2013: Bonanza Falls

This 125+ ft wide waterfall off of the Big Iron River, barely outside the boundaries of Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, was named rather optimistically for Austin Corser’s discovery of silver in 1855. The trail head is just shy of a mile from M-64/M-107 intersection in Silver City along M-64 South on the right, and the waterfall is less than a stone’s throw from the parking area/trail head. The slate rock formations lend themselves to multiple drops of water and make for an easier crossing of the river when water level is low.

Citing Angus Murdoch’s 1943 work, Boom Copper: The Story of the First US Mning Boom: A tenous thread of pure silver is woven through the history of Michigan copper. From the earliest days, quantities of free silver, mixed but unalloyed with the native copper, have been found from one end of the range to the other. The greater amount of silver taken from the copper range was never recorded by mining company treasures. It was brought up from underground in miners’ dinner pails.

As records have it, mining silver proved too expensive – dropping from an anticipated $185-$1716 worth of silver per ton of rock to the harsh reality of a meagre $33/ton – but the silver rush was enough to change the name of the nearby township from Iron River to its still standing version, Silver City.

Thanks be to

Dear friends Tom Ressler and Dee Ressler for suggesting a hike to this waterfall.

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