USA > Michigan > St Clair County > St. Clair County, Michigan, its history and its people; a narrative account of its historical progress and its principal interests, Vol. I > Part 10
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In this way it might be said with some propriety that each tribe or nation had title to the territory over which they roamed. In any event, there was no higher authority to which they owed or gave allegiance. Under the feudal system the title to all land was in the king, and in consideration of certain services to be rendered, he gave to his vassals certain rights over or to the land and its use, but in theory, and often in practice, these rights were forfeited and the king could therefore treat the property as his own and hand it over to an abler or more desirable vassal.
The individual ownership of land, free from any claims or rights of
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a superior, was an idea slow in coming, and did not arrive until the decay of the feudal system.
Such ownership as was possessed by the Indians was a tribal or national ownership, to be exercised by them in common, and was subject to be taken from them by a victorious enemy; there was never any idea of attempting to pass any rights by voluntary action, although cases did occur where one tribe would permit another to enter territory "belong- ing" to it, and live within it, as a matter of friendship.
Until the Europeans came, the occupancy of land merely meant the opportunity of killing enough animals to supply food and clothing, ex- cept in the few cases where cultivation of corn and some vegetables required a fixed place of living.
The Europeans brought to the Indians a great change in their mode of living; the bow and arrow gave way to the gun, which enabled them to kill animals more surely and rapidly ; the skin of the wild animal gave way to the blanket, and many other articles of fancy or use were made known, and new desires created. At the same time a means of satisfy- ing these desires and obtaining these articles was furnished in the willingness of the white man to purchase the skins of all fur bearing animals, and of all animals the beaver became the most important, and the localities where it flourished the most valuable. The Iroquois, the most settled, as well as the fiercest fighters among the Indians, coveted the fine beaver hunting of the Canadian peninsula between Lake Ontario and Lake Huron, and this furnished a strong motive for the destruction of the Hurons and allied nations in the territory which they had occu- pied and claimed from time immemorial.
THE IROQUOIS TITLE
The other raids incessantly carried on by the Iroquois gave them a claim over a great extent of territory around the lakes, which they insisted upon as theirs in their dealings with the English.
The Europeans, however, did not recognize that the Indians had any title. in the modern sense of the word, to any of the territory they occu- pied, and with few exceptions treated them as occupants without real rights, and claimed absolute ownership and sovereignty in their own particular ruler. Thus the English king gave to individuals or com- panies vast tracts of land in the newly discovered country, without any thought that title rested anywhere else except in him, or that there could be any imperfection in his title. The French king had the same view and took the same course. By them both the Indians were regarded not as having rights, but as privileges which might properly be taken away from them if their conduct was not at all times entirely satisfac- tory. Each king assumed a sort of protectorate over all the tribes which could be induced to accept it, and each king also claimed as his own all the territory occupied or roamed over by his wards.
In the discovery and exploration of the country, the English settled along the sea coast, the French entering the St. Lawrence, explored the Great Lakes and the Mississippi region, thus extending all along in the rear of the English.
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The line of demarcation between New France or Canada, the French possessions, and the English colonies, was always vague and indefinite and became the subject of many quarrels. In 1701 the authorities of New York obtained from the Iroquois a deed which will be found interesting as indicating the character of the respective claims to the territory in which St. Clair county is located : "To all Christian & Indian people in this parte of the world and in Europe over the great salt waters, to whom the presents shall come- Wee the Sachims Chief men, Captns. and representatives of the Five Nations or Cantons of Indians called the Maquase Oneydas Onnandages and Sinnekes living in the Government of New Yorks in America, to the north west of Albany on this side the Lake Cadarachqui sendeth greeting-Bee it known unto you that our ancestors to our certain knowledge have had, time out of mind a fierce and bloody warr with seaven nations of Indians called the Aragaritkas whose Chief comand was called successively Chohahise-The land is scituate lycing and being northwest and by west from Albany beginning on the south west side of Cadarachqui lake and includes all that waste Tract of Land lyeing between the great lake off Ottawawa and the lake called by the natives Sahiquage and by the Christians the lake of Swege and runns till it butts upon the Twiehtwichs and is bounded on the right hand by a place called Quadoge conteigning in length about eight hundred miles and in bredth four hundred miles including the country where the bevers the deers, Elks and such beasts keep and the place called Tieugsach- rondio, alias Fort de Tret or wawyachtenok and so runs round the lake of swege till you come to place called Oniadarondaquat which is about twenty miles from the Sinnekes Castles which said seaven nations our predecessors did four score years agoe totally_conquer and subdue and drove them out of that country and had peaceable and quiet possession of the same to hunt beavers (which was the motive caused us to war for the same) for three score years it being the only chief place for hunting in this parte of the world that ever wee heard of and after that wee had been sixty years sole masters and owners of the said land enjoying peaceable hunting without any internegotion, a remnant of one of the seaven nations called Tionondade whom wee had expelled and drove away came and settled there twenty years ago, disturbed our beaver hunting against which nation wee have warred ever since and would have subdued them long ere now had not they been assisted and suc- coured by the French of Canada, and whereas the Governour of Canada aforesaid hath lately sent a considerable force to a place called Tjeugh- saghronde the principall passe that commands said land to build a Forte there without our leave and consent, by which means they will possess themselves of that excellent country where there is not only a very good soile but great plenty of all maner of wild beasts in such quantities that there is no maner of trouble in killing of them and also will be sole masters of the Boar hunting whereby wee shall be deprived of our livelyhood and subsistance and brought to perpetual bondage and slavery, and wee having subjected ourselves and lands on this side of Cadarachqui lake wholy to the Crown of England wee the said Sachims chief men Captns and representatives of the Five nations after
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mature deliberation out of a deep sence of the many Royall favours extended to us by the present great Monarch of England King William the third, and in consideration also that wee have lived peaceably and quietly with the people of albany our fellow subjects above eighty years when wee first made a firm league and covenant chain with these Christians that first came to settle Albany on this river which covenant chain hath been yearly renewed and kept bright and clear by all the Governours successively and many neighboring Govermts of English and nations of Indians have since upon their request been admitted into the same. Wee say upon these and many other good motives us here- unto moveing have freely and voluntary surrendered delivered up and for ever quit claimed, and by these presents doe for us our heires and successors absolutely surrender. deliver up and for ever quit claime unto our great Lord and Master the King of England called by us Corachkoo and by the Christians William the third and to his heires and successors Kings and Queens of England for ever all the right title and interest and all the claime and demand whatsoever which wee the said five nations of Indians called the Maquase, Oneydes, Onnondages, Cayouges and Sinnekes now have or which wee ever had or that our heirs or successors at any time hereafter may or ought to have of in or to all that vast Tract of land or Colony called Canagariarchio beginning on the northwest side of Cadarachqui lake and includes all that vast tract of land lyeing between the great lake of Ottawawa and the lake called by the natives Cahiquage and by the Christians the lake of Swege and runns till it butts upon the Twichtwichs and is bounded on the westward by the Twichtwichs by a place called Quadoge conteining in length about eight hundred miles and in breath four hundred miles including the Country where Beavers and all sorts of wild game keeps and the place called Tjeughsaghrondie alias Fort de tret or Wawyach- tenock and so runns round the lake of Swege till you come to a place called Oniadarundaquat which is about twenty miles from the Sinnekes castles including likewise the great falls oakinagaro, all of which (was) formerly posest by seaven nations of Indians called the Aragaritka, whom by a fair warr wee subdued and drove from thence four score years agoe bringing many of them captives to our country and soe be- came to be the true owners of the same by conquest which said land is scituate lyeing and being as is above expressed with the whole soyle the lakes the rivers and all things pertaining to the said tract of land or colony with power to erect Forts and castles there, soe that wee the said Five nations nor our heires nor any other person or persons for us by any ways or meanes hereafter have claime challenge and demand of in or to the premises or any parte thereof alwayes provided and it is hereby expected that wee are to have free hunting for us and the heires and descendants from us the Five nations for ever and that free of all disturbances expecting to be protected therein by the Crown of England but from all the action right title interest and demand of in or to the premises or every of them shall and will be uterly excluded and debarred for ever by these presents and wee the said Sachims of the Five Nations of Indians called the Maquase, Oneydes, Onnandages, Cayouges and Sinnekes and our heires the said tract of land or Colony,
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lakes and rivers and premises and every part and parcel thereof with their and every of their appurtenances unto our souveraigne Lord the King William the third & his heires and successors Kings of England te his and their proper use and uses against us our heires and all and every other person lawfully claiming by from or under us the said Five nations shall and will warrant and for ever defend by these presents .- In Witness whercof wee the Sachims of the Five nations above men- tioned in behalf of ourselves and the Five nations have signed and sealed this present Instrument and delivered the same as an Act and decd to the Honble. John Nafan Esqr. Lieutt. Govr. to our Great King in this province whom we call Corlaer, in the presence of all the Magis- trates officers and other inhabitants of Albany praying our Brother Corlaer to send it over to Carachkoo our dread souveraigne Lord and that he would be graciously pleased to accept of the same Actum in Albany in the middle of the high street this nineteenth day of July in the thirteenth year of His Majty's reign Annoque Domini 1701."
Signed by the chiefs of the four nations named, but also of the Cayugas, with their various clan totems.
In this deed the Maquase are the Mohawks, Lake Cadarachqui is Lake Ontario; Lake of Ottawawa, Lake Huron; Lake of Swege, Lake Erie ; Twichtwichs, the Miami Indians, located at the south end of Lake Michigan.
At the conclusion of the French and English war all the rights of the French in this region passed to the English and in turn those rights passed to the United States by the treaty of 1783.
QUEBEC
Although by the treaty between the French and the English this region passed under the dominion of the English, and even at that time Detroit was a post of some importance, the English government was in deep ignorance about the situation, and when the government of Quebec was established in 1763 the western line was so drawn that no part of this region was included, and for some years Detroit and Mackinac and other western posts were in an anomalous position, and under no govern- ment except the personal government of the king of England. In 1774 this situation was corrected by extending the lines of Quebec to take in this section.
The king's proclamation of 1763 provided that all the territory not included within any of the new provinces or within the land of the Hudson Bay Company and lying west of the Alleghanies, be reserved for the Indians until further consideration. At that time the English government had just begun to realize that the Indians disliked and feared the English because they were continually spreading out and encroaching, and that the Pontiac war was the strongest evidence of this feeling. In recognition of this feeling, and to prevent its extension, the proclamation further provided that no governor or commander-in- chief should presume upon any pretence whatever to grant warrants of survey or pass any patents for lands beyond the bounds of their re- spective governments, or upon any lands which, not having been ceded
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to or purchased by the English king, were reserved to the Indians for hunting grounds. It further prohibited any private persons from making any purchases or settlements, without special license, and pro- vided that if at any time the Indians were inclined to dispose of any of their lands, they could be purchased only for the king, at a publie meeting of the Indians held for that purpose by the governor or com- mander-in-chief. All these prohibitions continued in effect so long as the English controlled the situation, but as we shall see, were not always obeyed.
COLONIAL CLAIMS
When the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was made in 1783, and the United Colonies obtained from England a cession of its rights to this region, complications at once ensued over the respective claims to all the territory northwest of the Ohio river, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York all having claims to part or all of it.
The claim of Virginia was based upon the charter granted by King James I in May, 1609, to the "Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for the First Colony in Virginia." The territorial limits granted by this charter extended along the sea coast 200 miles in each direction, northward and southward from Cape or Point Comfort, "and all that space and circuit of land lying from the sea coast of the precincts aforesaid up into the land throughout from sea to sea west and northwest." This modest gift of a tract 400 miles in width, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, made by a king whose only right consisted in the fact that an English subject had been the first of white men to coast along its shore, or make short incursions up a few of its rivers, has some justification in the ignorance enjoyed by the English of what extent of territory lay back of the sea coast. This tract would extend about to 40 degrees north latitude and would not include any portion of Michigan, but a good deal of the Northwest territory.
The claim of Massachusetts was based upon a charter from James I to the "council established at Plymouth in the County of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering and governing of New England in America," dated November 3, 1620. This granted the territory "lying and being in breadth from forty degrees of northerly latitude from the equinoctial line to forty-eight degrees of said northerly latitude inclu- sively, and in length of and within all the breadth aforesaid through- out the main land from sea to sea, together also with all the firm land, soils, grounds, havens, ports, rivers, waters, fishings, mines and min- erals," and would include the entire State of Michigan, and as will be noticed, if King James owned it, the Plymouth council obtained all there was of much value.
In March, 1628, the Council of Plymouth sold to Sir Henry Ros- well and his associates that part of their grant lying between the paral- lels passing through a point three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimac river and a point three miles south of the mouth of Charles
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river and extending westward to the Pacific. This sale was confirmed by Charles I in March, 1629, to Roswell and his associates incorporated as the Governor and Company of Massachusetts Bay in New England. Its territory would be a narrow strip about thirty-five miles wide, and would cover the lower half of St. Clair county.
In 1684 the charter of Massachusetts was vacated and in October, 1691, a new charter was granted by William and Mary consolidating the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Plymouth, Maine and Acadia, or Nova Scotia, and the intervening territory into one colony under the name of Massachusetts Bay. By this charter the territory of the colony was largely inereased so that from the east line of Connecticut west- ward it would include the land from sea to sea between parallels 42° and 42° 40' north latitude, or a somewhat wider strip in lower Michigan than before.
CONNECTICUT CLAIM
In 1630 the Council of Plymouth made a grant of another part of its territory to the Earl of Warwick, which was by him transferred on March 19, 1630, to Lord Say and Seal and Lord Brooke. This grant covered that part of New England west of the Narraganset river "ex- tending the space of forty leagues upon a straight line near the sea shore toward the south and west as the coast lieth toward Virginia, ac- counting three English miles to the league, and also all and singular the lands and tenements whatsoever lying and being within the lands aforesaid north and south in latitude and in breadth and length and longtiude of and within all the breadth aforesaid throughout the main lands therefrom the Western Ocean ( Atlantic) to the South Sea.
In April, 1662, Charles II granted the charter of Connectient, which consolidated all the settlements within its limits into one colony by the name of "the governor and Company of the English Colony in Connec- ticut in America." The limits of this colony were described as "all that part of our dominions in New England in America bounded on the east by Narragansett River, commonly called Narragansett Bay, where the said river falleth into the sea, and on the north by the line of the Mas- sachusetts' plantation and on the south by the sea; and in longitude as the line of the Massachusetts' colony running from east to west, that is to say, from the said Narragansett Bay on the east to the South Sea on the west part, with the islands thereunto adjoining." This would include all the lower part of Michigan south of the Massachusetts line.
This was then the situation of the so called northwestern lands at the beginning of the year 1781 ; a few posts were occupied by the Eng- lish with small cultivated settlements around them, but practically the entire territory was in the roaming ocenpaney of the Indians. who had a few settlements of their own, while the title to it all was claimed by several of the colonies under grants from English kings made in igno- rance of the character and extent of land westward of the Appalachian mountains.
These conflicting claims on the part of the colonies who were en- gaged in their life and death struggle for independence, seemed likely Vol. I-5
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to produce much dissension and trouble among themselves, but hap- pily a way out was found through the ceding by each of the eolonies interested of its rights in these western lands.
New York, which claimed under its deed from the Six Nations, led the way, and in March, 1781, her delegates in congress conveyed all her claims outside the present limits of the state to the Confederated States, and this cession was accepted by the congress of the Confedera- tion, October 29, 1782.
The next state to follow this patriotie action was Virginia, which after some delay, on March 1, 1784, through its delegates in congress, ceded to the Confederation all its right, title and claim to the traet of country lying to the northwest of the River Ohio with certain ex- ceptions.
On November 13, 1784, Massachusetts authorized her delegates in congress to cede her claim to the western lands to the Confederation, and congress having agreed to accept the cession, the delegates on April 19, 1785, executed a formal deed to the United States of America of all her right, title and estate to these lands.
But one state remained which had made any claim to land now in- cluded in Michigan, and on September 13, 1786, the delegates from Connecticut granted and ceded to the United States all the right, title, interest, jurisdiction and elaim of the state of Connecticut to its west- ern lands, except the so-called Western Reserve in Ohio.
England in the meantime having by the treaty of 1783 ceded all its rights and claims to the United States. the latter now united in itself all claims or rights of every kind to this land except such as might be recognized as belonging to the Indians.
Under authority of congress, a proclamation was issued September 22, 1783, prohibiting all persons "making settlements on lands claimed by Indians without the limits or jurisdiction of any particular state, and from purchasing or receiving any gift or cession of such lands or claims without the express authority and direction of the United States in congress assembled."
The Articles of Confederation gave to congress sole power to manage affairs with the Indians, but this provision was not carried into the new constitution, and in its eonduet with the Indians the congress of the United States under the constitution aeted under its general powers and from the beginning until 1871 congress pursued the uniform course of extinguishing the Indian title only with the consent of those tribes which were recognized as having claim to the soil by reason of oecu- paney.
INDIAN TREATIES AFFECTING THE COUNTY
The first treaty made with the Indians affecting land in St. Clair county was with the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot and Potawatomie tribes, and was made at Detroit by Governor William Hull, November 17, 1807. By this treaty those tribes eeded to the United States all claim to the following deseribed traet of country, viz .: Beginning at the mouth of the Miami river of the lakes (Maumee river) and run- ning thence up the middle thereof to the mouth of the great Au Glaize
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river, thence due north until it intersects a parallel of latitude to be drawn from the outlet of Lake Huron, which forms the River Sin- clair, thence running northeast the course that may be found will lead in a direct line to White Rock in Lake Huron, thence due east until it intersects the boundary line between the United States and Upper Canada in said lake, thence southwardly following the said boundary line down said lake through the River Sinclair, Lake St. Clair and the River Detroit into Lake Erie to a point due east of the aforesaid Miami river, thence west to the place of beginning."
From this grant there were made several reservations, including six sections of one mile square each, to be in such situations as the said Indians should elect, subject to the approval of the president of the United States. Under this provision and acting under the direction of Governor Hull, Aaron Greeley, the government surveyor of private claims, surveyed and located two tracts within the county of St. Clair, one tract of 1,200 acres upon the south side of Black river, near its mouth, and one tract of 5,760 acres at the mouth of Swan creek of Lake St. Clair.
This treaty was signed by seventeen Chippewa chiefs, five Ottawas, five Potawatomies, and three Wyandots, probably expressing in some degree the relative numbers of the Indians affected by the treaty.
The tract granted by the treaty included about six million acres within the state of Michigan, and its west line was subsequently adopted as the principal meridian of Michigan, in the system of public surveys, and forms the western line of the counties of Lenawee, Shiawassee and Saginaw.
By the treaty of 1807 the United States became the sole and abso- lute owner of all the land within the boundaries of the treaty, except the reservations, and also except the obligations arising from the treaty with Great Britain of 1794, by which it was agreed that British sub- jects holding lands in the territories of the United States should con- tinue to hold them according to the nature and terms of their respee- tive estates and title, but what that title was to land in this section of country was very uncertain. In Detroit and vicinity there were per- sons occupying land under grants from French authorities made prior to 1760, under deeds from Indians, and under British grants.
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