History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 22

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952

USA > Michigan > Macomb County > History of Macomb County, Michigan > Part 22

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The old orchard, where the savages secured their horses, may still be seen at Frederick, and the gnarled and ancient trees yet stand, bearing the marks of the gnawing teeth of those wild ponies, which browsed there, while their wilder mas- ters were indulging in rapine and murder.

In 1817, Elisha Harrington returned to the home from which he was forced to flee, only to find it in possession of a dozen of Canadians. On stating his case those men moved to the present site of Utica village, where they settled.

INDIANS ON THE TRAIL OF AN AMERICAN.

The spirit breathed into the Indians of the Wyandot district by their British masters, from 1774 to the period when the British troops were driven from this land, was pregnant with danger to the American frontiersman, and even more so to him who happened to dwell within the lines of those who essayed to enslave us. This spirit is portrayed in one of the stories of the past, related by Edgar Weeks, and founded on facts elicited by him from the best authorities. It appears that one of the settlers, located east of the present city of Mt. Clemens, supposed to be a member of the Tuckar family, had offended the Indians in that neighborhood, which offense created much disaffection among the Indians, and drew down upon him their hatred. For days and weeks he followed his daily avocations with the full knowledge that the malignant eye of some forest demon watched all his move-

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ments and waited an opportunity to carry out their designs toward him. For this reason he was accustomed to carry his well-kept rifle on his shoulder, always ready for any emergency-always prepared to meet his foe. Notwithstanding the com- mission which the Indians received from the British, to take the scalp of every American who fell into their hands, it is believed a special order was given the chiefs to respect the lives and properties of the Tuckar and Connor families ; the former on account of services rendered by one of them in the Pontiac affair, the other on account of his usefulness as interpreter, politician, and trader. Therefore the Indians not only feared the man himself, but lived in greater dread of the law as propounded at Fort La Pontchairn in this connection. They dared not take the life of Tuckar ; but rather conspired to abduct him to the Sagenong, or great camp of the tribe, retain him in captivity, and expose him to those savage tests-those excesses of inhumanity, which the conquerors of the Sauks inflicted on enemies or imaginary enemies who fell into their hands. With the expulsion of the British, and the rise of the white man to his natural position, the demoniac enemies of Tuckar sunk their passions in their interest, and evinced a most friendly disposition toward this pioneer.

VISIT TO THE INDIAN VILLAGE.

Previous to the departure of the Hurons from Macomb County, it was certainly worth one's while to visit one of their villages. A Frenchman who visited them in 1808 or 1810 described their villages on the Clinton at that time. He says : " I remember one fine afternoon about ten years ago, accompanying an old Indian trader thither. Seated in a light canoe, and each armed with a paddle we started from the mouth of the river for the ostensible purpose of bartering with the Indians for furs, etc. For my part I was perfectly delighted with the idea, as I never had an opportunity hitherto of seeing the Indians at home, at least during the Summer season. The river was sufficiently agitated to cause our tiny boat to rock dreamily, and as we sped onwards the rich wavelets leaped and sported against our canoe's prow and sides, like sportive kittens, ever and anon greeting our faces with a damp paw, that was by no means unpleasant. On, on we sped, now under the shadow of the green woods, now by the fringed, rich border of the clearings, or by the grass- covered marsh. We could see from a bend in the river the Indian village, and hear the wild, joyous shouts of the dusky juveniles as they pursued their uncouth sports and games. As we approached their camp what a busy and exhilarating scene was presented to our view ! I clapped my hands in the exuberance of my spirits, for never before had I witnessed a scene so full of real, unaffected natural happiness as there greeted my senses. My companion did not appear to share in my enthusiasm, owing, doubtless, to the fact that he was accustomed to such scenes. Little Indian boys and girls could be seen prowling around like little

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

Cupids-some wrestling, some shooting with tiny bows and arrows, some paddling their toy canoes, while others sported in the waters of the river like so many am- phibia, each striving to excel the other in the manner and demonstration of its enjoyment.

Superannuated Indians and squaws sat by the tent-doors, looking on with a quiet, demure pleasure, or arranging some toy or trinket for a favorite little toddler, while the more efficient were engaged in various occupations. Oh! how I longed for an artist's skill, that I might sketch the wild and picturesque scene. Here, thought I, is human nature in its free, untrammeled state. Care seemed to be a stranger to those children of Nature ; no thought of sorrow seemed to engross their minds ; and the world, with all its vicissitudes and vexations, was allowed to pass along unnoticed by them. Buoyancy of spirit was a striking feature in their char- acter. As we drew our canoe out upon the beach, the Indians came forward to greet us, and with a hearty shake of the hand, wished us a cordial bon jour. The dusky urchins left their sports to take a full survey of the visitors; which having done, they returned to their games with a yelp and a bound.

Situated upon the greenest and most beautiful portion of the camp ground were a number of white and neat looking tents, which were closed, and isolated from the dingy, smoky tepees of the village. The trader, who seemed a sort of privileged character, was entirely at home; while I, considering myself among strangers, clung to him, and followed him wherever he went, not venturing to throw myself upon my own responsibility. I was therefore pleased when I saw him start toward the white tents, for I was curious to know what they contained. Drawing aside the canvas, he entered without ceremony, I, of course, following after. Seated upon beautiful mats of colored rushes, which served as carpets and divans, were some three or four good-looking squaws, very neatly and even richly attired in the fanciful style of the native, busily engaged in embroidering and orna- menting moccasins, broad-cloth leggings, and blankets with variegated beads and porcupine quills. Everything around evinced the utmost order, neatness and taste. No bustling nichee or dirty urchin was allowed the freedom of those apparently consecrated tents ; but all was quiet and calm within ; and if converse were carried on it was in that calm, soft, musical tone so peculiar to them. So, so, thought I, here we have a sort of aristocracy-a set of exclusives, and a specimen of high life among the natives; yet it was just that kind of high life in many respects, after which their white sisters might take pattern. No idle gossipping or scandal was indulged in ; they quietly plied their needles, and kept their counsels to them- selves. If they had occasion to visit their neighbors' tents it was done quietly and pleasantly, after which business was resumed.

This description of the Indian villages on the Reviere Aux Hurons, or Clinton

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is based upon fact. Though the Wyandot or Huron is now far away from his olden land, his wife, or sister, or mother may look back with pride to their settle- ments by Lake St. Clair, and in charity wish that the new Americans there will be as happy their fathers were.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

The art of hunting not only supplied the Indian with food, but, like that of war, was a means of gratifying his love for distinction. The male children, as soon as they acquired sufficient age and strength, were furnished with a bow and arrow and taught to shoot birds and other small game. Success in killing a large quad- ruped required years of careful study and practice, and the art was as sedulously inculcated in the minds of the rising generation as are the elements of reading, writing and arithmetic in the common schools of civilized communities. The mazes of the forest and the dense, tall grass of the prairies were the best fields for the exercise of the hunter's skill. No feet could be impressed in the yielding soil but that the tracks were the object of the most searching scrutiny, and revealed at a glance the animal that made them, the direction it was pursuing, and the time that had elapsed since it had passed. In a forest country he selected the valleys, because they were most frequently the resort of game. The most easily taken, perhaps, of all the animals of the chase was the deer. It is endowed with a curi- osity which prompts it to stop in its flight and look back at the approaching hunter, who always avails himself of this opportunity to let fly the fatal arrow.

Their general councils were composed of the chiefs and old men. When in council, they usually sat in concentric circles around the speaker, and each indi- vidual, notwithstanding what rankled within, preserved an exterior as immovable as if cast in bronze. Before commencing business a person appeared with the sacred pipe, and another with fire to kindle it. After being lighted it was first presented to heaven, secondly to the earth, thirdly to the presiding spirit, and lastly the several counselors, each of whom took a whiff. These formalities were observed with as close exactness as state etiquette in civilized courts.

The dwellings of the Indians were of the simplest and rudest character. On some pleasant spot by the bank of a river, or near an ever-running spring, they raised their groups of wigwams, constructed of the bark of trees, and easily taken down and removed to another spot. The dwelling places of the chiefs were some- times more spacious, and constructed with greater care, but of the same materials. Skins taken in the chase served them for repose. Though principally dependent upon hunting and fishing, the uncertain supply from those sources led them to cul- tivate small patches of corn. Every family did everything necessary within itself, commerce, or an interchange of articles, being almost unknown to them. In cases of dispute and dissension, each Indian relied upon himself for retaliation. Blood

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HISTORY OF MACOMB COUNTY.

for blood was the rule, and the relatives of the slain man were bound to obtain bloody revenge for his death. This principle gave rise, as a matter of course, to inunmerable bitter feuds, and wars of extermination where such were possible. War, indeed, rather than peace, was the Indian's glory and delight,-war, not con- ducted as civilization, but war where individual skill, endurance, gallantry and cruelty were prime requisites. For such a purpose as revenge the Indian would make great sacrifices, and display a patience and perseverance truly heroic; but when the excitement was over, he sank back into a listless, unoccupied, well-nigh useless savage. During the intervals of his more exciting pursuits, the Indian occupied his time in decorating his person with all the refinement of paint and feathers, and in the manufacture of his arms and of canoes. These were con- structed of bark, and so light that they could easily be carried on the shoulder from stream to stream. His amusements were the war-dance, athletic games, the narra- tion of his exploits, and listening to the oratory of the chiefs ; but during long periods of such a period he remained in a state of torpor, gazing listlessly upon the trees of the forests and the clouds that sailed above them ; and this vacancy im- printed an habitual gravity, and even melancholy, upon his general deportment.

The main labor and drudgery of Indian communities fell upon the women. The planting, tending and gathering of the crops, making mats and baskets, carry- ing burdens-in fact, all things of the kind were performed by them, thus making their condition but little better than that of slaves. Marriage was merely a matter of bargain and sale, the husband giving presents to the father of the bride. In general they had but few children. They were subjected to many and severe attacks of sickness, and at times famine and pestilence swept away whole tribes.

CHAPTER XII.

THE FRENCH PIONEERS.

The Griffin was finished Aug. 4, 1679, and her sails set, a trial trip made, and the name she bore bestowed upon her by Father Hennepin. On the fifth, five small cannon were placed in position. The seventh was the day appointed for entering upon that voyage over the Gitchi Gomee or great inland seas. The morning arrived ; the sun shone forth, as it were, over a sea of gold ; a favor- ing breeze played upon the waters; the cataract of Niagara, six miles below, reduced its roar to music ; while from La Salle's new fortress the song of the Te Deum swelled upon the morning air. The sails were set, Robert De La Salle, commander of the Griffin, Father Louis Hennepin, historian and chaplain, with the

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pilot, and a number of hunters and trappers, were embarked ; the cables, which kept the little vessel fast, were unloosed, and that voyage toward the setting sun entered upon.

Three days after setting out the vessel was anchored out opposite Teuchsagron- die, a Huron village then occupying the site of the present city of Detroit. From this point to the head of the Saint Claire River, many Indian villages were found to exist, all of them unacquainted with the white man, save that small knowledge of him which they might have gained from the Jesuit fathers.

Seven years after the Griffin succeeded in battling with the fierce current which then swept past the present site of Fort Gratiot, M. du Lhut caused the position to be garrisoned and a strongly fortified trading post to be erected. This was com- pleted in the Fall of 1686, and the name of Fort Saint Joseph conferred upon it; but its possession was so opposed to the ideas of French economy, that in July, 1688, the garrison received orders to evacuate the post. and to report at Michili- mackinac.

On July 24, 1701, M. de la Motte Cadillac, Capts. Tonti, Chacornacle and Duquè, in command of fifty regular troops, arrived at Detroit. The expedition was accompanied by a Recollet chaplain and a Jesuit father, who had come as a mis- sionary priest, together with fifty trappers, traders and hunters. Before the close of August, 1701, the first fort erected in Michigan, if we except Du Lhut's fortified trading post at the head of the Saint Claire, and that at the mouth of the Saint Joseph, was a reality. This occupied the ground extending from the Joseph Campau homestead to Shelby, and thence to Woodbridge Street, a point now removed from the river bank, but which at that time would represent the head of the bank itself. The position was called Fort Pontchartrain.

Within a few years, 1703, thirty Hurons from Michilimackinac became settlers at Detroit. Between 1701 and September, 1703, the settlement was further strengthened by bands of Onta wa-Sinagoes, Miamis, Kiskakons and Loups,all flocking to Fort Pontchartrain, to witness the magnificence of La Motte Cadillac and his command. Previous to 1706 the number of enemies made for himself by Cadillac among his own countrymen brought many and serious troubles into the very heart of the French posts at Detroit and at Michilimackinac. During the troubles at Detroit, Rev. Father Constantine and Jean La Riviere were stabbed by the Onta- was, during their circumvallation of the fort, which continued forty days, until they raised the siege.

In 1707, Jean La Blanc, second chief of the Ontawas, with Le Brochet, Meyaouka, Sakima, Kinonge, Meaninan, Menekoumak, and another chief visited the Governor at Montreal, and offered to make restitution ; but this officer ordered them to report to Cadillac. The deputation returned to Detroit Aug. 6, 1707,

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when the Commandant Cadillac addressed the Ontawas, Hurons, Miamis, and Kiskakons in turn ; the Council was in session four days, but at the close the Indians agreed to deliver Le Pesant, the great disturber, into the hands of the French. He was handed over to the garrison, but unfortunately received a full pardon from Cadillac. This created a want of confidence in the French among the Miamis, Hurons, and Iroquois, resulted in the killing of three Frenchmen, and created much disaffection in every Indian village.

In September, 1708, there were only twenty-nine inhabitants of Detroit who were the actual owners of lots and houses within the Stockade. Of the entire number of acres surveyed at that time-353 roods in toto-those twenty-nine free- holders owned only forty-six roods, the Hurons 150 roods, and the Chevalier de Cadillac 157 roods. The entire number of Frenchmen at the post then was sixty- three, of whom thirty-four were traders, who sold brandy, ammunition and trinkets in that and the neighboring Indian towns.

During the war between France and England, which terminated in 1713, trouble after trouble surrounded Detroit. In 1712 Outagamies and Mascoutins laid siege to Fort Pontchartrain, then in charge of M. Du Buisson, with thirty soldiers. The church and other buildings outside the stockade were pulled down, lest the besiegers would set fire to the pile with a view of burning the fort itself. The circumvallation of the post and hourly assaults on it, were kept up for a period of thirty days, when the Indian allies of the French arrived from their hunting expeditions, both Hurons and Miamis, drove the Outagamies and Mascoutins to their entrenchments, and confined them there for nineteen days, until in the darkness of night they withdrew to Presque Isle, twelve miles above Detroit. Thither the Hurons and Miamis pursued them, and forced a capitulation which resulted in the massacre of all the men of both tribes, and the captivity of their wives and chil- dren. The Outagamies and Mascoutins who were not actually killed on the island, were brought to Detroit, where the Hurons continued to destroy four, five and six per day until the last of these warriors who laid siege to the post was no more. The massacre resulted in the death of 800 men, women and children belonging to the besieging tribes at the hands of the Hurons and Miamis.

The decade closing in 1724 was one which tried the souls of the French in- habitants of Detroit. The sale of brandy and other abuses were prohibited and a great moral change effected in the manners, customs, and habits of the white garri- son and settlers. A council of the Hurons, Ottawas, and Pottawatomies was held near the fort June 7, 1721, under Captain Tonti, then commandant. The great Indian Sastarexy of the Huron tribe was the principal speaker, and the results obtained were of a comparatively conciliating character, so much so that by the year 1725, the Outagamie savages acknowledged the French King in precisely the

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same measure as did the other allies of the French. About this period also the log- house, known as St. Anne's Church was built, new barracks erected, about forty- five dwelling-houses brought into existence, and the new stockade with bastions and block-houses raised. The circular road or Chemin du ronde was laid out, and numerous improvements made in the vicinity of the Government House.

In 1746, the old French War may be said to renew itself ; but not until 1749 did the contest with the English soldiers take any regular form :-- A decade later the French power in Canada was destroyed, and iu 1760, all the French possessions, from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, were in the hands of the conquer- ing Normans and Anglo-Saxons. Captain Bellestre, then commandant at Detroit, surrendered to Major Robert Rogers, in October, 1760.

In 1762, the famous Indian Pontiac called a council of the tribes at La Reviere a l'Ecorse, near Detroit, at which Council the Ottawas. Chippewas, and Potta- watomies of Grand, Saginaw, Clinton, Black, and St. Joseph Rivers, were present, together with the Indians of Detroit, and bands of Delawares, Iroquois, Illinois, and Senecas. Minavavana, head chief of the Ojibwas, adopted a plan similar to that of Pontiac, and succeeded in destroying the soldiers of the English garrison at Michilimackinac. Pontiac's strategy failed at Detroit.

DETROIT IN 1763.

The historian Bancroft, referring to Detroit as it appeared to the settlers of 1763, just previous to Pontiac's military enterprise, says :- " Of all the inland settlements, Detroit was the largest and most esteemed. The deep majestic river, more than a half mile broad, carrying its vast flood calmly between its straight and well-defined banks, imparted a grandeur to a country whose rising grounds and meadows, plains festooned with prolific wild-vines, woodlands, brooks, and foun- tains were so mingled together that nothing was left to desire. The climate was mild and the air salubrious. Good land abounded, yielding maize, wheat, and every vegetable. The forests were natural parks stocked with buffalo, deer, quail, partridge, and wild turkey. Water fowl of delicious flavor hovered along its streams, which streams also yielded to the angler a large quantity of fish, particu- larly white fish. There every luxury of the table might be enjoyed at the sole ex- pense of labor.

This cheerful region attracted both the barbarian and the child of civilization the French had so occupied both banks of the river, that their numbers were rated so high as 2,500, of whom 500 were liable to and able for military service-repre- senting 300 or 400 French families. However an enumeration made in 1764 points out just sufficient white men there to form three military companies ; while four years later, the census of the place, places the entire population at 572. The

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French dwelt on farms which were about three or four acres wide on the river front, and eighty acres deep.

The fort, then under Major Gladwyn, did not vary much from that known in the days of French dominion. Close by, Catherine, the Pocahontas of Detroit, lived. She who informed Gladwyn of the intentions of the Indians, she, it was, who related to William Tuckar, one of the soldiers at the fort, the story of Pontiac, and made him acquainted with the designs of that Indian Chieftain, and to her is due, in full measure, the averting of that terrible doom which hung so heavily over the English garrison of Detroit May 6, 1763. The death of Major Campbell at the hands of an Indian, whose uncle had been killed by the English at Michilimackinac, the sixty days' siege, the capture of the English supply convoy within sight of the fort, and the round of duty imposed upon the soldiers are all characteristic of that time. William Tuckar, one of whose descendants has taken a deep interest in the history of Macomb, states :- " I was a sentinel on the ramparts, catching a few hours' sleep, with my clothes on and a gun by my side, for sixty days and nights." Dur- ing the last day of July and the first of August, 1763, Captain Dalzell's force was surprised near Maloche's house, and lost seventy men killed and forty wounded. For some years after this affair, Detroit was free from Indian assaults, treaties of peace were negotiated, and everything resumed that happy standard reached under the French.

Now, however, the echoes of THE REVOLUTION were heard at Detroit ; Major Le Noult, a Frenchman in the English service, built Fort le Noult, in 1778, in anticipation of an American siege, and this name the new fortress bore until 1812, when the name Fort Shelby was conferred on it. Soon the American Generals, St. Clair, Anthony Wayne, Harmar, and the soldiers of the revolution came to claim the Northwest territory as organized by Congress in 1787. The treaty of Green- ville negotiated Angust, 1795, with the Indians, conveyed Detroit and the entire Northwest to the United States, and one year later, Captain Porter, in command of a company of United States troops, entered Detroit, and placed the Stars and Stripes and Fleur de Lis, where the English flag so recently floated. Previously the British garrison evacuated the post, after committing many acts of the lowest description, and placed it in possession of an old African, with whom the keys were subsequently found.

From this period until 1805, the settlement of Detroit and the lake shore gradually advanced, which the fire of 1805 did not retard. In 1806 Tecumseh and Ellshwatawa at the head of the Indian confederacy threatened Detroit and the settlements along the lake and Reviere aux Hurons or Clinton ; but the treaty of 1807 between that enigmatical governor, Hull, and the Ottawas, Chippewas, Potta-

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History of Macomb County, Michigan, Part 22

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co. Number of Pages: 952

Author: Leeson, Michael A., [from old catalog] comp
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, M. A. Leeson & co.
Number of Pages: 952