USA > Michigan > History of Michigan, civil and topographical, in a compendious form; with a view of the surrounding lakes > Part 31
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Peter Francis Xavier de Charlevoix, a Jesnit, was born at St. Quentin in 1682, and made a tour of the American lakes in 1721 under the auspices of the French Government. The Mississippi scheme was then creating great ex- citement, and individuals were engaged in seeking gold and silver in Louisiana. His tour extended through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan. He then de- scended the Illinois and Mississippi to New Orleans, which had been then re- cently settled ; and he there embarked for France. Beside a General History of New France in three volumes, he published a journal of his tour through the lakes. These works bear the stamp of a rich and well-regulated mind, and are written in a style of great beauty and eloquence. Charlevoix died in 1761.
Robert Rogers was a citizen of New Hampshire. He was a sturdy and ad- venturous soldier, and for some time Governor of Michilimackinac. To him was entrusted the expedition which was sent out by Gen. Amherst, after the surrender of Michigan by France to England in 1759. Beside a work enti- tled " A Concise Account of North America," he published a journal of his ex- pedition to Detroit when he took possession of the posts of Michigan.
Alexander Henry, Esq. visited the lakes in 1760, and spent sixteen years in traversing the wilderness of the north-west. He published his observations upon the country in 1809.
Jonathan Carver was decended from a family in Connecticut, and was dis- tinguished for a persevering and adventurous mind. The date of his travels is 1766, 1777, and 1778; and the result of his observations was published in Lon- don, and afterwards republished in this country.
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NOTE IX.
BY WILLIAM HULL,
Brigadier-general and Commander-in-chief of the North-western army of the United States.
A PROCLAMATION.
Inhabitants of Canada,
After thirty years of peace and prosperity, the United States have been dri- ven to arms. The injuries and aggressions, the insults and indignities of Great Britain, have left them no alternative but manly resistance or unconditional sub- mission. The army under my command has invaded your country, and the standard of the Union now waves over the territory of Canada. To the peaceable, unoffending inhabitants it brings neither danger nor difficulty. I come to find enemies, not to make them ; I come to protect, not to injure you. Separated by an immense ocean and an extensive wilderness from Great Britain, you have no participation in her councils, no interest in her conduct ; you have felt her tyranny, you have seen her injustice ; but I do not ask you to revenge the one or to redress the other. The United States are sufficiently powerful to af- ford every security consistent with their rights and your expectations. I tender you the invaluable blessing of civil, political, and religious liberty ; and their necessary result, individual and general prosperity. That liberty which gave decision to our councils and energy to our conduct in a struggle for independ- ence, and which conducted us safe and triumphantly through the stormy peri- od of the revolution. That liberty which has raised us to an elevated rank among the nations of the world, and which afforded us a greater measure of peace, and security of wealth, and improvement, than ever fell to the lot of any country. In the name of my country, and by the authority of Government, I promise you protection to your persons, property, and rights. Remain at your homes ; pursue your peaceful and customary avocations ; raise not your hand against your brethren. Many of your fathers fought for the freedom and inde- pendence we now enjoy. Being children, therefore, of the same family with us, and heirs to the same heritage, the arrival of an army of friends must be hailed by you with a cordial welcome. You will be emancipated from tyranny and oppression, and restored to the dignified station of freemen. Had I any doubt of eventual success, I might ask your assistance ; but I do not ; I come prepared for every contingency. I have a force which will look down all opposition, and that force is the van-guard of a much greater. If, contrary to your own interest and the just expectation of my country, you should take part in the ap- proaching contest, you will be considered and treated as enemies ; and the hor- rors and calamities of war will stalk before you. If the barbarous and savage policy of Great Britain be pursued, and the savages be let loose to murder our citizens and butcher our women and children, this war will be a war of exter- mination. The first stroke of the tomahawk, the first attempt with the scalp- ing-knife, will be the sequel of one indiscriminate scene of desolation. No white man found fighting by the side of an Indian will be taken prisoner ; in- stant destruction will be his lot. If the dictates of reason, duty, justice, and humanity cannot prevent the employment of a force which respects no rights and knows no wrong, it will be prevented by a severe and relentless system of retaliation. I doubt not your courage and firmness ; I will not doubt your at-
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tachment to liberty. The United States offer you peace, liberty, and security ; your choice lies between these, and war, slavery, and destruction. Chose, then, but choose wisely ; and may He who knows the justice of our cause, and who holds in his hands the fate of nations, guide you to a result the most compati- ble with your rights and interests, your peace and happiness.
By the General, A. P. HULL,
Captain of the 13th U. S. Reg't. of Infantry and Aid-de-Camp. Head-Quarters, Sandwich, July 12th, 1812.
NOTE X.
THE following is the greater portion of the valuable Report of Dr. Hough- ton, the State geologist, in 1838.
That portion of our State usually denominated the Peninsula, while few, if any, portions of it, are of so rugged a character as to prevent its use for the pur- poses of agriculture, is, nevertheless, far from what was once supposed, a level and unbroken plain. Its rocks, consisting for the most part of nearly horizontal strata of limestones, sandstones, and shales, give character to a beautifully va- ried succession of hills and valleys, as also to a soil admirably adapted to the purposes of agriculture. It is surrounded by a level belt of country, which gradually obtains a greater elevation as we proceed towards the interior, varying in width from five to forty miles, and miles, and for the most part covered with a dense forest ; while the interior and more undulating portions give rise to a varied succession of prairies, oak openings and timbered lands.
This general description, which may be supposed to apply more particu- larly to those counties of the state already organized, will, I have no doubt, ap- ply nearly equally well to that portion of the state not yet surveyed. I allude to this the more particularly, since the opinion is abroad among our citizens that the northern portions of our state are of little or no value, except for lum- ber, and that it consists of alternating barren ridges of pine and marsh.
This opinion, so far as the country has been examined, and from the best in- formation which can be obtained on the subject, is far from the truth. For, while it embraces, like the southern counties, prairies, oak openings, and lands timbered with hard wood, many of those portions timbered with pine, it is con- ceived, will eventually prove of great value in an agricultural point of view.
The great number of streams having their sources in the central portions of the peninsula, and discharging their waters in every direction into the lakes by which it is surrounded, give a peculiar feature to the geography of the country. Several of these streams are navigable for boats of light draft for a much longer distance than could have been anticipated, and they give rise to an amount of hydraulic power far exceeding what has usually been supposed, and which will eventually prove of immense value to our state. In pursuing the investigation of the past season, I have found it necessary to examine several of the most im- portant of these streams through their whole extent, and I could not fail to ob- serve the great purity of their waters, together with the rapidity of their des- cent. Their sloping banks, which are usually of but moderate height, are com- posed of the richest soil ; but occasionally their banks attain, at an inconsider-
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able distance from the stream, an altitude of from one hundred to two hundred feet, as at some points in the valley of Grand river.
Portions of the central and most elevated counties of the peninsula are con- siderably rough and broken, though, it is believed, in few instances sufficiently so to prevent a successful cultivation of the soil. This undulating or hilly por- tion of our state extends through parts of the counties of Hillsdale, Jackson, Washtenaw, Ingham, Eaton, Livingston, Oakland, Ionia, Kent, and some por- tions of the adjoining counties ; as also far to the north of Kent county, in the un- surveyed district. The hills do not appear to be disposed with any regularly formed valleys, but consist of an irregular assemblage of somewhat conical ele- vations and depressions, occasionally attaining an elevation of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, but ordinarily not more than from thirty to forty feet.
The topography of that portion of our state bordering upon Lake Superior, is very different from that of the peninsula. The occasional appearance of pri- mary and trap rocks forming mountain chains, and the great disturbance which has taken place since the deposition of the red sandstone, has given to the whole country a more rugged aspect ; and while many of the valleys and elevated plains furnish a rich and permanent soil, covered with a dense forest, the moun- tain chains of primary rock have all the meagreness of soil usually attendant on these formations,
Upper Sandstone of the Peninsula.
Occupying the central and most elevated portions of the peninsula, and over a large district of country, embracing parts of the counties of Hillsdale, Jackson, Calhoun, Kalamazoo, Livingston, Ingham, Eaton, Barry, Shiawassee, Clinton, the eastern part of Ionia, and probably portions of the adjoining counties, which want of time did not permit me to examine, the outcropping edge of sandstone is seen, occasionally alternating with shale. Its friable nature is such that the rock soon becomes covered with soil from disintegration and vegetable depo- sites, in such a manner as to conceal it from view, and thus to have led our ear- ly inhabitants to suppose the appearance of rock near the surface to be of rare occurrence ; but as the country has become settled, rock has been found near the surface in hundreds of places where it was formerly supposed not to exist, and it may be fairly inferred, that as the country becomes cultivated, this will con- tinue to be the result.
This rock formation, which is referable to the carboniferous series, will, with- ont doubt, be found to be a continuation of the great coal measures of Ohio, and present appearances would seem to warrant the conclusion that it extends nearly or quite to the northern termination of the peninsula. I have thus far been unable to arrive at any very satisfactory conclusions as to its thickness or general inclination.
Its superficial extent has undoubtedly been much lessened ; for, after passing the edge of the sandstone, the soil is invariably found to contain disintegrated portions of the rock, with occasional loose pieces of bituminous coal, the latter sometimes appearing in quantities of several bushels at a single place.
Portions of the sandstone on the western slope of the peninsula, more particu- larly in the counties of Calhoun, and parts of Jackson and Hillsdale, the forma-
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tion is muchi shattered, as if broken by the irregular rising and sinking of small districts of country, a result which could scarcely be conceived to have taken place by any other than rapid and irregular motion. The original continuity of strata is almost completely destroyed, and so much is the rock shattered, that at several points in Calhoun county, wells were seen sunk through the rock from twenty to forty fect, and where the excavation required but little more labor than would have been required to sink through an equal depth of earth. The masses of rock thrown out rarely exceed a foot or eighteen inches in superficial extent, and many were of a smaller size ; still, though so much broken, no por- tions of the rock were much inclined, and it appeared to have retained measur- ably its original horizontal position. The interstices between these portions of rock not being filled with earth, admit the free passage of water through them, the result of which is, the appearance, at particular points, of large springs of water, and a paucity of small streams upon the surface.
Near Jonesville, in Hillsdale county, several quarries of sandstone have been opened, but not sufficiently to give very much information of their true condition. The upper portions are of a loose and friable nature, and the layers from two to four inches in thickness ; but where the excavations have been carried to a depth of from ten to twelve feet, they attain a thickness of nearly one foot, and the char- acter of the rock, for economical purposes, is much improved.
At Napoleon, in Jackson county, the sandstone appears at numerous points, having a slight inclination south-westerly. It is composed of angular grains of quartzose sand, united by a very slight calcareous cement. The stone is of a good quality for architectural purposes, and admits of being easily quarried. It has already been considerably used for buildings, grindstones, &c.
In descending Grand river, the rock appears again at Jacksonburgh, and over many miles of the surrounding country, having a slight dip, like that at Napo- Icon, south-westerly. Several quarries have been opened in the immediate vicinity of Jacksonburgh, and a finely shaped and tolerably compact and durable material for building, furnished. I here first noticed fossil vegetable remains, chiefly referable to the genera Lepidodendron, Stigmaria, and Calamites, to- gether with small masses of carbonaceous matter, associated with the sand rock. A little north of the village, clay ironstone occurs, disseminated through the rocks ; as also in thin beds and veins, but not in sufficient quantities to be of any practical importance. Numerous kettle-shaped excavations, similar to those pro- duced by pebbles when set in motion by the action of a strong current, occur in the sandstone, and not unfrequently at a distance from the river, and at an elevation of some thirty or forty feet above it.
In the bed and bank of the river, a little above the crossing of the road at Jacksonburgh, the sandstone is seen to embrace a bed of bituminous shale. The shale is overlaid by two and a half fect of slaty sandstone, and about two feet appear above the surface of the water. Portions of this shale have nearly the appearance of semi-indurated clay, much charged with carbonaceous mat- ter; but at a distance of several rods below, the water, by falling over a dam, has thrown out large quantites of shale, intermixed with very thin layers of coal ; and the whole being highly charged with bituminous matter, was at first mis- taken by the inhabitants for coal. These indications were matters of consider- able interest, since the shales are well known to be the usual associates of coal,
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and occurring, as they do, in the coal-bearing rock, a reasonable hope may un- doubtedly be entertained of the existence of coal in that section of country.
Near the mouth of Portage river, a few miles north of Jacksonburgh, a stratum of line rock appears, and what is probably a continuation of the same stratum, is seen westerly at Bellvue and several intermediate points. This lime rock, which occurs in flat, irregular masses, separated by thin coverin _s of an exceed- ingly tenacious clay, and without any regular line of stratification, upon burning produces a superior lime, and, aside from its irregular shape, would prove a val- uable building stonc. The stratum must, however, be considered as of no great thick ness, since the sandstone appears again at a lower level, a few miles north westerly. The limestone is of a light greyish color, and exceedingly compact ; and although numerous perforations of lithodomous mollusca were observed, af- ter a minute examination I was unable to detect any fossils.
In descending Grand river, the sandstone is seen at intervals in the bed of the stream, as also sometimes attaining a considerable elevation upon its banks, through the counties of Jackson, Ingham, Eaton, Clinton, and the south-eastern part of Ionia. It was last noticed in the bed of the stream a few miles above the mouth of Looking-glass river. In general character it bears much resemblance to that at Jacksonburgh, and bituminous shale is occasionally seen alternating with it ..
In the northern part of Eaton county, the rock is seen at several places in a mural wall of from thirty to forty feet in height.
At many points where the rock was examined in the counties enumerated, carbonaceous matter and vegetable impressions were associated with it. These were more particularly noticed in Ingham and Eaton counties, where very thin beds of coal, varying from half an inch to three inches, and in one instance two feet in thickness, occur in slate, usually underlaying an irregular and inconsid- erable deposite of clay ironstone.
Sand rock occurs on the Kalamazoo river at Battle Creek, and quarries have been partially opened at that place. Portions of the rock which have been .quarried, furnish a tolerably good building stone ; but from the frequent occur- rence of nodular masses of iron pyrites, much care is required in its selection.
Quarries have been opened more extensively at Marshall, and a building sione of good quality is found ; but here, as at Battle creek, iron pyrites, though not in so large quantities, occasionally occurs, embedded in it.
In ascending the Kalamazoo river, via Albion, the sand rock occurs at short intervals, having much the same appearance at Marshall, as also at numerous points between the latter place and Spring Arbor, in Jackson county.
On the Shiawassee river in Shiawassee county, the sand rock was first seen in the bed of the stream from four to five miles above Corunna, (the county town of Shiawassee co.,) and continues at intervals as far as from four to five miles below Owasso on the same river. The dip is here slightly north or north-easterly. The rock was not seen at any point to attain any great elevation. In general ap- pearance it bears a strong resemblance to that of Jackson county, but much of it contains sufficient mica to give it a somewhat slaty structure. About one mile above Corunna, upon the right bank of the river, it has been quarried in small quantities ; and although loose in its texture, will answer tolerably well for walls. Here numerous indistinct impressions of plants were seen, with small pieces of
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coal, the latter retaining its general ligniform structure, but perfectly charred. Half a mile below Owasso the rock appears in the bed of the strcan, and is more compact in its structure.
Near Shiawassee town, (above Corunna,) the outcropping edge of a stratum of limestone, similar in general appearance to that at Jacksonburgh, makes its appearance, dipping north-easterly. It is evidently a stratum embraced in the sandstone.
Grey Limestone.
Underlaying the sandstone already described; and occurring near the bor- ders of the peninsula, is a grey colored limestone, which may, without doubt, be considered identical with the mountain limestone of European geologists. .
The outcropping edge of this rock may be traced from the rapids of Maumee river in Ohio, directly to the rapids of the River Raisin at the city of Monroe. At the latter place, and in the country immediately surrounding, where there is only a superficial covering of earth, extensive quarries have been opened, and limestone of a superior quality for building, as also tolerably well adapted to the manufacture of lime, is procured.
In ascending the River Raisin this rock is occasionally seen as far as Dun- dee, where it forms the bed of the river. As we ascend the river from Mon- roe, so far as a limited examination enables me to judge, the rock becomes more quartzose in its character, which renders it nearly unfitted for the manu- facture of lime, but does not lessen its value as a material for building.
About five miles north-west from Monroe, and two miles distant from the river, this sandy lime rock was seen in a state of disintegration, giving rise to beds of beautifully white quartzose sand, better adapted to the manufacture of the finer kinds of glass than any I have seen in our state.
Between Monroe and Brest the lime rock appears in the beds of the small streams, and occasionally at other points ; and in no place is it covered by a great depth of soil. At Stoney Point the rock again appears, and at several points along the coast, or a little in the interior. It also occurs in the vi- cinity of Gibraltar, and is last seen on this shore, at Monguagon, fifteen miles . below Detroit, at which place quarries of considerable extent have been opened, for the purpose of supplying the city of Detroit with building stone and lime. A quarry has been for many years opened on Grosse Isle, as also on the Cana- da shore in the vicinity of Amherstburg.
Proceeding north-easterly from Monguagon, the rock soon becomes covered with a considerable depth of superincumbent earth, and at Detroit is found to be a little more than one hundred feet below the surface of the river.
Nothing indicating the approach of the rock to the surface was observed in Macomb county ; but in the western part of St. Clair, angular fragments of the rock were seen, occurring under circumstances which would seem to indicate the approach of the formation to the surface. The same was also noticed in por- tions of the counties of Oakland, Lapeer, the northern part of Shiawassee, and in Midland, near the forks of the Tittabawassa river. 'The rock occurs in a place on Charity islands of Saginaw bay, and also on the northern shore at Point au Gres.
On the westerly slope of the peninsula, a lime rock occurs at the rapids of Grand river, which is undoubtedly identical with that last noticed. About two
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miles north of Grand rapids, the rock appears of a superior quality for eco- nomical purposes, in a sloping talus of from twenty to thirty feet. It also oc- curs at the rapids of Mashkegon river, and will, no doubt, be found extending a long distance north from the last-mentioned stream.
Associated with the rock, we find calcareous spar at nearly all the localities noted ; irregular hog-tooth spar at Monroe; sulphate of strontian at Brest and Grosse Isle ; tremolite at Brest ; sulphate of barytes, brown spar, and gypsum at Grand rapids ; and the latter mineral will, undoubtedly, be found as- sociated at the rapids of Mashkegon, and on the north shore of Saginaw bay.
The rock is more or less fossiliferous at most of the points where it was ex- amined, but more particularly so at Monguagon and Grand rapids. At the for- mer place thin pieces of carbonaceous matter, as also small cavities filled with bitumen, are occasionally seen ; and the rock is extremely fætid. The excava- tions in the rock have been so slight, and so small a portion is exposed, that the opportunities for examining the fossils are extremely limited, and many of those procured for examination were in so mutilated a condition, as to preclude all possibility of drawing any specific distinctions .*
The limestone is, for the most part, of a subgranular structure, quite com- pact, and well adapted to agricultural purposes ; and, although at many points it is capable of producing a valuable lime upon burning, it is not unfrequently too siliceous to answer that purpose.
Lower Sandstone or Graywack Group.
About thirty miles above Fort Gratiot, and on the immediate shore of Lake Huron, a greenish colored clay slate, alternating with compact and slaty sand- stone, is seen attaining an altitude of from ten to twenty feet. In coasting along the shore, rocks of a similar character occur at intervals as far as Point Aux Barques. But at the latter place, and for several miles around, the sand- stone is not accompanied by shale.
The sandrock at Point Aux Barques differs materially in general character from that in the central portions of the state; for it is nearly or quite destitute of fossils, and is highly micaceous and flaggy in structure. The sandstone first noticed, as alternating with slate, is of a deep grey color, and the cement is mostly argillaceous.
The general dip of these rocks is south-westerly ; and although not actually seen in contact with the mountain limestone, there can be no doubt but it pass- es under that rock formation. A rock stratum, which may be referred to the lower portion of this group, is seen in that portion of our state north of Lake Huron, on the St. Mary's river, where it is of a mottled or variegated color. The channel of the St. Mary's river appears to have been chiefly excavated from this rock, precisely at that point where its edge rested upon the primary rocks of Upper Canada.
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