EXAMINING PATTERNS OF ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO ...

2.0 Italians and the mines of Lake Superior
Chapter II - Provenience
During the 1880s numerous mines opened on the copper and iron ranges of Lake
Superior. The first mines opened in the mid-1840s on the Marquette Iron Range and on the
Copper Range of Michigan. Michigan’s Menominee Iron Range opened in the 1870s. In 1884
mines were opened on the Vermillion Iron Range in Minnesota and on the Gogebic Iron
Range on the border between Michigan and Wisconsin. The Mesabi Iron Range and the
Cuyuna Iron Range in Minnesota opened in 1892 and in 1912 respectively. 15 During the first
stage of mining a small work force was employed. In the second stage, an enlarged force
labored to open up and test the most promising finds. Most of the workers in the mines were
European immigrants. At the beginning British, Scandinavian, Irish and Germans were the
most numerous nationalities. Around 1900 the number of Finnish, Croatian, Polish, Slovenian
and Italian immigrants grew larger.
The Italian colony of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is one of the oldest Italian
colonies of the central states of the US. 16 The very first Italians reached the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan during the 1860s. They came to work in the copper and iron mines of Houghton,
Marquette, Gogebic, and Menominee Counties. After 1880 they started to form significant
communities in the region of Lake Superior. Because the earliest Italians were temporary
residents 17 , many more Italians reached the area and worked in the mines than are reflected in
census reports.
2.1 Definition of Italian Community
The goal of this study was to gather data about the number of the Italian immigrants
that settled in Houghton County from the Michigan state censuses of 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910,
1920, and 1930 (see Appendix VI-XI). The census of 1890 is not available because it was lost
15 Vecoli, J. Rudolph. “Dalle Marche e dall'Umbria alle miniere del Lago Superiore”. In E. Sori (ed.), Le
Marche fuori dalle Marche. Ancona: Proposte e ricerche, 1998, p. 677.
16 Castigliano, Attilio. “Origine, sviluppo, importanza ed avvenire delle colonie italiane del Nord Michigan e del
Nord Minnesota”. In Bollettino dell’Emigrazione Vol. 7 (1913), p. 723.
17 Temporary because they tended to return to Italy after a while. See Chapter I.
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