The Gogebic Iron Range was the last of the three great iron ore fields opened in the Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin. Beginning in 1848 with Dr. A. Randall, federal and state geologists mapped the ore formations almost perfectly long before any ore was mined. On the basis of his studies in 1871, Raphael Pumpelly selected lands for purchase that years later became the sites of the wealthy Newport and Geneva mines. The first mine to go into production was the Colby, which in 1884 shipped 1,022 tons of iron ore in railroad flat cars to Milwaukee. By 1890 more than thirty mines had shipped ore from this range. Many quickly exhausted their good ore and closed, while others replaced them as richer ore bodies were found. Virtually all mining here has been underground, as shown by many shafts and cave-ins. The soft hematite ores common on this range usually were sent in ore cars to Ashland and Escanaba, where they were loaded onto ore boats and taken to America’s steel mills.