History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 22

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761

USA > Michigan > Kalamazoo County > History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan > Part 22

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).

* This statement is not well authenticated. Parkman says nothing of it.

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

behind, hitched with a rope to the wagon, was 'old crumple-horn,' while various other cattle, of diverse and sundry ages and sizes, were driven by some of the older boys, who were attended by 'old Bose.' Any number of these wagons, thus loaded, with or without their retinue, as described above, could be seen dragging their slow lengths along the streets of Detroit at almost any time of the day, leaving the city on the various roads that diverged into the country. They soon got into the woods, and the road grew less and less a traveled road till, in many cases, the emigrants were even left in the trackless forest to make their own road over hill and down dale, by marsh and around swamps, fording streams and struggling over impassable places, thus threading their way onward to the point of their destination in the interior or western part of the State. These were emigrant-trains with outfits to establish homes in Michigan.

"The red men were the original surveyors of the route between De- troit and Chicago. They did not cut down trees, grade it, build cul- verts, or 'cattle-guards,' or bridges, but following nature's grading, they meandered out their trail, put on their ' rolling-stock,' and shout- ing ' mar-chee !' started westward for Chicago. Mr. 'Lo, the poor In- dian,' had ' the right of eminent domain,' and understood the lay of the land and the flow of the water across the lower peninsula. Often in Detroit his 'pony express,' with passenger and freight accommo- dation attached, could be seen starting out on the accustomed trail, whistling ' down breaks,' and 'switching off' at whatever station or locality they chose, and they halted or bivouacked wherever they wished or could find a leafy covert, near some lake or stream. Gen. Lewis Cass-probably the first white man-went by 'pony express' from Detroit to Chicago on this trail, through the unbroken wilder- ness, ere a settler's cabin was reared in the lower peninsula. Then followed the pioneer, who pushed out with his fortunes on this trail, until he got to the diverging point, and then struck out north or south, as the case might be, following the blazed trees to his lands. And there he pitched his tent and went to work alone in the wilderness to erect a home. He had his rifle, axe, and plow, energy and courage, and a plucky wife to aid him. He had brought with hin a meagre outfit of household goods, perhaps, but his money was all gone. With these small means the work began. This was an embryo settle- ment, and meant not only a log house in the woods, but a clearing,- it meant school-houses and churches, machine-shops and stores, town- ship and county organizations, villages and cities; it meant to repro- duce Eastern life in this wooded territory, it meant what Michigan is to-day, a great and glorious State.

"We found on leaving Detroit, in 1836, a wagon-track, which for the first thirty-six miles wound through the heavy timbered lands of Wayne County. It seemed to us the worst road that mortal ever traveled over. Some idea may be had of its condition from the phrases and stories then in vogue about it. It was called ' a hard road to travel,' 'one continuous mud-hole,' 'a road without any bottom.' Thus the very hyperbole of extravagance was used in talking about it. The emigrant was supposed to stop two nights at a tavern, the night he reached it, and the first night after he left it, as he could not get far enough away from it. And the same wonderful stories were told about the taverns being so crowded that the landlord would stow away at night all the beds would hold, and then wait till they were asleep, when he would take them from the bed and stand them up in the corners, and so on until all were put to sleep. The great trouble with this method was, personal identity in the morning. People gen- erally expect to find themselves, when they awake from sleep, very near where the drowsy god shed his poppies over them. But that was their matter, not ours."

"STARTING LIFE ANEW IN THE WOODS.

" The new home was so entirely secluded in the woods, that we felt, on entering it, like going into hermitage. We had lost a home,-the old one in New York,-and here we realized its full value; for we felt homeless as we went into this rude cabin. Nothing but ourselves and the little household furniture we had brought to remind us of the old home. If, as before stated, we missed some of our favorite birds in the woods about us, we, on the other hand within-doors, were not troubled with the house-fly, the mischievous mouse, or the gnawing rat. It was a long time before either of them made their appearance among us. After we had been here a year without having seen a person or living thing that we had once known in New York, my mother, one day, on opening a book, found a house-fly, which had been caught and preserved between the leaves. She exclaimed,

'Here is a fly from York State! Now, children, don't touch it ; let it remain here in this book just as it is, for it is a fly that once lived in our old home.' We had been here five years before we saw a person whom we had ever known before. Mr. Wood, then living at Battle Creek, came to see us. He had only known of our family in New York, but here he seemed an old-time friend.

"Out-of-doors was beautiful, wild Michigan. Our cattle had a boundless range to feed and roam over in the oak-openings, which were not like the woods of New York, 'all a tangle with cut briers and under- brush,' but clean and trim, no fences, roads, or even a track, save the deer-paths and Indian trails that meandered through them. From the door of our log house we could often see long files of Indians, afoot and on ponies, wending their way along on these trails that were in places worn down to the depth of two feet. There always appeared to us to be some strange, romantic history connected with the lives of these wandering children of the forest. The deer also could be seen feeding at leisure, or trooping by the door in droves. And occasion- ally, in the stilly night, from some leafy covert, we would hear the lone howl of the wolf. The bear went foraging through the corn-fields, or snuffing round the betterments for a pig, while the fox paid his nightly devoirs to our hen-roost. The weather remained remarkably fine during the fall. Such Indian summer days used once in a while to visit us in New York, but here they seemed to be 'to the manor born,' and we had them by the week-full.

" Being established in the new home, we began to cast about us for means of subsistence. As was most usual, when the pioneer reached his lands here and erected his cabin, his money was all gone. We were left to our own resource,-labor. This was all the capital we had. My brothers had cut hay for the cattle from the marsh near by. But we must have winter stores for the family and corn for the cattle, the pigs, and hens. The two latter yet to be procured and paid for some- how or other. The settlement on Goguac was about five years old. This was our Egypt for wheat, corn, potatoes, and other necessary supplies. There we found a chance to husk corn and dig potatoes on shares, and by dint of various kinds of labor we secured some wheat and pork. Many things were not to be had for money or labor. Here the rich and poor were on a level.

"Wheat and corn suggested a grist-mill. The nearest one was at Comstock, on the west, or Marshall, on the east. Some seventeen miles to either of them.

"There was a primitive grist-mill one-quarter of a mile from our home, in a small Indian hamlet on the banks of a rush-bordered lake. On several occasions we had noticed the squaws grinding corn at this mill. It was constructed in this manner : a long pole or sapling was pinned to a tree like a well-sweep, the lower part of which was pestle- shaped; the top of the stump was hollowed out to hold the corn. The sweep was then worked up and down by one of the squaws, while another steadied and directed the pestle, which, as it came down, mashed the corn in this crude mortar. We concluded not to take our grist to this mill, and as the Battle Creek mill was not running, we went to the one at Marshall. This, with an ox-team, was a two- or three-days' trip. As wheat was scarce and corn more plenty, many settlers were compelled to live on 'Johnny-cake.'

"' How are you getting along, Mr. Olds ?' said my mother to our neighbor, as he called at our house. 'Oh, we ain't getting along, we are only staying ; it's mighty hard living on Johnny-cake. I shall thank God if we ever live to see the day when we can have wheat- bread in our family the year round. I don't know as we ever shall ; it will be a sort of millennium with us when wheat-bread takes its place on our table once more.' Neighbor Olds has lived to see that day, and Michigan to be one of the greatest wheat-growing States in the Union.

" As there was no wheat raised the first year, this was the discour- aging time with the settler. Corn was sooner raised, and hence Johnny-cake for awhile was the staff of life. Pork was scarce, from the fact that hogs were scarce. The breeds then in vogue were the 'wind-splitters,' the ' blue-racers,' and the third or fourth 'raw- rooters.' Everything of the cattle kind was used,-the cow for milk and butter, and the ox for labor. A cow or stout heifer was sometimes worked by the side of an ox.

"In the spring of 1837 provision of every kind was very scarce and dear. Wheat was over two dollars per bushel, corn and oats very high where they could be bought at all, potatoes were ten shillings per bushel, and it was necessary to go to Prairie Ronde, a round trip of some sixty miles, to get them at that price. We gave thirteen

OCCUPATION BY THE WHITES.

dollars to Frank Thomas, of Goguac, for a shoat of the wind-splitter breed, weighing probably sixty pounds, dressed. It was so lean it would not fry itself. We had to boil it in half a dozen waters, and then it would not pass as ' legal tender' with any one who knew what pork was. We would occasionally kill a deer, and thien venison would supply our tables with meat.

" My father had brought five hundred pounds of codfish from New York. This was exchanged for pork with our neighbors. This ex- changing of one thing for another was called paying in 'dicker.' This ' dicker' was all the money we had in circulation, and was of denominations so various that we cannot name them here. Each settler was a banker, and all his movable property-large and small -was his bank stock. He paid for an ox-yoke by giving for it its equivalent in so many pounds of pork. This was the first original start or trade, giving the products of one kind of labor for those of another. 'Dicker' was all the money the settlers had until paper money or specie found its way into the settlement.

" The pioneer did not take the poet's advice, ' neither a borrower nor a lender be.' During the first decade of his life here he 'spelled his way along' with the axe and the plow. Borrowing sometimes was the very means to help him out of difficulty and set his enterprise agoing again. Everybody borrowed and everybody lent, and by it business was kept prosperous and suffering often avoided. If the thing needed could not be borrowed or paid for in ' dicker,' necessity then took the settler into pupilage and taught him how to make what he wanted, from an axe-helve or plow to a house and barn. All under- going common hardships made equals and friends of all.

"For developing neighborly traits, for leveling distinctions, and for carrying out the letter and spirit of the Scriptural rule, 'do as you would wish to be done by,' the settling of a new country is unsur- passed. It was here that a man went for what he was worth, not for his station or his wealth; whether American, Scotch, Irish, or what not, the man was taken into account, not the mantle.

" If a settler went to mill he lent of his grist to every one who wished to borrow at the log cabins he passed on his way home. Sometimes, on reaching his house, of a large grist he would have but little left.

" A shed, constructed of logs, covered with marsh hay, answered for shed and barn. The first crop of wheat, cut with the old hand-cradle, was bound, drawn, and stacked near the shed. Near the stack a spot of earth was cleared and made smooth and hard for a thrashing-floor. On this floor the wheat was thrashed, and with the old flail. It was then cleaned of chaff by the old hand-fan. In process of time, Dickey, of Marshall, made fanning-mills, and the thrashing-machine made its appearance. Then much labor was saved by its use. During the winter and spring, when fodder became scarce, trees were cut down and cattle were driven to the tree-tops to browse on the buds and tender part of the limbs. By this means, and sometimes only by this, the cattle were carried through the winter and early spring.

" In a little sunny glade, hard by a stream that ran through the farm, was an Indian corn-field. The corn-hills, with the stubble yet stand- ing in them, marked the spot where the previous year Mr. 'Lo' had been engaged in corn-planting. The little mounds of earth showed where they had buried their corn. Their favorite camping-ground was on the banks of the little lake above mentioned. This lake was made by the beavers. The dam, of their construction, was at its foot. But the Indians, years gone by, had captured all the beavers and sold their skins to the French fur-traders. The beavers had been succeeded by those other builders, the musk-rats, who in turn took possession of this lake, and, erecting their houses, increased in numbers and flourished for many years.

" The Indians, getting their whisky at Angell's distilleries, would come to their wigwams, here by the lake, and have their pow-wows. We could hear them yell and whoop and see them dance and go through with their wild and grotesque antics. They would also en- gage in sports of the turf. Mounting their ponies, they would ride with whip and yell and wild halloo, and exult in genuine Indian style over the pony that came out ahead. We remember no depreda- tions they committed. A cold morning in winter one came to our house. He was tall and savage-looking, with painted face, toma- hawk and scalping-knife in his belt, and gun in his hand. He 'boo- shooed' himself into the house, and began, in deep, guttural utter- ances and fierce gesticulating, to yell about 'Cho-mo-ko-man's'- pointing to the northwest-getting the deer he had shot. The Indian had shot a deer, and a settler finding it ere the Indian came up, took

it home. The red man tracked the settler to his cabin, where, in the loft overhead, he found his deer secreted and claimed it. The settler, unheeding his claim, turned him out of doors. This act, and the in- justice of taking his deer, made the Indian mad. For a time we all feared there would be a tragical end to this affair. But nothing more was heard of it.

"At another time a squaw came to the house, and seeing a small jug in the corner, eagerly took it up, and cried out, 'Whiskee!' My mother told her it was vinegar ; she, shaking the jug, retorted : ' You lie,-whis-kee !' The broomstick would have hit the squaw's head if she had not dodged and ran out of doors.

"My brother was splitting rails alone in the woods, one day, when an Indian, coming up behind him, saluted him with a boo-shoo so un- expectedly that he turned around to strike with his beetle some animal, he supposed, when he was confronted by a tall Pottawattomie ; and the next thing he said was 'Som-mock-me -- sam-mock !' meaning tobacco. Giving him the only plug of tobacco he had, the Indian took it, bit off a piece, and putting the rest in his pocket, walked away. 'That was cool,' thought my brother, 'and I five miles from another plug of tobacco.'

""Tis said one of the old fur traders was accustomed to weigh the furs he bought of his Indian customers in the following manner. Putting the furs on one side of the scales he would say, little finger weigh so much ; two fingers, so much ; one hand, so much ; two hands so much, and so on, bearing down on the scale with one finger or two or with the hand, as the case might be.

"During the winter of 1836 my brothers went to an evening party on Goguac Prairie. About midway through the woods they met a large bear directly in their path. Seeing that he was not disposed to get out of their way, they advanced towards him swinging their hats and yelling at the top of their voices. He grumblingly moved aside, and they passed on, well satisfied to get on so easily."

"SOME OF THE SOCIAL AMUSEMENTS AMONG THE EARLY SETTLERS.

"There were no members of our settlement-we mean the one on Goguac Prairie and the surrounding region-who felt too indifferent or too dignified to attend the social parties that were held in the set- tlers' log cabins. But what were these parties, you ask ? I will tell you. In the first place, there was the quilting frolic, the girls attend- ing in the afternoon, the boys coming in the evening. Then there was the frolic without the quilting, which girls and boys attended in the evening. Both of these parties usually commenced by playing ' snap and catch 'em,' or,

"'Come Philander, let's be marching, Every one his true love searching,'

with other plays following, the programme being varied to suit the company. They were often called 'bussing bees,' because the kiss was sure to steal in during the various acts of the play, and each play was certain to end with a kiss. The music in these parties was all vocal, consisting of marches, songs, and catches,-sometimes impro- vised for the occasion. Then there was the frolic that began with the play and ended with the fiddle's

Putting life and mettle in their heels.

All in the house were usually participants in these amusements. Sometimes the old folks, or perhaps the antiquated maiden aunt, would be ' snapped up,' or judged to kiss or be kissed by some young man or lady, as the case might be. 'Snap them up,' meant the snap- ping of the fingers, by a frolicker, at some one of the company, and was a challenge for the person to chase and catch them. This brought out the swift-footed Mercuries and Atalantas to the arena, one of whom chased the other around a group standing in the centre of the room. This often resulted in a well-contested race, which was varied by all manner of subterfuge and art, in dodging and eluding the pursuer. The young lady, whether the capturer or captured, was always kissed. Sometimes an old settler 'snapped up' his wife, and then we would have a race of an amusing character.

" We said that all participated in these recreations. Those who lived in the village of Battle Creek knew but little of these frolics, unless they chanced to be at a settler's house on one of these occa- sions. There were also families who had no children, or none old enough to go in young company, and there were some who did not object to the plays, but did not like the dancing. They liked Paganini, but not with his fiddle. We remember instances where the company

HISTORY OF KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MICHIGAN.

have waited until the parents had retired for the night, and then the fiddler, who had been ' smuggled in' with his ' Cremona,' opened his little box and took out his instrument. A few passes of the bow across the strings called out couple after couple of the party to the floor, each one bowing gracefully to the other, as they took their positions in two opposite lines across the room. The man with the bow in the meanwhile-

" Feels his fiddle's slender neck, Picks out the notes with thumb and check, And times the tune with nod and beck, And thinks it a weary while. ' All ready "' How he gives the call ; Cries, ' Honor to the ladies all !' The jolly tides of laughter fall And ebb in happy smile.

"'Begin.' Down goes the bow on every string : 'First couple join right hands and swing !' As light as any blue-bird's wing, 'Swing once and a half times round.' Whirls Mary Martin all in blue- Calico gown and stockings new, And tinted eyes that tell you true, Dance all to the dancing sound.

"She flits about big Moses Brown,

Who holds her hands to keep her down, And thinks her hair a golden crown, And his heart turns over once ! His cheek with Mary's breath is wet, It gives a second somerset, He means to win the maiden yet ; Alas ! for the awkward dunce.

"Now the first pair dance apart ; Then ' Forward, six !' advance, retreat. Like midges gay in sunbeam street, "Tis Monnie Musk in busy feet, And the Monnie Musk by heart.

"' Three-quarters round your partners swing.' 'Across the set.' The rafters ring, And boys and girls have taken wing, And have brought their roses out ! 'Tis ' Forward, six !' with rustic grace, Ah, rarer far than 'Swing to place !' Than golden clouds of old point-lace, They bring the dance about.

" Then clasping hands all-' Right and left !' All swiftly weave the measure deft Across the woof in loving weft, And the Monnie Musk is done ! Oh, dancers of the rustling busk, Good-night, sweethearts, it is growing dusk ; Good-night for aye to Monnie Musk, For the heavy march begun !

"The ox-team, which was dignified with the name of 'horned horses,' carried the merry loads through the woods to the home of the settler who gave the party.

"We can recollect instances where a prayer-meeting was held in a settler's log house one evening, and the next evening a party. The same ones who composed the choir and sang ' Old Hundred,' ' Mear,' or,

"' Awake, my soul, to joyful lays,'

at the prayer-meeting, led the next night at the party in "'Come, Philander, let's be marching.'

" Looking back upon these scenes from to-day's stand-point, we might feel inclined to be censorious, and call them frivolous, silly re- creations, if not morally wrong. Well, it does look like nonsense now. Distance don't lend any enchantment to them. But we can look back upon the past and find a good many things done forty years ago that appear like nonsense to us now, which were not so to the people of that day. These were harmless recreations. After the cus- tomary conversation and chit-chat were over, the programme for an evening party sometimes began in this way : a young man would arise and ask a young lady to take his arm, when they commenced marching about the room ; another couple and another followed, till all were promenading two and two about the floor, singing,-

" ' We're all a-marching to Quebec, The drums are loudly beating ; The Americans have gained the day And the British are retreating .

The wars are o'er, and we'll turn back To the place from whence we started; So open the ring and choose a couple in To relieve the broken-hearted.'

" Round and round the floor they went, until they came to

"' Open the ring and choose a couple in ;'

they then took hold of each others' hands, fell back and formed a circle around the room, when some one was deputed to go into the ring and choose a partner from among those in the circle, at which all chimed in,-

"'Green grow the rushes, O, Kiss her quick and let her go ; But don't you muss her ruffle, O !'

" When the marching was over, and the company felt inclined to change the play, they would take hold of hands and form a circle about the room. Some young lady would then be requested to step into the middle of the ring, when the company would sing,-

""" There's a rose in the garden For you, young man (repeat). Now pluck up courage and Pick it if you can.'.

She selects a partner, who walks into the ring with her, and all sing,-

"'Green grow the rushes, O, Kiss her quick and let her go,' etc.

He obeys, and she goes out of the ring, leaving him in alone. Then, perhaps, they would sing,-

"'There he stands, that great big booby, Who he is I do not know ; Who will take him for his beauty ? Let her answer, yes or no.'

He then selects a young lady from the circle ; they chant

"'Green grow the rushes, O;'

he kisses her and goes out. Thus the play goes on until all the girls are kissed out of the ring.

"At another time they would march two by two around the room, forming a double circle, some young man standing in the centre of the floor while they promenaded about him and sang,-

"' The miller he lived close by the mill, And his wheel went round without his will ; With one hand on the hopper and the other in the bag, As the wheel goes round he cries out, grab.'

At the word ' grab' the young man inside the ring seized hold of a young lady's arm, while her partner caught the arm of the young lady ahead of him, and her partner caught hold of the one still ahead of him, and thus they changed or stole each others' girls while hur- riedly marching about the room, making a very lively and amusing confusion. When the change was made all round, perhaps two or three times over, there was still one odd one left, who went into the ring, and the play began again, and was repeated as often as they de- sired. When the company wished something still livelier, 'hurly- burly' never failed to awaken and amuse the dullest. This was a play in which two went around and gave each one, secretly, something to do. For instance, this girl was to pull some young man's hair, another was to pull his nose or tweak his ear, another one to kiss some one; and such a young man was to measure off so many yards of tape, or to make a 'double-and-twisted lordy-massy' with some young latly, and so on to the end of the chapter. When all had been told what to do, the master of ceremonies cried out, ' Hurly- burly !' Each one then sprang to their feet and hastened to do as they had been instructed. This created a scene of mixed, contradictory, and amusing character, and was most properly named hurly-burly.

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History of Kalamazoo county, Michigan, Part 22

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott Number of Pages: 761

Author: Durant, Samuel W. comp
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia. Everts & Abbott
Number of Pages: 761