Ontonagon Boulder

The Ontonagon Boulder (/ˌɒntəˈnɑːɡən ˈboʊldəɹ/) is a 3,708 pound (1682 kg) boulder of native copper originally found in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States, and now in the possession of the Department of Mineral Sciences, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. The boulder is a relic of the mining rush to the Michigan Copper Country, and was well known to Native Americans in its location on the west branch of the Ontonagon River, in what is now Victoria Reservoir. According to the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the boulder was used by tribe members to make offerings to its manitou (spirit) and to seek improvement in their health and well-being.

While the exact origin of the Ontonagon Boulder is unknown, it has been determined that the boulder reached a location about 20 miles up river from Lake Superior, on the west branch of the Ontonagon River, via being dragged by a glacier.

In the early seventeenth century, Voyageurs traversing Lake Superior heard word of the massive solid copper boulder. Early stories of the boulder describe it as being over five tons and as large as a house. In 1667, the redoubtable Jesuit missionary Claude Dablon made his way up the Ontonagon and confirmed the existence of the fabled rock.

In 1766, under the guidance of a party of Ojibwe, trader Alexander Henry the elder laid eyes on the rock, and reported that he found it to be so pure and malleable that he was able to easily remove a large piece, and estimated the boulder's weight at ten tons.

During a geological voyage around the perimeter of Michigan in 1820, Henry R. Schoolcraft first reached the mouth of the Ontonagon River on June 27. Schoolcraft and his fellow voyagers, led by four Native Americans, journeyed up the Ontonagon River in two canoes. The next day they continued up the river until they reached a set of rapids. From there they traveled on foot until they finally reached the legendary boulder. Schoolcraft was originally disappointed with the boulder, finding it much smaller than legends claimed it to be. However, Schoolcraft reported that the rock was scarred by the chisels and axes of Native Americans He went on to describe it as 3'8" by 3'4" and estimated its weight at 2200 pounds.

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