History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 9

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Michigan > St Clair County > History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.. > Part 9

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Indians ean never remain long at peace, whatever may be the obligations they assume in treaty making. Gen. Cass often headed his forees in person. and drove the hostile tribes from place to place until they finally retreated to Saginaw.

An attempt was made to recover Mackinaw from the English in July of this year (1814), but the British works were too strong ; however, the establishments at Saint Joseph and Sault Ste. Marie were destroyed. In the following Winter the final treaty of peace was ratified between England and the United States. The population of the Territory at this time was not over 5,000 or 6,000, scattered over a vast extent, and in a state of great destitution on account of the calamities of war. Seareely a family, on resuming the duties of home, found more than the remnants of former wealth and comfort. Families had been broken up and dis- persed ; parents had been torn from their children, and children from each other; some had been slain on the battle-field, and others had been massaered by the ruth- less savages. Laws had become a dead letter, and morals had suffered in the general wreck. Agriculture had been almost abandoned and commerce paralyzed ; food and all necessaries of life were searee, and luxuries unknown. Money was

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

difficult to get, and the bank paper of Ohio, which was almost the sole circulating medium, was twenty-five per cent. below par.

Such was the gloomy state of domestic affairs when Gen. Cass assumed the office of Governor. Besides, he had the delicate task of aiding in legislation and of being at the same time the sole executive of the law. In 1817, he made an im- portant treaty with the Indians, by which their title was extinguished to nearly all the land in Ohio, and a great portion in Indiana and Michigan. This treaty at- tached the isolated population of Michigan to the State of Ohio, made the Terri- torial Government in a fuller sense an integral member of the Federal Union, and removed all apprehension of a hostile confederacy among the Indian tribes along the lake and river frontier.

Hitherto there had not been a road in Michigan, except the military road along the Detroit River; but as the Indian settlements and lands could not now be inter- posed as a barrier, Gen. Cass ealled the attention of Congress to the necessity of a military road from Detroit to Sandusky, through a traekless morass called the Black Swamp.

Congress passed an act requiring that 2,000,000 acres of land should be sur- veyed in the Territory of Louisiana, the same amount in the Territory of Illinois, and the same amount in the Territory of Michigan, in all 6,000,000 aeres, to be set apart for the soldiers in the war with Great Britain. Each soldier was to have 160 aeres of land fit for cultivation. The surveyors under this law reported that there were no lands in Michigan fit for cultivation ! This unconscionable report deterred immigration for many years, and the Government took the whole 6,000,000 acres from Illinois and Missouri. The language of that report is so remarkable that we must quote it : " The country on the Indian boundary line, from the mouth of the Great Anglaize river and running thence for about fifty miles, is (with some few exceptions) low, wet land, with a very thick growth of underbrush, intermixed with very bad marshes, but generally very heavily timbered with beech, cotton- wood, oak, etc., thence continuing north and extending from the Indian boundary eastward, the number and extent of the swamps increase, with the addition of numbers of lakes, from twenty chains to two and three miles across. Many of the lakes have extensive marshes adjoining their margins, sometimes thickly covered with a species of pine called ' tamarack,' and other places covered with a coarse, high grass, and uniformly covered from six inches to three feet (and more at times) with water. The margins of these lakes are not the only places where swamps are found, for they are interspersed throughout the whole country and filled with water, as above stated, and varying in extent. The intermediate space between these swamps and lakes, which is probably near one-half of the country, is, with a very few exceptions, a poor, barren, sandy land on which scarcely any vegetation

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

grows except very small, serubby oaks. In many places that part which may be called dry land is composed of little, short sand-hills, forming a kind of deep basins, the bottoms of many of which are composed of a marsh similar to the above-de- scribed. The streams are generally narrow, and very deep compared with their width, the shores and bottoms of which are, with a very few exceptions, swampy beyond description ; and it is with the utmost difficulty that a place can be found over which horses can be conveyed with safety.

" A circumstance peculiar to that country is exhibited in many of the marshes by their being thinly covered with a sward of grass, by walking on which evineed the existence of water or a very thin mud immediately under their covering, which sinks from six to eighteen inches from the pressure of the Foot at every step, and at the same time rising before and behind the person passing over. The margins of many of the lakes and streams are in a similar situation, and in many places are literally afloat. On approaching the eastern part of the military lands, toward the private elaims on the straits and lake, the country does not contain so many swamps and lakes, but the extreme sterility and barrenness of the soil continues the same. Taking the country altogether, so far as has been explored, and to all appearances, together with the information received regarding the balance, it is so bad there would not be more than one acre out of a hundred, if there would be one out of a thousand, that would in any place admit of cultivation."

It is probable that those Government surveyors made a lazy job of their duty, and depended almost entirely on the fur-traders, who were interested in keeping settlers out of the country. But we must make allowance, too, for the universal ignorance existing at that time of the methods of developing the Western country which modern invention has brought to bear since the days of our grandfathers. We must remember that our Western prairies were counted worth nothing, even by all the early settlers.

By the year 1818, some immigrants crowded in and further explored and tested the land ; and in March, this year, Gor. Cass called for the views of the inhabitants upon the question of changing the eivil authority by entering upon the second grade of Territorial government. A vote was taken and a majority was found to be against it ; but for the purpose of facilitating immigration and settlement, Gov. Cass recommended to the Secretary of the Treasury that the lands in the district of Detroit be at onee brought into market. The Department immediately complied, and the lands were offered for sale the following Autumn. Immigration was now increased more than ever before, and the permanent growth of the country became fully established.

In 1819, the people were allowed to eleet a delegate to Congress. The popu- lation was now 8,806 in the whole Territory, distributed as follows: Detroit, 1,450,

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

not including the garrison ; the Island of Mackinaw, still the entrepot of the fur trade, a stationary population of about 450, sometimes inereased to 2,000 or over ; Sault Ste. Marie, fifteen or twenty houses, occupied by French and English families.

The year 1819 was also rendered memorable by the appearance of the first steamboat on the lakes, the "Walk-in-the-water," which came up Lake Erie and went on to Mackinaw.

Up to this time no executive measure had been taken by the people to avail themselves of the school lands appropriated by the ordinance of 1787, except the curious aet passed by the Governor and judges establishing the "Catholepistemiad," or University of Michigan, with thirteen "didaxia," or professorships. The scheme for the institution was a grand one, deseribed by quaint, sesquipedalian technical- ities carried from the Greek language, and the whole devised by that unique man, Judge Woodward. The act is given in full in the Territorial laws of Michigan, compiled and printed a few years ago. It was Judge Woodward, also, who laid out the plan of Detroit, in the form of a cobweb, with a "Campus Martius" and a grand circus, and avenues radiating in every direction, grand publie parks and squares, etc. Centuries would be required to fulfill his vast design. Like authors and artists of ancient Greece and Rome, he laid the foundations of grand work for posterity, more than the passing generation.

Settlements now began to form at the points where now are the cities of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Jackson, Tecumseh and Pontiac. There were still some annoy- anees by the Indians. The Sacs and Foxes annually made their appearance to ob- tain presents from the English at Malden, and as they passed along they would commit many depredations. This practice of the British Government had a ten- dency to prejudice the Indians against the Americans, and it thus became necessary to take some measures for removing the Indians beyond British influence, or other- wise putting a stop to this dangerous enstom. 9 Accordingly, in the Fall of 1819, Gov. Cass desired the government at Washington to cause a more thorough explor- ation to be made of the lake region, estimating the number and influence of the Indians, their relations, prejudices, etc., with a view to the further extinguishment of Indian title to land, ete .; but the Government deemed it advisable at this time only to take ten miles square at Sault Ste. Marie for military purposes, and some islands near Mackinaw, where beds of plaster had been found to exist. However, the General Government soon ordered an expedition to be fitted out for sneh an exploration as Gov. Cass desired, to travel with birch canoes. The men composing the expedition were Gen. Cass and Robert A. Forsyth, his private secretary ; Capt. D. B. Douglass, topographer and astronomer ; Dr. Alex Waleot, physician ; James D. Doty, official secretary ; and Charles C. Trowbridge, assistant topographer. Lieut. Evans Mackey was comm inder of the escort, which consisted of ten U. S. soldiers.

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Besides these there were ten Canadian voyageurs to manage the canoes, and ten Indians to act as hunter. The latter were under the direction of James Riley and Joseph Parks, who were also to act as interpreters. The party left Detroit, March 21, 1820, and reached Michilimackinac, June 6. On leaving this place, June 11, twenty-two soldiers, under the command of Lieut. John S. Pierce, were added to the party, and the expedition now numbered sixty-four persons. They reached the Sault Ste. Marie the 16th, where Gen. Cass ealled the Indians (Chippewas) to- gether, in order to have a definite understanding with them considering the boun- dary lines of the land grants, and thereby renew also their sanetion of former trea- ties, At first the Indians protested against the Americans having any garrison at the place, and some of them grew violent and almost precipitated a general fight, which would have been disastrous to Gen. Cass' party, as the Indians were far more numer- ous; but Cass exhibited a great degree of coolness and courage, and caused more deliberate counsels to prevail amongst the savages. Thus the threatened storm blew over. The next day the expedition resumed its journey, on Lake Superior, passing the " pictured rocks," and landing at one place where there was a band of friendly Chippewas. June 25, they left Lake Superior, ascended Portage River and returned home by way of Lake Michigan, after having traveled over 4,000 miles.

The results of the expedition were: a more thorough knowledge of a vast re- gion, and of the numbers anl disposition of the various tribes of Indians ; several important Indian treaties, by which valuable lands were ceded to the United States; a knowledge of the operations of the Northwest Fur Company, and the selection of sites for a line of military posts.

As the greater want of the people seemed to be roads, Congress was appealed to for assistance, and not in vain, for that body immediately provided for the open- ing of roads between Detroit and the Miami River, from Detroit to Chicago, and from Detroit to Fort Gratiot, and for the improvement of La Plaisinee Bay. Gov- ernment surveys were carried into the Territory. Two straight lines were drawn through the center of the Territory, east and west, and north and south, the lat- ter being denominated the principal meridian, and the former the base line. The Territory was also divided into townships of six miles square.

In 1821, there was still a tract of land lying south of Grand River which had not yet been added to the United States, and Gov. Cass deemed it necessary to negotiate with the Indians for it. To accomplish this work he had to visit Chicago, and as a matter of curiosity we will inform the reader of his most feasible route to that place, which he can contrast with that of the present day, Leaving Detroit, he descended to the mouth of the Manmee River ; he ascended that river and crossed the intervening country to the Wabash ; descended that stream to the Ohio : down the latter to the Mississippi, and up this and the Illinois rivers to Chicago. At this

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council the American Commissioners were Gen. Cass and Judge Sibley, of Detroit. They were successful in their undertaking, and obtained a cession of the land in question. On this occasion the Indians exhibited in a remarkable manner their appetite for whisky. As a preliminary step to the negotiations, the commissioners ordered that no spirits should be given to the Indians. The chief of the latter was a man of about a hundred years old, but still of a good constitution. The com- missioners urged every consideration to convince him and the other Indians of the propriety of the course they had adopted, but in vain. " Father," said the old chieftain, " we do not care for the land, nor the money, nor the goods : what we want is whisky ; give us whisky." But the commissioners were inexorable, and the Indians were forced to content themselves.

This year (1821) also two Indians were hanged for murder. There was some fear that the event would be made by the British an occasion of arousing Indian atrocities in the vicinity, and the petition for the pardon of the wretches was con- sidered by Gov. Cass with a great deal of embarrassment. He finally concluded to let the law take its course, and, accordingly, Dec. 25, the murderers were hanged.

In 1822 six new counties were created, namely, Lapeer, Sanilac, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Washtenaw and Lenawee; and they contained much more territory than they do at the present day. This year the first stage line was established in the Territory, connecting the county seat of Macomb Connty with the steamer " Walk-in-the-Water" at Detroit.

In 1823, Congress changed the form of Territorial government, abrogating the abrogating power of the governor and judges and establishing a system of " Legis- lative Council," to consist of nine members, appointed by the President of the United States out of eighteen candidates elected by the people. By the same act the term of judicial office was limited to four years, and eligibility to office was made to require the same qualifications as right to suffrage. The people now took new interest in their government, and felt encouraged to lay deep the foundations of future prosperity. The first legislative council under the new regime met at Detroit, June 7, 1824, when Gov. Cass delivered his message reviewing the progress of the Territory, calling attention to the needs of popular education, and recommending a policy of governmental administration. During this year he also called the atten- tion of the General Government to the mineral resources of the Superior region, and asked for governmental explorations therein. At its second session after this, Congress authorized a commission to treat with the Indians of the upper peninsula for permission to explore that country.

In 1825, the Erie Canal was completed from the Hudson River to Buffalo, N. Y., and the effect was to increase materially the flow of people and wealth into the

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN.

young Territory of Michigan. The citizens of the East began to learn the truth concerning the agricultural value of this peninsula, and those in search of good and permanent homes came to see for themselves, and afterwards came with their friends or families to remain as industrious residents, to develop a powerful State. The number in the Territorial Couneil was increased to thirteen, to be chosen by the President from twenty-six persons elected by the people. In 1827 an act was passed authorizing the electors to choose their electors directly, without the further sanction of either the President or Congress. The power of enacting laws was given to the council, subject, however, to the approval of Congress and the veto of the Governor. This form of Territorial government remained in force until Michigan was organized as a State in 1837. William Woodbridge was Secretary of the Territory during the administration of Gov. Cass, and deserves great credit for the ability with which he performed the duties of his office. In the absence of the chief executive he was Aeting Governor, and a portion of the time he repre- sented the Territory as a delegate to Congress. In 1828 he was succeeded by James Witherell, and in two years by Gen. John T. Mason. In 1831 Gen. Cass was appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Jackson, after having served Michigan as its chief executive for eighteen years. He had been appointed six times, running through the presidency of Madison, Monroe and John Q. Adams, without any opposing candidate or a single vote against him in the Senate. He faithfully discharged his duties as Indian Commissioner, and concluded nine- teen treaties with the Indians, acquiring large cessions of territory in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. He was a practical patriot, of whom the people of the peninsular State feel justly proud. Probably more than any other man Gen. Cass was the father of Michigan.

GEN. GEORGE B. PORTER'S ADMINISTRATION.

On the promotion of Gov. Cass to a seat in the Cabinet of President Jackson, and his consequent resignation as Governor of Michigan, Gen. George B. Porter was appointed Governor in July, 1831, and Sept. 22 following he entered upon the duties of the office. The population of the Territory at this time was about 35,000, prosperity was reigning all around, and peace everywhere prevailed, except that in 1832 the Black Hawk War took place in Hlinois, but did not affect this peninsula. In this war, however. Gov. Porter co-operated with the other States in furnishing militia. While Gov. Porter was the chief executive, Wisconsin was de- tached from Michigan and ereeted into a separate Territory ; many new townships were organized, and wagon roads opened and improved ; land began to rise rapidly in valuie, and speculators multiplied. The council provided for the establishment and regulation of common schools, incorporated . The Lake Michigan Steamboat Com-

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pany," with a capital of $40,000, and incorporated the first railroad company in Michigan, the "Detroit & Saint Joseph Railroad Company," since called the " Michigan Central." The original corporators were John Biddle, John R. Wil- liams, Charles Larned, John Gilbert, Abel Millington, Job Gorton, John Allen, Anson Brown, Samuel W. Dexter, W. E. Perrine, William A. Thompson, Isaac Crary, O. W. Colden, Caleb Eldred, Cyrus Lovell, Calvin Brittain and Talman Wheeler. The Act of Incorporation required that the road should be completed within thirty years ; this condition was complied with in less than one-third of that time. The same council also incorporated the " Bank of the River Raisin," with a branch at Pontiac. Previous to this two other banks had been chartered, namely- the " Bank of Michigan," in 1817, with a branch at Bronson, and the " Farmers and Mechanies' Bank of Michigan," with a branch at Saint Joseph.

The Legislative Council of 1834 also authorized a vote of the residents to be taken on the question of organizing as a State and becoming a member of the Union ; but the vote was so light and the majority so small that Congress neglected to consider the matter seriously until two years afterward.

During Porter's administration a change was made in the method of disposing the public lands, greatly to the benefit of the actual settlers. Prior to 1820 the Government price of land was $2 an aere, one-fourth to be paid down, and the remainder in three annual installments ; and the land was subject to forfeiture if these payments were not promptly made. This system having been found produc- tive of many serious evils, the price of land was put $1.25 an aere, all to be paid at the time of purchase. This change saved a deal of trouble. During the admin- istration of Gov. Porter occurred the " Black Hawk " war, mainly in Illinois, in 1832, which did not affect Michigan to any appreciable extent, except to raise sundry fears by the usual alarms accompanying war gossip. A few volunteers probably went to the scene of action from this Territory, but if any systematic account was ever kept of this service, we fail to find it.

In October, 1831, Edwin Jerome left Detroit with a surveying party composed of Jolin Mullet, surveyor, and Utter, Brink and Peck, for that portion of Michigan Territory lying west of Lake Michigan, now Wisconsin. Their outfit consisted of a French pony team and a buffalo wagon to carry tent, camp equipage, blankets, etc. Most of the way to the southeast corner of Lake Michigan they followed a wagon track or Indian trail, and a cabin or an Indian hut to lodge in at night; but west of the point mentioned they found neither road nor inhabitant. They arrived at Chicago in a terrible rain. and " put up " at the fort. This far-famed city at that time had but five or six houses, and they were built of logs. Within a distance of three or four miles of the fort the land was valued by its owners at 50 cents an aere. After twenty-three days' weary travel through an uninhabited country, fording

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and swimming streams and exposed to much rainy weather, they arrived at Galena, where they commenced their survey, but in two days the ground froze so deep that further work was abandoned until the next Spring. The day after the memorable Stillman battle with Black Hawk, while the Mullet party were crossing the Blue Mounds, they met an Indian half-chief, who had just arrived from the Menominee camps with the details of the battle. He stated the slain to be three Indians and eleven whites. The long shaking of hands and the extreme cordiality of this Indian alarmed Mullet for the safety of his party, but he locked the secret in his own heart until the next day. They had just completed a town corner when Mullet. raising himself to his full height, said, " Boys, I'm going in ; I'll not risk my scalp for a few paltry shillings." This laconie speech was an electric shock to the whole company. Mr. Jerome, in describing his own sensations, said that the hair of his head became then as porenpine quills, raising his hat in the air and himself from the ground, and the top of his head became as sore as a boil.

July 6, 1834, Gov. Porter died, and the administration devolved upon the Secretary of the Territory, Stevens T. Mason, during whose time occurred the " Toledo war."

ADMINISTRATION OF GOV. HORNER.

It appears that Mr. Shaler did not accept the governorship of Michigan. and John S. Horner, of Virginia, was soon afterward appointed Secretary and Acting Governor. He proved to be rather unpopular with the people of Michigan, and the following May he was appointed Secretary of Wisconsin Territory. He carried on a lengthy correspondener with Gov. Lueas, which resulted in a discontinuance of all the suits that had grown out of the Toledo war, except the demand for Stickney. Gov. Lucas persisted in refusing to deliver him up; but it seems that, finally, no trouble came of the affair.

The first Monday in October, 1835, the people of Michigan ratified the Con- stitution, and by the same vote elected a full set of State officers. Stevens T. Mason was elected Governor, Edward Mundy Lieutenant Governor, and Isaac E. Crary Representative in Congress. The first legislature under the Constitution was held at Detroit, the capital, on the first Monday in November, and John Norvell and Lucius Lyon were elected United States Senators. A regular cleetion was also held under the Territorial law for dele- gate to Congress, and George W. Jones, of Wisconsin, received the certificate of election, although it is said that William Woodbridge received the highest num- ber of votes. John S. Horner, the Territorial Governor, was still in office here : and this singular mixture of Territorial and State government continued until the following June, when Congress formally received Michigan into the Union as a State, and Horner was sent to Wisconsin. as before noted. This Act of Congress

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History of the St. Clair County, Michigan, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development and resources.., Part 9

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Western historical company, Chicago. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago, A. T. Andreas & co.
Number of Pages: 814