The Gogebic Iron Range extends 80 miles from Lake Namekagon, Wisconsin, to Lake Gogebic in Michigan. Before iron ore was discovered, the area was relatively uninhabited because the land was ill-suited to agriculture. Nathaniel D. Moore uncovered ore in the Penokee Gap near Bessemer in 1872, but the first mine shipment did not occur until 1884. News of the discovery spread rapidly and drew speculators, investors, and settlers. By 1886, the range had 54 mines, and the area was promoted as having inexhaustible deposits of uniformly high-grade Bessemer ore. For a brief time, stocks rose 1200 percent, before the crash of 1887 ended the extravagant prosperity.