USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources, its war record, biographical sketches, the whole preceded by a history of Michigan > Part 15
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California.
$ 998,000
Nevada.
791,250
Utah
375,000
Arizona
900,000
Dakota
560,000
Colorado.
962,000
Montana
240,000
Georgia
8,000
Michigan
1,410,000
Total
$6,244,250
THE PRODUCTS OF A YEAR.
The natural products of the State in 1879-the latest year concerning which statistics are complete-were estimated by Gov. Jerome in his message to the leg- islature at the beginning of 1881, to amount to a valuation of nearly $170,000,000, made up of the following items :
Agricultural products.
$88,500,000
Timber
60,000,000
Copper.
8,000,000
Iron
10,000,000
Salt
2,000,000
Fish
1,000,000
129
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
MICHIGAN CROPS FOR 1881.
Returns received from 913 correspondents, located in 664 townships in Decem- ber, 1881, show the estimated acreage and condition of wheat sowed in 1881 as compared with 1880, the estimated yield in 1881 of corn, clover seed, and potatoes, and the condition (as regards flesh ) of cattle and sheep on Dec. 1, as compared with Dec. 1, 1880. The estimates show that the present acreage sown in 1880 by two per cent., and in the counties north of the southern tiers by six per cent., indi- cating a probable acreage in the State of about 1,834,529 acres. The condition Dec. 1 in the southern four tiers of counties was about 132 per cent., and in the northern counties about 117 per cent., of the condition Dec. 1, 1880. This excel- lent showing is supplemented in numerous instances by statements that the wheat presents an unusually fine appearance, having started well and obtained large growth. The white grub and Hessian fly are reported present in various localities, but while they undoubtedly did injure individual fields, the reports do not indicate that their ravages noticeably affected the aggregate product of the State. Wheat seldom, if ever, has gone into the Winter in better condition than this year.
The yield of corn in 1881 is estimated at 40,460,901 bushels of ears, or about 20,230,450 bushels of shelled corn. These figures are based on the acreage as esti- mated in September, and the yield per acre as estimated in December. At the date of making the reports but a small portion of the clover seed had been hulled, and correspondents in the counties in the southern part of the State, and in Grand Traverse and Newaygo counties in the northern section, report the clover seed greatly damaged by the wet weather, many fields being entirely ruined. Some of them estimate one-fourth of the crop destroyed. One correspondent in Cass reported fifteen per cent. rotting in the fields, and another thinks not a bushel will be saved in his township.
The yield of potatoes is estimated at fifty-five bushels per acre in the southern and 109 bushels in the northern counties.
The average condition (as regards flesh) of cattle in the southern four tiers of counties is about the same, and of sheep two per cent. better, while in the northern counties the average of each is about seven per cent. better than on Dec. 1, 1880.
The following statement shows the Population for 1880, Number of Acres of Land Assessed in 1881, Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Assessed in 1881, Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Equalized by Boards of Supervisors for 1881, Amount Added or Deducted by State Board of Equalization, Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Equalized by State Board of Equalization for 1881 :
130
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
Aggregate of Real and Personal Amount Added or
COUNTIES.
Population, 1880.
No. of Acres of Land As- sessed in 1881.
and Personal Estate, as As- sessed in 1881.
Estate, Equalized by Boards of Su- pervisors, 1881.
Deducted by State Board of Equali- zation.
Aggregate of Real and Personal Estate as Equal- ized by State Board of Equal- lization for 1881.
Alcona ..... .
3,107
366,497.48
$ 2,492,537.00
$ 2.492.527.00
Add
$ 7,473.00
$ 2,500.000.00
Allegan.
37.806
516,120.00
9.652.330.00
9.303,500.00
Add
4,196,500.00
13.500.000.00
Alpena.
8,789
279,242.60
3.016.508 50
2,500,000.00
Add
600,000 00
3.10# 000.00
Antrim
5.237
280,656.98
2,152.872.11
2,237,682.25|
Add
262.317.75
2.500.000.00
Baraga.
1.804
331.531.31
639,656.00
639,656.00
Add
660.344.00
1,300.000.00
Barry
25,319
352,302.32
11,332,459.00
11,305,291.00|
Add
1,694,709.00
18.000 000.00
Bav.
38.081
486,970.43
12,901,183.00 1.205.586.03
1.021,494.00
Add
478.506.00
1,500,000.00
Berrien.
36,780
352, 489.00
12.918.434.00
13,0141,937.00
Add
1.958.063.00
15,000,000,00
Branch
27,941
315,483.00
10.261.965.09
10,155,000.00
Add
7.345.000.00
17 500,000.00
Calhoun
38.452
440,710.00
19,527,765.00
20,504,153.25
Add
3.995.846.75
24,500.000.00
Cass
22,008
310,549.00
13,667,602,00
14,280,000 00
Add
1,220,000.00
15.500 000.00
Charlevoix
5,114
222,581.00
1,631,271.00
1.633.851.00
Add
366,149.00
2,000,000.00
Cheboygan
6.524
416,744.28
2,761,832.00
2,701 000.00
Add
299,000.00
3,000,000.00
Chippewa.
5,243
505,283.00
1,558.071.00
1.558,071.00
Add
441,929.00
2,000,000.00
Clare.
4,187
339,201.73
2,377.681.00
1,889,078.00
Add
610,922.00
2,500,000.00
Clinton
27.534
361,235.53
16 631,293 00
15,298,500.00
Add
701,500.00
16,000,000.00
Crawford ..
1.159
252.783.00
935,244.05
925,940.35
Add
274,059.65
1,200,000.00
Eaton
31,223
358.808.58
12,562,796.00
12,000,000.00 Add
4 000,000.00
16,000.000.00
Emmet
6.640
191,714.00
825.893.0b
836,393.00
Add
1,163,607.00
2.000.600.00
Genesee
39,219
402,015.00
19,166.661.00
19.115 427.71
Add
1,884.572.29
21,000.000.00
Gladwin.
1.127
305,912.19
1.022,900.00
1.059,095.00 Add
140.905.00
1,200,000.00
Grand Traverse
8.422
279,598.79
2 439 964.00
2.525,875.00
Add
474.125.00
3,000,000 00
Gratiot
21.937
357,607.00
7.126.921.00
3,500,000.00
Add
3,500,000.00
7,000.000.00
Hillsdale
32,726
375.911.00
17,912,619.00
18,013.234.00| Add
2,986,766.00
21.000.000.00
Houghton
22,473
411,710.75
1,619,589.00
1,619,589.00 Add
880.411.00
2,500,000.00
Huron
20,089
510,891.11
4,561 982.00
4,661,982 00
Add
338.018.00
5,000,000.00
Ingham.
33,677
343,333.57
15,844 318. 0
10,942,200.00 Add
5.057.800.00
16,000.000.00
Ionia
33,872
361.504.23
15,480,291.00
14,930,751.00 Add
1,069,249.00
16,000,000.00 2,000,000.00
Isabella
12.159
354,086 79
3,691,736.00
3,100,000.00
Add
900,000.00
4,000.000.00
Jackson.
42,031
431,641.60
8.872,448.00
9,255,301.00 Add
17,744,699.00
27.000.000.00
Kalamazoo
34,342|
349,693.00
18,901,030.00
19,084,537.00 Add
3,915.463.00
23.000.000.00
Kalkaska.
2,937
330.705.52
2.475.991.62
2.480,307.00 Add
19.693.00
Kent
73.252
532,885.00
18,016 252.00
18.013,210.00 Add
14,986.790.00
Keweenaw.
4,270
203,570.23
619.263.13
738,199.13 Add
61,800.87
Lake
3,233
344,249.03
1,921. 42 00
1.826 202.00
Add
173,798 00
2.000,000.00
Lapeer ..
30.138
412,392.00
12,136,504.00
12,135,000.00|
Add
865.000.00
Leelanaw
6 253
183,231.79
693.971.00
774 034.00 Add
225 966.00
1,000,000.00
Lenawee
48,348
463,836.00
26,837,269.00
27,045,964.00 Add
454 036.00
27.500.000,00
Livingston
22,251
362,262.00
12.355 417.00
9.338.410.00 Add 5.661,590.00
15,000,000.00
Mackinac
2,902
293,151.33
1.403.955.71
1.403,955.71 Add
1,096,044.29
Macomb.
31.627
296,055.00
16.010,686.00
16,000,000.00 Ded
1,808.750.00
3.500,000.00
Manitou ..
1,334
312,024.07 No report. 1,503,792.11
3.121 480.00
2,904.940.00 Add
2,095.060.00
5.000,000.00
Mason
10,063
285,842.93
3.165 244.80
3.165,244.80| Ded
165,244.80
3,000,000.00
Mecosta
13,973
343.773.00
2,868,075.80
3.047.933.80 Add
452.066.20
3,500,000.00
Menominee
11,988
722.624.44
1.757.862.25
1,757,862. 5| Add
742,137.75
2,500.000.00
Midland ...
6,894
322,206.92
2,113 221.00
2,009,863.00 Add
990.137.00
3.000.000.00
Missaukee.
1,553
326,999.86
1.519,558.44
1.537,558.44 Add
262,441.56
1,800.000.00
Monroe.
33,623
351,314.00
14.952.990.00
15,213.276.50 Add
786,723.50
1- 16,000.000.00
Montcalm
33,148
446.517.00
9.366,171.00
8.490,000.00 Add
1,010,000.00 47.127.00
9,500,000.00
Montmorency
26,586
279.286.29
3,586,559.00
3,320,102.25
Add
3,179,897.75
Newaygo
14,688
527,704.00
2.508,083.00
2.146.292:00
Add
1,853,708.00
4.000.000.00
Oakland
41,537
540,520.00 333,316.29 319,190.02
905.693.0;
1,116,933.32 Add
383,066.68
1.500.000.00
Ontonagon.
2,565
739.809.29
1,414,972.00
1,021.558 00
Add
978.442.00
2.000.000.00
Osceola
10,777
359,177.00
1,897 220.00
1,907,220.00
Add
592.780.00
2.500.000.00
Oscoda
467
220,637.60
749,468.00
749.468.00
Add
250.532.00
1.000.000.00
Otsego
1.974
302,486.00
1,102.548.00
1.119,948 00 Add
380,052.00
1,500,000.00
Ottawa.
33.125
341,608.49
6,833.087.00
6.316,619.00 Add
2,183,381.00
8,500.000.00
Presque Isle.
3,113
264,910.34
1.029.825.99
1.029,825.99 Add
220.174.01 423.867.86
1.500,000.00
Saginaw
59.095
507,549.02
20,914.101.00
19,936.030.03
Add
5,063.969.97
25,000.000.00
Sanilac
26,341
595,742.61
3,899.273 00
3.906,254.00
Add
1,093,746.00
5,000,000.00
Schoolcraft.
1,575
725,125.41
2.481.034.41
1,934.705 00
Add
565.295 00
2,500,000.00
Shiawassee.
27,059
336,715.27
11.937,044.00
11,010.000.00 Add
2,490,000.00
13.500.000.00
St. Clair
46.197
432,464.00
13,653,363.00
11,141.078.00 Add
3,858.922.00
15 000,000.00
St. Joseph.
26.626
312.365.00
15,994,663.00
16.103.848.00 Add
1,896.152.00
18.000.000.00
Tuscola
25,739
501,006.00
7.712.647.00
8,156.358.00
Add
843,642.00
9.000.000.00
Van Buren
30.807
384,684.21
12.697.438.00
12.000,000.00
Add
2,000.000.00
14.000,000.00
Washtenaw
41.848
431,493.19
29,024.665.00
30.000,000 00
Add
12.160.407.00
130.000,000,00
Wexford
6.815
336,753.80
1,935,864.00
1,822.901.50 Add
1,177,098.00
3,000,000.00
Total
1,636,335| 29.306,820.201
$669,344,283 55|
$654,005,885.42
$810,000,000.00
55
No report.
Add
100,000 00
100.000.00
Iosco ..
6,878
245,870.47
1,102,791.59
1,162,000.00
Add
838,000.00
2,500,000.00 15,000,000.00
Manistee
12.533
1,686,782,00)
1,691,250.00 Add
Add
250.000.00
250.000.00
Marquette.
25,393
239.347.20
1,211,247.00
1,202,873.00 Add
23.505,277.00
Add
2,744,723.00
26.250,000.00
Oceana ..
11.699
1,736,393.00
1,775.593.00 Add
1,224,407.00
3 000 000.00
Ogemaw
1,914
1.459
278,023.62
1,175.732.14
1,076,132.14 Add
1,250,000.00
Roscommon
Wayne.
166,426
368,415.00
110,693,130.00
117 839.593.00
Add
7,000,000.00
18,000,000.00
Benzie.
3.433
180.329.45
11.000,000.00
Add
2,500,000.00
2.500,000.00
Delta.
6.812
No report.
Isle Royal.
2,500.000.00 33.000.000.00
800,000.00
13.000.000.00
1,000,000.00
1.250.000.00
Muskegon ..
6.500,000.00
24,432.277.00
30,000,000.00
Aggregate of Real
a s|
131
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
THE VESSEL INTEREST.
According to the tonnage statistics of the United States for the date of June 30, 1880 (as given in the American almanac for 1881), not one of the States located away from the ocean coast equals Michigan in the number of vessels owned by its citizens or in their aggregate tonnage. The exact figures are given in this table :
State.
No. of vessels.
Total tonnage.
Michigan
979
162.196
Illinois
459
86,634
Wisconsin
383
74,083
Ohio
485
139,509
Missouri.
319
141,975
Michigan also surpasses, in this respect, the seaboard States of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Oregon, and all the cotton and gulf States, while it far outstrips in tonnage both Virginia and Maryland, although surpassed by them in the number of vessels. It exceeds California in the number of its vessels, but not in the tonnage total. The coast line of Michigan is only surpassed by that of Florida, and it has ports upon four of the great lakes. Its coasting traides exceedingly valuable, and its vessel interest represents much capital and nterprise, and deserves an important place in a catalogue of its sources of employ- ment for labor. In this connection the fact should be mentioned that ship yards are located at Detroit, Wyandotte, Port Huron, Bay City, Marine City, St. Clair, Grand Haven and other shore towns and ports.
THE GROWTH OF FORTY YEARS.
A subject of such vital interest demands the first attention of every agricul- tural society and every agriculturist in the State, and to present at a glance the growth and magnitude of the industry, we have prepared from authentic sources, a little table showing the acreage, the yield per acre, when possible, and the aggre- gate bushels grown at intervals for the last forty years :
Years.
Acres.
Yield per Acre.
Bushels.
1839
2,157 100
1849
492,580
.JO
4,925,800
1853
473,451
1 5
7, 128, 104
1859-
8.313.200
1863
843,881
11 1/2
9.6SS,672
IS69
16,295.772
1873
1,134,484
13 3-5-
15.456.202
1876
1,223,212
1334
16,8$5.179
IS77-
1,312.352
18
23.793.039
1878
1,523 8.41
IS
28,000.00 0
1
132
HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.
LEADING THE VAN.
Out of the nine wheat States which outranked Michigan in 1840, she has out- stripped all but Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, while Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and California have, within the last few years, shot forward into the front rank. Com- pared with these great States, the Lower Peninsula surpasses them all save Indi- ana, area for area, in wheat production, and were it possible to compare the pro- portion of land under cultivation in the two States, there can be no doubt but it would surpass Indiana, also. The State motto might well read : " If you seek the American wheat peninsula, look around you."
The table also reveals the surprising fact that while the aggregate product of wheat in Michigan has doubled about every ten years, the average yield per acre has increased from ten bushels, in 1849, to eighteen bushels, in 1877. The causes for this most gratifying result are not far to seek. It is due to the greater care of farmers in selecting seed ; to the introduction of new varieties, such as the Claw- son, which yields better than its predecessors ; to improved machinery and methods of drilling and harvesting; and to an increase of live stock, and consequent increase of fertilization. The increase in the aggregate is due mainly, to the rapid settle- ment and clearing up of the country, and there is no reason to suppose that the increase will be seriously checked until the millions of acres of wild lands are finally brought under cultivation. What the limit will be, must be left to conjec- ture.
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
EARLY HISTORY.
"THE history of this old county of Michigan presents what may be termed, an old truth newly learned, viz., that the most easterly point of the peninsula is also the first discovered land of the State. When it is remembered that the wanderer, Nicolet, passed some years within easy distance of the outlet of that lake Huron which he named, it is not a matter for surprise to learn something of both the lake and river from his descriptions, as furnished to his illus- trious patron, Champlain. Again, there cannot exist a doubt regarding the visit of the venerable Le Caron, Mesnard and other missionaries to the Indians on both sides of the river St. Clair; for although his principal services were rendered in the Lake Superior region, his stay with the savages on the Sauble and southward to this river, was acknowledged as brief but profitable. Even before Pere Mesnard, the names of Fathers Raymbault and Jacques were known along the eastern lake and river borders of Michigan.
To know the beginnings of this county, one must revert to a period in our history anterior to the era of French exploration proper-thirty years before the venerable Rene Mesnard appeared upon the shores of Lake Huron (1660), long before the Jesuit, Claude Allouez, arrived at the mouth of French River (1665), and longer still, before Father Marquette appeared in Michigan (1668).
The first notice of the territory bordering on Lake Huron was made about 1615, by Father Le Caron, and next in 1630, when Jean Nicolet traveled west from Nipissing, over the very route which the first missionary father adopted, as well as that traversed in after years by his Jesuit successors, and arrived on the shores of the lake. The light which this discovery shed upon history was such an exceedingly faint gleam-apparently imperceptible-that it would have ceased to shine entirely had not a reference been made to it in a report sent to France by the Superior of the Canadian Jesuits, in 1632, printed in the "Jesuit Relations," of 1839, at Paris.
Upon the St. Lawrence River, Samuel Champlain built his village early in the seventeenth century. There the spirit of enterprise and energy burned brightly, for in Champlain was centered many of those qualities which fit men to direct and govern. This illustrious Frenchman lost no opportunity to make himself acquainted with the unknown land which stretched beyond his Western explorations, and, in his search after knowledge, requisitioned Indian intelligence, so that, through report, he might be able to gain some idea of the topography of the Western country. He learned of the Mascoutins, of the Winnebagoes, and more of the Pottawatomies and Otchipwes than Huron or Algonquin had ever related to him hitherto. All that was known of the Otchipwes, during the first quarter of the seventeenth century, was, that they had come from a cold country, bordering on the northern ocean, at a remote period, with the Winnebagoes, and settled in the neighborhood of the great lakes; that they sometimes traded with the Algon- quins, and oftentimes came to the banks of the Ottawa as enemies. With this information, and an ardent desire to penetrate the mysterious West to urge him on, Champlain made many efforts toward exploration. At length he adopted his protégé, Jean Nicolet, to direct an ex- ploration, and this man, endowed with the controlling spirit of his director, completed a round
134
HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
of discovery in 1634, and returned to Quebec the following year. Previous to Nicolet's return, Gov. Champlain learned more and more of the chain of lakes and rivers which form the eastern boundary of Michigan, and as he was himself a practical draughtsman, he made the first attempt at a delineation of the lake region, which chart was given in his work, Les Voyages de la Nou- velle France, published in Paris in 1632. The descriptions accompanying the map are much more applicable to the country, as we know it, than the map itself, and refer very distinctly to the lake and river, ending and beginning at Fort Gratiot. In his report to the home govern- ment, in 1836, he evidently makes use of information gleaned from the explorer Nicolet, and recommends a point at the outlet of what Nicolet named Lake Huron, for the building of a mil- itary post or trading village; while in the same letter he suggests the establishment of a Mission Village some distance north, on the eastern shore. There is no record of the recommendation being acted upon immediately, although a doubt cannot be entertained regarding the building of Fort St. Joseph, near the present Fort Gratiot, by Daniel Graysolon Du Luth, in 1686. Pere Rene Mesnard established a mission at the point suggested by Champlain in 1660. It is
unnecessary here to say more regarding this mission than that there is sufficient evidence to point out its establishment in 1660, and to give the following summary from Mrs. B. C. Far- rand's able paper on the reminiscences of Edward Petit, which points out the ruins and loca- tion of the mission: So recently as 1628-30, Edward Petit, son of Anselm Petit, one of the original settlers of Port Huron, entered the employ of G. & E. Williams, fur traders. His
duty called him among the Canadian Indians, and while there he made a stay on the Sauble River, forty miles north of Sarnia. In the vicinity of his camp were the ruins of an ancient house, which, on measuring, he found to have an area of 960 square feet, or a floor 40x24 feet. In the south or gable end was a chimney eighteen feet high, built of stone, with an open fire- place. The hearthstone had sunk below the ordinary level. Round the ruin was a garden about twelve rods wide, and twenty rods long, bearing evident traces of ditches and alleys. Within the walls, an oak tree, three feet in diameter, and sixty feet high, minus a limb, and perfectly straight, was found to flourish. It seemed to be of a second growth, and must have been 150 years old when observed by Mr. Petit. This ruin and tree excited the curiosity of the trader, and prompted him to ask one of the aged Saguenay chiefs, then eighty-four years old, what he knew about the house or its builders. The savage replied: "A white man built the house at a time when my great-great-great-great-grandfather lived there and white people lived then in all the country round. They were not Frenchmen, and everything, no matter of how great or small value, was sold for a peminick," meaning a dollar.
It is questionable, indeed, whether the location of Du Luth's Fort St. Joseph was settled between the years 1635 and 1686; enough remains, however, to show that this district was known at that early period, and that the French military enterprise of the latter part of the seventeenth, was anticipated by that of Champlain and Nicolet of the first part of that century.
To Jean Nicolet, next to Pere Le Caron and Frere Sagard, both Franciscan Friars, belongs the honor of the first place in the history of Michigan. Nor is that honor due from mere ac- cidental events, as is so often the case in discovery of new countries; for it was won by the de. liberate accomplishment of a laborious and dangerous undertaking, whose purpose was, so far as evidence can now be adduced, substantially achieved. The sparse records of the life of this man contain but the barest outlines of his earlier days, though future research among original documents, it is to be hoped, will shed more light on the obscured details. It is known that he was of French nativity, born in Normandy, and that he emigrated to Canada in the year 1616, being a protege of Champlain. The date of his birth is not preserved in any document extant. Upon his arrival in New France, he at once took up his residence at Allumettes Island, on the Ottawa, that he might the better study the Indian tongue, and thereby fit himself for the office of interpreter. In 1622, but four years after his arrival, he is mentioned as having acquired an extensive influence over the Algonquin tribes. From 1623 to 1631, Nicolet lived with the tribes of the Nipissing. This is stated on the authority of his friend Father Le Jenne, although other of the '" Jesuit Relations" record that the period of his residence with the Nipissing tribes was from 1629 to 1632. It is determined by those who have made a special study of the subject, that Nicolet began his Western travels in the summer of 1634, and returned to Quebec in 1635.
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HISTORY OF ST. CLAIR COUNTY.
The nature of this work precludes the possibility of arguing this question, but as several hith - erto accepted theories are controverted, the authorities governing this deduction are named, as follows : ' "Jesuit Relations, Discovery of the Northwest;" "Melanges D' History et de Litera- teur." Parkman observes that "Nicolet was a remarkable man," and so he must have been, to win the confidence of the savage tribes to that degree which enabled him to penetrate into the remote regions of their homes, and there conduct a peaceful enterprise with the warlike sav- ages, for the advancement of commerce in fur and peltry.
The long journeying from Quebec was undertaken at the suggestion of Champlain, and in the official capacity of interpreter of the company of one hundred associates of New France. which was formed in 1627, with a view to the development of the immense resources of the Western wilderness in furs. The mission of Nicolet was not to establish peace, as distinguished from warfare, between the Hurons and Peninsular savages; but was, rather, a mission of peace, to cement the friendly relations of these tribes, as well as the Nez Perces or Ottawas, and other tribes in the general interests of the French.
Nicolet visited the Hurons on his westward journey, at their home on the eastern side of the lake which bears their name, and negotiated with them. It is recorded by Parkman that, upon his arrival at Winnebago Town, he sent some of his Indian attendants to announce his coming, put on a robe of damask, and advanced to meet the expectant crowd with a pistol in each hand. The squaws and children fled, screaming that it was a manitou, or spirit, armed with thunder and lightning; but the chiefs and warriors regaled him with so bountiful a hospitali- ty, that 120 beavers were devoured. One of the objects of Nicolet's visit to the Green Bay coun- try was to smoke the pipe of peace with its savage occupants, and to counsel harmony among all the tribes of the upper lakes visited by him, to the end that all might be visited by the French from the St. Lawrence, for the purpose of trading for furs. Peace was promised; but the Winnebagoes, immediately after he left them, attacked the Nez Perces, located upon the eastern waters of Lake Huron, capturing and eating two of that nation. Five years subsequent- ly, they were themselves attacked by the Illinois, from the widely-extended prairies of the south, and nearly exterminated.
In 1641, the Pottawatomies left their ancient homes on the island of the upper lakes, seek- ing refuge among the Chippewas, at the Sault Ste. Marie, near the foot of Lake Superior. Returning, however, some years afterward, and again visiting Michigan, they spread themselves through the Peninsula from Sault de Ste. Marie to Grand River, and to the Huron of Lake Erie. Nicolet visited many of the surrounding nations. He retraced his way to the St. Lawrence in the summer of 1635, reaching Quebec in safety. The parish records of that city furnish the in- formation that this brave man was occupied with various duties from 1635 to the day of his death, and shows conclusively that his journey must have been made at the date given, since he was not absent from Quebec long enough at any time to have performed the feat subsequent to 1635.
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