USA > Michigan > Alpena County > Centennial history of Alpena County, Michigan > Part 4
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
41
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL.
quite common. At Squaw Point, on the main land, south of the island, near the residence of the old Indian Chief Zwanno- Quaddo, the black slates are found in places, in a cliff ten feet high. The exposed surfaces are very much discolored by oxide of iron. On the opposite side of the State, the black shales are seen at the southeast extremity of Mucqua Lake, in Emmet county; on the north side of Pine Lake, section 3, town 33 north, of range 7 west; near the outlet of Grand Traverse Bay, section 3, town 32 north, of range 9 west, and a few miles south of there, and again near the head of Carp Lake, in Leelanau county. The greatest observed thickness in this part of the State, is twenty feet."
From the foregoing statement, we draw the very probable conclusion, that three distinct kinds of rock are found outcrop- ping on and near the shores of Thunder Bay; that the carbon- aceous limestones belong to the Helderberg or Little Traverse group; that the black bituminous limestones belong to the Hamilton group, and the black slates, seen at Squaw Point, be- long to the Huron group. That an exceptional dip of the rocks exists in many places in the vicinity of Thunder Bay, and that they are much disturbed and displaced. The limestones term- ed the "Little Traverse Group," compose the surface rock on and near the lake shore, from Little Traverse Bay, north ward to Thunder Bay. In Cheboygan county, they reach as far south as the small lakes of Cheboygan river. In Presque Isle county, they probably reach as far west as the western extrem- ity of Long Lake; and they cover most of that portion of Al- pena county north of Thunder Bay. These limestones lie nearly horizontal, as observed along the shore of Lake Huron, and measured from the level of the lake. The high bluffs on the lake, at Crawford's Quarry, are about sixty feet high, and the one opposite Middle Island is of about the same height. The rock from here south, gradually subsides, until it reaches Little Thunder Bay, where it forms an escarpment abutting on
42
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL.
the bay, about thirty feet perpendicular. They probably dip slightly toward the center of the northern basin, with some local exceptional dip in the vicinity of Thunder Bay; but the western limits of their disappearance, under higher formations, have not been determined. These limestones are fine grained, highly crystallized and handsomely clouded, by the unequal distribution of the fossils and bituminous matter they contain. They are susceptible of a high polish, and when the large corals-especially the Favose and Cyathophylloids, which are abundant-are cut and polished, they present a very beautiful and agate-like appearance. Some years since a quarry was opened near Adams' Point, by Mr. Crawford, and is now known as Crawford's Quarry; and subsequently another quarry was opened nearly opposite Middle Island, by Mr. Litchenberg, and large hopes were entertained at the time, that samples would be found large enough to place the Lake Huron marbles with the most esteemed varieties; but no such samples have yet been found, and it is extremely doubtful whether they ever will be, as the rock is very much shattered. If the black bituminous limestones spoken of, belong to the Hamilton group, then this group of rocks in the Thunder Bay region is inconsiderable, not being in any known place more than six feet in thickness; and the same may be said of what is known of the Huron slates noticed at Squaw Point, whose aggregate thickness would prob- ably exceed one hundred and twenty-five feet. Townships 31, 32 and 33 north, of ranges 6, 7 and 8 east, are remarkable for the abnormal and broken condition of the rocks. Ledges with large cracks and cavernous fissures, sink-holes or basins, in many of which streams of considerable size disappear, and ex- ceptional dip in the rocks in various directions. A ledge of limestone, fifty feet high, occurs in the south part of section 35, in town 33 north, of range 7 east, faced on the north by a small lake, where can be seen large cracks and cavernous partings partly filled with detritus. These openings in the rocks run
43
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL.
with the strike, sometimes for one-fourth of a mile. The dip could not be well ascertained. North of the partings, the rocks were much broken up, but south of the partings they dip in some places, slightly to the southwest. The strike bears south- east for about half a mile, in a well defined cliff, and then be- comes very much broken and irregular, and which is very dis- tinctly marked on the section line between sections 1 and 2, in town 32 north, ot range 7 east. This ledge is traced in a north- west direction, into the northeast quarter of section 33, where it is about fifty feet high, and faced on the northeast by a long but narrow lake, apparently very deep. Here, again, are large partings in the rocks, and cavernous chambers, similar to the former, but the rocks are more broken and irregular. Here the dip appeared to the west, and the strike bending round the west side of the lake, had a trend southeast and north twenty degrees west. In the northwest quarter of section 16, town 32 north, of range 7 east, occurs a similar ledge, about twenty feet high, and also faced on the northeast by a small lake. Here are partings similar to those first mentioned. In the northwest quarter of section 14, in town 32 north, of range 7 east, near the section line, is a very singular basin. It is nearly round, two hundred feet or more in diameter, and about seventy feet deep. It was tunnel-shaped for about forty feet, and then the rocks became perpendicular; reposing at the bottom in what appeared like a cavern, was a small lake of nice, clear water. The writer did not examine the rocks, nor did he ascertain whether the water in the lake was in motion, or in repose. In the southwest quarter of section 5, in the same town and range, is a stream eight feet wide, which approaches from the north- west, a cliff of limestone, about twenty feet high, and at the foot of this cliff is an irregular cavernous looking basin, about thirty feet deep, into which the stream descends and disappears at the bottom. But the most remarkable basin in this vicinity is the one known as "Sunken Lake," on the west side of section
44
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL.
32, in town 33 north, of range 6 east. This is a wonderful and interesting locality, and affords a key, when placed in skill- ful hands, to unlock many, if not all, the geological mysteries attached to the Thunder Bay region. When the writer visited this beautiful and interesting spot, in 1866, he was exploring for pine timber, and was not prepared, and did not examine anything critically or geologically. All of his measurements and descriptions are only approximate, and are given to assist those who hereafter may desire to examine the several localities, from curiosity or for scientific purposes. A few rods west of Sunken Lake, at this time, was a sink-hole of recent formation. It was oval in form at the top, its major axis being about one hundred feet over, was perpendicular on its west side, and about seventy feet deep, with water at the bottom. Commenc- ing at the bottom and reaching up the side of the basin for thirty feet, was a coarse grained, buff colored, smooth, compact, argillaceous sandstone, and appeared to be the side of a fault in the sand rock. Reposing upon this was about three feet of black slates, similar to those met with at Squaw Point; and resting upon these slates, and reaching to the surface, is a laminated limestone, from thirty to forty feet thick, well and variously stocked with fossils. Near the west side of this "hole in the ground," the limestones commence to dip to the east, and plunge over the edge of the sandstone, at an angle of about sixty degrees, to the bottom of Sunken Lake, which is not less on the west side than seventy-five feet deep. The rock con- tinues under the lake as far as it could be traced. Here is a very singular and extraordinary exceptional dip to the east; but what is still more singular, is, that the limestones are not cracked or broken, but lie over the precipice made by the fault- ed underlying rock, as though it had flowed over them in a soft state, and hardened on its passage, leaving a hollow space between them and the margin of the rock, forming a channel of a subterranean river. The strike of these rocks was traced
45
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL.
only about forty rods, bending to the east on the bottom sides of the lake, and forming the west half of Sunken Lake. Be- tween this downthrow and the more northern limestone is a valley filled with drift, composed of very coarse gravel, sand, clay, etc., with a few large boulders. The North Branch of Thunder Bay river, which is thirty feet wide near Sunken Lake, and capable of floating saw-logs for twenty or more miles above the lake, in making its channel to Thunder Bay river, passes over a portion of this drift bed; and that portion of the drift between the channel of the river and the drift flanking the west side of the lake, being very porous, filled with water from the river, and was pressed with great force through the small cracks and seams in the limestones. In time these holes through the rocks were made large enough to pass sand and small gravel, and then commenced the hollowing out of the lake. The limestones becoming denuded, were split and crum- bled by the frosts of winter, presented additional mouths to in- vite water from the river, until it quit its old bed, turned at right angles with its old channel, cut a new one for half a mile to the lake, and after making a few gyrations, sank beneath the rocks, to pass in subterranean darkness to the waters of Little Thunder Bay, where it is indefinitely ascertained that it emerges. The apertures in the rocks are not yet large enough to admit the whole river in time of a freshet, and the surplus water re- turns to its old channel, affording the lumbermen a small chance to run their logs past this difficult place. This subter- ranean stream, in all probability, follows the strike of the faulted sandstone, which we think bears about east-southeast from the lake. At the same time the writer examined Sunken Lake, he discovered a very interesting sink-hole, or basin, somewhere about southeast from the lake, and thinks it was between sections 15 and 16, in town 31 north, of range 6 east. It was situated in the midst of a heavy growth of sugar, beech and hemlock timber. The hole was nearly round, and about
46
TOPOGRAPHICAL AND GEOLOGICAL.
two hundred feet in diameter. The alluvium and drift was about fifty feet deep, and the cavern below was spacious enough to take this immense mass of matter and the large forest trees, and hide them in the chambers below; it had fallen entirely out of sight. In sinking the first well in Alpena, the litholog- ical structure was noted for 642 feet, and it is remarkable that after passing through the alluvium and drift for 30 feet, and through only two feet of limestone, a quartz rock was reached, 18 feet thick, carrying copper, and perhaps gold. If the rec- ords be true, the chances for gold would be better than for salt from the Saginaw basin. Taking all these facts into consider- ation, we are drawn to the inevitable conclusion that the Sag- inaw salt group and the carboniferous limestones found in the lower basin, compose the nine hundred feet of rock piled up above the sandstones seen at Sunken Lake. That the Saginaw salt lies in a valley between the two basins, and extending from Saginaw Bay to Muskegon. That Alpena city and its imme- diate vicinity is on the outcropping edge of the northern geo- logical basin, and below the Saginaw salt group; and that if salt is ever found here, it will be taken from the Onondaga salt group of rocks. And now that roads have been made into the interior of the county, affording good facilities for reaching every part of it, that a few hundred dollars would be well ex- pended by the county, in employing a competent geologist to make a proper survey of this most interesting portion of the Southern Peninsula.
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION.
At the time the public surveys were made in Alpena, Presque Isle aud Cheboygan counties, all that part of the peninsula was known as the Thunder Bay region, and was attached to Mack- inac county, for judicial purposes. In 1854 or '55, the land district was divided. and a Land Office was established at the village of Duncan City, in Cheboygan county. Subsequently these land districts were sub-divided, with offices at Traverse City, East Saginaw, Ionia, and Detroit, Alpena county being in the Detroit district. In 1840, boundaries were made, and names given to twenty-nine northern counties. One of these counties was named after an ancient chief of the Thunder Bay band of Indians-"An-a-ma-kee," or Thunder. The name was changed to Alpena, in 1843, but for what reason, is not known to the writer, but he thinks the name a phonetic rendering of the word "Aw-pe-na," which means Partridge, in the Indian language. The point of land between Squaw Bay and Alpena is known by the Indians as "Aw-pe-na-sing," or Partridge Point, and the name of Alpena was probably taken from the name of this point, through the influence of the Hon. Henry Ashman, who was well acquainted with the Thunder Bay coast, spoke the Indian language, and was subsequently a member of the State Legislature, from Midland county. In seems to be a word of recent coinage, as the writer can find no place on the globe of the same name. The word should be spelled "Awpena," to mean Partridge, and if rendered into English, as it is now spelled, would be, "not quite a Partridge."
In speaking of Squaw Bay, reminds the writer of the origin of the name. Places sometimes receive their names from tri- fling circumstances. The writer named the bay "Squaw Bay,"
48
ORGANIZATION.
from the following incident: In the winter of 1850 or '51, Rob- ert McMullen was traveling across the bay, and when about the middle of it, he discovered some one fishing through a hole in the ice; and on approaching near, he found it to be Na-o-tay- ke-zhick-co-quay, the daughter of the old Chief Mich-e-ke-wis, who was then camped on Partridge Point. The Indian maiden was fishing, with her head covered with a blanket, and when she heard approaching footsteps, she bounded to her feet, with a frightened look, and without waiting for any apology from Mc., she started for the point, with the fleetness of the antelope. When McMullen told the writer of his adventure, he said to him: "We will call that bay 'Squaw Bay,' and since that time it has been known by that name.
In 1853, Cheboygan county was organized, and Montmoren- cy, Presque Isle, Alpena, Oscoda and Alcona counties were at- tached to Cheboygan county, for judicial and municipal pur- poses. In the spring of 1855, the first assessment of taxes was made in Alpena county. The assessor from Cheboygan came as far as Presque Isle, and returned, having assessed the whole territory, without seeing any of it, as many assessors have done since, and are now doing in most of the northern counties. No tax was collected in Alpena county for this year. In 1856, the second assessment, and the first collection of taxes, was made by Cheboygan county, and which tax so collected, amount- ed to a little over five hundred dollars.
After making the Bailey purchase, the proprietors deemed it advisable to have a county organization for the success and convenience of their enterprise; but it required considerable "cheek" to ask the State Legislature to organize a county where it was a dense wilderness, and where men liad to be im- migrated to hold the offices for conducting the first election, and where there was only one resident freeholder in the district sought to be organized. It also required not a little courage, and liberality, to incur at such a time, the expense of organiz-
49
ORGANIZATION.
ing and running a new county, where their property would eventually have to pay a large proportion of the expense. In order to make a fair showing before the State Legislature, the proprietors, in 1856, came to Thunder Bay river, bringing with them E. A. Breakenridge, a surveyor, to make a temporary survey of a village, to give it a name, and ascertain where the two squares were that they intended to offer to donate to the county, as a site for the county buildings, in the event of, and as an inducement for establishing the county seat at this place. This was in the year of the Fremont campaign, and Messrs. Fletcher, Lockwood and Breakenridge, being "Fremont men," and the Canada parties, Messrs. Oldfield and Minor, having no prejudices, they had resolved to call the prospective village "FREMONT." They had brought with them a Fremont flag, which they raised on a pole when naming the town. Daniel Carter was one of the party, but being opposed to Fremont, he refused to help raise the pole, declaring that he "would not help raise a flag that he would not support." He moved his family to Thunder Bay river in November, 1856, and the same fall obtained signers to a petition for the organization of the county of Alpena. In regard to this petition, Mr. Carter says, in a letter to G. N. Fletcher, under date of February 14th, 1857: "I got the petition, and went up and down the shore, and the folks were all glad to see it. I got fifty-one names. Mr. Har- rison, owner of the mill at the Highlands, would not sign it. He wants the county seat at his place, or be set in Saginaw district."
In February. 1857, through the energy of the proprietors and the personal efforts of Hon. J. K. Lockwood, the Legisla- ture passed the following act, organizing the county of Alpena: An Act to Organize the County of Alpena, and to locate the County Seat thereof.
Sec. 1. . The People of the State of Michigan enact, That the county of Alpena shall be organized and the inhabitants there-
50
ORGANIZATION.
of entitled to all the rights and privileges to which, by law, the inhabitants of other organized counties of this State are entitled.
Sec. 2. The county seat of said county is hereby establish- ed at the village of Fremont, at the mouth of Thunder Bay river, in said county: Provided, That the proprietors of lands therein shall convey to said county, for the exclusive use there- of, for county buildings and county purposes, free of all charge, the following described lots, to wit: Two entire blocks, each twenty-four rods square, lying between Eighth and Ninth streets, and River and Lockwood streets, in the village of Fre- mont, as surveyed by E. A. Breakenridge, Esq., in the year (1856) eighteen hundred and fifty-six, on section twenty-two (22), in town thirty-one (31) north, of range eight (8) east, in said county.
Sec. 3. There shall be elected in said county of Alpena, on the first Tuesday of November, eighteen hundred and fifty- seven (1857), all the several county officers to which, by law, the said county is entitled; and said election shall, in all re- spects, be conducted and held in the manner prescribed by law, for holding elections for county and State officers: Provided, That the county officers so to be elected, shall be qualified, and enter upon the duties of their respective offices, on the first (1) Monday of January, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight (1858), and whose term of office will expire at the time prescribed by the general law.
Sec. 4. The board of canvassers of said county, under this act, shall consist of the presiding inspectors of election from each township therein; and said inspectors shall meet at said village of Fremont, on the first Tuesday after the election, and organize, by appointing one of their number chairman, and an- other secretary of said board, and shall thereupon proceed to discharge all the duties of a board of county canvassers, as in other cases of election for county and State officers.
Sec. 5. The Sheriff and County Clerk, elected by the pro- visions of this act, shall designate a place in the village of Fre- mont for holding the Circuit Court in said county, and also suit-
51
ORGANIZATION.
able places for the several county offices, as near as practicable to the place designated for holding the Circuit Court; and they shall make and subscribe a certificate, in writing, describing the several places designated, which certificate shall be filed and preserved by the County Clerk; and thereafter the places thus designated shall be the places of holding the Circuit Court and the county offices, until the Board of Supervisors provide suitable accommodations for said court and county offices.
Sec. 6. The counties of Alcona, Oscoda, Montmorency, and that portion of the county of Presque Isle lying east of range 4 east, be and the same are attached to the county of Alpena, for judicial and municipal purposes.
Sec. 7. All acts, and parts of acts, contravening the provi- sions of this act, the same are hereby repealed.
Approved Feb. 7th, 1857.
Mr. Lockwood, finding that "the presiding inspectors of elec- tions from each township therein," referred to in the fourth section of the above act, had declared "non est inventus," pro- cured, ten day later in the session, the passage of an act, as an amendment to the fourth section of the first act, which is as follows:
Sec. 1. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That this act shall stand in lieu of section four (4) of said act, and that Daniel Carter, Harvey Harwood and D. D. Oliver are hereby made and constituted a board of county canvassers, who shall act as inspectors of election; and said inspectors shall meet at the said village of Fremont, on the first Tuesday after the election, and appoint one of their number chairman, and another secretary of said board, and shall thereupon proceed to discharge all the duties of a board of county canvassers, as in other cases of election of county and State officers, and shall have the power to act as a Board of Supervisors in and for said county, for the organization of townships therein, and for other purposes, and to hold their office until there be three organized townships in said county, and until other supervisors are elect- ed and qualified: And provided, That from any cause a va-
52
ORGANIZATION.
cancy occurs in said board, before any township is organized, the two remaining members of the board shall appoint; but if there be one or more townships organized and supervisors elect- ed, the vacancy shall be filled by said supervisor or supervisors. The compensation of said board shall be the same as that re- ceived by supervisors elected according to law. All acts and parts of acts contravening the provisions of this act, be and the same are hereby repealed. This act is ordered to take imme- diate effect.
Approved February 14th, 1857.
It will be seen, by reference to the above amended act of the Legislature, that the first Board of Supervisors of Alpena coun- ty was made by special act, the members being Daniel Carter, of Fremont, Harvey Harwood, of Thunder Bay Island, and D. D. Oliver, of Devil river. They were authorized to act as a board of county canvassers, as well as a Board of Supervisors. and were to hold their offices until three towns were organized in the county, and to fill any vacancy in the board, if one should occur.
After being duly notified of their appointment, and about the first of June, 1857, the members of the new Board of Super- visors for the county of Alpena, met for business, and organ- ized by making Daniel Carter chairman, and, having no County Clerk, D. D. Oliver was made secretary. Mr. Harwood soon moved out of the county, and left the chairman and secretary to have it their own way. They were both inexperienced in county business, and were at least one hundred miles from a precedent; without books, or anything to guide them in their new position; and not a man in the county that could legally administer an oath, and but one in the county who knew any- thing about township business, and his knowledge done them no good as a Board of Supervisors, and they had no townships organized; but something must be done by the Board of Su- pervisors, and they did it as well as they could.
53
ORGANIZATION.
The first and most important business before the board, was to settle with the neighboring Board of Supervisors of Cheboy- gan county, and get back a part, if they could, of the $500 tax which the county of Cheboygan had collected of Alpena county and its territory the preceding winter. Carter and Oliver made two trips to Cheboygan, in a sail boat, at a large expense, to meet the supervisors there, who avoided them, and they failed to make a settlement. Oliver then went to Lansing, and had a talk with the Auditor General, in regard to the matter, who told him if he would forward certain papers from Cheboygan, before the fourth day of July, 1857, he would charge back the tax to Cheboygan county, and credit Alpena county with the same. Oliver then made another expensive trip to Cheboygan, procured the necessary papers, and sent them to Lansing; but heard nothing from the Auditor General, until he was threat- ened with publication, and then he received the following letter:
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.