History of Mason County, Michigan, Part 44

Author: H. R. Page & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 373

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In 1887 Michigan, the "Lake Country," was admitted to the sisterhood of states. Three years prior to that time, her whole population numbered but 87,278 persons. In 1880 the census- found a population of 1,636,937. So this commonwealth has grown; and to-day, looking over its busy cities and strong, young villages; its harbors and its marts of trade; its railroads, its churches and its schools, there is much to justify a feeling of pride over past achievements, and to strengthen faith in the energies of her people to develop and utilize the resources that lie, as yet untouched, in forest, soil and mine.

The historian who faithfully performs the task committed to his charge, will sift carefully the material which he gathers, in con- scientious endeavor to preserve and use only such as bears the marks of genuineness. The page of history, to possess the value that is claimed for it, must contain a recital of facts, instead of a tale of fiction. Its mission is not to while away a listless hour, but to transmit to an ever-coming future the events and experiences of an ever-receding past.

In the preparation of this work, the aim of the historian has been to crowd these pages with facts, rather than to embellish them with figures of rhetoric, or pictures of fancy.

That part of Michigan included within the scope of this work, is an important factor in the prosperity and rank to which the com- monwealth has already attained. It would be scarcely possible to have a rational conception of a more rapid and real transformation than has here been wrought through the agency of human foresight, energy and enterprise. The ear is continually being startled with tales of miraculous development; of cities springing into life and attaining the stature of maturity in a day; of fortunes acquired at a single stroke; but here no mine of wealth was suddenly opened to pour out a flood of treasure, yielding fortunes as if by magic. There was not even the charm of natural scenery to entice, nor rich- ness of soil to induce immigration.

In the early days, when the pioneers, traveling on foot along the sandy beach, or in boats upon the eastern margin of Lake Michigan, had reached a point 175 miles from Chicago, they found a narrow river emptying its waters into the lake. For about a mile the stream

pursued its serpentine course, hedged in upon either side by sand bluffs covered with forests of pine. Beyond, the stream widened into an irregular-shaped lake, stretching away into the forests, and all its shore having a background of pine. About the mouth of the river were sand hills and sand plains all covered with pine. The scene presented was dreary and desolate. But all the pro- ducts of the great Creator minister to some wise purpose, and the fullness of the earth is for the benefit of man, if his genius and energy are applied to its utilization for wise ends. This forest of pine was destined to become a great commercial product. To con- vert it into wealth would employ capital and labor, and of this har- monious and profitable union would come homes and shops, trades- men and artisans, villages and cities.

The vein of ore which the miner's pick uncovers to-day may disappear upon the morrow, and the fortune which he gathered, the home he made, the city he founded in the dreams of the interven- ing night, vanish as a castle in the air, but the pine forest is a reality that furnishes a tangible basis of calculation.

In the natural order of things, there came a time when the manufacturer of lumber, hunting for a favorable location, lodged here, and put into operation his primitive methods and machinery. He selected a site for a water mill upon the river beyond the little lake. This was thirty-one years ago. This region was as remote from civilization as though the continent had never been discovered. Others followed, attracted by the great supply of pine timber, and the favorable location for manufacturing it into lumber. Small clearings were made, and a couple of mills built on the little lake. At the mouth of the river another mill was built, and a village started.

Until 1840 Mackinaw County included all that part of the lower peninsula of Michigan lying north of Mason County, and also a large part of the upper peninsula. The rest of this shore, as far south as Allegan, was Ottawa County.

In 1840 this vast territory was divided up, and laid off into counties, nearly as they now appear upon the map, and then, for the first time, Manistee County had a local habitation and a name, and for judicial purposes was attached to Mackinaw County.

In 1846 it was attached to Ottawa County, and the county offices were at Grand Haven, and there was also the nearest justice of the peace. Matrimony, in those days, was a serious matter, and attended with no little trouble. There was no one nearer than Grand Haven or Milwaukee authorized to speak the magic words so charming to the car, and a trip of ninety miles by canoe, or on foot, was an excursion of considerable magnitude.

In 1851 the county was attached to Oceana, county seat at Middlesex, and in 1853 attached to Grand Traverse, to which it remained attached until the Spring of 1855, when it was organized and raised to the honorable dignity of local sovereignty. Prior to 1855, Manistee, Wexford and Missaukee Counties comprised one township, or rather, they were embraced in the township organiza- tion of Manistee town.

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HISTORY OF MANISTEE COUNTY.

MANISTEE COUNTY ORGANIZED.

Manistee County was erected by act of Legislature in the Win- ter of 1854-'55 and organized in the Spring of 1855. The territory comprised Towns 21, 22, 23 and 24 north, Ranges 17, 16, 15, 14 and 13 west. The county was divided into three townships, Manis- tee, Stronach and Brown; the name of the first being that inher- ited by this region, or rather the river, from the Indians, and the last two after their first settlers.

Manistee County is situated on the east shore of Lake Michigan and is in the very heart of the famous Michigan fruit belt. Its su- perior advantages of location and soil will be treated farther along in the work. The county is at present divided into twelve organ- ized townships, viz .: Arcadia, Cleon, Bear Lake, Brown, Filer, Manistee, Maple Grove, Marilla, Onekamna, Pleasanton, Springdale, Stronach, with a total population in 1880 of 12,525. Total nuni- ber of acres assessed in 1881, 812,024.07, having a total equalized valuation of $1,224,417.

HYDROGRAPHICAL.

A very remarkable feature of Manistee County is its lakes and rivers. The western part of the county has a number of beautiful lakes, which abound in fish, and add greatly to the beauty of the natural scenery.

Manistee County is highly favored in its location. Upon its western side is Lake Michigan, affording a great highway for its mighty commerce. The modifying influences of this great lake have marked effects for good, both upon climate and soil. The ex- tremes of heat and cold are never experienced here, as is explained in another part of this work. One of the most important factors in the prosperity of the county and city is

THE MANISTEE RIVER.

In many respects this is one of the most remarkable rivers in the world. The river has its source in small springs in Otsego and Antrim Counties, and by its course is fully four hundred miles in length. The course of the river is very crooked, and the distance by an air line is less than one half what it is by the channel of the river. It is fed by innumerable springs in its bed and by small streams which flow mostly from the south. The water never rises to a height sufficient to do any damage, and never freezes, except when its flow is obstructed. The current of the river will average from three to four miles an hour. The banks are very high and admirably adapted to logging purposes.

In 1869 an exploration of the river was made under direction of the River Improvement Company, and the following account was written by A. S. Wordsworth who was one of the party:

"After leaving for Winchell, September 13, 1869, I returned with Akan, a trusty Indian guide, and camped on the head waters of the Manistee, as a fearful storm with which we had been threat- ened during the day, burst upon us, the forest roaring as if tempest demons were let loose among the hills. We were soon in snug quarters, and here let me acknowledge my indebtedness to my guide (this is his hunting-ground) for an Indian legend of the Up- per Manistee. In the lull of the tempest we could distinctly hear low, distant moanings, as of a huge colian. In answer to my in- quiry, my guide informed me that it was the sighing of guardian spirits of springs, whose mission it was to purify and sweeten the waters that fish might live in the stream; that some miles below were rivulets from bitter springs, in which no fish could live. These bitter springs were avoided by the Indians in their hunts, as the abode of evil spirits (maji munedo); that water from the springs medicinally qualified by the good spirits, neutralized the bitter waters.

"The moaning, I believe, is the echo of the tempest's roar from distant hills, peculiar to the locality, the changing notes produced by the various distances and configuration of slopes and eminences.

"From this encampment my Indian guide went below to bring up his hunting canoes to the highest point of canoe navigation, while I ranged southwesterly, in pine land, and examined several small lakes. These, like all inland lakes of northern Michigan, are of crystal purity, abounding in fish, and beautiful in their ever- green surroundings.

"September 18th, in two canoes, so light that we could carry them upon our shoulders, we commenced the descent of the Manis- tee, from Section 18. Township 28 north, Range 4 west. The spring sources of this stream are in hardwood timber land, but changing to pine land near the south boundary of Township 29 north; thence for sixty miles on either bank is good pine land, or pine plains, some cork pine, but mostly Norway pine; the white pine free from punk knots, but few black knots, and comparatively free from shakes and hollow butts; prime as to age; first-class, common, to good sound pine; the Manistee decidedly floatable for saw logs from Section 18, Township 28 north, Range 4 west; stream fifty feet wide, well defined binks; extreme freshet rise two feet. From Section 29, Township 27 north, Range 4 west, I ranged east to the north fork Aux Sauble River; good pine land, light soil, elevated 100 feet above Aux Sauble and Manistee Rivers, and I venture 900 as an approximate estimate above the waters of Lakes Michigan and Huron. From the left bank towards Higgins and Houghton Lakes, some good pine, but mostly pine plains, and worth- less timber. Crossing to the right bank of Manistee River, I find an excellent tract of first quality pine, in which Captain E. B. Ward, of Detroit, is largely interested, extending nearly to the forks above Ash-qua-go-na-be-trail, Section 6. Township 25 north, Range 6 west; thence northwesterly beech and maple land extends to Board- man River; no settlements.

"Soon after crossing the western boundary of Range 6 west, we encountered the first flood jam worthy of notice upon the river. This "jam" is twenty rods up and down the stream; estimated expense of removal, $40 per lineal rod, or $800. Near the west boundary of the last-named township, is jam number two; eighteen rods; ex- pense of removal $32 per rod. Through Ranges, 7, 8 and 9 west is a pine tract, near the Manistee, unexcelled in quantity per acre and quality, by any tract of pine uncut, in the state, of like extent; thrifty Norway on the south bank, cork pine on the north bank, 10,000 arces of which are owned by Messrs. Dexter & Noble, of Elk Rapids. At the west boundary of Ringe 7 west, ascended a hill; angle of elevation 45 degrees, 149 feet altitude, and higher land in the background, from whence the view is uninterrupted, over val- leys and eminences, terminated by the blending of the horizon with the line of hill-tops twenty-five miles distant; if not picturesque, it is a truly grand panoramic view of wild woods and waters. At the crossing of the Traverse Bay and Houghton Lake State Road, near the center of Range 8 west, we met the first man since leaving head waters, and fortunately arrived as some laborers at work upon the State Road exhumed from blue clay, four feet below the surface, a pipe of great antiquity, as ancient, perhaps, as the works of the Mound Indians. Though but a small pipe, it may be of interest, and will probably be placed by Prof. Winchell among the archeo- logical relies of the State University at Ann Arbor. At this point we learn that there is a settler three miles distant upon the State Road.

On Section 6, Township 24 north, Range 8, west is jam No. 3, at crossing of the Ah-go-sah trail; twenty rods in extent; $40 per rod will remove it. These jams date back in buried centuries. As evidence, we find deep-worn trails around them, where Indians have

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HISTORY OF MANISTEE COUNTY.

dragged their canoes, and packed their trophies of the chase and war path; also soil accumulations from fallen leaves and freshet of the stream, with forest growth.

Cutting to the heart of a cedar twenty inches in diameter, grow- ing over the center, I counted 160 years' growth. This must have been a respectable sapling when King George the Third claimed it as his own. Near the west boundary of Range 9 west, is jam No. 4, twenty rods, and at the Ah-go-she trail, Section 17, Range 10 west, jam No. 5, twenty-five rods; in Range 11 west, near the center line, jam, No. 6, twenty-five rods; and near the west boundary, jam No. 7, thirty rods. Expense of removing last named jams, $40 per rod. At crossing of west boundary, Range 11, State Road, we found the first house in sight from the river-Bryant's.

In Ranges 9, 10 and 11, west, is a tract of superior pine, White and Norway, of which Cyrus Woodman, of Massachusetts, owns 7,000 acres. Many forty-acre lots in the last-named townships will cut 1,000,000 feet of lumber each. We also find the names of Bradley, Wheeler, Filer, McGinnis, Rust, Risdon, Smith, Ruggles, Leach, and Duffield, as owners. A few rods below the west line of Range 11 west, is jam number 8, twenty rods. $30 will remove it.

We meet, in Range 12 west, with jams No. 9 and 10 respect- ively, of twenty-five and thirty rods extent. We are now in the midst of a thriving settlement, beech and maple land. One settler, near the river, has a sixty-acre clearing, and 800 bushels of wheat for sale. Near the east boundary of Range 13, is jam No. 11, and the last upon the stream. It is thirty rods long, and with the last named jams in Range 12 west, can be removed at $40 per rod. To recapitulate: The eleven flood jams of the Manistee have a lineal extent, by the thread of the river, of 263 rods. Expense of working a channel through them, thirty feet wide; in round numbers, $10,- 000; wing jams and snags, etc., etc., say $5,000; in all, $15,000. The removal of these obstructions will unlock 1,200,000,000 of pine lumber, and if this number is taxed in their removal, it will cost less than 1 cent per 1,000 feet. One mile below the last-named flood jam, commence lumbermen's roll ways; thence down stream they become the noticeable features of the river. The loggers seemed to delight in pitching their sawlogs at us, as we were pass- ing down these steep declivities of over 100 feet, thinking we were Indians. 'Lo, the poor Indian!'

Two miles down the stream, we encountered a jam of floating saw- logs of one and one-half mile extent, over or around which we were compelled to drag or carry our canoes, and pack our camp 'fixens,' and rock, clay, sand, gravel and soil specimens. At the foot we found a force of nine men at work breaking the jam.

We here see the last of the 'Grayling,' a fish allied to the speckled trout, and called by the residents, the 'Manistee' fish. They are in great abundance near head waters; they feed, at this season, upon a small, white miller, and readily take a fly-hook, often darting above the surface to secure their prey. Their average length is ten inches, weighing from six to twelve ounces. Hundreds can be taken with a single hook, in a day. They are the 'Graylings' of English and Scotch waters.

I have not time here to give you a description of the Lower Manistee. Draining an area, including the Upper Manistee, equal to the State of Vermont-the richest state, per capita, in the Union -with double the number of arable acres of that state, with a better soil, and less rigorous climate, with 300 miles, by the meander line, of floatable river, and that a spring brook river, but little affected by drought or frost, with tributaries abounding in water power, with abundance of pine timber; yet two-thirds of its area are beech and maple, of great fertility; and including the fruit-belt, on its lighter soils, near Lake Michigan, it needs not a prophet to predict its

future. Nothing less than a first-class commercial city at its mouth can meet the exigencies of its development."

This river is the great highway that penetrates the vast pine region of Manistee, and down which, day after day, and year after year, move mighty processions of logs, to feed the hungry mills at its mouth. It is without doubt the best logging stream in the world, and all along its circuitous path, reaching far away, it seems to bear mute testimony to the wonderful wisdom of the Creator. Like all streams emptying into Lake Michigan from this shore, the river widens into a lake a short distance back from the shore. This uni- form feature of rivers on this shore is due to the action of the water and wind currents upon the sand. Manistee Lake is nearly five miles long, and about half a mile wide. The water is of great depth, and affords almost unlimited harbor and commercial facilities. The river between the two lakes flows to the west, and is about a mile and a half long, and has a depth of from ten to fourteen feet. A short time ago a writer, speaking of this river, said:

" The Manistee River has been long known as one of the most remarkable streams in the Northwest-in this, that it never floods, seldom freezes, and is never affected by droughts. The secret of these singular features of the river is found in the fact that it is fed with springs which flow into the stream from its banks every few rods, so that it is safe to say there are more than a thousand spring streams that bubble up and empty their pure waters into the river within fifty miles of Manistee. These streams vary in size from a small rill to a good mill stream. Everywhere along the banks of this beautiful river they boil out and bubble up in their crystal beauty, affording water as pure and sweet as any in the world; and this probably accounts for the great abundance of the grayling fish, which is sweeter meated and every Way as gamey as the brook trout."

The Little Manistee River empties into Lake Manistee, and takes its rise in Lake County.

Pine River flows from the south, and joins the Manistee farther north. Both of these rivers penetrate extensive pine regions.

Bear Creek takes its rise north of the county line, and flows through the townships of Springdale, Maple Grove and Brown, and unites with the Manistee.

Bear Lake is a beautiful sheet of water, about two and a half miles long, by one and three-quarers miles wide. It is situated partly in Bear Lake and partly in Pleasanton Townships. It has no outlet, and the water is as clear as crystal. Near the banks the water is shallow, but in some places reaches a depth of twenty-four feet. It abounds with fish, the principal kinds being pickerel and bass.

Portage Lake, in Onekama Township, is one of the prettiest bodies of water in the state. It covers about five square miles, and the water in some places is eighty feet deep. It is connected with Lake Michigan by an artificial channel.

There are other small lakes, and the entire county is threaded and fertilized by small streams, and countless springs are to be found everywhere.

PRE-HISTORIC REMAINS.

The soil of Manistee County is mostly alluvial, and the result of glacier action, with many boulders from rocks of all ages, and even drift-copper and iron is occasionally met with; but no bed rocks crop out, nor are there any caves or cliffs, or any ancient masonry work; and no sculpture slabs or carved images have been found in this region. There are no earthworks, to any great extent, in the county.

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HISTORY OF MANISTEE COUNTY.

Only a few traces of the work of Mound Builders have been found, and this subject has been pretty thoroughly investigated at different times.

Near the west end of Bear Lake were found traces of the Mound Builders, and in the Spring of 1877, the largest of these mounds was opened by A. Bowen and others. This mound was near the west end of the lake. It was twenty feet in diameter, seven feet high, and had a lesser mound attached to it on the east, all well defined. In the trench or ditch from which the dirt had been taken around the larger mound, was a tree about two feet in dia- meter, and other trees were on and around the mound.

The lesser mound was well defined. It was opened and thor- oughly searched, but nothing besides ashes and coal from a wood fire was found.

A shaft was sunk in the large mound, and an opening made from the lesser mound nearly through the large mound, and the whole opened to the bottom. The balance of the bones of two small-sized persons were found in an advanced stage of decompo- sition, and some of them had entirely disappeared. The skulls and larger bones were in a tolerable state of preservation, but, like most mound remains, indicated a low order of intellect, and medium-sized persons. There was nothing beyond the bones found of any note, except the remains of fire. There was a strata of charcoal and ashes very evenly distributed over the mound, about two feet below the surface. The remains were buried on the surface of the ground, with the heads to the east, and the mound raised over them.

One of the skulls was thick and well developed in the region of firmness, destructiveness, etc., indicating a man of much will, vitality and animal power, while the other is totally unlike it in these respects, and was recognized at once as the skull of a woman, making it probable that it was man and wife, well advanced in years, that received the honors of such a mound.

These mounds were unquestionably the work of a race of people who inhabited this continent long prior to the advent of the Indian race; but who they were, whence they came, or the manner of their disappearance, may never be known.

In the Fall of the year shell-mounds were found near Cushman & Calkins mill, in the First Ward of the city of Manistee. These were examined by Hon. S. W. Fowler, who had also examined the mounds at Bear Lake. The shell-mounds, a score or more in number, were laid bare by the drifting sands, and in each of them were found pieces of pre-historic pottery, one piece of which was from a pot or vessel at least two feet deep, and ornamented with a notched edge and various figures. At one point were the remains of two skele- tons, bearing a striking resemblance to those found in the mounds at Bear Lake, in size, general appearance and apparent age. Some stone tools and flint arrow-heads were also found in these mounds.

The shells were larger and heavier than any found in the lake, and the remains of fire indicated that clams and other shell fish were cooked at places where the shells were most numerous.

In June, 1879, Mr. Fowler wrote a letter to the president of the Smithsonian Institute, at Washington, in response to a request, and in that letter said:

"There have been no extensive shell heaps found, except at one place. Near the mouth of the Manistee River, and between that and Lake Manistee, on the north side, pear the little lake, the drifting of the sand has revealed several acres well covered with shell heaps, reduced, by the wear of time, to pieces of the pearl part of the shell.

"There were evidently thousands of bushels of these shells, and several mounds have been opened in that vicinity, with usually a few of the larger bones, as skulls and thigh bones, in each mound. Pieces of pottery and a few flint arrows have been found in the

mounds, and pieces of pottery are abundant among the remains of shell mounds.

"There are several at the west end of Bear Lake, some twenty- five miles up on the north bank of the large Manistee River, and one has been found on the Sable River, twelve miles south of Man- istee Lake. I have assisted in opening several, but have never found anything but the skulls of one or two persons, and badly decayed bones, in any, except near two shell piles, and there were pieces of pottery, etc. One at Bear Lake contained only the decayed bones of a small man and woman. I have now in my possession the skulls taken from this mound, and some other bones and skulls from different mounds. So far as I can judge, the Mound Builders were under size and a very low order of intellect. Of the stone age we have several specimens of the stone ax, found in this vicinity. One of these is ten inches long, three and a half inches across the bit, and weighs five pounds. It is of blue granite, and is the finest specimen I have ever seen.

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History of Mason County, Michigan, Part 44

Author: H. R. Page & Co. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 373

Author: H. R. Page & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 373