USA > Michigan > Outlines of the political history of Michigan > Part 8
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Many suggestions are made as to the estab- lishment of profitable industries. In this regard
106
NEW SETTLERS.
[CHAP. VI.
there was a great contrast between the French and English. The whole current of Parliamentary and Royal regulation was towards preventing the English colonies from producing anything but raw material. Manufactures were obstructed and prohibited. In New France there was constant encouragement to industry, and the restrictions were confined to the fur trade and dealings with the Indians.
In 1750 and 1751, in pursuance of these views and of previous similar suggestions, a consider- able number of settlers were sent out, and advances were made to them by the government until they were able to take care of themselves. They prospered after they had become fairly settled. But in 1752, it appears that provisions were scarce, so that Indian corn reached twenty livres a bushel in peltries, and it was feared some of the Canadians would have to be sent away. The Hurons and other Indians on whom reliance had been formerly had for corn, could not, from recent disturbances, have been able to furnish it ; and the Commandant at the Illinois would not permit provisions to be sent thence.1 Both Céloron and Longueuil had been censured for not being more alert in furthering the Ohio expe- ditions, but this was perhaps the reason.2 Famine was not the only danger at Detroit. The small pox also began its ravages in the adjacent villages of the Ottawas and Potawatamies.
* I0 N. Y. Doc, 249.
2 10 N. Y. Doc., 249.
107
DETROIT ENLARGED.
CHAP. VI.]
About this time the fort and stockade at Detroit were considerably enlarged. In 1750, the Chevalier de Repentigny began his settlement, and built a fort at the Sault Ste. Marie. In 1754, reference was made by Duquesne to his progress in that work, which "was essential for stopping all the Indians who came down from Lake Superior to go to Chouéguen, but I do not hear that this post yields a great revenue."1
In 1755, Vaudreuil, writing to France to Ma- chault, the Minister of the Marine, makes the fol- lowing reference to the settlement at Detroit: "I doubt not, my Lord, but you have been informed of the excellence of the Detroit lands. That post is considerable, well peopled, but three times more families than it possesses could be easily located there. The misfortune is that we have not enough of people in the colony. I shall make arrange- ments to favor the settlement of two Sisters of the Congregation at that post, to educate the children, without costing the King a penny."2
In 1759, Bigot, the Intendant, stated that the settlers of 1750-I had taken care of themselves and been selling wheat since 1754, from which time they had entailed no expense on the crown.3
During the border war that was going on be- tween the French and English, in the settlements and regions between the Ohio and the Lakes, the Detroit militia appear to have taken an active
I IO N. Y. Doc., 263.
3 10 N. Y. Doc., 1048.
2 10 N. Y. Doc., 376.
108
DIFFICULTIES WITH ENGLISH.
[CHAP VI.
part, and the number of French soldiers-apart from the Indians-must have been quite large." Bellestre was especially active, and commanded in several sharp engagements. The Reports speak of him repeatedly with very high encomiums. The supplies for the operations on the Ohio, and in Pennsylvania and Virginia, came largely from De- troit.
Before hostilities broke out there was much crimination and recrimination between the Cana- dian Government and the English authorities in New York, the former accusing British emissaries with conspiring to assassinate the Commander at Detroit, and the latter charging similar misdeeds on the French.2 The old dispute was also renewed in regard to priority of claim to Detroit, which had been so bitter in the early part of the century.3 Colden, Delancey, and Pownall, in various ways, urged the necessity of getting control of this re- gion.4 Pownall referred to it at length in the Albany Congress of 1754, which was intended to unite the English colonies in a confederation for general defence, and the management of their common interests.5
When the English performed the cruel deed of banishing the Acadians from their homes, and scattering families as well as communities, with a cold-blooded inhumanity that no excuse can miti-
1 10 N. Y. Doc , 425. 4 6 N. Y. Doc., 990.
2 6 N. Y. Doc., 105, 107, 489, 493, 579. 5 6 N. Y. Doc., 893.
3 6 N. Y. Doc., 743, 773, 731.
109
SURRENDER
CHAP VI.]
gate, some of the unfortunate victims found a refuge in Detroit, as well as in other French set- tlements. The beautiful story of Evangeline is a sad but not exaggerated tale of these atrocities.
As the war on the lower St. Lawrence drew towards its close, Bellestre was chosen to take charge of the post of Detroit,' and to gather in all the western forces to preserve it at all events. He had been in command there for some years, but was too valuable a man to leave unemployed; and so long as there was any service to be done elsewhere he was given large powers. Vaudreuil, in June, 1760, wrote to the French Minister Berryer: "M. de Bellestre is preparing to receive the English, who I think are not going to Detroit ; it may cost them very dear, because all the na- tions are disposed to join the French."2
But, on the 8th of September, 1760, the whole Province was surrendered. In November, 1760, Major Robert Rogers, with a force consisting of part of the 60th (Royal Americans) and Soth regiments, appeared below the town and demanded its surrender. The Commandant was justly aston- ished, and in no way inclined to accept the truth of the capitulation of a post he had been so care- fully warned to defend. But the evidence was unanswerable, and he was compelled to submit ; and the British flag was raised over the astounded settlement.
I IO N. Y. Doc., 1093.
2 10 N. Y. Doc., 1094.
110
PIQUOTÉ DE BELLESTRE.
[CHAP. VI.
François Marie, commonly called and signing himself Piquoté de Bellestre, was so highly es- teemed by the French authorities, that it seems strange to find him spoken of lightly by some of our writers as a fanfaron and a man of small account. There are few names so often and so honorably mentioned during the period of his entire manhood. He was head of one of the oldest houses of Canada, and was a Knight of St. Louis. Immediately after the organization of the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, under the Royal proclamation of 1763, he was made one of its members, and was also Superintendent of Public Ways. In 1775, the Canadian noblesse were enrolled under his command, and he did notable service to the British, in opposing the American invasion at St. Jean, for which he received public thanks from the commanding gen- eral. He lived to a good old age, and saw the inauguration of the new government of Lower Canada in 1791. He left no son. His daughter married Major Mc Donell, of the British Army.
As the last of the French Commanders, he deserves a prominent place in the History of Michigan.
CHAPTER VII.
MICHIGAN UNDER BRITISH MILITARY RULE.
THE assumption of possession of Michigan by the English, when there was but a single town, properly so called, and when the settlers near it were few in number, and all within a line of ten miles long, did not give occasion for any imme- diate change of legal systems. In fact there was so little for law to operate upon, that the people knew nothing about its niceties. By the articles of capitulation of Montreal, those Frenchmen who chose to do so could leave the colony, and, under some limitations, dispose of their estates. Repentigny would not stay in America, but went to France, and his infant colony almost disap- peared. In May, 1762, Alexander Henry found there a stockaded fort and four houses, which had formerly been used by the Governor, inter- preter and garrison. At this time there remained but one family, that of Mr. Cadotte, the inter- preter, whose wife was a Chippewa. During that season Lieutenant Jamette arrived with a small detachment to garrison the fort. In December of that year, all but one of the houses were burned,
112
MACKINAW. DETROIT.
[CHAP. VII.
and a part of the stockade, which was just below the rapids.
The Island of Michilimackinac was at this time the seat of a Chippewa village. The fort was, where it had been in Charlevoix's time, south of the strait. When the French garrison aban- doned it, there was a time during which it was not looked after at all; but there were some French inhabitants. The fort was built of cedar pickets, and had an area of two acres. It stood so near the beach that the waves beat against the stockade in a high wind. Within the enclosure were thirty neat and commodious houses, and a church. There were two small brass cannon which had been captured by the Canadians on some raid in the Hudson's Bay country.'
The population of Detroit and its vicinage has been variously estimated. Rogers estimated it at 2,500, with 300 dwellings. Croghan, in 1764, says there were 300 or 400 families. There must have been a considerable settlement, as a large force was sent up and quartered there until re- duced by detachments. All the accounts are somewhat unreliable as they seldom define the ex- tent of the settlement. Very few, if any, of the population left the country after the surrender. Some went to Illinois. Bellestre and his garrison were escorted to the East. The settlement was on both sides of the Strait, extending to Lake St. Clair.
I Henry, 40, 41.
113
PANIS. BUFFALOES.
CHAP. VII.]
There were in this, as in other parts of the colony, a good many slaves. A very few were of African descent. Most were Panis or Pawnees, who were originally captives brought by the In- dians from the west and south, and most of them belonging to distant tribes. Such captives included Cherokees, Choctaws, Pawnees, Osages, and some others, but the name Pani was applied to all Indians in slavery. The treaty of peace secured the title to these servants as of other property, and the old records contain many refer- ences to them and conveyances of them. They continued to be kept after the American posses- sion, and the last of the race that our generation has known was (though not then a slave) in the service of Governor Woodbridge a few years since.1
At the time of the change of sovereignty, in 1760, the wilderness had not been encroached upon, and, besides a great abundance of other game, buffaloes were very numerous in the Lower Penin- sula, and for many years after were found in herds along the River Raisin, and all through the oak opening and prairie country.
The Treaty of Peace was not signed until 1763. Till then no regulations were adopted by the Crown for the government of the country, and it was under the control of General Gage ;
I Judge Burnet, in his " Notes on the Northwest," speaks of the Detroit Pawnee servants as exceptionally good and docile.
8
114
CHABERT DE JONCAIRE.
[CHAP. VII.
but he was much aided by the judicious counsels of Sir William Johnson, whose advice was always honest and generally wise, but not always heeded.
The most active and intelligent Frenchman of consequence, who continued in this part of the country, was the Chevalier Chabert de Joncaire, a celebrated partisan leader among the French, who had great influence with the Senecas, and acted on occasion as interpreter. He was an object of suspicion to the English after the conquest, and received frequent mention in the reports. He afterwards became an officer in the British service, and was active among the Indians in the British interest during Wayne's campaign. After the Americans took possession, he was always reckoned a worthy citizen, and was one of the first dele- gates from Wayne County to the Legislature of the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, in 1799. He was then generally known as Colonel Chabert, though using for his signature his name of Jon- caire.1
As soon as Montreal capitulated, Major Rob- ert Rogers, who had gained reputation as a par- tisan ranger, was appointed to accompany the detachments which were to take possession of the western posts. A large part of the forces con- sisted of several companies of the 60th or Royal
I His father and grandfather, like himself, appear to have had much to do with the Senecas and other New York Indians, and to have acted as agents and interpreters in some of their negotiations His name seems to have puzzled both Dutch and English, who write it sometimes as John Cœur, and Jean Caire, but seldom correctly.
115
ROYAL AMERICANS
CHAP. VII.]
American Regiment, officered chiefly by American gentlemen from New York and other Eastern colonies, several of them of Scottish birth or des- cent. Colonel George Croghan, who had long experience with the Indians, accompanied the ex- pedition. On their way up in Ohio, near Cuya- hoga River, they encountered Pontiac, the great chief of the Ottawas, who had for more than twenty years kept his village a little above Detroit, on the eastern side of the river. After a parley he parted with them peaceably, and with apparent friendliness. In November, 1760, as before men- tioned, after some difficulty in persuading Bellestre that the Province had capitulated, Rogers took possession of Detroit.
The officers of the 60th seem to have been much better qualified to deal with the Indians than some of their associates. Sir William John- son, whose correspondence on Indian affairs marks him as a just man, repeats over and over again his complaints that the hostility of the Indians was originally excited and always kept up, by the arrogance and insolence of the English. In 1768, reviewing the course of the past few years, he re- curred to this in reference to the Pontiac War.' And it is mentioned in one of the Reports, that on the first expedition this spirit was offensively manifest. Rogers and Croghan were better skilled in dealing with the savages, and the officers of the 60th were generally well thought of in the coun-
1 8 N. Y. Doc., 85.
116
DETROIT TRADERS.
[CHAP. VII.
try. Some of them, however, knew very little of the Indians.
Captain Donald Campbell, of the 60th, was made first commandant, and continued in command till superseded by Major Gladwin, his superior in rank, in 1763.
Immediately in the train of the expedition, came traders from Albany, who got a very early foothold in the country. They were mostly Dutch, and bore names still familiar in New York. There were also some roving English traders, whom Sir William Johnson refers to with much bitterness. In his elaborate Review, of September, 1767, he mentions numerous instances of the mischief done by the greedy and unscrupulous adventurers, who cheated and deceived the Indians and made all Englishmen obnoxious to the savages.'
The greatest number of permanent traders who finally settled in Detroit were of Scottish birth or origin, and their eastern connections were principally with Schenectady and Albany. These gentlemen obtained and kept a great ascendancy among the Indians. They came mostly after the Pontiac war.
Sir Jeffery Amherst stated in 1762, that up to that time trade had been entirely free.2 It appears, however, that passes were required to go into the Indian country, but they were at first granted al- most as a matter of course. Under the King's
I 7 N. Y. Doc, 953, et seq.
2 7 N. Y. Doc., 508.
117
TREATY RIGHTS.
CHAP VII.]
proclamation of 1763, they issued to all who gave security." The Albany merchants appear to have been quite arrogant in their claims.2
While the access to Detroit was made easy, very few were allowed to go into the upper country. The French who remained in that region, as well as in the Illinois country and Detroit, were not contented, and were in many instances very active in stirring up the Indians. As early as June, 1761, General Gage had discovered that Pontiac was busy in the French interest, and Alexander Henry on this account had great trouble in procuring permission to go to Mackinaw.3 The Indians did not regard themselves as subject to be disposed of by French and English treaties, and were very partial to their old friends.
A period of eighteen months after the Definit- ive Treaty of 1763 was allowed to the inhabitants, to determine whether to remain in the colony or remove to France; and they were allowed to sell their lands, on such removal, to British subjects. Many Acadians had come into Canada to escape the oppression which they had met at home, and efforts were made to secure to them the same terms given to the Canadians ; but the preliminary capitulation rejected these, and left them in many respects at the mercy of the British. The Definit- ive Treaty seems to have put them all on sub- stantially the same footing, and it is not known
1 7 N. Y. Doc., 535, 637.
3 Henry, 11.
2 7 N. Y. Doc., 613.
118
FRENCH DISAFFECTION. [CHAP. VII.
that any difference was afterwards made between them. The inhabitants of French descent for a long time regarded themselves as treated with quite impartial harshness.
The French inhabitants had hoped that Canada might be restored to France. In 1763, a plan of insurrection is found to have been communicated to the French Government,' but there was little material except Indians to work with, since the French officers had then mostly left the country. Nevertheless, there is no doubt the interval between the fall of Montreal and the final pacifi- cation of Canada, was filled with plots and schemes to shake off the English yoke. Joncaire was very active, and others less noted. The garrison and traders in Detroit, in their correspondence, show a very uneasy feeling in regard to their Canadian neighbors, who were unmistakably disgusted with the change of government, although having no particular reason for ill-will against their own garrison. Sir William Johnson, when in Detroit, in 1761, did what he could to secure a pleasant state of things with the tribes, but went home full of misgivings.2 When Alexander Henry went to the upper country that year, he found it necessary to disguise himself to save his life from the savages; and even at Mackinaw he was in constant danger until the troops came up under Ether- ington and Leslie. Lieutenant Gorrell, who was sent on to Green Bay with the same expedition,
1 10 N. Y. Doc., 1157.
2 7 N. Y. Doc., 525, 575.
119
CHẤP. VII.]
CONDUCT OF THE INDIANS.
found himself unable to meet the demands of the Indians for what they claimed to be the customary presents ; and the Commandant at Detroit had not means to supply him. The Green Bay Indians, however, were from the first quite friendly, while the deadliest hatred towards the English was
among the Chippewas. The northern Ottawas, whom we generally in later times have been accustomed to regard as practically united with the latter, were then not so disposed, and in more than one instance prevented the Chippewas from doing mischief. The conduct of the Sakis or Sacs and Ottawas at L'Arbre Croche in befriending Captain Etherington and Gorrell, with their asso- ciates, after the massacre at Mackinaw, in 1763, was very warmly commended by Sir William John- son and the colonial office.' Pontiac himself was a chief of the Ottawas, and his band adhered to him; but they were a more humane and civil- ized race than the Chippewas, and the northern Ottawas were not always in the closest relations with all of the other bands. Some doubts have been expressed by careless writers about Pontiac's tribal relations. But in the Mission Records of 1742 he is mentioned as chief of the Ottawas, near Detroit. A chief of the same name-per- haps a relative-is found among the Ottawa signers of the treaty made at the Miami Rapids in 1817, though his reputed nephew, the celebrated cen- tenarian Okemos, was a chief of the Chippewas.
I Gorrell's Narrative. 7 N. Y. Doc., 543, 552, 561.
120
PONTIAC.
[CHAP. VII.
In 1766, Pontiac executed alone, on behalf of the Ottawa Nation, a conveyance to Doctor George Christian Anthon,1 of land adjoining his village. As this was done at a public treaty, at the time when he made his peace with the English, and in presence of Colonel Croghan, the Indian Superin- tendent, and Colonel Campbell, the Commander of Detroit, there can be no question of his tribal position.
Except for the uneasiness concerning the schemes of Pontiac, there seems to have been nothing im- portant in the affairs of Michigan at this period. The history of his final assault upon the western posts, and its terrible success at all of them except Detroit, has been made familiar by the fascinating pages of Mr. Parkman. The only occupied points in the territory now belonging to Michigan were St. Joseph, Mackinaw and Detroit. The Sault Ste. Marie had been abandoned before the outbreak. St. Joseph was held by an ensign and fourteen men, who were suddenly attacked by the Potawatamies on the 25th of May, 1763, and all but Ensign Schlosser and three men were tomahawked. These four were taken to Detroit and exchanged. At Mackinaw, Captain Etherington, in spite of the plainest and surest warnings, neglected all precau- tions, and was entrapped by a simple contrivance.
I This grant was made in token of the good will of the Nation to Doc- tor Anthon, probably for his medical services. He was father of the emin- ent scholars Henry, Charles and John Anthon, of New York, some of whom were natives of Detroit.
121
MASSACRE AT MACKINAW.
CHAP. VII.]
The Indians organized a great game of baggattaway,' or la crosse, (named from the long handled net or racket with which the ball is thrown to a great distance.) In this game there are two posts or goals at a long distance apart, and the two parties each seek to drive the ball to opposite points. Etherington was leisurely observing the game (on which he had laid wagers) and, as if by chance, the ball was thrown into the fort, and the Indians rushed in pell mell? after it. Once within the fort, they began the slaughter. Ether- ington and Lieutenant Leslie, with a handful of men, were hurried away as prisoners, together with Mr. Bostwick, a trader who had preceded Henry, and Father Jonois, the missionary at L'Arbre Croche. Henry was concealed by a Pani woman in the garret of Mr. Langlade, a Frenchman, who was an off-shoot of the distin- guished colonial family of that name, but who showed an utter want of common humanity in his dealings with the unfortunate fugitive. He was finally saved by the intercession of an Indian named Wawatam, who had become attached to him and adopted him as his brother. The Jesuit mis-
I Pagaadowan. The Indian crosier or raquette, with which the game is played. Pagaadowewin the game itself .- Baraga. The ball is called pik- wakwad .- Id. The raquette resembles a long handled battledore. Charle- voix describes two games of ball with these implements -Letter 22.
2 There was one fashion of playing the old English game of pall mall with a racket, and this term pell-mell may have been derived from the con- fused rush which is always made for the ball in such games, as in the game of shinty, (vulgo shinny.) See quotations under " Pall Mall" in Richard- son's Dictionary.
I22
RESCUE OF PRISONERS.
[CHAP. VII.
sionary, who was a good and sensible man, was sent to Detroit with messages to Major Gladwin. Henry was taken to the Island of Mackinaw, and concealed for a time in Scull Cave. He was afterwards taken safely to the lower lakes. The other captives were carried to L'Arbre Croche, and kindly treated. During this carnival of cru- elty, the bodies of the slain were boiled and eaten by the Indians, and Henry's friend Wawa- tam partook of the horrid feast.
Etherington managed to send a letter to Lieutenant Gorrell, at Green Bay. That gallant officer gathered a force of friendly Indians, and set out to the rescue of his comrades. He stopped near Beaver Island, expecting to find them there. He was met by a canoe sent out from L'Arbre Croche, and then pushed on to meet them at that place. By the good offices of the Ottawas, who would not let the Chippewas stop or injure them, they were all enabled to reach Montreal.1
In these massacres the French were left un- harmed, and were evidently on good terms with the Indians. Some of them showed the qualities which become Christian and civilized people. Some of them betrayed no signs of humanity. It is wonderful to see how often both Frenchmen and Englishmen on the borders have not only tolerated but encouraged Indian barbarities against the whites. The period between the beginning
I Gorrell's Narrative.
123
WHITE SAVAGES.
CHAP VIİ.]
of the American Revolution and the Battle of the Thames, in 1813, witnessed many cruel scenes, for which men of standing and consequence were far more responsible than the red men whom they stirred up to mischief. Few, if any, of the great Indian outbreaks originated with the sava- ges. No more indignant complaints against this conduct of influential Englishmen were ever heard anywhere than those of leading British statesmen in Parliament against the use of such barbarous instruments for the slaughter of the American settlers. And Tecumseh, at Fort Meigs, was active in restraining barbarities, which he rebuked General Proctor in the most cutting language for allowing and encouraging.
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