In 1893 the "Seven Iron Brothers" had claims on a significant portion of the Mesabi Range and had built the Duluth, Missabe, and Northern Railway, but due to financial issues, they were forced to sell their shares to John D. Rockefeller, which later made the Mesabi Range and the nearby Vermilion Range to make Minnesota the nation's largest producer of iron ore and the United States.
The Seven Iron Men, also known as Merritt Brothers, were iron-ore pioneers in the Mesabi Range in northeastern Minnesota and the creation of the city that is now known as Mountain Iron. 
