Starting in 1861, the Civil War tore apart the nation and resulted in the immediate need of iron ore to provide weapons for the North. William B. Ogden, an owner of the Chicago & Northwest Railroad Co., knew of the plentiful iron mines of the Upper Peninsula. After deciding it would take too long to further extend the railway north to Michigan, in 1862 Ogden 'leap-frogged' the wilderness to organize and build the Peninsula Railroad. This railroad was to run exclusively from Escanaba harbor to the Jackson Mines at Negaunee and then on to the mines in Marquette. At completion in 1863, the Peninsula railway was consolidated into the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. In the first year, 31,072 tons of iron ore was transported by rail to Escanaba harbor and shipped to mid-western mills along the Great Lakes.
Come all you bold sailors that follow the Lakes on an iron-ore vessel your living to make. I shipped in Chicago, bid adieu to the shore, bound away to Escanaba for red iron ore.
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