USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people, its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume I > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67
Captain Sinclair was then in command at Michilimackinac, and as an illustration of the fact that the agricultural lands to the south earlier attracted attention than did the mineral and timber lands of the north, he purchased a tract of land in the Lower Peninsula at the site of the present eity of St. Clair. There had been some attempt by commandants at Michilimackinac to convey titles to lands to private persons, but the king refused to recognize such rights in the commandants, and so private ownership of real estate in the Upper Peninsula (except as to a few French grants in the vicinity of the Sault) awaited the action of the government of the United States.
The then future destiny of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was held in the balance pending negotiations of the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States, following the close of the Revolutionary war, and this territory, recognized as valuable, and sought after by both countries largely because of its productiveness in furs, had its lot
Din'ized by, Google
156
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
cast with the independent colonies by the treaty as affirmed in 1783, whereby the boundary line between the two countries was established as running through the centers of Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, and their connecting rivers and straits, and through Lake Superior north of Isle Royal to the Grand Portage and by that portage to the Lake of the Woods.
ENGLISH LOTH TO SURRENDER THIS TERRITORY
Notwithstanding this concluded treaty, the English were loth to sur- render so valnable a territory as that we write about, and the English governor, Haldimand, in charge at Detroit, declined to stipulate with General Washington as to a date when the Detroit, Michilimackinac and other western posts would be evacuated. The English governor made claim that he was awaiting anthority from the king, but there was a strong belief that the delay was a part of a plan on the part of British officials to devise some criticism of the treaty that would onee more open it up for negotiation, and that the British might thereby regain the right to this coveted territory wherein, through the Northwest Company, the English had monopolized the valuable fur trade of this and the sur- rounding country. Pending this delay, the British maintained their gar- risons within this territory on the pretext, as stated by Governor Hald- imand, that it was necessary in order to insure the safety of the white population, because of the warlike spirit still being harbored by the In- dians; and the Northwest Company continued to practically monopolize the trade, while the English retained possession of the posts. There are those who believe the protection of that monopoly for those years of de- lay was the main cause for the delay in evacuation, and that the alleged causes were mere pretences.
On the part of the Indians, a council of the nations in the territory north of the Ohio was held at the Huron village near Detroit, in 1786, wherein it was claimed that the rights of the Indians to the territory in question had not been recognized, and that inasmuch as the Indians were not a party to the treaty of peace, they were not bound by it, and they claimed the Americans should not be permitted to come across the Ohio. The combination of events and conditions strongly indicated a concerted plan, by which the English encouraged the Indians to persist in the claims in the hope that the action of the Indians might inure to the advantage of the English.
That the Indians were thus encouraged by the English seems to be quite strongly evidenced by inferences almost necessarily arising from the concurrence of events and conditions; and such fact is thought to be strongly evidenced by the tone of Governor Haldimand's letter to his successor, General Barry St. Ledger, wherein he referred to the delay because of his convietion that he ought "to oppose the different attempts made by the American states to get possession of the posts in the upper country until His Majesty's orders shall be received, and my conduct on that occasion having been approved. I have only to recommend to you
Digitzoo by Google
157
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
a strict attention to the same." Many and various claims were made by the British, criticising the construction placed upon the treaty by the United States, and much correspondence between the diplomats of the two countries was exchanged, while the British still retained posses- sion of this territory, which they could not with any reason claim on grounds of treaty construction.
In 1787, four years after the making of the treaty of peace, congress passed an ordinance providing for the organization of the "Territory Northwest of the Ohio River," including Michigan, though Michigan was still actually in the possession and control of Great Britain. General Arthur St. Clair was made governor of the new territory and was there- fore the first nominal governor of this section of the country, after title thereto was acquired by the United States through the treaty of peace, but an anomalous condition existed as to that portion thereof including the state of Michigan. St. Clair was the governor by virtue of the an- thority of the government of the United States as rightfully claimed through the treaty, while the English governor, Barry St. Ledger, ruled the same under English laws, in defiance of the treaty. While thus con- tinuing to forcibly exercise possession of this part of the country, Can- ada actually changed the form of the English government of the terri- tory when, in 1792, the "Quebec act" was repealed, and courts were es- tablished at both Detroit and Michilimackinac, and these posts were brought under the regular form of the English government instead of being ruled under the special form authorized by the "Quebec act." These complications between the countries continued, and undoubtedly had the effect to retard the settlement of the country in the vicinity of the British posts for many years.
ORDINANCE OF 1787
The Northwest territory, as organized by ordinance of 1787, included what is now the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and that part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi river. Prior to that this territory, following the signing of the treaty, was nominally con- trolled by the Jefferson ordinance of 1784, which provided the first American government for this territory and by which Jefferson at- tempted to abolish slavery in the United States north of the Florida line. Up to 1784, there were no United States surveys of western lands and therefore no lawful western settlers, except on old French or Brit- ish grants, and grants to the attaches of military posts. In 1785 an or- dinance was passed by congress providing for surveying lands into townships six miles square, and for sub-dividing these into sections one mile square, and for their sale by sections and lots; and this ordinance provided for the reservation of section sixteen in each township for school purposes. This opened up a way and offered an inducement to settlers, for now titles could be acquired that could be relied upon.
The Northwest territory ordinance of 1787, which was passed by congress after a vast amount of consideration, involving heated debates
Digitzoo by Google
158
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
on important points and principles, was considered by many as one of the greatest achievements ever attained in the way of government. Of it so a great a constitutional writer as Justice Cooley said: "No charter of government in the history of any people has so completely stood the tests of time and experience." While the ordinance provided a model temporary goverment of the great territory, its greatest valne was found in the enduring principles provided by it to be engrafted into the government of the states to be erected therefrom.
It provided :
1. For religious liberty.
2. The right of habeas corpus, trial by jury, proportionate repre- sentation, inviolability of private contracts, etc.
3. "Religion, morality and knowledge, being necessary to good gov- ernment and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of educa- tion shall forever be encouraged."
4. That navigable waters are to remain free public highways.
Shortly thereafter, these principles, that gave to the ordinance re- ferred to references as "immortal." were embodied in the constitution of the United States, and have become the vital part of our supreme law.
Following the revolution, ns the westward journey of the "star of the empire" was again taken up. the movement to Ohio was forwarded by the Ohio Company of Associates, organized in 1786, on call of Gen- eral Rufus Putnam and General Benjamin Tupper, after they had made an exploratory trip into that country, but not until the sunner of 1787, were they able to secure the action of congress, organizing the territory and providing for the sale of government lands. The general agent of the company, also largely instrumental in its organization and in the drafting and passage of the ordinance of 1787, was Manasseh Cutler. of Connecticut. In 1788 the first delegation from the Associates, under Mr. Cutler, reached Ohio and founded Marietta; though numerous "squatters" had preceded them and settled in advance of the govern- ment survey. Everything in the way of settlement was haphazard until the coming of the Ohio Company, which took up and forwarded the or- ganization of a regular government.
General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory, with other ap- pointed officers, arrived at Marietta, Ohio, in July, 1788, and there, on the 17th of that month, with due ceremony proclaimed the first civil gov- ernment of the United States over the territory now within the state of Michigan. Up to that time this territory had been controlled by the French and English under military rule administered from the centers at Detroit and Michilimackinac.
.Before any headway could be made with the government land sur- veys and the sales of government lands, it became necessary to acquire in some way the claims of the Indians to those lands; and for that pur- pose a commission had been appointed in 1784. This commission treated with numerous individual tribes, but ignored the northwestern confed- eraey, and the confederacy in turn ignored the various treaties with the'
Digitzoo by Google
159
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
individual tribes; so that really nothing was accomplished toward the desired end for some two years or more, during which time the Indians became restless, and, through their confederacy, they communicated their grievances to congress, in December, 1786, by means of a document supposed to have been prepared by Joseph Brant, in which it was said : "We think the mischief and confusion which has followed is owing to your having managed everything respecting us in your own way. You kindled your council fires where you thought proper without consulting us. at which you held separate treaties, and have entirely neglected our plan of having a general conference. . Let us have a treaty with you early in the spring. We say let us meet half way, and let us pursue such steps as become upright and honest men. We beg that you will prevent your surveyors and other people from coming on our side of the Ohio river. This address was unheeded. as Governor St. Clair considered the confederacy of the tribes was not enduring, and he believed it best to continue negotiating with the individual tribes, but his mistake became apparent later, November 4, 1791, at "St. Clair's defeat" on the Wabash.
Hostilities continued until finally the treaty of Greenville was signed August 3, 1795, following the defeat of the confederated tribes by the forces of General Anthony Wayne a year previous. Among the numer- ous tribes of this confederacy which joined in this treaty of Greenville were the Ottawas and Chippewas, from this section of the territory. When General Wayne, in the summer of 1794, was, with his force of twenty-six hundred well drilled soldiers and one thousand mounted Kentuckians, pressing hard upon the centers of the confederation, he made another effort to carry out Washington's desire to secure peace and avoid war, and he sent a message to the chiefs offering the terms of the Muskingum treaty as a basis of lasting peace. This was refused, and the refusal is attributed to the fact that the Indians were influenced by the English who were still holding possession of the territory, and by their assurances of superior strength, with which they had been infused by their victory over Governor St. Clair.
The belief that the English we: e aiding and abetting the Indians in their fight against the United States finds further basis in the fact that the Indians, on rejecting the proffered peace, retired to the English Fort Miami, which had been constructed by Governor Simcoe, in 1794, long after the English had ceded their rights in this territory to the United States. When General Wayne, on the 20th of August, 1794, advanced to within one mile of Fort Miami the confederated tribes were prepared to meet him, strongly barricaded by fallen trees. The Indians were soon routed, many slain, and the others scattered, and the English fort came into possession of the Americans.
Major Campbell, who was in charge of the garrison at Detroit, pro- tested against the possession of the British fort by General Wayne, but met with a sharp defiance and was reminded that the British were oc- cupying American soil, and had built the fort thereon since the signing
Digitzoo by Google
160
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
of the treaty. The decisive victory of General Wayne, which was at least in part on Michigan soil, and was participated in by Ottawas and Chippewas from Michilimackinac and Sault Ste Marie, was important in many ways, and had unquestionable influence in the results that soon followed, including Jay's treaty, in November of that year, and the treaty of Greenville in August of the following year, followed by the evacuation of Michigan territory by the British pursuant to the terms of Jay's treaty. It also put an end to the terrible Indian warfare that had continued throughout the territory, and thus opened up to settle- ment a large region of fertile lands, over which there started that ever- increasing horde of western emigrants that pushed forward to the west, and upon tangents to the northward, with the final result we now per- ceive; the entire Northwest territory divided into and making up five of the most prominent states of the Union, and a considerable contribu- tion to another like prominent state. In the place of the wild savagery illustrated by the horrible massacres, in 1791, when St. Clair met such a terrible defeat on the Wabash; the siege of Detroit, when so many white settlers met the terrible experiences of the Indian warwhoop and the bloody scalping knife, and the massacre at Michilimackinac in 1763, when all savage brutalities imaginable were meted out to the garrison, . we now have the well populated and progressive States before men- tioned; then, all under the one territorial governor, but now adminis- tered by six governors, with full quotas of state, county, township, city and village officials, to say nothing of the numerous government officials and the net-work of school and church governments that flourish within the same boundaries.
A CENTURY OF POPULATIVE GROWTH
Only a trifle over a century of populative growth, from the Indian villages, presided over by their chiefs and surrounded by the savagery of wild nature, to the civilization of today that has given us our present populous and industrious communities, including such important cities as Chicago, Detroit. Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Paul, Min- neapolis and Duluth, and the web-work of commerce that binds them together by land and sea, by boat and rail! Truly, by comparison only can we appreciate the workings of modern thought and ingenuity. At the council of Greenville, there were forty-five Ottawa and forty-six Chippewa representatives, and a total of eleven hundred and thirty rep- resentatives of fifteen tribes, when lasting peace was agreed to and all these tribes came under the protection of the United States.
As affecting this Peninsula of Michigan, the thirteenth article of the treaty provided, as a cession of territory to the United States: "The post of Michilimackinac, and all the land on the island on which the fort stands, and the main land adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English govern- ments, and a piece of land on the main to the north of the Island to measure six miles ou Lake Huron, or the Strait between Lakes Huron
Digitized by Google
161
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
and Michigan, and to extend three miles back from the water of the lake or strait and also the island of Bois Blance, being an extra and voluntary gift of the Chippewa Nation."
With the development of interest in the Northwest territory a series of land-grabbing combinations came into existence and they were of mammoth proportions, including in their membership prominent and in- fluential officials among whom were members of congress; and in the lands to be secured were some of the most fertile of the entire territory. While not all of these may have had direct effect upon western settle- ments, the one that comes nearest to the interests of Michigan was the Randall-Whitney combination of 1795, whereby it was attempted to se- cure through congress all the rights of the United States to twenty mil- lion acres in the Lower Peninsula for the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or two and one-half cents per acre. Fortunately one congress- man approached in the deal was of the proper metal and divulged and thereby defeated the scheme. This was before the United States govern- ment had come into actual possession of the territory sought to be pur- chased, and the Detroit parties interested in the scheme were British adherents.
In 1798 the Northwest territory became entitled to elect a territorial council with representatives of the various districts of the territory. The district of Wayne included the Lower Peninsula and parts of Ohio and Indiana, and was entitled to one representative in the council. Con- sequently, in December of that year, an election for the district of Wayne was held in Detroit, at which James May of that city is supposed to have been chosen as such representative, and the people of that section were given their first opportunity of exercising the glorious privilege of the elective franchise. No record of the election can be found and it is supposed to have been considered void, for a new election was held in January following. The Upper Peninsula seems not to have been reck- oned with at that time, and consequently to have had no representative in that council, remaining in the unorganized portion of the territory. The representatives met at Cincinnati, February 4, 1799, and chose ten freeholders to constitute the territorial council, the first legislative coun- eil of which the people of any part of Michigan were represented.
The ordinance organizing the Northwest territory provides, that "As soon as a legislature shall be formed in the district the council and house, assembled in one room, shall have authority, by joint ballot, to eleet a delegate to congress." Pursuant to this provision, William Henry Harrison was, in 1799, elected the first delegate to congress to represent the Northwest territory, and in March, 1800, he was appointed chairman of a committee of congress on the division of the Northwest territory. As the result. the territory was divided into two districts by a line running from the month of the Kentucky river north to the Can- adian boundary, the western part being called "Indiana territory" and the eastern part "Territory Northwest of the River Ohio," the boundary line dividing what is now Michigan, into two parts. Harrison
Vol. 1-11
Digitzoo by Google
162
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
was appointed governor of Indiana territory and also Indian agent, and held the office until his appointment, in 1813, as major general in the American army.
The territory was dismembered by the formation of the state of Ohio, by act of congress passed April 30, 1802, and thereupon what is now Michigan became part of the territory of Indiana. On June 30, 1805, the territory of Michigan came into existence.
By the ordinance of 1787 constituting the Northwest territory, a pro- vision was made for at least three states to be erected within its bound- aries, and there was a further provision "that if congress shall hereafter find it expedient, they shall have authority to form one or two states in that part of said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the sontherly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan," and when the state of Ohio was organized that line was given as its northern boundary. In 1802 Ohio was admitted as a state and the remaining por- tion of the "Territory Northwest of the River Ohio" became a part of Indiana territory, thus effacing from the map the name "Territory Northwest of the River Ohio."
In 1804, on petition from the people of Detroit, a bill was introduced to provide for the creation of a territory north of the line above de- scribed, and, after considerable opposition, and some amendments the "Aet to Establish and Organize the Territory of Michigan" was passed and made to take effect June 30, 1805, with a government substantially the same as that of the Northwest territory. The officials provided for were a governor, secretary and three judges, and the governor and judges, to be appointed by the president, with the consent of the senate, constituted the legislature of the territory. The territory of Michigan, as thus constituted, included nearly all of what is now within the state of Michigan, but its western boundary was described as a line drawn from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan "through the middle of said lake to the northern extremity thereof, and thence due north to the northern boundary of the United States," which line passed through Mackinaw county a few miles west of St. Ignace, leaving that locality a little longer within the territory of Indiana.
In 1809 Indiana territory was again dismembered by the creation therefrom of the territory of Illinois, and on the admission of Illinois as a state, in 1818, all the remaining portion of Indiana territory was at- tached to the territory of Michigan; then, for the first time, all the ter- ritory now within the state was included in Michigan territory, and there was also then included therein all of what is now Wisconsin and that portion of Minnesota east of the Mississippi river. Late in 1834 the territorial boundaries of Michigan were stretched across the Missis- sippi river and made to embrace the present state of Minnesota, Iowa and a part of the Dakotas. Michigan, however, maintained these un- wieldy proportions but a very short period, for in 1836 all that part of her territory except what is now Michigan was organized as the territory of Wisconsin, and in 1837 Michigan attained the proud position of a state.
Digitzoo by Google
163
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
Having digressed from the chronologieal order of events to follow this section of the country through its vicissitudes of territorial changes and associations, we now return to the period when the territory was organized.
FIRST GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN
The first governor of Michigan territory was General William Hull, appointed by President Jefferson, March 1, 1805. The other appointed officers were: Stanly Griswold, secretary; August B. Woodward. Fred- erick Bates and John Griffin, judges. They arrived in Detroit Jime 12, 1805, to set up a government for the new territory, but found the little colony in a deplorable condition, for, on the day previous, the village had been devastated by fire and but two buildings remained to offer shel- ter to the entire population. On the 30th day of June, the appointed officials took their respective oaths of office, and a civil government for the territory of Michigan was established, until which time all govern- ment within the present state of Michigan had been through the mili- tary commanders, appointed successively by the French, British and American governments.
An aet regulating grants of lands in Michigan territory was passed by congress March 3, 1807. At this time no provision had been made for the extinguishment of the Indian titles except to a small tract in the vicinity of Detroit.
In 1812, Detroit had a population of only about eight hundred and the entire territory about five thousand, mostly French.
The Indian titles were the great hindrance to settlement. In 1806 Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, endeavored to organize the Indian con- federacy of the Michigan, Ohio and Indiana tribes to withstand the en- croachments of the whites; and, as a consequence, renewed fears of In- dian wars retarded the progress of Michigan settlement. Governor Hull was instructed to negotiate a treaty with the Indians, and, to that end, a council was called and held at Detroit and was participated in by the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandotte and Pottawottomi tribes, with a result that on November 7, 1807, a treaty was signed ceding to the United States a considerable territory within the Lower Peninsula, but was im- portant to the whole territory as being the opening wedge that soon thereafter opened up the way to settlement, or purchase by the govern- ment, of nearly all the land within the present state of Michigan.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.