view titled “Superior Iron Mine” (No. 17) showing a group of miners at work with sledgehammers and horse-drawn carts.
• The view titled “Washington Harbor, Lake Michigan” (No. 20) showing a docked steamer at Washington Island, Wisconsin.