USA > Michigan > Bay County > History of Bay County, Michigan, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 9
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
dians made a good fire for us, and after a good supper we soon re- vived. After spending the night with our kind Indian friends, we proceeded to our home, which was about two miles from the wig- wam, but so great had been the sufferings of that day, that we pre- sented the appearance of convalescents from a severe illness."
MONUMENTS OF THE PAST.
BY W. R. MC CORMICK.
"On the Saginaw River, towards its mouth, when we come to what is now the corner of Twenty-fourth and Water Streets, in Bay City, where the Center House now stands, we find the site of the old McCormick homestead. Here were two large mounds in the garden, which my father plowed and scraped down. They contained a number of skeletons, stone axes, knives, and quite an amount of broken pottery.
"Some thirty rods below, on Water Street, between Twenty-sec- ond and Twenty-third Streets, is an elevation, the highest on the river, on which are located the Bay City Brewery, Barncy Hotel, the residence of W. R. McCormick and other residences, compris- ing nearly two acres. I wish to describe this elevation as I saw it, in a state of nature, fifty years ago. For many years it was considered to be a natural elevation of the land, but subsequent excavations have proved it to have been constructed by some re- mote race of people.
"When I first became acquainted with the location it was cov- ered with a dense growth of timber, with the exception of the mound, and about an acre and a half in the rear of it, where the earth was taken from to build the mound. It was then a duck pond, with water three feet deep, grown up with alder bushes. In grading Twenty-second Street through the north end of this mound, some years since, we found, at a depth of eleven feet, three skeletons of very large stature, with large earthen pots at the head of each. In excavating for the cellar of the Bay City Brewery, we found, at the depth of four feet, the remains of Indians, in a good state of preservation, with high cheek bones and receding forehead, while below these again, at the depth of four or five feet, the remains of a more ancient race, of an entirely different formation of skull, and with those burned stone implements and pottery were found. I have been unable to preserve any of these skulls, as they crumbled to dust when exposed to the air. I found one skeleton in a sitting position, facing the west, with a very narrow head, and long, as if it had been compressed. I laid it aside in hopes to preserve it, but in a few hours it had crumbled to pieces.
"This mound is full of the remains of ancient pottery and small stones that have been through the action of fire. A friend of mine found an awl made of copper, which was quite soft with the excep- tion of about an inch from the point, which was so hard that a file would scarcely make an impression on it. This seems to me to show that the mound builders had the art of hardening copper. We also find that they had the art of working in metals, as we will show. This comprises the mounds on the east side of the Saginaw River.
"We will now pass over to the west side, near the mill of H. J. and C. J. Smith. There was here, nearly fifty years ago, a mound just above the mill, about 100 feet across, in a circular form and about three feet high. Originally it must have been much higher. I have never examined this mound, but have understood from old settlers that there were a great many stone implements found in it. The plow has nearly leveled it, so that it is scarcely noticed any more.
"The mound which was located near the west end of the
Detroit and Bay City Railroad bridge, for reference I will call the Birney Mound, as it was located on the lands of that great phil- anthropist, the late Hon. James G. Birney. This mound was not so large in circumference, but much higher than the one just noticed. In this were also found human bones, in a much better state of preservation than any of the rest. I procured from this mound a skull with a hole in it just above the temple bone, pro- duced by a sharp instrument, which undoubtedly caused death. This skull I presented to J. Morgan Jennison, of Philadelphia. It was of an entirely different formation from the Indian skull of the present day, as it did not have their high cheek bones nor their re- ceding forehead, but a very intellectually developed head, showing that it was of a different race of people from the Indian. Some years since some boys were digging in the side of the mound, as they had often done before, to get angle worms for fishing, when they came across a small silver cance, about five inches long. A gentleman who was fishing with them, offered them fifty cents for it, which they accepted. After cleaning it up, he found it to be of exquisite workmanship, with the projecting ends tipped with gold.
"A rough copper kettle of peculiar shape and make, having been wrought into shape by hammering, without any seam, was also taken from one of these mounds, and is now in the State Capitol amongst Mr. Jennison's collections of antiquity.
"The next mound was about half a mile up the river, and former- ly stood in the center of Linn Street, West Bay City, but has been graded down many years since. I was not there at the time, but was informed by others that it contained human bones and stone implements. Charles E. Jennison, a pioneer of Bay City, informs me that he dug up two skeletons, many years ago, in the side of this mound. He found, with the skeletons, two copper kettles, which he has still in his possession. I am inclined to think these were not the remains of the original mound builders, but a race of a subsequent period.
"We now proceed a half mile more up the river, to the rise of ground in the rear of Frank Fitzhugh's grist mill. This elevation, fifty years ago, when I first saw it, was the most picturesque spot on the Saginaw River. Here was also a beautiful spring of cold water, and it was a favorite camping ground of the Indians. It was also, according to Indian tradition, the original site of the Sauk village, and where the great battle was fought when the Chippe- was exterminated that nation. This I will call the Fitzhugh Mound, as it is on the lands of Frank Fitzhugh.
"This elevation, comprising two or three acres, was always thought to be natural. But I am satisfied from recent excavations, and a low place to the southwest, that the earth had been taken from this point to raise the mound higher than the surrounding land, and that it is, therefore, mostly artificial. Then again the land adjoining on the north is a yellow sand, while on the south the land fell off abruptly, and from where the earth was taken is composed of the same kind of soil as the mound-black sand and loam. I am now speaking of this mound as it appeared fifty years ago. Since then, the railroad company have excavated a part of it for ballasting up their road, and many other excavations and alterations have taken place, so that it has not the same appearance it had when I first saw it. Some years since, Mr. Fitzhugh, or the village authorities of Wenona, now West Bay City, excavated a street through this mound, which brought to light many relics, and proved, beyond a doubt, that this eminence was a mound built in remote ages. A great many skeletons were exhumed, together with a great many ornaments of silver, broken pottery, stone implements, etc., and, like the McCormick Mound on the opposite side of the river, was full of broken stone which had been through the action of fire."
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
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"There are also four fortifications on the Rifle River, in Township Twenty-two north. They comprise from three to six acres each, containing several mounds of large size. They are also situated on the bluffs. The walls can yet be traced, and are from three to four feet high and from eight to ten feet wide, with large trees growing upon them. A friend of mine opened one of these mounds and took from it a skeleton of a larger size than an ordinary person. He says he also saw several large mounds on the Au Sable River.
"I have thus given the reader an idea of how these mounds ap- peared before the hand of man had destroyed and leveled them down. Many of them can yet be seen, but the plow has helped to level many of them, with the exception of the Fraser, Fitzhugh and McCormick Mounds.
"And to prove that the last three are artificial and not natural, is the fact that in the rear of all these are low places showing where the earth had been taken from to build the mounds, which had taken the work of years.
"Again, the soil on the mounds differs from the soil around them, with the exception of the low places referred to, from where the earth was taken; and finally, the most convincing proof of all is that you can dig down until you come to the original surface, and will find various kinds of stone implements, broken pottery, and great quantities of stone broken by the action of fire. And in no part of the valley will you find those relics except in those mounds.
"The main objection to my theory is, how could such large ele- vations and of such extent as the Fitzhugh, Fraser and McCor- mick Mounds and the more extensive works found in Butler County, O., be built by so primitive a people. I account for so much small broken stone being in these mounds by the manner in which they cooked their food. As their pottery was not made to stand fire, the stones were heated and then put into the vessels to cook their food, which occasioned their breaking to pieces when they came in contact with the water.
"Michael Daley, an old Indian trader of the Saginaw Valley, in speaking of the Indian mounds on the rivers flowing into the Sagi- naw Bay, says :- 'On the Rifle River, some distance from the mouth, there is a regular ancient fort with mounds inside. This fort is located on the bluff, where it had a commanding view of the surrounding country and was a very strong location. The outer walls and mounds were overgrown with large pine trees three to four feet through.' He also at another time crossed from the head waters of the Rifle to the headwaters of the Au Sable with a party of Indians purchasing fur. On their journey they camped near a beautiful little lake where they found a very large mound on its bank. One of the party wanted to open it, but the rest of the Indians were very su- perstitious and did not want it done. He however commenced the work; he had not dug long before he came to a large skeleton of immense size. Mr. Daley says it was seven feet long, and the skull was nearly twice as large as an ordinary person's.
"On seeing it the Indians became more dissatisfied at what had been done and wanted it reburied, which was done. The next day they came to two beautiful little lakes close together and divided by a high piece of ground, on the top of which was a large mound, the position of which was almost impregnable, but they did not stop long to examine it. Mr. Daley also says while he was fishing on Duck Island, in Lake Huron, many years ago, he found large quantities of broken pottery, consisting of bowls, kettles, etc., the same as are found in the mounds where they have been opened or graded down at the present time."
LEGEND OF THE "LONE TREE." BY JUDGE ALBERT MILLER.
"Some old landmarks in the vicinity of Bay City are remembered only by the early settlers; for instance, there was the 'lone tree,'
which, as near as the writer can recollect, stood on or near the ground that Thomas H. McGraw has recently improved for a race course on his prairie farm. It was an ash of vigorous growth, about eighteen inches or two feet in diameter, and during the sea. son of foliage presented a bright green appearance. The name is obvious from its having stood in the open prairie completely isolated from all other timber. In early days all travel was on the river, and by that route the lone tree was estimated to be two miles from Portsmouth and four from Bay City. Travelers passing at any season of the year almost invariably saw a white owl perched upon the top of the tree. Some time about the year 1840, a very inter- esting poem was published in the Philadelphia Evening Post, and copied into a great many papers in different parts of the United States. The conception of the poem was an Indian legend, stating that the owl was the Good Spirit that watched over and guided the destinies of their tribe or race in the Saginaw Valley; that as long as the tree stood, and the Spirit continued his vigils, their tribe would remain and prosper, but when the Spirit in the shape of the owl should depart, their tribe would be scattered and eventually pass away. It was a wonder to many who knew the locality, who the poet could be who had conceived an Indian legend, and so beau- tifully woven it into a poem. Some ten years ago the late Hon. Arte- mas Thayer, of Flint, related to the writer the circumstances of his wedding tour, from Flint to Lower Saginaw, in a sleigh, accom- panied by Miss Mather, of Flint, a young lady friend of the bride. They saw the white owl perched upon the lone tree, and on their return to Flint Miss Mather wrote the poem that attracted so much attention. Miss Mather subsequently went to New York, and at the residence of Horace Greeley suddenly expired, while packing her trunk preparatory to a voyage to Europe. There is something of a coincidence in the relations of the poet and the subsequent history of the Indians. During the Summer of 1838 the waters covered all the low lands of the Saginaw Valley, killing vast amounts of timber skirting the river and low prairies, and during that season the lone tree received its death blow, and soon was left leafless; but the owl still continued his vigils, perched upon the dead branches. But when the roots decayed and the tree was prostrated, the owl was seen no more. In 1837 the Indians sold their reservations to the United States Government, and about the same time their num- bers were diminished one-half by the scourge of small-pox. The remnant lingered a few years about their old hunting grounds but were compelled to retire before the march of civilization; and by the time the lone tree was prostrated and the owl departed, but few of the aborigines were seen about their old haunts, where but a few years before they were the owners and only occupants of the land." The owl was shot and killed about 1842 by James J. McCormick while out with a party on a hunting expedition up the river.
More minutely, the legend is as follows :- Many, many long years ago, before the white man's foot had left its impress upon this valley, Ke-wah-ke-won ruled his people with love and kindness. He was a patriarch among them, and beloved for the gentleness of his manners, and the mildness of his government. He had been a great warrior in his day; but his youth had departed, and the lan- guid puise and feeble footstep told, alas, too plainly, that he would soon be treading the hunting grounds of the Great Spirit. The good old man felt that he was indeed passing away-dying-and he was desirous of seeing once more his tribes in council, to bestow upon them his last blessing, and impart to them his dying ad- monition and advice. The old chief lay upon his death bed, and around him were gathered, in mournful silence, his beloved people, eager to catch the first and last words that would drop from the lips of their dying chieftain. It was a mournful and melancholy picture, that death-bed scene in the wilderness. At
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
length the chief spoke, while the fire of his youth seemed kindled again in his dim eye, and his voice, though weak, was calm and clear.
" My children," said he, " the Great Spirit has called me, and I must obey the summons. Already is the tomahawk raised to sever the last cord that binds me to my children; already my guide stands at the door to convey me to the hunting grounds of my fathers in the Spirit Land. You weep, my children, but dry your tears, for though I leave you now, yet will my spirit bird ever watch over you. I will whisper to you in the evening breeze, and when the morning comes you will know that I have been with you through the night. But the Good Spirit beckons me, and I must hasten. Let my body be laid in a quiet spot, with my tomahawk and pipe by my side. You need not fear that the wolf will disturb my rest, for the Great Spirit, I feel, will place a watch over me. Meet me in the Spirit Land, my children-farewell!" And the old chief slept the sleep that knows no waking till the end of time.
They buried him in a lone spot in the prairie, near the beauti- ful river, with his face toward the rising sun. His remains were never disturbed by bird or beast; for it would indeed seem that so the Great Spirit had ordered it. Time passed on, and a tree arose from his grave, and spread its branches over it, as if to protect it, and a beautiful white owl took possession of it. The Indians tell us that the ' lone tree' marked the last resting place of Ke-wah-ke- won, and that the white owl was the spirit bird sent to watch over it.
COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION.
ORGANIZATION OF BAY COUNTY.
The territory comprising Bay County was originally a part of Saginaw, Midland and the whole of Arenac Counties. Arenac being attached to Midland for judicial purposes, including all the terri- tory in Towns Thirteen north, Range Six east, and all the north half of the Town Thirteen north, Range Five east that lies east of the Saginaw River, and all of Fourteen north, Range Three, Four, Five and Six east, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen and Eighteen north, Range Three, Four and Five east, and all of Town Nineteen and Twenty north, Range Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, and Eight east, and also the Charity Islands in Saginaw Bay.
This county lies around the shores of Saginaw Bay, and in- cluding the Saginaw, Kawkawlin, Pinconning, Pine, Rifle, AuGres, and Quanicassee Rivers emptying into the Saginaw Bay.
This territory was organized into Bay County in 1857. Then but two townships were in full organization in the county. Hampton and Williams had been organized in 1843 and 1855, as already stated.
The first election of county officers was held on the first Mon- day in June, 1857, under the act to organize the county, and elected Wm. Simon, sheriff; Elijah Catlin, clerk; James Watson, treasurer; Thomas M. Bligh, register of deeds; S. S. Campbell, judge of probate; C. H. Freeman, prosecuting attorney; Stephen P. Wright, Circuit Court commissioner; Benjamin F. Partridge, surveyor; Wm. C. Spicer, coroner. And these officers were duly qualified and were ready for business, but Saginaw County pro. tested against any such unwarranted proceedings.
The organization having been disputed by Saginaw and Mid- land Counties, who assumed all judicial power over the entire county, paralyzed the operation of the courts and the collection of taxes till the Supreme Court decided a case arising in Bay County, the jurisdiction of which the Saginaw Circuit claimed, which de- cision was that Bay County was duly organized.
THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.
The history of the memorable struggle for an existence, which attended the efforts to organize Bay County, has been admirably written by Gen. B. F. Partridge, of Bay City, and was published in 1876, by direction of the Board of Supervisors. It constitutes an important part of a history of Bay County, and we quote from Gen. Partridge's paper as follows:
" Of the first efforts I only know in part; from others I glean the rest. The first efforts for its organization were made in 1855, when the Hon. J. S. Barclay, who was elected a member of the Legislature from Saginaw County, in November, 1854, and who re- sided in Lower Saginaw, then a part of Saginaw County, now Bay City, presented a favorable opportunity for the scheme and witlı hope of success. The Hon. Judge Albert Miller and the irrepres- sible Daniel Burns (Mr. Burns was then in the prime of life, with a bright future before him, more so than the common lot of man), were sent to the ' Third House' for that purpose; and two more fitting men at that time, and at that juncture, could not have been selected for such a mission; but such was the opposition to the bill at that early and first effort that, although the bill came near pass- ing, yet it was defeated by a small majority.
" The opposition to the bill in the ' Third House ' was strong, numerous, and influential. The indifferent yielded to their influence and importunities.
" At this time Lower Saginaw was hardly known, save to our ' up town ' neighbors (those above Carrollton bar), and was their bugbear and coming rival, and East Town and Saginaw were in all their glory and prosperity; and the then ' Little Giant,' Lower Saginaw, was struggling for an existence against odds that seemed superhuman to overcome, but with will and dare to do it, finally succeeded.
" Also at that time the indifferent allowed the claims of its op- ponents that the matter was too premature, -- ' wait and see,' and if necessary the organization, if hereafter it should be deemed proper, could be allowed. Just as if a right was to be allowed, and not at once conceded! The argument generally submitted to by the indifferent and urged by our opponents,-those whose interests opposed our organization, or thought their interests were so opposed, -claimed they could defeat all subsequent bills of the kind. The effort, although it failed, was not without its effects. It brought the matter somewhat before the public, and the indifferent ones began to inquire more particularly in regard to the same, and many of them admitted the justice of the claims for our organization ..
"Again, in 1857, the Hon. James Birney, Col. Henry Raymond, B. F. Partridge, and some others, were selected as a committee to the . Third House,' to press the matter of our organization, and if possible to procure the passage of an act for the same. The Hon. T. Jerome, of Saginaw City, representative from Saginaw County, and Henry Ashman, from Midland County, who were elected in November, 1856, in that session of the Legislature, both of whom, as they undoubtedly supposed their interests demanded and their supporters required of them, opposed our organization. They un- doubtedly acted conscientiously in their opposition, and consistently with their pledges before election, but I will say here, I do not know, and it is not charged, nor ever has been to our knowledge, that either of them did anything in their opposition dislionorable or un- mandy. I give them credit that they acted, without doubt, as they thought their duty demanded. The Legislature at this time, one may say, was the same as unanimously Republican, and those sent to the 'Third House' to represent our interest and organization were wholly so, we hoping thereby a 'fellow feeling' might arise, and thereby the former opposition might abate somewhat. Such
S. S. Rampble
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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY.
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was the general effect. After a great deal of effort on the one side to secure our organization, and on the other to oppose and defeat it, a compromise was finally settled upon by the members of the ' Third House' and the members for Saginaw and Midland Coun- ties, by the efforts and advice of the friends of the several parties interested; and it was a local matter, and the members of the coun- ties interested therein finally approved of the bill, it passed the Legislature, and was approved by the Governor, February 17, 1857.
"The territory of Bay County at that time contained but few voters compared to Saginaw County, for Bay County only took a small part from Saginaw County. Its largest territory came from Midland County, viz .: the unorganized County of Arenac, in which territory at that time, aside from Indians, perhaps not ten voters resided.
"THE BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE.
"As long, stormy, and arduous as the efforts were to get the bill for our organization through the Legislature, yet more difficult and arduous were the labors to firmly determine and consummate the same,-that is, our sure and settled organization. Section 1 of the act organizing Bay County reads as follows:
" 'That the following territory [described] shall be organized into a county, and shall be known and called Bay County [refer to the act of organization for the description, etc.], and the inhabitants thereof entitled to all the rights and privileges to which by law the inhabitants of the other organized counties of this state are en- titled.'
"The original act presented, or to be presented, to the Legisla- ture was drawn by C. H. Freeman, then and now of Bay City, and practicing law. The description of territory was made by B. F. Partridge, and had that bill passed as then drawn no question would ever have arisen as to the legality of our organization as a county, but the opposition to it was so great that the compromise heretofore spoken of was effected, and changes were necessarily made in the bill, and Section 2 was added, which became the bone of future contention.
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