It’s uncanny how this notice from a 1913 newspaper anticipates the opening scene of 1913 Massacre:
“Where is Calumet?”
That is a simple question, apparently. Almost anybody will say it is a thriving city up in the country where they blow open the earth with dynamite and wrest copper there from [sic] which makes some people rich and others strike.
“It is a city of about 35,000 people, with lots of hills and some mighty fine roads around about; roads made of trap rock, which is hard to crush either by a crusher or traffic; hence wears well.”
But the answer is not there. Calumet is a mirage city — it is here and it is not here. Calumet is the tomorrow of the country — it is always just ahead, yet it is not present. When you are in Calumet, you are in Red Jacket, but when you are in Red Jacket, you are not in Calumet. When you are in Calumet, you are in Laurium, but when you are in Laurium, you are not in Calumet.
How would you answer the question now?
