#Northern Minnesota

[escapingpurgatory]

went up north yesterday, here's some of the photos I got. it was so beautiful, peaceful... the mosquitoes weren't bad at all either!

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

Soggy and Groggy Black Bear Cub by David & Shiela Glatz Via Flickr: When it started raining, he took a nap in the crook of this tree. This Black Bear (Ursus americanus) cub woke up to find his fur matted and soggy. He also seemed surprised that a couple strange humans were watching as he groggily repositioned himself on the branches and looked for his mom.

[davekatzdefensesquad]

5•15•24 || I’ve really missed foraging/plant identifying (picked and photographed on the 11th)

[chaddavisphotography]

The West Baptism River near the town of Isabella in Northern Minnesota, Superior National Forest.

[tilweareghosts]

All the fall things… or whatever blink 182 said🍁🍂🍄‍🟫

[bloodfart03]

[herecomesyourghostagain]

july road trip

[fieriframes]

[WHEN WE WALK IN, THEY KNOW US BY NAME. YOU'RE WELCOMED NO MATTER WHAT. DAN, YOUR FISH AND CHIPS ARE UP. THERE'S A LOT OF PLACES IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA, BUT NOT LIKE GORDY'S. REALLY, I MEAN, THIS IS AN INSTITUTION.]

[wisconsingrrl]

So it's going to feel 73 degrees colder? Am I doing that math correctly?

[reynareina69]

[johnnyslittleanimalblog]

Peek-a-Boo With Black Bear Cub *in explore* by David & Shiela Glatz Via Flickr: Tiny Black Bear (Ursus americanus) cub is unsure of whether to look at photographers or continue climbing the tree. Here it does a bit of both. Northern Minnesota.

[davekatzdefensesquad]

6•23•24 || this book has confirmed my suspicions that messing with your yard to make it “perfect” (like Hank Hill was always obsessive about on King of the Hill) will make it pretty imperfect. Leave it alone. Let the worms and bugs do their jobs. I’m enjoying the smell of the white clovers that have taken over. If you don’t have an HOA busting your balls about how they want you to do your lawn, please just let it grow out for a while. My only concern is my fear of bees, but they’re necessary so I’m just enjoying nature when they go home.

[chaddavisphotography]

Timber Frear Canoe Route Map in the Superior National Forest.

[tilweareghosts]

Everything has its season

[generalsciencelabs]

The Mine vs the Salesman

The best way to talk about General Science is its earliest origins as the Heme Mine, one of Minnesota’s oldest and richest iron mines, and the E.A. Watson Pharmacy.

Early workers and a foreman by a minecart in the Heme Mine in 1902.

In 1889, prospectors first discovered an exposure of the Vermillion Iron Range in what would later became Heme, Minnesota. Reports were notable for their claims that their compasses spun at “alarming speed” upon arriving in the region. Some of the ore was assayed at an unusually high purity of 89% iron. Oddly, thermal springs were present over the area, unusual for the region. A camp and exploratory pit was quickly built to prepare for mining and in 1890, the company village of Heme was established. Full scale underground mining and shipping of ore began in 1893.

Worker housing adjacent to the Heme Mine. c. 1892-1895.

Until 1904, the town was under complete control of the Heme Mining Company with miners having to purchase tools, dynamite, food, medicine, and clothes from the company store using their own salary. This shifted when traveling pharmacist Dr. Elmer Arnold Watson and his family decided to settle in the booming town. Unable to purchase property rights to the hot springs, Watson instead sought try his hand in selling his “Quick-and-Easy” finger guillotines, an invention he believed to be far quicker than conventional units offered by the company due to its use of springs.

A 1910 A.E. Watson Company Quick-And-Easy Extremities Guillotine

The Company was impressed upon seeing a live demonstration. Watson’s products began to be used by the company, but Watson believed he could offer better quality products and services. He negotiated with the mining company to let him build a store because he “needed production space” but quickly began to sell medicines and amputations at a much more reasonable price than the company.

Watson’s Store #1 in Heme.

Watson’s lineament, pain reliever syrup, and “hot spring water health soda fountain” proved especially popular with the townsfolk to the point that in 1907, the Heme Mining Company sent a threatening letter to Mr. Watson planning arson if he didn’t align his prices with the company.

Watson in response threatened to move several kilometers away with much of the town and establish “Watsonville.”

Recognizing the efficiency and growth Watson had brought to the mining operation, and caught up in the 1907 Iron Range Strike, the Heme Mining Company begrudgingly designated Watson’s its official supplier of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. The Heme Mine was acquired by the aggressive actions of the Oliver Mining Company in 1914 but by that point, Watson was in a bargaining position to continue the partnership. He managed to acquire the hot springs and begin marketing them as a tourist attraction.

In 1917, Elmer and his wife Martha celebrated the birth of their second son Wilbur Arnold Watson. The town of Heme would expand rapidly throughout WWI, and Watson’s would grow with it. It is unclear whether the elder Watson was labor friendly or merely an opportunist but Heme was stuck with him and he had them hooked.

The Heme Mine in 1918 producing ore for the war effort.

The interior of the first Watson’s store.

Thermal springs in Heme.

[w0rrldly]