USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. I > Part 7
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On September 20, 1818, a treaty was concluded at St. Mary's, Ohio, by Gen. Lewis Cass, governor of Michigan Territory, with certain Ottawa and Wyandot bands, including the one to which the old villages had been granted by the act of February 28, 1809. By the treaty of St. Mary's, the band re- linquished the lands in Brownstown Township and accepted therefor a reser- vation consisting of sections 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35 and 36, and that part of
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section 22 lying south of the Huron River, in township 4 south, range 9 east, containing 4,996 acres. The map of Wayne County accompanying Dr. Doug- lass Honghton's report as state geologist for 1843, shows this reservation as being composed of the nine southeastern sections of Huron Township, though the reservation had been ceded to the United States the preceding year.
TREATY OF CHICAGO
After the act of February 28, 1809, which gave certain Wyandot bands the privilege of ocenpying their old villages in Michigan, some of the other tribes that participated in the negotiation of the treaty of 1807 endeavored to set up claims to their old homes in that territory. No attention was paid to their claims by the Federal authorities, and after the treaty of St. Mary's the grumbling on the part of the Indians practically ceased, though oeeasionally some chief would deelare that the United States had eheated the red men in the treaty of Detroit.
On September 26, 1833, George B. Porter, Thomas J. V. Owen and William Weatherford, as commissioners of the United States, concluded a treaty at Chicago with the confederated nations of Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatomi Indians. By this treaty the tribes mentioned ceded to the United States all their lands bordering on the west shore of Lake Michigan and confirmed the provisions of the treaties of Detroit and St. Mary's. The Chicago treaty is of interest in a History of Detroit only because of this confirmation which gave the white men an undisputed title to the former Indian lands.
TREATY OF UPPER SANDUSKY
This was the last Indian treaty affecting the Indian title to lands in Wayne County. Early in the year 1842, President Tyler appointed John Johnston a commissioner to treat with the Wyandot nation for the relinquishment of all their lands in Ohio and Michigan. Mr. Johnston met the Wyandot chiefs, counselors and head men in conneil at Upper Sandusky, where on March 17, 1842, was concluded a treaty by which the Indians ceded to the United States "all right and title to the Wyandot reserve on both sides of the River Huron, in the State of Michigan, containing 4,996 aeres, being all the land elaimed or set apart for the use of the Wyandot nation within the State of Michigan."
For the relinquishment of this reservation and the Wyandot lands in Ohio, the United States promised the Indians a reservation of 148,000 acres, some- where west of the Mississippi River acceptable to them, to pay the expenses of removal, give the tribe an annuity of $17,500, allow them $500 annually for the maintenance of a school, furnish them a blacksmith and iron for their needs, and discharge all debts owed by the tribe to white traders, amounting to $23,860.
The Huron River reserve was vacated soon after the conclusion of the treaty. the United States paying $500 to defray the expenses of the band's removal to Upper Sandusky, where all the Wyandot nation was to rendezvous for their removal west of the Mississippi. Some delay occurred in finding a traet of 148,000 acres that was satisfactory to the chiefs, but in 1844 the whole tribe was settled in what is now Wyandotte County, Kansas.
When Cadillae founded the post of Detroit in 1701, his first object was to form friendly relations with the Indians and have them locate near his fort.
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From 1760 to 1796 Detroit was under British control. Neither the French nor the English made any attempts to establish permanent settlements in Michigan away from the trading posts. With the Americans it was different. They were not fur traders and they wanted the lands for agricultural purposes. Through the treaties above described, the white race came into possession and the red men were removed from the hunting grounds of their fathers. Such names as Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Pontiac, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Tekonsha and Washtenaw are all that they left behind them. These names are pathetic re- minders of the savage tribes that once roamed through the forests and oak openings of Southern Michigan or paddled their canoes over the placid waters of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair.
PART II POLITICAL AND CIVIC HISTORY
CHIAPTER V
CADILLAC-A BIOGRAPHY
UNCERTAINTY REGARDING CADILLAC'S EARLY LIFE-MEMORIAL TABLET AT IIIS BIRTH- PLACE-CADILLAC'S MARRIAGE-HIS CHILDREN- LAND GRANT ON TIIE ATLANTIC COAST-COMMANDANT AT MICHILIMACKINAC-ESTABLISHES A POST AT DETROIT- GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA-THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE- IMPRISONED IN THE BAS- TILE-AT CASTELSARRASIN-THE CADILLAC CIIAIR AT DETROIT.
For a long time little was known of the early life of Antoine Laumet de La Mothe Cadillae, the founder of Detroit, even the exact date and place of his birth being matters of uneertainty. Early in the year 1907. Clarence M. Bur- ton was in France and learned that the Archeologieal Society of Montaubau had marked the birthplace of Cadillae by a memorial tablet. Montaubau is located on the River Tarn, about thirty miles north of Toulouse on the Garonne, in the Department of Tarn-et-Garonne, which takes its name from the two rivers.
Hoping to find the solution of a long-standing problem, Mr. Burton made the journey from Paris to Montaubau, where he consulted the officers of the archæological society, from whom he learned that Cadillae was born at St. Nico- las de la Grave, a village of some two or three thousand inhabitants, about twenty-three miles from Montaubau, and that the memorial tablet had been placed on November 8, 1904.
THE MEMORIAL
Continuing his journey to St. Nicholas de la Grave, Mr. Burton found the house in which Cadillac was born to be a small one-story brick dwelling, proba- bly five hundred years old. The inscription on the tablet reads :
A la Memorie Antoine Laumet de LaMothe Cadillac Ne Dans Cette Maison Le 5 Mars, 1658 Colonisateaur Du Canada et De La Louisiane Fondateur de Detroit Gouverneur De Castelsarrasin Ou Il Est Mort in 1750
Translation-To the memory of Antoine Laumet de LaMothe Cadillae, born in this house, March 5, 1658, eolonizer of Canada and Louisiana, founder of Detroit, governor of Castelsarrasin, where he died in 1730.
Cadillac's father was Jean Laumet, "lawyer, assistant to the justice, roval justice, counselor of the king in the Parliament of Toulouse," and his mother was Jeanne de Pechagut. His parents were married on March 16, 1646, and Antoine was the fourth child of their union. The family name of Laumet, as applied to the founder of Detroit, seems to have beeome practically lost after he came to America, which is no doubt the reason for some of the confusion
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Burton Historieni Duelety
CADILLAC'S VILLAGE, DETROIT, IN 1701 First called Fort Pontchartrain
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that has resulted regarding the history of his early life. That he was liberally educated for a youth of that period is apparent in his writings, his skill as a navigator and the executive ability he displayed in the various positions of trust and responsibility to which he was called. He was a cadet in the regi- ment of Dampierre-Lorraine and a lieutenant in the regiment of Clairembault in 1677.
CADILLAC'S MARRIAGE
In 1683, when only twenty-five years of age, Cadillac came to America and located at Port Royal (now Annapolis), Nova Scotia. There he formed the acquaintance of Francois Guyon of Beauport, a merchant and trader (some say a privateer), with whom he became associated in the seafaring business. Cadillac had previously acquired some knowledge of the art of navigation and now learned much of the Atlantic coast of North America, which later was destined to bring him into important relations with the French Government. In his voyages to Quebec he met and fell in love with his partner's niece, Therese Guyon, daughter of Denis and Elizabeth (Boucher) Guyon, to whom he was married at Quebec on June 25, 1687. In the church record of the mar- riage the bridegroom is named "Antoine de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, of Port Royal in Acadia, aged about twenty-six years, son of Jean de la Mothe, Sieur de Cadillac, de Launay et de Semontel, counselor of the Parliament of Toulouse, and Jeanne de Malenfant."
In this record the approximate age of Cadillac, as given, is three years younger than he really was, and there is likewise an error in the name of his mother. Historians who have depended upon this record, for information con- cerning Cadillac's age and parentage, have very naturally been led astray. Some time previous to his marriage, his superior officer in the French Army, recommending him for promotion, called him LaMothe. This name, a common one in France, was adopted by him and he was thereafter known as Antoine de LaMothe Cadillac, the name Cadillac being derived from landed possessions.
CADILLAC'S CHILDREN
To Antoine de LaMothe Cadillac and his wife, Therese, were born thirteen children, viz .:
1. Judith, born at Port Royal in 1689. On November 12, 1711, she took the veil as an Ursuline nun at Quebec, to be a perpetual pensioner, her father paving 6,000 livres for her support.
2. Magdalene, date and place of birth uncertain. She was probably born at Quebec or Mount Desert Island and upon arriving at womanhood also be- came an Ursuline nun.
3. Antoine de LaMothe Cadillac, fils, born at Quebec on April 26, 1692, accompanied his father to Detroit in 1701, and was made an ensign in 1707. Ile died about 1730.
4. Jacques, born at Quebec on March 16, 1695, and was brought to Detroit by his mother in 1702.
5. Pierre Denis, born at Quebec on June 13, 1699, and died there when about one year old. He was buried on July 4, 1700.
6. Marianne, born at Quebec on June 7, 1701, and was buried there two days later.
7. A child born at Detroit in the latter part of 1702, or early in 1703,
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mentioned in one of Cadillac's letters. The baptismal record of this child was probably destroyed in the fire of 1703.
8. Marie Therese, born at Detroit on February 2, 1704. She was married at Castelsarrasin on February 16, 1729, to Noble Francois de Pouzargues, and died there in February, 1753.
9. Jean Antoine, born at Detroit on January 19, 1707, and was buried there on April 9, 1709.
10. Marie Agathe, born at Detroit on December 28, 1707. No further . record of this daughter is obtainable.
11. Francois, born at Detroit on March 27, 1709, and was still living at the time of his father's death.
12. Rene Louis, born at Detroit on March 17, 1710, and was buried at Quebec in October, 1714.
13. Joseph, a son mentioned in the records relating to the settlement of his father's estate. The date and place of his birth could not be ascertained.
Of these thirteen children. only three were living at the time of Cadillac's death. They were Marie Therese. Franeois and Joseph, whose names are found in the records of Castelsarrasin in connection with the division of Cadillac's property.
LAND GRANT ON THE ATLANTIC COAST
Immediately after his marriage, Cadillac took his young wife (she was only a little more than sixteen years of age) to Port Royal. The next year he peti- tioned the Marquis de Denonville, then governor of New France, for a grant of land "two leagues on the sea shore, by two leagues in depth, within the land, at a place called Donaques, near Mageis (Port Maehias), the Donaquee River to divide the said two leagues in depth, one league to be taken on the west side and one league on the east side of said river, with the islands which are on the fore part of the said two front leagues, to hold in fief and lordship with high, mean and low jurisdiction, being desirous to promote an establish- ment there."
The petition was granted by Governor Denonville on July 23, 1688, and was confirmed by Louis XIV on May 24. 1689. The grant was recorded at Quebee on April 20, 1691. It embraced the Island of Mount Desert and a tract of the mainland opposite, including all of Bar Harbor on the coast of Maine. At the time the grant was made, the lands lay in what was known as Acadia. After the Revolution, the tract formed a part of the Territory of Penobscot, in the State of Massachusetts, Maine not being admitted to the Union as a state until 1820. This grant indicates that Cadillac, at this time, was considered a man of importance and held in high esteem.
In May, 1761. Marie Therese, daughter of Joseph and granddaughter of Antoine de LaMothe Cadillac, married her consin, Bartholomey de Gregoire, at Castelsarrasin. On June 15, 1785, the French consul at Boston, on behalf of Marie Therese Gregoire and her husband, made application to the State of Massachusetts for the restoration to them of the lands, His petition was re- ferred to a committee on unappropriated lands, where it rested until the fall of 1786, when the Gregoires arrived to prosecute their claim in person. Their second petition was presented on November 6, 1786, and set forth the facts eoneerning the manner in which the lands were acquired by Cadillac, who was styled as "Lord of Donaquee and Mount Desert." After some delay, the Massa-
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chusetts Legislature granted the petition on July 5, 1787, and on October 29, 1787, the Gregoires and their three children-Pierre, Nicolas and Marie- became naturalized citizens of the United States of America.
Says Farmer: "The lands were actually within the limits claimed by Massa- chusetts at the time Louis XIV made the concession. *
* * The conceding of the claim of the Gregoires was really a graceful act, but the good feeling then entertained toward the French nation, on account of services rendered in the Revolutionary war, undoubtedly had much to do with the favor with which the claim was received."
COMMANDANT AT MICHILIMACKINAC
While making his preparations to settle a colony on the Donaquee River or Mount Desert Island, Cadillac continued to live at Port Royal. In 1689 Louis XIV declared war against England. This conflict is commonly known as King Williams' war. Cadillac was summoned to Paris in 1689, to consult with the king as to the best means of prosecuting the war. During his absence Port Royal was captured by. the English expedition under Sir William Phipps on May 10, 1690, and Madame Cadillac, with her infant daughter, went to her mother's home in Quebec. There she was found by her husband upon his return from France, soon after the defeat of Sir William Phipps by the French troops under Count Frontenac, who had succeeded the Marquis de Denonville as governor of New France.
Cadillac proved to be of great assistance to Governor Frontenac in planning his campaigns for the defense of New France. In February, 1692, Count Pont- chartrain, the French minister of marine, wrote to Frontenac to send "Antoine de LaMothe Cadillac to Paris by the first ship, that he may give minute in- formation to aid in the proposed attack on New York and New England, as he is considered to be the best instructed ou plans, soundings and all observa- tions."
Pursuant to this request, Cadillae again went to France. On this occasion he presented his plan for the defense of the rivers and lakes of Canada by using vessels of light draft, which plan was approved by the king. He returned to Canada and toward the close of the war was made a second lieutenant in the French navy. At that time the French colonies were under the control of the naval department, hence the soldiers of New France were classed as marines, although much of their service was upon the land. On October 25, 1694, Governor Frontenac wrote to Count Pontchartrain: "Lieutenant Cad- illac is a man of rank, full of capability and valor; and I have just sent him to Missilimakinac to command all those posts of the upper country and to fill the place of the Sieur de Louvigny de Laporte."
Cadillac remained the commandant at Michilimackinac until after the death of Governor Frontenac in 1698. During that time his wife and children lived in Quebec. On his visits to his family, and from the reports of early French explorers, he became imbued with the advantages of the country along the Detroit River as a desirable location for a post. Soon after the death of Count Frontenac he went to France to present the matter to the king. The history of the post of Detroit under Cadillac, his controversy with the Company of the Colony of Canada, his disputes with the Jesuits, his financial losses, etc., is given in the next chapter.
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GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA
Men of positive natures invariably make enemies. Cadillac's enemies accused him of being "opinionated and quarrelsome," and through their influence and that of their friends he was finally removed from the position of commandant at Detroit. To soften the blow of the removal, he was appointed governor of the French Province of Louisiana. This appointment was made on May 6. 1710, but he remained at Detroit until some time in the summer of the follow- ing year.
In September, 1712, Antoine Crozat, a wealthy merchant of Paris, was granted a charter giving him the exclusive right to trade in Louisiana, as well as the proceeds of any mines he might discover and develop. Crozat continued Cadillac in the office of governor and, it is said, promised him a liberal per- ceutage of the profits derived from commercial transactions and mining opera- tions in the province. Cadillac's whereabouts at this time are somewhat un- certain. He was probably in France, as the Louisiana records show that on May 17, 1713, he arrived at Dauphin Island, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, on the French frigate "Baron de la Fosse." He was accompanied by his family and servants, and brought a large quantity of provisions and munitions of war for the colony there.
At that time the settlement was near the head of Mobile Bay, but in 1713 Cadillac caused it to be removed to the site of the present City of Mobile, where a number of houses were built during the summer and antumn. In order to obtain supplies for the infant colony, he sent out expeditions in various direc- tions to ascertain the resources of the country, and endeavored to open a trade with the Spanish settlements in Mexico. In the summer of 1715 he visited the Illinois country and examined the lead mines near the present City of Dubuque, Iowa. Returning to Mobile, he embarked for France in November, 1715, to report the result of his explorations and make further arrangements for the support of the settlements in Louisiana.
THE MISSISSIPPI BUBBLE
Cadillac's reports from Louisiana indicate that he was not altogether sat- isfied with the country. Possibly his removal from Detroit and the blasting of his hopes still rankled in his mind. His strong will and somewhat arbitrary methods at times aroused opposition among his associate officers, and early in 1717 M. de la Epinay was appointed to succeed him as governor. Epinay arrived at Mobile on March 9, 1717, and in June following. Cadillac bade good-by to America. Before the close of that year Crozat surrendered his charter.
John Law, an English adventurer, organized the Mississippi Company, as a branch of the Bank of France, which company succeeded to "all the rights, privileges and emoluments formerly enjoyed by Crozat." In 1718 Law sent some eight hundred colonists to Louisiana and the next year Philipe Renault brought over about two hundred more. Renault's idea was to go up the Mississippi River, establish posts in the Illinois country, and open a trade with the Indians. A few years of the wildest speculation and inflation followed, but in 1720 Law's whole scheme collapsed. It is known in history as "The Miss- issippi Bubble."
Cadillac arrived in France about the time the Mississippi Company was launched. His knowledge of the country Law proposed to develop, the general
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PLAN FROM CONVEYANCES OF CADILLAC (Made in 1707 and 1708)
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plan advertised by the company, and the extravagant promises made to in- vestors, all told him that the project was built upon an insecure foundation and doomed to failure. He frankly expressed his opinion that the whole scheme was a swindle, unworthy of patronage, and did all he could to warn the French people against investing their money in such a problematical venture. Popular sentiment was in favor of Law, however, and Cadillac was arrested. For several months he was confined in the celebrated Bastile in Paris, when he was released and was never brought to trial. A year or so later the people learned by experi- ence that his judgment of Law was well founded, and many of those who lost money by investing in the company regretted they did not heed his warning.
AT CASTELSARRASIN
Shortly after the collapse of the Mississippi Company, Cadillac applied for the governorship of Castelsarrasin, in the department where he was born. His application was granted in August, 1722. The appointment was made by Louis XIV, who in 1721, issued an edict taking away from the people of municipalities the right to select their own officers. On December 11. 1722, Cadillac was regularly commissioned governor and mayor. Thus, after having spent the best part of his life amid the turmoil and strife of the New World, and having wandered all over America, he returned to the neighborhood of his birth, there to spend his declining years in peace.
Castelsarrasin, now a town of some eight or ten thousand inhabitants, and perhaps quite as large in Cadillac's day, is located about twelve miles from Montaubau. In 1722 it contained a castle, in which Cadillac established his official residence. How long he retained the office of governor is not definitely known. In 1724 the king revoked his ediet of 1721, and some writers assert that Cadillac was then retired. It is quite likely, however, that he continued to hold the office for some time after the revocation of the edict, as it is well known that he remained a resident of Castelsarrasin until his death on October 16, 1730. His remains were buried in the cemetery adjoining the Carmelite monastery in the town. At the time of the French Revolution the monastery was confiscated and converted into a prison. Some years later the remains of the few persons of consequence buried in the cemetery were exhumed and carefully reinterred beneath the stone flagging in the rear of the building. Here rest the bones of Antoine Laumet, de LaMothe Cadillac, soldier, chevalier, Knight of the Royal and Military Order of St. Louis, navigator and diplomat. During his long and active career he was successively a merchant and trader at Port Royal, seigneur of Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor, an officer in the French navy, commandant at Miehilimackinac, founder and first com- mandant at Detroit, governor of Louisiana, a prisoner in the Bastile in Paris because he dared to give wise counsel to the people of his native land, and governor of Castelsarrasin.
THE CADILLAC CHAIR
On Wednesday morning, July 24, 1901, at the opening of the Bi-Centenary exercises in Detroit, a fitting tribute was paid to this soldier, scholar and pioneer by the unveiling of a large stone chair at the western end of Cadillac Square. This is known as the "Cadillac Chair." The inscription on the back of the chair is as follows:
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"This chair, erected July 24, 1901, is located on the site of the City Hall built in 1835 and ocenpied until 1871 as the seat of Civic Authority.
"It is symbolic of the Seigneurial Rule of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, Knight of St. Louis, who, with his company of colonists, arrived at Detroit, July 24, 1701.
"On that day, under the patronage of Louis XIV, and protected by the Flag of France, the City of Detroit, then called Fort Pontchartrain, was founded."
CHAPTER VI BEGINNING OF DETROIT
CADILLAC RECOGNIZES THE ADVANTAGES OF THE DETROIT RIVER-HE WRITES TO COUNT FRONTENAC-CADILLAC GOES TO FRANCE-HE IS COMMISSIONED TO ESTABLISH A POST- THE VOYAGE TO DETROIT-BUILDING THE POST-COMPANY OF THE COLONY OF CANADA-LITIGATION-CADILLAC'S REPORT TO COUNT PONT- CHARTRAIN-CADILLAC REGAINS POSSESSION-QUARREL WITH THE JESUITS- DISPOSAL OF LOTS-FIRST WHITE WOMEN-MADAME CADILLAC TABLET-A FEW FIRST THINGS.
While Cadillac was commandant at Michilimackinac, he learned through the reports of Dollier and Galinee and Father Louis Hennepin of the beanties and advantages of the region along the Detroit River and bent himself to the task of securing the establishment of a post in that part of the country. Sieur Du L'hut (Du Luth) had selected the site of Fort St. Joseph, near the present City of Port Huron, only a short time before Cadillac went to Miehilimaekinae. While he recognized the importance of Du Luth's post, as well as the one he had the honor to command, Cadillac was so favorably impressed with the De- troit River that he wrote to Count Frontenae, then governor of New France :
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