| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS THE SNAKE CAVE, THE MINE WAS FIRST WORKED BY INDIANS ABOUT THE TIME THE FRENCH TRADER NICOLAS PERROT ARRIVED IN THE AREA IN 1690. THE MINE WAS FIRST PURCHASED BY A YOUNG MINER, WILLIS ST JOHN, IN 1828 WHO SUCCESSFULLY RAN IT UNTIL 1848. THIS MINE ALONG WITH OTHERS IN THE LEAD DISTRICT PRODUCED MUCH OF THE COUNTRY'S LEAD FROM THE 1830S UNTIL THE EARLY 1870S. THE MINE CLOSED IN 1870. THE CONDITION OF THE MINE IS CONSIDERED TO BE GOOD.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
THE SNAKE CAVE IS THOUGHT BY MANY TO BE THE LEAD MINE THAT THE FRENCH EXPLORER, NICHOLAS PERROT, DISCOVERED IN 1690. IT IS ALSO LIKELY THAT PIERRE LeSEUR WORKED THIS MINE IN 1700 WHEN HE ASCENDED THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER WITH LICENSE TO DEVELOP LEAD AND COPPER MINES THAT HE HAD SEEN AND/OR LEARNED OF ON PREVIOUS EXPEDITIONS.
INDIANS, TOO, HAD PROBABLY KNOWN OF AND WORKED THE MINE SOMETIME PRIOR TO LeSEUR'S ARRIVAL AND IT IS LIKELY THAT THEY AND THE FRENCH CONTINUED TO WORK THE MINE THROUGH THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. IT IS THOUGHT, HOWEVER, THAT THESE EARLY MINERS MINED ONLY THE ORE THAT WAS READILY ACCESSIBLE. THE EXTENSIVE EXPLOITATION OF THE SNAKE CAVE VEINS REMAINED FOR THE AMERICANS.
WILLIS ST. JOHN WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN TO EXPLOIT THE SNAKE CAVE LEAD DEPOSIT. ARRIVING IN THE GALENA LEAD DISTRICT IN 1825, ST. JOHN REMAINED IN THE AREA THROUGH THE WINNEBAGO UPRISING OF 1827 AND THE BLACK HAWK WAR OF 1832 IN WHICH HE FOUGHT. FOLLOWING THE WAR, HE AND ISAAC WHITAKER WENT TO THE SNAKE CAVE AND BEGAN MINING. THE STORY IS TOLD THAT WHEN ST. JOHN FIRST ENTERED THE CAVE HE FOUND AN ABUNDANCE OF RATTLESNAKES WHICH EVENTUALLY LED TO THE NAMING OF THE POTOSI VALLEY TO "SNAKE HOLLOW."
SOON AFTER ST. JOHN BEGAN MINING, HE ENLARGED HIS OPERATION BY BUILDING A SMELTER IN THE RAVINE BELOW. THE SNAKE CAVE SOON PROVED TO BE A RICH DEPOSIT THAT MADE ST. JOHN'S FORTUNE AND ATTRACTED SCORES OF OTHERS TO THE POTOSI AREA. BY 1840 POTOSI WAS AN ESTABLISHED VILLAGE AND BY 1843 THE INTREPID MINER HAD TAKEN MORE THAN 250,000 POUNDS OF ORE FROM THE CAVE AND OPENED TWO MORE MINES IN THE VICINITY.
BY 1848, A SERIES OF BUSINESS REVERSES FORCED ST. JOHN TO SELL HIS MINE TO NELSON DEWEY AND HENRY MASSEY, WHO OPERATED IT PROFITABLY FOR THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS. BY 1870, HOWEVER, THE ORE WAS EXHAUSTED AND THE MINE CLOSED. THREE YEARS LATER DEWEY, FACING BANKRUPTCY, SOLD HIS SHARE TO MASSEY. IN 1969 LaVERNE IHM PURCHASED THE PROPERTY FROM THE MASSEY FAMILY.
HISTORICAL STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE:
DISCOVERED AND EXPLOITED BY THE INDIANS AND THE FRENCH, THE ST. JOHN MINE IS AMONG THE VERY EARLIEST LEAD MINES IN WISCONSIN. DURING THE NINETEENTH CENTURY PERIOD OF AMERICAN LEAD MINING, THE ST. JOHN MINE WAS A RICH AND IMPORTANT MINE IN THE POTOSI AREA. ITS DEVELOPMENT BY WILLIS ST. JOHN CONTRIBUTED SIGNIFICANTLY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE VILLAGE OF POTOSI. (SEE BIB. REF. A).
(NOTE: THE STAIRWAY TO THE MINE, THE ROAD, THE BADGER HUT, AND THE A-FRAME ORIENTATION CENTER ARE NOT OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE.) |
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