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GeneralA little known short story from the Keweenaw

19th Aug 2017 14:19 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

This story doesn’t fit in the data base but I thought that some of you would find it interesting. While following the Lake Shore Drive on the north side of Keweenaw County many of you have probably stopped to look at Jacob’s Falls located at the intersection of highway 26 and Jacob’s Creek just west of the Great Sand Bay. The falls cascade over the Portage Lake Volcanics at a point only about 800 feet from the shore line of Lake Superior. It is one of the northern most exposures of the Portage Lake Volcanics very close to the contact with the Copper Harbor Formation. The falls illustrate the dip of the Portage Lake Volcanics as they descend under Lake Superior.

During our many camping trips to the Keweenaw in the late 60’s and early 70’s, we would drive past Jacob’s Falls while “beachcombing” for agates. We were surprised one year to see that a small “mom and pop” Italian restaurant had been built across the road from the falls. We went in and had a very good spaghetti and meatball lunch. I will confess that I am a notorious “chow hound” and have always felt that pasta with homemade tomato sauce it Italy’s true gift to the world.

It became a tradition. We would have at least one Italian dinner at the restaurant on each trip. “Mom and Pop” would get out their agate collection to show us. They had about four or five real beauties, large agates with lots of banding. Each agate had a polished “window’ that allowed you to see deep into the translucent stone. We looked forward to it, for the meal and also to see what they had recently found.

One year on the way to set up camp at Fort Wilkins State Park we crossed over to Eagle River to follow highway 26 to Jacob’s Falls to have lunch. The restaurant was gone! There was some foundation left and some boards scattered in the brush near the river. As soon as we got to Copper Harbor we inquired as to what had happened.

Here is the story. The beaver had built a very large dam in the woods above the falls. During a heavy rain the dam washed out sending a flash flood over Jacob” Falls destroying our favorite restaurant. Fortunately no one was there at the time.

Beaver dams can be hundreds of yards long holding back a huge amount of water. When the popular trees that provide the bark that they feed on are all gone, the beaver abandon the pond and move to another locality. The dam falls into disrepair and things like this happen.

The next time you stop at Jacob’s Falls look across the road, some of the foundation may still be there.

Hmmm… I wonder what happened to that agate collection?

19th Aug 2017 14:42 UTCRoger Ericksen 🌟

Great story. Thanks for another reason reason to visit the UP.

20th Aug 2017 01:05 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Larry,

In addition to the Italian restaurant, there was also a 10-unit motel and tourist shop located across M-26 from Jacobs Falls. As Tony Bausano, the owner of Copper World in Calumet, told it to me once, his father John and family built the hotel/restaurant in 1955 and operated it during the summer months. During a very wet spring in 1971, a beaver dam above the Falls broke and sent a wall of water downstream. The volume of water destroyed the motel and completely washed out M-26. The photo below, courtesy of Pasty Central, shows the destruction caused by the water. The photo was taken where the building once sat, now showing the building washed downstream. M-26 is not visible in the photo because it too washed away.

After seeing the destruction, the Bausanos chose not to rebuild the motel/restaurant, but instead focus their attention to a new business venture, the Great Northern Mineral Supply Company in Calumet. John Bausano eventually passed down the business to son Tony which was renamed “Copper World” and still operates today.

As far as the agates, Tony kept many of them and will show them off from time to time. During Keweenaw Week, we got to see some of the agates (and other goodies), including a tube agate which I assume formed the same way as the copper pipe amygdules one sometimes see.

Oh, and regarding pasta w/ homemade sauce; I’m with you, Larry! Unfortunately, I’ve had a little too much in recent months so I need to work a little off…

20th Aug 2017 02:19 UTCSusan Robinson

Hi Larry and Paul,

George and I had heard the story, but not some of the details and the photo of the damaged buildings you provided. Many thanks to both of you for posting this information.

Susan Robinson

20th Aug 2017 19:32 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

Hi Susan and George,

Thanks for the detail Paul,

I know Tony well and had no idea that he was connected to the restaurant at Jacob’s Falls. He is an interesting guy and knows a great deal about the collecting and mining history of the Keweenaw. For many years he has talked with the “old timers” and purchased local collections to supply his shop.

I first went to the Keweenaw in 1950 as a young boy on a family camping trip. To put that in prospective, we crossed the Straights on the car ferry (the bridge opened in 1957) and the Quincy No. 6 shaft house was still standing (destroyed by fire in 1956).

I forgot about the motel rooms. We had been traveling out west for several years around the time of the flood and when we returned to the Keweenaw the road was repaired and the lumber was likely salvaged by the family or the locals.

Here is a photo of Tony with his daughter Christine and son Tim at the shop in Calumet (2013).

22nd Aug 2017 15:34 UTCLarry Maltby Expert

Here is another little know story from the Keweenaw. The photo below was taken in 2013 of a building on the on the outskirts of Calumet. It appears to be a building used for selling used cars, but in 1950 when the Maltby’s were driving by on the way to Copper Harbor it was much different. The sign over the building said “The World’s Biggest Little Museum”. The sign caught my dad’s eye and he pulled over.

We walked through the door and saw a building crammed full of antiques and artifacts from the turn of the century copper boom. There were also many oddities like what you might see at a circus sideshow. I was amazed at the two headed calf prepared by the art of taxidermy. I noticed that my dad was intently looking at a pair of shoes. They were size 19! Above the shoes was a huge suit of clothes stretched out and attached to the wall. The clothes belonged to “Big Louie, the Copper Country Giant”.

Louie Moilanen (1885-1913) came to the Keweenaw at the age of four, probably with a family of Finish miners. He worked for a while at the Franklin Junior Mine and during 1903 and 1904 he traveled with the Ringling Brothers Circus. He finished his short life operating a saloon in Hancock.

He was 8 feet and 1 inch tall, weighed 400 pounds and wore size 19 shoes. A good photo of “Big Louie” can be seen in the book, Old Reliable, an Illustrated History of the Quincy Mining Company, Lankton and Hyde, published by The Quincy Mine Hoist Association Inc. in 1982.

26th Aug 2017 13:39 UTCjeff yadunno

thanks for posting these stories! great read!

had to look Louis up and it turns out he is short compared to some others!

http://www.thetallestman.com/louismoilanen.htm

28th Aug 2017 05:33 UTCAmy Smith

Hi there!! I am new to the message boards here but have been using mindat for sometime in helping me ID specimens I find. I was raised in Houghton and Marquette and my Great Grandfather was a miner. So cool to hear stories about my homeland!! I never knew Jacobs Falls had done that (well, the beavers..but ya know..).

Thank you for sharing!! Now I got a story to tell my children as we go agate hunting up der!

28th Aug 2017 17:29 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

I remember still in the early 80's seeing the sign for "The World’s Biggest Little Museum”. Never went in, but reading your post Larry, maybe I should have... Nat and I were just up there at the beginning of August and it is indeed now part of a used car dealership which includes the old NAPA auto parts store next door.

As an aside; I highly recommend buying/reading "Old Reliable" by Larry Lankton as it is a fantastic history lesson about the Quincy Mining Company and life on the Keweenaw in general. It has been recently updated with new information as well. Another great book on life during the mining heyday of the Keweenaw is "Cradle to Grave", also by Lankton.

Welcome to Mindat, Amy!!

Out of curiosity, do you know which mine your Great Grandfather worked out of?

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