Sue Kerfoot of the Gunflint Trail Historical Society and Gunflint Lodge knows a lot about Gunflint Trail history. On March 9, she participated in a storytelling event about Cook County history at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in Grand Marais.
Kerfoot talked about how the 2007 Ham Lake fire exposed the effect of the Sudbury meteor that struck near Sudbury, Ontario eons ago. Kerfoot said it took 13 seconds for a fireball from Sudbury, Ontario to reach this area, 2-3 minutes for an earthquake to hit, and 5-10 minutes for ejecta to fall along with 1,400 mph winds and a tsunami.
The Gunflint Trail, like much of this region of the continent, is rich in mineral resources. In the 19th century, attempts were made to extract some of it, but so far the Gunflint Trail has proven to be more profitable for tourist businesses than for miners.
Kerfoot called the Paulson Mine a “real boondoggle.” A railroad built to it from Canada carried out one load of taconite, which was not of use to the steel industry like it is now, before being abandoned.
This photo shows the Magnetic Bay railroad bridge constructed for Port Arthur Duluth & Western Railroad cars to reach the Paulson Mine. According to Cook County Historical Society member Alta McQuatters, a railroad line also used to run out of Lockport in Lutsen.
This is part of a series about the tales of Cook County history that were shared at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on March 9, 2013. The event was called “Stories you’ve never heard – and good ones to hear again!”
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