History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 9

Author: D.W. Ensign & Co. pub; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D. W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 821

USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 9
USA > Michigan > Berrien County > History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 9

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The ceded territory within the boundaries thus de- scribed embraced all that part of the present county of Berrien which lies west of the St. Joseph River, except a tract of irregular shape, bounded on the south by the south line of the county, on the east and north by the St. Joseph River, and on the west and northwest by a right line drawn from the point which forms the southwestern corner of Bertrand township and the southeastern corner of Galien township, on the south boundary of the county, to the point where the south line of section twelve of the town- ship of Buchanan intersects the west bank of the St. Jo- seph River. This unceded tract (generally, though incor- rectly, mentioned as a reservation) embraced an area equal to about forty-nine square miles of territory, on which were located the villages and settlements of this division of the Pottawattamie tribe.

It was stipulated in the treaty, in the usual form, that the tribe should receive certain annuities-goods and cash -in consideration of the ceded lands. Also, that there should be delivered to them annually a quantity of iron, steel, and tobacco ; that the sum of one hundred dollars per annum in goods should be paid to the chief Topinabé, dur- ing his life; that a blacksmith should be kept permanently among them at the expense of the United States; and

* For the part ceded by the Ottawas that tribe was to receive one thousand dollars in specie, annually. The Chippewas, although two of their chiefs signed the treaty, received nothing; hence it appears that no part of the ceded lands belonged to that tribe. The lands ceded by the Ottawas were those to the northward, along the Grand River.

t This treaty is mentioned in the Revised Treaties of the United States as being held at "St. Joseph," by which is doubtless meant

that it was held on the river of that name. The Rev. Isaac McCoy, in his History of Baptist Missions, says, on page 319, "On the 17th of September, 1827, His Excellency Lewis Cass and suite arrived at Carey, for the purpose of holding a treaty with our Putawatamie neighbors, whom, by runners sent before him, he had assembled at our house. At this treaty several small reservations on the north side of the St. Joseph's were consolidated into one; five hundred dol- lars' worth of goods were paid them, and an annuity of twenty-five hundred dollars."

HISTORY OF BERRIEN AND VAN BUREN COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

that the government should also provide three laborers to work for the St. Joseph tribe four months in the year for ten years. To Madeleine Bertrand, wife of Joseph Ber- trand, was granted one section of land, but it was not lo- cated nor described. Her claim on account of this grant was afterwards purchased by Obed P. Lacey, of Niles, who, after several years' delay, obtained lands at West Niles under the grant.

TREATY AT CHICAGO, 1833.

The last of the Indian land in Berrien County (being the tract mentioned above as bounded east by the St. Jo- seph River and south by the south line of the county) was ceded to the United States by articles supplementary to a treaty made at Chicago, Sept. 26, 1833. The supplement- ary articles were signed on the 27th of the same month by George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen, and William Weath- erford, commissioners on the part of the United States, and by Topinabe, Pokagon, Weesaw, and forty-five other chiefs and head men, on the part of the Pottawattamies. This last relinquished possession of the St. Joseph Indians is described in the article of cession as "the tract of land on St. Joseph River, opposite the town of Niles and extend- ing to the line of the State of Indiana, on which the vil- lages of To-pe-ne-bee and Po-ka-gon are situated ; supposed to contain about forty-nine sections."

The stipulation made for the final removal of the Indians from the ceded tract was embraced in the third supplement- ary article, as follows : " All the Indians residing on the said reservations in Michigan [having reference not only to this tract, but also to small reservations farther east, in the county of St. Joseph and elsewhere] shall remove there- from within three years from this date, during which time they shall not be disturbed in their possession, nor in hunt- ing upon the lands as heretofore. In the mean time no interruption shall be offered to the survey and sale of the same by the United States. In case, however, the said Indians shall sooner remove, the government may take immediate possession thereof." This was the beginning of the end of the Indian occupation. It has been told in preceding pages how they were allowed to linger for a time after the expiration of the period named in the treaty of 1833, but were (with the exception of Pokagon and a num- ber of others who had become converted to the Catholic re- ligion) finally gathered together and removed beyond the Mississippi.

ERECTION OF COUNTIES AND TOWNS ON THE CEDED LANDS.

The county of Wayne was erected by proclamation of Lewis Cass, Governor of the Territory of Michigan, Nov. 21, 1815,* to embrace " that part of the Territory of Mich- igan to which the Indian title has been extinguished." As the first extinguishment of Indian title to any part of the

territory now embraced in the counties of Berrien and Van Buren was accomplished by the Chicago treaty of Aug. 29, 1821, nearly six years after the establishment of Wayne County by Governor Cass, consequently that county, em- bracing only territory to which the Indian title had then been extinguished, included no part of Van Buren or Ber- rien County, though a contrary belief has prevailed to some extent.

By executive act dated Sept. 10, 1822, it was pro- claimed by Governor Cass thatt " all the country within this territory to which the Indian title was extinguished by the treaty of Chicago shall be attached to, and compose a part of, the county of Monroe." By the same executive act the county of Lenawee was erected, and also attached to Monroe.

The territory thus attached to the county of Monroe in- cluded all of the present county of Van Buren, and all that part of Berrien which lies north and east of the St. Joseph River ; and it continued to be a part of that county until Dec. 31, 1826,-the date of operation of an act of the Legislative Councilt (approved Nov. 20th of that year) by which the county of Lenawee was organized, and which provided that "all the country within this territory to which the Indian title was extinguished by the treaty of Chicago shall be attached to, and compose a part of, the county of Lenawee."

The (old) township of St. Joseph was erected by act of the Legislative Council (approved April 12, 1827), to in- clude all the lands within the Territory of Michigan which were ceded at the treaty of Chicago.

In an act (approved Sept. 22, 1829) amendatory to the act organizing the county of Lenawee, it was provided§ " that all the country within this territory to which the Indian title was extinguished at the treaty held at the Carey Mission in 1828 shall be attached to the county of Lena- wee, and the said district shall compose a part of St. Joseph township." This added to the county and township named all that part of the present county of Berrien lying west and south of the St. Joseph River, except the tract which still remained in possession of the Indians, embracing the southeast corner of the township of Buchanan, nearly all of Bertrand, and the part of Niles lying on the south and west side of the St. Joseph River.

The counties of Berrien and Van Buren were erected by act approved Oct. 29, 1829, and one week later an act was approved forming the towns of Niles and Penn, the former including all the territory of Berrien, and the latter all that of Van Buren, both of which had, up to that time, been included in (old) St. Joseph township. In the sep- arate histories of Berrien and Van Buren a more extended account will be given of the erection and organization of the two counties, and also of the several townships which have been formed within them.

* Territorial Laws, vol. i. p. 323.

t Ibid., pp. 335, 336.

į Ibid., vol. ii. p. 292.

¿ Ibid., p. 709.

NAVIGATION.

CHAPTER VI.

NAVIGATION-HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS.

The Lake Coast and Harbors of Berrien and Van Buren Counties- St. Joseph the Port of Destination of the first Vessel that ever sailed the Upper Lakes-The first Ship-Timber ever cut on the Shores of Lake Michigan sawed at St. Joseph-Vessels running to and from the Mouth of the River before the Year 1800-Vessels bringing Supplies for the Carey Mission as early as 1823-Capt. Hinckley "jumps the Bar" at the Mouth of the River in 1827- Rapid Increase of Commerce and Shipping-Navigation by Lake Steamers running to St. Joseph-The Steamer Line from Chicago connecting with Stages at St. Joseph-Decrease of Trade at the Mouth of the River on Completion of the Central Railroad-Rapid Increase of Steam Navigation caused by Development of the Fruit Interest-Ship-Building on the St. Joseph River-Inland Naviga- tion on the St. Joseph-Keel-Boats, " Arks," Pirogues, and River Steamers-The " St. Joseph Navigation Company"-Destruction of the Trade by the Central Railroad-Navigation at New Buffalo -First arrival of a Sailing Vessel there, in 1835-Steamer Line in connection with the Michigan Central Railroad-Shipping Facili- ties at South Haven-Lake Steamers at that Port-Ship-Building at the Mouth of the Black River-Harbor Improvements at St. Joseph, New Buffalo, and South Haven.

THE counties of Berrien and Van Buren, of which Lake Michigan forms the western boundary, have, together, a coast line of about sixty miles in length, beginning at the extreme southwestern corner of the State of Michigan, and extending thence in a general northeasterly direction. On this section of coast line there are situated three lake harbors. Near its southwestern extremity is the harbor of New Buffalo, and equally near its northeastern termination is the port of South Haven, at the mouth of South Black River, in the northwestern corner of Van Buren County. About midway between these two is the port of St. Joseph, at the mouth of the river of the same name, in the county of Berrien.

Of these three harbors St. Joseph is the most impor- tant, as it is also by far the oldest in its use as a port for vessels navigating the lake. More than two hundred years ago it was known as a harbor, and when, in the summer of 1679, the first vessel that ever floated on the upper lakes -the little " Griffin"-left her anchorage in the Niagara River, and, spreading her sails to the breeze for the first time, bore away westward through the bright waters of Erie, she was bound for a haven at the mouth of the " river of the Miamis," which is now known as the St. Joseph. Her commander, La Salle, in planning his expe- dition of discovery to the Mississippi, had decided on this place as his base of operations on Lake Michigan, for he had learned from the men who had previously passed this way with Marquette that here was a practicable entrance from the lake, and that. here his vessel could lie in safety in the old channel of the river (which was then some dis- tance south of the present mouth), securely moored to the land, behind the sheltering sand-hills, while his canoes, floating in still water by her side, could receive their lading, and then glide away up the stream many scores of miles into the interior on his proposed route to the Illinois and the Mississippi.

It is true that the " Griffin" never reached this port of her destination, for the reason that, on touching at an island near the mouth of Green Bay, she found awaiting

her there a large quantity of furs, which it was necessary to have transported east without delay, and, freighted with these, she sailed back, bound for Niagara, but with orders from the commander to deliver the cargo with all prac- ticable dispatch, and then return immediately to meet him at the mouth of the Miamis (St. Joseph); and here, from the high plateau that borders the south bank of the river, he kept long and weary watch for her coming, and built beacon fires at night, and anxiously scanned the dark-blue horizon line of the lake by day, to catch the first glim- mer of her white sails,-a sight that never gladdened his eyes, for she did not return, nor were any tidings of her ever received. When all hope of the "Griffin's" safety was gone, his next plan was to supply her place by a second vessel, to be built at the mouth of the St. Joseph, and for this purpose a saw-pit was prepared, and the timber and planks were sawed out ready for her construction ; but the adverse fortune which constantly attended La Salle pre- vented the execution of his plan, and so this first ship- building project on the St. Joseph came to naught.

It is not certain that, during the period of about one hundred years next following these operations, the St. Joseph River was visited by any vessels other than the bark canoes of the Indians and French voyageurs, though it is very probable that sailing-vessels did come here to bring the garrison and armament of the French fort which was afterwards established here, as well as the merchandise and outfits of the trading-post, which was opened here about the same time. But it is certain that after the military post and the trading-station here fell into the hands of the Eng- lish, in 1761, they were occasionally visited by sailing-ves- sels bringing supplies. William Burnett, who re-established the trading-post about 1785, is known to have employed sloops and schooners in his traffic, receiving by them small cargoes of goods from Detroit and other points, and sending peltries, sugar, and other articles by them on their return. This is proved by the ledger and journal of Mr. Burnett, which have already been mentioned as covering the period from 1792 to 1802. In these books frequent mention is made of_ merchandise received and shipped by different vessels, the principal of which appear to have been the sloop " General Hunter" and the "Iroquois." That the first-named vessel made regular (or at least frequent) trips to the St. Joseph is made apparent by entries found in the books, a few of which are as copied below, viz. :

" May 26th, 1801.

"James May, Esqr. :

"To Invoice of 5 Casks and 8 Mokoks of Sugar shipped on board the Gen'l Hunter, Capt. Rough, master, as follows :

"No. 1. 1 Cask of Sugar. .wt. 297

2. 1 do.

266

3. 1 do. 268

4. 1 do.

243

5. 1 do.

282

I.M. 1 Mokok

1 do.

gross wt.

1650

1 do.

1695 wt. Sugar."

HISTORY OF BERRIEN AND VAN BUREN COUNTIES, MICHIGAN.

"June 3d, 1801.

" Invoice of 15 Packs consigned to David Mitchell at McKenac [Mackinac] by the sloop Hunter, Capt. Rough, Master, contained, numbered and marked as per margin, viz. :

"W.B. No. 1. 1 Pack mixed cont'g Rats

400 196

Skins.

covering.

No. 2. 1 ditto ditto

Raccoons 60

Otters

Fishers

Skins.

Martens

Cubs

Covering ..

No. 3 x 12 10 packs Deer Skins Containing 50 each 13 x 15 3 " Raccoons 120

covering 6 skins.

2 oil-cloths to be returned."

Same date :

" Invoice of Sundries Packs consigned to Messrs. John McGregor & Co., merchants, Detroit, in the Sloop G. Hunter, Capt. Rough, numbered & marked as per margin, and containing as follows :

I.M. No. 1. 1 Pack of Otter containing 100 and 2 skins.

2. 1 ditto Beaver 91 " 2 skins.

3 x 5 3 packs Rats " 500 } skins.

"61

covering 6

Cats 64 ) Foxes 60 . skins. covering 2

7 x 14 8 Packs Bucks containing 30 each.

15 x 21 7 ditto Does « ".

22 x 20 29 “ Raccoons 120 ) skins.

covering 58 )

51 x 52 2 Rats 500 } each.

covering 4 [ skins."

"Nov. 21st, 1801.

"J. May, Esq. :

7 Packs of Skins 60 each. 420 x 21 skins.

163 Raccoons x 4 skins in

1 Pack.

" The above shipped on board the Sloop Gen'l Hunter, Capt. Rough, master."

"July 14, 1802.

" James May, Esq. :

"To 4 barrels of Sugar per the Sloop Hunter, Capt. Rough. Wt. as per bill."

As there are none of Burnett's books known to be in existence of later date than those from which these items are taken, of course no memoranda have been found of his vessels and shipments after 1802; but there is no reason to doubt that the sloops and schooners continued to enter the mouth of the St. Joseph River, receiving furs, sugar, and other merchandise, and bringing goods to the trading- post, during the period of more than twenty years that it existed after the time mentioned.

While the Carey Mission was in existence near Niles, from 1822 to about 1830, the people in charge of it fre- quently received supplies and material from sailing-ves- sels which came to the mouth of the river. In the Rev. Isaac McCoy's narrative of the operations of this mission (pp. 214-214), he says, " Upon the failure of the vessel in the preceding spring to bring us supplies by way of the lake, as we had contracted, we took measures to have sup- plies brought to us by another vessel. This latter, car- rying four or five hundred dollars' worth of property for us, anchored at the mouth of St. Joseph's River on the 17th of October [1823], and the captain came on shore. About this time the wind became so severe that their cable parted, and the schooner was driven out to sea. About midnight the captain, who was at an Indian house a mile from the lake, was informed that the vessel had again come in sight. He hastened off, directing the men who were

waiting to receive our property to be on the shore early in the morning. Unfortunately, they were able to land only seven barrels of flour, one barrel of salt, and two or three other small articles ; the remainder of our property was carried back to Detroit, greatly to our loss and to our serious inconvenience in other respects." Again (p. 222), he says, " We embarked on Lake Erie at Buffalo, on the 25th of May [1824], in the schooner ' Neptune,' Captain Johnson. On the night of the 28th we had a thunder- storm and a pretty severe gale, in which our danger was greater than at the moment we apprehended. The ves- sel was old, and too much decayed to be seaworthy,- a circumstance which we did not fully understand until afterwards. . . . At Detroit we put on board iron, steel, etc., for our public smitheries. Mr. Simerwell continued on board the vessel and ascended to the mouth of St. Joseph's River, while I hired a horse and rode home through the wilderness." In June, 1825, a schooner ar- rived at the mouth of the river with supplies for the mis- sion, " forwarded by benevolent persons in different parts of the United States ;" and in 1826, Mr. McCoy says that " Mr. Lykins, with a hired Frenchman, left Carey on the 20th of October for the purpose of getting supplies to Thomas [another missionary station on the Grand River]. At the mouth of St. Joseph's River he put his property and a large pirogue on board a schooner, and had them conveyed on Lake Michigan to the mouth of Grand River. The schooner anchored a mile from the shore; the pirogue was lowered into the water, and, being loaded, was towed ashore by the long-boat, while the waves ran so high as to threaten to turn all into the lake." There are other entries of the same kind in the journal of the mission, all showing that there were occasional arrivals and departures of vessels at the mouth of this river, in each year, down to the time when the establishment of permanent white settlements cre- ated a demand for more frequent and extensive navigation.

The first entrance of a vessel into the harbor of St. Joseph, mentioned in oral accounts given by the oldest residents now living, was that of the schooner "Savage," in the fall of 1827. This vessel, under command of Captain Hinckley, and loaded with supplies for the garrison of Fort Dearborn (Chicago), being driven off her course by stress of weather, ran for safety into this harbor, though in enter- ing it her captain was compelled to "jump" her over the bar. The place was then entirely uninhabited, but Captain Hinckley, seeing no safe alternative, built a sort of hut in the shelter of the sand-bank, and passed the winter here. The knowledge which he gained of the place during his cheerless stay appears to have been turned to good account ; for, believing that the harbor would in time cause the build- ing of a town upon it, he afterwards purchased land here, and became one of the proprietors of the village of St. Joseph.

It was but a short time after settlements commenced along the lower part of the St. Joseph River that the mouth of this stream began to receive frequent visits from sailing-vessels of a small class, principally schooners, and this trade grew constantly greater, of course, with the in- crease of population in the village and the valley above it. The vessels arriving here from Detroit, Buffalo, and other points below, usually called first at Chicago, and, after un-

Minks.

NAVIGATION.

loading the freight belonging there, crossed the lake to de- liver the part of their cargo destined for the mouth of the St. Joseph.

The harbor was not at that time as easy of access as it is now. The river then entered the lake at a point consider- ably south of the present mouth, and it was made difficult of approach by a long sand-spit which made out into the lake. The bar extending along its front was covered by about six feet of water, and during the prevalence of strong westerly winds it was often exceedingly difficult to enter. It was a common practice for vessels to anchor outside and have a part of their cargoes lightered, so that they could enter, and some delivered their entire cargoes by lighters. Navigators who came here without any previous knowledge of the location, and attempted to make the entrance in heavy weather, found it not only a difficult but a dangerous undertaking, as is shown by the numerous disasters which occurred here.

When the valley of the St. Joseph and the fertile coun- try contiguous to it became settled and cultivated, and the surplus product of all that region began to be transported down the river highway, on keel-boats and a variety of other craft, to the mouth of the river, then, and for years after- wards, there might always be seen in the harbor of St. Jo- seph, during the season of navigation, the clustering masts of the numerous vessels which came here to deliver their cargoes of such goods as were required in the region of the upper river, and to load with the flour, wheat, and other produce brought down by the river craft for shipment to Buffalo. This shipping business continued here until the completion of the railroads caused the river to be abandoned for purposes of transportation. With the entire cessation of this traffic the prosperous forwarding houses of St. Jo- seph closed their business, and the arrivals of sailing-vessels became infrequent, though they have never entirely ceased.

Steam navigation at this point may be said to have com- menced in the year 1831, in which year the mouth of the river was visited by the steamer " Pioneer." The cause of her visit is not clearly explained, for it does not appear that she made regular trips here afterwards. At the time when the " Davy Crockett" was brought here (as will be mentioned hereafter) for the purpose of running on the river, she was convoyed by the " Pioneer," which latter vessel grounded on the bar at the mouth of the St. Joseph, and, being caught in that position by a gale which suddenly arose, became a total wreck and went to pieces. This was in July, 1834. The " Pioneer" was built at Erie, Pa., and on her first and last trip to this place was under command of Capt. John F. Wight, who was well known on the lake and on the St. Joseph as " Bully Wight." Material taken from the wreck of the " Pioneer" was used by Capt. Curtis Boughton to build the schooner " Drift," which he ran hence to Chicago for several years.

The steamer " William Penn" came to the mouth of the river as early as 1832, and it is said that she transported a detachment of regulars hence to Chicago during the " Black Hawk war" excitement of that year. The "Penn" was then under command of Capt. Wight, who had previously commanded the " Pioneer." He purchased the latter vessel

in 1833, and was, as before stated, in command of her when she was wrecked at St. Joseph, in 1834.

The side-wheel steamer "Chicago," owned by John Griffith & Co. and Capt. John F. Wight, was built on the St. Joseph River, near the mouth of Hickory Creek, in 1834-35, and in the last-named year was put on the route between St. Joseph and Chicago. She was one of the earliest steamers (if not the first one) which made regular trips between the two places. She continued to run on this route until she was sunk in " the bayou" at St. Joseph, near Wells' basket-factory. After lying there some two or three years she was raised, refitted, and taken to Lake Erie, where, after running a few years, she was finally wrecked and lost.

The steamer "G. W. Dole" was put on the route be- tween Chicago and the St. Joseph River in 1838. She made three round trips per week, connecting with the eastern stage lines, which had their termini at St. Joseph. Not long afterwards the " Huron" was placed on the line by Capt. E. B. Ward, and ran during the seasons of 1842 and 1843. Next came the " Champion," which ran on the line for several years, owned and commanded by Capt. E. B. Ward. These boats, like the " Dole," ran for passengers, of whom there were frequently twelve or fifteen stage loads in St. Joseph at one time awaiting transportation across the lake. Travelers by this route made the journey from Detroit to Chicago in thirty-six hours.

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History of Berrien and Van Buren counties, Michigan. With biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 9

Author: D.W. Ensign & Co. pub; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Johnson, Crisfield Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, D. W. Ensign & Co. Number of Pages: 821

Author: D.W. Ensign & Co. pub; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Johnson, Crisfield
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, D. W. Ensign & Co.
Number of Pages: 821