USA > Michigan > A history of the northern peninsula of Michigan and its people, its mining, lumber and agricultural industries, Volume I > Part 39
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MEXICAN WAR
In 1846, on the occasion of the Mexican war the United States troops stationed at both Mackinac and the Sault were withdrawn and sent south where they joined the activities, and these two northern posts were for a time without garrisons. For this war there were also some Upper Pen- insula Volunteers who went forward with the First Michigan regiment.
As has been mentioned, the Peninsula was indirectly interested in the Black-Hawk war in 1832, but otherwise than as mentioned, the military had little part in the history of the Upper Peninsula after the War of 1812, until the breaking out of the great Civil war in 1861.
CIVIL WAR
As Michigan, when admitted. was an anti-slave state, so when the war between the states broke out Michigan was among the first to respond to the call upon the patriotism of the country, and the Northern Pen- insula did its full share, in proportion to its then scant population, has- tening, as it were, to exercise the first opportunity to display the patriot- ism which the comparatively new state felt for the Union into which she fought so hard for admission.
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To give the Upper Peninsula credit only for such of her citizens as were enrolled in Michigan regiments is to do injustice, yet such has been the case in some histories. At that period the lower part of the Upper Peninsula was so remote from the Lake Superior settlements and from the Lower Peninsula, because of lack of railways or other sufficient methods of conveyance. that, on the breaking out of the war, numbers of the patriots of Menomince joined Wisconsin regiments and were early in the field of action. There are a number of those patriots living today whose names are not credited to Michigan at all. In fact, in the extended account given to the topie by Andreas, in his valuable work, he has only credited Menominee county with nineteen volunteers, un- doubtedly because those are all that appear to have enrolled in Michi- gan regiments. In the list we do not find the names of Reed, Peaks, the Caquetoshes, Easton and numerous other well known citizens who were among the many that went with Wisconsin regiments, and, there- fore due consideration of these facts should be had in reviewing the number of volunteers credited to the Upper Peninsula on the Michigan military records. They are, for the entire war, as follows: Chippewa, 21; Delta, 24; Houghton, 460; Keweenaw. 119; Menominee, 19; Mar- quette and Schoolcraft, 265; Mackinac, 47 and Ontonagon, 254. Owing to the facts stated above, we find it impossible to give a complete list of the names of all soldiers who actually went from the Upper Peninsula, but that they ranked well is shown by the fact that among them were 68 commissioned officers.
In the military history, it appears by the Michigan records (as quoted by Andreas' history), that the nineteen volunteers of Menominee county enlisted in 1864. Menominee county was not. in fact, organized until 1863, but at the mouth of the river the thriving young city contributed liberally at the very outset of the war, but, being so remote from any other settlement in Michigan-about 350 miles with no rail connection -the volunteers mostly went with Wisconsin regiments, and on a call for a certain number of men to fill a Wisconsin company Judge Ingalls secured the required number in about an hour.
Because of the state records not showing the number of men con- tributed by Menominee, a list has been made up from inquiry showing eighty-two volunteers, the names of whom appear in the chapter on Menominee county.
To record the services of the various Michigan regiments in which men from the Upper Peninsula were enrolled is beyond the scope of this work, but to acknowledge their valued services, and great sacrifice, for and in behalf of the government we now enjoy and boast is a pleasure cheer fully and meritoriously recorded.
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR AND PRESENT COMMANDS
In the Spanish-American war six companies from the Upper Penin- sula left their homes on the 28th day of April, 1898, and, with ten com- . panics from various parts of the Lower Peninsula, formed the Thirty-
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fourth Michigan Volunteers Regiment, prepared to do the needful, even to the sacrifice of their lives, to protect the honor of our country and to teach the hanghty Spaniards to "remember the Maine."
That little actual fighting was required of the volunteers of that war detracts not the least from the spirit of patriotism that prompted their spontaneous response to the call of the Nation's Chief.
The regiment was officered by John P. Peterman, colonel, of Allouez; John R. Bennett, lieutenant colonel, of Muskegon and formerly of Me- nominee; Edwin B. Winans, of Hamburg and William G. Latimer, of Manistee, majors; James A. King, surgeon, Manistee; John Robb, as- sistant surgeon, Calumet ; Henry Roach, quarter-master and first lieu- tenant, Ft. Clark, Texas; Jas. P. Ryan, sergeant major, Muskegon ; Kenneth MeLeod, quarter-master sergeant, Calumet; Wm. II. Rezin, Iron Mountain; Geo. MeElveen, Hancock, and Gilbert V. Carpenter, Iron Mountain, hospital stewards.
Company D., of the Upper Peninsula, of Calumet, had Julius E. Fliege, captain ; Wm. II. Thielman, first lientenant ; Angus MeDonald, second lieutenant ; Charles Koppelman, first sergeant; Frank J. Kohl- haas, quarter-master sergeant ; Thomas D. Richie, Allen Cameron, Chas. Guibord and Daniel Holland, sergeants; Edwin J. Collins, John R. Mc- Donald, John Trevarrow, Herman Jusola, Henry Kaufmann and Angus W. Kerr, corporals; Axel F. Johnson and Frank M. Larson, musicians; William C. Hill, artificer, and Denis Harrington, wagoner.
Company E was from Iron Mountain, with Silas JJ. MeGregor, cap- tain ; Thomas Touhey, first lieutenant; John O'Connell, second lieu- tenant; Alfred J. Holt, first sergeant; Maston A. Sturges, quarter- master sergeant ; Wan. J. Hunting, Hans R. Hansen, Frank H. Sund- strom and John Oliver, sergeants; William J. Clark, Jas. Chester Knight, Charles B. Parent, Edward J. Kenney, William G. Sundstrom and Charles R. Warn, corporals; Thomas Hoskings and Robert G. Bur- bank, musicians; Wm. Jacobson, artificer and James Reynolds, Jr., wagoner.
Company F., of Houghton, had George Millar, captain, Charles A. Hendrickson, first lieutenant ; Rudolph J. Haas, second lieutenant ; Charles Thebe, first sergeant; Carl K. Rath, quarter-master sergeant ; John C. Osborne, Irving J. Shields, Henty W. Hecker and John G. Mc- Farlane, sergeants; Wir. JJ. Sanders, Angus MeDonald, Charles B. Craw- ford. Carl C. Jensen, John Driscoll and Jos. N. Demaree. corporals; E. Fenner Douglass and Homer Covey, musicians ; John E. Mildon, artificer and Louis J. Walters, wagoner,
Company G, of "The Soo" had Robert S. Welch, captain; Henry F. Hughart, first lieutenant ; Gilmore G. Scranton, second lieutenant ; Wil- fied T. Raines, first sergeant ; Alfred H. Colwell, quarter-master ser- geant : Edgar C. Lemon, Edward M. Lacey, Fred II. Smith and John K. Dawson, sergeants: Albert HI. Passmore, John A. Gowen, Wm. A. Goulding. Robert C. Sweatt, Leo P. Cook and Geo. Stanley. corporals; Clement C. Wheeler and Eugene J. O'Neill, musicians; Thomas E. Rob- erts. wagoner and Peter Murray, artificer.
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Company H., of Ironwood, had Robert J. Bates, coptain; Frank J. Alexander, first lieutenant ; Wm. J. Tresise, second lieutenant; Fred Brewer, first sergeant ; Anton B. Nelson, quarter-master sergeant; Clar- ence W. Durkee, Christian P. Lee, Wm. T. H. Prout and Wm. Rodda, sergeants; Charles Richards, James Voyce, Thomas Salter, Albert Mor- ris, Frank A. Hoffman, and Henry J. Grils, corporals; Geo. A. Scott and Olaf Holemo, musicians; Frank Hanson, artificer, and Daniel . E. Gates. wagoner.
Company L., of Marquette and Menominee, had Samuel W. Wheeler, captain; John S. Wilson, first lieutenant; James A. Leisen, second lieu- tenant; Denis Hogan, first sergeant; Anton Einbs, quarter-master ser- geant ; Edward Blackwood, Charles Baker, Joseph Thomas and Ralph W. Saxton, sergeants; Elmer E. Clark, Albert C. Christophersen, Fred S. Hoar, Ralph H. Murray, Edward C. Watson and James A. Thoney, corporals; George H. Jackson, artificer; Martin J. Chilsted, wagoner, and Debonnaire Green and Carl W. Peterson, musicians.
At the present time the Natural Guard is represented in the Upper Peninsula by three companies of the Third Regiment; Company E, of Calumet, which is also regimental headquarters; Company L, of Me- nominee; and Company MI, of the Soo. Charles P. MeCaughuey, of Owosso, is colonel and John B. Boucher, of Bay City, is lieutenant col- ( nel of the regiment.
The Third Regiment Band is located at Menominee, with Arthur H. Amsden as leader, is composed of twenty-eight pieces, and is noted as being one of the best musical organizations of its size in the United States.
Other military and naval organizations within the Upper Peninsula are the Naval Reserves, formerly stationed at Hancock, now at Wells. near Escanaba; and the United States regulars at Fort Brady, details of which organizations are given in the histories of Chippewa and Delta counties.
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CHAPTER XVIII THE HISTORIC GATEWAY
COUNTY OF MICHILIMACKINAC-MICHILIMACKINAC AND MACKINAC-EPIT- OME OF A CENTURY AND A THIRD-OLD FORT AND ASTOR RELICS-NAT- URAL PARK-ROBERTSON'S FOLLY-FORT HOLMES-ST. IGNACE- TOURISTS' ATTRACTIONS-HAUNTS OF THE SPORTSMEN-FATHER MAR- QUETTE MEMORIALS-OLD AND MODERN ST. IGNACE-THE SOO OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY-FIRST AMERICAN (CANADIAN) LOCK-FORT BRADY-GOVERNMENT OR CANAL PARK-STATE FISH HATCHERY- THE COUNTY AND COUNTY SEAT-AMERICAN CANAL AND LOCKS- THE SOO OF TODAY-DETOUR AND DRUMMOND ISLAND -- AGRICUL- TURAL AND LIVESTOCK FEATURES.
The eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula embracing the present counties of Mackinac, Schoolcraft and Chippewa may be called the his- torie gateway to the northwest. This designation applies very foreibly to the region centering in Mackinac Island and St. Ignace. From the very first, as has been revealed in the general history, priest, explorer and trader recognized that firm possession of this part of the peninsula meant stable ownership, or at least control, of the waters to the south- west and the southeast ; on the one hand it was the doorway to the Mis- sissippi Valley, and on the other to New France and New England. It was the key to expanding empires of unknown political and commercial importance.
Although the Jesuit fathers, as the pioneer white men of Michigan, first landed and established a mission at the Soo, that locality was for more than a century considered but an outpost to the region of Michili- mackinac both in matters of religion, trade and kingly dominion. The Sault was only the gateway to the far Superior country whose real wealth and importance were not to dawn upon the world for nearly two centuries after the representatives of the Catholic church planted the cross on the southern banks of the St. Mary's river. Michilimackinac was the first region of the Upper Peninsula to be permanently settled and continuously developed by the whites, and until the middle of the nineteenth century it was the most important from all the standpoints of trade, commerce and northwestern control.
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COUNTY OF MICHILIMACKINAC
The county of Michilimackinac, the first to be created in the Upper Peninsula, was organized under proclamation by Governor Cass, Octo- ber 26, 1818, in accord with the provisions of the Ordinance of 1787. The boundaries of the county commenced at the White Rock on the shore of Lake Huron; thence along the line of Macomb county (Southern Michigan), to the line between the United States and Upper Canada; thence with this line to the western boundary of Michigan territory ; thence southerly so far that a line drawn due west from the water shed between the rivers which How into Lake Superior and those which flow south will strike the same; thence east to this dividing ground and, with the same, to a point due north from Sturgeon bay; thence south to the bay and thence, by the nearest line, to the western boundary of the territory as established by Congress in 1805. In other words, it was the Upper Peninsula and about half of the Lower. By this same proc- lamation the seat of justice was established at the borough of Michili- mackinac. Among the first townships organized, not long after the cre- ation of the county, was that of St. Ignace.
As established under the act of March 9, 1843, the county embraced all the territory within the following bounds: Beginning at a point in Lake Huron, south of line between ranges 2 and 3 east; thence north to the boundary to town 41 north; west to the line between ranges 1 and 2 east; thence to the north boundary of town 42 north; west to the meridian; north on the meridian line to north boundary of town 43 north ; west on that town line to line between ranges 6 and 7 west ; north on same town line to north boundary of town 44 north; west to line be- tween ranges 7 and 8 west; north to north boundary of town 45; west on north boundary of town 45 north to line between ranges 12 and 13 west; south on this line to Lake Michigan ; thence east along lake shore to place of beginning. The islands attached to the county were Bois Blanc, St. Martin's, St. Helena. the Chenaux, Round Island and Mich- ilimackinac.
That great region known as Michilimackinac, or Mackinac county, was gradually cut down to its present area by the formation of Chippewa county, in 1826, and Ince and Schoolcraft in 1843.
In 1860 the townships of Mackinac county were Holmes (first or- ganized in 1827), Moran and St. Ignace. In that year the population of the first was 831 whites, 20 colored and 442 Indians; of Moran, 104 whites and 140 Indians and St. Ignace, 76 whites and 325 Indians. In 1870 the population was: Holmes, 938 whites and 99 Indians; Moran, 373 whites and 54 Indians, and St. Ignace. 405 whites. 132 Indians and 19 colored persons.
The village of Mackinac was the first to be incorporated in the state, assuming this pioneer dignity in 1817, a year before the county was organized. It remained the seat of justice until April 3, 1882, when the following popular vote transferred the honor to St. Ignace: St. Ig-
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nace, 328; Brevort. 47; Newton, 27; Lakefield, 25; Hendricks, 22. The special election of June, 1882, decided in favor of a $17,000 loan to advance the building of the new county structures at St. Ignace. Vari- ous offers for sites were received but the committee having the matter in charge finally decided on the Marley site, corner of Prospect and Mar- ley streets. This was a fine elevated bluff site three hundred feet square, and the cornerstone of the new court house was laid in August, 1882. At this time the population of the entire county was about 3,000.
The showing, by various years, since 1837, is as follows:
1837
664
1870
1,716
1840
923
1874.
1,496
1845
1,666
1880
2.902
*1850
.3,598
1884
.5.171
1854
1,639
1890
7,830
1860
1,938
1900
7,703
1864
1.317
1910
.9,249
The United States census for the years concluding the last three de- cades are by townships as follows:
TOWNSHIPS AND ST. IGNACE
1910
1900
1890
Bois Blanc township
219
236
Brevort township
632
377
313
Clark township
876
Garfield township
1,186
601
1,090
Hendricks township
441
727
282
Hudson township
490
Mackinac Island City
714
665
750
Marquette township
490
445
310
Moran township
475
3:29
452
Newton township
838
1.046
762
Portage township
368
173
171
St. Ignace township
402
185
130
St. Ignace City
2,118
2,271
2,704
Ward 1
303
Ward 2
648
Ward 3
629
Ward 4
538
MICHILIMACKINAC AND MACKINAC
The reader has already seen how Mackinac Island became the most important military and fur-trading center on the Great Lakes, the rel- ics of the old Astor trading house and the old fort being still classed as among the most interesting historic exhibits in the country. The old
* Population of Michilimackinac and twenty-one unorganized counties.
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British-American fort stands on a steep hill at the rear of a tiny city of little more than seven hundred people, speaking of a resident popula tion. The city was incorporated in 1899 and, with its fine hotels, which are also scattered along the beautiful drives and walks of the island, is ofttimes the gay center of ten or twelve thousand summer tourists and pleasure seekers. The island is a continuous panorama of pictur- esque hills, gorges and wooded rocks, but the thoroughfares are so thor- oughly improved that they are considered ideal for sturdy horsemen and horsewomen, while the footfarer may take his choice of compara- tively level walks along the shores, or more difficult tramps into the in-
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OLD AGENCY HOUSE ( HOME OF ANNE). MACKINAC ISLAND
terior. Some of the summer residences on the island, owned by capi- talists of Chicago, New York, Detroit and other cities, are veritable man- sions. although they are often modestly designated as cottages. The waters around the island still yield a generous supply of fish; but, as elsewhere, their natural riches have been squandered, and they would no longer attract the Red Man as they did in the palmy days of the Hurons and Chippewas.
Daily boats and huge car ferries keep the city and the island in con- stant communication with St. Ignace and the mainland; making these cities, with Manistique, the only open ports on the upper waters of the Great Lakes.
Mackinac Island contains 2,221 acres, of which 911 are included in the National Park, 103 in the Military Reservation and 1.207 in private
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properties. Sloping from south to north it has the appearance of a Great Turtle, by which name (Mackinae) it is popularly known.
Regarding the derivation of the name Michilimackinac, it is popu- larly supposed to be derived from the Indian word meaning Great Tur- tle. It is said that the Indians never used this word in speaking of the island, but rather designated it as Me-she-ne-mock-e-nung-gonge, which means "Island of Giant Fairies." In 1825 this extraordinary name gave place to Mackinac; from "mik-kina," a turtle.
EPITOME OF A CENTURY AND A THIRD
As the name Michilimackinac was applied to a large extent of coun- try, with the island as its central attraction, it is still an open question whether the first Catholic mission was located on the island or at Point St. Ignace, although the weight of proof favors the latter. After the terrible slaughter of the Hurons by the Iroquois in 1649 the former, discouraged and cowed, sought the shelter of the densely wooded island, whose adjacent water swarmed with the finny tribe. A few years after- wards they were driven from their new home to the mainland by the Nadouessi; in fact, they were scourged from place to place by more war- like tribes and, like the Menominees, were prone from the first advent of the French to place themselves under the protection of the priests and the government of New France. They became fervent in the Cath- olic faith, and Father Marquette felt them to be his special charges. He followed them in their flights and wanderings, and established mis- sions about the same time (1671) on the Island and at St. Ignaee. The first church, however, was built in the spring of 1780. In the meantime had occurred the massacre of the English garrison at old Mackinaw, and (1779) the erection of the fort on the island. But both antecedent and subsequent events are so fully recorded in the general history that the reader is referred to this section of the work for a clear understand- ing of the trend of events up to the formation of Mackinac county as we know it today. But, before crossing to the mainland, a more de- tailed mention should be made of the intensely interesting features of the Great Turtle.
OLD FORT AND ASTOR RELICS
As one approaches old Fort Mackinac, the block-house is seen on the left which was built in 1780 by the British troops under Major Patriek Sinclair, and beyond are buildings for officers quarters built in 1876 and 1835. Another old bloek-house was long used as a building from which . water pipes led to the various buildings of the post. Farther along, to the right, are the old stone quarters built at the same time as the block-houses, with walls from two to eight feet thick whose windows were formerly erossed by iron bars. In July, 1812, the basement of this building and the block-houses were used as prisons, in which Captain Roberts detained the men and larger boys of the village, after the cap- ture of the fort, until he decided what to do with them. Those who
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took the oath of allegiance to Great Britain were allowed to return to their homes; the others were sent to Detroit. In 1814 the basement of this building and the block-houses were used as a place of refuge for the women and children of the village, while the vessels containing the American troops were anchored off the island. Then there is the old wooden building ereeted as a hospital in 1828, the guard-house built the same year, and other interesting relies of the days when Fort Mackinac was considered among the most important military points in the United States.
Below, near the foot of the bluff, formerly stood the buildings of the United States Indian agency, and to the right, corner of Astor and Fort
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JOHN JACOB ASTOR HOUSE, MACKINAC ISLAND
streets, is a little building which stands on the site of the retail store of the American Fur Company. In the basement, which has not been changed, occurred the accidental shooting of Alexis St. Martin, the youthful Canadian and employee of the company, whose wonderful constitution gave medical science such an opportunity for investigation and speculation. The large building beyond, on the same street, is the Astor House, formerly the headquarters of the company, and where are preserved its entire set of books-not only full business statements from the formation of the company until its close, but all the correspondence between its officers and John Jacob Astor and son, in New York. In the latter collection are also letters to General Cass, James S. Abbott, Gov- ernor Woodbridge and other historie characters of Michigan.
"Mackinac was the center from which the operations of the Ame:i- can Fur Company radiated from the headwaters of the Yellowstone to London, England; from the Red River of the North, all along the bor- ders of Lake Superior to the southern boundaries of Illinois. Indiana
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and Ohio, Nor did the Ohio river form an impassable barrier. Ken- tucky was invaded and made to yield her quota of peltries in spite of an organized opposition. In reading the correspondence in these books one knows not what most to admire-the enterprise of the directors and chiefs of the company, or the intrepidity and hardihood of the voyag- eurs.
"At Mackinac, the traders' brigades were organized, the company selecting the most capable trader to be the manager of his particular brigade, which consisted of from five to twenty batteaux, laden with goods. The chief, or manager. when reaching the country allotted to him, made detachments locating trading houses, with districts clearly defined for the operation of that particular post, and so on, until his ground was fully occupied by the traders over whom he had absolute authority."
NATIONAL PARK-ROBERTSON'S FOLLY-FORT HOLMES
The National Park on Mackinac Island was established by the pas- sage of an act by the United States senate, March 3, 1875. The father of the bill, and therefore of the park, was Hon. T. W. Ferry, who then represented Michigan in the upper house of congress. Senator Ferry, in fact, was born in the old Protestant mission house in 1827, less than a year after his father (Rev. W. M. Ferry) had built it, in furtherance of the work of the United Foreign Mission Society of New York which had sent him into that field in 1822. In 1823 Rev. Mr. Ferry and his wife opened a school for Indian children at Mackinac.
A little beyond the Mission House is a high rocky bluff called Robert- son's Folly, which looks down into the waters of Lake Huron from a height of about 130 feet. The story runs, with a multitude of varia- tions, that the gallant Capt. Daniel Robertson, commandant of "Mich- ilimackinac and dependencies" from 1782 to 1787, became enamored of a beautiful and mysterious maiden who haunted the island, and in his endeavor to become acquainted at this particular place, the fair one having eluded him often before, both toppled over the cliff; but while he was dashed to his death, not a vestige could be found of the beautiful maiden.
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