Of the many white pioneers who came striding into the Mesabi in the late 1800s, not many left as interesting a written and photographic record as Edmund J. Longyear.
Special to the Journal
Exploration diamond drilling rigs belonging to the E.J. Longyear Company are shown. (Photo courtesy of the Marquette Regional History Center)
MARQUETTE Edmund J. Longyear was a pioneer in the opening of the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota who enhanced its development by introducing the diamond drill in 1890.
His company E.J. Longyear was an international mineral exploration and drilling company in the early 20th century. The company exists today as Boart Longyear, which concluded a mineral exploration contract at the Eagle Mine near Big Bay this past summer.
Edmund credits much of his success and the establishment of his company to the guidance he received from his older cousin John Munro Longyear, (whom Edmund called Munro) and his experiences in the Upper Peninsula from 1886 to 1890.
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