Minnesota Iron Company operations near Tower, 1891. Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth.

Tower, the first city of the ranges, in the vicinity of Jasper Peak and Lake Vermilion, close to the historic Soudan Mine, to which it primarily owes its existence, is the Minnesota Arrowhead’s oldest incorporated municipality north of Duluth. It is one of five towns named after Charlemagne Tower.

Over inland waterways as early as 1778, a military trail was operated by British soldiers from Grand Portage to this site, the only such trail in what is now the State of Minnesota. It was visited by adventurous early fur traders who came to nearby Lake Vermilion.

In 1854, rumors of gold were rampant. So many prospectors rushed here, accessible only by complicated and difficult water and land routes. The Vermilion Trail from Duluth to Tower was cut and this is now known as County Highway Number Four.

George R. Stuntz (after whom the Hibbing Township is named) discovered iron ore that year at the site of the present Soudan Mine. Large deposits of iron ore were also found here by two State of Minnesota geologists, Henry H. and Richard Eameo. Later in 1875, Professor Albert H. Chester, with Stuntz as his guide, led an expedition here in search of iron ore.

The McKinley Monument, located near the East Two River at the western approach to Tower, was dedicated in November 1901 to honor President William McKinley, who was assassinated September 6, 1901. Lakesnwoods.com.

A sawmill and planing mill were built in 1882 to saw logs which were floated down the East Two River. This site was selected as a business section to serve the Soudan location where the Minnesota Iron Company already had built houses. The village was organized in 1883 and was named in honor of the Philadelphia financier Charlemagne Tower. Mr. Tower with Breitung, Lee, Stuntz and Stone had organized the Minnesota Iron Company in December of the previous year.

The Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, running from Two Harbors to Soudan, was extended to Tower in 1884. Lumbering was then a thriving industry. The first shipment of iron ore from the Soudan Mine at Tower to Agate Bay (now Two Harbors) over the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad was shipped on July 31, 1884.

Pioneering investors, explorers, and settlers in the Tower-Soudan region. Pictured (l. to r.) are Charlemagne Tower; Charlemagne Tower, Jr.; Edward Breitung; and George R. Stuntz.

The First Iron Ore Train

A very vivid description of this historical event is given in the book “Iron Millionaire” written by Professor Hal Bridges and published by the University of Pennsylvania Press.

“On July 24, 1884, the track reached the 65th mile in sight of the Vermilion Range. Tower Junior joyfully planned an all-out celebration io take place on the day the first shipment of ore went down the line to Two Harbors. Now that the strain of rushing it to completion had ended, he and Richard Lee could take time to be proud of their Iron Range Railroad.

“The stations along the road, thanks to Charlemagne Tower and his Chippewa dictionary, had rippling Indian names Sibiwissi, Biusbi and the like. They were unfortunately too exotic to last. Years later a more prosaic administration changed them all: Sibiwissi to Britton, Biuisbi to Allen Junction, and so on down the list.

“Except as names on the map, no stations existed at all in July 1884, nor were there any water tanks or pumps along the route for the use of the train crews. Engineer Thomas Owens replenished the tender’s tanks by sucking water from rivers and ponds. There was only the unadorned single track running through the wilderness. But Tower Junior had 11 Baldwin locomotives and 350 ore cars with which to begin operations. He meant to haul a load of ore as soon as he had a complete track. He designated July 31st as the day for the first shipment from Soudan to Two Harbors—the first shipment in history from a Minnesota mine.

“The appointed day dawned beautifully clear and-sunny, and found the people of Tower and Soudan in a holiday mood. The big event, the one day they had waited for all summer. Today there would be no work in the mine; everybody would cheer the arrival and loading of the first ore train and all the good things it symbolized: the success of the Vermilion enterprise, steady jobs, and the inauguration of Minnesota as an iron flowing state, and linking Tower and Soudan to the outside world. Chunks of ore rattled like hail into the cars as the people on the docks competed for the honor of loading the first piece. The official honor went to Wolf; at Tower Junior’s request, he put in the first barrow full; he wheeled it up the platform and dumped it into Car Number 406. Captain [Elisha] Morcom hoisted the American flag and the loading crews went to work. The celebration was completed with an Indian Pow Wow in which everybody joined.

“At Two Harbors, the suspense and excitement increased at the time for the train to arrive. The crew had just finished laying the last few feet of track. ‘Here she comes,’ they shouted and sure enough— Consolidated Engine Number Eight, her drivers pounding in a blur of wheels, her boiler flashing fire, and plume of smoke like a victory feather flying from its bulbous stack.

“A tremendous cheer went up. ‘Lish Morcom tugged wildly at the shop whistle. Thomas Owens at the throttle of Number Eight responded with a series of blasts that drowned him out. In a cloud of hissing steam, the train rolled to a halt. Charlemagne Tower Junior, Richard Lee and John Wolf, the contractor who built the railroad, climbed down from the caboose and shook hands with Captain Elisha Morcom, while Owens and his brakemen backed the wooden ore cars along the Ore Docks.”

On October 31, 1884, notices to incorporate the Village of Tower were sent out calling for election of officers on November 11. The election was held and John Owens was elected the first Village President.

The first council meeting was held on November 26. Subsequent Presidents were: John G. Brown, William H. Bassett and William N. Shephard.

The Mining Company donated part of North Second Street for Churches in 1885. The Catholic and Presbyterian Churches were built in that year. Later on, the Lutheran, Episcopal, and the Mission Covenant Churches were built.

Tower became a city in April 1889, with William N. Shephard, former Village President, being elected to first Mayor. He also served from 1893 to 1895. Among those who have served the city this capacity are J. D. Murphy who was elected twice, and Herman T. Olson who served three times, covering a period of 10 years; a record.

In 1890, a streetcar carried the miners to and from the Soudan Mine. It was drawn by an engine over a narrow track. This car made 10 trips each day. It was abandoned in 1899.

The same year, the Tower Electric Light and Improvement Company was organized to furnish the City with electricity. For this privilege they were to build a substantial hotel in the City which was the old “U.S.” Hotel. In 1899, the City bought this plant and operated it themselves with their own employes [sic.] The plant soon became obsolete and had to be replaced.

It was at this time that Mayor Charles Roland conceived the idea of building a hydro-electric plant at Pike River. The citizens generally objected to this because it was feared that Pike River, where it was to be built, did not have sufficient water supply. This proved to be true. The plant was built in 1912 at a cost of about $35,000, which placed an indebtedness on the city that was not liquidated until 1925.

Fortunately for the city, the Minnesota Power & Light Company came into this area, and in 1924 the city gave them a franchise to furnish the city with light and power which they have done in a most satisfactory manner up to the present time.

The present City Hall was erected in 1939 at a cost of $75,000.

Soudan received its name from Don H. Bacon, then President of the Minnesota Iron Company. The name was suggested because of publicity then being given to the African Soudan. [The Tower-Soudan Historical Society’s website says the name was meant to contrast this region’s climate with that of northeastern Africa.] John Owens owned the sawmill which then produced the timber for the first houses. The first to be built was the Frank St. Vincent house. The first church, still standing, was the Methodist Church.

It was decided, very early, that Soudan should be a mining location and that no business house should be erected there. In 1886, the first Post Office was started, and in 1891 a hospital was built; it was badly needed. The Fire Hall and Oliver barn were built in 1899. Electricity was installed in the mine in 1924, and construction of the water system was begun. Cement sidewalks were started in 1939.

Charlemagne Tower, son of Reuben and Deborah Tower, was born in Portio Township, Oneida County, New York, April 18, 1809; went to school at the Academy in Oxford, New York, at 13 years of age, and taught school and clerked in Utica for two years. He entered Harvard University in 1827. After graduation, he studied law and established his first office in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where he bought and sold coal lands, with his business associate Samuel Munson; lived there until 1875, when he moved to Philadelphia. He had seven children; one boy, Charlemagne Tower, Jr., and six girls. He served as Captain of the local regiment in the Union Army. During the next few years he engaged in many business activities, including the Northern Pacific Railroad.

In 1875, George C. Stone visited Tower and told him of the iron ore discoveries on the Vermilion Range. He bought Vermilion lands, and with Edward Breitung organized the Minnesota Iron Company prior to 1882. With the assistance of State Senator Charles H. Graves, he made plans to gain control of the recently organized Duluth & Iron Range Railroad, in order to secure a means of shipping the mined ore from Tower-Soudan to Agate Bay. This he did on March 1, 1882. With the development of the railroad and the shipment of iron ore from the Vermilion Range, Tower was responsible for one of the greatest commercial events of the 19th Century.

Although the City of Tower, Minnesota is one of five named for him in the United States, Charlemagne Tower never visited here. He died July 24, 1889. His eventful life of 80 years demonstrates how a man “can pull himself up by his own bootstraps ” and emerge from bankruptcy to become a millionaire.

Charlemagne Tower, Jr., was born at a hotel in Philadelphia, April 17, 1845. He was educated at the Russell Military Academy, New Haven, and the Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, and entered Harvard University in 1869. Because of ill health, his father sent him to Spain in 1871. Graduating in 1872, he spent four years in Europe. On his return he was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Philadelphia.

During this period he was with his father in many of his financial affairs. He came to Tower in 1882 as Treasurer of the Minnesota Iron Company which Tower Senior controlled at that time. In 1880, he became the third President of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad and let the contract for construction of the road from Tower-Soudan to the Lake, to the John C. Wolf Company. He worked hard to have the road built by the prescribed date, viz: July 1884.

He rode on the first ore train and participated in the loading ceremonies at Two Harbors. Later financial difficulties beset the road and he resigned as an officer but continued his interest until it was sold. Charlemagne Tower, Jr., was then appointed Ambassador to Russia and Germany by President McKinley. He retired in 1908.

Edward Breitung, a German immigrant, born November 10, 1831, in Schalka, Germany, was educated at the College of Mining Meninige. He came to Michigan in 1879. He opened the Republic Mine here, and was elected to Congress in 1883-1885; became interested in the Vermilion enterprise in 1882, at the suggestion of Charlemagne Tower, Jr.

He was four-tenths owner and Vice President of the Minnesota Iron Company. One of the early shallow pits in the Soudan Mine was named for him. He purchased $100,000 worth of bonds of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad in October, 1883 and assisted in its early financing. Later he made further investments in Lake Vermilion ore lands. His health failed and he died at Negaunee, Michigan. March 3, 1887. The Tower Soudan Township is named Breitung in his honor.

George R. Stuntz was born at Albion, Pennsylvania, December 11, 1820, and studied engineering at the Grand River Institute, Ohio. He came as a government surveyor to Duluth in 1852, four years before it was platted. At that time he stated “that in his opinion, here was the heart of the Continent, commercially.” His first trip to the Lake Vermilion region, seeking coal, was made in 1875; instead of coal, he found iron ore there, and was afterwards recognized as the first to do this. By 1881, he was able to convince Charlemagne Tower of the valuable deposits in the Tower-Soudan region.

Stuntz also assisted in the survey of the Duluth & Iron Range Railroad and became recognized as one of the outstanding and accomplished surveyors in northern Minnesota.

His last act in the Vermilion Range drama was to present two papers to the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences on “Early Life in Northeastern Minnesota” and the “Mound Builders.” He died October 3,1902, at the age of 81. One of our greatest discoverers, he made money for others, but died penniless, after living a hard but intensive life. After his death his pioneering achievements were recognized by naming Stuntz Township (Hibbing) in his honor.

Source (images and text, unless otherwise noted): Missabe Iron Ranger, a publication of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway, July 1954. No author or sources for historical information were provided in the original text.

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