USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people, its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume I > Part 28
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
The legislature met in November, 1835, and began its work for the perfection of a state government, but adjourned until January in the hope that by that time the state would be admitted. The territorial officers necessarily continued to exercise the functions of their offices, because they could not be superseded by state officers until the state actually came into existence.
Violent opposition to the admission was again raised in congress, and to the difficulties over the boundary line, was added a new one of large proportions-that of slavery. The proposed organization of Mich- igan prohibited slavery within its borders. Arkansas sought to come into the Union with an extreme provision for the protection of slavery, and there arose a determination in each section, north and south, not to allow one state to be admitted without the other coming in also.
The boundary line question, however, was kept prominent, and the representatives of the interests of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois succeeded in getting this committee to report in their favor, and to propose to compel Michigan to wait for admission until she conceded the bound- aries desired by those states. The acts for the admission of both states were passed, and together signed on the 15th of June, 1836, but, while Arkansas was admitted as a slave state without condition, Michigan was only to be received except on surrender of the boundary line ques- tion to Ohio and Indiana. In order to conciliate the people of Michigan and compensate them for the robbery committed, it was proposed to add to the territory at first ineluded within the state boundaries that part of the Upper Peninsula east of Montreal river, and also the Amer- iean part of Lake Superior adjacent thereto, and it was provided that until the new boundary line was adopted by a convention of delegates elected for the purpose by the people of Michigan, she could not be admitted.
The people of the state were largely in favor of admission, but many of them did not relish the idea of being "held up" or forced into a trade, and little did they know of the value of the Upper Peninsula ter- ritory offered them. As a consequence there was much opposition to an acceptance of the condition.
A special session of the legislature was called and met July 11th and the whole matter was ably and fairly laid before it through a message from Governor Mason. The legislature provided for a convention to be held at Ann Arbor the 4th Monday in September. The convention met accordingly and refused to accept the conditions imposed. Various political questions, and the question of gaining or forfeiting for Michi- gan an interest in the proceeds of the sale of public lands, caused the matter to be further agitated, and arguments setting forth the value of the Upper Peninsula, as shown by Mr. Schooleraft, were brought to
Digitzoo by Google
206
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
bear, with the result that an irregularly called convention, made up entirely of delegates favorable to admission (termed the frost-bitten couveution ), assented to the terms imposed by congress.
After a considerable controversy over the validity of the convention, congress accepted its action as that of the people of the state and ad- mitted Michigan to the Union, January 26, 1837; and thus Michigan had a large and valuable portion of the Upper Peninsula thrust upon her, a thrust which she has more recently learned to appreciate. In the aet of admission, congress recognized the state as having existed as such since November, 1835, when the officers of the state were elected by the people.
The territory of Wisconsin was, concurrently with the admission of Michigan as a state, organized from the remaining portion of what had been Michigan territory, except that the southern boundary was fixed to accord with the wishes of Illinois.
STATEHOOD
At the time Michigan acquired statehood, the means of transporta- tion and communication were still very imperfect. There was no rail- way communication with the east, and the travel continued to be by stage and canal boat; while there was no convenient method of land transportation west of Detroit, and it was before the day of the tele- graph. The work of development should therefore be considered with reference to these conditions.
Under such circumstances the early state legislation was largely enacted with a view to the development of the country, and roads, or highways were laid out in every direction, and railway charters could be had for the asking.
As one of the means of developing the country the legislature in 1835 passed an act for the appointment of a state geologist and made provision for a geological survey. Doetor Douglass Houghton, who had already more than a state-wide reputation, was appointed to the office, and he organized a system and inaugurated the work in that line, of which mention has already been made.
DELAY IN BUILDING ST. MARY'S SHIP CANAL
One of the first measures adopted by the state for internal improve- ment was its provision in March, 1837, for the construction of the St. Mary's Ship Canal by which to avoid the rapids in the river at the Sault. An appropriation was made for beginning the work, and plans for the canal were approved by the board of internal improvement. Surveys were made, contracts for construction let, and the contractors were ready for operations, and began the purchase of their supplies about the last of the year 1838, expecting to start the work of con- struction with the opening of navigation the following spring. To aid in this work a small advance was made by the state to the contractors in the spring of 1839, and the contractors arrived at the Sault May 9th
Digitzoo by Google
207
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
of that year. Just as they were about to begin the work they were served with a notice from the war department of the United States that they must not interfere with the improvements made by the United States at that place, and saying "among which the millrace is regarded as one of the greatest importance."
The contractors were further notified by the officer of the govern- ment that he would be obliged to "interfere with any work on the pro- jected canal that might injure the United States millraee near that post."
The state of Michigan had had no notice from the war department of its proposed interference, and the work contracted for by the state was not within the reservation of land made by the general government. In reply to the notice from the Federal government the contractors in- formed the officer that "they were bound by the state of Michigan to excavate the canal within the lines run and laid out by the chief en- gineer, and that they should proceed with the work, and could not al- low water to flow through the race, where the canal erosses the same, as it would entirely frustrate the object that the state of Michigan had in view."
Captain Johnson was then the commanding officer of the post and he informed the contractor that, under his instructions "the proposed work could not go on peaceably." The contractors went upon the work, and were there met by Captain Johnson at the head of a company of United States soldiers who forcibly took from the men their work- ing tools, and drove them from the place at the point of the bayonet; the military arm of the federal government thus setting at defiance the rights of the young state to have its civil rights adjudicated in the courts. Nothing can be said in justification of the position thus as- serted by the federal government, and the unjust and unwarranted oc- currence resulted in a delay of nearly fifteen years in the project of constructing the canal.
In 1840 Governor Woodbridge treated earnestly of the matter in his message to the legislature after which the facts were carefully in- vestigated and reported upon by a committee, and thereupon a joint resolution of the legislature was adopted in which it was declared that the actions of the federal officials and troops were "unwarranted by the constitution of the United States, and a violation of the rights and sovereignty of the state of Michigan," and calling upon the federal government to pay to the state, as a matter of justice, its advances and expenses.
The matter was again taken up by the governor in his message, in 1841, wherein he recited his duty "again to ask the attention of the legislature to the unauthorized and forcible interruption, by the troops of the United States, of the public works of the state, during the year before the last, at the Sault de Ste. Marie," and saying "the pecuniary loss to the state, resulting from that reprehensible interruption, remains unsatisfied, and the injury to its honor unatoned for." For some un- explained reason congress did not recognize the claim of the state, and
Digitized by Google
208
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
the principles of American government were trampled upon with im- punity by the government itself. The same government had shortly be- fore, with as little reason, imposed upon this state as a condition of statehood, its surrender of certain territory to the state of Ohio, and the acceptance in lieu thereof of the Upper Peninsula. The state having yielded, as a matter of policy, proceeded to make available the newly acquired section by the construction of the canal. The fisheries of the lakes were of immediate value, and sufficient had been developed to evidence large future values in minerals. The expense of transfer by land portage at the rapids of the Sault, of all shipments, multiplied the cost of work and the expense of transporting the products and supplies of this region, and better means of boat communication between Lake Superior and the lower lakes was necessary to the proper development of the country and its resources. In the then conditions boats of ade- quate capacity to meet the demands could not be constructed in Lake Superior, because of the impossibility of bringing here the necessary material, and boats of adequate capacity could not be taken onto Lake Superior except at an enormous expense of a land portage.
The banking law of 1837, enacted with good intentions but scant appreciation and foresight, had the opposite effect to that intended. It was thought the banks, and the currency provided for, would aid ma- terially in the development of the country, but, instead thereof, three years later the best property in the most thriving localities had depre- ciated to fifty per cent of its former vahe, and other property to a much smaller percentage of its value. The state lost heavily on its bond transactions, and found it difficult to raise sufficient funds to meet its current expenses.
The want of shipping facilities, and the fact that land surveys had not been made, and that public lands could not, as a consequence, be put upon the market, added to the strained conditions of finance because of the failure of the state banking system, prevented the development of general business in the Upper Peninsula; and the lack of general business, combined with the great cost of such a project, prevented the construction of vessels upon Lake Superior, or taking there by portage those constructed elsewhere. The canal was therefore a necessity in order to put to use the newly nequired territory, and with such a canal there would be opened up an opportunity for business in many direc- tions.
In 1842. when the state had been brought ahnost to the verge of bankruptcy, because of the collapse of its banking system, and when it was greatly chagrined at the attitude of the general government in so unceremoniously and forcibly stopping its needed publie improve- ments, the legislature took a bold and businesslike stand, and deter- mined to lay a foundation for a safer and more permanent business future. It provided for calling in all state serip, for prohibiting shin- plasters, for specie resumption, and for rigid economy in the admin- istration of all departments of state government.
Din'ized by Google
209
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
SURVEYS AND LEASES OF MINERAL LANDS
The work which the state then had in hand was of great importance, and it was essential to the future welfare of the commonwealth that men of integrity and ability be in active charge of the various depart- ments. So far as the Upper Peninsula was then immediately concerned the most important branch of the public service was in the line of its mineral and land surveys. Fortunately it had two good men, in the persons of Doctor Douglass Houghton and W. R. Burt in charge of those works, but unfortunately, when their combined work to make the surveys in unison had but fairly begun, Doctor Houghton came to his death by the eapsizing of his boat in a storm at a point near Eagle River. Lake Superior, on the 13th of October, 1845.
His death was little less than a calamity to the state, and especially to the Upper Peninsula, and the loss was deeply mourned. His views of the geological conditions here were at variance with those of most scientists who had thus early given this locality their attention, but time has proved that he most clearly appreciated the situation. Had the surveys of the entire mineral regions of this Peninsula been com- pleted and recorded by Dr. Houghton upon the plan conceived by him, they would have been of incalculable value.
It was during the work of Dr. Houghton and Mr. Burt that the dis- covery was made that the magnetic compass was so affected by local attractions that it could not be relied upon for accuracy, and, indeed. the needle would sometimes box the compass while the surveyors were traveling a small fraction of a mile, thus showing that local attraction controlled the compass in certain places. This raised a serions question. for accuracy in the survey, at onee essential, seemed impossible with the instruments then known to science. Again the man of the hour was at hand, and this time it was William A. Burt, who had been promi- nent for years in the government surveys. The necessity of the hour brought forth the invention of the solar compass, through his genius, in the midst of the woods and mineral bearing hills of this Upper Pen- insula. To perfect the instrument invented, Mr. Burt went east, and in a short time returned, and his solar compass was used to complete the surveys, and has ever since been acknowledged as one of the valu- able scientifie contributions to the engineering world.
Interest in the mineral resources of the peninsula could hardly with- stand the delays in the survey, and without waiting for their comple- tion the federal government issued permits to locate lands for mining purposes, and then granted mining leases upon the locations made pur- suant to those permits. Remarkable developments in minerals soon had the effect to create great excitement which seemed to travel with the winds. Mining companies were organized, and much money was invested in exploration. At the same time mining interests furnished a new field for speculation which in fact was of a very risky nature, for the mining leases upon which the companies were based. were of very
Vol. 1-14
Digitzoo by Google
210
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
questionable tenure, and the methods of exploration adopted in many instances were crude and expensive.
In 1847 the legislature of Michigan protested that the actions of the general government regarding leases rendered the rights of the lessees of the mines uncertain, and this resulted in a change of proce- dure, and soon thereafter the lands were put upon sale, and absolute title thereto was conveyed by patent.
THE COPPER COUNTRY IN 1846
As an illustration of conditions in the copper country, and of the excitement occasioned by the developments in those regions, some ex- tracts from a letter written at Copper Harbor to a friend in the east, and published in the Buffalo Morning Express June 26, 1846, seem appropriate. As an introduction of the letter the paper recites that it is written by a scientific gentleman upon a professional tour in the employ of a "Copper Company," and vouches for his accuracy. Ex- traets from the letter are as follows:
"COPPER HARBOR, June 12, 1846.
"Dear Sir: Considering how nervous I am after prospecting over the hills of conglomerate, trap and sandstone in this wild Siberian end of the world, I hope you will appreciate the amazing triumph of will over the animal propensities of list- lessness and lack of nerve when I undertake, on a gun case, upon my knee, to fulfil my promise. Mais celte eyal.
"This is a queer country, and a stumbling block to work-makers. Its features and construction would almost warrant the belief that it was made by another band from the rest of this common footstool, and that some of the B'boys, or the evil one, had a band in the matter. Anyway, it is a cold, sterile region, with a great bullying, boisterous sea, subject to sudden tempests, and tremendous north and northwest storms.
"The country is bleak, barren and savage, without any signs of cultivation or civilization except the appearance of bedbugs and whiskey; rnts nnd cockroaches have not yet come up, but are expected. It is the land of dirty shirts and long beards. Every one tries to look and act as outre, wild and boorish as possible, and far more than is in any way agreeable. One-a professor, too, save the mark- bragged that he had not changed his shirt for four weeks, and that a man must be a very dirty fellow if, with the use of unguentum, he could not keep clean, even longer than that. Among dealers arithmetic is not considered a necessary accom. plishment, or n Christian virtue.
"The way it costs here from n passage in a birch canoe, or a rotten and con- demned old steam-boat up to Bohea and Pork, is n caution to the descendants of Abraham, Thus you have the Paleontological features; and you can study out the whole formation at your leisure.
"This country is undoubtedly immensely rich in mineral treasure. . All the statements you have seen in the newspapers nre true, and yet nineteen-twentieths of the whole speculation will be a total failure. Of the working companies, as yet, there are very few that are paying expenses, because everything is done au gauche, with inexperienced overseers, and generally without the most remote knowledge of the contents and value of the veins they are working except so far as the pure mineral masses are concerned; while many of these are so large and unwieldy that they threaten to prove ruinons to the owners. There is a very strong prospect in some half dozen working veins, that silver is to be produced abundantly. Two of these I have visited, and I have no doubt they will improve, in descending the veins. Further, there is no doubt but that a small part of the valuable deposits is all that has yet been seen by mortal eyes-covered as all is by drift, and the most im- penetrable growth of cedar, spruce and tamarack. Nothing short of clairvoyance will for many years discover it. By the way clairvoyance has been tried, but some malign mineral or infernal influence renders this god-like science migratory.
"Those working veins situate in the interior are using oxen or mules (after cut-
M
Digitzoo by Google
211
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
ting roads at great cost), which are fed upon hay at fifty-five dollars per ton, and all else in proportion. There is not a spear of grass on a whole eternity of this country, and an ox or an ass, turned out, would starve, unless he could feed on pine shadows and moss.
"After great expense and incredible pains and trouble, we got our outfit, started for Canada in charge of a little schooner, towing our boats and fixings, and which were totally lost, in the storm of Friday night, a week ago, the vessel and passengers saved by the skin of their teeth.
"On the subject of the services of such men as know a hawk from a hand-saw, in geology and mineralogy, I have only to say that such, at least in pretension, are as plenty as blackberries; and of all grades and nations-German, English, Prus- wian, Swiss and Yankees. You can scarce turn over a stone, as the boys say, with- out finding them. Assayers, refiners, miners and professors abound; and, like the squaw's puppies, they are all captains."
EARLY MINING IN THE UPPER PENINSULA
For reasons already mentioned early mining on Lake Superior was attended with large expense. Supplies were carried by steamboat to Sault Ste. Marie, where they were transferred by wagon, and by a tramway constructed for the purpose, to a point above the rapids, and from such point by small coasting boats to shore landings nearest their destination, and from the landing place they were carted with mules or oxen, or packed to the scene of operations. In the very earliest of mining explorations and developments, and in later ones, even, where the locality was such that it was difficult of access, the supplies were packed in by men, some of whom became adepts in the business, and were able to carry very heavy loads over rough and treacherous trails. The transfer was, however, in most instances, by mules, horses or oxen, or, in winter by dog trains and sleds. During early mining operations, before the construction of highways, most of the mineral was carried from the mines to the lake shore in winter by the use of sleds.
To meet the demands of the times a number of steamers were carried around the rapids and launched into Lake Superior, there to take the place of the coasting boats. The transfer of these boats past the rap- ids was accomplished by constructing a frame work in which the boat rested and was propelled upon a series of rollers.
Many of the enterprising pioneers in the mineral regions of the Upper Peninsula were compelled to face failure, and abandon their hopes of a glittering future, even with a fair showing of mineral at hand, because of the enormous burden of expense attendant upon the work, and the uncertainty of their leaseholds, but the widespread in- terest in the country, combined with the intense spirit of the times, caused the general development to forge ahead in spite of individual failures; and the mining regions became the scenes of great activity. Not only did the president of the United States declare the mineral leases to be without authority of law, but the state legislature also de- elared "all leases of any of the lands aforesaid within the state, by authority of the United States, are contrary to the interests and policy of the state," whereupon, a joint resolution of the Michigan legislature, approved January 26, 1847, requested of congress the enactment of a law to provide for the disposal by the federal government, of its min-
Dinhized by Google
212
THE NORTHERN PENINSULA OF MICHIGAN
eral lands within the state, in such a manner as to protect those who, acting under the void lenses, had invested labor and capital in explor- ing for and developing the mineral wealth of the country. The nature of the work at hand necessitated the presence of men of ability and character, and their influence has been made manifest, and has been continuous in the development of the country and its various resources. and has had largely to do with the moulding of society upon a high plane of intellectuality and broad-mindedness, while the sneeess of the mining enterprises in general has been so great that the people almost as a whole are thrifty and well-to-do.
DISCOVERY OF IRON ORE
Almost concurrently with the development of interest in modern copper mining came the discovery of iron ore in what is now known as the Marquette range. In 1844 Mr. Burt is reported to have discov- ered and taken from the body of ore, in place, at the site of the present Jackson mine, the first specimen of iron ore found in the Upper Pen- insnla.
The incidents of this discovery are interesting in several ways. It is related that, as Mr. Burt's surveying party, consisting of eight men. were working in that vicinity, one of the men was running a line with the assistance of a compass, when suddenly the needle refused to do its work; being controlled by the local forces; sometimes pointing south instead of north, and thus arousing great interest and occasioning con- siderable consternation in the party. When the point was reached at which the compass needle was drawn to the sonth, Mr. Burt instructed a senrch of the locality to determine the cause. The various members of the party took different courses, but the search was short for they soon found an outerop of ore from which they took and brought in specimens. The fact that magnetic iron ore existed in the region to be surveyed now brought to the surveyors a realization that the mag- netic compass could no longer be relied on for accuracy. Almost as if by a prearranged plan of nature, immediately following this discovery, the sun betook itself behind the clouds, so that no work could be done. and for the next two days it wus stormy, rendering traveling in the woods most disagreeable.
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.