Mining in Dubuque

Dubuque, Iowa had had a history involving the mining of the area's lead-zinc deposits along with other metals like iron.

The first European in the area, Julien Dubuque, received a lease from the natives to mine.

Before 1650, French colonizers practiced basic lead mining and smelting.

[3] In 1788, Julien Dubuque obtained a lease of land from the Sauk and Meskwaki for mining purposes from the Little Maquoketa River to the Tete Des Morts Creek.

Until Dubuque died in 1810, he ran the Mines of Spain from a town near the mouth of Catfish Creek.

[2] The failure was due to an exhaustion of all the surface deposits and eventually, miners hit the water table.

The last mine in the entire Upper Mississippi Valley in Shullsburg, Wisconsin was closed in 1979.