USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86
On July 6, 1669, with three canoes and seven men, besides themselves. they left Montreal. On September 24, 1669, while waiting at an Indian village called Timaouataoua for guides, they met Lonis Joliet, who was on his way to Lake Superior to locate some copper mines and also to find, if possible, a better route to the upper lakes than that by way of the Ottawa River, Lake Nipissing and the Georgian Bay. A fever caused La Salle to abandon his expedition aud Dollier and Galinee linked their fortunes with Joliet.
On the last day of September Dollier said mass at an altar formed of forked sticks driven into the ground, connected by other sticks and covered with sails from their canoes. Immediately after the mass, La Salle started for Montreal and Joliet and the two Sulpitians turned their faces to the Northwest. Accord- ing to Coyne's translation of "Galinee's Narrative," they arrived at Lake Erie on October the 13th or 14th, cruised along the northern shore of the lake until they reached the bay behind the Long Point, where they went into winter quarters. Here, on the shore of Lake Erie, in what is now Norfolk County, Ontario, they took possession of the country, according to the French custom, by erecting a cross bearing the following inscription :
62
CITY OF DETROIT
"In the year of salvation 1669, Clement IX being seated in the chair of St. Peter, Louis XIV reigning in France, Monsieur Courcelles being Governor of New France, and Monsieur Talon being intendant therein for the king, there arrived at this place two missionaries (of the Seminary) of Montreal, accom- panied by seven other Frenchmen, who, the first of all European people, have wintered on this lake, of which they have taken possession in the name of their king, as of an unoccupied territory, by affixing his arms, which they have attached here to the foot of this cross.
"In testimony whereof we have signed the present certificate.
"FRANCOIS DOLLIER, "Priest of the Diocese of Nantes, Brittany. "DE GALINEE, "Deacon of the Diocese of Rennes, Brittany."
On March 23, 1670, which was Passion Sunday, they went to the lake shore and noticed that the ice was sufficiently broken up for them to continue their voyage. Returning to camp, they hurried forward the preparations for their departure and on Wednesday, March 26, 1670, their canoes were again afloat on Lake Erie. That same evening they encountered a storm in which one of their canoes was lost. The next day five of the men marched along the lake shore, with two men in each of the two remaining canoes, the men changing places occasionally to rest those who were walking and give those in the canoes an opportunity for exercise after sitting for hours in a cramped position. Galinee's Narrative gives this account of their progress :
"We pursued our journey accordingly toward the west, and after. making about one hundred leagues on Lake Erie arrived at the place where the Lake of the Hurons, otherwise called the Fresh Water Sea of the Hurons, or Michigan, discharges into this lake. This outlet is perhaps half a league in width and turns sharp to the northeast, so that we were almost retracing our path. At the end of six leagues we discovered a place that is remarkable and held in great veneration by all the Indians of these countries, because of a stone idol that nature has formed there. To it they say they owe their good luck in sailing on Lake Erie, when they cross it without accident, and they propitiate it by sacrifices, presents of skins, provisions, etc., when they wish to embark on it. The place was full of camps of those who had come to pay homage to this stone, which had no other resemblance to the figure of a man than what the imagination was pleased to give it. However, it was all painted and a sort of face had been formed for it with vermilion. I leave you to imagine whether we avenged upon this idol, which the Iroquois had strongly recommended us to honor, the loss of our chapel. We attributed to it even the dearth of provi- sions from which we had hitherto suffered. In short, there was nobody whose hatred it had not incurred. I consecrated one of my axes to break this god of stone, and then, having yoked our canoes together, we carried the largest pieces to the middle of the river and threw all the rest also into the water, in order that it might never be heard of again. God rewarded us immediately for this good action, for we killed a roebuck and a bear that very day."
The outlet of Lake Huron, mentioned by Galinee as being "half a league in width," is the mouth of the Detroit River. Six leagues up that stream, where they found the stone idol, was not far from where Fort Wayne is now located. The breaking of the idol gave rise to an Indian legend, to the effect that, after the two Sulpitians had been gone for some time, a company of Indians came
63
CITY OF DETROIT
to the river with gifts for their stone deity and found only small fragments of its mutilated remains. There was great wailing among them until their medicine man directed each one to take a piece of the stone in his canoe and let it guide his course. With one accord the remnants of the shattered image guided the canoes to Belle Isle, where the spirit of the idol had taken up its abode. This spirit told the Indians to cast the fragments upon the ground and when they obeyed each fragment was turned into a rattlesnake, to guard the island against the encroachments of the white man.
After destroying the idol, the missionaries passed on up the river for four leagues, where they came to a "small lake about ten leagues in length and almost as many in width, called by M. Sanson 'The Salt Water Lake,' but we saw no sign of salt." The small lake was christened Lake St. Clair by Father Louis Hennepin nine years later, when he passed through the straits with La Salle.
Galinee was a good topographer for that day and made a map to accompany his "Narrative." Although this map would hardly be accepted by geographers of the present day, it shows with tolerable accuracy many of the leading features of the shores of the lakes. A copy of this map, as well as Galinee's "Narrative" in the original French, and two translations of the same are now in the Burton Historical Collection at Detroit.
CHAPTER IV INDIAN TREATIES OF CESSION
SPAIN'S POLICY TOWARD THE INDIANS-THE FRENCH POLICY-THIE ENGLISH POLICY -THE UNITED STATES POLICY-ORIGIN OF INDIAN TREATIES-TREATY OF FORT STANWIX-TREATY OF GREENVILLE-TREATY OF DETROIT-TREATY OF ST. MARY'S -TREATY OF CHICAGO-TREATY OF UPPER SANDUSKY-INDIAN RESERVATION IN WAYNE COUNTY-INDIAN NAMES ALL THAT IS LEFT.
When the first white men came to Michigan they found the Indians in possession of the land. The red men had no system of fixing boundaries or recording deeds, yet, except in a few instances, each tribe or confederacy occu- pied a certain district as its exelusive hunting grounds, until driven out by a more powerful tribe.
By the treaty of September 3, 1783, which ended the Revolutionary war, England acknowledged the independence of the United States, the western boundary of which was fixed at the Mississippi River, and the new republic inherited all the rights and powers of the mother country in dealing with the natives. But Great Britain had no power to extinguish the Indian title to the lands, leaving that problem to be solved by the Federal Government. Before the United States could come into formal and complete possession of the ter- ritory, it was necessary that some agreement be made with the natives that would permit the white people to occupy and develop the country. In this connection it may be interesting to the reader to notice briefly the policies of the several European nations claiming territory in America regarding their relations with the Indians.
SPAIN'S POLICY
When Cortez was commissioned captain-general of New Spain in 1529, he was instructed to "give special attention to the conversion of the Indians; to see that no Indians be given to the Spaniards as servants; that they pay such tribute to His Majesty as they can easily afford; that there shall be a good correspondence between the Spaniards and the natives, and that no wrong shall ever be offered the latter either in their goods, families or persons."
Notwithstanding these instructions of the Spanish Government, during the conquest of Mexico the treatment of the Indians was often cruel in the extreme, many of them being enslaved and foreed to work in the mines to satisfy the avarice of their Spanish taskmasters. Don Sebastian Ramirez, bishop and acting governor after Cortez, honestly endeavored to carry out the humane instrule- tions given to Cortez, but soon found that he was not to be sustained. Antonio de Herrera says that under the administration of Ramirez "the country was much improved and all things carried on with equity, to the general satisfaction of all good men."
With regard to possession, the Spaniards never accepted the idea that the
64 .
65
CITY OF DETROIT
Indians owned all the land, but only that portion actually occupied, or that might be necessary to supply their wants. All the rest of the land they con- sidered as belonging to Spain "by right of discovery," and was taken without compensation.
THE FRENCH POLICY
It seems that the French had no settled policy concerning the possession of or title to the land. When the French Government, in 1712, granted to Antoine Crozat a charter giving him a monopoly of the Louisiana trade, it was expressly stipulated that the Indians living in the province were to receive religious instruction, but no provision was made for extinguishing the claim of the Indians to the land. In the letters patent given by Louis XV to the Western Company (Crozat's successor) in August, 1717, was the following provision :
"Section IV-The said company shall be free, in the said granted lands, to negotiate and make alliance with all the nations of the land, except those which are dependent on the other powers of Europe; she may agree with them on such conditions as she may think fit, to settle among them and trade freely with them, and in case they insult her she may declare war against them, attack them or defend herself by means of arms, and negotiate with them for peace or a truce."
It will be noticed that in this section there is nothing said about the acquisi- tion of lands. As a matter of fact, the French cared very little for the absolute ownership of the lands, their principal object being the control of the fur trade. In the establishment of trading posts only a small tract of land was required for each post, and the trader and his retinue usually lived with the Indians as "tenants in common." At some of the posts a few acres were cleared for the purpose of raising a few vegetables, but the great forests were rarely disturbed, leaving the hunting grounds of the natives unmolested. If the trading post was abandoned, the small cultivated tract reverted to its Indian owners. Under such a liberal policy it is not surprising that the French traders were nearly always on friendly terms with the Indians.
THE ENGLISH POLICY
Great Britain's method of dealing with the Indians was different from either that of France or Spain. The English colonists wanted to establish permanent homes and cultivate the soil. Consequently, title to the land was the first con- sideration. The Englishi Government, however, treated the Indian as a bar- barian and in making land grants ignored any claim he might make to the soil. The so-called "Great Patent of New England," which was granted to the Plymouth Company, including all the land from 40° to 48° north latitude and "from sea to sea," made not the slightest allusion to the Indian title.
The charter granted by Charles I to Lord Baltimore gave the grantee authority "to collect troops, wage war on the barbarians and other enemies who may make incursions into the settlements, and to pursue them even beyond the limits of their province, and, if God shall grant it, to vanquish and cap- tivate them; and the captives to put to death, or according to their discretion, to save."
William Penn's charter to Pennsylvania contained a similar provision. After the settlements reached a point where the local authorities were called upon Vol. 1-5
66
CITY OF DETROIT
to deal with the question, each colony adopted a poliey of its own. That of Pennsylvania was perhaps the only one whose "foundations were laid deep and secure in the principles of everlasting justice." Several of the colonies followed Penn's example and bought the land from the tribal chiefs, and in a number of instances failure to quit the Indian title by purchase resulted in bloody and disastrous wars.
All the nations of Europe which acquired territory in America, asserted in themselves and recognized in others the exelusive right of the discoverer to claim and appropriate the lands oceupied by the Indians, but France was the only nation which exercised that right with a due regard for the original oeeupants. Says Parkman : "Spanish civilization crushed the Indian; English civilization scorned and negleeted him; French civilization embraced and eher- ished him."
THE UNITED STATES POLICY
The people who founded the Government of the United States were either from England or descendants, for the most part, of English ancestors, and they copied the English policy, with certain modifications. The Artieles of Confederation, the first organic law of the American Republic, provided that : "The United States in Congress assembled shall have the exclusive right and power of regulating the trade and managing all affairs with the Indians not members of any of the states, provided that the legislative right of any state within its own limits be not infringed or violated."
Under this authority Congress, on September 22, 1783, issued a manifesto forbidding all persons to settle upon the Indian lands. Then came the Federal Constitution, which superseded the Articles of Confederation, and which vested in Congress the power to deal with all matters arising out of the Government's relations with the Indians. On March 1, 1793, President Washington approved an act to regulate trade and intereourse with the Indian tribes, in which it was expressly stipulated: "That no purchase or grant of lands, or any title or elaim thereto, from any Indians, or nation or tribe of Indians, within the bounds of the United States, shall be of any validity, in law or equity, unless the same be made by a treaty or convention entered into pursnant to the constitution."
The object of the founders of the Government in adopting this policy was twofold: First, to prevent adventurers from trespassing upon the Indian lands, thereby causing conflicts with the natives; and, second, to establish a system by which titles to lands should be assured for all time to come. The penalty for violation of any of the provisions of the act was a fine of $1,000 and im- prisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months. With amendments this law remained the basis of all relations with the Indians of the country until 1871. Cyrus Thomas, of the United States Burcan of Ethnology, says :
"By the act of March 3, 1871, the legal fiction of recognizing the tribes as independent nations, with which the United States could enter into solemn treaty, was, after it had continued nearly one hundred years, finally done away with. The effect of this act was to bring under the immediate control of Con- gress the transactions with the Indians and reduce to simple agreements what had before been accomplished by solemn treaties."
Soon after the Federal Constitution went into effect, the Government began making treaties with the Indians. At first these treaties were merely expres-
67
CITY OF DETROIT
sions of peace and friendship, but as the white population increased and more territory was needed for white settlement, treaties were negotiated with the tribes for the relinquishment of their lands.
TREATY OF FORT STANWIX
In fact, before the adoption of the Constitution, the United States had negotiated treaties of peace with some of the eastern tribes. On October 22, 1784, Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler and Arthur Lee, as commissioners of the United States, concluded a treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix, New York. This treaty is of interest in the history of Detroit only because it fixed the western boundary of the domain of the Six Nations. While the Indians did not agree to give up any of their lands to the United States for white oceu- pation, they accepted as their western boundary a line beginning on the shore of Lake Ontario, four miles east of Niagara, and running thence by certain described courses to the "forks of the Ohio," where the City of Pittsburgh now stands. Prior to the conclusion of this treaty, the Six Nations were fre- quently at war with the tribes that inhabited the country about Detroit, par- ticularly the IIuron or Wyandot. The establishment of the boundary line brought peace to the Indians living west of it.
By the treaty of Fort Harmar, which was concluded on January 9, 1789, between Gen. Arthur St. Clair, representing the United States, and the chiefs of the Six Nations, the treaty of Fort Stanwix was modified so as to give the Indians some additional territory in the western part of New York. This treaty was proclaimed on June 9, 1789. and remained in force until the Six Nations ceded their lands to the United States and accepted reservations.
TREATY OF GREENVILLE
Late in July, 1795, a great council of Indians was called at Greenville, Ohio, by Gen. Anthony Wayne, acting under the authority of the United States. Chiefs of twelve tribes were present at the council, viz .: The Chippewa, Dela- ware, Eel River, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Miami, Ottawa, Piankesha, Pottawatomi, Shawnee, Wea and Wyandot. On August 3, 1795, a treaty was concluded which established a boundary line between the Indian possessions and the white settlements in Ohio, to wit: "Beginning at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River and up that stream to the portage between the Cuyahoga and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum River; thence down the Tuscarawas branch to the crossing place above Fort Lawrence (Laurens) ; thence westerly to that branch of the Great Miami River running into the Ohio, at or near which fork stood Loromie's Store, and where commences the portage between the Miami of the Ohio and the St. Mary's River, which is a branch of the Miami (Maumee) which runs into Lake Erie ; thence in a westerly course to Fort Recovery, which stands on a branch of the Wabash; thence southwesterly in a direct line to the Ohio River, so as to intersect that river opposite the mouth of the Kentucke or Cuttawa River."
All the country south and east of this line was ceded by the Indians to the United States. About a year later, the northern part of this line was defined as the boundary of Wayne County in the proclamation of Winthrop Sargent. acting governor of the Northwest Territory. North and west of the line six- teen small tracts were ceded by the Indians for military posts, ete. These tracts were as follows :
68
CITY OF DETROIT
1. One piece of land six miles square at Loromie's Store, not far from the present City of Piqua, Ohio.
2. One piece of land two miles square at the head of navigable waters on the St. Mary's River, near Girty's Town, about twenty miles cast of Fort Recovery.
3. A tract six miles square at the head of navigation on the Au Glaize River.
4. A tract six miles square at the confluence of the Au Glaize and Maumee rivers, where the City of Defiance now stands.
5. One piece of land six miles square at or near the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's rivers, where the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is now situated.
6. One piece of land on the Wabash River at the end of the portage from the Miami (Maumee) of the lake and about eight miles westward from Fort Wayne.
7. A piece of land six miles square at the Ouiatenon, or old Wea towns on the Wabash River, a few miles below the present City of Lafayette, Indiana.
8. One piece of land twelve miles square at the British fort on the Miami (Maumee) of the lake at the foot of the rapids, near the present Gity of Napo- leon, Ohio.
9. A tract six miles square at the mouth of the Maumee, where the City of Toledo now stands.
10. A tract six miles square on Sandusky Lake, where a fort formerly stood.
11. One piece of land two miles square at the lower rapids of the San- dusky River, not far from the present City of Fremont, Ohio.
12. "The post of Detroit and all the land to the north, the west and the south of it, of which the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English governments; and so much more land to be annexed to the District of Detroit as shall be comprehended between the River Rosine on the south, Lake St. Clair on the north, and a line, the general course whereof shall be six miles distant from the west end of Lake Erie and the Detroit River."
13. "The post of Michilimackinac and all the land on the island on which that post stands, and the main land adjacent, of which the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to the French or English governments; and a piece of land on the main land to the north of the island, to measure six miles on Lake Huron, or the streight between Lakes Huron and Michigan, and to extend three miles back from the water of the lake or streight, and also the island De Bois Blane, being an extra and voluntary gift of the Chippewa Nation. "
14. A tract six miles square at the mouth of the Chikago River, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan, where a fort formerly stood. This tract is now all within the city limits of Chicago.
15. A piece of land twelve miles square at or near the mouth of the Illinois River, where it empties into the Mississippi. This tract included the old post of Kaskaskia.
16. One piece of land six miles square at the old Peoria fort and village, near the south end of Illinois Lake on said Illinois River, where the City of Peoria now stands.
In addition to the above mentioned tracts of land, the Indians gave the United States the right of way for a passage, either by land or water, through
69
CITY OF DETROIT
the Indian country. The cessions made by the treaty of Greenville were the first ever made by the Indians to the Government of the United States. In return, the United States agreed to relinquish claim to all other Indian lands north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi and west and south of the Great Lakes, except a tract of 150,000 acres near the Falls of the Ohio, granted to Gen. George Rogers Clark for the use of himself and his soldiers.
TREATY OF DETROIT
On November 17, 1807, William Hull, then governor of Michigan Terri- tory and superintendent of Indian affairs, held a council at Detroit with the chiefs and head men of the Chippewa, Ottawa, Pottawatomi and Wyandot tribes at Detroit, which resulted in the conclusion of a treaty, the first article of which was as follows:
"Article I. The sachems, chiefs and warriors of the nations aforesaid, in consideration of money and goods, to be paid to the said nations by the United States as hereinafter stipulated, cede all the lands contained within the follow- ing boundaries: "Beginning at the month of the Miami River of the Lakes and running thence up the middle thereof to the mouth of the great Au Glaize River; thence running due north until it intersects a parallel of latitude to be drawn from the outlet of Lake Huron, which forms the River St. Clair; thence running northeast, the course that may be found will lead in a direct line to the White Rock in Lake Huron; thence dne east until it intersects the boun- dary line between the United States and Upper Canada in said lake; thence southwardly, following the said boundary line, through the River St. Clair, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River into Lake Erie, to a point due east of the said Miami River: thence west to the place of beginning."
For this tract the United States agreed to pay $10,000 in money, or in goods and animals for the improvement of husbandry, at the option of the Indians. Of this amount, the Chippewa and Ottawa were each to receive $3,333.33, the remainder to be divided equally between the Pottawatomi and Wyandot tribes. In addition to this initial payment, the Indians were to re- ceive, "forever," an annuity of $2,400, to be distributed among the tribes as follows: $800 to the Chippewa ; $800 to the Ottawa; $400 to the Pottawatomi, and $400 to the Wyandot. The treaty was proclaimed on January 27, 1808, and the ceded territory was included in Wayne County by the proclamation of Governor Cass, dated November 15, 1815. (See Chapter XI.)
TREATY OF ST. MARY'S
About a year after the treaty of Detroit, some of the Wyandot Indians be- came dissatisfied over its terms, which compelled them, to give up their old villages on the Huron River, in what is now Brownstown Township, Wayne County. On February 28, 1809, President Jefferson approved an act of Con- gress giving the inhabitants of these villages and their descendants the right to occupy their old homes for a period of fifty years, unless a new treaty for their cession was concluded.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.