>> FUNDING FOR "LOST IRON RANGE" IS PROVIDED BY THE CITIZENS OF MINNESOTA THROUGH THE MINNESOTA ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE FUND.

>> THE IRON RANGE.

THE NAME ITSELF DESCRIBES BOTH THE METAL THAT MADE THE REGION FAMOUS AND THE INTERNAL FORTITUDE OF ITS FIRST SETTLERS.

IRON INDEED.

LEARNING FROM THE NATIVES WHO HAD LIVED THERE FOR GENERATIONS, EXPLORERS TRAVELED BY CANOE TO THE REGION NORTHEAST OF THE SHINING BIG SEA WATER, GITCHE GUMEE, MAKING NOTE OF THE TALL TIMBER THAT WENT ON FOR MILES AND MILES.

>> AFTER THE ORIGINAL EXPLORERS AND THEN THE FUR TRADE HERE, AND THEN THE NEXT BIG THING WAS THE TIMBER INDUSTRY.

>> FIRST WITH THE AXE AND THEN THE TWO-MAN SAW, THEY WORKED THROUGH HARSH WINTERS FOR THE BOUNTY OF THE VAST WHITE PINE FOREST, HARVESTED TO THE BENEFIT OF AN EXPANDING NATION.

>> FIRST CAME THE LUMBER MEN AND THEY CUT THE TREES DOWN AND SHIPPED THEM OUT, AND THEN CAME THE MINING MEN AND FOUND IRON, AND THAT'S THE STORY OF THE RANGE.

I'VE HEARD THAT GROWING UP 100 TIMES.

>> BUSINESSMEN AND INVESTORS WITH DEEP POCKETS WERE EAGER TO EXPLOIT THE WEALTH OF THE REGION, BUT TO DO SO, THEY NEEDED CAPITAL OF THE HUMAN VARIETY.

WHEN THE INFLUX OF FOREIGNERS ARRIVED IN THESE PARTS, IT DIDN'T LOOK LIKE THIS.

BUT SITES LIKE THIS ARE A TESTAMENT TO WHY THEY CAME; FIRST TO HARVEST THE VIRGIN FOREST AND MAKE THEIR LIVING OFF THE WOOD, THEN TO GO DEEPER INTO THE LAND FOR THE METALS.

IT WAS THE IRON IN THE ROCK THAT WOULD DEFINE THIS REGION AND TRANSFORM IT FROM WILDS AND BACKWOODS INTO BOOM TOWNS THAT GREW UP AROUND A SOARING NEW INDUSTRY.

IN THE WINTER, THE WEATHER GOT SO COLD THEY HAD TO SHUT DOWN MINING FOR THE SEASON, BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP THE IMMIGRANTS FROM ARRIVING BY SHIP OR BY RAIL.

>> HOW THEY HEARD ABOUT THE IRON RANGE IS ONE OF THOSE QUESTIONS WE DON'T KNOW.

THE STORY WE GET IS "WELL, MY BROTHER HEARD ABOUT IT" OR "MY UNCLE HEARD ABOUT IT," BUT WE NEVER FOUND THE BROTHER OR UNCLE WHO FIRST HEARD ABOUT IT.

>> THEY CAME TO AMERICA FOR ONE REASON: TO WORK IN THE MINES, MAKE A LITTLE MONEY, AND GO BACK TO THE OLD COUNTRY AND SHOW EVERYBODY THAT THEY HAD MADE SOMETHING OF THEIR LIVES.

THESE ARE THE KIND OF PEOPLE THAT CAME TO THE RANGE; VERY AMBITIOUS, VERY HARD WORKERS.

>> WHERE OTHERS COULD FATHOM ONLY HARDSHIP, THE FIRST TO ARRIVE SAW PROMISE.

WITH HARD WORK AND DETERMINATION THEY FASHIONED TOWN SITES IN THE DENSE, NEARLY TRACKLESS FOREST.

THEN CAME THE COMPANY TOWNS, INCORPORATED VILLAGES, AND BOOMING CITIES LIKE VIRGINIA AND HIBBING.

THE MINING COMPANIES WERE KING AS BIG STEEL BECAME A DRIVING FORCE OF THE 20th CENTURY, AND IF ORE WAS FOUND BENEATH THE STREETS, ENTIRE TOWNS WERE MOVED.

>> MY FOLKS WERE THE LAST PEOPLE LIVING IN NORTH HIBBING, IN 1967, AND THERE WAS A MINING COMPANY OFFICE IN THE BUILDING NEXT TO OUR HOUSE, AND THAT WAS STILL IN SERVICE, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE WAS GONE.

>> HUGE COMPANIES LIKE OLIVER MINING, PART OF THE CARNEGIE STEEL EMPIRE, ROSE TO PROMINENCE THANKS TO THE RICH ORES OF THE IRON RANGE, BUT THAT SUCCESS WAS BUILT ON THE BACKS OF PIONEERS LIKE THE MERRITTS, LONGYEAR, AND BENNETT, AND GENERATIONS OF MINERS WHO WORKED IN THE DANK UNDERGROUND AND MASSIVE OPEN PITS.

>> THE MINING COMPANY TENDED TO USE COMPETITION.

WHO'S BETTER?

THESE GANGS OF ITALIANS OR THESE FINNISH GANGS?

WHO CAN PRODUCE MORE ORE?

TO EACH OTHER, THEY WERE ALL THE SAME, THE COLOR OF IRON ORE.

>> EVERYBODY WAS A MINORITY UP HERE, EVERYBODY.

WHETHER YOU WERE FINNISH, WHETHER WERE YOU WERE A SLAV, YOU'RE A MONTENEGRIAN, YOU'RE A BULGARIAN--YOU WERE A MINORITY, SO EVERYBODY WAS ON EQUAL FOOTING.

>> THESE MINES AND THE MINERS OF EVERY NATIONALITY HELPED BUILD THE GREAT AMERICAN CITIES AND WIN TWO WORLD WARS, AND THOUGH THE RICHEST ORE WAS SOON MINED OUT, NEW MINING TECHNIQUES KEPT THE RANGE'S MINING CULTURE INTACT.

THROUGH IT ALL, THOSE WITH RED ORE STAINS ON THEIR BOOTS REMAINED STEADFAST, DESPITE ALL THAT CHANGED AROUND THEM.

>> THAT, THE IDEA THAT ALL OF US ON THE RANGE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP WITH, "NOTHING IS PERMANENT."

>> THESE ARE THE STORIES OF THOSE WHO CAME FIRST TO OPEN UP THIS UNTAMED COUNTRY.

THESE ARE THE STORIES OF THE LOST IRON RANGE.

>> THE STORY OF THE IRON RANGE IS THE STORY OF AMERICA-- A REMOTE WILDERNESS, LAND OF SWAMPS AND STREAMS, LAKES AND TALL TIMBER, WHERE IMMIGRANTS JOURNEYED FROM THOUSANDS OF MILES AWAY TO MAKE A NEW HOME.

THE EARLIEST SETTLERS FOUND LIFE WAS HARD, AND ROADS WERE MERE TRAILS THROUGH MOSQUITO-INFESTED WETLANDS AND PRIMEVAL FORESTS.

>> THE VASTNESS OF THE WHITE PLAIN FOREST MUST HAVE BEEN REALLY SOMETHING.

IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN A DARK, DEEP, ALMOST SCARY FOREST, BECAUSE IT WAS SO DENSE WITH THIS OLD-GROWTH TIMBER.

>> THE FIRST TO FIND THEIR FORTUNE IN THE REGION WERE THE LUMBER MEN, WHO MARVELED AT THE TOWERING PINES THAT CROWDED THE LANDSCAPE IN WHAT SEEMED TO BE AN ENDLESS EXPANSE OF FOREST.

>> OF THE 50 MILLION ACRES OF LAND IN MINNESOTA, ABOUT 15 MILLION ACRES OF IT WAS FOREST.

>> ABOUT 3 TO 4 MILLION ACRES OF THAT FOREST WAS WHITE PINE, A TREE IDEALLY SUITED FOR THE NEEDS OF THE PIONEERS.

>> "NO OTHER SOFTWOOD HAS SERVED MORE USEFULLY IN AMERICA THAN HAS THE WHITE PINE.

IT FURNISHED THE EARLY SETTLER WITH SHELTER.

THE LOGS FOR THE CABIN, THE SHAKES FOR THE ROOF, AND THE PUNCHEONS FOR THE FLOOR ALL CAME FROM THE WHITE PINE.

IT ALSO PROVIDED THE INCOMING SETTLER WITH IMPLEMENTS, FURNITURE, FENCES--ALL OF THEM NECESSITIES IN A NEW COUNTRY."

AGNES M. LARSON, "HISTORY OF THE WHITE PINE INDUSTRY IN MINNESOTA," 1949.

>> THE TALL WHITE PINES THAT DOMINATED THE NORTHERN LANDSCAPE PRODUCED LUMBER THAT WAS BOTH STRONG AND LIGHTWEIGHT, PLUS IT HAD ANOTHER ADVANTAGE.

>> WHEN YOU PUT A CROSS-CUT SAW ON A WHITE PINE TREE, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN ZING THROUGH IT FAIRLY WELL, OR EVEN BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN THEY HAD TO CHOP THEM DOWN.

>> THE LUMBER BARONS WERE QUICK TO SECURE RIGHTS TO VAST TRACTS OF THE NORTHERN FOREST.

BY THE LATE 1890s, IN A SPAN OF JUST 50-SOME YEARS, MOST OF THESE MAGNIFICENT PINES HAD BEEN FELLED.

THEY WERE FLOATED DOWN MAJOR WATERWAYS TO SAWMILLS FURTHER SOUTH, AND THEN SOLD TO KEEP UP WITH THE RELENTLESS DEMAND FOR LUMBER TO BUILD NEW HOMES AND BUSINESSES.

>> DULUTH ALREADY HAD SEEN WHAT I'D CALL THE "SECOND HURRAH."

A LOT OF MILLS IN THE DULUTH, IN THE BAY AREA THERE WHERE THE ST.

LOUIS RUNS INTO LAKE SUPERIOR, AND OF COURSE, ALSO THE CLOQUET AREA.

>> THOUGH A LARGE SHARE OF THE FOREST HAD BEEN HARVESTED BY THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY, NORTHERN MINNESOTA'S GREATEST LOGGING STORY WAS YET TO UNFOLD.

IT WOULD COME TO BE KNOWN AS "THE LAST HURRAH," WHITE PINE SAWMILLS OF NORTHERN MINNESOTA, AND WHAT A GRAND ACHIEVEMENT IT WAS.

BUILT HERE ON THE SHORE OF SILVER LAKE IN VIRGINIA, MINNESOTA, BY FREDERICK WEYERHAEUSER, IT WAS THE LARGEST WHITE PINE SAWMILL IN THE WORLD, AND IT WOULD GO ON TO SET RECORDS SELDOM SEEN BEFORE OR SINCE.

THE MASSIVE VIRGINIA AND RAINY LAKE MILL OPENED IN 1910, EMPLOYING CLOSE TO 2,000 MEN AND ROUTINELY CUTTING NEARLY ONE MILLION BOARD FEET OF LUMBER PER DAY.

ACTUALLY MADE UP OF 3 SAWMILLS AND A SERIES OF SORTING AND STORAGE AREAS, THE VIRGINIA OPERATIONS SPRAWLED ALONG THE SHORE OF SILVER LAKE.

THIS AREA WAS ONCE COMPLETELY COVERED WITH WOOD.

>> COMPLETELY.

THE LAKE WAS COVERED WITH LOGS.

>> OK.

>> AND THEY WERE THERE WINTER AND SUMMER.

THEY HAD A SYSTEM CALLED "HOT PONDING."

I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE HEARD THE WORD, BUT WHAT THEY DID IS DRIVE STEAM FROM THE PLANT OVER--YOU SEE THE PLANT ACROSS THE WAY?

WELL, THEY DROVE STEAM INTO THE LAKE TO KEEP IT FROM FREEZING, AND TO THIS VERY DAY IT DOES THAT.

THIS LAKE DOESN'T FREEZE.

THIS AREA WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY TRAM, TRAMWAYS THAT WENT FROM PILE AFTER PILE OF LUMBER, WHICH WAS STACKED WAY HIGH, AND THERE WERE WAREHOUSES.

>> $10 MILLION INVESTMENT, WAY BACK IN 1908.

THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY FOR THEN.

7 HEAD RIGS ON THAT MILL.

3,000 MEN WORKING THE WOODS.

3,000 MILES OF RAILROAD.

>> THE RAILROAD WAS KEY TO WEYERHAEUSER'S OPERATION.

WHILE EARLIER LOGGING USED THE RIVERS TO FLOAT THE PRIZED LOGS TO THE MILL, THAT WASN'T AN OPTION FOR THE WHITE PINE FORESTS OF FAR NORTHERN MINNESOTA.

>> MUCH OF THE LAND THAT PRODUCED THE WHITE PINE IN THIS AREA WAS LOCATED NORTH OF THE LAURENTIAN DIVIDE.

ON THE LAURENTIAN DIVIDE YOU COULD NOT DRIVE LOGS DOWN THOSE STREAMS SOUTHWARD TO THE SAWMILL, NOT EVEN TO DULUTH.

LOGGING DIDN'T REALLY BEGIN BIG-SCALE, LIKE THE WHITE PINE MILL HERE IN VIRGINIA, DIDN'T BEGIN BIG-SCALE UNTIL THE RAILROADS CAME IN.

THEN YOU COULD SHIP THE LOGS SOUTH.

>> THE MILL OPERATIONS IN VIRGINIA WERE IMPRESSIVE, BUT IT WAS THE THOUSANDS OF LUMBERJACKS EMPLOYED BY THE VIRGINIA AND RAINY LAKE COMPANY THAT MADE IT ALL POSSIBLE.

>> THE ARMY OF MEN MOVING THROUGH THE WOODS AT THAT TIME JUST MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING TO SEE.

>> MANY OF THESE MEN WERE PROFESSIONAL WOODSMEN, WHO MADE THEIR WAY TO MINNESOTA FROM LOGGING CAMPS IN MICHIGAN'S UPPER PENINSULA AND ELSEWHERE.

OTHERS CAME TO SETTLE THE REGION AND THEN FOUND WORK AS LUMBERJACKS IN THE NORTH WOODS CAMPS.

>> BY ALL ACCOUNTS, THEY WERE SOME TOUGH CHARACTERS, HARD WORKERS, AND THE CAMP LIFE MUST HAVE BEEN, IT MUST HAVE BEEN SOMETHING ELSE.

>> LOGGING WAS WINTER WORK, AND THE LUMBERJACKS LIVED TOGETHER IN HASTILY BUILT CAMPS THAT PROVIDED LIMITED PROTECTION FROM THE BITTER WEATHER.

>> DIRT FLOORS AND SOME OF THEM EVEN HAD TO LIVE IN TENTS ALL WINTER.

MOST OF THEM WERE JUST, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE TRANSIENT BUILDINGS.

THEY WOULD JUST USE THEM ONE YEAR OR TWO YEARS AND THEN THEY'D MOVE ON.

>> ONCE THE PINES WERE CUT DOWN, THEY HAD TO TRANSPORTED OUT OF THE WOODS AND STOCKPILED FOR SHIPMENT TO THE MILL.

IN THE EARLY DAYS, THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WITH A COMBINATION OF MAN AND HORSEPOWER OVER ESPECIALLY CONSTRUCTED ICE ROADS.

>> THEN THEY HAD TO BE LOADED ONTO THESE SLEIGHS, AND BUILD THESE BIG LOADS AND GET IT TO A RIVER OR A RAILROAD.

THEY DID IT IN THE WINTERTIME SO THEY COULD BUILD UP AN ICE PACK ON THAT ROAD WITH RUTS CUT FOR THE RUNNERS OF THE SLEIGH.

>> IT TOOK SKILL AND EXPERIENCE TO LOAD THESE SLEIGHS, AND THE MEN AT THE TOP OF THE PECKING ORDER DID SO WITH PRIDE.

>> THERE'S A PICTURE, A WELL-KNOWN PICTURE OF A SLEIGHLOAD OF LOGS.

IT'S GOT 34,800 BOARD FEET ON IT.

IT'S 20-SOME FEET HIGH, 20 FEET WIDE, PACKED SOLID WITH 16-FOOT-LONG LOGS, BEING PULLED BY A 4-HORSE TEAM.

>> WITH NEARLY 5,000 MEN IN THE FOREST, 900 HORSES, AND 3,000 MILES OF RAIL LINE, THE VIRGINIA AND RAINY LAKE SAWMILL CONTINUED TO SET RECORDS FOR TWO DECADES.

BUT BY LATE 1929, FREDERICK WEYERHAEUSER WAS READY TO MOVE HIS LOGGING EMPIRE WEST.

>> WAS HE PRESCIENT ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT THE DEPRESSION WAS COMING?

I DON'T THINK SO.

HE SIMPLY SAW THAT EVEN AFTER ONLY 20 YEARS OF HAVING A WORLD-CLASS SAWMILL, A HUGE INVESTMENT, SAWING 300 MILLION BOARD FEET PER YEAR, A MILLION BOARD FEET PER DAY OFTEN, YOU KNOW, HE DECIDED TO PACK UP AND GO WEST, AND SO THAT MILL WAS SHUT DOWN IN OCTOBER 1929.

>> ONE MONTH LATER, THE U.S.

STOCK MARKET CRASHED--THE BEGINNING OF SOME VERY DIFFICULT TIMES ACROSS THE NATION AND ON THE IRON RANGE.

AS PROSPECTING GAVE WAY TO THE PROMISE OF RICH IRON ORE DEPOSITS, MINE WORKERS CAME IN DROVES TO EXCAVATE.

THEY NEEDED TO SETTLE CLOSE TO THE WORK SITE.

>> IT WAS USUALLY DONE WITH HOUSING BUILT BY THE MINING COMPANY CLOSE TO A MINE ITSELF, BECAUSE TRANSPORTATION WAS NOT THAT COMMON.

IT WAS BY FOOT MOSTLY, AND SO THE LOCATION WAS CLOSE TO THE MINE SO THE WORKERS WOULD GET UP AND GO RIGHT TO WORK WITHOUT SPENDING A LOT OF TIME IN TRANSIT.

>> NOW, THE WORD "LOCATION" REALLY COMES FROM MICHIGAN.

IT WAS USED WHENEVER SOMETHING WAS LOCATED IN A WILD AREA, THEY HAD TO SAY WHERE IT WAS GOING TO BE, THE LOCATION IS, AND THAT WAS TRANSFERRED TO MINING PROPERTIES.

>> THESE MINING COMPANY COMMUNITIES POPPED UP IN LARGE NUMBERS ACROSS THE IRON RANGE.

SOME ESTIMATE THERE WERE CLOSE TO 200 LOCATIONS, WITH 175 OF THEM ON THE MESABI RANGE BETWEEN THE 1890s AND 1920s.

>> BUT THEY DIDN'T ALL EXIST AT THE SAME TIME.

MANY TIMES, 3 OR 4 LOCATIONS WERE GONE, THEN TWO MORE WERE COMING UP, DEPENDING ON WHEREVER THE MINING IS CONCERNED.

BUT ALL THE LOCATIONS WERE MINING LOCATIONS, RUN BY THE COMPANY.

YOU DREW YOUR WATER AT THE COMPANY WELL; YOU DID YOUR SHOPPING ACCORDING TO THE COMPANY PROCESSES--IT COULD BE DELIVERED FROM SOMEWHERE, OR THE COMPANY STORE.

THEY SIMPLY ALLOWED AN AREA CLOSE TO THE ORE BODY AND SAID, "YOU CAN BUILD A HOUSE THERE."

THE RESULT WAS TAR PAPER SHACKS, LITTLE SHANTIES, THE FIRST KIND OF LOCATION THAT CAME ON.

>> EARLY ON, THEY WERE ROUGH PLACES, RESIDENTIAL ENCLAVES THAT AMOUNTED TO LITTLE MORE THAN A SQUATTER SETTLEMENT.

>> THIS IS GENOA LOCATION, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THE BUILDINGS AROUND HERE.

THEY'RE THE REMAINS OF WHATEVER THE GENOA LOCATION WAS.

IT WAS A SUBURB OF OLD SPARTA.

SPARTA WAS ONE OF THE EARLY TOWNS OF THE RANGE.

>> AS MINING PROGRESSED WITH NEW PROCESSES AND TECHNOLOGY, MINE COMPANIES RECOGNIZED THE NEED TO ACCOMMODATE WELL-TRAINED WORKERS.

>> WHEN THAT STARTED TO HAPPEN, THE LOCATIONS TOOK ON A WHOLE NEW LOOK.

THEY HAD A NICE CENTER SQUARE WITH GREEN GRASS, BOARD SIDEWALKS, A SCHOOL, A HOSPITAL, AND ALL THE WORKINGS OF A REAL TOWN ON THEIR OWN.

>> ONE SUCH LOCATION WAS SECTION 30 OUTSIDE OF ELY, ON THE VERMILION IRON RANGE.

HELEN LAKNER GREW UP THERE, AND STILL RESIDES NEARBY.

>> YOU WERE BORN HERE WHEN?

>> 1921.

THAT'S A LONG TIME AGO.

[LAUGHS] YES.

>> SO THIS IS KIND OF SOME OF YOUR OLD STOMPING GROUNDS.

>> OH, YES.

>> SO WOULD YOU, AS CHILDREN, GO AROUND AND EXPLORE THESE AREAS?

>> OH, YES, WE WERE ALWAYS EXPLORING, DOING WHAT WE COULD.

BUT THERE WAS NOTHING TO DO OTHERWISE, YOU KNOW, NO, NO--WELL, THE SCHOOL WAS FOR THE TEACHERS TO TEACH US AND THAT WAS IT, SO WE HAD TO MAKE OUR OWN FUN.

THEY USED TO DIVE INTO THIS BIG AREA HERE.

THAT WAS WHAT WE CALLED THE BIG HOLE.

WE WALKED WAY ON THE OTHER SIDE.

THAT WAS FUN.

THERE WERE ALL PADS, YOU KNOW, FROM ONE PIT TO THE OTHER.

THEN THERE'S A TUNNEL ON THE FAR SIDE THAT YOU COULD WALK THROUGH.

>> SO REALLY, THE MINE PITS WERE ALWAYS A PART OF YOUR LIFE.

>> OH, YES, SURE.

UH-HUH.

>> SECTION 30 LOCATION WAS BUILT AROUND THE SECTION 30 MINE, WHICH OPERATED FOR 14 YEARS, WITH THE LAST OF ITS 1.5 MILLION TONS OF ORE SHIPPED OUT IN 1923.

>> THE PEOPLE ALL STAYED THERE.

ALL OF MY FRIENDS STAYED IN SECTION 30.

THERE WAS A HOSPITAL HERE ONCE, AND SKATING RINKS.

WE ALL HAD TO MAKE OUR OWN FUN, YOU KNOW, SO-- >> BUT THE SCHOOL STAYED OPEN FOR A WHILE.

>> THE SCHOOL STAYED OPEN.

YES, IT DID.

>> DOZENS OF CHILDREN WERE TAUGHT IN THE SECTION 30 SCHOOL HOUSE IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED.

>> HOW MANY KIDS WERE IN THE COMMUNITY?

>> OH, MY GOSH, THERE WAS... WELL, 4 CLASSROOMS, AND HOW MANY IN EACH CLASSROOM, SO THERE HAD TO BE ABOUT 15 TO 20 IN EACH CLASS.

THAT WAS A LOT OF KIDS.

[LAUGHS] >> THE SECTION 30 LOCATION BOASTED A DANCE HALL AND MOVIE HOUSE.

MUCH OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE OPPEL STORE CAN STILL BE SEEN TODAY.

>> EVERY NOON HOUR WE BOUGHT CANDY AND I USED TO HAVE GRASS, KIND OF FUZZY ON TOP.

ANYWAY, WE USED TO PICK THOSE AND BRING THEM ON OUR WAY HOME.

BACK TO SCHOOL, WE'D PICK THOSE AND BRING THEM TO HER, AND SHE GAVE US A CANDY FOR EACH STEM THAT WE BROUGHT TO HER.

MR.

OPPEL WAS A JOLLY OLD FELLOW, AND, OF COURSE, HE KNEW WE WERE GOING TO BE LEAVING SOON, SO I GUESS HE PUT UP WITH US, THE BOYS ESPECIALLY, SO WE TROTTED OUR WAY BACK TO SCHOOL.

>> AS ORE WAS MINED OUT ACROSS THE IRON RANGE, LOCATIONS WERE TORN DOWN, MOVED, OR ABANDONED.

IN SOME CASES, THEY WERE ABSORBED INTO NEARBY INCORPORATED TOWNS.

ALL THAT'S LEFT ARE SOME FORMER LOCATION HOUSES AND BUILDING UNDERPINNINGS SCATTERED ACROSS THE REGION.

HELEN, HER PARENTS, AND 15 BROTHERS AND SISTERS LIVED IN THEIR TWO-BEDROOM LOCATION HOME OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL YEARS, THEN HELEN STARTED HER OWN FAMILY THERE.

>> DID YOU LIVE IN THE OLD HOMESTEAD HOUSE?

>> YES.

>> OK.

>> I DID, YES, UNTIL MY HUSBAND DECIDED ONE DAY THAT WE'VE GOT TO MOVE OURSELVES TO ELY, AND I SAYS, "NO WAY.

I'M NOT LEAVING SECTION 30."

>> YET THE HOUSE REMAINS, ONE OF A HANDFUL OF BUILDINGS AT THE FORMER LOCATION SITE, SECTION 30, A MINING COMMUNITY THAT WASN'T REALLY A TOWN, BUT ALWAYS FELT LIKE HOME.

THE RUSH OF IMMIGRANTS TO THE IRON RANGE BROUGHT WORKERS FROM NEARLY TWO DOZEN NATIONS, MOST MAKING THEIR WAY FROM HOMELAND POVERTY OR STRIFE.

THEY CAME FROM WESTERN AND EASTERN EUROPE, SCANDINAVIA, AND THE BRITISH ISLES.

IT WASN'T AN EASY JOURNEY TO MAKE, BUT THEY ALL CAME FOR THE WORK AND THE PROMISE OF A BETTER LIFE, AND BROUGHT WITH THEM THEIR SEPARATE WAYS AND CUSTOMS.

>> A GROUP OF JEWS BEGAN TO SETTLE UP HERE IN THE IRON RANGE JUST ABOUT THE TIME THE MESABI RANGE IN PARTICULAR BEGAN TO OPEN.

MOST OF THEM WERE COMING FROM EASTERN EUROPE.

THEY WERE FLEEING WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT THAT TIME IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE, THE POGROMS, THE PERSECUTION THEY WERE EXPERIENCING.

THIS WAS THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.

THEY DIDN'T COME UP HERE TO BE MINERS--THAT WAS NOT THEIR AREA OF INTEREST--BUT THEY REALIZED THAT THE MINERS WERE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS.

IT WAS CHAIN MIGRATION.

ONE FAMILY CAME AND THEN ANOTHER FAMILY CAME AND BROUGHT ANOTHER FAMILY.

IN THE 1920s, THERE WERE 1,100 JEWISH PEOPLE UP HERE.

CONSIDERING THERE WAS PROBABLY ONLY ABOUT 25,000 IN THE WHOLE STATE, I MEAN, THAT'S A PRETTY GOOD NUMBER OF JEWS LIVING UP HERE.

THINGS ARE GOING WELL.

THEY CAME HERE TO MAKE A NEW LIFE FOR THEMSELVES.

THEIR HOUSE OF WORSHIP BECAME THEIR GATHERING PLACE; IT BECAME WHERE THEY COULD MAINTAIN THEIR TRADITIONS, AND ALSO WHERE THEY COULD TELL OTHER PEOPLE WHO THEY WERE.

THEY COULDN'T DO IT AS INDIVIDUALS.

THEY COULDN'T.

THEY WERE POOR.

BUT TOGETHER THEY COULD MAKE THAT STATEMENT OF THE HOUSE OF WORSHIP THEY ERECTED.

>> THEY PUT UP 4 OF THOSE HOUSES OF WORSHIP ACROSS THE REGION AND LIVED LIVES THAT MIGHT HAVE NOT BEEN POSSIBLE IN OTHER PARTS OF THE NATION OR THE STATE.

>> THESE 4 SYNAGOGUES THAT ULTIMATELY WERE FORMED HERE ON THE IRON RANGE ARE THE ONLY ONES IN RURAL MINNESOTA.

THERE WEREN'T ANY OTHERS ELSEWHERE.

IMAGINE THAT.

4 CONGREGATIONS UP HERE: EVELETH, CHISHOLM, HIBBING, AND VIRGINIA, AND THEY MAINTAINED THOSE CONGREGATIONS.

HERE YOU COULD WORSHIP OPENLY AND YOU COULD BUILD YOUR CHURCH AND SYNAGOGUE ON THE CORNER OF A BUSY STREET AND NOBODY WAS GOING TO CAUSE YOU ANY PROBLEMS.

WE REALLY FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF DISCRIMINATION AS YOU FOUND IN MINNEAPOLIS, WHICH ALMOST, TILL THE 1960s, WAS KNOWN AS THE ANTI-SEMITIC CAPITAL OF THE NATION.

THIS AREA DIDN'T EXPERIENCE THAT.

SO THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1909-1910 BY THE JEWISH FAMILIES THAT HAD SETTLED HERE IN VIRGINIA.

IT WAS THE FIRST HOUSE OF WORSHIP ON THE RANGE THAT WAS BRICK.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL RED BRICK BUILDING; FIRST ONE THAT HAD GLORIOUS STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS WITH JEWISH SYMBOLS IN THEM, AND HEBREW LETTERING.

WE HAVE NOAH'S ARK THERE.

VERY RARE TO FIND A NOAH'S ARK SYMBOL IN A SYNAGOGUE.

BESIDES THE STORY OF NOAH'S ARK AND THE SURVIVAL, THESE PEOPLE CAME OVER HERE ON JUST SHIPS.

THESE WERE IMMIGRANTS WHO ALSO SURVIVED.

>> THE JEWS ON THE RANGE DIDN'T JUST SURVIVE.

THEY THRIVED, HELPING BUILD UP RANGE CITIES LIKE VIRGINIA AND HIBBING, WHERE YOU COULD OFTEN FIND THE BLOCK-LONG STRETCHES OF SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSES OWNED BY JEWISH FAMILIES, LIKE THE ROMAN BLOCK ON CHESTNUT STREET IN VIRGINIA.

THERE WERE THE MILAVETZ BROTHERS BUSINESSES, THE SHANEDLING FAMILY CLOTHING STORES, THE OSTROV GROCERS, AND SO MANY MORE.

THE LYBBA THEATER IN HIBBING WAS OWNED BY THE EDELSTEIN FAMILY, AND NAMED FOR THE GRANDMOTHER OF HIBBING'S ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, WHO WE KNOW AS BOB DYLAN.

THE JEWISH FAMILIES WHO HAD IMMIGRATED TO THE RANGE THOUGHT THEY WERE HERE TO STAY, UNLIKE OTHER ETHNIC SETTLERS WHO HOPED TO SOME DAY RETURN HOME.

>> IN FACT, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PEOPLE WHO CAME TO THIS REGION--I THINK ABOUT THEM SOMETIMES--THEY CAME TO AMERICA FOR ONE REASON: TO WORK IN THE MINES, MAKE A LITTLE MONEY, AND GO BACK TO THE OLD COUNTRY AND SHOW EVERYBODY THAT THEY HAD MADE SOMETHING OF THEIR LIVES.

>> MOST OF THE YOUNG MEN WHO CAME HERE WERE, WE CALLED THEM "BIRDS OF PASSAGE."

THE JEWS DIDN'T HAVE A HOMELAND TO GO BACK TO.

I MEAN, LET'S FACE IT.

>> FOR THE JEWS, THE IRON RANGE BECAME THEIR NEW HOME, AND THEY SERVED IT WITH HOMETOWN PRIDE.

>> THEY HAD THE SUNSHINE CLUB, WHICH WAS THE WOMEN'S AUXILIARY HERE, WHO WOULD PUT TOGETHER FOOD PACKAGES--THIS IS EARLY IN THE 20th CENTURY--THAT THEY WOULD DISTRIBUTE TO FAMILIES--NOT TO JEWISH FAMILIES, BUT FAMILIES IN NEED.

A FINNISH MINER WOULD BE KILLED.

THE MINING COMPANY PROVIDED NOTHING.

THEY WOULD BRING FOOD OVER TO THAT FAMILY.

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY HERE MADE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE RANGE.

>> YET THE LONG-TIME FUTURE OF THAT COMMUNITY WAS NOT TO BE.

THE BUST OF THE MINING INDUSTRY MEANT SCARCE JOBS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

>> AND, YOU KNOW, THE SCHOOLS UP HERE WERE MAGNIFICENT, SO THAT A LOT OF THESE KIDS WENT AWAY TO COLLEGE, JEWISH AND OTHERWISE, BECAUSE THEY HAD SUCH A GOOD EDUCATION.

TO ASK THEIR KIDS TO COME BACK HERE WAS ASKING THEIR KIDS TO MAKE A BIG SACRIFICE.

>> AS IRON RANGE BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY DECLINED AND THE JEWISH FAMILIES MOVED ON, ONE BY ONE THE 4 IRON RANGE SYNAGOGUES WERE SHUTTERED OR TORN DOWN, WITH THE VIRGINIA BUILDING THE LAST TO LOSE ITS CONGREGATION.

>> ALTHOUGH IT BECAME CONSERVATIVE, THIS WAS AN ORTHODOX JEWISH CONGREGATION THAT REQUIRED 10 MEN IN ORDER TO HAVE A MINYAN IN ORDER TO HOLD A PRAYER SERVICE.

THAT LAST DECADE OF ITS LIFE, THERE WERE NOT 10 MEN THAT THEY COULD BRING TOGETHER IN ORDER TO HAVE A PRAYER SERVICE.

>> TODAY THE B'NAI ABRAHAM SYNAGOGUE IN VIRGINIA IS RESTORED AS A MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER, SO WHILE THE CONGREGATION AND MOST OF THE JEWISH FAMILIES ARE LONG GONE FROM THE IRON RANGE, THE BUILDING SERVES AS A TESTAMENT TO THEIR LIVES, UNITING THE CURRENT COMMUNITY AND KEEPING ALIVE MEMORIES OF THE PAST.

[TROLLEY BELL CLANGING] [HORN TOOTING] >> EXCELSIOR CAR BARN.

NEXT STOP, MORRIS AVENUE.

MORRIS AVENUE, NEXT STOP.

>> BY THE EARLY PART OF THE 20th CENTURY, THE ENTIRE COUNTRY WAS CAUGHT UP IN ELECTRIFICATION FEVER.

TROLLEY CARS DRIVEN BY CHAINED LIGHTNING WERE POPPING UP IN CITIES LARGE AND SMALL, CREATING WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS "STREETCAR SUBURBS."

WORKERS COULD NOW LIVE FURTHER AWAY FROM THEIR JOBS, THANKS TO CHEAP TRANSPORTATION ON THE TROLLEY LINES.

WITH MINING GROWING ALONG WITH THE NUMBER OF TOWNS AND LOCATIONS MULTIPLYING ON THE IRON RANGE, THE IDEA OF AN ELECTRIC INTERURBAN STREETCAR LINE TOOK OFF.

>> AND OF COURSE, INTERURBAN RAILWAYS [INDISTINCT] URBAN RAILWAYS WERE QUITE THE RAGE AROUND THE COUNTRY AT THAT TIME.

APPARENTLY SOME BOSTON FINANCIAL PEOPLE GOT INVOLVED, FIGURED THAT THEY COULD MAKE SOME MONEY BY PROVIDING TRANSPORTATION SERVICE UP THERE ON THE IRON RANGE, SERVING THE MINERS AND THE LOCATIONS, AND-- >> IN 1910 THE MESABA RAILWAY COMPANY WAS FORMED.

THE FOLLOWING YEAR, SURVEY AND ENGINEERING WORK STARTED ON THE LINE.

BY JULY OF 1912, WORKERS BEGAN LAYING RAIL, AND ON CHRISTMAS EVE OF THAT YEAR, SERVICE BEGAN BETWEEN VIRGINIA AND GILBERT.

WITHIN A MONTH THERE WERE RUNS EVERY HOUR FROM EARLY MORNING TO MIDNIGHT.

THE STREETCAR CARRIED EVERYONE FROM MINE WORKERS TO BUSINESSMEN TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN, AND IT COULD TAKE YOU FROM RIGHT HERE IN DOWNTOWN GILBERT ALL THE WAY TO HIBBING AND ALMOST ANY PLACE IN BETWEEN.

>> SO YOU HAD EASY SHOPPING.

PEOPLE WOULD JUMP ON THE CAR IN EVELETH AND GO TO VIRGINIA TO SHOP, OR OVER TO HIBBING OR CHISHOLM AND CATCH ANOTHER CAR AND GO BACK HOME THAT DAY, WHICH GAVE THEM A LOT OF TRANSPORTATION CAPABILITY.

>> THE MESABA RAILWAY RAN ON 35 MILES OF TRACK FROM GILBERT IN THE EAST THROUGH SPARTA AND EVELETH AND ON TO VIRGINIA, WHERE THE POWER STATION AND CENTRAL OFFICE WAS LOCATED.

THE ROUTE THEN CONTINUED THROUGH MOUNTAIN IRON, BUHL, AND CHISHOLM BEFORE REACHING HIBBING TO THE WEST.

THE MESABA RAILWAY PROVIDED FIRST-CLASS SERVICE FOR ITS PASSENGERS, AND THE FIRM INVESTED HEAVILY IN TRACKAGE, GENERATING EQUIPMENT, STATIONS, AND ROLLING STOCK.

IN TOTAL, THE COMPANY SPENT ABOUT $3 MILLION TO OUTFIT THE LINE, A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF MONEY IN 1913.

>> BUILT TO GOOD STANDARDS, CARS WERE BUILT AND INSULATED FOR THE COLD WINTERS.

THE CARS WERE PROBABLY CAPABLE OF ABOUT 45 MILES AN HOUR, WHICH WAS A PRETTY GOOD SPEED AT THAT PERIOD OF TIME.

>> VERY LITTLE REMAINS OF THE MESABA RAILWAY TODAY, BUT REMNANTS OF ITS ORIGINAL RIGHT-OF-WAY CAN STILL BE FOUND IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK.

>> TELL US WHERE WE ARE.

>> WE ARE STANDING ON THE EXACT LINE OF THE OLD INTERURBAN ELECTRIC STREETCAR THAT CONNECTED THE TOWNS OF THE MESABI RANGE.

AND IT'S KIND OF SURPRISING TO SOME PEOPLE THAT WE FIND A STREETCAR CONNECTING THESE SMALL LITTLE TOWNS AND LOCATIONS, BUT THERE WERE SOMETHING LIKE 44 SITES IN THIS AREA, 44 LITTLE TOWNS, MOST OF THEM LOCATIONS.

>> MINING ACTIVITY HAD SWELLED THE POPULATION IN THE TOWNS SERVED BY THE MESABA RAILWAY TO 55,000 PEOPLE, AND THE LINE FLOURISHED.

>> CHANGES OF SHIFT IN THE MINES, THE STREETCARS WERE PACKED WITH MINERS GOING TO WORK.

SOMETIMES THEY HAD TO HAVE TWO OR 3 CARS RUNNING.

>> MINING WAS A DIRTY BUSINESS, REQUIRING SOME SPECIAL ACCOMMODATIONS ON BOARD.

>> THE SEATS IN THEM WERE MADE OUT OF RATTAN, AND THAT WAS BECAUSE THEY CARRIED MINERS HOME FROM WORK WITH DIRTY CLOTHES, AND IF THEY'D HAD FABRIC OR MOHAIR UPHOLSTERY ON THEM, THEY WOULD HAVE HAD VERY, VERY DIRTY SEAT CUSHIONS AND THE PASSENGERS WOULD BE GETTING IRON ORE ON THEM.

>> ESCALATING MINE OPERATIONS ALSO PRESENTED DIFFICULTIES FOR THE MESABA RAILWAY, WHICH HAD TO ROUTE AND RE-ROUTE AROUND NEW ORE BODIES.

SOMETIMES EXISTING TRACKS HAD TO BE MOVED TO ACCOMMODATE MINING.

>> THIS WAS IN 1919 TO 1921.

THEY HAD TO RELOCATE THE ENTIRE LINE BETWEEN HIBBING AND CHISHOLM.

>> IN THE 1920s, BETTER ROADS WERE BUILT BETWEEN THE TOWNS OF THE IRON RANGE, AND MOTORBUS TRANSPORTATION BEGAN TO UNDERCUT THE MESABA RAILWAY BUSINESS.

>> IT SUCCUMBED TO BUS COMPETITION AND TO AUTOMOBILES.

AS ROADS GOT BETTER, PEOPLE DROVE AND DIDN'T RIDE THE INTERURBAN.

>> THE COMPANY STARTED OPERATING AT A LOSS, AND WENT INTO RECEIVERSHIP IN 1924.

AFTER SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO SELL THE ELECTRIC RAILWAY WITH NO TAKERS, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO CEASE ALL OPERATIONS.

THE LAST RUN ON THE MESABA INTERURBAN RAILWAY WAS APRIL 16, 1927.

BEHIND THESE DOORS THE STORY OF THE MESABA RAILWAY LIVES ON.

VOLUNTEERS AT THE MINNESOTA STREETCAR MUSEUM IN THE TWIN CITIES SUBURB OF EXCELSIOR HAVE AN EPIC RESTORATION IN THE WORKS.

>> IT'S THE ONLY INTERURBAN CAR THAT WE'RE AWARE OF THAT'S STILL IN EXISTENCE TODAY.

MOST OF THE CARS WHEN THEY WERE TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE WERE EITHER COMPLETELY SCRAPPED AND DESTROYED OR THEY WERE SOLD OFF AND RE-USED AS A CABIN OR A PLACE FOR PEOPLE TO STORE THINGS.

IT WAS FOUND IN 1977.

IT WAS STORED UP IN NORTH WOODS NEAR EVELETH AND USED AS A HUNTING CABIN AT THAT POINT IN TIME.

MOST LIKELY WHEN IT WAS TAKEN OUT OF SERVICE IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SOLD OFF AND TOTALLY STRIPPED DOWN OF ALL OF ITS COMPONENTS.

JUST THE CAR BODY REMAINED INTACT.

>> THE MINNESOTA STREETCAR MUSEUM OPERATES A NUMBER OF HISTORIC TROLLEYS AT ITS TWIN CITY LOCATIONS AND PLANS ONE DAY TO RESTORE MESABA RAILWAY CAR NUMBER 10 TO LIKE-NEW CONDITION.

>> EACH CAR IS UNIQUE, AND SO THEY'LL VERY CAREFULLY LOOK OVER THE CAR AND MAKE NOTES OF HOW EVERYTHING IS ARRANGED, SLOWLY TAKE IT APART.

EVERYTHING THEY CAN KEEP OR PRESERVE THEY'LL PRESERVE.

IF SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE REBUILT THEN THEY WILL BASICALLY MAKE THE APPROPRIATE MEASUREMENTS AND HAVE THE CARPENTER REBUILD IT TO THE EXACT SPECS OF THE ORIGINAL CAR.

>> MEMORIES OF THE MESABA RAILWAY ARE KEPT ALIVE BY PEOPLE LIKE DICK STONER, WHOSE FATHER WAS A MOTORMAN ON THE LOCAL LINE IN HIBBING.

>> WELL, HE CAME FROM GRAND RAPIDS WORKING FOR THE GREAT NORTHERN AND MOVED OVER TO HIBBING, WENT TO WORK FOR THE OLIVER, AND EVENTUALLY WORKED HIS WAY UP TO BEING A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER.

HOWEVER, BACK IN THOSE DAYS, WHEN THE WINTER CAME THEY SHUT DOWN SO THERE WAS NO WORK, SO HE WENT TO WORK FOR THE STREETCAR LINE, WHICH WAS RUNNING YEAR-ROUND.

>> INTERESTED IN TRAINS SINCE HE WAS A VERY YOUNG BOY, STONER BEGAN COLLECTING TOY TRAINS AND THEN STARTED BUILDING MODEL TRAINS.

HIS LARGE COLLECTION OF HANDMADE MODELS INCLUDES EXACT REPLICAS OF THE MESABA RAILWAY'S INTERURBAN CARS, COMPLETE TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL.

>> JUST SLOWLY EVOLVED AN INTEREST IN THE MESABA RAILWAY AND STARTED GATHERING INFORMATION AND PICTURES AND WHATEVER I COULD ON THAT, AND ENDED UP BUILDING MODELS OF IT.

>> THOUGH IT OPERATED FOR ONLY 15 YEARS, THE INTERURBAN SYSTEM ON THE IRON RANGE WAS AN IMPORTANT MILESTONE IN THE AREA'S EVOLUTION.

PROVIDING CONVENIENT, EFFICIENT TRANSPORTATION FOR PASSENGERS, IT HELPED CONNECT THE CITIES ON THE IRON RANGE AND ITS PEOPLE.

>> HE MET MY MOTHER [INDISTINCT] AND THEY EVENTUALLY GOT MARRIED AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE SHE WAS RIDING THE STREETCAR.

>> YOU KNOW, MY MOTHER USED TO TAKE THE STREETCAR.

SHE'D OFTEN TALK ABOUT IT.

SHE'D GO TO MEET MY DAD, WHO LIVED AND HE WORKED FOR HILL'S GROCERY IN VIRGINIA, AND THEY WOULD MEET.

THAT'S HOW THEY GOT TOGETHER.

>> JUST TWO OF MANY EXAMPLES OF A MODERN CONVEYANCE THAT TRANSFORMED LIVES WHILE MAKING TRANSPORTATION HISTORY ON THE IRON RANGE.

WITH THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY, THE IRON RANGE WAS FAST BECOMING A HOTBED FOR INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AND POTENTIALLY ONE OF THE MOST PROSPEROUS REGIONS IN THE NATION.

PROSPERITY MEANT MORE EXPENDABLE INCOME AND A CHANCE TO MAKE A NAME FOR ITSELF BEYOND ITS RICH STORE OF NATURAL RESOURCES.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY, NEW SPORTING EVENTS WERE COMING ON THE SCENE, AND THE IRON RANGE WOULD BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF ONE IN PARTICULAR--RACING.

>> IT WAS A VERY, VERY BIG DEAL THEN BECAUSE THE AUTOMOBILE WAS STILL A RELATIVELY NEW INVENTION.

>> IN 1904, HIBBING'S FIRST AUTOMOBILE, OWNED BY FRED SMITH, MADE ITS WAY TO THE VILLAGE.

ALMOST AS SOON AS IT ARRIVED, RESIDENTS FORMED THE HIBBING SPEEDWAY ASSOCIATION, AND BEGAN CONSTRUCTION OF A RACEWAY AND GRANDSTANDS AT POOL LOCATION.

INITIALLY, THE CONTEST HAD HORSES AND LATER MOTORCYCLES TAKE TO THE TRACK.

BUT BY 1909, THE MESABI RANGE BOASTED MORE THAN 50 AUTOMOBILES, AND THE HIBBING AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION WAS ORGANIZED.

IN SEPTEMBER OF 1911, THEY HELD THE FIRST MOTORCAR RACE AT THE HIBBING RACEWAY.

THE TOWN'S FIRST CAR OWNER, FRED SMITH, WAS THE WINNER, AND FROM THERE, THE SPORT OF RACECAR DRIVING TOOK OFF.

>> PEOPLE, THEY REALLY HAD THEIR HEARTS IN PROMOTING MOTOR RACING IN THIS AREA, AND WOULD DO ALMOST ANYTHING TO MAKE IT SUCCESSFUL.

SOME OF THE RACES HELD HERE WERE ADVERTISED FROM CALIFORNIA TO NEW YORK.

THEY HAD FULLY INTENDED HIBBING TO BECOME A HUB OF MOTOR SPORTS IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

>> LONG BEFORE THE STOCK CAR RACING OF TODAY, SOME OF THE EARLIEST MOTORCARS EVER MADE THRILLED RACING FANS WITH FEATS OF SPEED ACROSS THE CITY OF HIBBING.

SOME OF THE NATION'S EARLIEST MOTOR SPORTS CONTESTS WERE HELD ON THE IRON RANGE, WITH SIGNIFICANT WORLD RECORDS SET RIGHT HERE.

>> THE HIBBING RACEWAY WAS A QUITE POPULAR VENUE FOR RACERS ALL OVER, BUT ROAD RACING AT THAT TIME WAS STILL VERY POPULAR AMONG THE PUBLIC BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE NOW OWNING THEIR AUTOMOBILES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND TRAVELING WITH THEM, AND ROAD RACING WAS SOMETHING THEY COULD IDENTIFY MORE CLOSELY WITH THAN RACING ON A TRACK.

>> SO TO COMPLEMENT THE HALF-MILE OVAL DIRT TRACK AT THE GRANDSTANDS, THEY SET UP A 10-MILE LOOP ACROSS CITY STREETS AND ROADS, AND SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT WOULD BE THE BIGGEST RACING EVENT EVER HELD IN HIBBING--A 100-MILE INDY ROAD RACE.

A FORMER RACER, RACE ENTHUSIAST, AND HISTORIAN, DAVE AHO STUMBLED ON THE PARTICULARS OF THAT MAJOR RACE.

>> IT STARTED WITH THE DOCUMENT THAT I FOUND THAT WAS FOR SALE FROM THE ESTATE OF A MAJOR MOTOR SPORTS BOOK PUBLISHER IN THIS COUNTRY, AND IT WAS THE HANDWRITTEN NOTES OF AN OFFICIAL THAT WAS AT A RACE IN HIBBING ON THE 4th OF JULY 1916.

THERE WERE ABOUT 6 CARS IN THE RACE.

>> AHO SAYS MECHANICAL PROBLEMS DURING A PRACTICE RUN KNOCKED OTHER CARS OUT PRIOR TO THE START.

THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN PHOTO FROM THE RACE, BUT AHO'S DILIGENCE DUG UP PLENTY OF OTHER EVIDENCE OF THE PRESTIGIOUS OCCASION.

>> I WAS ABLE TO FIND ALL OF THE AMERICAN AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION'S--AAA--RECORDS FOR THEIR SANCTIONS BY YEAR AND BY SANCTION NUMBER, AND, SURE ENOUGH, THERE IS THE 4th OF JULY 1916 RACE SANCTIONED--I HAVE THE SANCTION NUMBER--AND IT WAS ISSUED TO THE HIBBING AUTO CLUB.

LOOKING IN THE CHISHOLM NEWSPAPER AND THE HIBBING PAPER, I FOUND ALL THE DETAILS.

>> DETAILS INCLUDING THE REPORT OF A TRAIN WRECK ON THE VERY SAME DAY THAT WAS LIKELY CAUSED BY RACE PLANNERS.

>> PART OF THE RACE COURSE WAS DOWN FIRST AVENUE IN HIBBING, WHERE HOWARD STREET IS NOW.

FIRST AVENUE CROSSED RAILROAD TRACKS.

THE TRACKS WERE THE PROPERTY OF THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY, AND THE TRACK OFFICIALS WANTED TO COVER THE TRACKS OVER WITH DIRT SO THE CARS COULD PASS OVER WITHOUT HITTING THE ACTUAL TRACKS.

THEY COVERED OVER THE TRACKS AT THAT CROSSING, AND A LITTLE WHILE LATER, A GREAT NORTHERN PASSENGER TRAIN CAME THROUGH, HIT THE SAND ON THE CROSSING, AND ROLLED THE LOCOMOTIVE OVER.

THERE WERE SOME SIGNIFICANT INJURIES, ALTHOUGH NO FATALITIES, AND A NUMBER OF RATHER LARGE LAWSUITS ENSUED.

>> THAT INCIDENT DIDN'T STOP THE RACE, HOWEVER.

HIBBING'S 100-MILE INDY ROAD RUN WAS COMPLETED WITH CHISHOLM NATIVE ELMER SHANNON THE VICTOR.

SHANNON WENT ON TO RACE AT THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 3 YEARS LATER.

>> THERE WAS NO INDIANAPOLIS 500 IN 1917 AND 1918 BECAUSE OF WORLD WAR I. IN THAT PERIOD OF TIME, ELMER SHANNON PURCHASED A DUESENBERG RACE CAR, AND WHEN THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 WAS SET TO RESUME IN MAY 1919, HE HEADED TO INDY WITH HIS NEW RACE CAR.

IT WAS ENTERED AS "THE MESABI SPECIAL."

>> BUT THAT IS FAR FROM THE END OF HIBBING'S ASSOCIATION WITH INDY AND NATIONAL RACING RENOWN.

>> OVERALL, IT IS NEARLY UNBELIEVABLE THE NUMBER OF WORLD-FAMOUS DRIVERS AND WORLD-FAMOUS RACE CARS THAT HAVE BEEN TO RACES IN HIBBING.

AT LEAST 26 DRIVERS THAT ARE CURRENTLY ENSHRINED IN THE NATIONAL SPRINT CAR HALL OF FAME HAVE BEEN IN HIBBING, AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE PARNELLI JONES AND JOHNNY RUTHERFORD.

IT ALSO INCLUDES 4 INDIANAPOLIS 500 WINNERS THAT HAVE RACED IN HIBBING.

>> THE ORIGINAL HIBBING RACEWAY, LIKE SO MUCH OF THE IRON RANGE, FELL VICTIM TO MINING INTERESTS AND WAS SWALLOWED UP BY THE HULL-RUST MINE PIT.

OVER THE YEARS, ITS REPLACEMENT HAS SERVED THE ENTHUSIASMS OF AHO AND SO MANY LIKE HIM--PROUD RACERS, FANS, AND RESIDENTS MORE THAN HAPPY TO FOLLOW IN THE TRACKS OF RACING LEGENDS OF DAYS GONE BY.

AS IRON MINING INCREASED, TOWN SITES AND TOWNS GREW UP AROUND THE BOOMING NEW INDUSTRY.

ONE OF THE BIGGEST OF THESE WAS HIBBING, WHICH BY THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY WOULD COME TO BE KNOWN AS THE IRON ORE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

HIBBING BEGAN, LIKE SO MANY IRON RANGE BURGS, AS A FALTERING VILLAGE WITH BUILDINGS PERCHED ON THE EDGE OF EXPANDING MINE PITS, BUT IT QUICKLY DEVELOPED INTO A PROMINENT COMPANY TOWN.

>> THE LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL, ON THIS FOOTPRINT, AND THE CONCEPTION WAS TO HAVE THE BEST.

IT WAS A K-THROUGH-14.

THEY WANTED TO, ALL THE BEST OF EVERYTHING.

MINE OWNERS WANTED THEIR PEOPLE TO HAVE GOOD CHURCHES, GOOD SCHOOLING, GOOD EDUCATION, BECAUSE THEY WANTED THE MEN TO BE ABLE TO RAISE THEIR FAMILIES IN THE BEST ENVIRONMENT POSSIBLE.

THIS WAS THEIR VISION.

>> SO THE COMPANY NURTURED THE TOWN'S GROWTH, SUPPORTING ITS BUSINESS DISTRICT, THE EXPANSION OF NEIGHBORHOODS, AND THE ERECTION OF STATELY PUBLIC BUILDINGS LIKE THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY, A FINE CITY HALL, AND AN ORNATE COURTHOUSE.

>> AS MINING PROGRESSED, WE MOVED INTO AN ERA OF WHAT WE CALL THE BIG COMPANY, THE BIG MINING COMPANY, AND, OF COURSE, THE BIG STEEL PRODUCER FOR THE MESABI RANGE AND THE VERMILION RANGE, FOR THAT MATTER, WAS UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION AND ITS SUBSIDIARY COMPANY, THE OLIVER.

NOW, THERE AREN'T MANY PEOPLE COME FROM THE RANGE WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT THE OLIVER WAS.

IT WAS THE BIG COMPANY THAT DID THINGS.

IN 1915 THEY HAD A WORK FORCE OF 10,000 WORKERS.

>> OLIVER'S EMPLOYEES WORKED IN THE OPEN PITS OF THE HULL-RUST AND MAHONING MINES, CARVING OUT CRATERS THAT CREEPED EVER CLOSE TO TOWN.

>> THE CITY ASKED THE MINING COMPANY, "DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR, ANY MORE PLANS?," BECAUSE ALREADY THEY HAD CUT ACROSS TO THE NORTH, THEY'D COME IN FROM THE EAST, AND THEY HAD TO MOVE THE BASEBALL PARK OUT IN THE NORTH HIBBING INTO SOUTH--OR WHAT WAS CALLED NORTH HIBBING AT THE TIME--AND THE MINING COMPANY SAID, "NO FURTHER PLANS."

SO THEY WENT AND MADE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE COMMUNITY, NEW LIBRARY, TRIPLED THE SIZE OF THE ORIGINAL LIBRARY, STREETCAR TRACKS UPGRADED.

>> BUT WITH THE ADVENT OF WORLD WAR I AND THE REALIZATION THAT MORE RICH ORE LAY BENEATH CITY STREETS, THE COMPANY PREPARED TO MOVE THE CITY OUT OF THE WAY.

ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE LIVED HERE WHEN THEY FIRST DECIDED THE TOWN WOULD HAVE TO MOVE?

>> I THINK IT WAS AROUND 15,000 AT THE TIME.

SOME WERE OFFERED MONEY FOR THEIR HOME, AND WHEN THEY SOLD, THEN THEY WOULD THEN TRY AND FORCE THE OTHER PEOPLE TO SELL AT LOWER, AND YOU CAN READ MANY ACCOUNTS OF PEOPLE BEING FORCED OUT FOR NEXT TO NOTHING, OTHERS HANGING ON AND TRYING TO GET MORE MONEY.

THERE WAS EVEN A LAWSUIT OF THE BUSINESSMEN ON PINE STREET AND THIRD IN WHICH THEY SUED THE OLIVER, SAYING THAT THEY WERE PAYING THEM TOO LITTLE OR OFFERING THEM TOO LITTLE FOR THEIR PROPERTY, AND THEY ULTIMATELY LOST.

>> SO THERE WAS OPPOSITION TO THE MOVE.

>> OH, DEFINITELY, BECAUSE PEOPLE FELT THEY SHOULD GET MORE MONEY FOR THEIR PROPERTY, AND THEN, SO THAT'S WHY THEY WERE BALKING, RESISTING.

>> AND TOWNSPEOPLE DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES.

THEY WERE QUALITY HOUSES, WITH YARDS AND GARDENS.

MANY INCLUDED OUTBUILDINGS FOR PETS AND LIVESTOCK.

>> OK, YOU CAN SEE--REMEMBER THAT I SAID THE FOOTPRINT BACK THERE?

YOU CAN PROBABLY SEE THAT WAS PROBABLY ONE OF THE ENTRANCES INTO THE HOUSE FROM THE GATE.

APPARENTLY IT WAS ALL GATED AND FENCED.

THAT WAY THEY KEPT THEIR--MOST OF THEM HAD LIVESTOCK, EITHER CHICKENS OR A PIG OR A COW.

>> IN 1918, THE OLIVER MINING COMPANY BEGAN BUYING RIGHTS TO PROPERTY TO MAKE WAY FOR MORE MINING.

BETWEEN 1918 AND 1921 CLOSE TO 200 STRUCTURES WERE MOVED TO THE SITE OF PRESENT-DAY HIBBING.

>> AND THE MOVE WAS ON, AND THEY HAD UP TO 198 STEAM LOCOMOTIVES OF EVERY CONFIGURATION.

I'VE SEEN HEISLERS, CLIMAXES, CONVENTIONALS, EVERYTHING, JUST MOVING THEM.

GUYS WOULD SEE UP TO 3 HOUSES A DAY GO BY THEIR HOUSE, WATCHING THEM GOING SOUTH.

>> THOSE HOMES WERE OLIVER EMPLOYEES, AND AT THE TIME THE OLIVER WANTED TO GET IN AND START MINING IN THAT AREA, THEY SOLD THE HOUSE TO THE PERSON LIVING INTO IT FOR A DOLLAR, AND THE DEAL WAS--AND I DON'T KNOW THE TIME FRAME--BUT YOU HAD TO MOVE IT WITHIN A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME.

$100 A ROOM TO MOVE IT, WHETHER YOU WENT FROM NORTH HIBBING TO SOUTH HIBBING OR FROM NORTH HIBBING TO CHISHOLM, OR I THINK SOME HOUSES EVEN WENT TO BUHL, $100 A ROOM, FLAT RATE.

>> WHILE MOST SURVIVED THE MOVE, SOME JUST COULDN'T HOLD UP TO THE BUMPY ROADS ALONG THE WAY.

AND THOSE MARVELOUS STONE AND BRICK EDIFICES, LIKE THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY AND THE COURTHOUSE, THEY ULTIMATELY FELL VICTIM TO THE WRECKING BALL.

AND THE MOVE WENT ON FOR MANY YEARS.

>> IT STARTED IN 1919 AND I HEAR OF PEOPLE EVEN IN THEIR EARLY 50s SEEING HOUSES GOING SOUTH OUT OF THIS AREA UP HERE.

THIS WAS THE LAST AREA TO HAVE STUFF MOVED OUT OF HERE.

>> MOST OF NORTH HIBBING WAS REPLACED BY THIS--A GAPING HOLE--BUT WHEN THE MINE EXPANSION STOPPED, WHAT DID REMAIN WAS PRESERVED.

A LIGHT POST THAT ONCE LIT THE PATH FOR TOWNSFOLK MAKING THEIR WAY HOME AT NIGHT; A FIRE HYDRANT CAST WITH IRON SCROLLS LIKE A WORK OF ART.

FOR A STUDY OF THE TOWN THAT WAS MOVED, THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY IN HIBBING HAS A MODEL OF OLD NORTH HIBBING AND EACH OF THE BUILDINGS AND SITES THAT ARE NO MORE.

AND FOR ITS PART, THE OLIVER MINING COMPANY DID INVEST IN REPLACEMENT STRUCTURES AND ESTABLISHMENTS THAT IN MANY CASES SURPASSED THE OLD.

BY THE YEAR 1890, THE EXISTENCE OF VALUABLE STEEL-MAKING ORE ON THE VERMILION RANGE IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA WAS WELL ESTABLISHED.

NOT FAR TO THE SOUTHWEST, RESTING NEAR THE SURFACE IN QUANTITIES NO PROSPECTOR COULD HAVE IMAGINED, LAY AN EVEN GREATER ORE BODY ON THE CUSP OF DISCOVERY.

THANKS TO THE MERRITT FAMILY, EARLY SETTLERS OF ONEOTA AND DULUTH, THE RICHES OF THE MESABI IRON RANGE WERE UNCOVERED.

4 OF THE SONS AND 3 GRANDSONS OF LEWIS AND HEPZIBETH MERRITT BECAME KNOWN AS "THE 7 IRON MEN," A TITLE GROUNDED IN HARD WORK.

>> THEY CAME TO DULUTH AS LUMBER MEN, REALLY.

THEY CRUISED THE FOREST NORTH OF DULUTH ALL THE WAY TO THE IRON RANGE.

THEIR FATHER, LEWIS J., CAME TO THE IRON RANGE DURING THE TIME OF THE GOLD RUSH, AND WHEN HE CAME BACK TO DULUTH, HE CAME BACK AND SAYS, "YOU KNOW WHAT, THERE MIGHT NOT BE GOLD UP THERE," HE SAID, "BUT WHEN THEY GET TO MINING THAT IRON," HE SAYS, "THERE'S GOING TO BE PLENTY FOR EVERYBODY."

>> THE SONS COMBED THE REGION, INSPIRED BY THEIR FATHER'S BELIEF THAT GOOD ORE WOULD BE FOUND ON THE MESABI RANGE.

AS THE STORY GOES, CASSIUS MERRITT MADE THE INITIAL DISCOVERY, STUMBLING UPON A LUMP OF WHAT PROVED TO BE RICH IRON ORE IN 1887, WHILE SURVEYING FOR A RAIL LINE BETWEEN DULUTH AND WINNIPEG.

WHILE THE FIND WAS A BREAKTHROUGH, MUCH WORK LAY AHEAD.

THE MERRITTS SPENT THE ENSUING YEARS MAPPING POTENTIAL ORE BODIES AND DIGGING TEST PITS.

FINALLY, IN 1890, THEY FOUND WHAT THEY WERE LOOKING FOR.

>> "ON THE 16th DAY OF NOVEMBER 1890, WORKMEN ENCOUNTERED SOFT HEMATITE IN A TEST PIT ON THE NORTHWEST CORRIDOR OF SECTION 3, TOWNSHIP 58, RANGE 18, WEST OF THE FOURTH PRINCIPAL MERIDIAN.

THE MINE NOW CALLED THE MOUNTAIN IRON WAS THE FIRST BODY OF SOFT ORE DISCOVERED ON THE MESABI IRON RANGE."

HORACE B. WINCHELL, REPORT ON THE MESABI IRON RANGE, 1891.

>> DESPITE THE FIND, GETTING FINANCIAL BACKING PROVED DIFFICULT BECAUSE THIS ORE WAS UNLIKE ANY PREVIOUSLY MINED.

>> BUT THE ORE THAT WAS FOUND ON THE MESABI RANGE WASN'T THE KIND OF ORE THAT YOU FIND ANYWHERE ELSE.

WHEN STEEL MANUFACTURERS FIRST BEGAN MAKING STEEL OUT OF MESABI ORE, THEY SENT MEN UP TO LOOK AT THE MESABI RANGE, AND MOST OF THEM SAID, "THIS CAN'T BE IRON ORE.

IRON ORE IS DEEP.

IRON ORE IS HARD AND HEAVY.

THIS, IT LOOKS LIKE BLUE CLAY, NOTHING MORE."

>> BUT THE MERRITTS WERE CONFIDENT IN THE QUALITY OF THE POWDERY BLUE ORE WHICH WOULD BECOME THE FOUNDATION OF THE UNITED STATES STEEL INDUSTRY.

THE MERRITTS QUICKLY FOUND MORE DEPOSITS, AS DID OTHERS, AND AS WORD SPREAD, A FRENZY OF SPECULATION CREATED MORE THAN 100 NEW MINING COMPANIES.

BUT THE MERRITTS WERE AHEAD OF THE REST, ALREADY HOLDING LEASES TO THE BEST MINING PROPERTY ON THE MESABI.

AND BECAUSE THIS ORE LAY CLOSE TO THE SURFACE, MINING IT WOULD NOT BE NEARLY AS EXPENSIVE AS THE HARD ROCK ORE OF THE VERMILION RANGE.

>> NOT ONLY WAS IT CLOSE TO THE SURFACE, BUT THERE WAS LOTS OF IT.

IT SEEMED AT THE TIME, IN THE EARLY 1890s, THAT THE ORE WAS ENDLESS.

THERE WOULD NEVER BE AN END TO IT.

90 MILES OF ORE POCKETS ALL ACROSS THE RANGE.

>> WITH NO NEED FOR EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT OR SKILLED MINERS, THE MERRITTS NEEDED ONE THING--RELIABLE TRANSPORT.

AFTER UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPTS TO CONVINCE RAILROAD COMPANIES TO BUILD A LINE TO THEIR ORE PROPERTIES, THE MERRITTS AND THEIR PARTNERS DECIDED TO BUILD THEIR OWN RAILWAY.

THE DULUTH, MISSABE & NORTHERN WAS BORN, RAISING $1.5 MILLION AND BUILDING A LINE FROM MOUNTAIN IRON TO STONY BROOK ON THE ST.

LOUIS RIVER.

FROM THERE, THE DULUTH AND WINNIPEG RAILWAY CARRIED THE ORE TO A DOCK IN SUPERIOR, WISCONSIN.

THE FIRST SHIPMENT OF ORE FROM THE MESABI RANGE WAS WELCOMED WITH MUCH FANFARE ON NOVEMBER 1, 1892, IN WHAT SEEMED TO BE A TRIUMPH FOR THE MERRITT MINING INTERESTS.

INSIDE THE LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM IN DULUTH, A REMARKABLE LINK TO IRON RANGE HISTORY HAS BEEN LOVINGLY RESTORED.

THIS IS THE BUSINESS CAR "MISSABE," BUILT FOR THE MERRITTS' DULUTH, MISSABE & NORTHERN RAILWAY.

>> THEY NEEDED IT TO SERVE AS A BUSINESS CAR, BECAUSE THEY HAD THE RAILROAD TO DEAL WITH, THEY HAD THE MINES TO DEAL WITH, THEY HAD CUSTOMERS WHO WERE DEALING WITH BOTH ASPECTS OF THE OPERATION TO DEAL WITH, AND SO THEY NEEDED A CONVENIENT WAY OF GETTING BACK AND FORTH AND AT THE SAME TIME BEING ABLE TO ENTERTAIN BUSINESS PEOPLE ON THE CAR.

>> THE "MISSABE" WAS BUILT IN 1893 AS THE MERRITT BROTHERS' PERSONAL BUSINESS CAR, A NECESSITY FOR TRAVEL BETWEEN THEIR MINING INTERESTS.

>> YOU'VE GOT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE CONDITION OF ROADS IN 1893 CAN BEST BE DESCRIBED AS IFFY.

PROBABLY A SHORT PERIOD DURING THE SUMMER WHEN IT MIGHT HAVE DRIED OUT ENOUGH THAT YOU COULD GET THROUGH EASILY, BUT, SO THAT GETTING AROUND ON THE RAILROAD WAS DEFINITELY THE BEST WAY TO GO.

>> RETIRED LAKE SUPERIOR RAILROAD MUSEUM CURATOR TOM GANNON AND A TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS SPENT 15 YEARS RETURNING THE "MISSABE" TO ITS FORMER GLORY.

RETIRED BY THE RAILROAD IN THE LATE 1930s, THE CAR WAS USED AS A CABIN UNTIL IT WAS DONATED TO THE MUSEUM IN 1999.

>> THE FIRST TIME I SAW IT, IT DIDN'T LOOK TERRIBLY IMPRESSIVE BECAUSE IT DIDN'T LOOK A LOT LIKE A CAR JUST SITTING THERE, AND THEN IT WAS PAINTED WHITE, HOUSE PAINT WHITE, AND IT DID HAVE A PEAKED ROOF ON IT.

BUT I CAME IN AND SAW HOW MUCH OF IT WAS ORIGINAL, THEN, OF COURSE, THAT WAS MUCH MORE IMPRESSIVE.

>> OUR GUIDED TOUR OF THE CAR WAS LIKE STEPPING BACK IN TIME.

>> THIS PART OF THE CAR WOULD BE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE PARLOR OR LIVING ROOM.

IT'S VERY SIMILAR TO THAT.

IT'S THE END THAT, AS YOU'RE GOING DOWN THE TRACK YOU'D BE ABLE TO LOOK OUT THE BACK END AND WATCH TO SEE THE CONDITION OF THE RAIL.

FOR THE MOST PART, THE WOOD WORK YOU SEE, ALL WE DID WAS CLEAN IT, BECAUSE IT'S, WE DIDN'T TOUCH IT AT ALL.

THE GREEN PANELED CEILING PARTS NEEDED SOME WORK, SOMETIMES EXTENSIVE WORK AND REPAINTING, BECAUSE THEY WERE DAMAGED AND/OR MISSING.

THE CENTRAL AREA OF THE CAR HAS A BATHROOM, THE ORIGINAL NICKEL SILVER SINK, AND A WATER TANK HERE FOR DRINKING WATER, AND ON THIS SIDE WAS THE KITCHEN, AND THE KITCHEN HAD A COAL-BURNING STOVE ON ONE END AND THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A SINK HERE, AND THEN IN THE LAST SECTION OF THE CAR COULD BE CONSIDERED THE DINING ROOM, AND HERE WE HAVE ON THE TABLE SOME CHINA THAT WAS USED, AND THERE ARE A FEW PIECES HERE IN THE SILVER THAT ACTUALLY SAY "MISSABE" ON THEM, SO THEY WERE ON THIS CAR WHEN IT WAS BEING USED.

>> IN THIS RARE FILM FOOTAGE WE CATCH A GLIMPSE OF LIFE ON BOARD THE "MISSABE" CAR AS COMPANY OFFICIALS VISIT MINING PROPERTIES ON THE IRON RANGE.

IT MUST HAVE BEEN A JUBILANT TIME FOR THE MERRITTS, WHO HAD SPENT YEARS EXPLORING AND FINALLY OPENING THE MESABI RANGE TO MINING.

YET THAT SUCCESS WAS VERY SHORT-LIVED.

UNHAPPY WITH THE SERVICE THEY WERE GETTING FROM THE DULUTH AND WINNIPEG, THEY CAME UP WITH A PLAN.

>> THEY DECIDED "WE WANT OUR OWN CONNECTION INTO DULUTH AND OUR OWN ORE DOCKS," AND SO THAT WAS PARTLY THAT DESIRE TO BUILD THAT LAST ROUGHLY THIRD OR SO OF THE RAILROAD AND THEN BUILD ORE DOCKS THAT GOT THEM IN TROUBLE.

>> MUCH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ABOUT WHAT WENT WRONG, BUT ULTIMATELY, LOAN AGREEMENTS WITH THE INDUSTRIALIST JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, ALONG WITH THE PANIC OF 1893, PULLED THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER THE STEEL INDUSTRY.

>> WELL, THEY GOT INTO DEALING FINALLY WITH THE ROCKEFELLER INTERESTS, AND EVENTUALLY, THEY LOST EVERYTHING.

>> BECAUSE IT WAS JUST BEFORE THE PANIC OF '93, WHICH IS WHAT PUT THEM IN A BAD BIND WITH ROCKEFELLER, AND SO ESSENTIALLY, THERE WAS THE URGE TO EXPAND WHEN THEY PROBABLY COULD HAVE HELD BACK, AND IF THEY HAD, THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE RANGE MIGHT BE DIFFERENT.

WHO KNOWS?

>> IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN A MINING EMPIRE WAS LOST.

YET HISTORY REMEMBERS THE MERRITT FAMILY FOR THEIR ROLE IN OPENING UP THE RICHEST IRON RANGE IN THE WORLD.

THIS RESTORED BUSINESS CAR IS A DIRECT CONNECTION TO THAT REMARKABLE STORY.

>> WELL, THE MAIN REASON THAT IT HAS REAL IMPORTANCE IS THAT IT TIES TOGETHER SO MANY STRANDS OF HISTORY IN THAT IT'S RELATED TO THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON MINING UP AT MOUNTAIN IRON, AND IT'S RELATED TO THE 7 IRON MEN, THE MERRITTS, SO IT'S RAILROADING HISTORY, MINING HISTORY, FAMILY HISTORY IN THE FORM OF THE MERRITTS, ALL COMING TOGETHER ON THIS ONE OBJECT.

>> A PLACE WHERE DEALS WERE MADE AND LOST, ULTIMATELY SHIFTING THE FORTUNES OF AN INDUSTRY.

YET ANOTHER TRANSFORMATION IN THE HISTORY OF THE IRON RANGE.

>> FUNDING FOR "LOST IRON RANGE" IS PROVIDED BY THE CITIZENS OF MINNESOTA THROUGH THE MINNESOTA ARTS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE FUND.