Ore miners working on the

Marquette Iron Range The Marquette Iron Range is a deposit of iron ore located in Marquette County, Michigan in the United States. The towns of Ishpeming and Negaunee developed as a result of mining this deposit. A smaller counterpart of Minnesota's Mesabi Range, t ...

(located in the United States'

Upper Peninsula of Michigan The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by ...

) went on strike in July 1865, shortly after the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

. They were put down by a naval detachment from the USS ''Michigan'', using an improvised

armored train An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facili ...

, and later with an army detachment from Chicago.

Prelude: 1864

During the United States' Civil War, high demand meant the price of iron had significantly increased. Knowing this, the miners forced the mining companies to raise their wages in 1864. The problem was not solved, as the dockworkers, who were paid significantly less than the miners, struck for higher wages.

Cleveland Iron Mining Company Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., formerly Cliffs Natural Resources, is a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that specializes in the mining, beneficiation, and pelletizing of iron ore, as well as steelmaking, including stamping and tooling. It is the largest ...

officials near the capital requested troops from Michigan's governor, believing that the war's demand for iron would override social concerns for the workers. They were correct; a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

, ''Michigan'', and a troop contingent were sent to the area. Their arrival was instrumental in quashing the strike.

Strike: 1865

The wartime demand quickly abated after the war's end in April 1865, and the many returning soldiers increased the labor pool. When combined, this meant that Cleveland and other nearby companies felt justified in announcing a wage cut on Saturday, July 1, 1865. The miners grudgingly accepted the cuts, but the dockworkers refused their wage cut and the companies gave into their demands. This galvanized the miners, and 1500 to 2000 of them marched on the mines and the town of Marquette, looting, burning, and destroying equipment they came across. Two days later, ''Michigan'' and its crew arrived in Marquette's harbor as part of a routine sweep of

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

for Confederate activity. The captain of ''Michigan'', Lieutenant Commander Francis A. Roe, had fought through the war in various capacities, including directing a fight between his ''Sassacus'' and a Confederate ram, ''Albemarle''. On appraising the situation, he quickly moved to end the strike. He mounted two of the ship’s guns on a railroad car, fitted it with metal to act as armor, and enlisted a steam engine to push it with a full landing party. All were armed and most were veterans of the war, as opposed to the miners, who had little to no combat experience. He recounted the incident months later: After ''Michigan''s departure, the miners struck again and were put back down by a returning ''Michigan'' and the 8th Regiment of the Veteran Reserve Corps, brought up by rail from Chicago.Reynolds and Dawson, ''Iron Will'', 40; Rodgers, "Naval Suppression," 16–19.

Footnotes

Endnotes

References

*Reynolds, Terry S. and Virginia P. Dawson. ''Iron Will: Cleveland Cliffs and the Mining of Iron Ore, 1847-2006''. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2011. *Rodgers, Bradley A. "The Naval Suppression of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Mining Strikes of 1865." Extract from master's thesis, East Carolina University, 1990.

Prelude: 1864

Strike: 1865

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Further reading