OUTLINES 
 
 OK THE 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY 
 
 UK 
 
 MICHIGAN 
 
 HV • 
 
 JAMES V. CAMPBELL 
 
 1)F:TR0IT: 
 SCHOBER & CO 
 
 1876. 
 
Copyright, 1876, 
 By yAM£S y. C. 4PBELL 
 
 SCHOBEH & Co. 
 rHINTBlJS AND BINDERS, 
 
 7 fort St. W. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 This work was originally intended as a sketch to 
 be used for the purposes of the Centennial Committee 
 of Michigan, and was prepared in more haste than was 
 otherwise de iirable. The time allowed foi it was not 
 sufficient to permit any very extended researches among 
 original materials. Although, for some twenty years 
 past, the writer has made occasional collections of such 
 material, yet his work must be regarded as largely 
 compilf^d from his predecessors, who have been so fre- 
 quently relied on that this general acknowledgment is 
 more appropriate than would be any attempt to credit 
 them in particular places. He has drawn freely from 
 the Lanmans, and Mrs. Sheldon, from the " Historical 
 Sketches of Michigan," and from the local sketches of 
 Judge Witherell and Mr R. E. Roberts, as well as 
 from Parkman and the French authors — especially 
 Charlevoix, La Hontan, Hennepin, Tonty and Joutel, — 
 correcting them, so far as he could, by the French 
 documents. In matters concerning the War of 1812, 
 Mr. Lossing's " Field-Book" has been of much service 
 Upon that war there is no lack of authentic documents 
 and histories. 
 
 Much, also, which has not been recorded by the 
 historians, has been found scattered through early and 
 modern biographies, books of travel, and other less pre- 
 tentious works, as well as in newspapers and private 
 
IV P R K F A C E . 
 
 writings ; and many interesting facts appear incidentally 
 in public documents and land books and other local 
 records. The early recording officers placed on record 
 a great many private papers which were" not muniments 
 of title, but related to family matters. 
 
 A long residence in Detroit has given some oppor- 
 tunities for procuring information from living sources, and 
 for observing things which were not without value for 
 reference. It has also enabled the writer to understand 
 and explain some things which could hardly be com- 
 prehended from writings alone. Many gentlemen have 
 busied themselves with gathering and preserving his- 
 torical material, and have accumulated much that, with 
 sufficient time and labor, will be some day made a very 
 valuable addition to the annals of Michigan and the 
 Northwest. Besides the numerous documents preserved 
 by the Historical Society, and the narratives and 
 sketches gathered by the Pioneer Society, it is not ir'- 
 proper to mention Hon. C. C. Trowbridge, Hon. Charles 
 I. Walker, Robert E. Roberts, Esq., Bela Hubbard, Esq., 
 and Hon. Levi Bishop, as active workers in this field. 
 It is to be hoped that the results of Judge Walker's 
 diligent researches will be given to the public in a 
 durable form. To all these gentlemen, as well as to 
 Hon. E. A. Brush, and many other personal friends, 
 who have aided him by information and suggestions, 
 the writer records his acknowledgments. 
 
 He trusts that his imperfect sketch will not be 
 without some value, as a contribution upon a subject 
 which, as yet, has been very far from receiving ex- 
 haustive treatment from any one. 
 
 Detroit, May r, 1876. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 
 
 Preliminary. No popular government until Councils of 1824 and 
 1827. Chief growth has been since that time. Eventful close 
 of the first half century of the United States. Michigan of 
 PVench origin, and with institutions unlike those of English 
 colonies. Part of New France and Canada. French writers 
 and explorers. La Salle, Hennepin, Tonty, F.a Hontan, Char- 
 levoix. Full records in the Department of the Marine. 
 French regime de.'spotic and peculiar. Attention of govern- 
 ment extended to private affairs. Intrigues in Church and 
 State. Publication of old records by New York. Collections 
 in Canada and elsewhere I 
 
 C H A P T E R 1 r . 
 
 Early explorations. Michigan was a part of New France. Settle- 
 ments delayed by its Canadian connection, in the intere.sts of 
 fur trade and of missions. Date of discovery unknown. An- 
 cient resort for beavers and furs. Hurons or Ouenduts. l.e 
 Detroit, or the .Strait, known very early. Champlain and the 
 RecoUC't Missions. Michigan not held by the Iroquois. Mis- 
 sions in the Upper Peninsula. Raymbault, Jogues, Mesnard. 
 Mission of St. Ignace and Mackinaw. Pere Mar<|uette. Cou- 
 reurs de bois and fur trade. Character of contraband adven- 
 turers, liushrangers the first explorers and soldiers. Jesuit 
 missionaries opposed to settle-nents S 
 
 C H A P r E R 1 i 1 . 
 
 Preparation for Western occupation. Territorial ambition of Louis 
 XIV. Supposed route to China and the Indies. Contest be- 
 tween friends and enemies of exploration. Expeditions sent 
 out by Talon towards South Sea. St. Lusson at the Sault de 
 .Ste. Marie. .Success of French in dealing with Indians La- 
 Salle's first expedition not completed. Joliet, Dollier and 
 Galine6. DoUicr and Galine6 destroy an idol at Detroit. 
 Trade monopoly and contraband, Coureurs de bois restrained 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 P«ge 
 by law. Eminence of their leaders. The reiziment of Carig- 
 
 iian Saliires. English encroachments. 11 nelson's Bay Com- 
 pany. New York ceded to the English. Colbert offers re- 
 wards for discovery. The Religious Orders and their influence. 
 Grandfontiiine sends out Joliet'. Voyage to-Akansas country. 
 La Salle ennobled, and authorized to explore. Tonty. Pre- 
 parations for journey. The Criffin. Skilled mechanics. Ri- 
 bourde, Membrii, Hennepin, Missionaries. Launch and voyage 
 of the Griffin. Keaches the Detroit August loth, 1679 20 
 
 C II A TTE R I V. 
 
 £arly settlements in Michigan. La Salle sends men to Michigan 
 to wait for him. Tcuchsa Grondie and the early settle- 
 ments on the Strait. Karontaen, whether the same as 
 Carontouan. Many forms of the same names. Champlain's 
 knowledge of the Strait. Griffin at the Detroit. At Lake Ste. 
 Claire on St. ("laire's Day. Lake Ste. Claire known as Otsi- 
 keta, Chaudicre, Kandekio and Ganatchio. La Salle reaches 
 Mackinaw and goes southwest. At St. Joseph. Strife with 
 Iroquois and English for the fur trade. Eminent adventurers. 
 Du Luth, l)e la FoiC-t, Uurantaye, Lusigny. Duchesneau 
 complains of Krontenac anc| Du Luth as favoring contraband 
 trade. Amnesty to coureurs de bois. Colonial intrigues. Du- 
 Luth goes to France. Importance of Lake Erie. Correspon- 
 dence between De la Barre and Governor Dongan. Denonville 
 sends Du Luth to build Fort St. Joseph, at the outlet of Lake 
 Huron. Mc(Jregory and Roseboom expeditians and capture. 
 Tonty, La Foret, Durantaye, Du Luth and Beauvais de Tilly 
 go east with the prisoners, to join the -Seneca campaign. La- 
 Hontan sent to Fort St. Joseph. I.afontaine Marion, guide to 
 McGregory, shot. Grisolon de la Tourette, brother to Daniel 
 Grisolon Du Luth. Iroquois claim against French control of 
 the Detroit. Mackinaw an important point. Hurons and 
 Ottawas. Industry of the Hurons. Fort St. Joseph abandoned. 
 La Motte Cadillac. New York covets the western trade. 
 Coureurs de bois or bushlopers valuable to the Colonies. 
 Cadillac proposes a fort at Detroit. Livingston recognizes 
 importance of getting Detroit or VVawyachtenok. Cadillac goes 
 to France to lay his plans before the King. Authorized to 
 found Detroit. Fort Pontchartrain 36 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Detroit under Cadillac. Iroquois complain of French occupancy. 
 Convey their claims to William III. Lake luie and its vari- 
 ous names. Iroquois not claimants of Michigan. Importance 
 
CONTENTS. VU 
 
 Page 
 
 of water-ways. Description of the Strait and its islands. Why 
 
 the post was not placed on Cirosse lie. Hois-blanc I.sland. 
 Fortifications at Detroit. Cattle and horses. Huildings. 
 D'Aigremont's report. Indians settle at Detroit. Trouble 
 with Jesuits. Cadillac and his measures. Restraint of liquor 
 traffic. Monojjoly of Canada ('ompany. Danger from English 
 intrigues. Intrigues against ('adillac. Ordered to (Juebec for 
 trial. Vindicated hv Count Pontchartrain. Aigremont's spite. 
 Congas or licenses. Delays in settlement. Censu.s. Cadil- 
 lac's seigneurie. Plans for improving Indians and enlarging 
 settlement. Feudal grants of land. Wheat introduced. Mills. 
 Enlightened views. Cadillac Governor of Louisiana 55 
 
 CH APTE R V 1. 
 
 French rnle. Detroit the only civil settlement. Subject to English 
 schemes. French system opposed to freedom of action. French 
 settlers brave and enterprising. No courts of justice. Public 
 notaries and their functions. Disposal of Cadillac's interests. 
 Madan e Gregoire, his grand -daughter. I.a Forct succeeds 
 Cadillac. Dn Buisson commands during liis absence. Detroit 
 , besieged by Mascoutins and Outagamies. Succored by Pota- 
 watamies, Hurons, Illniois, Missouris and Usages. Fort re- 
 lieved, and great slaughter of besiegers. Tonty the younger. 
 La F'orfit's views concerning the post. Description of Indians. 
 Superiority of Hurons. Visit of Charlevoi.x. Domestic animals 
 and crops. Prerogatives of the commander. Lands controlled 
 by Governor and Intendant. Trade monoi)oly under younger 
 Tonty. Licenses to privileged traders. Popular remonstrances 
 and Tonty "s annoyance. Improvement under Beauharnois as 
 Governor, and Hocquart as Intendant. Beauharnois favors 
 settlements and makes concessions of land. Boishebert, Com- 
 mandant, sanctions a water-mill. Moulin banal. Detroit gov- 
 ernment grants held in roture and not by feudal tenure. 
 Hugues Pean and Bigot. Few grants perfected by patent as 
 required. Cadillac and Repentigny the only grantees of seig- 
 neur ies. Trading licenses granted freely. Commanders at De- 
 troit, Pajot, Deschaillons de .St. Ours, De.snoyelles, Noyan, 
 Sabrevois, C61oron, Longueuil, De Muy, Bellestre. Indian set- 
 tlements in Michigan. L'Arbre Croche. Liberal views of 
 Maurepas, Beauharnois, La Jonciuiere, and De la Galissonni6re. 
 The Phelyppeaux family, and places named in their honor. 
 He Phelyppeaux in Lake Superior a national boundary. Its 
 disappearance. Navarre Deputy Intendant at Detroit Notary 
 and tabellion. Tenure of lands within the Fort. Conditions 
 to keep up pickets. British and Iroquois intrigues with the 
 Hurons at Detroit. Huron mission village at Bois-blanc. Iro- 
 
* 
 
 t: () N T K N J' S . 
 
 quois on White I'iver. Trade sutiler.s. Celoron and Joncaire 
 on the Ohio. Indian rising and m-issacre planned at Detroit, 
 Chiefs sent to Quebec. Attack on sctt'emcnt at Gro.sse lie. 
 Capture of ring leaders. One liilled, and one commits .suicide. 
 Richardie and I'otier, Huron missionaries. Huron Mission 
 removed from Hois-blanc to Sandwich. Resistance to Knglish 
 advance on Ohio. (Jalissonniere urges sending out settlers. 
 Kauxsaulniers or salt smugglers to be sent out. Colonial in- 
 dustries favored by I'"rench, but opposed by English. Settlers 
 sent out from France to I )etroit. Scarcity. Detroit enlarged. 
 Repentigny settles at Sault de Ste. Marie. War with England. 
 Detroit sends troops and sujiplies. Piquotii de HcUestre active. 
 Acadian refugees. Bellestre the last French commandant. 
 Detroit included in Montreal capitulation. Surrendered to 
 Robert Rogers. Account of Hellestre 77 
 
 ; C H A TTE R V I I. 
 
 Michigan under Uritisli military rule. Few interests for law to oper- 
 ate on. Detroit, Mackinaw and Sault dc Ste. Marie the only 
 settlements. Fort Mackinaw then in Lower Peninsula. Pop- 
 ulation of Detroit. Slaves. Pauls. Buffaloes. Ceneral (iage 
 and Sir William Johnson. Chabert de Joncaire. Robert 
 liogers, • Royal American Kegiment. Pontiac meets the British 
 near the C'uyahoga. Arrogant conduct of British officers to- 
 wards Indians. Caplain Donald Campbell first commandant at 
 Detroit. Albany traders Trade regulations. Pontiac begins 
 scheming. Effect of Treaty of Pans. French popular with 
 Indians. Events at -Mackinaw. Post ca|)tured by stratagem 
 of ball-play. Conduct of various Indian tribes. Etherington. 
 Gorrell. Henry. Tolerance of Indian barbarities. Detroit 
 during the Pontiac Jwar. Siege, (lladwin, Campbell, McDoug- 
 all, Rogers, Dalzell. Massacre of Fisher at Hog Island. 
 Cuillerier. Intervention of Chapoton, Godfroy and La Butte. 
 Murder of Major Donald Campbell and escape of McDougall. 
 Battle of Bloody Run. Siege raised. Bradstreet's Treaty. \ 
 Tricks and mistakes of interpreters. Need of civil government. 
 Royal proclamation continued martial law. British suspicions 
 against loyalty ot French. Popularity of Scottish officers. 
 British authorities opposed to civil settlements. Fur trade. 
 Indian grants. Temporary courts established by the command- 
 ant. Dejean and I.e Grand justices. Irregularities at Mack- 
 inaw. Misconduct of Robert Rogers. Alexander Henry on 
 Lake Superior. Mining and copper discoveries. Condition of 
 Detroit settlements. Potawatamie grants. Royal officers at 
 Detroit. No new.spajjers in Province. Quebec Act passed .. in 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 C H A P T E R V I I I . 
 
 P»gB 
 
 Michigan under British law. Purpose and operation of the Quebec 
 Act. Opposed by liberals. Petitions for its repeal disregarded. 
 Zachary Macaulay. Western posts continued under martial 
 law. Lieutenant governors appointed. Henry Hamilton at 
 Detroit. No regular courts till 1788. Lay judges. Justice 
 R^aume. Dejean's multifarious duties. Continued in his 
 limitea magistracy. Liquor selling regulated by agreement 
 among merchants. American Revolution did not reach Mich- 
 igan, (iarret Oraverat charged with disloyalty. Execution of 
 prisoners sentenced capitally by Dejean without authority. 
 Captain Lernoult in command. Relations of Dejean with 
 Lieutenant Governor Hamilton. Further unlawful Indian grants. 
 Loyalty of French at Detroit. Difference between French and 
 English colonists. Destruction of American settlements. Pol- 
 * icy of preventing civilization. Events in Indiana and Illinois. 
 Hamilton's expeditions. DePeyster at Mackinaw and his aux- 
 iliary attempts. Forays from Detroit. George Rogers Clark 
 captures Vincennes. Hamilton, Hay, Dejean and others ile- 
 tained prisoners. Their treatment in Virginia. DePey.ster 
 commanding at Detroit. Acts as chaplain in marriages and 
 other duties. His character. Bird's expedition to Kentucky. 
 Moravians in Michigan. Zeisberger and others settle on Huron 
 (Clinton) River of Lake St. Clair. New Gnadenhutten. John 
 Hay lieutenant governor. First road in Michigan built to 
 Moravian settlement. Fort Mackinaw moved to Island of 
 Michilimackinac. Detroit and other posts retained by Great 
 Britain, in violation of treaty of peace. Records removed to 
 
 . ^ Quebec. Indian hostilities encouraged against the United 
 .States. Brant. Canada divided. Upper Canada made a com- 
 mon law province. Sinicoe lieutenant governor. Grants to 
 American Tory refugees. British build fort at Maumee Rapids. 
 Wayne's campaign and victories. Treaty of Greenville. Jay's 
 treaty provides for surrender of posts to the United States. 
 Fraudulent Indian grants in anticipation of surrender. Posses- 
 sion taken of Detroit 153 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Michigan under the Northwest Territory and Indiana. Territory cov- 
 eted by the British. Plan to obtain it by purchase. Disloyalty 
 at Green Bay and Sault de Ste. Marie. Election of many 
 citizens to retain allegiance to Great Britain. Jonathan Schieff- 
 lin. Pleasant social lelations. Slaves. Rights preserved by 
 Jay's Treaty. Wayne County organized. Militia. Courts. 
 
X CON T F, NTS. 
 
 Page 
 Ordinance of 1787. Courts at Detroit yearly. Jacob Burnet. 
 
 John Cleves Symmes. Arthur St. Clair, Jr. Bluejacket. 
 Buckongahelas. Honors to the Governor's son. Indians in- 
 jured by contact with American settlers. Flourishing business 
 at Detroit. Style df living, French noblesse. Marietta col- 
 onists. Solomon Sibley. Lewis Cass in Ohio. Amusements. 
 Elections for General Assembly. Character of legislation. 
 Schools. Division of Territory. Seat of government removed 
 to Chillicothe. Detroit incorporated. Chillicothe riots. Schieff- 
 lin's courage. Ohio Constitutional Convention. Wayne County 
 not represented. Michigan attached to Indiana. Detroit des- 
 cribed. Domestic life. Dispute concerning national boundary. 
 Boisblanc Island and Maiden. Government trading posts. 
 Commission to settle land titles. Michigan set off as a 
 Territory 198 
 
 CHAPTER X . 
 
 Governor Hull's civil administration. Political contests of that period. 
 No new settlements in Michigan away from the border. Pop- 
 ulation. Importation of Territorial officers. Plvils of their 
 local ignorance. Governor, Secret.iry and Judges. Burning of 
 Detroit. New town planned. Legislation of Governor and 
 Judges. Court districts. Lotteries for publir purposes. Wood- 
 ward's plan of Detroit. .Militia. Lan''. titles. Discords among 
 the (iovernor and Judges. B:i;il< of Detroit incorpDrated, and 
 annulled by Conef'esa. Kidnapping British deserters. Slaves. 
 Lr.diaii treaty concessions of land. Delays in public surveys. 
 Indian alarms. Detroit stockaded. Negro soldiers. Quarrels 
 of Hull and Woodward. Social affairs. Schools. Fir^t print- 
 ing press. " Michigan Essay." Father Gabriel Richard. In- 
 dian troubles. Tecuniseh and the Prophet. British intrigues. 
 Maiden agency. Elliott and McKee. Henry's mission to New 
 England. Indians defeated at Tippecanoe. Governor Hull 
 goes to Washington. Evils of having no newspapers. Sweep- 
 ing repeal of all old laws, British, French and Territorial. No 
 local self government. Currency. Taxation. Imperfect legal 
 system. Burr's conspiracy antl neutrality laws 232 
 
 C H A t r E R XI. 
 
 * 
 
 Ciovernor Hull's military administration. Early omissions and mis- 
 takes of the Government. Hull's antecedents. His opinions 
 on military policy. Rated by his Revolutionary .lervices under 
 different circumstances. War measures adopted. Troops levied. 
 Call on Ohio for soldiers. Hull in command of Ohio troops 
 and regulars. March towards Detroit. Baggage and invalids 
 
r ON T F. NTS. XI 
 
 Page 
 sent by vessel and captured. Hull receives notice of war on 
 
 ihe way I'roni Maumee to Detroit. British received earlier 
 notice. Reaches Detroit. Delays crossing till advices from 
 Washington. Enters Canada and issues proclamation. Expe- 
 ditions of Cass and McArthur. Delays ofi'ensive measures. 
 Mackinaw captured. Traders in British interest. Proctor at 
 Maiden. Kattles of Monguagon and Hrownstown. Hull retires 
 from Canada. Chicago massacre. HroL at Maiden. Batteries 
 built at Sandwich without interference from Hull. Discontent, 
 Cass and McArthur sent towards River Raisin. Briti.sh open fire 
 from Canada. Cross Detroit River without resi-stance. Hull sur- 
 renders. Dishonorable terms of capitulation. Captain Brush 
 refuses to be included. Sustained by court martial, ("ourt 
 called to try Hull. Dissolved because he has not been exchanged. 
 New court called on his exchange. Conviction and .sentence 
 that he be shot. Sentence remitted. Hull's defence and sub- 
 se(|uent eflort at vindication. Discussion of the subject .... 266 
 
 C H A I'T K U XII. ^ 
 
 lintish possession and American reconquest of Michigan. Cass re- 
 ports at Washington upon the facts of Hull's military trans- 
 actions. Brock's proclamation. Discussion upon true contents 
 of articles of surrender. I'roctor in command. Organizes tem- 
 porary government. Depredations and spoliations. Attempt to 
 turn citizens to disloyalty. Indian threats. Excitement in the 
 West. Capture of Revolutionary trophies at Detroit. Brock 
 knighted. Cr^.ture of the Detroit and Caledonia, armed vessels, 
 by Elliott, near Buffalo. Harrison's (orces gathering in Ohio. 
 Maiden to be assailed. Winchester's defeat on the Raisin. 
 Proctor's treachery. Massacre of the wounded. Fate of Wool- 
 folk. Hart, Graves and others. Dr. McKeehan's adventures. 
 Ransom of prisoners, and Proctor's prohibition of further ran- 
 som. Woodward's spirited conduct. ('ruelty to jirisoners. 
 Banishment of Americans from Detroit. Kentucky volunteers. 
 Ohio campaign. Fort Meigs besieged. Capture of relieving 
 force, and Indian barbarities. Tecumseh more merciful than 
 Proctor. Siege raised. P'ailure of plan for second attack. As- 
 sault on I'"ort Stephenson, and brave ilefencc by .Major Croghan. 
 Retreat of British and Indians. Governor Shelby raises volun- 
 teers and leads them. The mounted rangers. Richard M. 
 Johnson. Okemos. Perry i)repares a fleet and sails from 
 liric. Defeats British fleet in Battle of Lake Erie. Transports 
 troops to Canada. Proctoi's cowardice. Retreats from Maiden. 
 Evacuates Delmii and retreats up the Thames. Detroit occu- 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 pied by American troops. Hull's flagstaff not used. Pursuit 
 of Proctor and Battle of the Thames. Tecumseh killed. In- 
 dians submit tu Harrison. Expeditions of McArthur and 
 Holmes, failure to retake Mackinaw. Neglect of Michigan 
 to commemorate her rescuers. Honors to Captain Hart. Re- 
 union of veterans at Monroe 329 
 
 C HA PTER XII I. 
 
 Administration of Governor Cass. Lewis Cass Governor and William 
 Woodbridge Secretary of the Territory. Indians troublesome. 
 Treaty of peace with tribes. Insolence of British officers in 
 Canada. Search of American vessels at Maiden. Bounty 
 lands appropriated in Michigan for soldiers Report of surveyors 
 that no tit lands could be found. False statements concerning 
 the country. Counties organized. Indiana and Illinois organized, 
 and part of Michigan annexed. Territory extended beyond 
 Lake Michigan. Visit of President Monroe. Sword presented 
 to (Jeneral Alexander Macomb from the State of New York. 
 " Detroit Gazette" established. Unsound currency Michigan 
 University chartered, and receives various gifts. Sales of public 
 lands. New counties. County Commissioners appointed. In- 
 crease ol lake commerce. Land carriage by pack horses. Ponies. 
 People reject offer of representative government. Reinterment 
 of Captain Hart. The steamboat Walk-in-the- Water, the first 
 lake steamboat. Synimes's Ho'e. Churches incorporated. Dele- 
 gate to Congress authorized to be elected. Bank of Michigan. 
 First steam-voyage to Mackinaw Governor Cass's expedition 
 to the sources of the Mississippi. The British hold Drummond's 
 Island and subsidize Indians, Thomas, the great chief of the 
 Menominies. Indians at the Sault insolent and raise the British 
 flag. Cass pulls it down. Treaty concluded. Territorial system 
 of criminal law. Mischief of British presents to Indians. Con- 
 gress creates new court for the upper country. Large business 
 there. Territory re-organized with legislative council. Judges 
 legislated out of office. Changes in offices. Court house built 
 and used as capitol. Curious manuscript. Meeting of council 
 and change of officers. Erie canal. " Michigan Herald" estab- 
 lished. Governor Cass appoints officers on popular selection. 
 Captain Burtis's horse-boat, and the steamer " Argo." Indian 
 captives Cass and McKenney's expedition. Koads. Fort 
 Shelby at Detroit abandoned. Kishkaukon charged with murd'^r. 
 Commits suicide. Councilmen to be chosen directly by the 
 people. Supervisor system adopted in counties. Laws concern- 
 ing colored people. Export of flour and tobacco. Changes on 
 the bench. Sheldon contempt case. First railroad charter to 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 Page 
 Pontiac and Detroit Railroad. Excitement over French Revolu- 
 tion of 1830. De Tocqueville hears ot it between Detroit and 
 Saginaw, Political removals and appointments of General Jack- 
 son. Cass made Secretary of War. Leading men and social 
 affairs in his time. Revised Code of 1 827 .')76 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Last years of the Territory. Rapid increase of population. Judicial 
 system. Good character of settlers. People desire to manage 
 their own affairs. Dislike of foreign appointments. Stevens T. 
 Mason appointed Secretary while under age. Public remon- 
 strance. George B. Porter made Governor. Turbulence of 
 young politicians. Death of Judge Trumbull, the author ot 
 McFmgal. Gforge Morell and Ro.ss Wilkins appointed in lieu 
 of Judges Woodbridge and Chipman. Popular vote to become a 
 State. Black Hawk war. Cholera. Rxtension of Michigan 
 Territory beyond the Mississippi. Death of Governor Porter 
 Boundary commission. Henry D. Gilpin nominated as Governor 
 and rejected by the Senate. Preparations to organize Wisconsin. 
 Preliminary steps for State organization DifHculties with Ohio 
 about boundary. Adoption of State constitution, and election of 
 State officers and representatives in Congress. Charles Shaler 
 appointed Secretary of the Territory and declines the appoint- 
 ment. John S. Horner accepts it. Arrives and is not well 
 received. Lucius Lyon and John Norvell chosen Senators. Con- 
 gress refuses to admit the State until the people in conveVition 
 ■ yield their southern boundary to Ohio. Regular convention 
 rejects the terms. Irregular or " Frostbitten" convention accepts 
 them, and the State is admitted. Co-existence of State and 
 Territorial officers for certain purposes 425 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Michigan under the Constitution of 1835, Sketch of the constitution. 
 Condition of public travel in 1835. Sanguine expectations of 
 prosperity. Educational measures. Internal improvements. 
 Geological survey. Banking laws. Bounties for manufacture!*. 
 Five million dollars loan and its unfortunate history. Large 
 appropriations for railroads and canals. Frauds and defaults in 
 the agents of the loan State scrip and State warrants resorted 
 to to meet liabilities. Canal at .Sault Ste. Marie stopped by 
 United States troops. Remarks on government reserves. Gov- 
 ernor Mason. Revised statutes of 1838. New revision in 1846. 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Changes injudicial system. " Patriot War" or Canadian Rebel- 
 lion. Expatriation (juestion. Free scliools in Detroit. Scrip 
 called in. Political changes. Governor Barry. Movements to 
 improve Indians. Factitious surveys of public lands. Indian 
 names of northern counties changed. Sale of State railroads. 
 Mexican War. Changes in the Courts. Capital punishment 
 abolished. The Upper Peninsula and its mines. System of 
 surveys. Burt's solar compass. Asylums. Normal School. 
 Uitiversity. Land Office. Capital removed to Lansing. Adop- 
 tion of new Constitution 480 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Michigan under the Constitution of 1850. Comparison of the two Con- 
 stitutions, (lovernors of Michigan. .Swamp land grant. Ship 
 canal at the Sault de Ste. Marie built. Mormon occupation of 
 Heaver Island. King Strang. His assassination. Spoiling the 
 Mormons. Obstacles to legal proceedings in the U|)per Penin- 
 sula. Prohibitory liquor laws. University affairs. State Reform 
 School. State charitable institutions and commission of charities. 
 Cirand jury system changed. Rise of the Republican Party. 
 Military affairs. Embezzlement of State moneys by John Mc- 
 Kinney, State Treasurer. John Owen, his successor, raised 
 funds on his own credit until the tax levies came in. War 
 preparations on the eve of the Rebellion. Michigan during 
 the Rebellion. Rebel seizure of the steamboat Philo Parsons. 
 Governors of the State. Judicial changes. Senators. Attempts 
 to revise the Constitution and their failure. Aid-bonds Ag- 
 ricultural College grants. Salt. Destruction of timber. Phi- 
 lanthropic legislation and measures to carry it out. New State 
 Capitol. .State Library. Lady Librarian. Salaries. Summary 
 of progress 540 
 
 Note to Page 418. — The writer was misled in regard to Mr. De 
 Tocqueville, by a friend's hasty reference, which he discovered, (too late 
 for correction in the text,) arose from a misapprehension. The Memoir 
 of De Tocqueville refers to the first anniversary of the Revolution of July, 
 which he spent in the Michigan woods in the next year, 1831, and not 
 to the Revolution itself. He was in France in 1830. The very lively 
 emotion shown in the reference was retrospective. 
 
OUT I. I N E S 
 
 OK I'HK 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY OF MICHIGAN. 
 
OUTLINES 
 
 OP THK 
 
 Political History of Michigan. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 The political history qf Michigan, as a com- 
 munity governed by its own laws, dates back but 
 half a century. In the summer of 1824 the first 
 Legislative Council met, composed of nine mem- 
 bers, selected by the President and confirmed by 
 the Senate of the United States out of eighteen 
 persons chosen by the voters of Michigan Territory. 
 In 1827, for the first time a Council of thirteen sat, 
 who were chosen directly by popular vote. Since 
 that time the affairs of the people have been con- 
 trolled by their own representatives, subject, dur- 
 ing the territorial stage, to a veto of the Gover- 
 nor appointed by the United States, and to re- 
 vision by Congress; and since the organization 
 of the State to a qualified veto by their own 
 Governor. 
 1 
 
A INTKRESTING KRA. [Chaf. I. 
 
 If that only is political history which covers 
 the life of the people as a political commonwealth, 
 it would be safe to begin at the period of en- 
 franchisement, and to confine our attention to i^ e 
 fortunes of this region since that time. The 
 whole population of European descent was then 
 less than twenty thousand. The cultivated lands, 
 if placed together, would not have covered a 
 single county. For about half the year there 
 was no intercourse with the outer world. The 
 completion of the Erie Canal was opening the 
 way for that great course of emigration which has 
 since brought into the West more people than 
 were at that time to be found in all the Northern 
 States ; and for some years thereafter a large 
 share of those who left New York and New 
 England to find new homes in the Northwest 
 settled in Michigan. Several of our flourishing 
 towns were founded then or soon after. 
 
 The times were notable for other reasons. 
 Some disputed questions of boundary and in- 
 demnity under treaties with Great Britain had 
 just been determined, and the line between the 
 British and American islands in the dividing 
 waters of this frontier had been ascertained, so 
 that the limits of our jurisdiction were fixed for 
 the first time. 
 
 The completed half century of the republic 
 found us in treaty relations with the Empire of 
 Russia, and with the new American Republics of 
 North and South America, which our example 
 
Chap. I.] ORIGIN OF INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 t 
 
 had led to independence. The first combined 
 arrangements had been made with Great Britain 
 for checking the slave trade, which the completion 
 of the century finds practically abolished. The 
 history of Michigan, from that period, is one of 
 very rapid progress, and the last fifty years have 
 been remarkable years for the whole civilized 
 world. 
 
 But the earliest days of the life of any people 
 must always have some influence on the future, 
 and usually one which determines in no small 
 degree the character of popular institutions and 
 progress. The institutions of the United States 
 are mostly natural developments from those of 
 the earliest settlements ; and those, again, were 
 modifications of the older British customs, which 
 have been vigorous and adaptable since times 
 more distant than any of which we have complete 
 histories. 
 
 The settlements in Michigan were made very 
 early, and the Canadian annals, to which our first 
 history belongs, date back of most of those of 
 the English colonies. The beginnings of Cana- 
 dian colonization appeared more promising than 
 those of New England or Virginia. None of the 
 thirteen commonwealths that declared their inde- 
 pendence had ever been watched by Great Britain 
 with that solicitude which was spent on the French 
 provinces by their home government, or which 
 has been bestowed on Canada since the other 
 British possessions separated from it. 
 
% EARLY FRENCH WRITERS. [ChaK I. 
 
 If the commonwealths within the United States 
 prospered under neglect, and their neighbors 
 suffered from too much home attention, perhaps 
 the experience of a region which has been through 
 both experiences may not be altogether without 
 value as an example of what may be followed, 
 and what may be shunned. 
 
 The leading features of the colonial history of 
 Michigan, so far as they show its experience in 
 matters of government, may be given briefly. 
 No sketch would be complete without them. 
 The purposes of this outline will not allow an 
 extended narrative of those romantic adventures 
 which add so much life to the annals of this 
 region. Historians have loved to dwell upon 
 them, and under the hands of such artists as Park- 
 man they have assumed the shape and color 
 of present reality. The older writers have pre- 
 served many brilliant sketches of the remarkable 
 events of their times. Hennepin, always graphic, 
 if not always reliable, was one of the first, if not 
 the very first, who gave a minute description of 
 the country about the great lakes, and who 
 detailed the beginnings of La Salle's discoveries 
 more faithfully than their sequel. La Hontan, who 
 has also been charged with exaggeration in some 
 things, and. with some sheer inventions, is never- 
 theless fully corroborated by other witnesses, in a 
 great part of his personal narrative, so far as it 
 concerns our affairs. Charlevoix, who was histor- 
 ian as well as traveller, has left works of sterling 
 
Cka». I.l COLONIAL DISCORDS. 
 
 merit and great interest, and his style is very 
 attractive. He too has left much unsaid, and has, 
 probably without sinister intentions, colored his 
 picture according to the strong prejudices of his 
 order. 
 
 The discoveries made among the old records 
 of the Department of the Marine, and in family 
 and other collections, have rendered much of the 
 old histories very unreliable. These papers, which 
 are now coming to the light, show a very strange 
 condition of affairs. There seems never to have 
 been a time when harmony prevailed among all 
 the influential persons or authorities. The Gover- 
 nor was frequently and perhaps generally at war 
 with the Intendant, upon questions of vital policy. 
 The ecclesiastics were opposed to the views of 
 the civil officers, and the religious orders were 
 arrayed secretly or openly against each other. 
 Official letters written in one sense were qualified 
 by private despatches in another. Every leading 
 man had spies upon his conduct, who were them- 
 selves watched by other spies. The whole truth 
 seldom reached France from any source ; and the 
 only means of redress open to many of the lead- 
 ing spirits of the colony against those who per- 
 sistently thwarted the Royal intentions in their 
 favor, was a personal appeal to the King or his 
 ministers in . the mother country. As it was 
 shrewdly remarked by one of the ministers, the 
 King's orders lost their force when they crossed 
 the Bank. 
 
6 
 
 INFORMATION SUPPRESSED. [Chaf. I. 
 
 This is readily understood, when it is known 
 that the first public printing press in Canada was 
 set up after the English conquest, about 1764; 
 and no such thing as public opinion was known 
 as an influence in the affairs of government. 
 News could only get abroad as rumor or gossip. 
 
 The only books which criticised the conduct 
 of the church or state authorities, or which vin- 
 dicated the reputation of those who were oat of 
 favor were published abroad. No writer could 
 publish in Prance any account which was not 
 satisfactory, as the press was rigidly watched. 
 The writings of Hennepin and La Hontan, printed 
 in Holland, were assailed and denounced as the 
 work of renegades and traitors, and generally 
 discredited, without discriminating between what 
 was claimed to be invention and the rest. Many of 
 the most important documents, which in any other 
 country would have been made public, never saw 
 the light until our time. 
 
 The eminent author of the Commentary on 
 the Marine Ordinance of Louis XIV., M. Valin, 
 complains of the labor of delving in the chaos of 
 edicts and public documents in the office of the 
 Admiralty, relating to maritime affairs, which he 
 speaks of as a prodigious multitude. The collec- 
 tion of public reports and private letters relating 
 to colonial affairs, from civil ancj ecclesiastical 
 officers and from persons of all occupations, gath- 
 ered toj,rether from all parts of the world, during 
 a regime when every one was suspected, and 
 
Chaf. 1.1 COLONIAL DOCUMENTS. 
 
 when colonial gossip was as keenly scrutinised as 
 colonial business, must be enormous. The Domin- 
 ion of Canada has drawn largely upon these de- 
 posits, and the State of New York has published 
 a valuable selection from them. Further ex- 
 cerpts have been secured at different times by 
 General Cass and others. We may hope that 
 when this material has been thoroughly sifted our 
 early history may be made complete. 
 
 ■. ..:\J 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 EARLY EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 The State of Michigan is a part of the terri- 
 tory colonised by the French, and held under the 
 government of New France and Louisiana. It 
 was never properly a part of Louisiana as a sep- 
 arate province, although in some of the ancient 
 maps it appears to have been included in that 
 region. Its affairs were always under the super- 
 vision of the authorities in what was afterwards 
 known as Lower Canada, until the British con- 
 quest of 1 760-1 763, after which it remained under 
 military control, until by an act of Parliament 
 passed in 1774 it was annexed to the province of 
 Quebec. From its first discovery until the close of 
 the French supremacy its history is a part of the 
 history of Canada, and most of its French inhab- 
 itants were Canadians by birth or connections. 
 
 This dependence on Canada was a principal 
 cause why Michigan was not settled earlier, and 
 why after settlements were begun they were not 
 allowed to be multiplied. It was early known 
 that the lands were exceptionally good, and that 
 farming could be made very profitable. But the 
 colonial policy adhered to for a long period did 
 not encourage the pursuit of agriculture. A wil- 
 
Chap. II.] THE HURONS. 9 
 
 derness was more precious in the eyes of the 
 authorities at Quebec than fields and farms. The 
 change in sentiment, if it ever came, came too 
 late, and one prominent cause for the loss of the 
 American possessions of France, was lack of 
 people. 
 
 It is impossible to determine, with any pre- 
 cision, at what time this country was first discov- 
 ered by the French. It must have been visited 
 by travellers or roving traders long before its 
 settlement. The fur trade, and especially the 
 trade in beavers, was the chief and earliest branch 
 of commerce in the colony, and began with its 
 beginnings. The Lake country was considered 
 by Indians and whites as the chief source of sup- 
 ply for beavers, and for most of the more valua- 
 ble furs and peltries. Long before the Iroquois 
 extended their incursions so far to the west, the 
 peninsula of Upper Canada was a favorite seat 
 of the Ouendats or Hurons,' who were more 
 civilized and less nomadic than any of their west- 
 ern neighbors. The undefined region called the 
 Saghinan, or Saginaw country, which seems to 
 have been sometimes spoken of as identical 
 with the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, was famous 
 for its wealth in beasts of the chase; and de- 
 
 ' The term Huron is French, and was given to these Indians btcause 
 of the appearance of their hair, which was rough and ridged like the bristles 
 of a wild boar — "Aure." Cheveux Relev6s was another name of the same 
 meaning — i. e. with hair standing up — applied by Champlain as is supposed 
 to the Ottawas. The name of the Hurons used among themselves was 
 Ouend&t, anglicised Into Wyandot. Huron was an old name for miners. — 
 a Mntray, 148. 
 
10 EARLY MISSIONS. [Chap. II. 
 
 scriptions of it reached the first visitors at Mon- 
 treal and were heard by Jaques Cartier. 
 
 It is possible that the wandering traders may 
 have had temporary stations on the borders, but 
 the earliest establishments of which we have any 
 unquestioned record were the missions. There 
 are vague references to companies of French 
 passing up and down the strait now known as 
 the Detroit River ; and there seems much reason 
 to believe that a village of Hurons existed at or 
 near the present site of Detroit very early in the 
 seventeenth century. There is nothing to indicate 
 that at that period the passage was dangerous. 
 The Huron villages, if the accounts of early tra- 
 vellers are correct, were not much, if any, inferior in 
 their defensive arrangements, or in their habita- 
 tions, to some of the first trading posts and mis- 
 sions. That people, both in language and in 
 habits, showed evidences of aptitude for civiliza- 
 tion beyond the ordinary savages. The earliest 
 missions in the neighborhood of Michigan are 
 supposed to have been those of the Recollet 
 Fathers in Upper Canada, near and on Lake 
 Huron and its affluents, which were founded dur- 
 ing the time of Champlain, who is reported, but 
 perhaps on doubtful authority, to have passed 
 through the strait on one of his journeys, and is 
 claimed by the official memoirs to have discov- 
 ered this region in 1 612.' 
 
 > Champlain's maps show that he knew the connection between Lake 
 Huron and the lower lakes, though not depicting it with geographical 
 accuracy. 
 
Chap. 11.] £aRLY MISSIONS. 11 
 
 Whether any of the missionaries visited this 
 immediate neighborhood during their residence 
 among the Hurons at Georgian Bay is not 
 known. But there is every reason to believe 
 they had a mission of some consequence on the 
 eastern side of Lake Huron, near its outlet and 
 not far north from Port Sarnia. ii ? -^i'^; 
 
 When the Iroquois overran the Huron coun- 
 try all vestiges of the European settlements di.s- 
 appeared. The Lower Peninsula of Michigan 
 having been mostly unoccupied by tribal settle- 
 ments, there was very little to invite invasion. 
 In their western excursions the Iroquois appear 
 on some occasions to have reached the southern 
 borders of Lake Michigan. But there is no 
 evidence that they ever dwelt in the lake region 
 of Michigan ; and if they ever traversed it, they 
 retained no hold on it. It was never actually 
 possessed by any but the northern and western 
 tribes, who were independent nations, and owed 
 no fealty, and acknowledged none, to the Iroquois 
 or their allies. 
 
 Missions were founded by the Jesuits on the 
 northern and southern borders of the Upper Pen- 
 insula of Michigan. Raymbault and Jogues visited 
 the Sault de Ste. Marie in 1641, but do not 
 seem to have made any establishment, having 
 returned to their mission at Penetanguishine the 
 same year. In 1660 Mesnard coasted along the 
 south shore of Lake Superior as far as the head 
 of Keweenaw Bay, known as L'Anse. Having 
 
12 , MESNARD. [CHAr. 11. 
 
 wintered there alone among the Indians, he went 
 westward in the spring, passing through Portage 
 Lake, and intending, after crossing the narrow 
 strip of land known as the Portage, (which has 
 been recently opened to navigation by a ship 
 canal,) to continue his journey to Chegoimegon 
 Bay. This is the bay lying south of the Apoftle 
 Islands, on one of which, at La Pointe, is a very 
 old settlement and mission. Mesnard had but a 
 single Indian with him, and while this companion 
 was removing the canoe and its contents across 
 the Portage, the missionary, who was an elderly 
 man and quite feeble, strayed into the woods, and 
 disappeared. How he could have been lost 
 beyond the power of an Indian to discover his 
 trail, we are not informed. It is very likely he 
 was deserted, or worse, by a treacherous guide. 
 There is, however, a tradition that he was killed 
 by the Sioux. In October, 1665, Father AUouez 
 established the Mission of Chegoimegon, or La 
 Pointe, which had been the destination of Mesnard. 
 The mission at the Sault de Ste. Marie was 
 founded by Marquette in 1668. The same year 
 or the next a mission was founded on the Island 
 of Michilimackinac, but removed very soon, and 
 as early as 1669 or 1670, to Pointe St. Ignace on 
 the main land north of the Straits of Mackinaw 
 and west of the Island. This place was occupied 
 for many years. The establishment was after- 
 wards, (but when is not precisely known from 
 published authorities,) transferred to the northern 
 
Chap. 11.) MACKINAW MISSION. 13 
 
 point of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, not far 
 , from Cheboygan. In Charlevoix's time (1721) 
 the transfer had been made several years, and 
 the old mission was abandoned and had fallen 
 into decay. In Bellin's map of 1744 it is marked 
 as destroyed. The determination of its precise 
 location has been attended with some difificulty. 
 It derives interest from the fact that the remains 
 of P6re Marquette, some years after his death, 
 were removed by the Indians from the place of 
 his first burial, and interred at the church on 
 Pointe St. Ignace.' ^ 
 
 The missions at the Sault de Ste. Marie and 
 Michilimackinac are regarded as the first com- 
 pletely ascertained settlements within the present 
 State of Michigan. There is, at least, undeniable 
 evidence when these missions were founded. 
 Both places were important centres of influence. 
 But while they may be assumed as the pioneer 
 settlements, until further facts are established, 
 there are some things which deserve reference as 
 indicating a possibility to the contrary. 
 
 In 1687, upon a controversy between the Gov- 
 ernor General of Canada (Denonville) and Gov. 
 Dongan of New York, the former and his 
 agents asserted a French occupancy at Mackinaw 
 for more than sixty years, and French occupation 
 on the lower waters of Michigan from twenty-five 
 
 > Marquette died on his way to Mackinaw, at the Pire Marquette River, 
 where the town of Ludington in now situated, and was buried thfere, until 
 disinterred as above mentioned. 
 
14 COUREURS DE BOIS. [Chap. II. 
 
 to forty years. Gov. Dongan would not admit 
 this, but was not disposed to admit of any pre- 
 vious actual possession at all. Without some 
 definite evidence, such statements can only be 
 regarded as having more or less probability. At 
 the same time it is to be considered that except 
 from missions and military posts no official 
 reports were likely to be received ; and that the 
 missionary Relations, except where there was 
 some controversy or difficulty, were not required 
 to refer to the settlements for other purposes, 
 and often ignored them entirely. The existence 
 of defensive posts appears very frequently, in 
 such casual references in public documents and 
 letters as are conclusive, when the same places 
 are not mentioned by historians nor always by 
 travellers. 
 
 The monopoly of the fur trade, and the severe 
 provisions against irregular trading had given 
 occasion for a great amount of contraband enter- 
 prise. The men who engaged in this were an 
 adventurous class of active and bold rovers called 
 by the French coureurs de bois, translated by the 
 English in official papers into " bushlopers," " bush- 
 rangers" and " wood runners." Many of these 
 were of the lower classes and dropped readily 
 into the ways of the Indians, adopting their habits 
 and becoming adherents to the tribes. But there 
 were many also, of respectable connections, who 
 betook themselves to a wandering life of hunting 
 and trading, partly from love of adventure, and 
 
Chai'. ll.l COUREURS DE BOIS. 15 
 
 partly because they could find no other means of 
 Hvelihood. There is no reason to regard them 
 as a despicable or essentially vicious race. The 
 men who have been driven to the forest by feudal 
 oppressions .and monopolies have usually been 
 possessed of many useful qualities, which a better 
 government could have turned to great advant- 
 age. The outlaws of English and Scottish tradi- 
 tions have generally been popular for good fellow- 
 ship and sympathy with the poor. They are sel- 
 dom marked by cruelty or treachery. The adven- 
 turers from the English colonies and American 
 States, who have sought refuge in the woods and 
 have been the pioneers of discovery in the remote 
 regions, were not compelled to go except by their 
 own tastes, and have generally been quite as 
 honest in their dealings as any of their more 
 favored brethren, and have, as they deserve, a 
 very good reputation for many manly virtues. 
 The coiircurs dc bois were seldom, if ever, found 
 guilty of any treachery to the government, which 
 had no claim upon their respect beyond the fact 
 that they were of French blood ; and this claim 
 they recognized with pride. The atrocious mono- 
 polies and exactions which were ultimately chief 
 incentives to the first French Revolution, led to a 
 recognition by respectable men of the fact that 
 the offenders against such tyrannical regulations 
 were not necessarily malefactors. Accordingly no 
 lines were drawn between those who sought the 
 woods from love of adventure, and those who 
 
16 
 
 FAUX-SAULNIERS. [Chat. II. 
 
 went from necessity, and to save themselves from 
 starving. This was practically admitted by the 
 government itself. In 1713, when the colonial 
 government had begun to realize the value of 
 population, Mons. de Vaudreuil the Governor 
 General wrote very urgently to France to obtain 
 one hundred and fifty faux-saulniers (or contra- 
 band salt makers) who were sent to the galleys 
 for interfering with the salt monopolies of the 
 Farmers General; these would not consent to 
 their going at large in France, but the offenders 
 were not spoken of as in any respect undesirable 
 colonists.' 
 
 In 1 71 7 eighty of these faux-saulniers were 
 sent to begin the town of New Orleans.' 
 
 These bushrangers were the pioneers of French 
 enterprise and discovery; and in all the military 
 movements in the remote regions, as well as nearer 
 the sea, they were the chief reliance of the gov- 
 ernment. Their intimacy with the tribes led to a 
 great ascendancy in the Indian councils, and the 
 attachment of the savages for these men who were 
 familiar guests in their wigwams, and often mar- 
 ried into the tribes, led to alliances in war. The 
 British governors and agents attributed the whole 
 military success of the French colonies to the 
 bushrangers. In 1700, Robert Livingston in an 
 official report declares, that "we can never ran- 
 counter the French, unless we have bushlopers as 
 
 > 2 Charlevoix, 403. " 2 Charlevoix, 434. 
 
CHAr. II.] IRREGULAR POSTS ' ' 17 
 
 well as they."' And Pownall in his elaborate re- 
 port to the Congress of Albany in 1754, points 
 out very forcibly the advantages of the French 
 military settlements for colonizing purposes on the 
 borders,' 
 
 The numbers of these bushrangers were great, 
 and they frequently consorted in large companies. 
 There is every reason to believe that they went 
 into the wilderness and formed temporary or 
 permanent trading posts much earlier than the 
 date of any of the recognized establishments. 
 And while the existence of these posts was 
 doubtless known to the governors and colonial 
 authorities, they were unlawful settlements and 
 obtained no place in the annals of. the colony. 
 
 In all expeditions towards the unsettled regions, 
 these men formed a necessary part. The fur 
 companies from the earliest days to our own 
 time were obliged to employ their services, and 
 their hardy endurance and untiring good nature 
 are familiar to every one whose memory takes in 
 any reminiscences of the northwestern fur trade. 
 The Jesuit missionaries, however, seem to have 
 held them Iii great abhorrence. They were no 
 doubt somewhat indisposed to extreme subservi- 
 ence to the clergy, while the claims of the Jesuits 
 went far beyond what was allowed to be their 
 due by the French government or its local repre-. 
 sentatives. Their roving habits led in many 
 « 
 
 « 4 N. Y. Doc, 650, a 6 N. V. Doc, 893. 
 
 2 
 
18 
 
 JliSUlT MISSIONARIES. [Chaf. II. 
 
 cases to conduct which was very censurable, and 
 interfered with the success of the missions. But 
 it is impossible to believe that these men were as 
 bad as their enemies have painted them ; and in 
 judging them we must not forget that those who 
 opposed them most strenuously were oppo.sed 
 also to the policy of extending French settlements 
 at all. The motives of their opponents have been 
 discussed very sharply by most of the writers 
 who have succeeded them, and the documents in 
 the Marine Department have shown beyond con- 
 troversy that the French gove'*nment found some 
 of its most serious difficulties in dealing with an 
 order whose devotion and courage deserve high 
 eulogiums, but who did not make the interests of 
 France or Canada their primary consideration. 
 But at the same time that as a body the Jesuit 
 missionaries did not desire French settlements in 
 the Northwest, we are indebted to some of them, 
 of whom Marquette is a noble example, for great 
 services in exploring the country, and accurate 
 geographical information. They were second to 
 none in their contributions to geographical knowl- 
 edge in both hemispheres; and as remarkable for 
 courage and perseverance as for scientific research. 
 Whatever may have been the truth in regard to 
 the reasons which led them to act as they did, 
 there is no ground for suspecting them of indi- 
 vidual selfishness. Their zeal for their order was 
 unbounded, but they were devoted and unselfish 
 in obeying it. 
 
CiiAr II. 
 
 EARLV NORTHERN POSTS. 19 
 
 We may assume, whatever may have been 
 the previous acquaintance of the French with 
 this region, that the Michigan settlements began 
 with those at Michilimackinac and the Sault de 
 Ste. Marie. The creation of miHtary posts and 
 civil settlements at these places was almost con- 
 temporaneous with the missions, and began the 
 policy which, although opposed and hindered, was 
 at length to prevail. Had this policy of settle- 
 ment begun earlier and continued unopposed, the 
 destiny of Canada might have been changed. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 PRE['ARATIONS FOR WESTERN OCCUPATION. 
 
 The movements for the settlement of the 
 Northwest began in earnest about the year 1670. 
 Louis XIV. iiad developed into a king of bound- 
 less ambition, and had a natural anxiety to extend 
 his dominions into remote regions. China and 
 the East Indies were at that time looked upon as 
 mines of wealth, open to any European monarch 
 with courage and enterprise enough to reach 
 out for them. The reports w''' .'.. had come in 
 various forms from the Northwest brought rumors 
 of short and easy ways through the American 
 woods and rivers to the South Sea, and it was 
 believed the rich countries of the east were 
 within no very long distance across the continent. 
 Louis and his ministers determined to open and 
 control this passage ; and the extension of Cana- 
 dian settlements was in their view a necessary 
 step to that end. The royal designs had always 
 favored settlements, but it was very difficult to 
 know what course was best, when secret intrigues 
 and conflicting interests kept up a series of con- 
 tradictory representations. 
 
 The governors, who were generally anxious 
 to extend the colony, were entangled in all man- 
 
Cmat. mm ST. LUSSON AT THE SAULT. 
 
 m 
 
 ner of snares, and were misrepresented and op- 
 posed by those who would find no profit in the 
 extended jurisdiction of civil government. And 
 the first efforts to extend the royal dominions 
 resulted only in the establishment of a few mili- 
 tary posts. But the explorations had a permanent 
 value. 
 
 In .'569 or 1670, Talon, then Intendant of 
 New France, sent, or claimed the credit of send- 
 ing out, two parties to discover the South Sea 
 passage. It was supposed for some time that 
 the short route from Lake Superior to Hudson's 
 Bay was all that lay between the colony and the 
 South Sea. This notion prevailed in Champlain's 
 time; and while further experience had created 
 doubts concerning the precise way, it was still 
 thought the upper lake road was likely to be the 
 true one. De St. Lusson was accordingly des- 
 patched in that direction, and Robert Cavelier, 
 Sieur de La Salle, was ordered to the southward. 
 
 St. Lusson pursued his journey energetically, 
 and on his return in 1671, he held a council of 
 all the northern tribes at the Sault de Ste. Marie,- 
 where they formed an alliance with the P'rench, 
 and acknowledged their supremacy.' 
 
 From that time forward it would appear that 
 there was a military post kept up beside the 
 mission, and the traders made it a rallying point. 
 
 > He supposed that he had been within 300 leagues from the Vermilion 
 or South Sea and the Western Sea, where there was but 1500 leagues more 
 of navigation to Tartary, China and Japan. — 9 M Y. Doc, 72. 
 
22 FRENCH AND INDIAN INTERCOURSE. [CHAr. IH. 
 
 The French in their early dealings with the 
 Indians, and especially with the Iroquois, had 
 done very much like the English, and made no 
 attempt to conciliate them. But they discovered 
 the mistake, and by resorting to friendly methods 
 very soon conciliated most of their savage 
 neighbors. The chiefs and people were treated 
 courteously, and without that haughty arrogance 
 which has too often attended the dealing of the 
 whites with the natives. The French settlers 
 received and dealt with them on relations of 
 equality, and they lived together on the kindest 
 terms. It has been noticed by all who are fam- 
 iliar with frontier life that the social relations of 
 the French and Indians are exceptionally pleasant. 
 The young men were at home among the tribes, 
 and often spent months with them, hunting and 
 roving. The wigwam fare contented them, and 
 they lived as their hosts lived. They were often 
 formally adopted as chiefs, and acted as friends 
 of the tribe whenever it was necessary to inter- 
 vene on their behalf. It was also very common 
 for the kindly French woman to receive the 
 young girls into her house, and teach them 
 household industry. The removal of the Indians 
 from Michigan has broken up these ancient ties, 
 but it was once a pleasant as well as familiar 
 sight to witness the delight with which the old 
 chiefs and their French brothers met, after a long 
 separation, and exchanged their experiences. 
 
 The alliance formed under the direction of 
 
Chap. III.] DOLUER AND GAT.INEF. 211 
 
 St, Lusson was the primary means of closing the 
 Northwest against the Enghsh until after the 
 conquest. 
 
 La Salle, who w^as afterwards to become more 
 famous than St. Lusson, did not at this time com- 
 plete his explorations. There were joined with 
 him in his expedition two seminary priests, 
 DolHer de Casson and (ialinee. Dollier was a 
 man of great personal strength, and an old officer 
 of cavalry under Turenne. (ialinee was especially 
 skilled in surveying, and was to act as geographer. 
 They all kept together until, after waiting in the 
 country of the Senecas for a guide, they changed 
 their plans and went to the head of Lake Ontario, 
 where they met Louis Joliet. He had come down 
 from the upper lakes, and recommended them to 
 take that course instead of going to the Ohio. 
 Dollier and his companion concluded to do this, 
 and La Salle remained behind. They spent the 
 winter at Long Point on the north shore of Lake 
 Erie, and in the spring set out again, but having 
 lost most of their baggage by a storm at Pointe 
 Pelee, they concluded to return to Montreal. 
 They passed up the Detroit River, and near the 
 present city of Detroit found a rude stone idol 
 of repute as a manitou, and worshipped by the 
 Indians. These objects of superstition seem to 
 have been found in several places about the 
 lakes, and received offerings of tobacco and 
 other articles. The nearest one above Detroit 
 was the White Rock in Lake Huron, which Mr. 
 
24 
 
 IMAGE- BREAKTNO [Chap. III. 
 
 Schoolcraft passed on his journey in 1820 with 
 Gen. Cass's expedition towards the source of 
 the Mississippi,' The zealous missionaries relate 
 that after their recent misfortunes there was no 
 one in the party who was not filled with hatred 
 against the false divinity. They broke the idol 
 in pieces with one of their axes, and contrived, 
 by joining two canoes, to take the largest frag- 
 ment into deep water with the remainder, and so 
 disposed of the abomination. 
 
 This is said by Mr. Parkman to be the first 
 passage through Detroit River of which a record 
 has been preserved, although not the first in fact." 
 The same reliable writer has discovered evidence 
 of the continued labors of La Salle during the 
 next few years, of which no full account has been 
 published, which indicates that he was not without 
 success in his preliminary work. But the Report 
 of Courcelles in 1671 shows an accurate know- 
 ledge of the geography of all the lakes but Lake 
 Michigan, which must have come from earlier 
 explorations, and which was not much improved 
 upon by subsequent travellers. ^ 
 
 » Mr. Schoolcraft in that expedition remarked that he did not see any 
 oflerings except of articles of no value, and questioned the extent of the 
 reverence paid the images. Joutel in his journey says the Indians feared 
 death unless they made offerings, and Charlevoix speaks of offerings as acts 
 of homage. — Cfiatlevoix, Letter 19, Joutel, (i La Hist. Doc.) 182. Henry 
 gives several illustrations of these superstitions. — Htnry's Ttaveis passim. 
 
 » Discovery of the Great West, 16, 17. 
 
 3 9 N. Y. Doc, 81. Id., p. 21. 
 
Chap. IIl.l TRADF. JEAt.OUSlES. 
 
 M 
 
 Meanwhile the posts of Michilimackinac and 
 the Sault were becoming more important, as the 
 traders extended their enterprises. About this 
 time several names appear in history which are 
 prominent among the great discoverers and 
 leaders. Most of them were recognized chiefs of 
 the coiireui's de bois. And their place in our 
 early annals is due to a course of affairs which 
 was noteworthy. 
 
 The fur trade, as already mentioned, was 
 regarded at Quebec and Montreal, as it was in 
 the New York posts, as the chief end and aim of 
 colonial enterprise. Every one, from the Gov- 
 ernor down, was suspected, and perhaps justly, 
 of having a part in it ; and the principal struggle 
 seems to have been between the monopolists and 
 the irregular traders. The church revenues were 
 increased by it, and widows and orphans were 
 allowed privileges which they sold profitably. The 
 result was that the country swarmed with the 
 coureurs de bois, who were the indispensable agents 
 of all parties legally or illegally engaged in the 
 traffic. The missionaries were opposed to them, 
 for the assigned reason that they demoralized the 
 Indians whom they were laboring to convert. For 
 the same reason they opposed the forming ol 
 posts and establishments on the frontier. The 
 monopolists sometimes succeeded in getting such 
 restrictions laid upon the post commanders as pre 
 vented them from dealing on their own accoun 
 with the Indians for certain kinds of furs, and 
 
26 CARIONAN REGIMENT. [Cmaf. III. 
 
 when the trade was in the hands of the great 
 companies, as it was a large part of the time, 
 they had their own agents at the forts. 
 
 The result was that a contraband trade grew 
 up, which it was asserted brought the furs into 
 the hands of the English, and built up their com- 
 merce. Their emissaries were also said to be 
 getting into friendly relations with the Western 
 tribes, and drawing them into trade with the Iro- 
 quois and the New York agencies. 
 
 I'he influences which were brought to bear on 
 the French government were secret but powerful, 
 and the coureurs de bois were outlawed and pro- 
 scribed unless they came in and ceased their wan- 
 derings. The Governor, with a patriotic desire 
 to save the colony from the destruction which this 
 would have inevitably brought upon it, succeeded 
 in so far modifying this policy as to put them 
 under some reasonable regulation, whereby he 
 saved their services to the colony and secured the 
 trade. The frontiers were reached by leaders of 
 reputation, and posts were planted so judiciously 
 as to shut out the English altogether. These 
 men deserve special mention. r 
 
 When the Marquis de Tracy came out as Vice 
 Roy in 1 665, it was with the expectation of using 
 strong measures to suppress the Iroquois, who 
 were aggressive and were regarded as dangerous 
 neighbors. For this crusade against the Western 
 infidels he brought out the famous Carignan Reg- 
 iment, which had been first organized in Savoy, 
 
Chai-. Itl.] COLONIAL NOBLESSE. 
 
 27 
 
 and was afterwards turned over to the French 
 King. It was a famous body of troops which 
 had won its latest laurels in fighting against the 
 Turks on the Austrian frontier. The officers were 
 all gentlemen belonging to the noblesse, of French 
 or Italian origin, and of tried valor. With this 
 regiment another had been consolidated, known as 
 that of Salieres, and the whole force was there- 
 after known as the Carignan-Salieres Regiment. 
 The colonial levies were also under the command 
 of officers of good birth, most of whom are still 
 represented among the French families of Canada 
 and the Northwest. 
 
 When the Iroquois war was over, the officers 
 and men of the Carignan Regiment were mostly 
 retained in the country. Many of the former 
 obtained Seigneuries, and attempted to get a sup- 
 port from their new estates. But the early tra- 
 vellers give a sad account of the straits to which 
 these veterans were exposed, in keeping the wolf 
 from the door. They were brave and adventu- 
 rous, and worthy to rank with those early heroes 
 of discovery, Gilbert and Raleigh and Drake, 
 who found in the favor of Queen Elizabeth incen- 
 tives to enterprise which her successors could 
 not appreciate. They were mostly devoted mem- 
 bers of the Gallican Church, but not on as good 
 terms with the Jesuits as with the other orders, 
 who paid less attention to the Indians and more 
 to their own countrymen. The French court 
 and the Governors General appreciated the value 
 
28 HUt)SON'S BAY COMPANY. [Chap. III. 
 
 of soldiers. The civilians were more attentive to 
 the interests of trade, and looked upon the bold 
 adventurers, who "would rather hear the bird 
 sing than the mouse squeak," as the Sheriff of 
 Nottingham did on Robin Hood. 
 
 The sagacious ministers had determined to 
 use this valuable material to extend discovery. 
 The expeditions which Talon reports himself to 
 have sent out were probably suggested, at least, 
 from France. It is one of the curious facts con- ' 
 nected with the colonial administration that the 
 public documents are usually made to exhibit the 
 local authorities as originating everything, when 
 the facts brought to light from other sources, in 
 the Marine Department and elsewhere, show that 
 they were compelled to permit what they osten- 
 sibly directed. But, however this may be, it had 
 become necessary to move in the matter, or run 
 the risk of serious difficulty in the future. 
 
 On the second day of May, 1670, Charles II. 
 issued letters patent incorporating " The Governor 
 and Company of Adventurers of England, trading 
 into Hudson's Hay," granting them the sole trade 
 and commerce of the waters within the entrance 
 of Hudson's Straits, except in the lands not 
 granted to others nor possessed by any other 
 Christian prince or state. The ignorance that pre- 
 vailed on the subject of the boundaries between the 
 two nations in those parts, and the certainty that 
 future boundaries must depend much on actual 
 control or occupancy, made it necessary to move 
 
Chaf. III.l CHECKS AND BALANCES. 
 
 29 
 
 at once, or run a risk of losing command of the 
 Northern trade.' 
 
 At this time New York was in possession of 
 the Dutch, but a few years after, in 1674, this 
 jilso passed into the hands of the English, who 
 were disposed to make the most of their chances, 
 and anxious to form such trading connections as 
 would have hemmed in Canada, and shut off its 
 whole western and northwestern traffic. 
 
 In 1672 Colbert advised Talon to offer a re- 
 ward for the discovery of the South Sea. The 
 King and Colbert united at or about the same 
 time in a secret letter to Frontenac, which gives 
 a curious illustration of the diplomacy of the 
 period. Expressing warm commendation of the 
 clergy of both orders for their devotion and ser- 
 vices to religion, and commending them to high 
 consideration, it advises the Governor, without 
 creating any apparent rupture, to restrain the 
 designs of the Jesuit Fathers in Quebec within 
 proper bounds of respect for the temporal author- 
 ity, and to encourage and protect the ecclesiastics 
 of the Seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal as 
 well as the RecoUet Fathers, in Quebec, — " it 
 being necessary to support the two ecclesiastical 
 bodies, in order to counterbalance the authority 
 
 ' In May. 1872, my valued friend, Hon. David Mills*, M. P., presented 
 to the Dominion Government an elaborate and thorough report on the boun- 
 daries of the Province and of the Hudson's Bay Company, which is of much 
 historical value, and contains information not, so (ar as 1 know, made public 
 in any other work — See A Repoii on the Boundaries, of the Province of Om- 
 tario. By David Mills, M. P, Toronto, 1873. 
 
30 JOLIET'S EXPEDITION. [Chap. HI. 
 
 the Jesuit Fathers might assume to the prejudice 
 of His Majesty."' The next effective action may 
 not have originated in Quebec, but Frontenac and 
 Talon, the Intendant, both appear to have favored it. 
 In 1672, Grandfontaine, Governor of Acadia, sent 
 JoUet to the Mascoutin country (Wisconsin) to 
 discover the South Sea and the Mississippi River, 
 which was supposed to discharge itself into the 
 Gulf of California.'' He was joined at Mackinaw 
 by Father Marquette, and on the 17th of May, 
 1673, they left the Mission of St. Ignace on 
 one of the most successful of the early explora- 
 tions. They went up the Fox River and across 
 the portage, to the Wisconsin, and thus reached 
 the Mississippi on the 17th of June. In another 
 month they reached below the 34th parallel of 
 latitude in the country of the Akansas, and then 
 returned, reaching Green Bay at the end of Sep- 
 tember. Joliet went on to Quebec in the next 
 year, arriving there during the summer. The 
 Governor reports him as having found continuous 
 navigation excepting at Niagara, from Lake 
 Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico, and as having 
 discovered admirable countries.^ Mr. Shea, in 
 his excellent history of the Discovery of the 
 Mississippi River, gives a copy of that portion of 
 Frontenac's Report which refers to this journey in 
 the original French, as it refutes one of Henne- 
 
 » 9 N. Y. Doc, 88. 
 
 » Frontenac's Letter to France, See 9 N. V. Doc, 92, 
 
 3 9 N. Y. Doc, 121. 
 
CifAr. III. I 
 
 LA SALLE. 31 
 
 pin's assertions concerning Joliet's failure to report 
 to the government.' 
 
 Joliet probably went eastward through the 
 Detroit River and Lake Erie. 
 
 In 1675, a patent of nobility was granted to 
 Robert Cavelier, .Sieur de la Salle, for meritorious 
 services."" Among the things which His Majesty 
 regards as especially worthy of reward among 
 his Canadian subjects, is "despising the greatest 
 perils, in order to extend to the ends of this New 
 World our name and our dominion." It is to be 
 inferred that La Salle had spent some time, at 
 least, in distant explorations which have not yet 
 been published. 
 
 Meanwhile there is nothing of record bearing 
 directly on the history of Michigan, beyond the 
 occasional references to the missions and the 
 traders. There is reason to believe that I)u 
 Luth and others had already penetrated far into 
 the Northwest, an^d the reports which credit him 
 with the discovery of the Upper Mississippi are 
 not improbable. Hennepin was rescued by him 
 in July, 1680, in the upper country, and it was 
 probably familiar ground. 
 
 In 1678, La Salle, having returned to France, 
 obtained Royal letters authorizing him to spend 
 five years in exploring, with liberty to build forts 
 where he should deem it necessary, and hold 
 
 • Shea's History of Discovery of the Mississippi, p. xxxiii. 
 3 9 N. Y. Doc, 125. 
 
82 CHEVALIER DE TONTV. [Chap. IH. 
 
 them with the same privileges as his fort at 
 Frontenac. He was not to trade with the 
 Outawacs (Ottawas) or others who bring their 
 beavers and peltries to Montreal, but was to 
 have the right to trade in buffalo-skins. There 
 is reason to believe that La Salle had with the 
 concurrence of Frontenac and others given a lib- 
 eral construction to his trading privileges at Fort 
 Frontenac, and such seems to have been a com- 
 mon practice. 
 
 He returned to Canada, having with him an 
 associate who from that time onward was his 
 faithful friend and follower, and who was one of 
 the most efficient men that ever came to Amer- 
 ica. His name appears constantly in the early 
 records of dealings in Michigan. This was Henry-, 
 the Chevalier de Tonty. He was of Italian 
 origin, but his father Lorenzo Tonty had settled 
 in Paris, and was there as early as 1653, as in 
 that year he submitted to the King the financial 
 scheme of life interests and survivorships once 
 quite popular under the name of Tontine. The 
 Chevalier began his military career in the French 
 army as a cadet in 1668, and served several 
 years by land and water, the naval service then 
 not having been separated from the military as 
 completely as it has been since. During the Sici- 
 lian Campaign he lost a hand at Libisso by a 
 grenade, and was taken prisoner, and exchanged 
 six months after. His hand was replaced by one 
 of steel, which gave him the name of Iron-hand, 
 
Chah. III.] THE GRIFFIN. 33 
 
 among the Indians who had great respect ^or 
 him. He returned again to the wars, but when 
 peace was declared he was thrown out of em- 
 ployment. He was recommended to La Salle by 
 the Princess of Conti, and when that leader came 
 back to Canada Tonty came with him. Henry 
 de Tonty had a younger brother who was for a 
 long time in command at Detroit, and was there 
 when Charlevoix visited the place in 1721. On 
 his return to America La Salle at once began 
 preparations for his work. He met with many 
 embarrassments, but finally, in the winter of 1678-9, 
 began building a vessel of sixty tons burden, a 
 few miles above Niagara Falls. This was com- 
 pleted in the spring or early summer of 1 679. 
 This vessel, which was the first that ever sailed 
 on Lake Erie or the upper lakes, was called the 
 Griffin, and bore a carved image of that heraldic 
 monster as a figure-head, in honor of Frontenac, 
 being part of his coat of arms. And in further 
 evidence of his fealty to his friend and patron, La 
 Salle is reported to have boasted that he would 
 make the Griffin Hy higher than the ravens, the 
 black-gowns or Jesuits having gained that sobri- 
 quet. The little ship was provided with five 
 small cannon and two arqiiebuses a croc, or wall- 
 pieces usually mounted on tripods. The quarter- 
 deck castle was surmounted by a carved eagle. 
 A vessel of that tonnage was narrow quarters for 
 the number of men in the company, and the old 
 engravings (which, though not probably from 
 8 
 
34 RIBOIRDE. MKMBRP,. HENNF.PIN. [Chap. III. 
 
 drawings, represented the usual style of that time) 
 show the hij^h stern and after cabin, which were 
 then universal, and may have had something to 
 do with her final wreck. It is worthy of notice 
 that skilled mechanics and artists should be found 
 in such an expedition. The old chapels in the 
 Northwest, where there was no local demand for 
 artists', sometimes show bits of carving which 
 would be creditable anywhere, and indicate great 
 skill in the early workmen. On this eventful 
 voyage, in addition to his sailors and other follow- 
 ers, La Salle was accompanied by three priests. 
 Gabriel de la Ribourde, the last scion of an old 
 family of Burgundian nobles, came out in his old 
 age to preach the gospel in the wilderness, and 
 was head of the mission, although Hennepin con- 
 veys the impression that he himself was in fact, 
 if not in name, both civil and religious director. 
 Father Zenobe Membre was of less note, but 
 evidently a good and faithful man. Hennepin, 
 whose reputation is not savory, was the third. 
 The latter wrote various versions of the history 
 of the expedition, which are in many respects 
 sufficiently reliable, but which are grossly unfair 
 to La Salle and Tonty as well as others, and to 
 which in the later editions are appended narra- 
 tives that are generally discredited. These appen- 
 dages do not concern Michigan, and need not be 
 discussed. He was evidently distrusted by La 
 Salle and Tonty. He accounts for the enmity 
 of the former, by alleging he had rebuked him 
 
Chap. III.l THE CRIFFIN SAILS. 
 
 36 
 
 freely for religious shortcomings. He lays Tonty's 
 dislike to the inveterate hatred of the old soldier 
 against all subjects of the King of Spain ; and 
 his suspicion of the monk's fidelity was extreme, 
 and, as it turned out, not illfounded. 
 
 The vessel was manned by voyageurs and 
 other men of experience in the country, and the 
 pilot Lucas was an old salt wuter mariner of 
 some pretensions. There is no doubt but that 
 La Salle had taken some pains to supply himself 
 with proper material for his expedition. 
 
 On the seventh of August. 1679, the Griffin 
 started on her first voyage to the Nordnvest, 
 beginning her course with the singing of the Te 
 Deum, and the firing of cannon. The wind was 
 favorable and she made a quick passage over 
 Lake Erie, anchoring at the mouth of Detroit 
 River or the Strait on the evening of the tenth 
 of August. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 KARI.V SE'rri.KMKNTS IN MICHICAN". 
 
 The Griffin was built durinj^ the winter and 
 spring of 1679. In the autumn of 1678 La Salle 
 sent forward some Frenchmen to winter at Detroit, 
 and meet him when he should come up in the 
 next summer. This would indicate a knowledge 
 of the country, and an assurance that there was 
 some place suitable for a winter abode. Allusion 
 has already been made to the fact that the early 
 narratives often make no reference whatever to 
 the existence of posts and Indian villages lying 
 directly in the way of the traveller. Vhv narra- 
 tives of the voyage of the (iriffin tlo not inform 
 us of any sight of human beings between Niagara 
 and Mackinaw. We have no certain iiK.'ans of 
 knowing whether there was ain Indian town, or 
 any post of courcurs dc hols, upon the .Strait at 
 the time. There must have I)een one or the 
 other in all probabilit). lonty was sent up in a 
 canoe in advance of the Clrifrtn, to join the others 
 at "a place called Detroit, 120 leagues from 
 Niagara." This fact aj)pears in Tonty's own 
 narrative or memoir sent to the (government in 
 1693, where he repeatedly refers to Detroit as a 
 
Chap. IV.] THE STRAIT. 37 
 
 place that can be identified as at or near where 
 the city of Detroit now stands.' It may have been 
 that the Indian town mentioned by Golden as at 
 " 'J\nichsa (irondic" was still in existence. The 
 t(M-m written by the Enj^lish and Dutch interpreters 
 in a multitude of different ways more or less 
 resembling- it, and by the brench as laochiarontion, 
 Atiochiarontioni^\ 'reiocliarontiono\ Tccliaronkion, 
 etc., was applied properly to an undefined region 
 embracing the Strait," and according to Hennepin, 
 it gave a name to Lake Erie. Several of the old 
 maps give it this title. The name given by the 
 Hurons to the place where the city stands was 
 Karotitacn, a word closeh' resembling if not the 
 same as CaratitoiiaiL the great stronghold where 
 Champlain's follower. Ktienne Brule, spent a winter 
 with a tribe supposeil by Parkman to have been 
 the Eries.' These men were not sent up to 
 explore, and it is difficult to believe they would have 
 been turned out without a leader in an unknown 
 wilderness. 
 
 On the I ith of August, 1679, the vessel weighed 
 anchor and entered the Strait. The party were 
 gready charmed with all that they saw, and the nar- 
 
 • I l.a. Documents, 53, 68, 69, 70. 
 
 » Taochiarontion. 1. a Cote <lu Detroit.— /'('//(■;• yl/.V. " ( ute" was used 
 as "(Oiist" was in old Ennlisli, not merely to mari< a hill or water boundary, 
 but a vicinage or borderland. 
 
 3 Pioneers of France in the New World, SIT'^- 
 
 The Jesuit Journal ol 1653 (lor July) speaks of Soo of the neutral 
 nation wintering at SA'diic/iic'i,; near Tcwc/ii'n,m/iciu. In the New Vork doc- 
 uments the Knglisli and Dutcii lorms ol the name are iq in number. 
 
38 LAKE ST. CLAlR. [Chap. IV. 
 
 rative of Hennepin, (like those of La Hontan and 
 Charlevoix,) is almost rapturous in its expressions 
 of admiration for the tall woods and verdant mead- 
 ows, the fruits and vines, and the infinite abundance 
 of birds and beasts. We are informed that La Salle 
 was strongly urged to stop and settle on the Strait, 
 but his real purpose, not then disclosed, was to com- 
 pete with the Spaniards for the Lower Mississippi 
 and Gulf Country, and so early a break in his voy- 
 age was not to be thought of. 
 
 On the 1 2th of August, which is known in the 
 Calendar as Stc. Claire's day, they entered the Lake 
 formed by an expansion of the Strait, and named 
 it after that Saint. Modern geographers have 
 called it Lake St. Clair, and referred its name to 
 Patrick Sinclair, an English commander of the last 
 century. Its Huron name was Ofsikcia, signifying 
 sugar or salt, and probably referring to the salt 
 springs near Clinton River, which were well known 
 in the earliest days of the country.' Here they 
 were wind-bound for several days, the current of 
 the upper Strait, (St. Clair River) being too strong 
 to be overcome without a very fair breeze. They 
 finally set out and reached Lake Huron on the 
 23rd. They were struck by a storm a day or 
 two after, probably off Saginaw Hay, and were for 
 a time in great j)eril. The gale abating, they 
 reached Mackinaw safely. On the 2nd of Sep- 
 
 « I'liis little lake also had various names. One was Lac Chuudiert — 
 (kettle) lioni its round shape. On the Dutah 'naps it is called h'anJtkio. 
 
 On sonic 1)1 the Krtnich maps Ganalchio. — .SV^ Maps in MUhigan State 
 
 /.t7'i-ii\ . 
 
CiiAi-. IV.] FORT AT ST. JOSEPH RIVKR. 39 
 
 tember La Salle left Mackinaw, and after visiting 
 Green Bay. whence he despatched the Griffin east- 
 ward with a valuable cari^o of furs, he coasted 
 down the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and 
 finally landed at the mouth of the St. Joseph 
 River, then called the River of the Miamis. 
 There he built a timber fort or block-house fifty by 
 eighty feet. He subsequently went up that river 
 and crossed over to the Illinois River, and thence 
 worked down to the Mississippi. 
 
 This fort does not appear ^.o have been of 
 much consequence originally, and there was never 
 any outside settlement of whites about it. In 
 1697, when an attempt was made to induce the 
 King to call in all the traders from the North- 
 west, and destroy the posts, an exception was 
 proposed in favor of the forts at Mackinaw and 
 the River St. Joseph, as necessary to obstruct the 
 trade of the English and Iroquois with the 
 Western and Northern Indians.' A few years 
 before (in 1691 or 1692) some English traders 
 were said to have dealt with the Miamis near 
 the latter post," and Tonty, Courtemanche, Nicholas 
 Perrot, and other noted leaders, were sent up to 
 keep the Indians in the Erench interest. When 
 Charlevoix visited the country in 1721, he spent 
 some time at this post, which had then been re- 
 
 > 2 Cliarlevoi.x Mist., 21 1-212. "" ._— •• • - 
 
 » In 1670 some Irncjiiois re.icheil the Ottaw.i country under the guidance 
 of Frenchmen, on a political mis.sior. — 9 .V. )'. Doc, 84. 
 
40 
 
 DU LUTH. [CHAf. IV. 
 
 moved some distance up the river into the 
 present State of Indiana. 
 
 Meanwhile this region, from its abvmdance of 
 furs, and from its lying in the path of all who 
 sought to deal in those articles, was assuming 
 considerable importance. The courcurs dc bois 
 had become very numerous, and there was great 
 clamor against them. The English in New York 
 were reaching out as far as they could for the 
 Upper Country trade. The company at Quebec, 
 in order to prevent beaver-smuggling, desired to 
 exclude all but their own servants from the woods. 
 We find constant reference to I)u Luth, De la 
 Foret, Durantaye, De Lusigny, and other con- 
 spicuous characters, as not only active in explor- 
 ing, but engaged in unlawful traffic. These men 
 were all useful in defending the posts and holding 
 the savaijes under control, and without them the 
 close of the seventeenth century would have seen 
 this region in the hands of the English. Uu Luth, 
 with great foresight, built a fort on the Kam- 
 inistique River, on the north shore of Lake 
 Superior, which completely shut off access to the 
 Hudson Bay country from below, according to 
 the routes then known. He was the first also 
 to see the necessity of fortifying on the Strait. 
 
 In 1679. while La Salle was preparing for his 
 journey, the Intendant Duchesneau made bitter 
 complaints against Frontenac the Governor and 
 Uu Luth, as concerned together. He says that 
 500 or 600 brave men were in the country own- 
 
Chap. IV. J JEALOUSIES. 
 
 41 
 
 ing Du Luth as commander.' I)e Lusigny, Du 
 Luth's brother-in-law, was also charged as im- 
 plicated. In 1680, it was said that every family 
 had friends among the coiiiriirs dc hois. 
 
 That year an amnesty was granted. The 
 reason appears in the increasing pretensions and 
 incursions of the Irocpiois, and the need of soldiers 
 for the posts on Lakes Erie and Ontario to re- 
 strain them.^ In 1682, l)e la Barre became 
 Governor, and his policy was bold and active. 
 Du Luth was received more openly into favor, 
 and naturally aroused new enmit) in certain 
 quarters.' He was present at a council in Quebec 
 that year, and may have suggested, what was a 
 familiar idea with La Motte Cadillac, that the 
 Lakes needed armed vessels to guard the way to 
 the west. De la Barre proposed to have a fleet 
 stationed on Lake Erie.* He had a poor idea of 
 the value of La Salle's explorations, and La Salle 
 in turn regarded him and Du Luth and De la 
 Foret as enemies who had interfered with his 
 interests. La .Salle appears to have had some 
 notion that he had pre-empted the country. 
 These trade jealousies were possibly well founded, 
 but they show how demoralizing the whole monop- 
 oly system must have been. Du Luth was so 
 pressed by calumny, that he went to France; and 
 there was able to vindicate himself completeh , so 
 that no more is heard against him. On his return 
 
 « 9 N. V. Doc, 131, 132, 140. 3 N. V. Doc, 194. - 
 
 ■J () N. \. Ddc, 147. * 4 9 N. V. Doc, 106. 
 
4!2 THK F.Ndl.lSH AIM AT MACKINAW. [Chap IV. 
 
 he assumed the defence of Mackinaw, co-operat- 
 ino- with I)e la Durantaye, an old Carij^^nan 
 officer, of great bravery.' but not fortunate in his 
 finances; and these two jj^entlemen appear to have 
 acted together in many enterprises, until the former 
 was recalled by I^Vontenac to the east.' In 1683. 
 I)u Luth is declared to be the only person- who 
 can keep the Indians quiet. But he continued in 
 bad odor with the Company, and in 1684, De la 
 Barre. I)u Luth. I)e la Chesnaye, and Deschaillons 
 de St. Ours, are paraded in a memoir on the sup- 
 pression of beaver smuggling' as prime offenders.'' 
 These incessant attacks upon the best men in the 
 colony, by a set of grasping knaves who would 
 have had no country to prey upon without them, 
 are not edifying. 
 
 In 1684, De la Barre, in recognition of the 
 importance of the route through Lake Erie and 
 the Strait, sent an army to Mackinaw that way. 
 About this time disputes arose between him and 
 Governor Dongan of New York on the French 
 pretensions to Michigan, and both De la Barre 
 and his successor Denonville had a sharp corres- 
 pondence with 1 )ongan on the subject. It became 
 evident that the latter was stirring up the Iroquois 
 to dispute possession with the French, and plans 
 were made to send up Fnglish traders and agents 
 in the direction of Mackinaw, to deal with the 
 tribes there. ^ In 1686, Denonville directed Du 
 
 « 9 N. V. Doc. 201-2. » 9 N. V. Doc, 205. 
 
 3 y N. V Doc, 297. I l.a llont.ui, 78, 79. lil., 300. 
 
Chat. IV.] FORT ST. JOSEPH ON ST. CLAIR RIVER. 48 
 
 Luth to fortify the Strait. This was at once done, 
 and the latter established a post ("or castle," as 
 it was termed by the English agents,) at the 
 head of the Strait, at or very near the present 
 Fort Gratiot. He began his work with a garrison 
 of fifty men, well equipped, and all coureurs de 
 boh. This fort was called Fort St. Joseph. In 
 November of that year, in the memoir sent to 
 France by the Governor, he refers to it with 
 great satisfaction as having turned out to be an 
 important defence.' It also appears that Dongan 
 had given reason to believe he would take meas- 
 ures to attack it.' Rigid orders were sent out to 
 shoot any Frenchman found among foreign tra- 
 ders who might be met in the country.^ 
 
 Governor Dongan reports the fact that the 
 French had built one or two wooden forts on the 
 way to the far Indians, who, he says, were inclined 
 to trade in New York, because the French could 
 not protect them from the Iroquois."* But as the 
 Iroquois represented to the English that they 
 were unable to cope with the French, and as the 
 Mackinaw and other Michigan Indians were not 
 disturbed by the Iroquois, this statement may 
 pass for a pretext. The Governor also informed 
 his superiors that he was about sending a Scotch 
 gentleman called McGregor (McOegory) to open 
 communications with the distant tribes, adding 
 (which was also under the circumstances a very 
 
 « 9 N. v. Doc, 306. 3 Id., 315. 
 
 « Id., 309. 4 3 N. V. Doc, 395. 
 
44 CAPTURt OF ENGLISH PARTY, [Chap. IV. 
 
 curious statement) that McGregory had orders 
 not to meddle with the French, and he hoped 
 they would not meddle with him. 
 
 This expedition, consisting of sixty English and 
 Dutch traders and a considerable escort of Iro- 
 quois. left for Mackinaw, a part in 1686 and a 
 part very early in 1687. It was divided into two 
 nearly equal companies, a Dutch trader named 
 Roseboom going first, and McCiregory following 
 him with orders to take supreme command. It 
 does not appear very plainly what course Rose- 
 boom took, but he seems to have got into Lake 
 Huron without being seen from Fort St. Joseph. 
 The men who were with him stated he had gone 
 to a distance of a day and a half's journey from 
 the castle, when he was captured by a force of 
 F'^ench and Indians. The capture appears to 
 have been made by a party under De la Duran- 
 taye.' Whether casually or by agreement, there 
 happened at this very juncture a remarkable 
 gathering of distinguished officers. The Chevalier 
 de lonty, in April, 1687, (after returning with 
 orders from the Ciovernor Cjeneral,) had taken 
 measures to gather the Indians in Western Michi- 
 gan and in the Illinois Country, and to declare 
 war against the Iroquois. La Foret had gone on 
 by way of the Lakes from Fort St. Louis with 
 thirty F>enchmen, to wait at Detroit until Tonty 
 arrived over-land; and he reached F'ort St. Joseph 
 at or about the same time when Durantaye came 
 
 I I I .a Huntaii, 1 1 5. 
 
Chai. IV.l McGREOORY TAKEN. 
 
 45 
 
 in with his captives. Tonty left Sieur de Helle- 
 fontaine to command at the fort on St. Joseph 
 River, and came across Michigan with 1 50 Illinois 
 hidians, arriving at "Fort Detroit" on the 19th 
 of May. He remained at this point, which was 
 the present site of the city of Detroit, and sent 
 up word of his coming to his cousin Du Luth at 
 Fort St. Joseph. In a few days he was joined by 
 Beauvais de Tilly (or more properly Tilly de 
 Heauvais)' and soon after by La Foret, who was 
 followed by Durantaye and Du Luth with dieir 
 prisoners. They joined forces and went down 
 Lake Erie in canoes, and on their way captured 
 McGregory with thirty hLnglishmen and some 
 allied Indians, and some I'Vench antl Indian cap- 
 tives. Ihe depositions of McCiregory's party state 
 that the French party consisted of 1 500. The 
 (Governor's report |)uts them at 400. Tonty does 
 not mention the number. They were going to 
 Niagara, expecting to fight the Irocjuois,^ and the 
 officers who were engaged were the prominent 
 leaders of the Northwest.^ A large amount of 
 booty was captured with the two companies. 
 Tonty whi) was senior in coiumand sent forward 
 La Foret to report to the (iovernor, and he 
 reached Frontenac. where the Governor was in 
 camp, about the end of June. I'he army from 
 below joined the Western forces at a point on 
 the south shore of Lake Ontario, where they 
 
 . ' I l-a. Doc, 69. __, .^. 3 3 N. V. Doc, 436. --- 
 
 2 () [sf. V. Doc, 332. 
 
46 SENECA CAM PAICN. [Chap. IV. 
 
 • 
 
 built a fort known as Fort les Sables. Here 
 they shot a Frenchman named Lafontaine Marion, 
 (according to La Hontan, — Abel Marion in the 
 depositions), who was acting as guide to the 
 English company.' La Hontan refers to this with 
 some indignation as an act of cruelty, the trade 
 regulations giving no chance to get a living in 
 the colony, and there being peace with the 
 English.'' After a short but sharp campaign in 
 the Seneca country, the troops returned to the 
 fort, and Tonty and I)u Luth went homeward 
 accompanied by Baron La Hontan, who was sent 
 up to take command at Fort St. Joseph, Du Luth 
 being needed elsewhere. Tonty left the others at 
 this fort, and went on with Father Crevier to Mack- 
 inaw,^ and thence to his own Fort St. Louis. 
 Here Tonty found the brother of La Salle, Cav- 
 elier, with the rest of his company on their way 
 eastward. To him as to others they said La 
 Salle was living ; and Cavelier committed a gross 
 fraud on Tonty, by obtaining a considerable ad- 
 vance on his brother's credit. 
 
 On the way up from Niagara, and near Buffalo, 
 Tonty and his companions met a brother of Du 
 Luth, Grisolon de la Tourette, who is said by La 
 Hontan to have come down from Mackinaw to 
 join the army, having but one canoe ;* and the 
 Baron speaks of his rashness in running such a 
 risk when the Iroquois were hostile. This gentle- 
 
 » 3 N. Y. Doc, 430, 436. 3 La Hontan, 126, 134 i La. Doc , 70 
 
 a I La Hontan, 117. ♦La Hontan, 128 
 
Chap IV. ] CRISOI.ON OF. I,A 'lOURETTE. 47 
 
 man's name is not generally found in tlu; histories, 
 (ircat confusion has arisen from the fact that some 
 times the family name 's useil, and sometimes 
 other titles, and they are occasionally reversed 
 so that the famil\' name is made to represent the 
 estate. Du Luth's family name was (irisolon, and 
 La Hontan speaks of him as a ^j^entleman from 
 Lyons. He was a cousin of Tonty, who as already 
 mentioned was of Italian extractipn. Charlevoix 
 mentions as connected with La Foret and Tonty, 
 and as haviny;^ been lony and honorably employed 
 in the Illinois country, and as having great influ- 
 ence over the Intlians, the Sieur Dclictto, who is 
 said to have been a cousin of Tonty." This men- 
 tion is late in the seventeenth century, and was 
 near its close. The similarity of name to Du 
 Luth and the same relationship to Tonty, give 
 rise to a query whether there may not have been 
 some confusion between the (jrisolons, and whether 
 this name may not belong to one of them. The 
 only other reference in Charlevoix to any Delietto 
 is found in the statement of the valuable services 
 rendered by a post commander of that name sev- 
 eral years after, in obtaining from the Head Chief 
 ot the Natchez the surrender of a brother who 
 had been very troublesome to the LVench." This 
 officer died in 1722, a long time after Daniel 
 (jrisolon du Luth, whose death occurred in 1 709.* 
 
 > 2 Charlevoix M., 265. 2 2 C harlevoix II., 460. 
 
 3 Parkman's Discovery of tlie (ircat West, 254, note. 
 
 A name wiiicii l)clonjj;.s to one ol tiiese persons is given variously as 
 Ueliatto, Desliettcn and Deiieite. Tlie name DcSictte in the Wisconsin 
 collection is evidently a misprint of Del.iette.— 3 Wis. His. Soc'y Col , 148. 
 
48 TKRRITORIAl, DISPUTES 
 
 fCHAP. IV. 
 
 It is much to be rej^^retted that any of those brave 
 men should drop out of history. Their services 
 \;ere briUiant. and their personal merits were such 
 as in most countries would have marked them 
 amonir the paladins. 
 
 This assertion of dominion over the Strait by 
 the French had important results. An acrimoni- 
 ous correspondence followed between the Canadian 
 and New York Governors," and (jovernor Don^^an 
 and the Irocjuois had various discussions as to 
 which of them should puW the chestnuts out of the 
 fire, each being anxious that the other should dis- 
 lodge the French. The Iroquois urged strenuously 
 that the Governor should remove the French from 
 Niagara, Cataraqui, and lyschsarondia, " which is 
 the place where wee goe a bever huntinge, for if 
 those forts continue in I^rench hands wee are 
 always besieged."'' 
 
 The French (lovernor refused to release 
 McCiregory and his associates until finally ordered 
 to do so by the home authorities, in October, 
 1687. It became evident that sooner or later 
 there would be a struggle for the country, unless 
 precluded by secure possession. 
 
 Up to this time no fort or post in Michigan 
 had any French farming population about it. 
 Mackinaw was the great centre, but here the 
 coiirenrs dc bois. who frecpiented and garrisoned 
 the post, had their own stronghold and stores on 
 
 I 3 N. V. Doc. 436, 532, 536, 905, (,oO. 2 3 N. V. Uoc, 536 
 
Chap. IV.) TORT ST. lOSK.I'H UURNKD. 49 
 
 the Island, which was uncultivated.' After that 
 post was tbundeil, the Hurons and Ottawas settled 
 nt:ar it, and contrary to the moilern theories of 
 our Indian hatini^ statesmen, the civilized men de- 
 pentled tor their supplies on the barbarians. The 
 Ottawas both at Mackinaw and Detroit, as late as 
 Pontiac's time, paid some attention to aj^riculture. 
 The llurons raised much more than they needed 
 for themselves, and supplied their neij^dibors ; 
 and Charlevoix L,nves them credit not onl)- for 
 bein^' diligent farmers, but for the civilized cpiality 
 of knowing;" how to sj^et a fair price for their 
 surplus stores.- Baron La Hontan was obliged 
 to go to Mackinaw in the spring of 1688, to 
 purchase provisions for his fort from the Intlians 
 there.' 
 
 It was soon discovered that I'ort .St. Joseph 
 might be dispensed with, and it was burned by 
 l,a Hontan in i688.'* The Fort at I )etroit. which 
 was afterwards |nit on the footing of a settle- 
 mcmt, continued as a military post until 1701. 
 References are made to the polic\' of continuing 
 it in 1689 and 1691 : and in 1700 M. de Longueuil 
 was in command, and held an important council 
 with the Indians.' It was probabh' nothing more 
 than a block-house, and may have been at times 
 unoccupied. 
 
 ' I,a Ffontan, 14^-5- < 'harlevoix, Letter 19. 
 
 = Letter 17. 4 La Hontan, 171. 
 
 3 Lii Hontan, 1^9. 5 9 N. V, Doc, 3i)(), S'l, 647, 704, 713. 
 
50 LA MOTTE CADILLAC. [Chap. IV. 
 
 In 1692 La Motte Cadillac, who had become 
 a man of note among the colonists, and who had 
 devised intelligent plans for commanding the 
 country by fleets as well as forts, was sent to 
 France to give his views to the King and his 
 ministers.' On his return he assumed an import- 
 ant place in the management of western affairs. 
 In his memoir on Iroquois affairs, in 1694," he 
 vindicated the amrenrs dc bois, and was severe 
 on their maligners, whom he charged with giving 
 false statements of fact concerning Mackinaw and 
 other matters. He was very influential among 
 the Indians, and in 1 695 especial mention is made 
 of his good qualities, and of his shrewdness in 
 Indian affairs. Frontenac, who at this period was 
 Governor, and who had returned in that capacity 
 in 1689, ^^'^^ i'"* sympathy with him. But at this 
 time the war against the traders was very 
 warmly pushed by the missionaries, and they 
 procured an order from France to have the 
 military post of Mackinaw and all others but 
 Fort St. Louis abandoned. Frontenac, however, 
 prevented this, but the trade in furs was more 
 rigidly confined to licensed traders, and the 
 Canada Company. Twenty-five licenses were 
 granted yearly, mostly to widows and orphans 
 of deserving persons, who sold thtm to traders.^ 
 These allowed goods of a certain amount and 
 value to be carried into the Indian country, and 
 
 « 9 N. Y. Doc, 530, 543, 546, 549, 3 Charlevoix, Letter 4. 
 
 -" Itl-. 577- 
 
CiiAF. IV. J PLANS FOR HOLDING DETROIT. 51 
 
 bartered or sold to the Indians ; and the profits 
 were very great. Special permissions were given 
 to post commanders and others, and the licenses 
 were extended liberally so as to give the owner 
 opportunities for extensive traffic. The war with 
 England (declared in the spring of 1689, and 
 not ended until the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697,) 
 suspended the operations of the English in the 
 Northwest, and confined the more severe hostilities 
 to the regions further east. 
 
 As soon, however, as the peace was declared, 
 under the pretext that the Western Lake Coun- 
 try was not really French territory, the New York 
 authorities began to lay plans for getting into 
 possession. In 1699, Robert Livingston laid 
 before Lord Bellomont a project for taking pos- 
 session of Detroit. He proposed sending 200 
 Christians, and 300 or 400 Indians of the Five 
 Nations, "to make a fort at a place^ called 
 Wawijachtcnok [ Wawcatanong\ the name of Detroit 
 in the Chippewa tongue,] where a party of 
 Christians are to be left, being a place plenty 
 of provisions, many wild beasts using there," etc. 
 He remarks on the disposition of the French to 
 claim everything.' 
 
 In the same year La Motte Cadillac first 
 proposed to the French Government to make a 
 setdement for habitation at the same place." 
 He did not immediately succeed. 
 
 » 4 N. V. Doc, 501. 
 
 » Conversation with Count I'ontciiartrain. — S/ieUon, 143. 
 
02 DETROIT TU lit SKCUKEl). [CiiAr. IV. 
 
 In 1700 Livingston renewed his project more 
 earnestly. He declares that we " can never ran- 
 counter the French unless we have biishlopers as 
 well as they." He then points out the course to 
 he pursued. " To build a fort at W'awyachtenok, 
 cal'd by the French De Troett. the most pleasant 
 and plentiful inland place in America b)- all rela- 
 tion, where there is arable land for thousands of 
 people, the only place of be\er hunting- for which 
 our hidians have fou^rht so lonir and at last forctxl 
 the nations to My. Here )()u have millions of 
 elks, bevers, swans, L^eese. and all sorts of fowl. 
 The fort to be between Sweege Lake; and ( )tta- 
 wawa' Lake, which place lyeth by computation 
 southwest from .\lban\- seven hundred and forty- 
 four miles, viz : From .Albany to Terindecjuat at 
 the Lake of Cadaracpii four hundred miles, from 
 thence to Onyagara where the great fall is 
 eighty miles, from thence to the beginning of 
 -Sweege Lake fort)- miles, and from the Swcege 
 Lake to the j)lace called Swec^ge, i)eing a creek 
 which comes into .Sweege Lake, si.\t\-four miles, 
 and from thence to \\'aw\achtenok one hundred 
 and sixty miles," etc" 
 
 La Motte Cadillac, fmding his scheine likely to 
 fail, went to France and laid his i)lans b(>fore 
 Count Pontchartrain. His conversation was re- 
 duced to writing, and copied, with other documents, 
 for General Cass, from the French archives. 'Hn; 
 
 « Huron. - ii 4 N. V. Doc, 650. — 
 
CiiM-. IV.] CADIM-AC'S PI.ANS. 
 
 53 
 
 iiiterestiriLT work of Mrs. Sheldon on the Karlv 
 History of Michig-an copies it at length.' 
 
 His object was, in the first place to make it a 
 permanent post, not subject to frequent changes; 
 — (the official documents show that previous posts 
 on tlie Strait had been subject to these mutations.) 
 To secure permanence it was necessary to have 
 numerous I'Venchmen, both traders and soldiers, 
 and to induce the friendly Indians to gather 
 arountl it. and so become able to meet the Iro- 
 (|U()is with less difficulty. Me pointed out the fact 
 that as this was the only way to the fur country, 
 it would interccqjt the Kngllsh trade, and by pla- 
 cing the post at Detroit it would open a trade 
 fiirther to the southwest than could be reached 
 from above. 
 
 'The Minister at the close informed him that he 
 shoukl have 200 men of different trades, and six 
 companies ot soldiers. The common accounts sa) 
 that with his commission as commandant, which he 
 rc'cciveti directly from tlu; Crown, and not from 
 the ( io\ crnor, he obtained a grant of fifteen acres 
 scjuarc, at whatever point the new fort should be 
 located. This grant has not yet been printed. It 
 is certain that he had a much larger grant at 
 some time, but tliis may have been the first. 
 
 La Motte Cadillac reachetl Quebec, on his re- 
 turn from I'Vance, on the <Sth of March, 1701. He 
 Icti for his new post on the 5th of June, with 50 
 
 > I'. Ss. 
 
04 FORT PONTCHARTRAIN [CuAf. IV. 
 
 soldiers and 50 artisans and tradesmen, the younger 
 Tonty accompanying him as captain, and Dugue 
 and Chacornacle as lieutenants. . A Jesuit missi- 
 onary to the Indians and a Recollet chaplain for 
 the French were also in the company. They 
 reached Detroit on the 24th of July, 1701. 
 
 The fort which was then commenced was called 
 Fort Pontchartrain, after the friendly minister who 
 had favored it, and bore that name until changed 
 after the British conquest. 
 
 This was the beginning of the setdement of 
 Michigan, for purposes of habitation and civil 
 institutions. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 DETROIT UNDER LA MOTTE CADILLAC. 
 
 About the time of La Motte Cadillac's return, 
 and when CaUieres, the Governor General, was 
 expecting to carry out his instructions concerning 
 the founding of Detroit, he held a council at 
 Montreal with a deputation of Iroquois for the 
 peaceful settlement of some complaints, and they 
 departed in good humor. But in June, the Chief 
 Sachem of the Onondagas, Tcj^anissorrns, returned 
 with other chiefs, and complained that it was 
 unfair to build a fort at Tuighsaglirondy before 
 he acquainted them therewith." 
 
 It appea ed from the Chiefs statements, that 
 the English had been negotiating with the Iroquois 
 for the purpose of building a fort in the same 
 place, but the Chief claimed the Indians had 
 objected and refused consent. The Governor had 
 in some way been informed of the designs of the 
 English, which were set forth in Livingston's 
 manifesto, and it may have hastened the French 
 action. La Motte Cadillac had seen the necessity 
 of promptness. Callieres answered by com- 
 
 « 4 N. V. Doc, 891. 
 
t)6 lUOQlOIS I I-.SSION. ICiiAi'. V. 
 
 inendinn' their refusal to the Ent^Hsh to allow 
 them to usurp a country which was not theirs, 
 hut said he was master of his own country, 
 althou<(h he only desired to use his rio;hts for the; 
 benefit of his children ; and while ill-disposed 
 persons mij^ht object, tin; Indians would one day 
 thank him for what he hatl tlont;. Tt^ijj-anissorens 
 made no tlirect reply to this, but said the l^noHsh 
 would find it out. and he hoi)ed, in cast; of war 
 between I'Vench and l{noiish, their tribes miL^ht 
 not be embroiled. Callieres replied that he did 
 not expect the bJiL,dish ♦^^o do an^thiny" but oppose 
 it, and all he asked of the tribes was neutralit). 
 This the Chief as^reed to.' 
 
 In July, and before La Motte Cadillac's arrixal, 
 the iro([uois held a conference with the; New ^ Ork 
 authorities, in wliich they said tht.')- would be ^lad 
 to removt: the end of the chain of fricMidship to 
 Tiochsaj^hrondie or W'awyachtenok, if in thcMr 
 power, but the brench would mock at it, for these 
 had taken it in |)ossession ai^ainst their wills ; and 
 that the\' had no power to resist such a Christian 
 (;nemy.' 
 
 On the 19th of July, 1701, the: Inxpiois con- 
 veyed to Kino- William 111. all their claims to lands 
 in the west, aiul described the country ^ranted as 
 covering •• that vast tract of land or colon)- called 
 Canai^ariarchio, be^innino- on the northwest side of 
 Cadarachc|ui l.akt;,^ anil inchules all that \'ast tract 
 
 ' 1 I luirlevoix, .'"o. 3 ()iit:iriii. 
 
 ■ 4 N. V. Doc, 905-6. 
 
Chap. V.] 
 
 IROQCOIS CLAIMS. 57 
 
 of land lying between the great Lake of Ottawawa' 
 and the lake called by the natives Sahiqiiage, ant! 
 by the Christians the Lake of Sweege, and runns 
 till it butts upon the Twichtwichs. and is bounded 
 on the westward b\- the Twichtwichs by a place 
 calletl Ouadog(;, containing in length about Soo 
 miles and in brt^adth 400 miles, including the 
 country where beavers and all sorts of wikl game 
 keeps, and the place called 'Ijeughsaghrondie alias 
 Fort I)e Tret or W'awyachtenock, and so runns 
 round the Lake of Sweege till \ou come to a place 
 called Oniadarundacjuat," etc' 
 
 Reference is made to "a place called Tjcuch- 
 saghronde, the principall pass that commands saitl 
 land." And this word is also used as one of the 
 boundaries in another description of the country. 
 
 These names of the three great lakes are not 
 oft(Mi found on maps, but in tlu; iro(|uois nc^goii- 
 ations no others are ustxi. Some b'rench maps 
 call Lake l^rie (h-iiWi^'v, and it is called Ochswego 
 in the New York documents.^ 
 
 The Irocpiois claimed seriously the right to 
 ri)per Canada, l)ut do not seem to ha\e had tcr- 
 ritorial claims in Michigan. The complaint in 
 McCiregory's case was that they antl the Knglish 
 had a right to trade with the Indians inhabiting 
 this region — chiefly Hurons and Ottawas, — not 
 that the country belonged to the Irocjuois. Their 
 objection to the forts on Lake Ontario, Niagara 
 
 ' Huron. — - 3 5 N. \ . Due, ^11)4. 
 
 •i 4 N. \'. Doc, <)oS and set). 
 
58 WATER HIGHWAYS. [Chap. V. 
 
 and Detroit, was that these commanded their beaver 
 country, by covering^ the passes by which alone it 
 was reached. 
 
 It is within the recollection of many persons 
 now living, that no carrying of goods to any large 
 amount was possible except by water. The furs 
 were all taken back and forth in canoes, undl in 
 very recent times bateaux and Mackinaw boats 
 were substituted. The journey to Montreal and 
 Quebec from Michigan was commonly made 
 through Lake Huron, Georgian Baj and the 
 Ottawa River, or occasionally through other streams 
 leading to Lake Ontario from the north. The 
 way through Lake Erie and round Niagara Falls 
 was the most direct way to New York, and was 
 the only convenient path for the Iroquois ; and 
 the Strait was the key to the whole, as at Detroit 
 it was but about half a mile wide, with a view of 
 some two miles above, and the same distance 
 below, entirely unobstructed by islands or marshes. 
 
 In a memoir concerning the Indians made in 
 I 718, and found in the Department of the Marine, 
 is a full description of the Strait and its islands. 
 It is there stated that it was a long time doubtful 
 whether Detroit should not be founded at Grosse 
 He." The cause of the hesitation was the appre- 
 hension that the timber might some day fail. 
 During the present century that island has been 
 remarkable for the extent and beauty of its forest 
 timber, but most of it was second growth, and 
 
 ■ 9 N. V. Doc, 8iJ6. 
 
Chap. V.] CADILLAC BtJTLDS HIS FORT. 
 
 59 
 
 probably in the beginning of the last century the 
 land may not have been densely wooded. The 
 same memoir speaks with surprise of the multitude 
 and size of the apples. These were probably 
 crab-apples which were abundant, and existed in 
 different varieties. The translator must have been 
 in error in making them as large as pippins. 
 The term used in the original would seem to be 
 pommcs d'api, or lady-apples, which do not always 
 exceed in size large crab-apples. 
 
 Bois-blanc Island, near the Canadian shore at 
 Maiden, was in after times regarded as a more 
 important point, as it commanded the deepest 
 channel and an unobstructed view of all the lake 
 entrance south and eastward, whereas near Grosse 
 He the channel is broken by small islands. The 
 Island of Bois-blanc, formerly beautifully wooded, 
 was completely denuded of trees for purposes of 
 military observation, during the so-called Patriot 
 War of 1838, 
 
 Immediately on his arrival La Motte Cadillac 
 enclosed his proposed fort by a stockade of a 
 few acres, probably not over three or four, and 
 perhaps less. It stood on what was formerly 
 called the first terrace, being on the ground lying 
 between Larned street and the river, and between 
 Griswold and Wayne streets. The ground was 
 higher further back from the water, and the bank 
 westward was also higher. But the point selected 
 was opposite the narrowest part of the river or 
 strait, and high enough to command everything 
 
(W> 'Jlti; oil) lOWN ol' DKIkOir. ll'iiAr. \. 
 
 within raiis^c. The fort proper, without the Ijas- 
 tions, was one arpent s(|uar(;, antl stood at the- 
 ed_Li'e ot the slope. If, as is pr()bahh'. the phm 
 of the settlement within the stockade was the same 
 as suhse(|uentl)', tliere is httle ilifficulty in fincHnn- 
 out its general app(;arance. There was a road 
 running about the enclosure within the cU;fences 
 called the Clicniin (hi l\o)uii\ which appears from 
 descriptions in conveyances to have; hecm twc^lve 
 k.'ct witle. The oth.er streets could not have been 
 wider, and some, me-ntioned as little streets, were 
 probably ver\' narrow. in 1 77S, there were one 
 twenty foot street and six fifteen foot strc;ets ; but 
 these were laid out later. I'he older streets in 
 Ouebec ma\- have resembled them. The lots 
 ilitl not exceed twenty-five feel by thirty or forty, 
 and were often smaller. M. De Hellestre, the 
 last Commantler under the b'rench, purchased two 
 lots toirether, not very lonjr before the surrender, 
 which were ap|)arently very eliuible property, the 
 combinetl si/e of which was thirt)' feet b) fifty-four, 
 and this j^roperty extended from strc^et to street. 
 ( )n the river side; of the; fort, the ground de- 
 scended ipiite sharpl)-, leaving- a small space of 
 level jrround near the water about forty feet wide, 
 which was in process of time divided into lots. 
 The domain outside of the fort, b(;ing- somewhat 
 more than half a mile in width, was used parth' 
 I)\ La Motte ("adillac for his own purposes, and 
 jjartly rented in parcels of a foin'th of an arpent 
 in width by five arpents in depth. A part was 
 
Cmp, V.l AMISSIONS OF K.ARI.V WKITFRS 
 
 61 
 
 at one time occupied by an Indian" villa.^^f. Alu r 
 the domain was revested in die Crown, it was 
 used for a common, and otlier purposes of con- 
 venience. Hut for a few years after the settle- 
 ment, the cultivatetl ^-rounds of the l-'rench were 
 all within the domain, and within a hunch-eil rods 
 of the fort. 
 
 The writers who describe this region in earU' 
 times were ver\- deficient in that habit of minute 
 description which is so \ahial)le afterwards in 
 formint;' an • idc.-a of the domestic wa\s of the 
 people. There is nothiui;^ to intlicate whether 
 therc^ were cattle or draft animals of an\ kind. 
 .As all the expeditions from the- east were by 
 water, neither hors(;s nor cattk; could ha\-e bi-en 
 brought from that cpiarter, as after the loss ol the 
 Ciriffin tlu;re were no laroe boats used tor a lon^ 
 time. There is. however, in a s|)iteful report ol 
 M. Ais^remont. made in 1 7o<S. a jjassaj^^e bearinj^ 
 on this subject. He says " I -a Motte recpiired of 
 a blacksmith named Parent, for permission to work 
 at his tratle. the sum of si.v hundred francs anil 
 two hogsheads of ale, anil the obligation to shoe 
 all the horses of M. La Motte, whate\('r niunljer 
 he may have, though at present he keeps but 
 one."' It is probable the hor.ses found in this 
 region at that time came from the southwest, ami 
 were a distinct breed from those afterwards in- 
 troduced from below. . - - 
 
 I SlieUlon, 2.S(. 
 
62 HOUSES AT DETROIT. X.uat. V. 
 
 Aigremont speaks also somewhat contemptu- 
 ously of the small thatched log houses of the settlers 
 within the walls ; and it has been hastily assumed 
 that this was the character of all the buildings. 
 But there is evidence to the contrary, and it is 
 apparent that there were competent mechanics and 
 a demand for them. La Motte Cadillac, in 1703, 
 had already under orders from Quebec, built a 
 house of oak for the Huron Chief, forty feet wide 
 by twenty-four feet deep,' on an eminence by the 
 river overlooking the Huron village, because he 
 desired to live like a Frenchman. This was cer- 
 tainly a spacious and respectable building ; and 
 from the landmarks may have occupied the 
 beautiful spot formerly the homestead of General 
 Cass, before the high and shaded terrace was cut 
 down and graded. It is not likely the proud 
 commander would have allowed the chief to 
 possess a finer house than his own. It is supposed 
 and said to be known that La Motte's own house 
 occupied the same foundation that, after the great 
 fire of 1805, was rebuilt upon by Joseph Campau, 
 still remaining as one of the oldest landmarks 
 within the present city limits of Detroit. Mention 
 has before been made of the carved work of the 
 early artisans. The same company that built the 
 Griffin erected at the St. Joseph's River a building 
 so large as to demand considerable skill. The 
 edifices afterwards erected within Fort Pont- 
 chartrain, when there is no reason to suppose 
 
 _ » Sheldon, in. ....^ ^_j .._^;. ;.-__ ^.--i-,^ — „-:^--, -..- .— - - 
 
Chap, v.] INDIANS AT DETROIT 
 
 68 
 
 materials or labor were more abundant, were 
 beyond doubt well made and expensive. The 
 purchase before referred to by M. Bellestre, was 
 made in 1 760 of one V'ernet, who was a cutler 
 as well as smith, and it was certified by Bellestre 
 to have cost him 12,000 livres.' This if counted 
 as /ivrcs parisis would hav(; been 3,000 dollars, 
 and if /iz'irs tonniois 2,500 dollars, a very con- 
 siderable suin in those days. The instrument of 
 purchase included not only the lots and buildings 
 referred to, but Vernet's stock in trade, and his 
 bill for building Bellestre's own dwelling; and the 
 whole consideration was 30,000 livres. or from 
 6,000 to 7,500 dollars, equivalent to more than 
 double that sum now, and with the low prices of 
 labor in those days probably going much further.'' 
 
 La Motte's tirst care was to gather the Indians 
 about him and retain them near his fort. In this 
 he was very successful, very much to the wrath 
 of the Fathers at Mackinaw, as the Hurons and 
 most of the other Indians at that post emigrated 
 to Dej;roit. La Motte, who had a standing feud 
 with the Jesuits, for what he claimed to be un- 
 authorized interference with his interests and with 
 the royal wishes, wrote exultingly and a little mal- 
 
 « County Records, B., 128 and seq. 
 
 2 All houses were probably made of timber until long after the laying 
 out of the new town, except two or three of brick or stone, and some barrack- 
 like buildings of rough cist. Timber was cheap, round or hewed, and made 
 warm and durable houses ; and until saw-mills were introduced, and boards 
 and shingles readily obtainable, log or block houses roofed with thatch were 
 very common in this region, and are not unknown now. 
 
(i4 INDIAN rciI.ICV. t<^"Ai' V. 
 
 iciousK to Count Pontchartrain, in August. 170,^. 
 jj^ivinj; an account of the actual and promised ac- 
 cessions to his settlement, in which lie says : 
 '• Thirty Murons of Michilimackinac arrived here 
 on tin; 2.Sth of June, to unite themselves with those 
 alread)- established here. There remain only ai)oul 
 twenty- tive at Michilimackinac. I'ather Carheil, 
 who is missi(Miary there, remains always firm. 1 
 hope, this fall, to pluck out the last feather of his 
 winj;!^, and 1 am persuaded that this obstinate old 
 ])ricst will die in his parish, without havini^^ a sinj^le 
 parishioner to bury him." 
 
 leather Carheil was a devoted and ijood man. 
 and liis zc;al for the prt'servation of the Indians 
 from dcMiioraliziiiL; intluenc(;s was commendable, 
 and in some cU^oree efficacious. 
 
 ll has not, however, been sufficiently notici'd 
 that I^a Motte's deserveil reputation, (which in spite 
 of his im|)('tuosity always in th(.' lon_L;- run secured 
 him tlu' confidence of the Kin^- and his ministers, 
 as well as of the Indians,) rested larjrely on his 
 freedom Irom the reckl(^ss disrey^ard shown by some; 
 persons for the welfare of the Indians. In a letter 
 written while at Mackinaw, in 1695, '•'' ^vhich he 
 criticised a very e.Kctdient and wise prohibition of 
 the sale of l)ranil\\ there are expressions which 
 mi^ln seem to indicate that he cared very little 
 about ihcm or their fate, (lie mentions — by the 
 way — a very remarkable fact, if it be true, that 
 the .Sioux would n(it touch brandy and Lfreatly 
 dislikeel it.) When he had the responsibility of his 
 
Chaf. VI TEMPERANCE REGULATIONS. 
 
 65 
 
 own settlement upon his hands he manifested a 
 spirit very rare in those days, and which in turn 
 subjected him to the same criticism which he had 
 indulged in towards the government. M. Aigre- 
 mont, who lost no chance of fault-finding, charges 
 La Motte with endeavoring to prevent disturbances 
 from the excessive use of brandy, by putting it 
 all in one storehouse and selling it at an exor- 
 bitant rate, allowing no one to drink except at 
 the depot, and allowing no one to have more than 
 one drink of the twenty - fourth part of a quart. 
 M. Aigremont complains not only that no one could 
 get drunk on such a quantity, but that, as each 
 had to take his turn, sometimes the Indians had 
 to go home without getting even a taste. La Motte 
 was, in this, ^vise beyond his generation. It is 
 worthy of remark that the traders of Detroit in 
 1775 resorted to a very similar expedient, to pre- 
 vent drunkenness and keep spirits away from the 
 Indians.' 
 
 It appears that in the first instanc'=' the pro- 
 prietary rights of La Motte Cadillac were not very 
 extensive. The commission given him in 1 700 
 has not been printed. But there was evidently 
 some right of trading, though not in such furs as 
 were within the monopoly. His powers as a mil- 
 itary commander over all in the post seem, from 
 incidental references, to have been plenary and 
 exclusive. 
 
 « Record A., 337. 
 5 
 
66 CADIIXAC INTERFERED WITH. [CHAr V. 
 
 TIk; Canada Company procun^d, befon; the 
 first year was over, from the Governor and 
 Intendant, authority to assume exchisive charj^^e of 
 the fur and peltry traffic. How far this was 
 authorized by the Kinj^ is not evident. liut within 
 the next two or three yi;ars new arranj^^ements 
 were made to which Cachllac was a i)arty, which 
 ^ave him a certain oversi^du in the- business, 
 thoui^h not any control over its de'tails, which 
 were in charj^c of aj^cnts. 
 
 The Commandani had constant difficulti(;s with 
 these m(;n, and was annoyed by very active 
 enemies. 'I'he purpose of his settlement was to 
 found a town of French artisans and otlu.'r civilians, 
 and to make it a nucleus for a hw^v. Indian 
 population. He hatl b('en promised that the rovin}»- 
 traders should not be allowed to interfenr widi it. 
 But he found active opjjosition from tlu; mission- 
 aries and oth(,'rs at Mackinaw, (who w{;re jealous 
 of the rival post wliich had enticed away all their 
 Indians,) and from the trad(Ts who had dealt with 
 the tribes at the north. Ihere were also com- 
 plaints made to the Kin^^ from th(! his^h officials, 
 for which it is haril to find any honest explana- 
 tion. They represented the fort as useless, and 
 offensive to the Iro(juois, and the place as not 
 eligible for ajL^riculture. Soldiers were denied him, 
 anil his j)etilions to allow s(;ttlers to come in and 
 establish themselves wen; disrt;|;ardetl. 
 
 i'lu; new war with the I'Jij^dish, which broke 
 out soon after Detroit was founded, made their 
 
Chap. V.l CADILLAC EXONERATEn 67 
 
 (;mi.ssaric!S active ; ami attacks were made, some 
 openly and some st('althily, upon the fort, which 
 iiK!t with soiiK,' calamities." In the latter part of 
 1703, and bej^inninj^ of 1704, Cadillac detectc;d 
 the Company agents and some accom|)lic(;s in 
 very hold and important s|)ecnlation and frauds, 
 and put th(;m in arr(;st. TlK^y had rc;lativ(;s in 
 hij^h positions; and in th(; autumn of 1704, La 
 Mott(; was ordered to ( )uel)ec for trial on charges 
 of tyrannical conduct. I)urin^- his abs(Mice, which 
 was i^rotracted, much was tlone to destroy his 
 |)lans, and the oflicer in charj^e provoked a war 
 with some of the neijj^hhorin^ Indians, which was 
 unfortunate in brinj^dnj^ much trouhU; on the jjost. 
 La Motte was ac(|uitte(T, hut, disj^aistcxl with his 
 treatuK'nt, he appealed his L;ri(;vanc(.'S to Count 
 I'ontchartrain, who came over to Ouebec, and ^avi; 
 him a patient hearinjr, and dismissed him with 
 (•ommendation. 
 
 One of th(* most audacious wronijs done him 
 received a very severe rebuke. I'he Kinj^ him- 
 self, in 1 703, wrote to Callieres and H(!auharnois, 
 ((iovernor and Intendant,) directinj^ tlunn, in view 
 of the conllictin^- repres(;ntations made to him 
 about l)(.'tr()it, to call an asstmibly of the most 
 reputable; ot"(ic(Ts and inhabitants of Canada to 
 
 ' In 1703, the Indians near Detroit were inrluced to visit .Mbany, and 
 for a timo. were morr. or less under FnRlish infliiencc. After tiieir return to 
 Detroit tliey at'.emptcd to l)urn tiic lort, but were repulsed, after they had 
 done sonie mischief. The Ottawas soon after made a demonstration in whirh 
 they received piuiislinicut. In 1706, wliile ( "ndillac \v;is in (,)uebec, another 
 ;ittacl\ was made while M. dc liouifiuiunt was in charge, killing a missionary, 
 h'ather Constantine, and a Noldier. 
 
68 CADILLACS ENEMIES. * [Chap. V. 
 
 meet Cadillac, and consider all the reasons for 
 and against it, and when agreed to have him, as 
 well as themselves, sign a proper memorial for 
 the royal guidance.' This meeting they called, but 
 did not notify Cadillac until several months after 
 it had been held. The report was made without 
 information from the person most relied on to 
 give it. The Minister was very indignant at this 
 treachery, and expressed himself plainly.* In 1 706, 
 Pontchartrain wrote to Vaudreuil that his conduct 
 in favoring Arnaud, who was one of the persons 
 arrested by Cadillac, was so censurable that, 
 unless he showed more respect to the King's 
 orders, he would lose his office.^ La Motte re- 
 turned to his post in 1706. It appears that he 
 was thereafter left in sole control of the fort, and, 
 although annoyed more or less by new hindrances, 
 was maintained honorably until his removal to 
 Louisiana. In 1 708. M. Aigremont was sent out 
 by the King to report upon this among other 
 posts ; but on the way he evidently fell into the 
 hands of La Motte's enemies, and his report was 
 a labored argument for the suppression of the 
 fort and settlement altogether, in favor of 
 Mackinaw. It was too strongly drawn to conceal 
 the spirit of the writer, and, while some of his 
 recommendations were approved, he was not left 
 without censure.* He had further correspondence 
 with the Marine Department, in which he lost no 
 
 « 9 N. Y. Doc, 742. 3 9 N \. Doc, 777. 
 
 » Sheldon H., p. 154. 9 N. V. Doc, 777. < c N. V h.ioc, 827. 
 
Chap. V.] D'AIGREMONTS VIEWS. 69 
 
 opportunity of assailing La Motte and his post. 
 His last attempt appears in a letter to Count 
 Pontchartrain, in November, 1710, in which he not 
 only advocates making Mackinaw the controlling 
 post of the country, but recommends doing so by 
 the pernicious system of collides, or licenses to 
 trade in the Indian country, " To render these 
 licenses valuable" — he remarks — "a large num- 
 ber of canoes ought to be prevented going up to 
 Detroit: for being unable to trade off within its 
 limits the great quantity of goods with which 
 they would be loaded, in the time ordinarily em- 
 ployed in bartering, those who would find their 
 stock too large would not fail to go further off to 
 sell them. Finally, my Lord, the value of these 
 licenses will depend on the proportion of the 
 number of canoes which will go up to Detroit, 
 which ought to be fixed at 8 or 10 at the most."' 
 The history of the colony shows that it was but 
 rarely that any one in power favored the exten- 
 sion of French settlements ; and the opposition to 
 these derived its strength from two controlling 
 elements — the missionaries and the fur traders — 
 which happened to work together, though from 
 different motives. Beauharnois and De la Gal- 
 issonniere were the most favorable of all the later 
 Governors to colonization, and both took active 
 measures to forward it. But the census returns 
 show a lamentable lack of people. In 1719, there 
 were but 22,530 in all Canada; in 1720, 24,43.1; 
 
 • 9 N. V. Doc, 852. 
 
70 
 
 CADILLAC OBTAINS A SF.IGNEURIE. Chap. V. 
 
 in 1 72 1, 24,511 ; in 1734, 30,516. Cadillac was a 
 strenuous advocate of the policy of enlarging the 
 actual settlements for farming purposes, and of 
 civilizing the Indians by education and discipline 
 in contact with the French. And as Detroit stood 
 alone to represent this policy, it is not strange 
 that many misrepresentations were made in regard 
 to it. But the best evidence of the Commander's 
 fidelity is found in the unshaken confidence of the 
 Home Government, which is found very frequently 
 suggesting to the Governor and Intcndant the 
 duty of letting him alone, and of respecting his 
 rights.' 
 
 Up to his interview with Count Pontchartrain, 
 in Quebec, La Motte's powers had been so ham- 
 pered that the post did not make much progress, 
 although remarkably successful in gathering in the 
 Indians. But his requests to be allowed to en- 
 courage settlements were passed by, or at all 
 events not much favored. The Minister's eyes 
 seem to have become opened to the state of affairs, 
 and in 1 705 and 1 706 he was put in complete 
 and sole control of the post, and granted a manor 
 or seigneuric, the precise limits of which it is now 
 difficult to ascertain. 
 
 His plans, which were not .ill allowed, were 
 shadowed forth in his correspondence of 1703. 
 He then desired leave to encourage the Indians 
 to live in houses and learn French customs, and 
 to organize companies of Indians drilled as soldiers. 
 
 » 9 N. V. Doc, 777, 805. 
 
Chap V.] SCHEMES FOR IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 71 
 
 He further desired to establish a seminary for 
 the common instruction of French and Indian 
 children, and offered to bear the expense himself 
 or provide means without charge to the Crown. 
 He urged that the plac. should be allowed to 
 become a substantial set^iement ; that lands should 
 be granted to soldiers and setders, and that settlers 
 should be allowed to erect dwellings. He desired 
 leave to send out men to explore for minerals ; 
 and offered, if granted a seigneurie on the Maumee, 
 to establish the raising of silk-worms and silk- 
 making, the country being full of mulberry trees 
 and adapted to that industry. He showed that 
 the people had already raised a surplus of supplies. 
 This was during the time when he complained, 
 with justice, that his plans had been interfered 
 with under such powers as he actually possessed.' 
 
 When he was relieved from the obstruction of 
 others at Detroit, he was not allowed all the 
 privileges he desired, but was, nevertheless, in a 
 better condition, although exposed to interference 
 from below. He at once began to provide for 
 the increase of the settlement. He made two 
 grants of land, within the present limits of Detroit, 
 (though not included until within a few years,) 
 and as the first land grants in Michigan, and the 
 only manorial grants ever recognized as valid in 
 the State, they deserve mention. The only other 
 manor granted in Michigan was conceded to the 
 Chevalier de Repentigny, about half a century 
 
 ' Letter of 1703, Sheldon't H., 107. • 
 
72 FEUDAL GRANTS, [Cii*r. V. 
 
 thereafter, and lost to his heirs as escheated, under 
 a decision of the United States Supreme Court. 
 Whether La Motte Cadillac made, further grants 
 is not known. In the interval between the date 
 of these and his departure for Louisiana, he was 
 constantly harassed by the colonial authorities, 
 and may not have found occasion to extend his 
 tenancies. 
 
 A somewhat imperfect translation of one of 
 these concessions is found in the Land Records 
 of Michigan.' It is dated March lo, 1707, and 
 made to PVan^ois F"afard, dit Delorme. The land 
 was two arpents (or about 400 feet) in width by 
 twenty in depth." 
 
 The grantee had the privilege of trading, fish- 
 ing and hunting, except as to hares, rabbits, part- 
 ridges and pheasants. He was to pay annually 
 at the castle and principal manor, on the 20th of 
 March, five livres for seigneuri^l dues, and ten 
 livres for other privileges, payable in peltries until 
 a currency was established in the colony, and 
 thereafter in money. (The livres mentioned in 
 these and in legal documents generally were livres 
 parisis of 25 sols each, or a franc and a quarter.) 
 The ten livres annually appear from subsequent 
 provisions, and from other documents, to have 
 been for the right to trade, and to have been 
 
 » Am. State Papers, i Public Lands 250. 
 
 2 In the early surveys, eighty arpents were made to measure three miles, 
 which gave 198 American feet to the arpent. The precise measure would 
 have been a little less. _ -^_.^._^_ __ _ ,_ . . ^ 
 
Cha». V.J FEUDAL CONDITIONS. 
 
 78 
 
 personal and not divisible among sub-grantees. 
 The other conditions were that he should com- 
 mence improving within three months ; that he 
 should plant or help plant a long maypole an- 
 nually before the door of the principal manor, 
 ana grind his grain at the moulin banal or public 
 mill, giving toll at eight pounds for each minoi; 
 that he should not sell or hypothecate his land 
 without consent, and that it should be subject to 
 the grantor's pre-emption in case of sale, as well 
 as to the dues of alienation, and subject to the 
 use of timber for vessels and fortifications. The 
 grantee could not work as blacksmith, armorer, 
 cutler or brewer, without a special permit. (This 
 was evidently to prevent unauthorized dealing 
 with the Indians in weapons or ale.) He was 
 given full liberty of trading and importing goods, 
 but allowed to employ no clerks or agents who 
 were not domiciliated at Detroit. The sale of 
 brandy to the Indians was prohibited on pain of 
 forfeiture of the liquor in his possession and con- 
 fiscation of his land. On a sale of a part of the 
 land, the annual dues were proportioned, except 
 the ten livres for trading, which every individual 
 was to pay in full for the privilege. 
 
 This grant did not require the grantee (as 
 was afterwards required) to dwell upon his con- 
 cession. It appears that for many years the 
 setders all dwelt within the gates of the town, or 
 immediately without.' 
 
 « La ForCt's memoir, 9 N. Y, Doc., 867. 
 
74 Miujf,. 
 
 Chap. V. 
 
 When he returned from the east, or very soon 
 thereafter, La Motte brouj^ht two canoe-loads,' or 
 eight tons, of French wheat, and also a variety of 
 other grain for seed. Up to that time the only 
 grain used was Indian corn, and the Hurons and 
 Ottawas, who were expert farmers, raised it in 
 great abundance, with beans, pumpkins and 
 squashes. He also brought machinery for a large 
 mill. Whether this was a wind or water-mill is 
 not stated, it has been assumed that it was a 
 wind-mill. This is probably an error. There was 
 formerly a water-mill on the Savoyard River, 
 which was within the domain and ran between 
 the town and the later fort, which was built on 
 the second terrace. Other water-mills existed 
 within short distances of the fort, and the wind- 
 mills which were quite numerous were too small 
 to serve the ends of a motilin banal. The only 
 reason for supposing this to have been a wind- 
 mill was ignorance of the fact that there were 
 streams used for water-mills. Those streams have 
 now disappeared, but this has happened within 
 living memory. It appears from the settlement of 
 La Motte's proprietary rights in 1722, that he had 
 been liberal in allowing trading licenses, for which 
 the charge was put uniformly at ten livres, when 
 the monopoly was really his own, and under the 
 
 ' Two canoe-loads was the amount ot goods originally allowed by- 
 each cong6 or trading license, and the canoes used in the long traverses 
 were larger than the modern ones, being five and a half fathoms long by 
 one fathom wide. The upper lake bark canoes that visited Detroit 
 would sometimes contain twenty or thirty persons. _ ^ 
 
Chap. V.) REPORT OF D'AIGREMONT. 75 
 
 narrow policy introduced by one of his successors 
 was resumed, and all trading ri^ht taken away 
 from the people, except in their farm products.' 
 
 There is abundant evidence that the settlement 
 prospered under Cadillac's liberal management. 
 M. de Clerambaut d'Aigremont, a deputy of the 
 Intendant, was ordered, in June, 1707, by the 
 King, to visit Detroit and report upon its man- 
 agement and advantages. Reference is made to 
 his report in a former part of this chapter. His 
 commission states the mutual recriminations of 
 Cadillac and Vaudreuil and Raudot, the Governor 
 and Intendant.'' On the same day Vaudreuil re- 
 ceived strict orders not to interfere with Detroit. 
 D'Aigremont's instructions were apparently meant 
 to be somewhat confidential. It appears from them 
 incidentally that La Motte desired to obtain leave 
 from the King to procure some of the ladies of 
 the hospital at Montreal, who were willing to do 
 so, to come out and look after the sick, and aid 
 in teaching various industries; and the delegate 
 was instructed to help him in this. Whether he 
 did so does not appear. But D'Aigremont's re- 
 port, which was made in the interest of La Motte's 
 enemies, did not affect his credit, beyond raising 
 some question as to his desire for personal emol- 
 ument, in which, however, he does not appear to 
 have been specially noteworthy. With large 
 landed rights and continued public employment, 
 he left no such estate as justified such suspicions ; 
 
 ' 3 Wisconsin Hist. Doc. 167. » 9 N. Y. Doc, 805. 
 
76 CADILLAC'S PLANS FOR THE INDIAN? [Chap. V. 
 
 and his measures, as far as they are recorded, 
 were liberal. 
 
 In 1709, the fort and settlement were left en- 
 tirely to his care, and to be maintained at his own 
 expense, as to garrison as well as civil expenses.' 
 
 The project of La Motte Cadillac to enrol and 
 discipline Indians was not authorized. And his 
 short stay prevented the completion of his plans 
 to promote their civilization. The great proficiency 
 of some of these people in agriculture, and their 
 disposition to emulate the customs of their French 
 neighbors, give strong evidence against the heart- 
 less theories which have led to demoralizing and 
 destroying them. No man understood them better 
 than Cadillac, and the opposition to his views 
 came from motives which cannot be approved. 
 
 In 1 710, La Motte Cadillac left for Louisiana, 
 of which he was made Governor." 
 
 I 9 N. V. Doc, 827. 3 Wis. Col., 167. 
 a 9 N. Y. Doc. 857. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE F'RENCH RULE IN MICHIGAN. 
 
 It is readily seen that up to the settlement of 
 Detroit by La Motte Cadillac, there was nothing 
 out of which any political future could grow. 
 The posts, although important for military pur- 
 poses, had no other significance. Except Detroit, 
 no other establishment in Michigan was allowed 
 to form a nucleus of settlement. And during La 
 Motte's residence the hostile position of the Eng- 
 lish, who employed all possible means to stir up 
 the Indians against it, made its position uneasy 
 and dangerous. His great personal influence over 
 the savages prevented fatal mischief, and his small 
 beginnings were not without some degree of 
 success. 
 
 The F"rench system was not designed or cal- 
 culated to build up self-governing communities, 
 and theoretically, and in many cases practically, 
 there was absolutism. But the Royal prerogatives 
 were never delegated to the colonial authorities 
 except in a very qualified way, and although there 
 were great frauds and abuses, there was on the 
 whole a respect for law. The French colonists 
 
78 
 
 LEGAL FORMALITIES. [Chak VI. 
 
 had a good reputation as not usually litigious ; 
 but they were tenacious of their legal rights as 
 far as they went. The forms of Jaw were kept 
 up to an extent that would have appeared almost 
 ludicrous, but for the real service it rendered in 
 reminding all of the supremacy of justice over 
 great as well as small. The colonists were in no 
 sense abject or slavish. Very few people exhib- 
 ited higher spirit or more person J independence. 
 In this they were in no way behind any of the 
 American settlers. 
 
 The powers of La Motte Cadillac, when left 
 invested with the control of Detroit, could not- 
 have been less than those belonging to the high- 
 er feudal lordships of France. He asserted 
 plenary power of justice, uncontradicted, before 
 he was granted the seigneurie. But it was not 
 necessary to establish tribunals of any kind, so 
 long as the settlers were confined to the fort, and 
 necessarily subject to the commanding officer's 
 governance. There was usually in every post 
 which was proprietary, and not purely military, 
 that indispensable official in a French settlement, 
 a Public Notary. Every public as well as private 
 transaction was made in his presence as a solemn 
 witness and recorder. The French commanders 
 exploring new regions made public proclamation 
 with . great ceremony, placed tablets or other 
 memorials on trees or other convenient places, and 
 caused a proccs verbal to be drawn up and signed 
 by all persons of note who were present, and 
 
CWAP. VI. 
 
 PROCiS VERBAUX. 79 
 
 attested by a notary. Where such an officer was 
 not at hand, his place was supplied by competent 
 attesting witnesses. La Salle took with him on 
 his expedition his own notary from Fort Fron- 
 tenac, to secure the formality of his proclamations. 
 The French authorities expressed surprise as well 
 as resentment on discovering that the Iroquois 
 tore down and carried off their documents of pos- 
 session, which they had posted on trees in the 
 woods. When Celoron made his claims on the 
 
 • 
 
 Ohio, he buried metallic plates properly described 
 in his pj'oces verbaux, and they remained until 
 quite recently unearthed. These documents for 
 public purposes were very like a modern marine 
 protest, which is a narrative of the voyage and 
 incidents which have given occasion for preserving 
 a record of facts that may become important. 
 
 The absence of any evidence that Detroit had 
 such an officer in La Motte's time, shows that 
 affairs were rudimentary. His grants, which were 
 drawn with all the skill and formality which would 
 result from long use of the Par/ait Notairc, bear 
 no signature but his own, and that of his secretary 
 Grandmesnil, by whom they were transmitted for 
 collation to the Royal Notary of Quebec. It is 
 questionable whether the fort and domain lands 
 were ever granted, except upon lease, until long 
 after. 
 
 In the absence of full evidence, we can only 
 conjecture what was the legal condition of affairs 
 after his departure. There can be no question 
 
80 CADILLAC'S ESTATE. [Cmat. VI. 
 
 but that he retained important proprietary rights 
 until May 19th, 1722, when his feudal rights were 
 surrendered or modified ; as the King immediately 
 thereafter authorized lands to be granted by the 
 Governor General and Intendant. The estate 
 which he intended for his own use was reserved, 
 whatever it may have been, and his rights admitted 
 by the Crown. None of his privileges seem to 
 have been given up except the exclusive right of 
 trade, which was annexed to the office of the 
 Commandant, who received it as an equivalent for 
 his expense in maintaining the post.' Letters from 
 Detroit, after his departure, indicate that he had 
 probably farmed out his ''ights to some one, 
 supposed to be the younger De Tonty. After his 
 death his family sold his Detroit estates to one 
 Bernard Maichen, who never paid but half the 
 purchase price. His grand-daughter and heiress, 
 Madame Gregoire, who obtained from Massachu- 
 setts, in 1782, the remnant of his barony of 
 Bouaquat and Mont Desert, was foiled in her 
 attempts to recover the property in Detroit. 
 Whether it was ever secured by Maichen or his 
 grantees is not known. That tide was probably 
 not produced before the land Commissioners, as 
 no grants from Cadillac were established except 
 those made by him personally. 
 
 Upon La Motte's departure, De la Foro.t was 
 appointed his successor. This gentleman was a 
 
 < Royal Letter to Vaudreuil and Bigot, of June i8, 173a. — 3 fVis. HitU 
 Col., 167. 
 
Chap. VI.] SIEGE OF DETROIT. 
 
 81 
 
 man of note, having been La Salle's lieutenant 
 and deputy at Fort Frontenac, and afterwards, 
 and at this time, interested with the Chevalier 
 Henry de Tonty in the proprietorship of Fort St. 
 Louis, where Sieur Desliettes or De Liette was 
 stationed. La Foret was detained by private affairs 
 in Quebec until .some time in 171 2. The Sieur 
 Dubuisson was ordered .to take temporary com- 
 mand, and arrived in 1710. He had a very small 
 force, there being but thirty Frenchmen in the 
 fort In May, 171 2, at the instigation of the 
 Indians in the English interest, a desperate attempt 
 was made to destroy the fort. Two villages of 
 Mascoutins and Outagamies had been established 
 and fortified within pistol-shot of the French fort. 
 These people determined to annihilate the post, 
 and two large bands arrived in the early spring 
 to help them. Dubuisson had timely warning, 
 and took measures to send word to the western 
 nations, and to draw within the fort his grain and 
 supplies, which were stored outside in a store- 
 house near the church. He then destroyed these 
 buildings and several houses which would have 
 endangered the fort if set on fire. He dissembled 
 with the enemy, knowing that if he was supposed 
 to have suspected their plans he would be attack- 
 ed at once. He accordingly gave them to under- 
 stand he expected an assault from the Miamis, 
 and was repairing his defences. The savages were 
 very insolent, and committed depredations on the 
 property of the French outside of the fort, which 
 6 
 
82 ARRIVAL OF ALLIES. 
 
 [Chap. VI. 
 
 he did not venture to resent. It was necessary 
 to sow grain and pasture the cattle, and it was an 
 object to postpone the difficulty. On the 13th of 
 May, M. De Vincennes arrived with seven or 
 eight Frenchmen, but no news of the Indian allies. 
 Suddenly a Huron came into the fort (to their 
 surprise, as the Huron village had been deserted 
 by all but seven or eight men) and informed the 
 French that the Potawatamie war chief and three 
 others were in the Huron fort and de'^lred to 
 counsel with them. Vincennes went over to meet 
 them, and was told that six hundred men would 
 soon arrive to help the garrison. The commander, 
 desirous of sparing life if possible, wished to con- 
 tent himself when his friends should come with 
 driving away his troublesome neighbors. But the 
 Hurons would listen to nothing but a war of ex- 
 termination. Dubuisson at once closed the fort 
 and prepared for the expected attack, and the 
 chaplain performed religious services, and got 
 ready to aid the wounded. At this time Dubuis- 
 son was informed that many people were in sight. 
 He says : " I immediately ascended a bastion, 
 and casting my eyes towards the woods, I saw 
 the army of the nations of the south issuing from 
 it. They were the Illinois, the Missouris, the 
 Osages, and other nations yet more remote. 
 There were also with them the Ottawa Chief 
 Saguina. and also the Potawatamies, the Sacs, 
 and some Menominies. Detroit never saw such 
 a collection of people. It :s surprising how much 
 
4 
 Chap. VI. 1 THE ENEMY DECAMP. 83 
 
 all these nations are irritated against the Mascou- 
 tins and the Outagamies. The army marched in 
 good order, with as many flags as there were 
 different nations, and it proceeded directly to the 
 tort of the Hurons. "' 
 
 The Hurons said they should not encamp, but 
 enter the fort and fight for the I'rench. The 
 war began at once. The enemy were besieged 
 nineteen days, by a large force of the allies, and 
 the French fort at the same time was in great, 
 danger from the burning missiles which came in 
 hundreds gind fired the thatched roofs. These; 
 were torn off as fast as possible, and replaced 
 with bear and deer skins, and two large pirogues 
 were filled with water, and swabs fixed on long 
 poles to put out any fire as it started. There 
 were times when the Indians within the French 
 fort became discouraged, but the brave comman- 
 der cheered them up. The besieged enemy was 
 cut off from water and food, and lost many killed. 
 The savage besiegers would not allow them to 
 capitulate. At midnight of a dark rainy night 
 they decamped and escaped to Windmill Point, at 
 the entrance of Lake St. Clair, eight miles dis- 
 tant, and threw up entrenchments. In the morn- 
 ing their escape was discovered, and the allies 
 went in pursuit. In their eagerness the assailants 
 did not perceive the defences, and at first lost 
 many men. They were compelled to fortify, and 
 begin a new siege. The besiegers were supplied 
 
 » Uubuisson's Narrative, p. 9. • . ti- 1. , v ■ ; v :4v , .=. . 
 
84 GREAT SLAUGHTER. [Chai>. VI. 
 
 abundantly with provisions, and had two cannon. 
 After four days the besieged surrendered, and all 
 but the women and children were slain. The 
 loss of the French and allies was sixty Indians 
 killed and wounded, and six or seven French 
 wounded. The enemy lost a thousand. 
 
 The results were very beneficial to Detroit. 
 The Commander received great credit, as did 
 also Vincennes, who thereby escaped from the 
 consequences of some previous disobedience of 
 orders. 
 
 De la Foret arrived soon after the siege, and 
 remained till 171 7, when he was succeeded by 
 the younger Tonty, who was also an able officer 
 but avaricious and unscrupulous in trade matters, 
 having been implicated in the frauds of 1 703 and 
 1704, and brought into disgrace with the King.' 
 
 De la Foret, in 1714, wrote a memorial upon 
 the subject of maintaining the fort, in which he 
 urged its importance as necessary for the defence 
 of the country and the supply of provisions. He 
 nevertheless desired to have the settlement 
 stopped, and the whole converted into a military 
 trading post, giving the commander an exclusive 
 monopoly, and stopping the sale of trading licen- 
 ses to the settlers, as originated by La Motte, 
 which he there asserts is in conflict with the 
 commandant's rights. In this view he insists the 
 settlers must leave the fort, and represents that 
 
 t 9N. Y. Doc, 808. , 
 
Cha?. VI.] CONDITION OF DETROIT. 85 
 
 they cannot improve their lands by reason of 
 exposure to the savages.' He, however, submits 
 this to His Majesty's pleasure. In any event he 
 desires to maintain a small garrison of troops. 
 
 In 1 71 6, Vaudreuil made an effort to restore 
 the brandy trade among the Indians, applying to 
 the Regent Duke of Orleans, and representing 
 that it could be done in such a way as to prevent 
 excesses. In the same letter he urges a renewal 
 of the sale of licenses for roving traders among 
 the Indians, which had been so troublesome before." 
 
 Whether from respect to La Motte's rights, 
 or for some other cause, no change seems to 
 have been made in the management of affairs at 
 Detroit. While there are no records of land 
 sales, it is apparent the inhabitants were increas- 
 ing ; and they probably held by some tenancy 
 less than freehold, or were allowed to possess 
 vacant lands by the Commandant. 
 
 The memoir of 1718 on Indian affairs contains 
 a very complete and graphic description of the 
 whole Lake Region, and devotes considerable 
 space to the Indian villages about the fort at 
 Detroit, and their customs and industries. The 
 Fotawatamies, Hurons and Ottawas are represented 
 as raising abundant crops of corn, beans, peas, 
 .squashes and melons, and some wheat. The 
 Hurons are remarked as more sedate than the 
 rest, and as the bravest and most intelligent of 
 
 « 9 N. V. Doc, 868. \ » 9 N. V. Doc, 870. 
 
86 CHARLEVOIX AT DETROIT. L^hap. VI. 
 
 all the nations. The timber trees and natural 
 fruits and nuts of the Detroit region are spoken 
 of in glowino- terms. No reference is made to 
 the French. 
 
 During this period the post at Mackinaw 
 assumed great importance, but it had no settled 
 population except in connection with the fur trade. 
 
 In 1721. Charlevoix visited Detroit, and re- 
 mained several days. He speaks in high terms 
 of Tonty, who was then in command, and of the 
 character of the land and its products. During 
 his visit a council was held with the Indians to 
 suppress the liquor traffic, and to prepare to 
 fight the Outagamies, who had not lost their old 
 hostility. He refers to the attempts which had 
 been made to depreciate the importance of the 
 post, and shows the falsehood of the statements 
 concerning the lands. Incidentally it would appear 
 that there was considerable cultivated land, as 
 he speaks of the same land bearing wheat for 
 many years without manuring, as evidence of the 
 fertility of the soil, and the wheat culture was 
 mostly in the hands of the PVench. He refers to 
 the Hurons as raising provisions for sale in large 
 quantities, and as sharp traders. 
 
 It appears from Dubuisson's report of the 
 siege, that there were catde enough to be of im- 
 portance to the settlement, in 171 2. 
 
 In 1720, the English proposed to send horses 
 to Niagara for transportation, and to make a 
 
Cmap. VI.] LAND CONCESSIONS. 87 
 
 settlement there.' Pack-horses are not often re- 
 ferred to by travellers as early as this, and there 
 is little information about them. In 1719, there 
 were in all Canada 4,024 horses and 18,241 
 horned cattle. In 1720, there were 5,270 horses, 
 and 24,866 horned cattle. Mrs. Grant, of Laggan, 
 says that in 1761 there were no horses and only 
 one cow at Oswego." 
 
 In 1722, the rights of La Motte Cadillac hav- 
 ing been adjusted, the traffic was ordered to be 
 granted to the Commandant during his tenure of 
 command and no longer, and he was to claim no 
 title to the land at the post, and grant no con- 
 cessions.3 The Governor and Intendant were to 
 grant these concessions in the name of His 
 Majesty, with no trade privileges beyond the dis- 
 posal of farm products. The grants were not to 
 exceed four arpents wide by forty deep, and to 
 be made in consecutive order. The Commandant 
 was required to obtain building concessions as 
 well as other persons, and to get no other trade 
 rights beyond his continuance in command. But 
 he was to have the use without title of ground 
 for garden and stables. 
 
 No attention was paid to this decree by 
 Vaudreuil, or his successor, the first Longueuil. 
 And in 1726, Tonty made an exclusive grant of 
 the right of traffic to four associates. La Marque, 
 
 ' 9 N. V. Doc, 1037. ' -•'• ■ 3 Memoirs of an American Lady. 
 3 Royal decree. 3 Wis. H. Doc, 167, 168. . . 
 
d8 BEAUHARNOIS AWD HOCQUART. [Chaf. VI. 
 
 Chi^ry, Nolan and Gatineau, who at once enforced 
 their claims without mercy. The inhabitants sent 
 a vigorous remonstrance against it. to the Intend- 
 ant, signed by the ancestors of several of the 
 present French families of Detroit, Chesne, 
 Campau, De Marsac, Bineau, Reaume, Picard, 
 Roubidou, La Devoute and De Gaudefroy, and 
 with the marks of others. The company wrote to 
 the Intendant, urging that the people ought to 
 devote their time to farming and not to trading; 
 but as the Governor and Intendant had granted 
 no lands, this was not ingenious. Tonty wrote 
 a very insolent letter calling them gens sans 
 aveu, or vagrants, and making some excuses 
 which were evasive and sophistical, but mainly 
 resting on his rights to do as he pleased.' 
 
 What action was taken does not appear; but 
 in that same year the Marquis of Beauharnois 
 became Governor, and in 1728 Hocquart was n'iade 
 Intendant, and a new era soon • opened on the 
 colony. They were sensible and patriotic, and 
 understood the value of people, while they were 
 not tainted with the fraud and greed of some 
 of their predecessors. Tonty was relieved, 
 and command given Boishebert, who seerns, while 
 at Detroit and after he left, to have been a true 
 friend to the inhabitants. In 1728, at some 
 unknown prompting, the King suggested farming 
 out the post at Detroit, but the views of Beau- 
 harnois prevailed and it was not done." 
 
 > 3 Wis. His. Uoc, 169 to 178. 19 N. Y. Doc., 1004. 
 
Chaf. VI.] VIEWS OP BEAUHARNOIS 89 
 
 It is not entirely certain whether the earliest 
 grant of lands by Beauharnois and Hocquart was 
 in 1730 or 1734. In 1732, Beauharnois, who had 
 failed in his efforts to have two vessels placed on 
 Lake Erie,' wrote thus concerning Detroit, to 
 Count Maurepas : 
 
 " Sieur de Boishebert's occupations regarding 
 the proceedings of the Hurons and Iroquois 
 against the Foxes, will not have permitted him, 
 I believe, sending you the draughts he was to 
 make of Lakes Ste. Claire and Huron. I have not 
 failed to recommend to that officer, as I had done 
 to his predecessors, to give all their attention to 
 the establishment of Detroit, and to the general 
 welfare of that post. But although they do not 
 appear to me to be wanting in attention in these 
 two particulars, it is impossible for that establish- 
 ment to become considerable, so long as a suffi- 
 cient number of troo»^s are not sent thither, to 
 whom lands would be granted for the purpose of 
 improvement, by which course farmers would 
 eventually be introduced. If, on the other hand, 
 it be His Majesty's intention to send thither a 
 hundred faussonniers' with their families, to whom 
 some advances would be made in the first in- 
 stance, this post would become considerable in a 
 short time, and by its strength keep all the na- 
 tions of the Upper Country in check. But as 
 these projects can not be executed until approved 
 by His Majesty, 1 shall continue . to recommend 
 
 I 9 N. V. Doc, 1014. a Faux-saulniers, or salt-smugglers. 
 
90 CAMPAU'S MILL. [Chap. VI. 
 
 the officers in command of that post to induce as 
 much as possible the settlers to cultivate the soil, 
 and to maintain good order there. This, my 
 Lord, is all that their diligence can accomplish."' 
 
 This would indicate that no new grants had 
 
 then been made. And in October, 1734, he 
 
 wrote that there were but 750 soldiers in the 
 entire colony.'' 
 
 While Boishebert was in command, he author- 
 ized a water mill to be built by Charles Campau, 
 on a stream which has now disappeared, but which 
 was known in 1742 as Campau's Mill River, in 
 later days as Cabacier's Creek, and lastly as 
 May's Creek, from the adjoining residence of 
 Judge May, The mill stood nearly where the 
 Michigan Central Railroad crosses Fort street, in 
 the city of Detroit, and the stream was in the 
 basin now occupied by the railroad. In 1753. 
 Cabacier complained that his land was overflowed, 
 but it was made to appear that the mill antedated 
 his concession nearly twenty years, and the 
 Governor General confirmed Campau's rights.^ 
 It is mentioned in the petition of the inhabitants 
 as the only mill convenient to the fort, and as 
 running most of the year. From this it would 
 seem that the moulin banal had ceased to exist, 
 or was distant from the settlement at the fort.* 
 
 in 1 734, concessions were made to several 
 
 '' « 9 N. V. Doc, 1036. .1 I Am. St. P., 253, 
 
 a 9 N. Y. Doc, 1040. 4 I Am. St. P., 251. 
 
Chap. VI. J TENURES IN ROTURE. 91 
 
 inhabitants, of tracts of various widths from two 
 to four arpents, and forty arpents deep. These 
 were made by the Governor and Intendant, under 
 the decree of 1722 before referred to. Similar 
 grants were made at intervals until after 1750. 
 These concessions were upon conditions, (i) of 
 suit to the moulin banal when established, (2) 
 settlement and habitation (jj/ tenir feu et lieu) 
 within a year ; (3) keeping up fences, and cultiva- 
 tion, and allowance of roads ; (4) annual dues of 
 1 sol per arpent front, and 20 sols for each 20 
 arpents of surface, and one bushel' of wheat for 
 the four arpents front. These dues were payable 
 at Martinmas, (iith November,) the money dues 
 being receivable in peltries till currency should be 
 established. (5) Customary lads et rentes accord- 
 ing to the eontunie de Paris, and other feudal 
 rights ; (6) rights reserved in mines, minerals, and 
 timber for public purposes ; (7) procuring immediate 
 survey, and Royal patent within two years. All 
 these on pain of forfeiture." - 
 
 It appears that at this time Hugues Pean was 
 in command, and active in procuring these pri- 
 
 ' Alth(.,:gh the word minot used in these conveyances is said by Dr. 
 O'CiiUaghan to be a larger measure, yet, like other standards ot measure 
 and value, it was not Uniterm. At Detroit, among the French inhabitants, 
 the word minol always meant a bushel, and the word ptnte a quart, and 
 thopine a pint. The writers have used these words in many ways. Mr. 
 Weld says the minot was to the Winchester bushel as roo to 108.765. — 
 WeWs IVavels, 216. 
 
 '■' All these grants were afterwards classed as " 7'etres en Hoture,'' 
 Kerriere says these were not feudal tenures, and were subject to only two 
 prmcipal burdens, viz : the annual cens or dues, and the loJs et ventes or 
 tines of alienation due to the seignnn censier by the purchaser on sale or 
 exchange. — Feniere''! Law Dif., " Koture.'" 
 
LAND GRANTS. [Cha». Vt. 
 
 vileges. This officer was a man of distinction 
 and hereditary Town Major of Quebec. His re- 
 lations with a subsequent Intendant, Bigot, were 
 peculiar and disgraceful. Both of them on their 
 return to France, after the surrender of 1760, 
 were tried and convicted of official misdemeanors, 
 but whether any of them related to conduct here 
 is not known. Pean was fined six hundred 
 thousand livres, or $125,000.' Bigot was merely 
 banished from the court to his estates. 
 
 From this time on for several years the annals 
 are silent, and the people may therefore be pre- 
 sumed to have prospered. 
 
 Only six of these concessions were ever sent 
 to Paris for confirmation; and this fact left the 
 titles at Detroit clear of some difficulties when 
 the United States began to deal with them. 
 
 Anticipating somewhat the course of events, 
 the only other land grants made by the French 
 in Michigan were confined to the seigneurie 
 granted to the Chevalier de Repentigny at the 
 Sault de Ste. Marie, in 1750 and 1751, of six 
 leagues square. He took possession and began 
 the settlement to the satisfaction of the French 
 Government, who had found it necessary to 
 check the advances of the English among the 
 northern tribes. When Carver passed through, 
 in 1767, he found the possession kept up by a 
 person who had been in Repentigny's employ, 
 
 • 10 N. V. Doc, 1 136. 
 
Cmap. VI.] REPENTIGNY. 
 
 93 
 
 and left in charge, but who then claimed to own 
 it himself. Repentigny was a very distinguished 
 officer and reached high rank in the French 
 army, having been made Marquis and General. 
 This claim was presented to the United States 
 authorities in 1825, but not allowed by the com- 
 missioners, as the act of Congress was not broad 
 enough to cover i< It was afterwards brought 
 before the Supreme Court of the United States,' 
 where it was decided that the action of Congress 
 previously had cut it off. The judgment was one 
 which took rather narrower views of these con- 
 cessions than seem to have been taken by the 
 French or British authorities, and held that the 
 act of Congress under which the claim was pre- 
 sented for adjudication was not intended to waive 
 any question in the United States Courts, if the 
 claim was technically cut off when the United States 
 acquired the country. 
 
 The successive Commandants at Detroit appear 
 to have had no serious difficulties with the inhab- 
 itants, and the people apparently continued in the 
 privileges of which Tonty had sought to deprive 
 them. Licenses seem to have been sold to such 
 as desired them. Among the officers commanding 
 at various times, besides those already mentioned, 
 were Pajot, Deschaillons de St. Ours (a very dis- 
 tinguished officer), Desnoyelles, Noyan, Sabrevois, 
 Celoron, Longueuil, De Muy, and Bellestre. : 
 
 « 5 Wal., 211. 
 
94 
 
 INDIAN SETTLEMENTS. [Chap VI. 
 
 Between 1734 and 1739, it is supposed that 
 M. de Sabrevois was in command, as in his time 
 the conditions of land grants within the fort seem 
 to have been fixed as they were afterwards 
 maintained.' 
 
 In 1 741, Beauharnois held councils with the 
 Indians belonging in the region of Mackinaw and 
 the shore of Lake Michigan, and under his 
 auspices they made a number of settlements, 
 extending from the St. Joseph's River, at various 
 points, including Muskegon, to L'Arbre Croche.- 
 The latter became an important settlement, and 
 was the seat of a considerable industry, the 
 Indians maintaining a very good reputation, and 
 being cared for by devoted missionaries. Within 
 the last thirty years the L'Arbre Croche sugar 
 was always reckoned clean and reliable, and 
 brought the best price of any Indian sugar in the 
 Detroit market ; unless in some few instances 
 where it was made equally well elsewhere by 
 known families. 
 
 During the remainder of the official term of 
 Count Maurepas as Minister of the Marine, the 
 most liberal policy prevailed, as Beauharnois, La 
 Jonquiere, and De la Galissonniere were all dis- 
 posed to serve the true interests of the colony. 
 All of the Phelyppeaux were men of unsullied honor 
 and integrity, and of much personal independence. 
 They seem to have inspired much personal attach- 
 
 » I Am. St. Pap., 259. » 9 N. Y. Doc. 1072. 
 
Chap VI. ] LOST ISLANDS. 
 
 95 
 
 ment amon^^ the western leaders. La Motte 
 Cadillac named his Detroit post after Jerome 
 Phelyppeaux, Count Pontchartrain. and Fort Rosa- 
 He after his lady. I.akes Pontchartrain and 
 Maurepas in Louisiana were named after the fath- 
 er and son. Their names were not so fortunate 
 in Michigan. Besides the fort at Detroit, three 
 islands in Lake .Superior were called after the fam- 
 ily, lies Phelyppeau.x or Minonj^. Maurepas and 
 Pontchartrain. A fourth was named after the In- 
 tendant Hocquart. He Phelyppeaux was laid down 
 as an island larger than lie Royale. lying between 
 that and Keweenaw Point, and declared by Carver 
 like the latter island, to have been large enough for 
 a province. By the Treaty of i j^t, between the 
 United States and (ireat Britain, lie Phelyppeaux . 
 was one of the boundary marks, the line running 
 just north of it. The other three islands were 
 laid down towards the eastward and northeastward. 
 
 The Indians had a superstitious fear of 
 approaching these islands, which were supposed to 
 be tenanted by the Great Manitou Michabou, and 
 guarded by mysterious and terrible spirits and 
 serpents. Of all those named, He Royale is the 
 only one now known to exist, unless Maurepas 
 has been confounded with Michipicoten, which is 
 not in exactly the same region, but is not very 
 far off, and is identified with it by Alexander 
 Henry. It is hardly suppcsable, although that is 
 a volcanic country, that any such islands can 
 have disappeared in modern times, but it is not 
 
96 LAW OFFICERS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 easy to account for the location and naming of 
 imaginary islands, where, from the foundation of 
 Du Lulh's fort on the Kaministiquia River, (now 
 Fort William) the French had been constant 
 travellers. In these instances the statesmen whose 
 names were "writ in water" have been no more 
 fortunate in their monuments than others in like 
 plight. But they were fortunate in having more 
 than one remembrancer. 
 
 In Mr. Schoolcraft's Journal of Gen, Cass's 
 first expedition to the sources of the Mississippi 
 in 1820, he mentions these islands, and refers to 
 some of the Indian superstitions concerning them. 
 As He Phelyppeaux came within the legal limits 
 of the State of Michigan, it must, with Toledo, be 
 now reckoned among her lost empires. Its other 
 name, Minong, has been attached to He Royale, 
 where, perhaps, it always belonged. 
 
 We find now, in the incidental references of 
 our public records, evidences that Detroit had 
 become subject to the ordinary incidents of civil 
 settlements. There was probably from the begin- 
 ning of the policy of land grants, a Deputy 
 Intendant, and the same or some other person 
 acted as notary. The elder Robert Navarre came 
 r.o Detroit in 1730, and was constandy employed 
 in public service of some kind. The King's dues 
 were payable to his receiver (the Intendant) or a 
 local sub-receiver, and Navarre's name is the first 
 found in that capacity, while the receipts are 
 endorsed on the deeds of the land-owners from 
 
Chap. VI. ] NOTARIAL ACTS. 
 
 97 
 
 the beginning. The jurist De Ferriere represents 
 the functions of a Deputy Intendant to have been 
 judicial as well as ministerial, and such was 
 probably the case in Detroit. The notary, (who 
 at this time generally performed all functions con- 
 nected with transfers, contracts and successions,) 
 had no incompatible duties, and Navarre was 
 Royal Notary. In 1753, M. tandrieve was acting 
 temporarily as Deputy Intendant, Navarre being 
 then probably absent on other duty, as he had a 
 great influence with the Indians. In 1760, we 
 find Navarre and Baptiste Campau both acting 
 together as notaries, the latter performing, appar- 
 ently the duties of Tabellion or notarial clerk and 
 registrar. It is not likely the judicial duties were 
 very heavy, but the receipts for the King were 
 considerable, both in money and wheat, and the 
 sub-Intendant was curator of the public property 
 not stricdy military. We find at this period that 
 the Commandant made grants of lands within the 
 fort, and possibly in the precinct or domain 
 adjoining. M. de Bellestre declared in a subse- 
 quent inquiry that this was his absolute right, the 
 rents, however, belonging to the Crown." In 
 some cases a ratification was required from the 
 Governor General, as indicated by the Decree of 
 1722. Such cases are found recorded in 1754-5, 
 on grants from M. de Muy confirmed by Du 
 Quesne.' In 1741, such a grant is made by De 
 
 « Wayne Record, B., p. 128. a Id., A., p. i. 
 
 7 
 
0t 
 
 CONDITIONS OF TOWN GRANTS. [Chap. VI. 
 
 Noyan to Navarre, without confirmation.' The 
 terms of tenure were two sols per foot front, not 
 redeemable, but payable in cash, and the main- 
 tenance of the fortifications in proportion to 
 such front.' This was one pile or picket, var- 
 iously stated from fifteen feet upward in length, 
 for each foot front of the lot. In 1745, a sale 
 is recorded of a hftuse within the fort, and of 
 " forty fort pickets, which are all of cedar, appur- 
 tenant to the said house."^ This obligation to 
 supply pickets was afterwards a source of con- 
 tention, and the duty was disputed. But the 
 deeds are explicit. In addition to the annual 
 dues, and to taxes, there 'were fines of alienation. 
 On what basis these were settled does not appear, 
 but it was probably according to the Coutume de 
 Paris. In 1 760. upon a purchase by De Belles- 
 tre, the fines on a purchase of 12,000 livres were 
 666 livres, 13 sols, or more than five per cent.* 
 
 Even while no war was existing between 
 France and England, the British agents (claiming 
 ostensibly under the Iroquois grant, which was 
 much more shadowy than the French claims 
 which they professed to regard as theoretical,) 
 kept up with their Indian allies a continued series 
 of attempts to reach the western trade, and get 
 
 • Wayne Record, A., p. 29. 
 » Id., A., p. I, 17. 
 
 3 "Quarante pieux de fort, que sont tous de cedre, dependants de la 
 dite maison." — A., p. 17. 
 
 4 Wayne Record, B., 128. 
 
Cmap. VI.] INTRIQUE5 WITH HURONS. 99 
 
 control of the country. The Hurons, who had 
 been deadly enemies of the Iroquois and all their 
 friends, and who had stood fast by the French, 
 were approached by these tempters, and by 
 degrees led away from their fidelity. ' Their posi- 
 tion was such as to make this very dangerous. 
 
 When Charlevoix was in Detroit he mentioned 
 that it was desired to establish a Huron mission, 
 which was not then determined on. In 1 742, this 
 was settled on Bois-blanc Island, on the Canada 
 side of the mouth of Detroit River, commanding 
 the main channel. Father Potier had charge, and 
 the village was very extensive, regularly laid out, 
 and containing several hundred people. It was 
 then of several years' standing. It is likely it 
 had been removed thither from Detroit, and 
 Father de la Richardie is said to have at one 
 time been a missionary in the tribe. For a per- 
 iod of some years these intrigues went on, and 
 the Commander at Detroit was diligent in oppos- 
 ing them. Hearing that the English had designs 
 on White River and the Wabash country, Celoron, 
 a former Commandant of Detroit, in 1 743, allowed 
 men and supplies to go from Detroit to open a 
 trade at White River with a body of Senecas, 
 Onondagas and others of the Five Nations, who 
 had settled there to the number of about 600, and 
 who professed friendship. Robert Navarre was 
 sent out to examine and report on the prospects. 
 Beauharnois and Hocquart directed M. de Lon- 
 gueuil, then in command at Detroit, to send out 
 
100 
 
 TRADE AT v ^TROIT INJURED. (Chaf. VI 
 
 goods and supplies on the King's account, and 
 expressed themselves as desirous, since the settle- 
 ment could not be broken up, of getting it, if 
 possible, to be friendly. But there was evidently 
 suspicion of mischief.' 
 
 In 1 744, the hostilities existing made it neces- 
 sary to make preparations, and Longueuil suc- 
 Cvieded in securing the adhesion of the nations 
 near Detroit, and sent out Indian forces to prevent 
 the English traders from reaching White River, 
 as well as to guard the approaches to the Ohio. 
 Celoron and Joncaire were able for a time to 
 ensure the neutrality of several of the New York 
 bands of :^enecas and others.' 
 
 But the disturbed condition of the country 
 operated injuriously on Detroit. In 1745, com- 
 plaint was made by Beauharnois, in his letters to 
 France, that the licenses to trade at Detroit and 
 Mackinaw could hardly be given away, although 
 those places were not well supplied ; and he 
 expressed misgivings as to the conduct of the 
 Indians when trade should fall off.^ About the 
 same time the country was troubled by deserters 
 and renegades from Louisiana, who found their 
 way up to Detroit and its vicinity. The Chevalier 
 de Longueuil. who was at this time decorated 
 with the Cross of St. Louis for his services, was 
 very active and energetic, and did much to 
 keep the country quiet. But some of the Detroit 
 Indians held back.* 
 
 « 9 N. V. Doc, 1099. 3 10 N. V. Doc , 21. 
 
 ■ 9 N. V. Doc, nil. II 12. 4 10 N. Y. Doc, 34, 37, 38. 
 
CHAr. VI. J SERIOUS TROUBLtS 
 
 101 
 
 The supply of provisions from the lands about 
 Detroit began to fail, and for a while there was 
 danger of suffering on this account. The Hurons 
 became mutinous, and it was evident they had 
 been effectually tampered with," In 1747, Father 
 Potier was obliged to leave Bois-blanc and go up 
 to Detroit. They committed outrages in various 
 places, killing several Frenchmen at Sandusky. 
 They had also planned a massacre of the people 
 in the fort at Detroit, which was overheard by a 
 squaw, by whom it was revealed to a Jesuit lay- 
 brother, who informed Longueuil. The rising was 
 general, and manifestations were made m all parts 
 of Michigan and the Northwest. Longueuil 
 succeeded in persuading a deputation of several 
 tribes to go with Bellestre to Quebec to confer 
 with the Governor. Among these were the great 
 chiefs Sastaretsi and Taychatin. After his 
 departure the Hurons held a council, in which 
 they desired Father de la Richardie to be sent up. 
 Arrangements were made that he should accom- 
 pany Bellestre to Detroit. Unfortunately, both 
 the chiefs died before these gendemen started." 
 
 The year 1747 was one of constant trouble 
 about Detroit. The Indians who had agreed to 
 attack the Huron village at Bois-blanc, when the 
 troubles broke out, refused to do so. Longueuil, 
 however, had succeeded in getting the upper hand 
 of the Miamis and others to the southward, and 
 they sent to sue for peace. Three of the treach- 
 
 - • 10 N. V. Doc. 38. 83, 114, 1 15, 119. a Id., 123, 124. 
 
l02 INDIAN OUTRAGES. [Cmaf. VI. 
 
 erous Huron chiefs, Nicolas, Orotoni and Anioton, 
 who had been most deefihy implicated, came also 
 for the same purpose. While these were at 
 Detroit, news came that a party had waylaid three 
 Frenchmen at Grosse He, and attempted to 
 murder them. The Frenchmen themselves soon 
 appeared, wounded, but not fatally. Longueuil 
 immediately sent a force of thirty men after the 
 marauders. The deputies, fearing for themselves, 
 informed the Commander that the criminals were 
 concealed at Bois-blanc, and volunteered to arrest 
 them. Longueuil accepted their offer, and gave 
 them ten more men to accompany them. They 
 overtook the first detachment, and brought back 
 the five Indians to the fort. They turned out to 
 be one Onondaga, as leader, one Huron, one 
 Seneca, and two Mohegans. The populace killed 
 the leader as soon as he landed. The rest were 
 confined in the fort in irons. This event created 
 great excitement among the Ohio Indians, but 
 Longueuil pacified them, insisting however, on 
 retaining the prisoners, and giving the nations to 
 understand the fate of these depended on the 
 conduct of the tribes. On the morning of the 
 29th of December, 1747, the Seneca was found 
 dead, it being doubtful whether he killed himself 
 or was killed by the Huron, who was to kill him- 
 self also. It turned out they had all nearly 
 succeeded in escaping, as they had loosened 
 their irons and prepared to kill the guard. 
 
 Afterwards, in February, 1748, Longueuil re- 
 
Chap. VI.] HURON MISSION. 103 
 
 leased the three survivors, upon the request of 
 formal deputations of northern and southern 
 tribes, and upon very fair promises. He did this 
 against the wishes and protests of the French at 
 Detroit, and was censured by the Governor Gen- 
 eral. But the event proved fortunate, as the In- 
 dians sought eagerly to show their sincerity by 
 taking the war-path ; and he had no further serious 
 trouble with them, although there were some abor- 
 tive attempts made here and there to do mischief.' 
 In April, 1 748, Galissonniere reports prospects of 
 future tranquility.- 
 
 In 1748, it was questioned whether it might 
 not be well to remove the fort to Bois-blanc ; 
 but it was not thought best to do so, as the In- 
 dians had settled at Detroit. The Huron Mission 
 was re-established,3 under strong recommendations 
 from the Governor to renew it, but with great 
 precautions to have it in a safe place ; and at this 
 time it was accordingly removed, to the present 
 town of Sandwich, opposite the western part of 
 the city of Detroit. Father de la Richardie became 
 attached to it, at the Governor's request. Father 
 Potier also appears to have remained with it. A 
 church was built of respectable dimensions, which, 
 until about twenty years ago, was the place of 
 worship of the Catholic population of that region. 
 It was then taken down, — a commodious and spa 
 
 « 10 N. Y. Narratives of 1747-1748, pa«sim 
 
 « 10 N. V. Doc, 133. 
 
 3 10 N. V. Doc, 162, 148. 
 
104 MEMOIk ON THfi COLOKIES. [Chap. VI. 
 
 cious brick church having been built in its imme- 
 diate vicinity. The point at Sandwich where they 
 settled is named in the Governor's report " Point 
 Montreal."' This name is not retained, and has 
 not been noted except in that document. i 
 
 In October, the Governor instructed Longueuil 
 that, although the French and English were at 
 peace, the English, if seeking to settle on the Ohio. 
 White or Rock Rivers, or any of their tributaries, 
 must be resisted by force." He expressed the 
 strongest convictions of the importance of Mack- 
 inaw and Detroit.^ .t 
 
 In December, 1750, the late Governor, De la 
 Galissonniere, who had been succeeded by De la 
 Jonquiere, prepared an elaborate memoir on the 
 French colonies, which is one of the most enlight- 
 ened documents ever written on that subject.* He 
 pointed out the utility of colonies, and the reasons 
 why the French, with less population, had obtained 
 advantages over the English in dealing with the 
 Indians; which he, as well as the English officials 
 in this country, attributed to the habits o' the 
 French inhabitants in woodcraft, and in living with 
 and like the Indians. But he warned the Govern- 
 ment that this was accidental, and could not always 
 be relied on. 
 
 After noting the weak points as well as 
 advantages of various places, he makes special 
 
 I 10 N. V. Doc . 178. 3 10 N. V. Doc , 1S3-4 
 
 a 10 N. V Doc ,179. 4 10 N. Y. Doc, 220. 
 
Chap, VI.] GALISSONNlfeRE'S MEMOIR. 105 
 
 reference to Detroit. "This last place demands 
 now the sfreatest attention. Did it once contain 
 a farming population of a thousand, it would feed 
 and defend all the rest. Throughout the whole 
 interior of Canada it is the best adapted for a 
 town, where all the trade of the lakes would con- 
 centrate; were it provided with a good garrison 
 and surrounded by a goodly number of settle- 
 ments, it would be enabled to overawe almost all 
 the Indians of the Continent. It is sufficient to 
 see its position on the map to understand its 
 utility. It would stand on the River St. Lawrence 
 within reach of the Oyo, the Illinois, the River 
 Mississippi, and in a position to protect all these 
 different places, and even the posts north of the 
 Lakes." 
 
 He concludes his memoir by urging that "the 
 resolution ought to be adopted to send a great 
 many people to New France, in order to enable 
 those who have the administration thereof, to 
 work at tlie same time at the different proposed 
 forts. These people ought to be principally sol- 
 diers, who can in a very short time be converted 
 into good settlers." 
 
 He suggests that some faux-saulniers, and 
 even a few paupers might be sent, the latter to 
 be very sparingly furnished as needed. Other 
 persons of doubtful character should not be sent 
 unless called for. 
 
 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. '-■■•'-"■':■:■■. ^^-v:,;-',." ;^v '-■'•'''■:'-■- 'v'v:'^''' 
 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 I]linois would not 
 permit provisions to be sent thence.' Both 
 Celoron and Longueuil had been censured for 
 not being more alert in furthering the Ohio expe- 
 ditions, but this was perhaps the reason.' Famine 
 was not the only danger at Detroit. The small 
 pox also began its ravages in the adjacent villages 
 of the Ottawas and Potawatamies. 
 
 > 10 N V Doc , 249. ■ 10 N. Y. Doc., 349. 
 
CH*r. VI.] DETROIT ENLARGED 107 
 
 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 Choueguen, but I do not hear 
 that this post yields a great revenue."' 
 
 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."* 
 
 In 1759, Bigot, the Intendant, stated that the 
 settlers of 1 750-1 had taken care of themselves 
 and been selling wheat since 1754, from which 
 time they had entailed no expense on the crown.^ 
 
 During the border war that was going on be- 
 tween the French and English, in the setdements 
 and regions between the Ohio and the Lakes, the 
 Detroit militia appear to have taken an active 
 
 « 10 N. V. Doc, 363. 3 10 N. Y. Doc, 1048. 
 
 » 10 N. V. Doc, 376. 
 
108 
 
 DIFFICULTIES WITH ENGLISH IChap VI 
 
 part, and the number of French soldiers — apart 
 from the Indians — must have been quite large.' 
 Hellestre 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 (iovernment 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.^ 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.^ 
 Colden, Delancey, and Pownall, in various ways, 
 urged the necessity of getting control of this re- 
 gion.* Pownall referred to it at length in the 
 Albany Congress of 1 754, which was intended to 
 unite the English colonies in a confederation for 
 general defence, and the management of their 
 common interests.' 
 
 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- 
 
 ■ 10 N. V. Doc , 425. 4 6 N. Y. Doc, 990. 
 
 ^ 6 N. Y. Uoc, 105, 107, 489, 493, 579. s 6 N. Y. Doc, 893. 
 
 3 6 N. V. Doc. 743, 773, 731. 
 
Chap VI. 1 SURRENDER 
 
 109 
 
 ^a.tit, some of the unfortunate victims found a 
 refuge in Detroit, as Vvell as in otlier 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, 1 760, wrote to the French Minister 
 Berryer : " M. de Bellestre is preparing to receive 
 the En[;^Hsh, who I think are not going to 1 )etroit ; 
 it may cost them very dear, because all the na- 
 tions are disposed to join the French."'' 
 
 . But, on the 8th of September, 1 760, the whole 
 Province was surrendered. In November, 1 760, 
 Major Robert Rogers, with a force consisting of 
 part of the 60th (Royal Americans) and 80th 
 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. 
 
 - » 10 N. V. Doc, 1093. a 10 N. Y. Doc, 1094. 
 
110 PIQUOTfe DE BELLESTRE. fCHAP. VI 
 
 Franqiois Marie, commonly called and signing 
 himself Piquote de Bellestre, was so highly es- 
 teemed by the French authorities, that it seems 
 strange to find him spoken of lighdy 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 F"rench 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 v^^riously 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. 
 
 » Henry, 40, 41. 
 
Chap. VIl.] PANIS. BUFFALOES. 113 
 
 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 J\j7onccs, 
 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 Pcnii 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." 
 
 At the time of the change of sovereignty, in 
 1 760, 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 ol the Detroit 
 Pawnee servants as exceptionally good and docile. 
 
 ^ 8 
 
114 CHAHERT DE JON'CAIRE. [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 1 799. He 
 was then generally known as Colonel Chabert, 
 though using for his signature his name of Jon- 
 caire.' ■ '^ ■'■ 
 
 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 Knglish, who write it sometimes asJohnCoeur, 
 and Jean Cairo, but seldom correctly. 
 
Chap. VII.| ROYAI. AMKRK ANS. 
 
 U5 
 
 American Reiriment. officered chiefly by American 
 gentlemen from New York and other Eastern 
 colonies, several of them of Scottish birth or des- 
 cent. Colonel Georjre Crotihan, 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 v,)ttawas. who had for more than 
 twenty years kept his village a litde 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 1 768, 
 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- 
 
 « 8 N. V. Doc, 85. 
 
116 
 
 DETROIT TRADERS. [Chap. VII. 
 
 try. Some of them, however, knew very Httle of 
 the Indians. 
 
 Captain Donald Campbell, of ' the 6oth, was 
 made first commandant, and continued in command 
 till superseded by Major Gladwin, his superior in 
 rank, in 1763. 
 
 hnmediately 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, 1 767, he 
 mentions numerous instances of the mischief done 
 by the greedy and unscrupulous adventurers, v.'ho 
 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 mosdy after the 
 Pontiac war. 
 
 Sir Jeffery Amherst stated in 1 762, that up to 
 that time trade had been entirely free,' 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 
 
 ■fc. 
 
 ' 7 N. Y. Doc , 953, et seej. " 7 N. Y. Doc, 508. 
 
Chap VII.] TREATY RIGHTS. 
 
 117 
 
 proclamation of 1763, they issued to all who gave 
 security." The Albany merchants appear to have 
 been quite arrogant in their claims.' 
 
 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. ^ 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 
 
 t 7 N. Y. Doc, 535, 637. 3 Henry, 11. "' 
 
 ^ 7 N. V. Doc, 613. 
 
118 
 
 FRENCH DISAFFECTION. [Chap. VH. 
 
 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 F"rench 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 die 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 1 761, did what he could to secure a pleasant 
 state of things with the tribes, but went home full 
 of misgivings." 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 E!ther- 
 ington and Leslie. Lieutenant Gorrell, who was 
 sent on to Green Hay with the same expedition, 
 
 « 10 N. V. Doc, 1157. « 7 N. V. Doc, 525, 575. 
 
Chap. 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 
 1 742 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 181 7, 
 though his reputed nephew, the celebrated cen- 
 tenarian Okemos, was a chief of the Chippewas. 
 
 « Gorrell's Narrative. 7 N. V. Uoc, 543, 552, 561. 
 
l20 PONTIAC. [Chap. Vtl. 
 
 In 1766, Pontiac executed alone, on behalf of the 
 Ottawa Nation, a conveyance to Doctor George 
 Christian Anthon,' 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 exchantred. 
 At Mackinaw, Captain F^therington. 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, proli.ibly lor his medical services. He was father of the emin- 
 ent Bchiilars Henry, Charles and John Anthon, of New York, some of whom 
 were natives uf Detroit. 
 
Chap. Vll.] MASSACRfi AT MACKINAW. 
 
 121 
 
 The Indians organized a great game o{ 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- 
 
 ■ J'ai^'aa/^muaH. The Indian crosier or raquette, with which the game is 
 played. /'ax'nii</owfwin the game it.self. — Barai^a. The ball is called //X'- 
 wak7vati.—/ii. The raqiietie resembles a long handled battledore. Charle- 
 voix describes two games of ball with these implements — Letter 22. 
 
 » There was one fashion of |)laying 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 (|uotations under " Pall Mall " in Richard- 
 serfs Dtctionarv. 
 
122 RESCUE OF PRISONERS, lChap. VII. 
 
 sionary, who was a <i^ood 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.' ^;:;: 
 
 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 
 
 » Gorrell's Narrative, 
 
Chap Vll.] WHITE SAVAG£S. 
 
 123 
 
 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 
 setders. And Tecumseh, at Fort Meigs, was 
 active in restraining barbarities, which he rebuked 
 General Proctor in the most cutting language for 
 allowing and encouraging. 
 
 Detroit alone escaped capture. Pontiac had 
 been very cunning in preparing a device to enable 
 him and his warriors to get within the fort and 
 destroy the English. They cut their gun barrels 
 short and concealed them under their blankets, 
 and sixty head-men thus equipped were allowed 
 to enter the council house, their followers being 
 left outside in the road, waiting for the signal. 
 Major Gladwin had been warned, and had heeded 
 the warning, and had learned what was to be 
 Pontiac's signal for attack. As soon as he noticed 
 the chief preparing for it, he gave a sign, and at 
 once the drums beat and the soldiers handled 
 their guns. The great chief was for once thrown 
 off his balance, and could not conceal his chagrin. 
 He and his myrmidons departed with lame 
 
124 PONTIAC AT DETROIT. [Chap. \l\. 
 
 explanations, while Gladwin abstained from showing 
 the extent of his knowledije of their treachery. 
 The next day Pontiac made a visit of ceremony, 
 with the calumet or pipe of peace, which he left 
 with Major Campbell on his departure as a token 
 of sincerity. That afternoon he got up a ball- 
 play, intending a stratagem like that at Mackinaw, 
 but the garrison were on their guard and took 
 no part in it. The next morning, May 9th, the 
 French inhabitants went to mass at the church 
 above the town, returning before 1 1 o'clock, and 
 having then seen no signs of mischief. But the 
 common around the fort was soon crowded with 
 a multitude of warriors ot all the neighboring 
 tribes, and Pontiac approached the gate and 
 asked to be admitted. He was told that he could 
 come in himself, but not his followers. On say- 
 ing that they wished to smoke the calumet, Glad- 
 win gave him to understand, very curtly and 
 plainly, that they must keep out. This ended the 
 pantomime. The hate and wrath of the savages 
 were no longer concealed ; but they did not begin 
 the war by attacking soldiers. They first ran 
 across the common to the cottage of an old En- 
 glishwoman, and killed and scalped her and her 
 family. Hence they proceeded up the river to 
 Hog Island,' and there found an old English 
 
 I 'I'his isl.ind was first named He ii Ste. Claire. Being infested with 
 rattlesnakes, several hogs were turned loose on the is'and to destroy them ; 
 and in time they in turn became numerous and very wild. This obtained for 
 it the name of He aux Cochons, or Hog Island. In 1845, a party of ladies 
 and gentlemen on a pic-nic solemnly named it Belle Isle — its present title. 
 
Chap. VII.] ALEXIS CUILLERIEK 
 
 125 
 
 sergeant named James Fisher, whom they also 
 murdered. Tradition says that the dead man's 
 body, whicn was decently interred by Canadian 
 neighbors, would not rest, though covered more 
 than once, but thrust out its imploring hands 
 until quieted by the rites of the church. 
 
 A curious legal episode is connected with this 
 murder. When the war was over, a P^renchman 
 named Alexis Cuillerier (an ancestor or relative, 
 it is believed, of the Beaubien family, their name 
 being properly Cuillerier de Beaubien) was tried by 
 a court of inquiry, and sentenced to banishment 
 from the settlement for drowning Fisher's child. 
 In 1769, Captain Turnbull (then commanding) pub- 
 lished an order' recalling him from banishment, 
 and ordering all people to abstain from charging 
 him with guilt. The order recites that he was 
 convicted on the testimony of a false witness, 
 who is declared to have been found guilty of in- 
 famous offences and utterly unworthy of credit.' 
 
 ' Wajne County Records, A , 91. , , , 
 
 » This curious document, having been issued in French and English, 
 (both originals), is sul)joined in both languages as recorded. The verbal pe- 
 culiarities were probably correctly preserved. The Krench copy gives the 
 correct name of the accuser. 
 
 . .,. ; "By George Turnbull Esqre Capt. in His Majesty's 6o<h Regi- 
 ment, Commanding Detroit & its Dependencies, &c. 
 
 IVhereas Mr. Alexis Cuillierie has been wrongfully accused by Jno Myer 
 of having (during the Indian War of 1763) been Guilty of drowning a Child 
 belonging to the late James Kisher ; the many Circumstancis in favour of 
 Mr- Cuillierie that were at that timedesinedly Conceal'd, but which have ap- 
 peared since, together with the Testimony of several Creditable Inhabitants, 
 Concerning the Infamous Character ot thatperjur'd Villain Jn» Myer who has 
 
126 VINDICATION OF CUILLERIER. [Chap. Vlt. 
 
 This gentleman was very intimate with Pontiac, 
 and Parkman gives a description of him as a fan- 
 
 himself since given a very Glaring & but t^o Strong proof of said Testimony 
 by prenieditately Murdering James Hill Clark, Trader at the Miamis River, 
 these and many other sufficient proofn C'onvnicing me throughly of M'- Cuil- 
 lierrie's Innocence, I was determined then to recall him and revoke the or- 
 ders I'ublish'd to his prejudice in Conseciuenre of said fals accusation ; but 
 thought it best, first to Communicate the Same to His Excellency General 
 Gage, Commander in Chief of all His Majesty's Forces in North America; 
 Now, in consequence of Orders receiv'd from his Excellency, the said Mr- 
 Alexis Cuillierrie is permitted to return and remain here unmolested as soon 
 as he pleases. And all manner of Persons are hereby strictly fori)idden to 
 seize, stop, injure, molest, or reproach under any pretence whatsoever the 
 said Mr. Cuillierrie for or on account of the said Malicious & fals Accusation 
 as they shall answer to the contrary on their peril 
 
 Given under my Hand and Seal at Detroit, June 4th, 1769. 
 For a Coppy sign'd George TurnbuuL." 
 
 " Par George Turnbull Ecuyer Capt Commandant Le Detroit 
 et Ses Dependences &c. 
 Comnie Mr- Alexis Cuillierier a et6 Injustement accuz6 par Jean Mayet, 
 davoir pendent La Guerre Sauuage, fait noyer un Enfent, appartenant a feu 
 Jacques fischer et que maleuresement toutes Les Circonstances en faveur du 
 susdt Sr Cuillieries etuient dans Ce temps la Malicieuzement Cachees Mais 
 qui ont Depuis ])aru authentiquement [par] Le temoignage de plusieuis 
 Domicilies Dun Caractere Irreprochable Concernant Linfame Conduite de 
 Cet Indigne par Jure Jean NLiyet, qui a par lui meme donne depuis des 
 preuves Claires ct Convinquentes des Tcmoignages Cydessus enplongean ses 
 pcrfides Manis dans le sang de Jacques hill Clark Dans la riviere des Mis 
 amis tout Cecy 6t plusieur autres preuues Mayant entierement Con vmcu 
 Delinnocence du Susd' Sr Cuillieries Jetois Deterninie de le Uap|)eler et 
 anuller Lordre que Javois donne et fait publier Contre Iny en Consequence 
 de la fausse accusation. Mais ayant penc6, (piil etoit plus apropos, de la 
 Communiquer a son Exelencc Le tleneral Gage, Commandant en Chef de 
 toutes Les forces de sa Majeste dans Lamerique du nord Maintenant en 
 Consequence des ordres Regue de Son Exelence ; il est permis au- 
 susd' Sr- Alexis Cuillieries de Revenir aussitot quil luy plaira, et y Rester 
 paisible : il est done en Joint et ordonne atoutes personnes quelconcjues de ne 
 point Injuner, ou Reprocher La Mnindre Chose, au Susdt Sr Alexis Cuilleries 
 au sujet de la fause et Malicieuze accusation intent^ Contre Luy tous 
 Ceux qui Contreviendront a lordre Cy dessus en Repondront a leur 
 Risque et peril. 
 
 Donne au Detroit le 4, Juin 1769 
 
 Pour Copie. Sign6 GEO: Turnbull." 
 
Chap. VII.; MAJOR CAMPBELL VISIIS PONTIAC 
 
 12i 
 
 tastic and foppish person, vvhoni the chief used as 
 a tool.' The tradition, it appears, did him injustice. 
 The settlers were generally on good terms with the 
 chiefs, and in some instances they were no doubt 
 unjustly suspected of plotting with Pontiac. (iiad- 
 win reported that several, whose characters always 
 stood well in Detroit, were at the bottom of the 
 plot, and guilty of the worst treachery ; and Sir 
 William Johnson, and Lord Shelburne, more than 
 once repeated the charge,' and some were very earn- 
 est for their punishment. Our own writers, best 
 informed, have not been satisfied of their miscon- 
 duct. And until the final cession of the country 
 in 1 763, it is difficult to see any reason why they 
 should have been active for the English. 
 
 At first Gladwin did not believe the outbreak 
 was very serious ; and even after the Indians had 
 attacked the fort, and been driven off with con- 
 siderable loss, he attempted to negotiate. Messrs. 
 Chapoton and Godfroy were sent with an inter- 
 preter, La Butte, to parley with Pontiac. He com- 
 pletely deceived them into supposing he was dis- 
 posed to treat ; and desired that Major Campbell, 
 who was (jladwin's predecessor, and esteemed by 
 French and Indians for his probity and fairness, 
 should come to his camp. This officer, against 
 Gladwin's misgivings,^ desired to go, and was ac- 
 
 « Conspiracy of Pontiac, p. 224. » 7 N. Y. Doc, 600, 687. 
 
 3 Ciladwin's conduct in permitting their departure was approved, as ne- 
 cessary to enable him to get provisions for the fort — as he gained this advan- 
 tage by temporising — 7 iV. Y. Doc, 617. 
 
128 McDOUGALL ESCAPES, CAMPBELL KILLED. [Chap. VIL 
 
 companied by Lieutenant George McDougall, of his 
 regiment. They went up to Pontiac's camp, at 
 Bloody Run, where an angry mob set upon them, 
 and if the chief had not interfered they would have 
 been killed. He retained them as prisoners, and, 
 instead of negotiating, immediately made prepara- 
 tions to cut off any reinforcements which might 
 come from below. He took Major Campbell with 
 the canoes down the river. They intercepted the 
 despatch schooner at the entrance of Lake Erie, 
 and in making their attack on it placed the officer 
 in the bow of a canoe as a screen between them 
 and the vessel, to prevent her firing on them. 
 The veteran called to the crew to do their duty 
 without .v:;gard to him ; but a fresh wind carried 
 her beyond pursuit, and she reached Niagara 
 River in safety. Pontiac desired to make terms 
 with the fort by using him as a hostage, but 
 without effect. After the original treachery was 
 discovered, McDougall, with a trader named Van 
 Eps,' escaped. His older companion would not 
 attempt it, being short-sighted, and fearing to im- 
 pede his comrade. He was afterwards murdered 
 by Wasson, a chief of the Chippewas. Pontiac was 
 not a party to this crime, and regretted it. 
 . The first force sent to aid the beleaguered 
 town, under Lieutenant Cuyler, was intercepted 
 
 > 7 N. V. Doc , 533. McDougall remained in Detroit. His two sons. 
 Colonel George McDougall and Colonel John R McDougall were promin- 
 ent citizens Corty years ago. The latter was grandfather of Mr. Alexander 
 M. Canipau of Detroit. He owned the farm west of Miloches, near Bloody 
 Run. 
 
Chap. VII. J MASSACRE OF BI.OODV RUN 
 
 129 
 
 at Pointe Pelee, and turned back.' In July, Cap- 
 tain Dalzell, an aid of Sir Jeffery Amherst, arrived 
 with suppHes, and with 280 men. inchidinj.^, in 
 addition to detachments from the 55th and 80th 
 regiments, twenty rangers, all under the command 
 of Major Robert Rogers. A heavy fog favored 
 their landing. Dalzell on his arrival foolishly in- 
 sisted on making a night march, and attacking 
 the Indians in their camp. The secret leaked out. 
 and Pontiac was advised of the plan. At two 
 o'clock in the morning of July ^i, 1763, 250 men 
 marched out of the fort and up the River Road, 
 protected in part on the river by two large boats 
 with swivels. Two miles above the fort the road 
 crossed a bridge at the mouth of a stream then 
 known as Parent's Creek, but since as Bloody 
 Run. The banks formed a ravine, through which 
 the stream ran rapidly until it neared the Detroit 
 River, when it spread out into a little mere, or 
 marsh-bordered pond, narrowing at the bridge to 
 about twenty feet, and being there quite deep. 
 As soon as the troops reached the bridge they were 
 assailed by a murderous fire, and the ravine became 
 a scene of carnage. The darkness bewildered 
 them, and they were compelled to retreat, fighting 
 against ambuscades all the way, until tliey reached 
 the fort again at eight o'clock, after six hours of 
 marching and fighting in that short road. Dalzell' 
 
 » 7 N. Y. Doc, 526. 
 
 a This officer's name is written Dalyell in many documents, and Dr. 
 O'Callaghan takes Parkman to task for writing it Dalzell. The latter form is 
 
 9 
 
180 SIEGE RAISED. [Chai". VII. 
 
 was killed while gallantly striving to save a wounded 
 sergeant. 
 
 The battle of Bloody Run, though fought by a 
 small force, was important in its results, and was 
 a remarkable instance of a continuous hand to hand 
 fight with Indians. The scene has now entirely 
 changed. The stream has disappeared, and no 
 relic is left but a huge tree riddled with bullets, 
 which has not yet been sacrificed to city improve- 
 ments. 
 
 The siege went on with various noteworthy 
 episodes, which have been described by able 
 writers, and which are too long in recital for this 
 sketch. In October, the besiegers began to dis- 
 appear ;• and Pontiac retired to the Maumee coun- 
 try, when he found the final treaty of peace was 
 signed between France and England, and that no 
 help could henceforth come from the French in 
 Canada. But he still cherished some plans of 
 mischief. The next year [1764] Bradstreet came 
 with a force and relieved the worn-out garrison. 
 He held a council with the Wyandots and other 
 tribes, and made a treaty, in which, by the fraud 
 or incapacity of the interpreters, they were made 
 to acknowledge an abject subjection to the Eng- 
 
 also found, and is the original family name, sometimes also called Dalziel. 
 In tlje days of the covenanters, one of their most savage foes was. General 
 Dalziel or Dalzell, a veteran who vowed never to shave his heard after the 
 execution of Charles I., and who was as merciless as Claverhome. Mrs. 
 Grant, of Laggan, who knew him, calls the officer who was killed at Detroit 
 D.ilzicl, and says he was related to the Da'ziels of Carnwatli. — Memoir of an 
 Ameiican Lady, CIt. 51. 
 
 ' 7 N. Y. Doc, 589, et seq. 
 
Chap Vlt.] WANt OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 131 
 
 lish, which they never dreamed of. Bradstreet 
 was a very unwise and arrogant negotiator, and 
 his conduct was not regarded with approval. Sir 
 William Johnson censured it severely in his Re- 
 ports, as calculated to offend the tribes. By this 
 treaty the land was ceded from Detroit to Lake St, 
 Clair.' 
 
 The importance of Detroit was now fully recog- 
 nized, and it was made the central point for all the 
 western interests. The want of some sort of gov- 
 ernment was felt, and representations were re- 
 peatedly made by Johnson, Bradstreet, Croghan, 
 Governor Moore, Golden, and all interested in 
 American affairs. Dr. Franklin was also active in 
 England in laboring with the Board of Trade to 
 
 1 7 N. V. Doc, 649, 650. 674, 678. No one can calculate how much of 
 the trouble between whites and Indians has conic from the ignorance and ras- 
 cality of interpreters. If there is no one that can detect their errors, they 
 can and will make up such stories and give such versions as tliey choose, 
 without regard to accuracy, and represent each side to the other as saying 
 what is really colored or made up by the ]ierson whom each is obliged to re- 
 ly on. The French missionaries and the officers long in the country were 
 familiar with Indian language;", and wei c seldom il ever imposed on. Hut the 
 sounds of the Indian languages cannot well be expressed by English forms, 
 and the English negotiators, and most of the Americans, have been com- 
 pelled to trust almost iniiilicitly to iheir interpreters. Some of these, like 
 Joncaire, La lititle, llenry Connor and Whiimore I'Jnaggs, were men ol char- 
 acter and reliable. Hut many have been dishonest and ignorant. An in- 
 terpreter will seldom admit that he does not cotnpiehend any phrase that is 
 used, and will always report something as dictated to him, whether truly or 
 falsely. These men, too, are very apt to soften down or leave out phrases 
 and charges that i are ofiensive, and put civil speeches in their place. It is 
 evident this was done by Hradstrcet's interpreter. Sir William Johnson, to 
 illustrate the danger of relying on such persons, tells an anecdote ol an oc- 
 currence in his presence where when an English missionary gave out as his 
 text that there was no respect of persons with (lod, the interpreter reniltred 
 it that (iod did not tare lor the Indians; and Sir William had to intervene 
 and iraimlate the sermon himself. 7 N. V. i)oc.,970. 
 
132 ROYAL PROCLAMATION. [Chap. VU. 
 
 establish governments there and elsewhere in the 
 west, but without success.' 
 
 As soon as the Treaty of Paris had been rati- 
 fied, the King of Great Britain issued a proclama- 
 tion for the government of the various French 
 possessions acquired by it. So much of Canada 
 as constitutes what was afterwards known as Lower 
 Canada, he established as the Government of 
 Quebec, to be governed in the first instance by a 
 governor and council, who were to establish courts 
 and tribunals to decide all cases as nearly as possi- 
 ble according to the laws of England, with an ap- 
 peal in civil causes to the Privy Council. When 
 circumstances should permit, an assembly was to 
 be called. Lord Mansfield was very indignant at 
 this action, as revolutionizing the whole laws of the 
 Province," and introducing a system unknown to the 
 people. Afterwards, in Campbell v. Hall, {Cotoper, 
 20^,) after four successive arguments, he decided 
 that, although the old civil and criminal laws remain 
 until changed, yet the King, until Parliament should 
 intervene, had absolute legislative authority over 
 concjuered countries ; but that by this proclamation 
 the sovereign liad exhausted his powers, and could 
 not legislate further. This last proposition is doubt- 
 ful law, but it was followed immediately by the pass- 
 ing by Parliament, (whose power was beyond 
 cavil) of the Quebec Act, to be noticed hereafter. 
 
 'I'he country west of I^ower Canada, not ceded 
 by the Indians, was by this proclamation to be 
 
 « See N. V. Does., and Mills' Report, passim. » Mills, p. 190. 
 
Chap VII.] 
 
 MILITARY RULE. 133 
 
 left unmolested for their hunting grounds, and no 
 purcha.ses were to be made from them except by 
 pubHc treaty for the Crown. Trade was to be 
 open and free to all who desired licenses, under 
 such regulations as might be established. 
 
 Provision was made for arresting and returning 
 all fugitives from justice to the colonies whence 
 they fled. There was to be no law or govern- 
 ment west of Quebec, except under military con- 
 trol. 
 
 As several cases had been decided in the 
 English courts against even governors of colonies, 
 who had overstepped the laws to the prejudice of 
 citizens, the officers sent to Detroit before the 
 Quebec Act had a wholesome fear of prosecution, 
 and were generally very careful to keep within safe 
 bounds. The case of (iovernor Eyre, {L. R. 6 Q. 
 H. I. Pliillips v. Eyr{\) who was sued for his course 
 in the Jamaica troubles of i(S65, and exonerated by 
 a statute of indemnity, is the most recent attempt to 
 enforce such liabilities. 
 
 It is not generally understood by our people 
 that, after the war with Mexico, the Territory of 
 New Mexico remained under military government 
 until the territorial government was established 
 by the Compromise Acts of 1S50; nnd that it had 
 a whole systtMii of revised statutes, known as tb.e 
 " Kearney Code,'' which were passed by no legis- 
 lature, and obtained their only sanction from tlu; 
 general commanding that country. Th(! liritish 
 Parliament, at the time of the Treaty of Paris, 
 
134 
 
 MILITARY RULE. [ChapVIL 
 
 was not much disposed to spend time in fostering 
 colonial interests, and royal colonies had not then 
 been more misgoverned than others. The Ameri- 
 can Congress, after the treaty with Mexico, could 
 not agree upon the territorial schemes before it. 
 As some government was needed, the military 
 rule, for the time being, was unavoidable, and 
 General Kearney adopted a system which was in 
 effect civil. But Detroit, before 1775, was not 
 governed by any system whatever, and the com- 
 manding general and his subordinates could do 
 as they chose. Their course was generally mod- 
 erate and reasonable ; and although the inhabit- 
 ants grumbled at the burdens laid upon them to 
 keep up the fortifications, there were no extor- 
 tions or peculations for private or doubtful pur- 
 poses, as there were in many posts under the 
 French control. Most of the British commanders 
 were honest and reputable men, and obtained 
 respect and good will from the people in their 
 charge. 
 
 Bradstreet, with whatever deficiencies he may 
 be charged, had sense enough to discover that 
 Detroit was a point of much political as well as 
 military importance, and needed some civil gov- 
 ernment. His desire was that English settlers 
 might be encouraged to come in, and that, whether 
 held under civil or military control, there should 
 be courts of justice established.' 
 
 
 > He wrote as follows : " All posts upon the banks of the lakes, from 
 Niagara upwards, to be under the control of the officer commanding at De- 
 
Chap. Vll.] OPPOSITION TO SETTLEMENT 135 
 
 But the idea, made prominent, that these were 
 important for the advantage and protection of In- 
 dian dealings, and that Indians would resort to 
 them, was not very practicable." Their necessity 
 for the whites was more apparent. The importance 
 of introducing more settlers was continually urged 
 by the well-wishers of the Province. But the 
 trade interests of Great Britain were as much op- 
 posed to encouraging American settlements as 
 any of the French intriguers had been, and the 
 future was not very promising.^ 
 
 The distant officials were very vindictive against 
 the French settlers, and if their sentiments had pre- 
 vailed there would have been trouble at Detroit.^ 
 But the gentlemen who were on the spot had 
 more wisdom than to create disgust among the 
 people with whom they were placed in intimate 
 and friendly relations, and who, when they found 
 their allegiance irrevocably transferred, demeaned 
 themselves quietly and amicably. Care was taken, 
 
 troit ; and should Government judge it improper to establish a civil govern- 
 ment there, and not encourage the coljny, still some court ot' justice is neces- 
 sary, to the end ofl>nders, inhabitants, Indians, Indian traders and others, 
 might be brought to justice, and punished by a law that might prevent liti- 
 gious suits, and satisfy the savages that the strictest ju>tice is done them. — 
 7 N. Y. Doc, 69t. 
 
 « 7 N. V. Doc, 641, 663, 668, 691. 
 
 » "The colony of Detroit grows fast, and the inhabitants have great influ- 
 ence over the savages ; the removing them would occasion a general war 
 with the Indians, and to leave them as they now are will take a great length 
 of time before they become proper English subjects." This hint is followed 
 by urging the introduction of British colonists — 7 N. V. Doc, 693 
 
 3 7 N. V. Doc, 579, 
 
136 
 
 SCOTTISH OFFICERS AND MERCHANTS. [Chap. VH. 
 
 however, to appoint British agents in lieu of French, 
 over Indian affairs, and in the trade matters. 
 Lieutenant John Hay, (afterwards- Colonel and 
 Lieutenant (jovernor,) was one of the first ap- 
 pointed ; and when Pontiac afterwards came in 
 and treated with the British, he specially requested 
 that Hay and Crawford should be retained in the 
 agency. 
 
 The .Scottish officers and merchants became 
 favorites with the Indians, for reasons similar to 
 those which attached the tribes to the French. 
 Many gentlemen of good family, but narrow 
 means, came to America from the highlands and 
 west of Scotland, where the old feudal relations 
 had produced a habit of courtesy and kindness to 
 inferiors, and a disregard of any claims of wealth 
 alone to superior social consideration. These 
 persons, although sometimes high-tempered and 
 pimctilious, were much more careful to avoid 
 giving offence to the Indians than some of their 
 English associates were. The subsequent history 
 of the country shows them to have had more 
 intimate relations with the French also. And when 
 the Americans succeeded to the possession of this 
 region, the .Scottish merchants far outnumbered 
 all the rest, and there were found among them 
 representatives, and subsequent inheritors, of the 
 best houses in .Scotland.' 
 
 ' AiiRus Mackintosh, of Detroit, iniierited the estates which l>elonged 
 to the old earldom ol' Moy, the earldom itself having been forfeited in the 
 rebellion against the Honse of Hanover. Heing entailed upon heirs male 
 general, and the direct line failing, it was found that Angus Mackintosh 
 
Chap. VII.] COURTS OF INQUIRY. 
 
 137 
 
 Bradstreet, while at Detroit, made military 
 appointments in the militia, and held courts for 
 the trial of persons who had favored Pontiac and 
 adhered to him during- the war. There were 
 probably no capital sentences, but such as were 
 convicted were banished. This was perhaps the 
 time when Cuillerier was condemned. 
 
 The courts, so far as we find any trace 
 of their proceedings, were called courts of inquiry, 
 and there is some reason for supposing they 
 were made up in occasional instances, if not gen- 
 erally, of a jury, instead of being confined to 
 military officers. There are some references 
 which indicate the use of a mixed jury of French 
 and English, after the fashion of the jury dc 
 mcdictatc linguae, formerly used for controversies 
 with aliens. Sir William Johnson refers to the 
 conviction of a trader by court of inquiry, for 
 using false weights, and it appears that he set 
 the Commander at defiance, and threatened him 
 with legal prosecution.' It was such occurrences, 
 and the uncertainty how far an officer could 
 safely go in punishing civil offenders, which led 
 to strong appeals from Johnson, and Governor 
 Moore, for some tribunals for dealing with crim- 
 inals in the countr)' outside of the Quebec Gov- 
 ernment. The eastern colonies, acting on the 
 principles of the common law, could punish no 
 
 and Sir James Mackintosh were tlie two nearest of kin, the former being 
 one degree nearer tlian the latter. A claimant was also found for the 
 estates of Annandale, but unsuccessfully. 
 
 ' 7 N. V. Doc, 895. 
 
19% SETTLEMENTS HINDERED. [Chap. Vll. 
 
 offenders outside of their own borders, and mili- 
 tary law was very distasteful to English courts 
 and people.' There was much lawlessness among 
 the roving adventurers outside of the posts,' and 
 especially about Mackinaw, which was for some 
 time after the massacre left without commander 
 or garrison. It was not restored till 1764 or 1765. 
 The Lords of Trade opposed any extension 
 of setdements, on the notion that the settlers 
 would become manufacturers, and the English 
 tradesmen would lose their market. The public 
 men who favored settlements, instead of exposing 
 the folly of using colonists as inferiors and con- 
 tributors of all their energies to serve the greedy 
 demands of home-abiding Englishmen, met the 
 arrogant claims by urging that new settlers would 
 enlarge instead of narrowing the market, and 
 could not furnish their own domestic articles. 
 The spirit that drove America into revolution was 
 manifest in the whole correspondence of the govern- 
 ment agents. Unfortunately there was an interest 
 in this country opposed to civilization. The fur 
 trade was still a power, and anything which drove 
 out the wild beasts and opened the land to cul- 
 ture was in the way of this powerful ministry of 
 barbarism. The early associated fur traders were 
 the worst enemies to improvement which this 
 region ever encountered; and in the sequel they 
 very nearly succeeded in changing our political 
 destiny. But the natural disposition of British 
 
 I 7 N. V. Doc, 877, 895. » 7 N. Y. Doc, 871-2. 
 
Cha». vn.] LANDS SOUGHT FOR. 139 
 
 and Americans to seek their fortunes in new 
 countries was not to be repressed. Although not 
 numerous, settlers came in by degrees as soon 
 as the end of hostilities made it safe ; and in 
 1767, and probably sooner, there were found in 
 Detroit persons of British birth and descent 
 whose families and descendants are well known 
 there. From the beginning of the occupation the 
 Commandants were beset with applications for 
 lands, and they were compelled to give per- 
 mission to occupy, although they could do no 
 more. It had been customary for the French 
 Commandants, with or without the ratification of 
 the Governor or commanding general, to dispose 
 of lots of land within the fort and adjacent 
 domain, although Mr. Navarre, in 1767, stated 
 that the power did not exist in the domain." 
 But grants of land for farming purposes were 
 within the control of the authorities at Quebec, 
 and the action of the Commandant at Detroit 
 was nugatory unless confirmed. The Indian title 
 had not been given up, except east of the fort 
 to Lake St. Clair, and a trifling distance west. 
 The Royal Proclamation distinctly forbade private 
 Indian purchases. 
 
 In 1765, when Colonel John Campbell was in 
 command, George Croghan held a council at 
 Detroit, where eighteen Indian tribes were repre- 
 sented, and was more fortunate than Bradstreet 
 in getting their confidence. Croghan was the 
 
 » I JSt. Papers. * 
 
140 
 
 INDIAN CONCKSSIONS (Chap. VII. 
 
 ablest British accent that ever dealt with the 
 Indians in the Northwest. On this occasion he 
 pcrsuatled Pontiac to enter into friendly relations 
 with the British, and the errant to Dr. Anthon 
 previously mentioned, made at this council, was 
 probably the first Indian g-rant made in this retjion 
 to any one.' It was not jrood within the letter 
 of the Kint^'s proclamation, but such grants made 
 in treaties have generally been respected, and 
 while this was by separate deed, it was very 
 likely one of the means whereby the chief was 
 conciliated. The suggestions he made to appoint 
 as agents persons in whom he had confidence, 
 were deemed worthy of consideration by Sir 
 William Johnson, and it would have been a very 
 cheap privilege to allow him to give away his 
 own lands to a British officer and surgeon, who 
 had earned his gratitude. There were, however, 
 many dealings with the Indians for private grants, 
 which were connived at or openly favored by later 
 Commandants, without any color of right. 
 
 It appears incidentally that the inhabitants of 
 Detroit had been regularly taxed to keep up the 
 fortifications. In 1 765, when Colonel Campbell 
 was expecting to leave, a remonstrance was sent 
 to him against these taxes as oppressive. The 
 burden, however, does not seem to have been a 
 new one. Not long after, a subscription was 
 made by the traders and others, to put the fort 
 
 ' At the same time, or within a few days, I'ontiac made several 
 other grants in the same vicinity, all four arpents hy eighty. 
 
Chah. VII. I EARLIEST JUDICIAL COMMISSION. 
 
 141 
 
 and stockade in complete order. In 1766. a 
 receipt is found for three pounds Yori< currency. 
 on a farm outside the tort, levied by Colonel 
 Campbell for lodging troop.s.' 
 
 In 1765, Philip Le Grand appears to have been 
 acting as justice of the peace, and notary, proba- 
 bly appointed by Hradstreet. He seems to have 
 held the office for several years. In 1776, he 
 acted in a matter where Philip Uejean was inter- 
 ested. He could not have done much except 
 when the latter could not act, and there are 
 some indications that Dejean was expected b\' 
 General Gage to practically supersede i^e (irand. 
 The common law powers of a justice did not 
 extend to the trial of causes, but only to the 
 examination and committal of offenders. 
 
 In 1 767, we find the first steps taken to pro- 
 vide for the administration of justice. On the 
 24th day of .April, 1 767, Captain Cieorge Turnbull, 
 of the 60th or Royal .American Regiment, Com- 
 mandant of Detroit and its Dependencies; issued 
 a commission to Philip Dejean, merchant in 
 Detroit, of a somewhat peculiar and comjirehen- 
 sive character, which ran as follows : 
 
 "I do hereby nominate and aj^point )ou Jus- 
 tice of the Peace, to Incjuire into all complaints 
 that shall come before you, for which purpose 
 you are hereby authorised to examine by oath 
 such Evidences as shall be necessary that the 
 Truth of the matter may be better known; Pro- 
 
 ' Wayne Records. 
 
142 SECOND JUDICIAL COMMISSION. fCHAr. VII. 
 
 vided always that you give no Judgement or final 
 award b"t at their joint Request, and which by 
 bond they bind themselves to abide by, but 
 settle the Determination of the matter by Arbi- 
 tration, which they are likewise to give their 
 bond to abide by, one or two persons to be 
 chosen by each ; and if they cannot agree and 
 have named Two only you name a third, and if 
 Four, a fifth, and their Determination or award 
 to be approved by me before put in Execution. 
 I further authorise and Impower you to act as 
 chief and sole Notary and Tabellion, by drawing 
 all wills Deeds &c, proper for that Department, 
 the same to be done in English only, and I also 
 appoint you sole Vendue Master for such sales 
 as may happen here, in the usuaj and accustomed 
 manner. Given under my hand and seal at 
 Detroit this 24th day of April 1767." (signed) 
 Geo. Turnbull. 
 
 On the 28th day of July, 1 767, Robert Bayard, 
 major commanding, gave him a further commission, 
 as follows : 
 
 "Whereas it has been represented to me by 
 the Trading People and others reciding at Detroit 
 that some Tempery form of justice for the recovery 
 of Debts &ca, was become absolutely necessary, 
 and having taken this matter into consideration, 
 and finding the utility of such an Establishment, 
 I have accordingly granted them a Tempery Court 
 of Justice to be held twice in every month at 
 Detroit, to Decide all actions of Debts, Bonds, 
 
CBAf. VII] JUDGE DEJEAN INVESTIGATED, 143 
 
 Bills, Contracts and Trespasses, above the sum 
 of Five Pounds' New York Currency, and 
 confidinjT in Philip Dejean for his uprightness 
 and Integrity, 1 do hereby nominate and appoint 
 him the second Judj^e of the said Court of Justice 
 at Detroit. Given under my hand and seal at 
 Detroit, the 28th day of July 1767. "(Siorned) 
 "Rob^ Bayard, Major Comm> at Detroit. To Philip 
 Dejean Esq'''-'' 
 
 The firct judtje was doubtless the Commandant, 
 who always retained control of affairs. 
 
 Major Bayard at the same time established a 
 fee-bill, approved by a committee of citizens. Mr. 
 Dejean, of whom we shall hear further, was a 
 merchant who had been unfortunate in his busi- 
 ness. Within the next year he seems to have 
 given occasion for complaints — apparently for 
 extortion. But for some reasons not appannit — 
 (although from his after life it may be assumed 
 it was a peculiar influence at head-quarters) no 
 one dared to come out openly and oppose him. 
 On the 28th of May, 1 763, at Dejean's request. 
 Captain Turnbull called a court of inquiry, "in 
 consequence of complaints made against him." 
 who reported that they, "having I3uely heard and 
 carefully examined into the Grievances set forth 
 by the said Philip Dejean Elsq"^^- are of opinion 
 First, That the Fees established by the Committee 
 appointed by Major Robert Bayard on the estab- 
 lishment of the Court of Justice at Detroit are 
 
 ■ 
 
 « Twelve dollars and a half. 
 
144 
 
 DEJKAN APPROVED. [Chap. VII. 
 
 just and reasonable and ought not to be less. 
 Secondly, That evry Prisoner contin'd in the 
 Guard House, whether for Debt or Misdemeanor, 
 shall on his being sett at Liberty, i>ay One Dol- 
 lar, and evry Batteau or Canoe arriveing here 
 loaded with Merchandize belonging to any Person 
 or Persons not possessing in Property any Lot 
 or Building within this Port, shall pay Two 
 Dollars, and the monies ariseing from thence to 
 be aply'd as in the time of the French Govern- 
 ment to keep in Good and sufficient Repairs the 
 Fortifications around the Town, as will more 
 fully appear in our former Petition to Capt" Turn- 
 bull for that Purpose. Thirdly, No Person 
 having appear'd before us to make any Com- 
 plaints against said Philip Dejean with respect to 
 his publick office, we are of opinion that they 
 were ill-founded and without cause." This is 
 signed by "jfames Sterlino, Colin Andrnvs, T. 
 Williams, Will'" Julj^ar, John Kobison, liustixchc 
 Gamclin, P. St. Cosine. J. Cabacicr, Cicotc, 7\ 
 Mollciw A. Barihc. 
 
 It would seem that some movement was on 
 foot to remove Dejean, as on the 26th of May 
 a very brief certificate, whereby the signers "do 
 vot(; for and unanimously approve of Philip 
 Dejean to be judge and Justice of the District 
 of Detroit and its Dependencies" was signed 
 by thirty-three; persons, of whom five were 
 French, and the rest English, .Scotch and Dutch. 
 On the 13th of June, 176S, a petition in P'rench 
 
Chap. VII. 1 MISCONDUCT OK ROGERS. 
 
 145 
 
 was drawn up addressed to (ieneral (iaoe. and 
 signed by twenty-five sipi^ners, to the same effect, 
 the principal reason L,nven ioeiny; that Dejean 
 " understands both Kn^dish and French, and is 
 therefore much I>etter able to decide the difficul- 
 ties which may arise between the ancient and 
 new subjects of His Britannic Majesty." (ieneral 
 Gage dill not disturb the appointment.' 
 
 About this time a court of incjuiry was held 
 to pass upon Bellestre's title to several lots in 
 Detroit, and he appeared before them and estab- 
 lished his claims.' 
 
 Meanwhile Mackinaw had been re-established. 
 In 1766 complaints were made that affairs were 
 not going on properly there. The next year 
 evidence was obtained that Robert Rogers, who 
 was sent there in 1765, was intriguing by lavish 
 presents and otherwise to get intluence with the 
 Indians, for the ultimate purpose, as was then 
 supposed, of getting a separate colony or other 
 establishment for his own emolument. He ob- 
 tained the means b)- drawing large drafts which 
 were not honored, and becaine involved very 
 heavily, and comjoletely demoralized the savages. 
 He was afterwards chargetl with having meditatetl 
 surrendt;ring Mackinaw to the French or .Spani- 
 ards, and was taken down to Montreal imder 
 arrest, and as some say in irons, and tried by 
 court martial. He could not have be(m convicted 
 
 > W.iync Kccorils, A , 35. 3 id., i!., ,2^. 
 
 10 
 
146 SUBSEQUKNT CAREF.R OF ROGERS. FChap. VII. 
 
 of treason, for he was soon afterwards at larcre, 
 and went to Algiers and entered the service of 
 the Dey. 
 
 The narrative of his doinjjs at Mackinaw, as 
 given by the depositions which led to his arrest, 
 shows that he must have had some designs 
 inconsistent with honesty as well as loyalty, but 
 it is difficult to say just what they were. A letter 
 was intercepted from Colonel Hopkins, (who 
 appears to have been well acquainted in Detroit, 
 but through some discontent or other cause to 
 have entered the French service,) urging Rogers, 
 in a vague way, to gain over the Indians, and 
 offering to use influence, if he should desire it, to 
 get him employment from France. But the 
 writer was evidently desirous of having the 
 American colonies independent, and urges Rogers 
 to strive for that ultimate end.' Tiie letter is 
 one of the earliest writings looking towards 
 American independence. Rogers was unquestion- 
 ably a dishonest and selfish adventurer, who was 
 inordinately ambitious and unscrupulous, and his 
 course gave much un(;asiness to the British 
 authorities. It is not likely he determined his 
 course by any standard but his own profit or 
 advancement. When the Revolution opened he 
 played a double part, professing patriotism ; but 
 as the Americans had no faith in him he joined 
 the British and obtained a colonel's commission, 
 
 J 7 N. V. Doc, 988, 993. 8 N. V. Doc, 36 
 
Chap. VII. J MINES ON LAKE SUPERIOR. 
 
 147 
 
 but never distinguished himself, and passed into 
 utter obscurity.' 
 
 The British Ministry, in March, 1 768, wrote 
 very strongly to Sir William Johnson in regard 
 to both Rogers and Chabert de Joncaire, as dan- 
 gerous and treacherous men, whose conduct 
 revealed the necessity of " the utmost circumspec- 
 tion and attention of His Majesty's servants in 
 America, as in the present state of some men's 
 dispositions in that country, when one corres- 
 pondence of that dangerous tendency is discovered, 
 there is reason to apprehend there may be more 
 of the same kind."' 
 
 The recent cession to Spain of the French 
 possessions on the Mississippi very naturally sug- 
 gested the danger of dealings by the discontented 
 colonists with Spain. The idea of any independ- 
 ent resistance was not at that time familiar in 
 England. 
 
 The Lake Superior country at this time 
 assumed a temporary importance. Alexander 
 Henry, on his second journey, examined the 
 mineral country, which had been known long 
 before to the French, though not worked. In 
 1768, Hillsboro' informed .Sir William Johnson 
 
 ' He raisc'l a corps of American Tories called the Queen's Kanpers, 
 and after he went to Kimland (about 1777) he was succeeded in its com- 
 mand by Simcoe, who was afterwards (lovernor of I'pper Canada, and 
 bitterly hostile to the United States. — Sec Cami/J/'s SiltUnuiit oj Upptr 
 Ctinaiia, /. 71. 
 
 ■' Hillsboro' to Sir \V. Johnson, 8 N. Y Doc , 36. 
 
148 MINING ON LAKE SUI'EKIOK. [Chap. VII. 
 
 that an application liad been made for a t^^rant 
 of all the lands within 60 miles of Lake Superior, 
 and desired him to report on the' subject.' His 
 report has not, it is believed, been published, but 
 Henry seems to have gone on his second expe- 
 dition to explore for copper, and was probal)ly in 
 the scheme. He visited the east shore of the 
 lake, and examined Michipicoten and Caribou 
 Islands. At Point lro(|uois, on his return, his 
 companion, Mr. Norburg, of die 60th Regiment, 
 found a semi-transparent blueish stone of eight 
 pounds weight, which, on assay, produced sixty 
 per cent, of silver. It was deposited in the 
 British Museum. ;\ mining company, consisting 
 of several noblemen and other prominent men, 
 including .Sir William Johnson and Alexander 
 Henry, openeil a mine on the Ontonagon River, 
 and did some work ; but the inconvenience of 
 access and other difficulties led to its abandon- 
 ment. The great copper boulder' which Henry 
 had visited in i ;66, and from which he had cut 
 with an axe a piece weighing 100 pounds, was 
 the attraction which led to the enterprise. It 
 was an object of superstition among the Indians, 
 who never disturbed articles left on it. 
 
 « 8 N. V. [)oc., 02. 
 
 a Thi.s waj; ahuiil ihirly years ago taken to WashiiiRton by Julius 
 Eldred, ol Dt-tioit, and it is now in the possession ol the (Jovernment. 
 Several masses much larger have since been taken from the mines, but 
 this is the largest mass ever lonnd as a l)0ukler at a distance Irom any 
 mining ground. 
 
Chap. VII. 1 CONDITION OF THE SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 149 
 
 As no such grant was ever set up afterwards, 
 and as the Indian title was not extinguished till 
 within the last forty years, it is probable nothing 
 was obtained beyond a license. The ideas of 
 these early speculators were not limited by mod- 
 erate bounds. The first attempt to get access 
 to the mines in our day was in 1822, when a 
 company of persons in New jersey sought to get 
 a grant of 40.000 acres of the same lands, to be 
 selected in parcels and not in one tract, at a 
 rent to be fixed at that time.' The proposition 
 was not accepted. 
 
 The Mackinaw settlement was long without 
 any great importance. The post had become less 
 valuable than in the days of the I^Vench. At 
 Detroit, although some of the people had gone 
 westward, there was a stead) but slow increase, 
 and the inventorit^s of estates show that domestic 
 animals w(!re abundant. By confounding the 
 estimates o* the people within the fort with those 
 of the set lenient, some; confusion and apparent 
 contradictions have arisen. The settlement, as 
 early as 1774, extended on both sides of the 
 river, for several miles above and a few miles 
 below th(; fort. Although no intlian land grants 
 were lawful, yet as before niention(;d, several were 
 connived at. The- Potawatamic; village and 
 cemetery, then below, but now within Detroit, 
 were conveyed by that tribe to Robert Navarn; 
 the younger, and Isidore Chene, on the charge 
 
 ■ 4 St. I'apeis, I'uli. I. anils, ^41. 
 
150 
 
 AFFAIRS AT DETROIT. [Chap, VII. 
 
 that the several grantee.s should dwell there and 
 care for the dead. The Navarre sale was approved 
 by Major Bassett, in 1772. That to Chene was 
 sanctioned by Lieutenant Governors Hamilton (in 
 1776), and Sinclair (in 1781.)' In 1774, Major Bas- 
 sett, on the complaint of the inhabitants that their 
 lands were encroached upon, appointed James 
 Sterlintr to survey them, and directed that his sur- 
 veys should be conclusive. The people, since the 
 Pontiac war, had not been disturbed, and many who 
 had before lived in the fort were now dwelling on 
 their estates. 
 
 The King's Receiver collected the same dues 
 which had before accrued to the French Govern- 
 ment for annual rents and fines of alienation. 
 Captain Turnbull in one case (and very likely in 
 others) commuted the dues of a farm four arpents 
 wide for "iv'.r s/ay loads of icood, French measure." 
 The traineau, drawn by one pony, usually held 
 about one-third of a cord, so that this made about 
 two cords, in lieu of one bushel of wheat, and four 
 livres, two sols, cash or peltries.^ 
 
 The commission dc orand voyer (road commis- 
 sioners) had charge of roads and bridges, and 
 apportioned the taxes for their support. Where a 
 bridge was a private charge, it was allowed to re- 
 lieve the owner from other bridge taxes to the 
 amount of its expenses.^ 
 
 In spite of their increasing prosperity, the British 
 refused to give the people any government. 
 
 « Wayne Records, A., 256-7, » id., Ii6. 3 Id., 158. 
 
Chap. VII.J OPPOSITION TO COLONIES. 
 
 151 
 
 Although Johnson and Shelburne, as well as others, 
 had urged It, and the two Franklins were unwearied 
 in their efforts, the Board of Trade settled down 
 upon the selfish course which was so soon to arouse 
 resistance in all the English-speaking colonies. 
 Their whole policy was "to prevent manufactures,"' 
 This they thought " would not be promoted by these 
 new colonies, which being proposed to be estab- 
 lished, at the distance of above fifteen hundred miles 
 from the sea, and upon places which, upon the 
 fullest evidence, are found to be utterly inaccessible 
 to shipping, will, from their inability to find returns 
 wherewith to pay for the manufactures of Great 
 Britain, be probably led to manufacture for them- 
 selves." They meet the argument that such colon- 
 ies will raise provisions, in this way. "The 
 present French inhabitants in the neighborhood 
 of the lakes, will, in our humble opinion, be suffi- 
 cient to furnish with provisions whatever posts may 
 be necessary to be continued there ; and as there 
 are also F'rench inhabitants settled in some parts of 
 the country, lying upon the Mississippi, between the 
 Rivers Illinois and the Ohio, it is to be hoped that a 
 sufficient number of these may be induced jto fix 
 their abode, where the same convenience and 
 advantage may be derived from them. * "' * 
 The settlements already existing, as above described, 
 which being formed under military establishments, 
 and ever subject to military authority, do not, in our 
 humble opinion, require any further superintendence 
 
 ' Mills, 30. -1. .-—_„;_.:,-_ ._ , 
 
152 
 
 QUEBEC ACT. [Chap. VII. 
 
 than that of the military officers commancHni^ at 
 these posts."' 
 
 The necessity of concihatin)^^ that part of the 
 Province which was well settled, and had been 
 before under laws and civil institutions, led to the 
 enactment, in 1774, of die Quebec Act, whereby, 
 ostensibly, the whole country was to be assured 
 these privileges. It was delusive everywhere, and 
 the Historian (iarneau finds a lack of words to 
 express his indignation at the course pursued under 
 it.'' By our Declaration of Independence it was 
 denounced as unfavorable to liberty. If the Detroit 
 colonists heard of it, it was but as a distant rumor 
 of somethino^ which did not affect them. No news- 
 papers then circulated in the IVovince, and the 
 Michigan colonists, perhaps, would not have seen 
 them if they had existed. Nevertheless, stirring- 
 times were approaching. 
 
 ' Mills, ^2. « ( ianieaii, passim. 
 
CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 MICHIGAN UM:)Ek HRITISH LAW. 
 
 In 1774, an act was passed by the British 
 Parliament, commonly called the Quebec Act, by 
 which the entire liritish possessions west of New 
 York, north of the Ohio, and east of the 
 Mississippi River, were incorporated into the 
 Province of Quebec, and made subject to its 
 government. The laws of Canada, as they had 
 been in force before the Conquest, were nominally 
 made the rule of decision in civil matters, and 
 the English law in criminal matters; and this has 
 been quite generally supposed to be the scope 
 and chief design of the statute. If this had been 
 so, the strong condemnation of this Act in the 
 Declaration of Independence would have been 
 exaggerated. It is there described as an act 
 " for abolishing . the free system of English laws 
 in a neighboring province, establishing therein an 
 arbitrary government, and enlarging its bounda- 
 ries, so as to render it at once an example and 
 a fit instrument for introducing the same absolute 
 rule into these colonies." 
 
 Although this statute was smuggled through 
 the House of Lortls, and urged in the Commons, 
 as an act of justice to the Canadians, it was 
 
154 QUEBEC ACT. 
 
 fCHAH. VIII. 
 
 contrived and really intended to prevent settle- 
 ments in tile colony, and discourage Englishmen 
 from going there, by depriving them of the 
 benelit of English law, both civil and criminal. 
 Hillsborough and Thurlow had combined to resist 
 all new settlements, and when Franklin had at 
 last succeeded in obtaining the consent of the 
 council to establish a colony south ot the Ohio, 
 rhurlow contrived to prevent the sealing of the 
 order.' When the Ouebec Act was sent down to 
 the House of Commons, the course of the Minis- 
 try was such as would not be tolerated in 
 modern times. Burke, Colonel Barre, Pox, and 
 many other distinguished men, opposed it bitterly. 
 But, before discussing its provisions, calls were 
 made on the (.Jovernment for information and 
 documents in the public offices, and for the 
 official opinions of the law officers of the Crown 
 on various matters laid before them. This 
 information they failed to get. The law officers 
 who were summoned before the House refused 
 to make any disclosures, on the ground that 
 their opinions belonged to His Majesty. Dr. 
 Marriott, the civilian, not only refused to make 
 disclosures of the tenor of his official reports, but 
 treated the other questions put to him in a 
 strain of impertinence not often parallelled. The 
 opposition succeeded in correcting a few defects, 
 and in procuring for the inhabitants a right to 
 make wills according to either English or French 
 law. But beyond this they had no success. 
 
 • 5 Bancroft, 47. 
 
Chap. Vm.] QUEBEC ACT 155 
 
 The statute, while estabhshing nominally the 
 Canadian and English law, as furnishing rules of 
 decision in civil and criminal cases respectively, 
 made no attempt to determine what were to be 
 deemed the old laws of Canada, although there 
 had been much dispute upon that subject. Chief 
 Justice Hay, of Canatla, who was a witness before 
 the House, admitted he knew nodiing about the 
 French law ; and when an objection was made 
 to the act that it jnit all the existing judges out 
 of office, it was answered by an assurance that 
 they would be continued. The whole legislative 
 power was put in the hands of the Governor, 
 (and in his absence the Lieutenant Governor or 
 Commander-in-Chief) and a council of not less 
 than seventeen nor more than twenty-three, all 
 appointed by the Crown, whose acts might be 
 reviewed by the King in council. All the ordin- 
 ances of the Province, whether under French or 
 British authority, were annulled. No provision 
 was made for a future assembly, except as a 
 possibility. Ordinances of the new legislative 
 board extending imprisonment beyond three 
 months were to require the Royal approval, but 
 there was no limit to the imposition of fines or 
 forfeitures. No provision was made for the 
 regulation of courts, which were left entirely at 
 the pleasure of the King, to create and regulate 
 as he chose. An attempt to introduce a right to 
 the writ of habeas corpus was opposed by the 
 Ministry, and defeated. The claim that a repre- 
 
156 gUERKC AC I. (Chap. Vltl. 
 
 sentative legislature should Im? introduced, was 
 resisteil on tli(; Li'round that there were less than 
 four hundred Hnj^lishmen in the Province, and 
 that although the French population had become 
 numerous, the idea that th(!y should have any 
 such civil rii^hts was preposterous. They w(!re 
 spok(;n of as if thc;y had no claim to be rej^arded 
 as IJritish subjects, but only as a conquered peo- 
 ple holdini^ all their jirivilej^es by favor. When 
 Lord Mansiield was attacked by Lord Camden 
 for his course in sustaining the bill, as incon- 
 sistent with his former advocacy of the ri)^hts of 
 the." Canadians, he practically recanted his old 
 assertions, and went all lencfths with Thurlow. 
 Mansfield, with all his ability as a juds^e, was no 
 friend to freedom. The House of Lords, on the 
 return of the amc;nded bill from the Commons, 
 was compelled to listen to Chatham and Camden, 
 who with sound law and manly eloquence 
 denounced the atrocious measure, and were 
 answered with nothing- better than the impudent 
 audacity ot men who cared nothint^ for colonial 
 liberty, or for any human rights beyond the four 
 seas, lu'cn Ireland was pressed into the service, 
 to show that Canada was treated in the same 
 way, and that there wo^re already places under 
 the control of the (iovernment where the writ of 
 hahcas corpus was denied. 
 
 It was soon made manifest that Canada was to 
 be governed by unmixed Royal prerogative, and 
 used to annoy the other colonies. The control of 
 
CiiAi-. VIII. 1 PEiniONS AGAINST THE (.)UKIiKC U T. 
 
 15; 
 
 Indian affairs was tak<,'n away cntirt-K from the- 
 ICnglish-speakin^j^ colonies, and cc-ntrtHl in Oiiebec. 
 Judges were appointed who had no knowledge of 
 French law, and the (iovernor and Council showed 
 no desire to supply the deficiencies of the Act. .Sir 
 Guy Carleton. afterwards Lord Dorchester, was 
 much respected, but not calculated to manage civil 
 reform. 
 
 Within a few months repeated protests and peti- 
 tions came to England from the British and Trench 
 people of the IVovince, but when they reachetl 
 official custody they wert: laid aside without notice. 
 
 When Loril Camden presented such a |)etition 
 in the House of Lortls, he was much abused for 
 doing so, and the Lortls on the (iovernment benches 
 admitted that they had receivetl and suppressed 
 such documents, and insisted he had no rii>hl to 
 introduce it. Chatham and Camden laboretl zeal- 
 ously for the repeal of the Ouebec Act, and claimed 
 that its mischief had now become palpable. Hut 
 they failed, and their bill was defeated, akvi- a hard 
 fight in both houses. It is stated that an intimation 
 was given to the petitioners, (who especially de- 
 manded an assembly and habeas corpus,) that they 
 might have what they chose if they would allow the 
 principle to be maintained that Parliament had an 
 unlimited right of legislation over the colonies. 
 This principle apparently was not manifest to the 
 petitioners. In the original Quebec Act, as it went 
 down to the Commons, the right in the colonial 
 authorities to levy any taxes whatever was pro- 
 
158 LIEUTENANT GOVl.KNOK FOK DETROIT. ICmap. VIII. 
 
 hihited. In th(.' Coininons an amendment was ob- 
 tained, allowing the council to iin|)ose such taxes as 
 the inhabitants of the various local districts should 
 vote for roads, buiUlinus, and other local purposes; 
 but this was all. 
 
 It is a matt(;r worth n^cordinj^ that at the head 
 of tlu; (Quebec committee on the princ:i|)al petition, 
 which was signcnl by nearly (^vt-ry U.-ailinj^r person of 
 British orij^in in (hielxn: and M(jntreal, stands th(; 
 name of Zachary Macaulay. Tiiis patriotic j^enlle- 
 man, from his peculiar name, must have been a 
 kinsman ol the abh; man who aftc.'rwards became 
 one of the principal supporters, if not tlu- ori^nna- 
 tor, of the movt:m(Mit against tlu; slave tradi;, and 
 was a friend and counsi-llor of Clarkson and Wil- 
 be-rforce, and tlu; other " wise nuMi ol' Clapham," 
 who wrA'c always (Jii the side ol Irei' institutions. 
 The fame of that second Zachary Macaulay has 
 been overshadowed by that of his (.'ininent son, 
 Lord Macaulay, the historian. Ills relationship to 
 tlu; ( Juebec merchant is not known. 
 
 Althou};h in the lower parts of the Province, 
 where the settlements w(;re more dense, the system 
 of government assunu;d an external apju-aran •.• .)l 
 leji^al formality, no attempt or prtitence was made to 
 relieve the western rej^ion from martial law. A 
 lieutenant j^overnor was sent to 1 )etroit, who had 
 almost, if not (|uite, absolute authority. I lenry 
 Hamilton was lirst appt)int(;d in that cajjacity, and 
 he arrived at Detroit in 1775. The old system was 
 to terminate May 1, 1775. It was not till 1 788 that 
 
Chap VIII. ] I.OIIRTS KsTAHMSIlID 
 
 l/.O 
 
 any courts whatever were estal)lislu'(l in I'pper 
 Canada. In that year, on the 24th of July, Lord 
 I )orch(!st(;r, by proclamation, created four thstricts 
 in Upper Canada. The District of Messe embraced 
 all the country west of l-onji^ Point, on Lake L>ie ; 
 and as Detroit was still retained in liritish posses- 
 sion, it canK; within the jurisdiction of that district.' 
 I'he courts w<'re called Courts of Common IM(;as, 
 beinj.,'^ courts of record, with a clerk and sherifl. 
 Thtfir jurisdiction was plenary, with no appeal unless 
 to the (Jovernor and Council, 
 
 These judj^''(;s were not bred to th(! law, as there 
 were no lawyers in L'pper Canada until 1794. I hey 
 wen- jr(;n(^rally men of wealth and inllueiice, and in 
 civil matters ' 'ir judoinc-nts were probably ju.i. 
 They knew uothinn ol criminal law, and lianished, 
 imprisoned, whipped or pilloried, such unlucky ( ul 
 prits as were convicti^d before th<'m. It is errone- 
 ously stated by Canniff that the lu'st person lianiLjed 
 in lIjjpcT Canada was convicted before jud^^e Cart 
 wrij^^dit, of the Mecklenburm^ District." 'he honor 
 (or dishonor) of that judicial exploit belongs to 
 jud^re Dejean, althouj^^h there \v<'re perhaps some 
 court-martial cajjital convictions before. 
 
 These lay officials of all ranks in the remote 
 districts mai^nified their office. The Wisconsin 
 annals contain many curious anecdotes of one 
 Resume, who in earh' times had a commission as 
 justice of the peace at (ireen l^ay. which is said 
 (perhaps incorrectly) to have run throuidi various 
 
 > (. aniiiH, 506. ' Canniti, 508 
 
160 ROUGH JUSriCE. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 regimes without renewal, and to have served as a 
 support for judicial powers at discretion. An an- 
 cient settler.' in his reminiscences, speaks of it as 
 rather creditable to Judge Reaume, that he never 
 inHicteil cai)ital punishment. In emulation of the 
 great Oriental potentates, hut lacking a signet, he 
 summoned parties before him by sending his jack- 
 knife, in lieu of process ; and no one who saw the 
 symbol ventured to disobey. His judgments were 
 also Oriental. Where specific duties had been 
 violated, he granted specific performance. In other 
 cases, he served the ends of justice by recjuiring the 
 party or parties in fault, (for sometimes he gave 
 judgment against both,) to furnish him a supply of 
 wood, or work in his garden. As, during his long 
 term of service, he was within the jurisdiction of 
 Michigan, we can safely claim the fame of this 
 worthy magistrate for our own glory, whereof pars 
 maj^na fuit. He has not been without followers in 
 our -State county courts, when for a few years the 
 Law Reformers assumed the mande of Jack Cade, 
 and tried causes by the light of nature. A very 
 upright magistrate of this stamp, some twenty-five 
 or thirty years ago, having a culprit before him, 
 chargty^l with larceny, of which there was no 
 proof, deemed it his duty, nevertheless, to convict 
 him ; because, though innocent of the charge in 
 question, he had committed depredations on the 
 judge's woodpile, and thereby disturbeci the peace 
 and ilignity of the State of Michigan. 
 
 ' (Jiignon's Narrative. 
 
Chaf. VIII.] court of COMMON PLEAS 
 
 161 
 
 The Common Pleas Judges of Detroit were 
 usually educated and intelligent gentlemen, whose 
 decisions received and deserved respect. Il was 
 not remarkable that such of them as were of 
 F"rench extraction, and entirely ignorant of British 
 law, should commit blunders and exceed their 
 powers. These latter have not generally been 
 guilty of intentional wrongs, but it was a long 
 time before they had the means of knowing any- 
 thing about legal matters, and under martial law 
 they went very far. 
 
 The first Judge of Common Pleas for the 
 District of Hesse was the Honorable William 
 Dummer Powell, whose reputation has not been 
 questioned. He was appointed in 1 7<S9, and 
 assumed his functions in 1790. It is supposed 
 the office had been declined by some previous 
 appointee," (conjectured to have been William 
 Robertson,) as all the other judges, and the clerk 
 of Hesse, were appointed in i jcSS. Gregor 
 McGregor of Detroit was appointed by Lord 
 Dorchester sheriff, and Thomas Smith of the 
 same place, as clerk and commissioner of the 
 peace, on the 24th day of July. 1 788, the day 
 when the districts were created." Thomas Smith 
 according to General Cass, was in 1 794 captain 
 of a company of militia associated with the Indians, 
 when Wayne routed them before the British fort 
 at Maumee, and was killed in that battle.'' 
 
 « Cannifl, 507. = Wayne Rucurds, C.,380, 3 Cass, Misturii-al l.cciure. 
 11 
 
162 
 
 DELAY IN CIVIL GOVERNMENT (Chap. VIII. 
 
 The court held its first session in 1790, and 
 an execution sale of lands (an innovation on the 
 common law) was made by Sht'riff McCirejj^or, 
 under a judgment rendered in August, 1790.' 
 
 But this is anticipating. L'ntil the action of 
 the (iovernor (leneral. in 1 7S8, the Detroit settle- 
 ment and its dependencies, including all the 
 western posts, remained without any civil govern- 
 ment. Although the preamble' of the Quebec 
 Act gave as a reason for its enactment the fact 
 that, under the King's Proclamation of 1763, there 
 were several colonies and settlements which had 
 been left without any provision for civil govern- 
 ment, neither the act itself, nor the administration 
 under it, made any approach toward such a 
 provision, until five years after the Treaty of 
 Peace of 1 yi^T, had rendered the retendon of 
 possession of Detroit by the British a wrongful 
 and arbitrary usurpation. 
 
 Accordingly we find Mr. Dejean continuing in 
 his old functions. As he kept the public records, 
 any new appointments would probably have been 
 recorded as carefully as the old ones. He was 
 evidently one of those men who had cjualities 
 which made him useful, and possibly gave him 
 the means of securing himself against opposition. 
 In October. 1774, he used the public records in 
 his custody to per[)etuate an apology from George 
 Meldrum,' for some abusive language used by the 
 
 « Wayne Records, ('., 580. ^ Id., A.. 278. 
 
Chap. VIII.] I.EGAl. FORMALITIES. 
 
 163 
 
 latter at a public assembly, and for which he 
 declared his regret as having been the result of 
 intoxication. What the particular charges were 
 which the wine unloo.sed, does not appear, nor is 
 anything said of their falsehood, but it is plain 
 it was not .safe to offend Mr. Dejean. 
 
 In March, 1775, occurs a curious illustration 
 of the limits of his judicial powers under his old 
 commission to the presidency of a board of 
 arbitration. One Francis Milhomme was charged 
 by John Peck with having stabbed him in the 
 stomach. Thereupon James Sterling. John Porteous, 
 (British merchants,) and Duperon Baby and Benoit 
 Chapoton, (French citizens,) were chosen arbi- 
 trators, but dill not agree. William Edgar, having 
 been made umpire, gave his opinion, to which the 
 rest assented, that Milhomme " do pay unto the 
 said John l^eck sixty Pounds New York currency, 
 and give such security for his future behaviour 
 as the Commandant may think proper." Mr. 
 Dejean then, as justice of the peace, took 
 Milhomme's recognizance with sureties, to keep 
 die peace ami for his good behavior, reciting 
 that he was then detained in prison 'or the 
 offence. The instrument is drawn up in PVench, 
 but is an exact and formal recognizance, answering 
 precisely to the best precedents, Dejean had 
 evidently a good knowledge of legal forms, and 
 although, perhaps wisely, ht; paid no attention ^o 
 that part of his commission which directed him 
 to use the Knglish language, he was well enough 
 
164 RESTRAINT OF LIQUOR SELLING. fCHAP. VIII. 
 
 qualified, so far as intelligence went, for his 
 position. His records of depositions and legal 
 entries, as well as his conveyances, show him to 
 have been thoroutrhly educated. There must have 
 been some good reason undisclosed why such a 
 man was confined by the earlier commandants to 
 the business of a conservator of the peace, and 
 allowed no broad powers. So long as Detroit 
 remained subject to the rule of the commanding 
 officer, before the Quebec Act, there was nothing 
 made public to indicate that Dejean had done or 
 could do anything seriously out of the way. The 
 commanders did not venture to trust his discretion. 
 
 In the beginning of June, 1775, for some 
 reason or other, the merchants of Detroit found 
 it necessary to take steps themselves to prevent 
 the sale of rum to the Indians, and they adopted 
 very stringent rules to bind themselves, and to 
 keep others from transgressing. James Abbott, 
 James Sterling, Alexander Macomb, and John 
 Porteous, were appointed a committee 10 enforce 
 the rules. A penalty of ihree hundred pounds 
 York currency was imposed for any infraction. 
 All questions were to be settled by arbitration, 
 and the committee were empowered to distrain 
 property to enforce the award. The whole matter 
 was carefully kept out of the courts. 
 
 The arrival of the Lieutenant Governor made 
 a change in various ways, and the few circum- 
 stances whi(!. have come to light during this 
 period show unmistakable evidence of a more 
 
CHAr. VIII.) 
 
 ARBITRARY ACTION. 165 
 
 arbitrary system. The Boston Port Bill which 
 changed the government of Massachusetts, and 
 that for trying American offenders in England 
 and depriving them of trial by a jury of the 
 vicinage, were introduced with the Quebec Bill, 
 and as parts of one scheme. The Ministry had 
 inaugurated a period of high prerogative. Ham- 
 ilton came out prepared to be as tyrannical as 
 circumstances might require. Although Detroit 
 was not within reach of communication with any 
 of the English common-law settlements, it com- 
 manded the whole Indian country, and he was 
 ready to use any means tC' hound on the Indians 
 against the American malcontents. In December, 
 1775, appears the first and apparently the only 
 case where any one in th< settlement came under 
 suspicion of disloyalty, and the subsequent exper- 
 iences of this gentleman seem to show that, while 
 he was probably loyal enough, in the proper 
 sense, it was not safe in Detroit to be very plain 
 spoken. Garret Graverat, (a name very familiar 
 to the old residents of Michigan,) one of the 
 Albany traders who settled in Detroit, was, in 
 December, 1775, compelled, (so far as appears 
 without any complaint or showing,) to give bail 
 in four hundred pounds sterling, conditioned that 
 he "does not correspond with, carry intel'igence 
 to, or supply any of his Majesty's Enemies, nor 
 does anything Determental to this settlement in 
 Particular, or against any of his Majesty's good 
 subjects, during the space of one year and one 
 
166 CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. FChap. VIIl. 
 
 day," &c. The form of this document is not 
 equal to Dejean's own recognizances, although 
 nominally taken before him, and it is very com- 
 prehensive and open to dangerous construction." 
 
 On the iSth of March, 1776, a transaction 
 took place which has been much discussed, and 
 was certainly peculiar. It shows Dejean going 
 very much beyond his old commission, and it has 
 been assumed as the act of an ignorant and 
 mulish magistrate, incited or favored by a lieutenant 
 governor, careless of law and propriety. Facts 
 recently discovered, and not before published, 
 show that the proceeding was not a hasty one, 
 as it was not one done in ignorance. How far 
 they divest it of its supposed atrocity cannot be 
 so easily determined. It is evident there is much 
 in its unwritten history yet unknown. 
 
 On that day a mixed jury of twelve persons (six 
 English and six French) found a special verdict, in 
 the form of an inquest, convicting a Frenchman 
 named Jean Contencinau, of stealing furs from Ab- 
 bott & Finchley, (a commercial firm in Detroit) and 
 Ann Wyley, a negro slave, of stealing or being 
 accessory to stealmg a purse of six guineas 
 from the same, found on her person. They 
 were both tried for attempting to set fire to 
 the house of Mr. Abbott, but as to this the jury 
 were not satisfied, although the ^ said the circum- 
 
 ' 'I'he narrative of Mr. Dodge, of his treatment at Detroit during the 
 Revolution, by Hamilton and Dejean, places them in a very unfavorable 
 light. .— „.-.^— .^, ,___,,,.-_. __.:_^.., :.„:l,__ 
 
CuAr, VIII. I PRISONERS HANGED. 167 
 
 Stances were very strong against the prisoners. Up- 
 on this verdict Dejean sentenced them to be hanged 
 on the I )omain. and this sentence was carried out a 
 few days afterwards. Dejean's address to the pris- 
 oners has been preserved, antl is published, with the 
 verdict, in Lanman's History.' There is one serious 
 (,'rror in the translation, which represents him as 
 stating" Ann Wyley was "accused" of the crime of 
 stealing, whereas she was found by the jury to have 
 been " accessory " to it, and doubtless this is what 
 the judge said. It is saiil that Carleton and the 
 Chief Justice proposed, when they heard of this 
 execution, to have both Hamilton and 1 )ejean ar- 
 rested and taken to Quebec for trial. If so, the 
 stirring times probably interfered to prevent it, for 
 both remained in Detroit more than two years un- 
 molested. Sir Guy soon left his office for military 
 duty, and was succeeded by Haldimand. 
 
 Recent searches have brought to light the result 
 of two preliminary examinations of Contencinau 
 held by Dejean as jusdce of the peace ; and it 
 appears that, instead of being a summary proceed- 
 ing, nearly a year and a half elapsed between 
 examination and trial, and a much longer time 
 between the commis.sJon of the offence and the 
 conviction. And it also shows either that the ex- 
 amination was unfair, (and this does not seem 
 likely) or that some of the testimony failed before 
 the trial. Ann Wyley made no confession — or at 
 least signed none. Contencinau signed two, or 
 
 ' Pages 133, 134, 135. - - 
 
168 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE PRISONERS. (Chap. VIll. 
 
 rather affixed his mark. At the second, Captain 
 Lernoult, the commanding officer, was present, and 
 certified that the statement was read to the prisoner 
 in his presence, and he confessed to its several 
 articles. From this confession it would appear that 
 on the 24th of June, 1774, Ann Wyley, who was a 
 domestic slave of the house, gave Contencinau a 
 cartridge to use in setting fire to the house. He 
 u nk it and wrapped it up with more powder in a 
 linen cloth, and when the family were at dinner put 
 it on a shelf and fired it, and then carried off the 
 money-box and gave it to Ann. That evening she 
 gave him several dollars in specie and bills, and also 
 handed him the casket to burn, which he did. He 
 and one Landry both confessed to stealing furs, and 
 Contencinau admitted stealing some knives. Jane 
 VVassenton, (Washington,) a soldier's wife, testified 
 to having various articles left with her on false 
 pretexts by both Jean and Nancy, and that 
 the latter, in sending a lot of soiled linen for 
 the wash, included some of Jean's shirts, in a 
 pocket of one of which she found a green 
 purse containing six guineas, which Jean claimed 
 he knew nothing about, and charged Nancy 
 with concealing there. The last examination was 
 November 2, 1774. The evidence was enough to 
 put the respondents on trial. The only explanation 
 of the delay is that no one was authorized to try a 
 prisoner for a capital felony, and Captain Lernoult 
 probably did not care to venture on eyrcising or 
 conferring such a power. Under the Quebec Act, 
 
Chaf. Vin.] PROCEEDINGS BEFORE TRIAL. 
 
 169 
 
 the offence could have been punished, if there had 
 been any court, or any ascertained venue, but 
 Detroit was unattached to any county, and there 
 were no courts. The delay of a year, from the 
 spring of 1775 to that of 1776, was too long to be 
 accounted for, except on the idea that Hamilton 
 either consulted the authorities at Quebec, or sought 
 light from some quarter. As both he and Dejean 
 were both afterwards within reach of civil and 
 criminal jurisdiction, and not only were not prose- 
 cuted, but Hamilton was made Governor General 
 of Canada, it may be doubted whether the state- 
 ment of their intended arrest was not erroneous. 
 The trial was apparently a fair one, and the jury did 
 not convict of arson which was made out on the 
 examination. If there was any irregularity, (although 
 Ann Wyley could not technically have been held on 
 such a finding,) it did not go to the general merits ; 
 and the jury was made up of the best citizens of 
 Detroit. The punishment was according to our 
 notions beyond justice, but it was in accordance 
 with the spirit of the laws of England. Dejean's 
 address was humane and temperate. It seems 
 difficult to believe that after such long delays he 
 would have ventured upon an act which he had 
 shrunk from before, without some assurance of its 
 legality or some powerful prompting ; and the case 
 was not otherwise one of public concern. Of course 
 the act was illegal, and both he and the Lieutenant 
 Governor were liable to punishment for it.' 
 
 ■ The appointment by the Crown of a special trial commission, would 
 have involved creating auxiliary local officers and magistrates, which would 
 
170 
 
 DEJEAN A PI.UR'UST. |Chap. VIII. 
 
 There is, on the other hand, full reason to regard 
 him as implicated with Hamilton in his various 
 official transactions, and he was evidently a favorite 
 ami confidant, and probably a very accommodatini;^ 
 one. He was made S(!cretary to the Lieutenant 
 (iovernor, and given the only remaining lucrative 
 post in the settlement — that of King's Receiver ; so 
 that he was at once justice of the peace, judge, 
 notary, auctioneer, recorder, receiver of moneys, 
 and private secretary. A man must have been very 
 virtuous, or very subservient, to get control of all the 
 paying public business of the post ; and events 
 showed that Mr. Dejean felt safest with his patron. 
 There is very little of interest to be learned con- 
 cerning the Michigan settlements during the 
 revolutionary period. L'nder the illegal Indian 
 grants, which the commandants had found it neces- 
 sary or desirable to sanction, (as their own were 
 usually much larger than those of private citizens.) 
 settlements crept slowly along the great water- 
 courses, reaching the St. Clair River to the north and 
 the Raisin on the south. Several grants were made 
 by the commanders at Mackinaw, on the mainland, 
 and on Bois-blanc Island, (irosse He and Hog 
 Island, in Detroit River, were granted — the former, 
 with some smaller islands near it, to Alexander 
 Macomb, and the latter to (George McDougall. 
 
 The sentiments c*" the French settlers towards 
 Great Britain were in general loyal. They had no 
 
 have given permanent civil government. V hile this was ])romisecl by the 
 implications of the Quebec Act, it was not intended by the Ministp- to be 
 fulfilled. 
 
Chap. VIII. 1 FRENCH INHABITANTS. 171 
 
 intimate relations with the American colonies, and 
 had never been in the enjoyment of such civil rights 
 as made the British ruk; irksome, merely because 
 despotic in form. There were other grievances 
 which they felt heavily, but which did not form any 
 peculiarly close bond of sympathy with their Amer- 
 ican neicrhbors. The old war with France nn this 
 continent was conducted effectively by American 
 troops, and there had been for a long time a jealousy 
 between Canada and the other colonies. One im- 
 mediate object of the Congress at Albany, in i 754, 
 was to furnish more effective protection against 
 French hostilities. But the evident disregard of 
 England for the feelings and customs of the Cana- 
 dians, the cruel treatment of the Acadians, and 
 the haughty insolence which for many years 
 after the conquest the original settlers of Cana- 
 da had encountered, as if they had no rights in 
 the country, did not fail to dampen their attach- 
 ment for their new sovereignty, although it failed 
 to excite them to rebellion. The greatest evil of 
 the French colonial system was its complete 
 centralization. Nothing was left to people or com- 
 munities ; and however desirous the settlers might 
 have been to assert themselves, they lacked those 
 habits of organization which from inheritance and 
 usage were instinctive in British and American so- 
 ciety. They were brave and manly, but they had 
 not learned to make their own leaders. Their dis- 
 content impelled them as a body to nothing more 
 dangerous than neutrality, and when they went into 
 
172 
 
 SENTIMENTS OF THE PEOPLE. ICHAf. Vtll. 
 
 the military service at all, it was not strange that 
 they enlisted under the British flag and fought with 
 spirit. Some care seems to have been taken at 
 Detroit to conciliate Frenchmen of influence, and 
 commissions in the militia were given to prominent 
 citizens. There was no period during the Revolu- 
 tion when any success worth mentioning attended 
 the efforts of the Americans to conciliate the 
 French Canadians, except in Kaskaskia and Vincen- 
 nes, although a close alliance was kept up with 
 France, and many natives of that country were 
 found in our own army as well as among the auxil- 
 iaries. The British residents, as is not unusual in 
 colonies, were more bitter and vindictive than any 
 other portion of the King's subjects. If there were 
 any American sympathizers in Detroit, their names 
 have not come down to us ; unless Garret Graverat 
 was one, which is not altogether unlikely. 
 
 Both governments saw from the beginning 
 the importance of Detroit. As the influential 
 centre of all Indian affairs, whoever occupied it 
 controlled their movements. The settlement of 
 Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, by Americans, was sure 
 to lead sooner or later to a control over the 
 remainder of the Northwest. If the Americans 
 secured their independence, those countries, if 
 settled at all, would become American .States. 
 
 The British could only secure their dominion 
 in this region by preserving it as a wilderness. 
 The plan was early adopted of depopulating so 
 much of the western country as was settled by 
 
Chai- VIII.; BRITISH AND INDIAN ALI.IANCF.. 
 
 178 
 
 Americans, and of keeping off inhabitants by 
 rendering it unsafe for them to go there. Deliber- 
 ately and remorselessly the plans were laid to 
 excite the Indians to indiscriminate slaughter, and 
 from 1775 to 1814 the tribes were urged on and 
 stirred up by British commanders or emissaries 
 against the American settlements. Men who 
 were usually reasonable and humane in their own 
 transactions, felt no compunction against inciting 
 the savages to the worst cruelties; and gentlemen 
 and scholars paid rum and money to their brothers 
 in ferocity for the scalps of women and children 
 slain at their bidding. There are names that no 
 American borderer has yet learned to speak, 
 without finding it hard to restrain a malediction. 
 
 The Lieutenant Governor of Detroit controlled 
 all the western posts. At that time the next in 
 importance was Mackinaw. Kaskaskia and 
 Vincennes were the only two remaining points of 
 prominence. Rocheblave, a Frenchman, com- 
 manded at Kaskaskia, and Lieutenant Edward 
 Abbott at Vincennes. ' 
 
 The well-known policy of the British Govern- 
 ment, which drew forth the eloquent invectives of 
 Chatham and many other statesmen, was accepted 
 by Hamilton without hesitation or reluctance, and 
 he readily offered to assume the office of setting 
 on the savages. He gained their adhesion and 
 aid by the usual methods, and found about him 
 emissaries enough to help him. Several raids 
 were made upon the settlements in Ohio and 
 
174 ■ CLARK'S CAMPAIGN. [Chaf. VIII. " 
 
 Kentucky, till at length (ieorge Rogers Clark 
 set out from X'irginia, and began to change the 
 face of affairs. It was not long before he captured 
 Kaskaskia by surprise and without bloodshed, on 
 the fourth of July, 1778. Rocheblave was taken 
 to Virginia as a prisoner of war. His wife 
 contrived to conceal or destroy his papers. The 
 French people of Kaskaskia, after having their 
 fears excited by apocryphal stories of the ferocity 
 of the Long Knives, and expecting the fate of 
 their Acadian kinsmen, were agreeably surprised 
 at meeting very friendly and cordial treatment ; 
 and Clark's judicious management secured their 
 attachment. IJy the!*- means V'incennes surrendered 
 without a struggle ; and the hostility of the Indians 
 in that quarter was quieted. 
 
 The news of this mishap caused some excite- 
 ment in Detroit, and Hamilton began preparations 
 for raising a force to reconquer the country. He 
 finally set out early in October, and Major De 
 Peyster, commanding at Mackinaw, sent out Lan- 
 glade to go to the head of Lake Michigan and rouse 
 up the Indians. Hamilton reached Vir^jennes about 
 the middle of December. At this time, by reason of 
 General Mcintosh's failure to do what was expected 
 of him, Captain Helm and one soldier made up all 
 the garrison. As the army approached it, Helm 
 planted a loaded cannon in the gateway, and refused 
 to surrender without the honors of war, which were 
 granted, and the garrison of one officer and one 
 private marched out accordingly. Hamilton now 
 
CHAr. Vlll.J i ATTACK ON BOONE. 
 
 175 
 
 dismissed his Indians for the winter, intending in the 
 spring to organize a large expetlition and sweep 
 the borders. • , 
 
 An expedition against Detroit had been planned 
 the same summer, but it was broken up mainly by 
 the dela\s of (ieneral Mcintosh. At the same time 
 predatory excursions went out from Detroit. Isi- 
 dore Chene (a Detroit r"renchman, and an adopted 
 chief among the Indians,) set out with a few Cana- 
 dians, and a 'arge body of savages, on a marauding 
 expedition, which was conducted in i.ne usual 
 fashion. In August they appeared before Boones- 
 borough, and demanded a surrender. Boone had 
 just returned from an Indian captivity. In February, 
 i77cS, he hail been taken by the Indians to Detroit, 
 and had been kindly treated there, but the Indians, 
 who had taken a fancy to him, refused to let him be 
 ransomed. Remembering this, Boone was inclined 
 to place some confidence in Chene's promise of fair 
 treatment, and agreed to meet him with eight com- 
 ratles outside of the fort, but under cover of his 
 garrison's guns. After terms were made, the 
 Indians treacherously endeavored to seize Boone 
 and his associates, but the marksmen shot down the 
 leaders, and they goi back safely throi.gh a cross- 
 fire into the fort, from which the assailants, after a 
 siege of ten days, and such a waste of ammunition 
 that the garrison picked up 123 pounds of their bul- 
 lets, retired with considerable loss. 
 
 Clark, having learned Hamilton's plans, did 
 not wait for spring, but started for Vincennes on 
 
176 HAMILTON CAPTURED AT VINCENNES. [CwAf. VIII. 
 
 the 7th of February, with 176 men. partly French 
 volunteers. The country was almost impassable, 
 and no thought of clanger entered the mind of 
 the Governor. On the 23rd of February, Clark, 
 whose men had marched several miles through 
 water, appeared before the town and began the 
 attack. It was kept up until the next morning, 
 with no loss to the Americans, who kept well 
 under cover, and, being good marksmen, picked 
 off the gunners through the ports. At nine on 
 the morning of the 24th, Clark demanded an un- 
 conditional surrender, in very explicit and not al- 
 together civil terms. Refusing to grant a truce, 
 he agreed to meet Hamilton at the church, about 
 eighty yards from the fort, who came there with 
 Major Hay. Clark through this interview adhered 
 to his demands, and gave as a reason, when 
 asked, that as the principal Indian partisans from 
 Detroit, including Major Hay, were with Hamilton, 
 and as their course had been so atrocious, he 
 would on no account give up the right to deal 
 with them as he saw fit. The capitulation was 
 made that afternoon. Clark during the parley 
 had become more favorably impressed with 
 Hamilton, and consented to better terms. A few 
 days thereafter, a company from Detroit of forty 
 men under command of Mr. Adhemar, with 
 supplies and despatches for Hamilton, was ca;^tured 
 on the Wabash. Dejean was with them, having 
 gone, it is said,' to obtain means of justifying 
 himself for his judicial excesses before mentioned. 
 
 « C, I. Walker'3 Address. 
 
Chap. VIU.J HAMILTON AND HIS FRIENDS IN IRONS. 177 
 
 Thomas Williams was actin^^ in Dejean's 
 offices of justice and recorder in March, about 
 the time of his capture, probably by appointment 
 of the local commander, but if Dejean was under 
 censure — possibly from superior authority. 
 
 A part of the prisoners were discharged 
 on the usual terms, and returned to Detroit. 
 Hamilton, Hay, Dejean, (who figures as (irand 
 Judge of Detroit,) Lamothe. an officer in the 
 Indian Department, and Jonathan .Schiefflin, with 
 a few others, were taken to Virginia. Hamilton, 
 Hay, Dejean and Lamothe, were put in irons. The 
 rest were paroled. The severity exercised towards 
 the former, was because they had been especially 
 responsible for Indian atrocities, and had offi^red 
 rewards for scalps instead of prisoners. Governor 
 Jefferson and the Virginia Legislature refused to 
 exchange them or mitigate their treatment, which 
 Washington admitted was richly deserved, although 
 he urged its relaxation on other grounds. F'inally 
 they were released from their irons, and Lamothe 
 and Dejean having given the somewjjat stringent 
 parole demanded of them, (which General Wash- 
 ington said was the same required of our officers,) 
 were allowed to go to New York. Dejean nevei 
 came to Detroit again. Hay and Hamilton, after 
 holding out a long time, finally gave their parole 
 also, and were released. Hamilton said afterwards 
 that this imprisonment continued twenty-two 
 months.' 
 
 » Wayne Record, C , p. 392. 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 NEW lOKT. 1)1 I'EVSI KK ARRIVES. |Chaiv VIII. 
 
 During Hamilton's absence in V'incennes, the 
 tort at I )etrnit 'vas in toinmantl of Major R. B. 
 Lernoult, (sometimes erroneously written Le Noiilt,) 
 who, anticipating an attack from below, built a 
 new fort on the risinj^ ground then called tht; 
 second terrace, (betwe<n (iriswold and Wayne, 
 Congress and Michijjjan Avenues,) which remained 
 until about 1.S27. This was called Fort Lernoult, 
 until the Americans chanirc;d its name to L'ort 
 Shelby. , . ,,^ , 
 
 Major De Peyster, of Mackinaw, sent out in 
 the spring of 1779 a secoml expedition to join 
 Hamilton in Illinois, but his caoture foiled it, and 
 that country remained in American hands there- 
 after. Had it not been for this, the boundary 
 might have been fixed at the Ohio instead of the 
 lakes. 
 
 I )e Peyster was sent to 1 )etroit to succeed 
 Hamilton, but was not made Lieutenant (jovernor. 
 The only others who held that title were Patrick 
 Sinclair, De Peyster's successor at Mackinaw, 
 and John H^y. From this time on, although the 
 forays continued with unabated fury through the 
 Revolution, the Indians were encouraged to bring 
 in live prisoners. 
 
 Major Arent .Schuyler De Peyster, who came 
 to Detroit in 1779, was a man of some distinction, 
 and although on some occasions very arbitrary, 
 was undoubtedly a good officer. In one respect 
 his course was open to criticism. The largest 
 number of Indian grants ever made at one time 
 
Chap. VIIM Pk I'KVSTKR 
 
 179 
 
 {luriiij^ the lej^ntimatc British possession, were 
 made in July. 1 7S0, soon after his arrival; and 
 the larij^est one of those (of s.txx) acres) was 
 made to himself. Many years afterwards he 
 relin(|uishetl it to a nephew, but it was so plainly 
 illegal that it was not respected. He also made 
 some lar^e concessions of |)ul)lic property without 
 \c^a\ ri<;ht, to Captain Bird ami othtTs. From 
 the numerous indications of his character, ajjpear- 
 inj^" in records and elsewhere, the j^eneral inference 
 is favorable. He had some literary pn;tensions, 
 was a /fon vivoN/, patronizeil liberally the card- 
 parties, balls and assemblies, and was very iiappy 
 in his domestic relations, thouj^h childless. On 
 occasion he performed the duties of chaplain, and 
 in that capacity married Thomas Williams (father 
 of (jen. John R. Williams) to Miss Cecilia Campau, 
 on the 7th of May, 1781. John Kirby. of Grosse 
 Pointe, was bapti/.ed by one of the commanding 
 officers, and this is said not to have been an 
 uncommon occurrence. Whether Major (then 
 Colonel) De Peyster performed this rite also does 
 not appear, but it is quite likely, in many respects 
 one is reminded, in considering him, of a modern- 
 ized and slightly toned down Baron of Bradwar- 
 dine. hi his latter days he retired to Dumfries, 
 where, in 1796, he commanded the volunteers 
 among whom Burns was enrolled, — the "awkward 
 squad" whom he did not wish to fire over his 
 grave. \'ery kindly relations existed between the 
 veteran and the poet, who addressed and dedi- 
 
180 Dp PEYSTER. fCHAr VIII. 
 
 cated one of his latest poems to his old friend 
 and commander. 
 
 He was un(jiiestional)ly arbitrary in his official 
 dealings, but probably no more so than his own 
 predecessors, who did pretty much as they pleased. 
 In the summer of 1 783, upon the application of 
 one Cuyler, who came on from the east to collect 
 a claim of (iarret Graverat, De Peyster com- 
 pelled the latter to turn over to Cuyler more 
 than ten thousand dollars worth of furs and other 
 property belonoinjj;- to the firm of Graverat 
 & V'lHgar and their late partner Colin Andrews, 
 under duress of being- sent down immediately by 
 boat to the lower country, (iraverat, to prevent 
 the ruin of his Detroit business, submitted ; but 
 entered a formal sworn protest on the public 
 records. As Ue Peyster, when he retired, went 
 abroad, there was no opportunity to hold him 
 responsible in the American or colonial courts; 
 but it was an atrocious act of tyranny, done with- 
 out even a hearing, and with profane threats 
 unbecoming an officer. As the existence of the 
 treaty of peace must have been known before 
 this time, and the exercise of extreme and sum- 
 mary violence was as much against English as 
 against American law, such conduct can only be 
 accounted for on personal grounds ; and the ex- 
 planation must probably be found in Graverat's 
 being obnoxious to the commander. If he was an 
 American in feeling, the success of the American 
 arms, and the annexation of Michigan to the 
 
CMAr. vni. 
 
 HIRIVS EXPEDITION. 181 
 
 Unitcnl States, mi^^ht very naturally have embit- 
 tered such a fierce loyalist as De Peyster against 
 him. 
 
 In 1778 there is a record of quite as summary 
 an order by Lieutenant (iovernor Hamilton, stop- 
 ping the sale of a negress whose ownership was 
 questioned, and sending her to Rocheblave at Kas- 
 kaskia to have the matter examined, instead of 
 having it tried in Detroit. 
 
 In 1 780. Captain Bird's famous expedition set 
 out southward, and among other depredations, des- 
 troyed several Kentucky settlements. i'his was 
 organized at great expense, under orders of Gen- 
 eral Haldimand. who had succeeded .Sir (iuy 
 Carleton in his command of the Province. The 
 expenses of outfit at Detroit alone were nearly or 
 quite $300,000. Bird found it difficult to restrain 
 the Indians, who made complete work ; and it is 
 supposed that motives of humanity induced him to 
 suspend going further. The inhabitants were made 
 Indian prisoners, and stripped of all their posses- 
 sions. In August, 1784, Bird, in selling a mulatto 
 woman, warranted his title by stating that at 
 Martin's Fort she was among the booty captured by 
 the Indians, and given to him afterwards by the 
 captors. ■ "' * r 
 
 This expedition was accompanied by Detroit 
 militia, commanded by Chabert De Joncaire, Jona- 
 than Schiefiflin, Isidore Chene, and others. 
 
 This aroused great excitement in the United 
 States, and various plans were proposed to send 
 
182 MORAVIANS IN MICHIGAN. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 expeditions under Brodhead and Clark to capture 
 Detroit. Clark was very anxious to undertake it, 
 but the invasion of \'iry;inia by Cornvvallis suspend- 
 ed these side issues, and nothinj^;^ effective was done. 
 During the various Indian expeditions, and 
 other frontier warfare, there had been some diffi- 
 culty in keeping all the tribes contented under 
 the British control, and all sorts of expedients 
 were re.sorted to, in order that this might be 
 secured, ■'-,:,,...:•■■.,: , ■ ..■:< -. -, ■-■„ ,.■■■ , ■■. • 
 
 Not long before the Revolution, David Zeis- 
 berger, an eminent Moravian missionary, with 
 Heckeweldcr and some others, founded missions 
 on the Muskingum at Schonbrunn, Lichtenau and 
 Gnadenhutten, and the converts, particularly among 
 the Delawares. were numerous. Colonel Alex- 
 ander McKee. Matthew Elliott, and Simon Girty, 
 made repeated attempts to induce these Indians 
 to join the British and fight against the Amer- 
 icans, but without success. The Detroit Hurons 
 were no more successful in their efforts to per- 
 suade or frighten them, although the Delaware 
 chiefs were wavering. TJie English agents 
 persuaded Governor Hamilton that the mission- 
 aries were acting as spies in the American 
 interest, and he became very much incensed, anci 
 made threats, which the emissaries used to influence 
 the chiefs against them. One of the chiefs, Cap- 
 tain Pipe, was at last cajoled into declaring for 
 the English, and the tribe became divided. When 
 De Peyster was in command, Elliott persuaded 
 
Chap. VIII.) MORAVIANS AT DETROIT. ' 183 
 
 him, by representations that Captain Pipe had 
 denounced the missionaries, to send a force 
 under KlHott to capture them and bring- them 
 in. After much suffering-, they reached Sandusky, 
 whence Captain Pipe was to bring them to 
 Detroit. During this whole journey they com- 
 |)lained especially of the affronts and injuries 
 received from Simon (iirty. Pipe being on a 
 tlrunken frolic, the missionaries started for 
 Detroit ahead of him on the 25th of October, 
 1 781. The winter was early, and the country 
 through the Black .Swamp, and round the head 
 of the lake, was nearly impassable ; but after 
 much labor and exposure they reached Detroit, 
 
 Their reception by De Peyster was very 
 ungracious, and he put off their hearing for sev- 
 eral days. They were kindly sheltered by Mr. 
 Tybout, a PVench inhabitant, and received atten- 
 tion and courtesies from others. On the 9th of 
 November, they were confronted with Captain 
 Pipe before the Commandant, when the chief 
 expressed himself very bitterly concerning the 
 manner in which he had been urged on by the 
 F>iglish to join them, and completely denied all 
 the stories against the missionaries, who had 
 studiously avoided any conduct which could favor 
 either side, and had endeavored to preserve the 
 Indians from hostilities. De Peyster was finally 
 .satisfied, and thereafter was very kindly disposed 
 and aided them liberally. Having returned to 
 Sandusky, they were subjected to renewed threats 
 
184 • NEW GNADEMMUTTEN. [Chap. Vtll. 
 
 and indignities from Girty. De Peyster sent 
 word to bring them back to Detroit, but to treat 
 them kindly; and in April, 1782,- they came back 
 under escort. The Commandant told them he 
 had taken this course for their safety, and offered 
 to give them means of returning to the central 
 mission at Bethlehem, or to allow them to remain. 
 
 They decided to remain, if they and their 
 flock could settle near Detroit. By arrangement 
 with the Chippewas, dwelling on the Clinton (then 
 known as the Huron) River, about twenty miles 
 northeast of Detroit, they fixed their colony near 
 the mouth of that stream, a few miles from Lake 
 St. Clair. De Peyster contributed such outfit as 
 they needed of utensils and provisions, with some 
 horses and cattle, his estimable lady also adding 
 other useful presents. The Church of England 
 "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
 Foreign Parts " sent them a draft for one hundred 
 pounds sterling, which was a very timely gift. 
 On the 2 1 St of July, 1782, Zeisberger and Jung- 
 man, (married missionaries with their families,) 
 and Edwards and Jung, (unmarried missionaries,) 
 with some white families, including that of Rich- 
 ard Connor, and several Indian converts, reached 
 their new refuge, and solemnly in prayer conse- 
 crated it to the ^^ervice of the Lord, under the 
 name of Gnadenhutten, in memory of their old 
 home on the Muskingum. It was usually called 
 New Gnadenhutten. In August they had com- 
 pleted a village, consisting of a street of block- 
 
Chap. VIlI.J 
 
 COLD WINTER 185 
 
 houses with substantial outbuilding^s. De Peyster, 
 (now colonel) was an active friend, and Governor 
 General Haldimand also befriended them. On 
 the 5th of November, 1782, they opened their 
 new church. In 1783, the sugar crop was large, 
 and the people, white and red, were enabled by . 
 their hunting and manufacture of wooden wares, 
 to keep themselves supplied with all they needed. 
 On receiving news of the peace, which reached 
 them in May, they endeavored to gather in from 
 Ohio more of their Indians, and succeeded quite 
 well in doing so. 
 
 By a mistake in the kind of corn which they 
 had planted, they lost that crop by early frosts. 
 The next winter of 1783-4 was one of the 
 severest on record. The Ice on Lake St. Clair, 
 a mile from shore, was three feet two Inches 
 thick, and the snow five feet deep. The winter 
 of 1874-5 resembled it more closely than any 
 year within living memory. The deep snow 
 interfered with hunting, and the ice with fishlny;. 
 The winter was a trying one, but they succeeded 
 in getting a large quantity of venison from a 
 herd that strayed into the neighborhood, and 
 with the surplus of this they purchased corn. In 
 the spring they made sugar, and caught an abund- 
 ance of fish, and, when the snow melted, gathered 
 quantities of cranberries. Detroit furnished a 
 ready market for all they could spare. 
 
 A straight road had been run for their accom- 
 dation from Tremble's mill, on Tremble's (now 
 
186 
 
 GOVERNOR HAV. [Ciiai.VIII. 
 
 Connor's) Creek, to the Moravian village, thus very 
 much shortening the otherwise long and round- 
 about lake shore road. This was the first inland 
 road made in Michigan. 
 
 In May, i 7S4, they came to Detroit to bid fare- 
 well to Colonel De Peyster, who was about depart- 
 ing, and who commended them to Governor Hay, 
 (Hamilton's companion,) who had just been sent 
 out to take charge of the post. Hay had recently 
 been in England, where the case of the mission- 
 aries had received attention, and he had been 
 directed to encourage them. As this was a year 
 after the peace, and before any serious controver- 
 sies, it indicates pretty clearly the insincerity of the 
 British Government in rejjard to their treaty obli- 
 gations to quit the post. 
 
 Governor Hay died the same summer, having 
 had no time to make any mark on the settlement. 
 His character was respected. He left a family 
 of three sons, one of whom, Henry Hay, be- 
 came an officer in the British Army, and was 
 stationed at Detroit in the last British com- 
 mand. The writer was many years ago informed, 
 by a family connection of Governor Hay, that his 
 remains were first buried behind and near the 
 Chateau or Governor's House, on the corner of 
 Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Sfeet, and after- 
 wards removed by the informant to the new ceme- 
 tery, established in 1827, and placed in the Catholic 
 portion of that ground. That cemetery has now 
 been vacated, and probably there has been another 
 removal. 
 
Chap. VIII.] DEPARTURE OF THE MORAVIANS. 187 
 
 Major William Ancnim succeeded to die com- 
 mand. By diis time the Moravian town had become 
 a neat and pleasant villa,i.,a;, well laid out and sub- 
 stantially built, with considerable clearinjj^s. The 
 Chippewas, however, were gettintr tired of agri- 
 cultural neighbors, and the settlers determined to 
 move to some other place. They went from New 
 Gnadenhi«;ten to the south side of Lake P>ie, 
 whence, m i 790. a large number moved over into 
 Upper Canada, and settled on the Thames River, 
 near the battletield where Harrison defeated Proc- 
 tor, in 1 81 3. Richard Connor and his family re- 
 mained behind, and kept their farm. His sons, 
 Henr)', William and James, became prominent 
 citizens. Henry Connor was a noted interpreter, 
 (known as Wabishkindibe, or White Hair,) in 
 whom Indians and whites placed implicit confidence, 
 which he fully deserved. He was a very upright 
 man. jv-^.'-:- ,,,; -.,-;■, ^^ ■^.-/"■i.', 
 
 In 1 788, Ancrum and John Askin, who had been 
 kind to the missionaries, and who claimed to have 
 purchased out their rights for a sufficient considera- 
 tion, obtained from the Chippewas a grant of 
 24,000 acres, including the Moravian town and a 
 large tract besides. Askin subsequently testified 
 that there were more than twenty houses and their 
 outbuildings, and that the Moravian road had been 
 built by himself and Ancrum, with some help from 
 the Moravian Indians. Askin and his son, with 
 one John Cornwall, obtained also a Chippewa 
 grant of twenty-four m'les long by two leagues 
 
188 REMOVAL OF FORT MACKINAW. [Chap. Vlll. 
 
 wide, incliidini^ that road, and a league in breadth 
 on each side of it. These ^^rants were made after 
 the treaty of 1783, and were in violation of the 
 British and American laws, and were disallowed. 
 Connor and some neighbors were confirmed in their 
 claims to single farm holdings, as actual settlers. 
 
 After Patrick Sinclair went to Mackinaw, and 
 toward the close of the Revolution, he made prepa- 
 rations for removing the fort from the main land to 
 the Island ot Michilimackinac, for which he obtained 
 the consent of the tribe of Chippewas in occu- 
 pancy. The new fort was occupied in 1783. 
 
 By the preliminary treaty of peace of Novem- 
 ber 30, 17S2, it was unconditionally agreed that 
 " His Britannic Majesty shall, with all convenient 
 speed, and witiiout causing any destruction, or car- 
 rying away any negroes, or other property of the 
 American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, gar- 
 risons and fleets from the said United States ; and 
 from every part, place and harbor within the same ; 
 leaving in all fortifications the American artillery 
 that may be therein ; and shall also order and 
 cause all archives, records, deeds and papers be- 
 longing to any of the said States, or their citizens, 
 which in the cQurse of the war may have fallen into 
 the hands of his officers, to be forthwith restored 
 and delivered to the proper States and persons to 
 whom they belong." And by further articles it 
 was, January 20, 1 783, agreed that in all places 
 without exception, (unless when a shorter term was 
 specified,) five months should be the utmost term of 
 
Chap. VIII.] FORTS RETAINED BY TIIK BRITISH. 
 
 189 
 
 hostilities, or for the validity of hostile acts. Notice 
 was received in Detroit in May, 1 783, if not earlier. 
 The final treaty of September, 1783, recognized 
 and adoj3ted the preceding action from its original 
 date. 
 
 General Washington was persuaded, and de- 
 clared from the first, that the British (Government 
 were not acting in good faith in this matter. In 
 August, 1783, when Baron Steuben was sent to 
 Governor (General Haldimand to demand posses- 
 sion of the western forts, he was not only refused, 
 but was not even permittt;d to visit them ; and the 
 Governor declined in any way to facilitate or ex- 
 pedite the business. His course towards .Steuben 
 was reported by the latter as uncivil. He wrote to 
 General Washington a letter, respectful in form, in 
 which he excused himself for the refusal on the 
 ground that he had received no orders from His 
 Majesty. New York was evacuated on the 25th 
 of November, i 783, and the Continental Army was 
 disbanded. Great Britain never notified the 
 Governor of Canada, or any one else, to give up 
 the western posts, and they were •retained, in spite 
 of protests and remonstrances, until the breaking 
 out of the French Revolution, and the prospect of 
 further wars, made it expedient to surrender them. 
 But during nearly all this period, and especially 
 from 1 786, the emissaries of Great Britain were 
 busy in keeping up a hostile feeling among the 
 Indians in the Northwest against the Americans. 
 
 There were, in 1 786, and thereafter, some mutual 
 
190 
 
 VIOI.ATtON OF IKF.ATV. fCiiAP. VIII. 
 
 j^rounds oi" complaint for alleged violations of the 
 treaty, I)iit none in 17S3, '84 or '<S5, that were set 
 up as solid pretexts for retaining the posts. 'Inhere 
 can be no reason todouht the conclusion of (ieneral 
 \VashiniL,^t(in, that the mother country meant to 
 speculate on dissolution, and to retain the unsettled 
 country and western forts if she could, in 1 7«S4, it 
 would seem, however, that the Canadian (iovernor 
 may possibly have expected to be compelled to 
 comply with our demands ; as he removed the pub- 
 lic records from I )etroit to (_)uebec, where they 
 were retained until Lord Dorchester, in 1789, sent 
 out Jud^e Powell to establish a court. At this lat- 
 ter period, it seems to have been assumed that the 
 United States would be compelled to submit to 
 losinj:^ the posts. That removal of records was in 
 direct violation of the treaty, and the records so 
 removed were never put in American custody until 
 the present decade, when they were partially res- 
 tored, (as far as found,) by order of Her Majesty's 
 Government. The responsibility of the British 
 authorities for the intentional and unprovoked re- 
 tention of the po^ts does not rest on surmise. On 
 nearly every occasion when attempts were made to 
 treat with the Indians, they represented they could 
 not act without the consent of the 1 )etroit Com- 
 mandant. When Brant went to Enjjland, after the 
 formation ot his confederacy in 1785, he asked an 
 explicit assurance that the British would stand by 
 him, which Lord Sidney, the Colonial Secretary, 
 evaded, but did not discourage. John Johnson, the 
 
CHAr VIII. 1 HKlllSH AND INDIAN DEAMNUS. 
 
 191 
 
 Indian Superintendent, on his return, L^ave him that 
 assurance in writings and impressed upon him very 
 strongly not to allow the Americans to come into 
 the country, or to approach the posts, sayiny;: " It 
 is for your sakes. chiefly, if not entirely, that we 
 hold them." '■''■ ''" "By sujjporting them, you encourage 
 us to hold them, and encourage the new settlements, 
 already considerable, and every day increasing 
 by numbers coming in, who find they cannot live in 
 the .States." Lord Dorchester was more explicit, 
 and speaking through Captain Mathews, whom he 
 sent to command at I )etroit, he expresses regret 
 that the Intlians have consented to let the Ameri- 
 cans make a road to Niagara, but, notwithstaiuling 
 this blameworthy conduct, the Indians shall never- 
 theless have their presents, as a mark of approba- 
 tion of their former conduct; and then proceeds: 
 "In future his lordship wishes them to act as is best 
 for their interests. Ho; cannot begin a war with 
 the Americans because some of their people en- 
 croach and make depredations upon parts of the 
 Indian country ; but they must see it is his lord- 
 ship's intention to defend the posts, and that while 
 these are preserved, the Indians must find great 
 security therefrom, and consequendy the Americans 
 greater difficulty in taking possession of their 
 landr,. But should they once become masters of 
 the posts, they will surround the Indians, and ac- 
 complish their purpose with little trouble." ''' ''' '•' " In 
 your letter to me, you seem apprehensive that the 
 English are not very anxious about the defence 
 
192 SCHEMES TO RETAIN MICHIOAN. (Cmak VIII. 
 
 of the posts. You will soon be satisfied that 
 they have nothing more at heart, provided that 
 it continues to !)e the wish of the Indians, 
 and that they remain firm in doin^ their part 
 of the business, by preventinij the Americans 
 from cominj^r into their country, and conse- 
 quently from marching to the posts. On the 
 other hand, if the Indians think it more for their 
 interest that the Americans should have possession 
 of the posts, and be established in the"r country, 
 they ought to declare it, that the English need no 
 longer be put to the vast and unnecessary expense 
 and inconvenience of keeping posts, the chief 
 object of which is to protect their Indian allies, and 
 the loyalists who have suffered with them.' 
 
 The proofs are abundant that the British 
 depended on the Indians to keep the Americans 
 from approaching the forts to get possession, and 
 that this was not done for any claims of violated 
 treaty, but because they desired to retain the 
 western country and its trade for their own pur- 
 poses. 
 
 In 1 784, as before mentioned, a new lieutenant 
 governor was sent out to Detroit, and in 1789 it 
 was brought under partial civil government. 
 This was also, if we may credit the information 
 received from our diplomatic agents in England, 
 in pursuance of a definite plan whereby Lord 
 Dorchester was vested with enlarged powers. 
 
 ' Stone's Brant, iii ,271. 
 
Chap. VIII. 
 
 CANADA DIVIDED 193 
 
 Diiriri}^ the period of unlawful possession, there 
 was apparently no restraint put on the acquisition 
 of Indian ijrants. and, unless th(; chiefs were 
 ubiquitous, it appears in some cases as if no par- 
 ticular care was taken to be sure of their identity. 
 Con<^ress had at once, upon the peace, prohibited 
 any such purchases. 
 
 Very few facts of local interest are noted 
 within the next few" years. The Ordinance of 
 1787, which furnished a wise constitution for the 
 territory northwest of the Ohio, did not become 
 practically operative in this re^^ion until the 
 Americans gained possession. Bcfoc that time, 
 although no laws passed after the treaty could 
 attach except for the time being, yet, so long as 
 the country was held by Great Britain, all trans- 
 actions were governed by the law of the pos- 
 sessors. 
 
 In 1792, Quebec was divided into Upper and 
 Lower Canada ; and Colonel John Graves Simcoe 
 was made Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, 
 the Governorship (General covering both division^. 
 The Quebec Act, so far as it applied to Upper 
 Canada, was repealed, as well as all legislation 
 under it abrogated. Upper Canada was made a 
 common law country, and trial by jury was intro- 
 duced in both civil and criminal cases. 
 
 Simcoe, who had commanded during the 
 Revolution the Queen's Rangers, a regiment of 
 American tories, first raised by Rogers, and 
 13 
 
194 ilOKI'KK UIKHLt!i;riES. ILhap. VIII. 
 
 sonurwhat nottd tor tht-ir {riicltitis, took no pains 
 to concraj his sentiments. Tht' Upper Canada 
 l.e^^nslature established permanent courts in the 
 rej.(iilar way at Detroit and Mackinaw, as [)osts 
 of the I'rovinct;. In 1 7S9, provision was made 
 for ^^rantinLj lands in th(! Province to American 
 refuj^jees, oiid the region \y\n^ east of the Detroit 
 Kiv(T and north of l^ake l^rie was largely 
 s(;ttletl by I )iitch tories from New York. The 
 result was to excite amonn; the Americans who 
 afterwards settled in Michigan a iu-rcc animosit)' 
 against that class of their neighbors, which was 
 of long standing. In regard to the other British 
 people, the feeling was more kindly, except as to 
 the Indian agents and emissaries, who were never 
 forgiven for their share in the massacres of the 
 Americans. 
 
 The results of .St. Clair's d"sastrous defeat in 1791 
 rendered it more difficult to trt;at with the Indians, 
 and their depreciations were multiplied. It became 
 evident that, unless some peaceable arrangement 
 cpuld be made, the American people would be 
 obliged to resort to effectual m(;asures to put an 
 end to these scenes. The western people had 
 desired again and again to be allowed to take mat- 
 ters into tht-ir own iiands. Hut in this troubled 
 period the (iovernor General, Lord Dorchester, 
 and the Lieutenant (iovernor, Simcoe, went 
 great lengths in urging on the Indians, and 
 boch evidently believed that the time was at 
 hand when Great Britain would regain the whole 
 
CM*r. VIII.I WAVNK'S I'AMPAtON. lOT) 
 
 Indian country. Negotiations with the Indians 
 havinj4 failed, (lent'ral Wayne bej^^an his i^tfective 
 cainpaijtjns. Simcoe not only favored the sav- 
 aijes, but built a fort in 1794 at the Maumee 
 Rapids, and j^arrisoned it with rej^ular British 
 troops. Wayne arrived in the nt.'ij^hborhood in 
 August, and on the 20th defeated the Indians and 
 their allies, driving them under range of the 
 guns of the fort, and destroying Colonel McKee's 
 stores, and everything else of valui' up to its very 
 walls. The post commander took no part in the 
 battle, and the Indians were ver)' much incensed at 
 such cold support, \\a\ne could not, under his 
 orders, attack thct fort, unh.'ss assaileil, and the 
 British oftlcer in charge had similar orders. ( iener- 
 al Wayne went as far as he couki to induce that 
 gentleman to att'^:k him, but without effect. The 
 Indians were, however, aided in the fight by a body 
 of Canadian militia, under Colonel Baby ; and .Sim- 
 coe, McKee, Hlliott and (lirty were not far off. In 
 September these four persons held a council at 
 Maiden to prevent a peace, and to induce the 
 Indians to cetle their lands to the British ; promis- 
 ing that the latter could then guarantee their pos- 
 session, and join in a general attack which would 
 sweep the country clean of Americans. .Although 
 this was aided by presents, and other inducements, 
 the Indians were divided, and many of them com- 
 plained that the British had urged them on into 
 ruinous wars, and had not helped them. 
 
 January 29th, i 795, the tribes made a prelimin- 
 
196 TREATY or GREENVILLE. INDIAN GRANTS. [CHAr. VIII. 
 
 ary treaty of peace at Greenville, with General 
 Wayne. They appointed the next June, at the 
 same place, for the final treaty. ' The conferences 
 lasted through July, all of the chiefs giving and 
 receiving full explanations, and laying the previous 
 hostilities to the encouragement of the British 
 authorities. The treaty was signed on the third of 
 August. 
 
 In November, 1 794, a treaty had been executed 
 between Mr. Jay, as American Minister, and the 
 British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Lord Gren- 
 ville, whereby it was agreed the posts should be 
 given up on or before June i, 1796. News of this 
 reached the country in due time, and at once a last 
 effort was made to render it abortive. In 1 783, the 
 Northwest Fur Company had been organized to 
 control the fur trade, not reached by the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, and the Detroit traders were all 
 interested in keeping the country, as far as possible, 
 unsettled. All of Michigan away from the Detroit 
 River and the Island of Mackinaw, was a wilderness, 
 and so was the adjacent belt of country in northern 
 Ohio and Indiana. Between the treaties of January 
 and August, grants, or pretended grants, were 
 obtained to Jonathan Schiefflin, Jacobus Visgar, 
 Richard Pattinson, Robert Innis, Alexander Henry, 
 John Askin Senior, John Askin Junior, Robert Mc- 
 Niff, William Robertson, Israel Ruland, and John 
 Dodemead, of various parcels of land, covering the 
 whole country from the Cuyahoga River westward 
 to about the centre line of Michigan, and northward 
 
Chap. VIII.J AMERICAN POSSESSION. WAYNE DIES. 197 
 
 to Saginaw Bay, including all the land that was then 
 supposed possibly available for settlement for ages. 
 
 The time at last came for taking possession. 
 The British garrison evacuated the fort some time 
 before the Americans arrived, and left it in very bad 
 condition, with the wells filled up with rubbish, and 
 with other mischief to the premises. 
 
 General Wayne came with Winthrop Sargent, 
 the Secretary and acting Governor of the Northwest 
 Territory, and took possession of the fort, putting 
 Captain Porter in command. Mackinaw was also 
 garrisoned. On the first of July, 1 796, Michigan, 
 for the first time, became an American possession. 
 
 On his return from this duty, General Wayne 
 started eastward, to deal with charges made against 
 him by General Wilkinson, who had acted a very 
 ungenerous part in striving to belittle the exploits 
 of an officer whose fame has been amply vindicated 
 by time, and with whom now his assailant's reputa- 
 tion will bear no comparison. No one ever had a 
 stronger hold on the administration of the western 
 people than Mad Anthony, and his memory has not 
 faded. 
 
 The brave soldier, who had escaped the perils of 
 many battles, was seized on his way to Erie with a 
 violent attack of gout which proved speedily fatal. 
 He was buried at Erie. Many years afterwards, 
 when his son disinterred the remains to remove 
 them to a place among his kindred, the body was 
 found uncorrupted and sound as if it had been 
 embalmed." 
 
 ' Burnet. 
 
CHAPTER IX. ... 
 
 MICHIGAN LNDKK IHK NOklHWKSI IKkklTOkV AND 
 
 INDIANA. 
 
 TiiK peninsula of Michigan was not allowed to 
 pass into American hands without a struggle. It 
 was not until two days after the time fixed by 
 Jay's Treaty for surrendering the western posts, 
 that the Legislature of Upper Canada reluctantly 
 passed an act to discontinue holding courts at 
 Detroit and Mackinaw. 
 
 In the summer of 1 795, when it became cer- 
 tain that the execution of the Treaty of Green- 
 ville would remove the ^ast obstacle to the posses- 
 sion of the country by the Americans, a plan was 
 formed by several merchants residing in Detroit 
 and in the Parish of Assumption in Canada across 
 the river, to secure the control of the Territory, 
 by purchasing all the land. To do this it was 
 thought necessary to impress upon the minds of 
 congressmen the idea that no reliance could be 
 placed on the peaceable disposition of the Indians, 
 and that the Detroit merchants were the only 
 persons that could control them. Where such 
 persuasion failed to produce conviction, a gigantic 
 
Chap. IX. | CONSPIRACY TO RFGAIN MICHIGAN 
 
 199 
 
 system of bribery was to be used to accomplish 
 the desired end. A company, the known western 
 members of which were the two Askins, Jonathan 
 Schiefflin, WilHam and David Robertson, Robert 
 Innis and Richard Pattinson, was organized, with 
 a proposed stock of forty-one shares, of which 
 five were for the Detroit partners, six allotted to 
 hlbenezer Allen, of V'ermont, and his eastern 
 associates, six to one Robert Randall, of Phil- 
 adelphia, and his associates, and the remaining 
 twenty-four to members of Congress, with the 
 understanding that they could take money instead, 
 if they preferred it. Ebenezer Allen and Charles 
 Whitney, of Vermont, and Robert Randall, of 
 Philadelphia, were to deal with the members. 
 Randall and Whitney began the task, and 
 approached several representatives. They desired 
 to obtain from Congress a grant of the whole 
 Lower Peninsula of Michigan, for which they 
 offered to pay half a million of dollars, or, if need 
 be, a million, and to assume the risk of getting 
 up the Indian title. 
 
 Among others applied to were Theodore 
 .Sedgwick, William Smith of South Carolina, Mr. 
 Murray of Maryland, William B. Giles of Virginia, 
 and Daniel Buck of Vermont. They conferred 
 with the President, and by concert all avoided 
 exciting the suspicion of the agents, and managed 
 to get precise information of the whole extent 
 and details of the scheme. Mr. Sedijwick was 
 entrusted with the memorial, to present it to the 
 House. 
 
200 
 
 RANDALL AND WHITNEY ARRESTED. [Chap. IX. 
 
 On the 2Sth day of December, 1 795, these 
 gentlemen, after the petition had been presented 
 and referred, arose in their places and divulged 
 the whole matter to Congress. Randall and 
 Whitney, who were the only ones that had 
 approached either of them, were arrested, and 
 ordered to answer for contempt. Whitney, who 
 does not appear to have done much, answered 
 fully and was finally discharged. Randall was 
 more pugnacious, and was punished by imprison- 
 ment. He claimed to have obtained pledges 
 from several members, who took no part in expos- 
 ing him. The House, with a very ill-judged 
 squeamishness, objected to having names of mem- 
 bers given, and questions calling for them were 
 ruled out. It is sadly to be feared that it was 
 not impossible, in those days, for members of 
 Congress to be attracted by an operation with a 
 certainty of great profit in it. ■ 
 
 Of course, after this exposure, the scheme 
 failed. The Indian purchases before referred to, 
 which would have been legalized if Congress had 
 made this sale, were no doubt concocted with a 
 view to it. That it was not designed to keep the 
 country for American purposes, will appear from 
 the fact that, under Jay's Treaty, all the partners 
 residing on the American side of Detroit River 
 mkde their election in writing to remain British 
 subjects ; and all but Schiefflin afterwards retired 
 to Canada. 
 
 It is needless to speculate on the probable 
 
Chaf. IX.J BRITISH ADHERENTS. 201 
 
 results of the success of such a scheme. Michigan 
 would never have become a prosperous American 
 State, and the whole northwest might have been 
 a British Province. No part of the country was 
 Americanized for a long time, except the : ountry 
 immediately depending on Detroit and Mackinaw. 
 The white setders at the Sault Ste. Marie, and 
 about Green Bay, remained attached to the British 
 interests, and raised volunteers to aid in the 
 capture of Mackinaw in the war of 1812. Mack- 
 inaw itself, as appears from the State Papers of 
 the United States, was infested by treasonable 
 inhabitants, who were never adequately dealt with 
 for their treachery, beyond receiving a good share 
 of contempt among their neighbors. 
 
 How Schiefflin withdrew from his election, or 
 how he became rehabilitated as an American 
 citizen, does not appear; but he certainly became 
 one, and, not many years after, he was a judge 
 of common pleas in Detroit, and a useful delegate 
 at Chillicothe. He had large landed possessions, 
 and failed to make out a good title to many 
 more, which he claimed from Indian grants. He 
 was a favorite among the Indians, and an adopted 
 member of some of the tribes, being styled in a 
 grant from the Ottawa, Chippewa and Potawa- 
 tamie tribes as " our adopted brother and chief 
 in our said Nations, by the names of Ottason 
 and Minawinima."' 
 
 » ottason (with the French pronounciation Atasson,) signifies a store- 
 keeper or trader. Minawinima, a foul talker. This last name was that of 
 a chief who probably exchanged names with SchiefHin. — Vidt Baraga. 
 
202 SOCIAL RELATIONS. [Chap. IX, 
 
 He subsecjuently returned to his old home in 
 New York, and lived to a good old age. In 
 1 797 he. with Jacobus Visgar, Richard Pattinson 
 and Robert Innis, sold theii Indian title to the 
 south-eastern part of Michigan to William S. 
 Smith of New York City, for two hundred 
 thousand pounds York currency, or half a million 
 dollars, taking back a mortgage (never paid) for 
 the entire purchase money. If any further ex- 
 |ieriments were made with Congress, they were 
 not published, and the speculation failed. 
 
 The change of allegiance made no change in 
 the social relations of most of the citizens. 1 hey 
 had been old associates and good neighbors, and 
 had no personal quarrels over it. It was generally 
 felt that in the main the course of the British 
 sympathizers was such as might fairly have been 
 expected from those who had felt no political 
 grievances, and it was also known that the British 
 Ministry, in its extreme courses, did not fairly 
 represent the British people, from whom the entire 
 heritage of American liberty had descended. The 
 tory refugees from New York were not, however, 
 looked upon with much complacency by the 
 Americans ; and the new comers from the Eastern 
 States were not much better received by the 
 French, who had a vague dread of being talked 
 out of their farms before they knew it, by these 
 glib-tongued bargainers. But time, and the enforced 
 companionship of a little frontier town, soon 
 smoothed away their prejudices ; and Detroit 
 
Chai'. IX.] l.EGAI. AKKAIRS. 203 
 
 was, in its early days, a place of more than usual 
 social harmony. 
 
 It now became evident that the policy of pre- 
 venting setdements had |jroduced one very fortu- 
 nate result. The amount of land lawfully owned or 
 claimed by private persons in actual occupancy, was 
 so insignificant, that the change from French to 
 Knglish, and from ['English to American rule, was 
 not felt in our legal relations. As there had never 
 been any law regularly administered, unless for a 
 very short time, and as, under the Quebec Act, wills 
 could be mad(' according to either Flnglish or 
 French law, tio questions were likely to arise except 
 as to inheritances ; and here the American law was 
 more like the French than the English, as it did not 
 devolve estates by primogeniture. It was very 
 common for French land-owners to make disposition 
 of their estates among their children, which became 
 operative before their own decease. The ordinance 
 of 1787, which attached when the cession was com- 
 plete, produced no shock whatever : as the English 
 traders had always followed the common law, which 
 was the basis of all proceedings under the Ordi- 
 nance. 
 
 As the statutes of Upper Canada had all been 
 passed during the usurpation, they required no 
 repeal ; and, although some rights had grown up 
 under them, they were not important legally, and 
 are of small consequence historically, unless, per- 
 haps, in relation to slavery. The Ordinance of 
 1787 had declared that "there shall neither be 
 
204 PROVINCIAL LEGISLATION. fCHAr. IX. 
 
 slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Terri- 
 tory, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, 
 whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." 
 Not only had slavery always existed in Canada, but, 
 in 1 790, an Act of Parliament authorized the Gov- 
 ernor to grant licenses to import negroes and other 
 slaves into the Province. A very early Act of the 
 Legislature of Upper Canada prohibited further 
 importations, and provided for the emancipation of 
 all slave children thereafter born, on reaching the 
 age of twenty-five. An Act was also passed for 
 greater caution, and not from any real difficulty, 
 whereby all marriages solemnized theretofore by 
 magistrates, commanders of posts, adjutants or 
 surgeons, acting as chaplains, were legalized. By 
 the remarks of some of the advocates as well as of 
 the opponents of the Quebec Bill, it appears that 
 some doubts arose originally in regard to the legal 
 powers of the clergy and others in various cases, 
 and there were times when there w^ere neither Pro- 
 testant nor Catholic ministers in some of the settle- 
 ments. When Father Richard arrived at Detroit, in 
 1798, he celebrated with the rites ot the church 
 many marriages that had previously been performed 
 civilly. No other provincial legislation requires 
 reference. 
 
 The only provisions of Jay's Treaty, under which 
 litigation subsequently arose, were Article 2, 
 which protected all traders and others in the enjoy- 
 ment of all their property of every kind, and which 
 allowed them though resident to rerain their old 
 
CHAr. IX.] WAYNE COUNTY. 
 
 allegiance, by declaring their intention within a year 
 after the evacuation of the posts; and Article 9, 
 which allowed existing estates to be transferred, 
 or to descend, wifhout reference to alienage. 
 
 On the iSth of August, 1796, Winthrop Sargent, 
 acting Governor of the Northwest Territory, by 
 Letters Patent under the Great Seal, set apart the 
 new County of Wayne. Its boundaries extended 
 from the Cuyahoga River westward about to the 
 dividing line now existing between Indiana and 
 Illinois, and thence northward to the national 
 boundary line, including all of the subsequent 
 Territory of Michigan, and a portion of Ohio and 
 Indiana. The county seat was Detroit, which is 
 still the county seat of the County of Wayne, 
 much shrunken from those generous dimensions. 
 
 At or about the same time Governor Sargent 
 organized the militia, and the Court of Common 
 Pleas for Wayne County, which was, like the 
 former Canadian court of the same name, a 
 court of record of extensive jurisdiction, presided 
 over by lay judges, who were business men 
 chosen for their probity and intelligence. Louis 
 Beaufait was first Senior Justice, and James May, 
 Charles Girardin, Patrick McNiff and Nathan 
 Williams, were early Justices. The appointments 
 to all judicial offices were made by the Executive. 
 There was one session at Detroit each year, of 
 the Supreme Court of the Territory, Those 
 judges were appointed by the President and 
 Senate, and, at the time of the organization of 
 
206 COURIS I'DBI.U I.ANIi^. fCHAP. IX. 
 
 Wayiu: Couiily, were Kiifus Putnam, John Clevt;s 
 Syinmcs, and Cieorgc TiirntT. Putnam resigned 
 the same year, and was succeeded by Joseph 
 (iilhnan. 'I\irn(;r hail left the« Territory in the 
 spring of 1796, and resigned while absent. Return 
 J. Meigs was appointed to succeed him in 1 79S. 
 By the laws then in force one judge could hold 
 the court. Judge Symmes attended every term 
 that was held in Detroit, until Michigan was 
 separated from Ohio. 
 
 As the Ordinance of i 787 was the constitution 
 of the whole northwest, it demands some refer- 
 ence, although familiar to the readers of American 
 history. After the peace of 1 783, it became a 
 serious cjuestion what to do with the lands be- 
 longing to the United States, and not within any 
 single .State. All of Michigan and Wisconsin, 
 and parts of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, were un- 
 (juestionably treaty ac(}uisitions ; while the re- 
 mainder of the Northwest Territory was claimed 
 by conflicting States. The Articles of Confeder- 
 ation did not provide for such an emergency 
 expressly, and the government of the confeder- 
 ation was not adapted for ordinary legislation, 
 having neither executive nor judiciary. 
 
 The .States having pretensions over the country 
 finally made cessions of it, upon jealously drawn 
 conditions, not for dieir own benefit, but for that 
 of the people of the Territory. The whole trans- 
 action was more in the nature of a supplementary 
 treaty, or convention, than of a law : and the 
 
( H*r IX I ORKINANCK OK KKIHTV SK.VEN 
 
 207 
 
 ( )rclinaiuf ol 17.S7. it" it is rcj^ar(U;cl as a statute, 
 is tlu! only instrument of that nature ever passed 
 by the Congress ol" the con feile ration. It was 
 not. however, properly a statute; for all public 
 statutes are subject to repeal. This instrument 
 was not subject to be altered in its most im- 
 portant provisions, althouijh as to others it prob- 
 ably was liable to alteration. It is somewhat 
 sinj^ular that, in adoptinj^ a larj^je stream for the 
 southern boundary of the Territory, Virginia, in- 
 stead of making the middle thread of the Ohio 
 River the dividing line, retained jurisdiction over 
 all the stream. 
 
 This important .Act of State, adopted on the 
 I .Uh tlay of July, 1787, may most properl)' be 
 called a constitution; since it vested the whole 
 original legislative authority in other bodies than 
 Congress, and in some particulars was meant to 
 operate as a permanent compact between the 
 United States and the people of the Territory. 
 Its general features were as follows: It established 
 temporary rules of descent and succession, and for 
 the manner of tlisposing of property inter vivos 
 and by will. A governor was to be appointed 
 from time to time by Congress, for terms of three 
 years, 'but removable. A secretary was to hold 
 for four years unless removed, and three judges 
 were to hold during good behavior. A majority 
 of the governor and judges were to adopt from 
 the States such laws as were suited to the Terri- 
 tory, to be in force till di.sapproved by Con- 
 
208 ORDINANCE OF ■EIGHTY-SEVEN rCMA». IX. 
 
 jjress, or altered by the future Lej^jslature. The 
 Board afterwards obtained the power of aia ration 
 and repeal. The Governor made all appointments 
 except judjres and secretary, (who were appointed 
 by Congress,) antl could lay out counties and 
 townships, and appoint magistrates and other civil 
 as well as military officers, at his pleasure. In 
 this he had the amplest prerogative. Wlien the 
 popular assembly should be organized, all this was 
 subject to their legislative control. But Congress 
 retained no powers of immediate legislation for 
 itself. 
 
 As soon as there should be five thousand free 
 male inhabitants, an assembly was to be elected, 
 with one member for each five hundred free male 
 inhabitants, until the assembly should contain 
 twenty-five members, when the number was to be 
 fixed by them. An upper house or council, of five 
 members, was to be selected by Congress, from 
 ten persons nominated by the representatives. 
 Representatives were to serve two years, and coun- 
 cillors five. The Governor had an absolute veto, 
 with power to assemble, prorogue, and dissolve 
 the Legislature. 
 
 Six articles were declared to be articles of com- 
 pact between the original States and the people 
 and States of the Territory, to forever remain un- 
 alterable, unless by common consent. These were. 
 First, Religious toleration. Second, A declaration 
 or bill of rights and liberties. Third, That " reli- 
 gion, morality and knowledge being necessary to 
 
CuAt. IX.) ORDINANCE OF 'KIGHTY SKVF.N. 
 
 209 
 
 good government, and the happiness of mankind, 
 schools and the means of echication shall forever 
 he encourajj^ed." Also that the Indians should be 
 protected in their rij^^hts and security, and fairly 
 dealt with. Four///, Perpetual union, and proper 
 contribution to the j^eneral burdens; immunity 
 from taxation, and respect for I'nited States lands 
 and titlefi ; ecpiality of taxes for non-residents ; and 
 free use of ways and waters for citizens of other 
 .States. /'{//*//. That not less than three, nor more 
 than five. States should be formed ; — if three, to 
 be divided by north and south lines from points 
 named ; if four or five, they were to be divided by 
 the same lines running north and up to an east 
 and west line through the extreme south point of 
 Lake Michigan ; and all north of that line was to 
 form one or two States, as Congress should de- 
 termine. Each State had assured to it a right to 
 be admitted into the Union, as soon as it should 
 contain sixty thousand free inhabitants. • Sixth, 
 That neither slavery nor involuntary servitude 
 should be allowed except in punishment of crime ; 
 but fugitives from labor should be subject to 
 reclamation. 
 
 When the Constitution of the United States 
 came into complete operation, in 1 789, one of 
 the first acts of Congress adapted the ordinance 
 to it, by transferring to the President and Senate 
 the powers of a purely executive nature which 
 had before been vested in Congress. The only 
 other change made the Secretary acting Governor, 
 14 
 
210 
 
 INDIAN RKSI'ECT FOR KKJNITIES, |tiiM. IX. 
 
 during- the Ciovernor's absence, removal or 
 resij^nation. 
 
 One term ot tin; Supreme Court was held 
 each year at Detroit ; and Jiidi^e Burnet informs 
 us that from 1796 until 1S03, when the separa- 
 tion took place, neither he, Judge Symnies, nor 
 Mr. St. Clair, (who was the Governor's son and 
 attorney general) ever missed a term. He gives 
 a lively account of the difficulties and hardships, 
 as well as amusing incidents, attending the long- 
 horseback rides from Cincinnati to Detroit, and 
 to the other counties. Among other things, he 
 describes a curious game of foot ball at the /\u 
 Glaize village, where the Shawnee Blue Jacket, 
 and Buckongahelas, the old Delaware chief, resided, 
 between men and women, in which, by the 
 prowess of a gigantic scjuaw, the game was decided 
 for the women. On their return several weeks 
 after, they found Blue Jacket had obtained a large 
 quantity of whiskey, and the people were all 
 drunk. He tells with much humor how a very 
 ancient squaw insisted on preferring Mr. .St. 
 Clair above the rest, whom she scornfully char- 
 acterised as " milish." not to be compared to the 
 " big man — Governor's son" whom she honored 
 with a profusion of drunken motherly kisses. 
 
 Judge Burnet, (who in this regard speaks from 
 his own observation, and is confirmed by his 
 contemporaries,) expresses himself very strongly 
 upon the wrongs done the Indians, in not pro- 
 tecting Lhem from the vices of the whites, until 
 
Chai'. IX. J 
 
 INDIAN CHARACTKR 211 
 
 they could have become settled down in peaceful 
 industry. He says distinctly that until 1 795, after 
 the Treaty of (ireenville, they were di^^^nified and 
 independent in their intercourse with the whites, 
 and received as ecjuals, and that they were in no 
 respect an inferior race by nature, and were as 
 capable of improvement as any people. History 
 shows that, for a couple of centurit-s after the 
 first settlement in Canada, the Indian tribes were 
 in several instances the only farmers in the 
 countr)'. and supplit;d the whites. In Michigan, 
 Ohio and Indiana, their villaj^es were neat, and 
 their lands well laid out and well tilled. Those 
 who have attended Indian councils can bear wit- 
 ness to the keenness of their intellects, and the 
 wonderful accuracy of their memories ; and such 
 of them as have received an education are as 
 well advanced by their training as any people. 
 If white men were compelled to live as nomads, 
 and hold no lands as private homesteads, all the 
 resources of education and civilization would be 
 equally thrown away upon them. The cold blooded 
 policy which has first demoralized the Indians, 
 and then refused to help them because they were 
 demoralized, is a disgrace to humanity. 
 
 The establishment of a regular course of justice 
 opened a wide field of litigation, and for several 
 years the court business at Detroit was large and 
 lucrative. The British and other travellers who 
 visited the country in 1 796. and shortl)' there- 
 after, expressed their surprise at the number and 
 
212 SOCIAL LIFE AT DETROIT. [Chap. IX. 
 
 wealth of the merchants, and the extent of their 
 business, and stated that all kinds of articles were 
 nearly as cheap in Detroit as in New York and 
 Philadelphia. The people were gay and pros- 
 perous, and indulged as freely in the pomps and 
 vanities of dress and amusements as their contem- 
 poraries in the elegant circles of the east. The 
 truthtelling inventories of the estates of the in- 
 habitants who had done with the world, include 
 plate and silks, and all manner of luxuries, as 
 well as the " litres de noblesse'^ which had ceased 
 to be important among the new fledged republi- 
 cans. On the 4th of June, 1800, during the term 
 of court at Detroit, the court and bar, and all the 
 officers who could be spared of the two regiments 
 quartered at the fort, with a host of citizens, were 
 invited to Sandwich to a banquet and ball in 
 honor of the King's birthday ; and a company of 
 between four and five hundred, from both sides 
 of the river, enjoyed a pleasant and courteous 
 intercourse. The next day, the court and bar, 
 with others, were taken on a Government vessel 
 to Fort Maiden, (then not completed,) and after 
 hospitable treatment proceeded across the lake. 
 The magnates of the fur trade had not lost their 
 Scottish habits of conviviality: and Judge Burnet's 
 stories of Angus Mackintosh's liberal feasting and 
 wassailing remind one of Scott's pictures of the 
 same period in the land of their origin. 
 
 • Many Canadian gentlemen received letters of nobility for services in 
 war and discovery. In making up the inventories of estates it was customary 
 to include all papers and titles. Such an item occurs in the inventory of 
 Fontenay Dequindre, and probably in many more. 
 
Chap. IX.] DETROIT DESCRIBED. 213 
 
 As there are not many printed descriptions 
 of Detroit belonging to the period of the first 
 American occupation, some extracts from the 
 Letters of Isaac Weld,' an Irish gentleman of 
 subsequent literary prominence, who visited this 
 region in the autumn of 1796, may be worth 
 copying. ♦ 
 
 " The houses in this part of the country are 
 all built in a similar style to those in Lower 
 Canada ; the lands are laid out and cultivated 
 also similarly to those in the lower province ; the 
 manners and persons of the inhabitants are the 
 same. French is the predominant language, and 
 the traveller may fancy for a moment, if he 
 pleases, that he has been wafted by enchantment 
 back again into the neighborhood of Montreal or 
 Three Rivers. All the principal posts throughout 
 the western country, along the lakes, the Ohio, 
 the Illinois, etc., were established by the French ; 
 but except at Detroit and in the neighborhood, 
 and in the Illinois country, the French settlers 
 have become so blended with the greater number 
 who spoke English, that their language has every- 
 where died away. ' - 
 
 " Detroit contains about three hundred houses, 
 and is the largest town in the western country. 
 It stands contiguous to the river, on the top of 
 
 • Mr. Weld spent parts of the years 1795, '79^ ^"d 1797 in America, 
 and much of liis time was passed in the United States. He was a good 
 observer, though very bitterly prejudiced. Mr Ticknor met him in Ireland 
 many years afterward, and he then assured Mr. T. that his views had 
 become changed. — i Ticknor's Btogtaphy, p. ^2^. 
 
214 DETROIT. 
 
 fCHAr. IX. 
 
 the banks which are here about twenty feet high. 
 At the bottom of them there are very extensive 
 wharfs for the accommodation of the shipping, 
 buih of wood, similar to those in the Atlantic 
 sea-ports. The town consists of several streets 
 that run parallel to the river, which are inter- 
 sected by others at right angles. They are all 
 very narrow, and not being paved, dirty in the 
 extreme whenever it happens to rain ; for the 
 accommodation of passengers, however, there are 
 footways in most of them, formed of s(juare logs, 
 laid transversely close to each other. The town 
 is surrounded by a strong stockade, through which 
 there are four gates ; two of them open to the 
 wharfs, and the two others to the north and 
 south' side of the town respectively. The gates 
 are defended by strong block-houses, and on the 
 west [north] side of the town is a small fort in 
 form of a square, with bastions at the angles. 
 At each of the corners ot this fort is planted a 
 small field-piece, and these constitute the whole of 
 the ordnance at present in the place. The British 
 kept a considerable train of artillery here, but 
 the place was never capable of holding out for 
 any length of time against a regular force ; the 
 fortifications, indeed, were constructed chiefly as a 
 defence against the Indians."' P. 351. 
 
 I Mr. Weld, like most strangers, mistook the points of the compass, 
 by failing to notice the bend at the town, which fronts southward and 
 not eastward. I'he gates were at the ea.st and west ends. 
 
 i In this the writer is in error. .Major I.ernoult constructed this fort 
 (Inrinii llu- American Revolution, to defend the place against the Americans. 
 
CiiAi IX. I DETkOir, 215 
 
 "About two-thirds of tht: inhabitants of Detroit 
 are of French extraction, and the greater part of 
 the inhabitants of the settlements on the river, 
 both above and below the town, are of the same 
 description. The former are mostly engaged in 
 trade, and they all appear to be much on an 
 equality. Detroit is a place of very considerable 
 trade ; there are no less than twelve trading 
 vessels belonging to it, brigs, sloops and schooners, 
 of from fifty to one hundred tons burthen each." 
 " The stores and shops in the town are well 
 furnished, and you may buy fine cloth, linen, etc., 
 and every article of wearing apparel, as good in 
 their kind, and nearly on as reasonable terms, as 
 you can purchase them at New \'ork or 
 Philadelphia. • 
 
 "The inhabitants are well supplied with pro- 
 visions of every description ; the fish in particular, 
 caught in the river and neighboring lakes, are of 
 a very superior quality. The fish held in most 
 estimadon is a sort of large trout, called the 
 Michillimakinac white fish, from its being caught 
 mostly in the straits of that name." P. 352. 
 
 "The country round Detroit is uncommonly Hat, 
 and in none of the rivers is there a fall sufficient 
 to turn even a grist mill. The current of Detroit 
 River itself is stronger than that of any others, 
 and a floating mill was once invented by a 
 Frenchman, which was chained in the middle of 
 that river, where it was thought the stream would 
 be sufficiently swift to turn the water-wheel ; the 
 
216 ' MILLS. ' [Cma». IX. 
 
 building of it was attended with considerable 
 expense to the inhabitants, but after it was 
 finished it by no means answered their expect- 
 ations. They grind their corn at present by wind 
 mills, which I do not remember to have seen in 
 any other part of North America." P. 354. 
 
 The author was mistaken concerning the 
 absence of water power. There is a consider- 
 able though gradual rise from the Detroit River 
 northward, and the water is distributed from a 
 reservoir upon high ground within the city so as 
 to reach the upper stories of high buildings. 
 Within living memory, there were streams within 
 the present limits of the city on which water-mills 
 once existed. Campau's mill has been referred 
 to already. A mill also stood on the Cass Farm, 
 upon the River Savoyard. Two mills were driven 
 by the waters of Bloody Run, one near the 
 " Pontiac Tree," where the stream crossed what 
 is now Jefferson Avenue, and one near the Fort 
 Gratiot Road. Mr. Tremble also had a water 
 mill on Tremble's (now Connor's) Creek, at or 
 near the starting point of the Moravian Road. 
 
 The wind mills, which have now mostly dis- 
 appeared, were once seen on every headland and 
 point, and their white sails revolving in the wind 
 presented a pleasant spectacle on a fair summer 
 day. They were all built alike, in circular form, 
 with a broad sloping stone foundation and up- 
 right wooden body, surmounted by a conical roof, 
 which was turned by a long timber sweep, so as 
 
Chap. IX.] MARIETTA COLONISTS. 217" 
 
 to bring the sails into position. One of these 
 wind mills, on the American side opposite Sand- 
 wich or Montreal Point, (on the Gobaie Farm, 
 since known as the Knaggs, and Bela Hubbard 
 Farm) had the reputation of being haunted, but 
 th^ legend has escaped the antiquarian, and is 
 now lost. , i 
 
 The town of Marietta, Ohio, was founded in 
 1789 by a colony from New England, embracing 
 some of the ablest men that came to the West ; 
 and the pattern they set, of caring for schools and 
 churches in the very beginning of their undertak- 
 ing, was of infinite service in shaping the future of 
 the Territory. Most of them had seen honorable 
 service, and borne rank in the Revolutionary Army, 
 and they were men of culture and refinement, as 
 well as good sense and energy. In after days 
 Michigan received many valuable citizens from 
 that colony. The first new settler in Detroit after 
 the occupation was from that place. Solomon 
 Sibley arrived in 1 797. He was then a promi- 
 nent lawyer, and, as the first member in time, was 
 also during his professional career second to no 
 one in character or ability. After filling other pub- 
 lic stations, he became one of the Judges of the 
 Supreme Court, and so remained until he felt com- 
 pelled to retire in old age from deafness. He was 
 one of. those men of sturdy honesty and native 
 sagacity, whose learning and judgment are never 
 obscured by egotism or warped by eccentricity, 
 and who by manly frankness and solid wisdom 
 
218 r.KNKRAI. CASS fCiiAr. IX. 
 
 an; the best jj^uides and sak.-st reliance o( yonnj^ 
 commonwealths. Those distinguished pioneers 
 found it easy to adapt themselves to the ways ot 
 the wilderness, and the traininir of the schools did 
 not unfit them for the work of the settler. When, 
 three or four years later, Judjji-e .Sibley brouj^ht 
 home from Marietta his younj^ bride (a daughter 
 of Colonel l",benezer Sproat, and ij^randdau^hter of 
 Commodore Whipple, both of Revolutionary repu- 
 tation,), they haltetl their horses one eveninsj^ at 
 the hospitable home of Major b^'iathan Cass, where 
 Lewis Cass, then fresh from Dartmouth, was pound- 
 ing samp in a hollow stump. This was the first 
 meeting of two gentlemen who were destined to 
 be friends and coadjutors through many years of 
 stirring events, and both of them lived to see the 
 Northwest Territory transmuted into populous and 
 prosperous States. 
 
 The early days of all communities are full of 
 amusing occurrences. Where newspapers are not 
 in circulation, and there are no frequent comings 
 and goings of travellers, each town and hamlet 
 furnishes its own comedies and dramas, and every 
 one feels bound to contribute what he can to en- 
 liven it. The Bar is somewhat noted for its prone- 
 ness to such mischief, and the young barristers, 
 who found plenty of leisure in the intervals of 
 Court, did their full share. The distinguished elders 
 of the Common Pleas were on one occasion, re- 
 corded in their journal, led into furnishing their 
 (|uota. They held their sessions in the ball-room 
 
CiiAi'. IX. I ELKCTION UK REI'KF.SKNTATIVES. 
 
 219 
 
 of Mr. I )()(k'nica(l, who kept a noted tavern near 
 tlu: present Michit^an Ivxchanjj^e. His bar-room 
 having proved tc.'mpting to the soldiers, Colonel 
 Strong, the Commander, placed a sentry at the 
 door to keep them out. Colonel fi!lijah Brush, the 
 Public Attorney, noticing this on his way up stairs, 
 proceeded to startle the Court by suggesting to 
 their Honors a doubt whether, as being under 
 military duress, their proceedings might not be in- 
 \'alid. The Court, after due consideration, refer- 
 red the matter to the waggish counsel to be 
 reported upon. In due time he made his report, 
 so skilfully drawn as to leave the main question 
 ill hopeless obscurity. The commanding officer, 
 however, removed his sentinel, and the civil au- 
 thority regained its liberty. , 
 
 In 1 79<S. the Territory had acquired the num- 
 ber of inhabitants which entitled it to a General 
 Assembly, and three members were allotted to 
 Wayne County. The elections were then held 
 vhur :>o(i\ and not by ballot. Solomon Sibley, Jacob 
 X'isger, and Charles F. Chabert de Joncaire (the 
 Chevalier de Joncaire before mentioned), were 
 chosen Representatives. The Legislature was sum- 
 moned to meet at Cincinnati, on the 4th of Feb- 
 ruary, I 799. The first Council consisted ot James 
 Findlay (afterwards Colonel during the war of 
 1 81 2, and with the army at Detroit,) Judge Jacob 
 Burnet, of Cincinnati ; Henry V^anderburgh, (after- 
 wards a Judge of Indiana Territory) ; David Vance 
 and Robert Oliver, (a Colonel of the Revolution.) 
 
220 I'ERKl lURIAL LAWS. [Cma». IX. 
 
 (jcneral William Henry Harrison was chosen 
 Delegate to Congress. 
 
 The previous Territorial Code adopted by the 
 Governor and Judges was found very imperfect, 
 and the Legislature had much work to do in sup- 
 plying its defects, especially in regard to that large 
 class of cases involving remedies not found in 
 common law proceedings, and usually granted in 
 equity. The courts had not been granted equity 
 powers. The delegate was instructed to obtain 
 for the Territory the title to the sixteenth section 
 of lands in each township, and the entire township 
 of land, which had been promised by the Govern- 
 ment in aid of schools and colleges. The Legis- 
 lature also passed laws for the protection of the 
 Indians, and especially to prevent the sale of ard- 
 ent spirits. There was a strong feeling against 
 the extent of the Governor's veto power, as well 
 as his assumed power to control the entire di- 
 vision and erection of towns and counties ; and 
 Congress was petitioned to restrict them. Gover- 
 nor St. Clair was very much inclined to use the 
 veto power, and did it so freely that legisla- 
 tion was almost suspended, and the organization 
 of the State became desirable to avoid further 
 trouble. 
 
 The munificent scheme of devoting a certain 
 proportion of the public lands to education, 
 was devised in the earliest days of the Re- 
 public. In 1785, the sixteenth section in each 
 township of six miles square was first pledged to 
 
CMAr. IX.l SCHOOLS. LAND TITLES. 221 
 
 the support of the schools of such townships, and 
 in th(; great Symrrjes purchase one township was 
 to be used for the purpose of higher education. 
 This early recognition of the necessity of schools 
 and colleges, enforced in the form of a perpetual 
 compact between the Government and the people 
 and States in the Territory, has been a source 
 and stimulus of intelligence, the importance of 
 which cannot be estimated. The duty of the State 
 to educate her children, generously and thoroughly, 
 can never be disregarded without violating the 
 pledges on which the rights of the State and Ter- 
 ritory were created. 
 
 While the population of Wayne County was 
 large compared with that of other parts of the 
 Territory, there was a serious obstacle in the way 
 of its advancement. The Indian title had only 
 been extinguished in a strip six miles wide be- 
 tween the River Raisin and Lake St. Clair ; a 
 small tract about Mackinaw, and a few detached 
 parcels that afterwards fell within Ohio. The De- 
 troit settlement was regarded as the most pros- 
 perous in the Northwest. That at Mackinaw was 
 likely to become important. But until more lands 
 should be brought into market there could be no 
 rapid growth. No steph had yet been taken to 
 ascertain what lands had been lawfully transferred 
 under the French and British rule, and this also 
 stood in the way of further settlement. Efforts 
 were made to bring these matters into adjust- 
 ment, but some years passed before any progress 
 was reached. 
 
222 
 
 DIVrSION OK IHI' IKKKriDkV IChap. IX 
 
 In I Scxj an act (jI Coiit^^ress prox itU-d that atlcr 
 July 4th of that year the TtTritory should he dividfil. 
 throvvinj4 into tin- new TtTritory of Inthana tht- 
 country inchided in two ot tht- thrt-c orij^inall) 
 proposed States contemplated by the ( )rdinance of 
 1787. The Hne between Indiana and the remainder 
 was run due north from I'ort Recover) to the 
 National boundary in Lake Superior, passing a 
 few miles west of Mackinaw. It was for a time 
 in doubt whether Mackinaw was in Indiana or the 
 Northwest Territory. General Harrison was first 
 Governor of Indiana, and Juiloe \'anderbur<^di's 
 residence there made a vacancy in tht: Council, 
 which was filled by the selection of Judge .Sible\'. 
 The seat of government was removed by Con- 
 gress from Cincinnati to Chillicothe, a step which 
 caused much discontent, and which was regarded 
 as an infraction of the stipulations of the ( )rdi- 
 nance of 1787, which gave the Legislature of the 
 Territory plenary powers of legislation. The 
 Council thereupon passed a bill fixing the met^t- 
 ings in rotation at Marietta, Cincinnati and Chilli- 
 cothe. The House agreed in the right to do this, 
 but disagreed as to the places, and nothing more 
 was done at that time. 
 
 Accordingly, in November, 1801, the Legis- 
 lature assembled in Chillicothe, where they re- 
 mained in session, until January 23, 1802. At 
 this session the town of Detroit was incorporated, 
 with a Board of Trustees, and with power to 
 make by-laws and ordinances for the regulation 
 
CiiAi. 1X.| IHsniRHANt E Al i HII l.l( .HHK 228 
 
 of tin- town. Jiul^t! Sihltty was succt*<nlf(l in the 
 1 lousf In Jonathan Scliicttlin ol" Detroit, who 
 played a prominent part (hirin>4 the session. 
 The removal of the seat of ^ajvernment to 
 Chillicothe was very severely criticised by various 
 members, and the- people of that town were 
 charjj^ed with intrii;uinj4 for it. and the (Jovernor 
 had also expressed himself against it. Mr. 
 .Schieftlin had been especially emphatic in de- 
 nouncing it. A mob of townspeople, coun- 
 tenanced by prominent citizens, created a riot, 
 ami assembleil befori' the house where the (iover- 
 nor and .Schieftlin lodgetl. They at length forced 
 the door, when Mr. .Schieftlin met them with a 
 brace of* loaded pistols, and drove them back into 
 the street. They kept up their disturbances twt) 
 nights without serious harm to any one. Hut 
 the Legislature, to signify their sense of this con- 
 duct, adjourned to meet at Cincinnati the next 
 November. 
 
 Movements were now set on foot which were 
 to terminate in the speedy establishment of a 
 new .State. Wayne County was not consulted 
 by the promoters of the scheme, as Judge Burnet 
 states, for political reasons. On the 30th of 
 April, i<So2, an Act of Congress was passed 
 authorizing the people in that part of the Territory 
 east of Indiana, and south of the line running 
 east from the southerly point of Lake Michigan, 
 to adopt a constitution. All north of that line 
 was annexed to Indiana, but Congress reserved 
 
224 
 
 ANNEXATION TO INDIANA. [Chap. IX. 
 
 power either to make it a separate State o- *^ 
 attach it to Ohio. The people of Wayne ^ 
 
 were very much incensed at being given no voice 
 in the determination of their future, and at being 
 deprived of the right of representation ; while 
 there was a similar feeling in some parts of Ohio, 
 arising from a conviction that it was a political 
 trick to secure particular results. Judge Burnet 
 published in his Notes on the Northwestern 
 Territory some interesting documents showing 
 the extent of the feeling concerning the treat- 
 ment of Wayne County. 
 
 The union with Indiana was so brief that it 
 has left no traces behind it. The Legislative 
 power being thrown into the hands of the Gov- 
 ernor and Judges, the people lost their voice in 
 the Government. If there were any laws passed 
 in the interval they are not accessible to ordinary 
 research, and they never affected rights in Michi- 
 gan appreciably. 
 
 The town of Detroit made use of its new 
 prerogatives concerning the prevention of fires, 
 and the use of streets as bowling alleys. There 
 had been some changes in the town since the 
 French days, but not many. The streets were, as 
 before, sixteen and twenty feet wide, and the 
 Chemin de Ronde twelve feet wide, but with some 
 jogs and angles widening it further in places. 
 The main fort was outside of the town, and north 
 of the River Savoyard. In front, on the Detroit 
 River, were two commodious wharves. Governor 
 
Chat. IX. J BUILDINGS IN DETROIT. 225 
 
 Hamilton had replaced the original chateau by a 
 large and fine house of hewn timber. The houses 
 generally were well-built block-houses, one-and-a- 
 half stories high, with peaked roofs ^starting but a 
 few feet from the ground, and dormer windows. 
 The only sidewalks that could be afforded in such 
 narrow ways were single timbers, squared and 
 about a foot in diameter. East of the stockade 
 were the navy garden and navy yard and ceme- 
 tery, extending a little east of Woodward Avenue. 
 There were probably some scattered dwellings on 
 the Domain outside. A space of one arpent wide 
 sold from the westerly side of the Askin or Brush 
 Farm, which joined the Domain on the east, was 
 built up from the river to Michigan Avenue with 
 for the most part good buildings, that survived the 
 fire of 1805. The lots within the old town were 
 too small and closely built to aftbrd room for courts 
 or gardens. A few, however, had purchased enough 
 to indulge in this luxury, and these were men ot 
 wealth who could afford to follow their tastes and 
 beautify their abodes. The houses, like those 
 built after 1805, were furnished with stout doors 
 and shutters, and the outer door, as in the ancient 
 New York mansions, was divided in two, so that 
 the lower half might be kept closed and the upper 
 half open, allowing all the benefit of light and air 
 without the intrusion of trespassers of the human 
 or brute creation. No vehicles were used that 
 could not be drawn b\ a single pony. In the 
 centre of each house arose an enormous chimney 
 15 
 
226 CHIMNEY ARRANGEMENTS. |Chap. IX. 
 
 with flues of large capacity, not reaching far above 
 the roof, but affording a vent to the great volumes 
 of smoke that arose from generous fire places 
 kept heaped with long beech and maple or hickory 
 wood. Cooking-stoves were not invented yet, and 
 the baking was done in large dome-like ovens, 
 built in the yard or attached to the chimney, or 
 else in bake-kettles or Dutch ovens, where coals 
 beneath and coals on the broad iron cover ac- 
 complished the work speedily. The cremaiilere, 
 or crane, (made classic by Longfellow's beautiful 
 poem, the " Hanging of the Crane") swung from 
 stout staples in the side of the chimney, with its 
 array of pots and kettles, hung on the pot-hooks 
 and trammels that gave names in our youth to the 
 first efforts of the penman ; and the savory roast 
 turned before the fire beneath the chimney-piece 
 and under the open flue, or on long horizontal 
 spits before a tin reflector. These low roofs and 
 great chimneys were not without their inconveni- 
 encies. It is told of a gentleman who in early 
 times was an exemplary judge and magistrate, that, 
 notwithstanding his dignity, he on one festival oc 
 casion, when a good neighbor was preparing a 
 grand banquet, went up to the roof, and without 
 Caleb Balderstone's necessities, dropped a line 
 with a fish-hook down the kitchen flue, while a 
 confederate sent off the cook for a moment, and 
 attached the hook to a fine turkey that had just 
 reached the proper brownness. The frightened 
 servant, returning when the bird had flown up the 
 
CBAf. IX.l CIVIC MISDEMEANORS. 227 
 
 chimney, was firmly convinced the disappearance 
 was due to nothing short of witchcraft. In 1828. 
 on a bright summer afternoon, the passers-by on 
 Jefferson avenue were surprised and startled to 
 see a large bear promenading along the ridge- 
 pole of Mr. Thibout's house (directly opposite the 
 Michigan Exchange^ and although the alarm given 
 brought out half the settlement. Bruin escaped 
 safely to the woods. 
 
 The recordii of the Trustees show a large 
 weekly list of fines, agair.st the inhabitants who 
 failed to keep their water-butts full, or their leather 
 buckets complete and within reach, or their fire- 
 bags (large canvas bags for removing goods) 
 empty, or their ladders sound. The zeal with 
 which these precautions were followed up shows 
 the constant fear and danger of fires; and was 
 almost prophetic. It was no slight charge to keep 
 up a water supply, for there were few wells, and 
 no means of drawing water but from the river by 
 carts, or in buckets swung on shoulder-yokes. 
 There were no engines; and at fires the people 
 formed double lines to the river, tht.' men to pass 
 the full buckets and the women and children the 
 empty ones, '^u-k ..T.-i,-.v.. :>:':'!'^ ■^■.:;:,r':;, ■■'. ^,^j .-.^, :..■ ;; 
 
 The other misdemeanors most common were 
 horse racing and bowling. Canadian ponies and 
 their masters were as prone to racing as the he- 
 roes of the turf in England; and no amount of 
 fining could keep the prosperous burghers from 
 trying their speed in the narrow streets of the 
 
228 PASTIMES. BRITISH FORT. (Chat. IX. 
 
 town. But a more dangerous pastime was rolling 
 cannon balls in the streets. Ninepin alleys required 
 more room than the short blocks afforded, and 
 the narrow highways were tempting substitutes, 
 while an eighteen-pound ball required strength 
 and skill to send it swiftly and straight along the 
 ground. It is not without interest to see that 
 the culprits brought before the Trustees for these 
 transgressions were not vagabonds and loafers, 
 (for the brisk settlement had no toleration for 
 such nuisances), but the solid men of business, who 
 indulged in these simple amusements with the 
 same overflowing mirth that made their kinsmen 
 in Auld Reekie spend Saturday at e'en at high 
 jinks. 
 
 The change of the sovereignty took many of 
 the wealthiest merchants into Canada, where a 
 part settled in Sandwich and a part at Amherst- 
 burgh. The British Government at once prepared 
 to build a fort at the mouth of the river on Bois- 
 blanc Island, which had been the seat of the Hu- 
 ron mission, and commanded the entrance to Lake 
 Erie. Objection was made by the United States, 
 and the question was serious enough to induce 
 the British to change their plan and build on the 
 main land, near by." Under the Treaty of 1783, 
 the boundary line was to run along the middle of 
 the water-communication between Lake Erie and 
 Lake Huron, and nothing was said about particu- 
 lar channels or islands. It was not until the close 
 
 « Weld's Letters. 
 
CHAf. IX.] DISPUTED BOUNDARY. 
 
 229 
 
 of the last war with Great Britain that provision 
 was made, in the Treaty of Ghent, for ascertain- 
 ing the ownership of the various islands, by a 
 commission appointed under the 6th article of that 
 treaty. Peter B. Porter and Anthony Barclay 
 were appointed commissioners by their respective 
 governments, and, on the i8th of June, 1822, they 
 determined that the line should run west of Bois- 
 blanc. The channel between that island and Am- 
 herstburgh was the main ship channel, and under 
 the common usage of nations (as recently con- 
 firmed by the award of the Emperor of Ger- 
 many on the San Juan boundary question on 
 the Pacific coast) the national boundary line is 
 generally presumed to follow that channel. The 
 nearness of Bois-blanc to the British mainland 
 made it very unpleasant to have such a foot- 
 hold for a possible enemy, and it probably would 
 not have been agreed to had attention been 
 called to it. The decision of the commissioners 
 was equitable, and no one has found fault with 
 it. In 1 796 it was found necessary, in order to 
 protect the Indians, that the United States should 
 establish trading posts, where goods were to be 
 furnished at a low profit and of good quality. 
 The agents and their employees were restrained, 
 under heavy penalties, from dealing on their own 
 account, directly or indirectly, and from purchasing 
 from the Indians any articles of use in hunting, 
 cooking, or husbandry, or any articles of clothing. 
 The laws providing for this, which were temporary. 
 
230 INDIAN TRADE. PUBLIC LANDS. [CHAr. IX 
 
 were extended from time to time until after the erec- 
 tion of Michigan into a Territory. The plan was not 
 perpetuated, although it had some advantages, as 
 it was liable to fraud. The Indians who received 
 annual presents from the British and from our own 
 government of guns, hatchets, knives, cloth, blankets, 
 ketdes, and many other articles of use as well as of 
 personal adornment, generally disposed of a large 
 share of these articles before they left the set- 
 tlements; and when they reached home they were 
 not much better off than when they started, be- 
 sides having been exposed to the temptation of 
 drunkenness. They would no doubt have taken 
 much better hold of civilization if the appliances 
 had always remained in their possession. 
 
 On the 26th of March, 1804, ^n ^^^ was 
 passed providing for the disposal of the public 
 lands within the Territory, to which the Indian 
 title had been extinguished, and directing all claims 
 under the French and English Governments to be 
 presented to the Registers and Receivers of the 
 several Land Offices for proof. By this act, sec- 
 tion 16 in each township was reserved for the use 
 of schools within the same, and an entire town- 
 ship was to be located in each of the districts 
 afterwards forming Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, 
 for a seminary of learning. This was the germ 
 of the University Fund of Michigan, and of the 
 Primary School Fund. No surveys could be made 
 with safety until it was known what valid private 
 grants existed. The Register and Receiver of the 
 
Crat. IX.J MICHIGAN TERRITORY CREATED. 231 
 
 Detroit (or Michigan) District did not complete 
 their labors until after the erection of the new 
 Territory. In March, 1806, George Hoffman, Re- 
 gister, and Frederick Bates, Receiver at Detroit, 
 reported to the Secretary of the Treasury that 
 only six valid titles had been made out before 
 them, outside of the town. 
 
 It was under these circumstances that, on Janu- 
 ary nth, 1805, Congress enacted "that from and 
 after the 30th day of June next, all that part of 
 Indiana Territory which lies north of a line drawn 
 east from the southerly bend or extreme of Lake 
 Michigan, until it shall intersect Lake Erie, and 
 east of a line drawn from the said southerly bend 
 through the middle of said lake to its northern 
 extremity, and thence due north to the northern 
 boundary of the United States, shall, for the pur- 
 poses of temporary government, constitute a sepa- 
 rate Territory, and be called Michigan." 
 
 Detroit was made the seat of government, and 
 the ordinances of 1787 and 1789 were adopted 
 as the charter of the Territory. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 GOVERNOR hull's CIVIL ADMINISTRATION, 
 
 The transition to a separate territorial existence 
 was not in all respects fortunate. The people 
 were entirely deprived of self-government, and 
 the times were such that the use of the Territories 
 as political counters, and as rewards for political 
 services, was becoming a recognized practice. 
 The discontented citizen of our own time, who 
 repeats with sadness the perennial story that 
 the former days were better than these, can have 
 no intimate knowledge of those former days. 
 The course of time has removed from sight all 
 but the more prominent features ot the period. 
 Those who were on the whole useful and sagaci- 
 ous have been forgiven their lesser delinquencies 
 and unworthiness, and the mutual charges of 
 political corruption and dishonesty, which people 
 forget as easily as they make them, have been 
 lost sight of in the quarrel. > of their successors. 
 Then, as now, most men who were not very soon 
 cast out, were probably in the main well-meaning 
 and patriotic ; and like modern politicians, they 
 persuaded themselves for the time that their 
 personal or party success was so essential to the 
 
Chap. X.] POLITICAL ASPERITY. 233 
 
 public welfare that it was better to use means 
 questionably good, or unquestionably bad, than 
 have the country ruined by falling into other 
 hands. It is not pleasant for sensitive men to 
 have their names and reputations bandied about 
 and smirched, as recklessly as it is too often done 
 by careless writers of items and editorials ; but 
 there was not an early statesman, from Washington 
 down, who has not had meaner things said of him 
 than are often ventured on by decent papers now 
 concerning any one. The first half century of the 
 Republic was conspicuous for the malignity of 
 political quarrels, and the utter disregard of the 
 sanctity of the private reputation of public men. 
 In our day men who abuse each other in print, or 
 on the stump, do not generally carry their warfare 
 into social intercourse; and a person who allows 
 his politics to lead him into discourtesy and 
 malevolence in private life, is justly considered 
 unworthy of respect. But in the early years of 
 this century, men believed as well ag spoke all 
 manner of evil against their antagonists. Diplomacy 
 had not yet lost the habit of lying and duplicity, 
 and weak nations or communities had no rights 
 which stronger ones respected. The reign of 
 George the Third was a time when many great 
 and patriotic statesmen did honor to their re- 
 spective countries on both sides of the Ocean. 
 It was also a time* when political morality, and 
 the manners as well as ethics of public life, every- 
 where presented ample room for improvement; 
 
234 
 
 POPULATION. [Cmaf. X. 
 
 and they have been very much bettered. While, 
 therefore, we may find in the history of this region 
 plain marks of bad and selfish management, it 
 would be quite unfair to lay too much stress upon 
 it. Our territorial governments have been im- 
 proved in some respects, but selfishness and mis- 
 rule have not yet ceased to be found among them. 
 
 The country which became Michigan Territory 
 after the 30th day of June, 1805, contained at 
 that time no white settlements except Detroit and 
 Frenchtown, and the river settlements, and 
 Mackinaw. Beyond these there may have been 
 a few straggling traders, but no communities. In 
 1800 the population, (not including Indians,) was 
 only 3,206. This census return must be nearly 
 correct, as in 1 799 there were three representa- 
 tives, each representing at least five hundred free 
 male inhabitants. In 1810 the population had only 
 increased to 4,762. Of these 144 were Indians 
 taxed or colored persons, 24 of whom were slaves. 
 In 1810 there were 2,837 ^^^^ white males, and 
 1,781 free white females, showing an excess of 
 males of 1,036. It is evident that a large portion 
 of the immigration was of single men. In 18 10 
 Detroit had a population of 1,650, or more than 
 St. Louis, and nearly as many as Vincennes and 
 Kaskaskia combined, these two being the chief 
 Indiana settlements. There was not a hamlet or 
 farm in the Territory five *miles away from the 
 boundary. Immediately across the Detroit River 
 was a province which had begun to improve, and 
 
(jMAr X.j CRITICAL POSITION OF MICHIGAN 235 
 
 increased in population very fast. Its people had 
 representative government, and were kindred in 
 blood and actual relatives of a large share of the 
 people of Michigan and on the most friendly 
 terms with them. Surrounding all the white 
 settlements in Michigan, and lying between them 
 and the other American States and Territories, 
 were gathered considerable numbers of the Indians 
 of the northwest, who had settled down in 
 Michigan and northern Indiana and Ohio, and still 
 retained tide to all but a trifling part of the lands 
 in the Territory. Each of these tribes was in the 
 regular receipt from Great Britain of arms, 
 annuities and supplies, and great pains were taken, 
 without resistance by our Government, to keep 
 up respect and attachment for the British. With 
 the previous warning derived from the withholding 
 of the posts and the encroachments on American 
 territory, it might have been foreseen to be danger- 
 ous to leave thus isolated from American sur- 
 roundings or attachments a community whose 
 allegiance had just been changed, and not changed 
 by their own procurement. It offered a strong 
 temptation to our neighbors across the Strait, to 
 make a further effort to get back the peninsula 
 before it could be settled ; and, while it is not 
 established that the British Government was 
 directly responsible for all that was done, the 
 sequel showed that the land was coveted, and the 
 effort was speedily made at a terrible cost to the 
 border. ,=. 
 
236 UMWI8E AVPOINTMRNT8 [Cii*r, X. 
 
 The selection of nilers for such a country, 
 v»'ho were to have the (.'ntirc control both of 
 legislation and of administration, required more 
 care than it received. The appointments were not 
 open to any apparent objection, and pt^rhaps the 
 wisdom that comes after the fact should not blame 
 what was not generally supposed to be unsafe, 
 rhe principle of appointment followed then is 
 very generally followed now. and none more dis- 
 creetly. No sufficient heed was given to the char- 
 acter of the population or its ways. No wiser or 
 better men were to be found in the United States 
 than those who had setded in the Northwest Ter- 
 ritory after the Revolution. They were men of 
 sagacity and adaptability, with large experience of 
 old as well as new countries, accustomed to every 
 kind of .society, and possessing the confidence and 
 regard of their neighbors. The Indians also knew 
 both their worth and their prowess, and had a 
 wholesome respect for the Long Knives. The 
 Governor of Indiana, General Harrison, had been 
 wisely chosen from this class, and that Territory 
 had gone on rapidly in improvement, while the new 
 State of Ohio was increasing with wonderful 
 speed. Michigan needed a western governor and 
 western ideas, but it failed to get the benefit of 
 either. . ,,,,.•:,„:, ,, ,. ,,v., ;„.. --^i/v..-.-nv: 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose the adoption 
 of good laws is a necessary sign of prosperity. 
 If they emanate from popular bodies, they may 
 indicate (though not always) the popular sense. 
 
Chap. X.| I KKKIIOklAL UKKICEKS 287 
 
 Hut there arc ohvn j^rood laws upon our statute 
 books that have never really j^overned the action 
 of the people, and thert; are bad laws which have 
 never hurt thein, i)ecause never carried out fully. 
 It is not on le^^dslation. so much as on the actual 
 conduct of aftairs. that prosperity depends. The 
 > rottenest ^governments have had written codes 
 which have been j^rcatly admired, but which never 
 prevented mischiif. The codes adopted by the 
 (jovernor and Judges of Michigan were substan- 
 tially like those of their neighbors, and were not 
 complained of. But the first decade of the Ter- 
 ritorial life was unfortunate. As the time ap- 
 proached for organizing the Territory, Mr. Jeffer- 
 son sent to the Senate for confirmation the names 
 of William Hull for (iovernor, Stanley Griswold 
 for Secretary, and Augustus Brevoort Woodward, 
 Samuel Huntington and Frederick Bates as Judges. 
 Mr. Huntington declintxi the office, and in 1806 
 his place was filled by John Griffin. As the Gov- 
 ernor, under the ordinance, had the entire control 
 of establishing local offices and appointing officers, 
 the character of die local organization depended 
 almost entirely upon his judgment. 
 
 Of these persons, Governor Hull was an old 
 Revolutionary officer from Massachusetts; Mr. 
 Griswold an able man but a red-hot politician 
 from Connecticut, who had left the pulpit to be- 
 come an editor, and who was only comfortable 
 when he had his own way ; Judge Bates was a 
 resident land officer at Detroit, of sterling worth, 
 
238 TERRITORIAL OFFICERS. [Chap X 
 
 and admirably fitted in all respects for his place ; 
 Judge Griffin was a man of elegant accomplish- 
 ments, but no great force of character or con- 
 victions; and Judge Woodward was one of those 
 strange compounds of intellectual power and wis- 
 dom in great emergencies, with very frequent ca- 
 price and wrongheadedness, that defy description. 
 
 Two of the three Judges, Bates and Ciriffin. 
 were Virginians by birth, and old friends of Jeffer- 
 son. Woodward, though generally credited to Vir- 
 ginia, was not, it is believed, a native of that State, 
 but of New York. He resided in the District of 
 Columbia, and had attracted considerable attention 
 from some ambitious writings of a somewhat specu- 
 lative character, to which Mr. Jefferson had taken 
 a fancy. They had many points of resemblance 
 in their tastes. The executive officers were doubt- 
 less selected (being otherwise regarded as compe- 
 tent) because of their peculiar prominence as his 
 supporters, in a region where he was not very 
 popular. '■'■'■ 
 
 Mr. Griswold, who had made himself useful in 
 various ways in land matters, was for some reason 
 unable to harmonize with the Governor, and it is 
 said desired to supersede him. In this, however, 
 he failed, and was himself removed at the end of 
 his first term of three years; and his place was 
 filled by Reuben Atwater of Vermont. This gen- 
 tleman was universally respected for his integrity 
 and good sense; and having been uniformly cour- 
 teous and diligent, and having attended to his own 
 
Chap. X.] ARRIVAL AT DETROIT. 
 
 239 
 
 business without disturbing or squabbling with his 
 neighbors, he has failed to make as conspicuous a 
 place in our local annals as if he had been less 
 exemplary. 
 
 Judge Bates remained on the bench a little 
 over a year. He found his associations unpleas- 
 ant, and with Judge Griffin more than unpleasant, 
 so much so as to have nearly led to a duel. He 
 resigned his commission in November, 1806, and 
 during the next winter was made Secretary of 
 Louisiana Territory, at St. Louis, where he remained 
 continuously in this and other responsible posi- 
 tions, and died in 1825, while Governor of the 
 State of Missouri. His resignation was a serious 
 misfortune for Michigan. After he left there was 
 no interruption in the unseemly quarrels and in- 
 trigues which brought the legislative board and 
 the court into contempt, and effectually checke 1 
 the prosperity of the Territory. But in the out- 
 set, and apparently until Griffin came, there was 
 no serious clashing. The latter apparently was not 
 entirely above mischief-making between Woodward 
 and his colleagues ; and while he generally ad- 
 hered to the views of Woodward, ht never struck 
 out in any original path of good or evil. 
 
 The judges were appointed during good be- 
 havior, and Judge Woodward was presiding judge. 
 He arrived in Detroit on the 29th of June, 1805. 
 The Governor reached the town on the ist of 
 July. On Tuesday, July 2d, the Governor admin- 
 istered the oath of office to the other officers, and 
 organized the government. 
 
240 DETROIT BURNED :Chap X. 
 
 They found a very sad state of affairs. On 
 the iith day of June, 1805, a fire destroyed every 
 public and private building in the town, except a 
 warehouse owned by Angus Mackintosh, and a 
 log-built bakery on the water's edge below the 
 bluff. The warm season had enabled the people 
 to camp out without discomfort, and those who 
 could not find refuge in the hospitable abodes 
 near by, and in Canada, had found rude shelter 
 on the domain adjoining. Some had already put 
 up new houses. The narrow streets and small 
 lots in the old town were not well fitted for the 
 growth of a settlement, and it was seen by all 
 that a more commodious plan should be devised. 
 In the uncertainty that existed concerning the 
 ownership and control of the domain, it was con- 
 cluded to lay out a town, and provide for the 
 present emergency, leaving all questions to be 
 settled in future. Lots were disposed of enough 
 to meet the necessity, and the case was held over 
 for the action of Congress 
 
 Within the next three months a code of laws 
 was prepared, and adopted seriatim in sections 
 from day to day, by unanimous concurrence. The 
 statutes were well drawn and judicious, so far as 
 can be seen. Judicial matters received early at- 
 tention. 
 
 Small cases were left to be disposed of by 
 justices of the peace, and the Supreme Court was 
 vested with exclusive original jurisdiction over land 
 cases and capital criminal cases, and concurrent 
 
Chap. X.] COURT DISTRICTS. LOJTERIES. 
 
 241 
 
 jurisdiction over other civil controversies involving 
 more than two hundred (afterwards five hundred) 
 dollars, with appellate power generally. The in- 
 termediate jurisdiction was vested in district courts 
 presided over by one of the judges. Three dis- 
 tricts were created by the Governor in the first 
 instance, called the Districts of Erie, Detroit and 
 Huron; the District of Erie comprehending the River 
 Raisin country from Ohio northward to the Huron 
 River, and the Detroit and Huron Districts, which 
 were temporarily thrown into one, extending to 
 Lake Huron. A fourth district was created which 
 extended to Mackinaw. 
 
 One of the earliest acts provided for raising 
 by four successive lotteries the sum of twenty 
 thousand dollars, for the encouragement of litera- 
 ture and the improvement of the city of Detroit. 
 This act, passed on the 9th of September, 1805, 
 is the first official recognition of its existence as 
 a city. Doubtless the Chief Justice had already 
 drawn in imagination the curious plan which his 
 sanguine fancy, looking forward seven or eight 
 centuries, saw filled out with the completest city 
 ever devised. Less than half a century saw more 
 than threefold its space completely built, but the 
 symmetrical scheme was not as fair in other eyes 
 as in his own. Colonel McKenney, in his " Tour 
 to the Lakes," aptly described it as representing 
 a spider's web with all its lines arranged with 
 reference to a principal centre. The affection of 
 its author for this device was extreme, and his 
 16 
 
242 MIMTIA. [Chap. X. 
 
 pride in it excessive ; and much of the trouble 
 that afterwards arose, and had its influence on the 
 peace of the Territory, came from the want of 
 respect among his colleagues for this darling child 
 of his genius, which was shorn of its fair propor- 
 tions and dislocated. 
 
 The Ciovernor took immediate steps' to enroll 
 the militia. • Francis Chahert de Joncaire, Judge 
 Woodward, Elijah Brush and John Anderson, were 
 commissioned colonels, with other officers subordi- 
 nate. The act adopted for their government gave 
 the Governor power to call them out whenever 
 he chose, and his ill-advised course concerning 
 them was a source of trouble. He appears (as well 
 as some of his subordinates) to have had very high 
 views of military prerogative in time of peace ; 
 and the attempt to enforce the same nicety of 
 clothing and equipment customary in the regular 
 service, led to insubordination on the one hand 
 and anger on the other, which did not raise him 
 in popular esteem. But this trouble was not im- 
 mediate. .:.•'•-:; :;v J ".-■. ■'-'"■■' .■"■'■-' 
 
 The appropriation bills show that a temporary 
 shelter, called a " bower," was built for the court. 
 The grand jury, when the court first met, pre- 
 sented the subject of land titles as requiring im- 
 mediate attention. No government lands were in 
 market, and the unsettled condition of private es- 
 tates was an effectual hindrance to prosperity. 
 Until the commissioners reported, no one felt any 
 assurance of title, and their report showed that 
 
Chap. X.| LAND TITLES. 
 
 243 
 
 there were only six good farm titles in the Ter- 
 ritory, The Governor and Chief Justice both 
 went to Washington, and obtained favorable legis- 
 lation. April 2 1 St, 1806, the (iovernor and Judges 
 ■/ere authoriz(id by Congress to lay out a town, 
 including the old town of Detroit and ten thous- 
 and acres adjacent, to settle all private claims for 
 lots, and to convey a lot of fifty feet by one hun- 
 dred to every person over seventeen years old 
 owning or inhabiting a house at the time of the 
 fire. The remaining land was to be sold to build 
 a court house and jail. Both of these were built 
 many years thereafter, and the court house became 
 the Territorial and State Capitol, until the seat of 
 government was removed to Lansing. It was 
 then devoted to the purposes of a union school, 
 and is now, with additions, the Detroit High 
 School. 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1807, an act of Congress 
 w\s passed granting to each person, or the grantees 
 01 heirs of each person, who possessed and 
 occupied lands on the first day of July, 1796, a 
 title to such lands, not exceeding six hundred and 
 forty acres in each tract. Subsequent laws were 
 from time to time passed giving additional grants 
 and pre-emptions to such persons, and in Macki- 
 naw and the remoter districts fixing the date of 
 possession at July first, 1812. Most of these 
 claims had already oeen presented tt) the Land 
 Commissioners for allowance, as helvl under color 
 of British, French and Indian titles. The lands 
 
244 BANK OF DETROIT. [Chap. X. 
 
 outside of Detroit were not managed by the. 
 Governor and Judges. After providing for a.l 
 these cases there were adjacent lands extending 
 back about three miles further from Detroit 
 River, which might have been put into tlie market, 
 but were not, as the surveys were postponed. 
 
 Much discord arose in the meetings of the 
 Governor and Judges, in their new functions as a 
 land-board for Detroit lands. They are of no 
 interest as matters of history, except as explain- 
 ing how the various Territorial functionaries be- 
 came embroiled, so as not only to prevent proper 
 legislation, but also to impair confidence in all 
 of them. 
 
 Another transaction was not without bitter 
 fruits. Early in 1806, Russel Sturges and other 
 Boston capitalists made arrangements to organize 
 a bank in Detroit, with a capital of ^400,000, 
 a very large sum in those days. It was designed 
 to be used in connection with their fur-trade. 
 Their petition to the Governor and Judges was 
 dated early in the spring, and they not only 
 appointed their cashier, hut built their bank, before 
 they received their charter, which was given in 
 September, 1806. Judge Woodward was made 
 President of the bank, which began operations, 
 and issued bills. The act creating it was dis- 
 approved by Congress, in March, 1807, and gave 
 rise to very severe attacks on the Governor and 
 Judges. Judge Woodward was threatened with 
 impeachment for this and other misconduct,, and 
 
Chap. X.] DISCORDS IN THE BOARD. 245 
 
 Governor Hull's re-nomination in 1808 was op- 
 posed, but unsuccessfully. On the 23d of April, 
 1808, Judge Witherell was appointed judge to 
 succeed Judge Bates. It appears that after Bates' 
 departure, Woodward and Griffin had everything 
 their own way, and paid no attention to the Gov- 
 ernor, who was left in a hopeless minority ; and 
 that they used their power with some insolence 
 and malice. Judge Witherell was as firm as 
 Woodward, but much more quiet in . his ways. 
 His coming gave the Governor the support he 
 needed, as well as the suggestions of a more 
 masculine intellect, and the tables were turned. 
 Henceforth, upon the question of the plan and 
 various other matters of dift'erence, the absence of 
 any one of the four sometimes led to hostile 
 legislation by the opposing majority present. 
 
 The bank, in spite of the action of Congress, 
 continued to do business. In September, 1808, 
 when Judge Woodward was absent in Washington, 
 Judge Witherell introduced and passed, against 
 Griffin's opposition, a criminal bill of various pains 
 and penalties, which, among other things, punished 
 unauthorized banking. This ended the Bank of 
 Detroit, but was never forgiven by Judge Wood- 
 ward, who, as long as he remained on the bench, 
 was never on pleasant terms with Judge With- 
 erell, and they never exchanged words, if they 
 could avoid it, except officially. ,^,.:.,^,,^ ._,*_;^ .,--. 
 
 Much feeling is said to have been roused by 
 the course of Woodward in 1806, concerning cer- 
 
246 st.AVEs. rcHAP X. 
 
 tain persons convicted of kidnapping. Some Brit- 
 ish deserters were captured in Detroit by British 
 officers, aided by one or more American officers, 
 and the offenders were tried by jury and sentenced 
 to fine and imprisonment. Some days thereafter 
 Woodward changed the punishment to a nominal 
 fine of a few cents. Why this was done does 
 not appear. He was not a man of British sym- 
 pathies, and on a subsequent occasion, many years 
 later, expressed himself in favor of a heavier pun- 
 ishment for such cases than his brethren assent- 
 ed to. 
 
 In 1807 a very curious case arose concerning 
 slavery. Mrs. Catharine Tucker was required, upon 
 habeas corpus, to answer for the detention of 
 Elizabeth and Scipio Denison, persons of color, 
 and she justified on the ground that they were 
 held as slaves at the time of the surrender of 
 the post in 1796, and were assured to her under 
 Jay's Treaty, in spite of the provision against 
 slavery in the ordinance of 17(87. |udge Wood- 
 ward gave the matter a very elaborate examina- 
 tion, and wrote a full opinion sustaining her right. 
 The case was decided on the 23d of September. 
 A few days after, application was made for the 
 arrest and delivery of some Pawnee and mulatto 
 slaves who had escaped from their masters, Mr. 
 Pattinson and Matthew Elliott, who resided in 
 Canada. In this case the decision was emphatic 
 that there was no obligation to give up fugitives 
 from a foreign jurisdiction. Thereupon Lisette 
 
Chap. X.I INDIAN TREATV. 
 
 247 
 
 and Scipio went over tlu- river into Canada, 
 where the same doctrines were enforced, and took 
 refuge vvitli Mr, Askin ; and they were for a 
 time employed in the; family of y\njj^us Mackin- 
 tosh, They subseqiiendy came back and were 
 never molested, — remaininj^ with Colonel Brush, 
 Judge Sibley and Major Hiddle, most of their 
 lives. Lisette accumulated some property. The 
 attempt to obtain Mr. Elliott's servants led to 
 a disturbance. His agent was tarred and feath- 
 ered, and himself treated with some indignity. 
 
 During the year 1807, Governor Hull held a 
 council at Detroit with the Ottawas, Chippewas, 
 Wyandots and Potawatamies, and a treaty was 
 signed on the 1 7th day of November, whereby 
 they ceded to the United States (excepting some 
 small reserves) the country in the southeast 
 part of the Territory, bounded west by the prin- 
 cipal meridian, which is about seventy-five miles 
 west of Detroit River, running as far up as the 
 latitude of the present Fort Gratiot, and thence 
 northeast to White Rock in Lake Huron. This 
 tract coincides very nearly with the land pur- 
 chased from the Indians and sold by Schiefflin 
 and others to Smith in 1 797. By this cession a 
 large region was opened and made subject to 
 survey and sale ; but the surveys were postponed, 
 and there was no more land to be bought after 
 the treaty than before. > u . • , 
 
 No doubt a chief reason for not hastening the 
 surveys and sales of lands was found in the fear 
 
248 DKTROIT FORTIFIED. 
 
 ICh 
 
 of Indian troubles. In memorials sent to protest 
 against Hull's reappointment in 1808, he is charged 
 with timidity, and exciting groundless alarms con- 
 cerning Indian attacks, ami with using unilignified 
 means to conciliate individual Indians who should 
 have been punished. It is difficult now to know 
 how much he was censurable for these alarms, 
 hut their open expression was not prudent. They 
 were not then, though they were soon after, shared 
 by others. A timid bearing has always encouraged 
 hostilities from whites and Indians both ; and Gov- 
 ernor Hull's conduct is generally regarded, during 
 his administration, as characterized by alternate fits 
 of activity and vacillation, not traceable altogether 
 to want of courage so much as to infirmity of 
 purpose. He at any rate must have convinced 
 the War Department of the correctness of his 
 suspicions, as in 1807 the town was ordered to be 
 stockaded; and accordingly he or the Secretary 
 (for accounts differ) ran a line of high pickets, 
 with occasional block houses, along the eastern 
 bound of the settlement, including the Domain 
 and adjoining houses, as far north as the street 
 now known as Michigan avenue, and thence 
 west to the Cass Farm and south to the river, 
 including the fort and 9.II public and private build- 
 ings. Where the stockade crossed Jefferson Ave- 
 nue, at the upper end of the Biddle House (then 
 Governor Hull's own mansion), there was a large 
 block house with artillery; and a gate contiguous 
 to the old citadel stood at the western end of 
 
CHAr. X.| ARBITRARY MEASURES. 249 
 
 Jefferson Avenue, where the high bluff crossed it, 
 commanding the approaches from the west. 
 The memorials complain not only that this 
 work wa? imperfect, but that the Governor had, 
 without authority, compelled companies of militia 
 to labor in digging trenches and planting pickets, 
 as if they had been in regular pay and service. 
 While the evident share of Judge Woodward in 
 getting up the memorials requires the use of care 
 in judging of the correctness of the criticism of 
 the Governor's acts, it cannot be assumed that 
 statements of specific facts are unfounded ; and 
 his stretch of vexatious authority over the militia 
 in some matters is shown by his own statements. 
 The early military governors had been too famil- 
 iar with the habits of the British commanders be- 
 fore the Revolution, to be as careful as they should 
 have been concerning popular rights. In this re- 
 spect Governor Hull did not stand alone, but such 
 conduct was very obnoxious to the people on the 
 frontier. 
 
 The Governor also incurred universal censure 
 by enrolling a separate company of negro militia 
 composed entirely, or almost entirely, of recent 
 fugitives from Canada, who were not native citi- 
 zens, and could not then become naturalized. The 
 act of Congress allowed none but whites to be 
 enrolled, and the state of feeling at that time did 
 not authorize such a violation of law. 
 
 In 1808, Judge Woodward, on his departure 
 for Washington, laid before the Legislative Board 
 
250 
 
 •jUAKRKIJi. ICHAr X. 
 
 a series of abusivi' rrsoliitions and charj^cs aj^ainst 
 the (iovernor, which the latter was unwise enouj^h 
 to reply to at length; — and this was all that 
 Woodward desired. He knew very well that no 
 such resolutions could pass without his own vote, 
 if at all. This, and some other transactions, seem 
 to indicate that the Lej.,dslativ(; Hoard (properly 
 resembling very closely a privy council) had 
 adoptetl the habit of holding public sessions, and 
 airing its dissensions before the populace. There 
 is no other means of accounting for the ridiculous 
 vaporing and pomposity of the Chief Justice, and 
 his indecent strictures upon his associates, nor for 
 the counter-blasts, more decent and dignified, but 
 not judicious, which came from his antagonists. 
 There was a general spirit of pugnacity manifest 
 at their meetings. 
 
 But Woodward's conduct at times reached 
 such a pitch as to be beyond excuse. Having 
 on one occasion made an order in a cause which 
 created some feeling, Major John Whipple, 
 (father of the chief justice of that name), meeting 
 him in the street, used some severe and opprobri- 
 ous language. Judge Woodward undertook to 
 treat this as a contempt of court, and imposed a 
 fine. Some months afterwards, in bebruary, 1809, 
 Ciovernor Hull pardoned the offence, as he had a 
 right, and as was perhaps required in common 
 justice. This led afterwards to difficulty. 
 
 The district courts, first created in 1805, ^"^^^ 
 been modified by a statute of 1807, which gave 
 
CiiAf. X.l WOODWARD'S COURSK. 
 
 261 
 
 tluMn some of the financial and administrative 
 duties gencrall) pcrlornicd by the ([uartcr-sessions 
 or county boards, and provided that they should 
 be held by a chie*" justice and two associates "of 
 integrity, experience and legal knowledge." ap- 
 pointed by the Governor. Cieorge McDougall was 
 first chief justice, and James Abbott and Jacob 
 X'isger' associates. These gentlemen were not 
 admitted attorneys or counsellors, but were fairly 
 educated and judicious men, fully competent for 
 their duties. In August, 1809, Major Whipple 
 was appointed associate judge of this court for 
 the District of Detroit and Krie. In the latter 
 part of September, Judge Woodward, treating 
 this as a personal slight, procured a grand jury 
 to present the (iovernor as having granted an 
 illegal pardon ; and the same subservient body, 
 doubtless in response to suggestion, recommended 
 the enforcement of the fine, which Woodward 
 carried out by process against Major Whipple. 
 While this presents the chief justice in a very 
 disgraceful light, it indicates great weakness in a 
 governor who year after year submitted to such 
 insults and invasions of right, without seeking any 
 remedy beyond proclamations and coimter resolves. 
 The same grand jury was induced not only to 
 present the (iovernor, but also Judge Witherell, 
 'or unwise legislation, and to declare their laws 
 passed in W oodward's absence as " unnecessary, 
 
 » 'I'he writer first read Hiackstone in wh.it h.id been Judge Visger's 
 ropy of that aiitlior, nnw in his possession. 
 
 -j^^-'-i^-ij- — 
 
252 JUDGE WOODWARD (Chap. X. 
 
 niij^^alory and a nuisance." T'ortificd by this pro- 
 found legal authority, Woodward and his echo 
 (iriffin, a few days after, declared tlie whoU? iKxly 
 of laws passed in Woodward's absence invaliel, 
 because not sijj^ned by th(r individual names of 
 the members of the board, instead of by the 
 chairman and secretary. Sometimes the grand 
 jury presented Woodward; but thv.'w action in such 
 case was not deemed so correct. 
 
 That conduct like this should effectually 
 destroy all the moral force of authority was 
 inevitable. The peculiarities of Judge Woodward 
 were such as almost to render it doubtful at 
 times whether he was not something more than 
 eccentric; while on the otlier hand his conduct 
 was usually reasonable and becoming, when he 
 was in a position where he was not tempted to 
 act insolently, or where there were strong reasons 
 of policy. During the war of 1812, he was 
 intrepid and active as well as useful in mediat- 
 ing with the British authorities, and was long the 
 only person who effectually interposed to protect 
 the American citizens in Detroit, and to urge 
 redress for their injuries elsewhere. Under 
 General Cass's administration, while often enough 
 provoking resentment from private and oflicial 
 individuals, he did not indulge in such conduct in 
 the board or elsewhere as he used towards Hull, 
 against whom he had a peculiar antipathy. On 
 the bench, however, the recollections of business 
 men indicate that there could not have been any 
 
Chap. X.| JUDGE WOODWARD 
 
 253 
 
 thoroiij^j^h improvcnujtu in harmony, and both he 
 and (iriffin wen; finally Icjj^islated out of office. 
 Mis |)(H's<)nal Iiahits wen; slovenly, and his room 
 was conspicuous for disorder. His worst habit, 
 however, was that sort of audacious impudence 
 which, und(;r the name of eccentricity, has some- 
 times charact(;ri/ced men of mark, and even made 
 them to be imaj^iiu'd greater than if they had 
 behaved thems(;lves with more civility. John 
 Randolph was an instance; of this kind. 
 
 In the early Te-rritorial days it had not become 
 so discreditable as it has been in our time for 
 persons insulted to use what Hlackstone would have 
 classed among " remedies by act of the party ;" 
 an'' judgt; Wooilward often provoked, and some- 
 times received this treatment, while no doubt he 
 much oftener des(;rve(l it. If the (Governor had 
 ever forgotten his dignity in this way, instead of 
 in less effective conduct, he might perhaps have 
 secured peace, and had better fortune. But 
 Woodward, who never resp'cted him, had dis- 
 covered his weak points, and that he was more 
 prompt in asserting his rights than in defending 
 them, and so took a malicious pleasure in aggra- 
 vating him. Ikit beyond this, the Chief Justice 
 regarded himself as the only man in the Territory 
 whos(; views shoidd pass current without question; 
 and enforced this doctrine when he could. 
 
 These quarrels had a bad effect on the public 
 peace. I'^ach of the contending powers hatl pre- 
 rogatives which made it to the interest of various 
 
254 SOCIAL CONDITION. fCiiAr. X. 
 
 persons to conciliate him. ICacli had, therefore, 
 his greater and lesser satellites, and among them 
 personal encounters were common. Whether the 
 town was more turbulent than other border towns 
 at that period may be doubted. Hut the oTend- 
 ers were oftener brought before the courts, and 
 were generally men of standing. 
 
 The social condition of the town was good. 
 It had an unusual proportion of educated and 
 refined people, and a fair general standard of edu- 
 cation. Unfortunately the earliest school law, 
 passed in 1S09, was never printed, and has dis- 
 appeared. There was no permanent newspaper 
 press until 181 7, although in 1809 a small paper 
 was published a litde while. We have no full 
 knowledge of the number or condition of schools. 
 Hut an examination of our public records shows 
 that a very large portion of the inhabitants, both 
 French and English, had at least an ordinary edu- 
 cation. Their papers and signatures show a habit 
 of using the pen, and their accounts are neatly 
 and accurately kept. In spelling French words 
 there are tokens that much w ^s taught by the ear 
 instead of the eye, but the orthography of that 
 language was not perfectly followed by many 
 very distinguished men under the French regime, 
 and the blunders found occasionally in our I'rench 
 papers are no worse than abound in public docu- 
 ments. Napoleon has credit for similar mistakes; 
 and in our own language fifty years ago (if not 
 to-day) inaccurate spelling was not proof of ig- 
 
CiiAr. X.l FATHER RICHARD. 255 
 
 norance. In most garrisons where there were 
 children some pains were taken to teach them. 
 We know from the character of the early immi- 
 grants and natives of Detroit that they would not 
 allow their children to lack education ; and so far 
 as we have facts they all tend to prove this. In 
 1798 Father (iabriel Richard, a priest of the Or- 
 der of St. Sulpice, first came as resident pastor 
 of the Catholic church of St. Anne. His tall and 
 sepulchral figure was familiar to every one during 
 the long period during which he filled his sacred 
 mission. He was not only a man of elegant 
 learning, but of excellent common sense, and a 
 very public-spirited citizen. He encouraged edu- 
 cation in every way, not only by organizing and 
 patronizing schools for the immediate training of 
 his own people, but by favoring all other proper 
 schemes for general intelligence. He brought to 
 Detroit the earliest printing-press that was known 
 in the Territory, and in 1809 published a small 
 gazette called the "Michigan Essay, or Impartial 
 Observer." He also compiled and published some 
 religious and educational works for his own flock, 
 and some selections from French authors for read- 
 ing. He was an early officer of the University, 
 and a teacher cr professor in it. His acquaint- 
 ance was prized among Protestant i as well as 
 Catholics. His (juaint humor and shrewd sense, 
 in no way weakened by his imperfect pronuncia- 
 tion of English, are pleasantly remembered by all 
 who had the fortune to know him; while his brief 
 
256 
 
 SCHOOLS ICiMr- X. 
 
 pray(;r for the L<;^isl;itiirc, that tht:y mi^fht make 
 laws for th<; pcoph- and not for thrinsctlvcs, was 
 a very (:ompr<;hf:nsivc sinnniary of sound pohtical 
 phih)sophy. 
 
 Thi; researches of soni<' of our (itizens have 
 led to the dis(:ov<-'ry of several names of teachers 
 who flourished Wefore th<; days of n<;wspap<;rs, 
 althouj^h no douht many more have hec-n forj^^otten. 
 The Reverend David Bacon (father of Dr. I. (to 
 nard Hac(jn) taught a -school at D<'troil in iMrj2. 
 Miss l^li/abeth Williams, (dau^diter ol Thomas 
 Williams before mentioned), and her cousin Miss 
 An^eli(|ue Campau, taught schools as early as 
 iSo8, and t\ui school of the former and of her 
 associates and successors was continu(;d many 
 years, I'rom 1H12 to iXiS a classical school was 
 kept up by Mr. I'ayne and l<(!V(;rend John 
 Mont<.'ith. In 1H16 a common school on the New 
 ICn^^Iand plan was op(;ned under Mr. Danforlh. 
 After the organization of the University, in 1S17 
 or iHiS, teachers were abundant, and schools 
 thorough and <;xcellent, and more than one of 
 these teachers bcrcame emin(tnt in civil and military 
 life. Teaching was a common occupation amon^ 
 ambitious men pntparinj^ for their future career. 
 
 Not very lonj^ after Michigan ierritory was 
 orj^aniz<;(l, the Indians be^an to complair of the 
 advance of the whit(; men, and that they had 
 signed treati(-'s which they did not understand. 
 No encroachment had been made on the Indians 
 in Michigan, and the Indians there had not 
 
CiiAf. X.| IN 1)1 AN UrSCON'I'KNT. 257 
 
 ^ciUM'ally |)r(( (ilfd ilic wliilc iikm in iIh- souiIk rii 
 pari ol llic Slalc. I'ml ii was true ciioiij^li lliat 
 their riilnrc was doiihiliil, unless llicy learned 
 scjnie ol the arts ol ( ivili/ation. Their disconU lU, 
 however, il it originated with themselves, was 
 chielly due to the promptings oi others. I he 
 N(irthw<'st Company was deeply intei<s(ed in 
 keeping the connlry a wihhrmss, and ih<- (ontrol 
 ol il was earnesti) (ovi icd hy British inieresis. 
 I'roin all parts ol the Indian (oiintry reports cam*' 
 that i'illiotl, the a^ein at Maiden, was lainperinj^ 
 with the tribes. I heir animal presents werecon 
 tinned on a liheral scale, and they received an 
 extra share ol j.;inis and munitions ol war. Iv<n 
 as early as 1X07 and i.SoX, there were indications 
 of some mysterious plan ol mis( hiel. The wonder 
 liil orj.,'ani/,in)^ j'ower ol j'ontiac had lon;^ helore 
 shown the value ol imiiy to the Indians, and tril»s 
 that had once hecii hostile were lound seekinj^ 
 strenj.^th in brotherhood. The lesson was not lor 
 {.gotten; and in all the early tr<atirs made hy the 
 llnit(;(l States with the Indians east ol the Mis- 
 sissijjpi, it was lound that the tribes had beronie 
 conledcTated, and that they had (ounsdlors who 
 wer<; not Indians. in 1 7.S4, and thereall<r, lirant 
 appeared as the j^reat centrali/iny, a^eni; and in 
 1794 and I 7<>5. i" Waynct's ("ampaij^iis, and at tin- 
 Trctaty ol (ireenville, it was lound that although 
 th(rre was much tribal independence, there was 
 nevcrtlu.'k'ss a very ;.,M-neral union, and this wa. 
 ■ Innu<MK:e(l chielly from Maiden by McKee and 
 MUiott, through various chiefs. 
 
258 TECUMjEH ANU the I'ROl'HET [Chap X. 
 
 The new representative of this iinif'yinj^" [jolicy 
 was Tecumseh, a chief of the Shawanoes, or Shaw- 
 nees, a body of whom, after the Treaty of Green- 
 ville, had established themselves by permission of 
 the Potawatamies and Kickapoos on the Tippe- 
 canoe River — a branch of the upper Wabash. 
 This chief was a wise and statesmanlike charac- 
 ter, and his ambitions were noble. He desired to 
 advance the prosperity of the Indians by bring- 
 ing them into unity and civilization. The Iroquois 
 had once advanced far in that direction. The 
 Wyandots, or Hurons, were intelligent and indus- 
 trious. Some of the southern tribes, especially 
 the Cherokees, had begun the work which still 
 continues as a development of progress made 
 under very great difficulties. 
 
 Tecumseh knew the danger of contact with 
 the whites, and he also knew the advantages of 
 Michigan and the adjacent country for Indian set- 
 tlement. No country on the continent was better 
 adapted for his confederacy. The annual subsi- 
 dies of the British Governm(::nt and the blandish- 
 ments of the Maiden agency had done much to 
 retain the old influence, and the sagacious chief 
 was not left in doubt concerning the approval of 
 his scheme by his Canadian friends. The letters 
 from all parts of the country very soon showed 
 that he had come to a good understanding with 
 them, and that he was working under their inspira- 
 tion. In 1808 and 1809, the scheme became more 
 apparent. His brother, the Prophet, from a 
 
Chap. X.| TF.CUMSFH AND 1 UK PROPHET. 259 
 
 dreamer of dreams and s(?er of visions, became 
 invested widi die character of an inspired teacher, 
 and so worked u|)on the superstition of the Inch- 
 ans that he was looked upon by tribes near and 
 remote with rev(.'renc(.' and fear. Like other such 
 characters, he no doubt became more or less de- 
 ceived by his own fanaticism; and Tecumseh, from 
 poHcy or su[)erstition, or both, also assumed to be 
 a believer, althou_L,rh he probably contrived to shape 
 the inspirations very much as he chose. He was 
 not so much of a fanatic as to lose his diplomatic 
 craft, for he contrived for a time to persuade 
 (ieneral Harrison (who was a vc;ry keen observer) 
 that his schemes were all for the improvement 
 of the Indians, and were not aimed aijainst the 
 whit(is; and no doubt such was his principal dc-- 
 sion, if it could have been compatible with white 
 settlements. 
 
 The purposes of Tecumseh became known to 
 the (Governor (ieneral of Canada, and he warned 
 our (i^overnment of them. It has generally been 
 conceded that while .Sir James Craig desired to 
 dismember the union, he did not wish to turn 
 loose the savages upon the American settlements. 
 He prohibited the Maiden agenc)- from furnishing 
 arms to the Indians. He expected rather to win 
 over a jiart of the .States by tli[)lomacy. He sent 
 John Henry into New l'!nglantl for that jnirpose, 
 and had a notion that the Union was about to 
 drop asunder. He, at least, may be acquitted of 
 any complicity with 1 ecumseh, and it is quite 
 
2^)0 IN IKK. IKS MUSI 1 1. I'll KS. [CMAr, X. 
 
 prohahlc that tin- Indian a^rnts, while lonKtitiii^f 
 thos«* troubles, and <rnd<av(jrin|L; to avcn^^c sonn- 
 (Mirsonal j^ricvanccs, wen- a( tinj^ inchtpcndcntly, and 
 in (:onlid':n<.«- that they would ultiinalcly hf re- 
 warded. Then; is niiu h niystcrry ahoiit th<- whole 
 r<;lations with ( ireat Britain at this time. The 
 British Minister at Washington professed i^nor 
 ance of ll(;nry's mission, and claimed that he had 
 no official r<;lations with the ( lovernor ( ien(;ral. The 
 attack on the Chesapeak*-, made in i.Soj, was only 
 apologized for in iSri.when the accimiulation ol 
 other grievances had made war inevitable. Perhaps 
 it is not (;ntirely discreditable that (ireat Britain 
 has l)e(;n very forj.fivinj^' to officers who hav ex- 
 ceeded instructions, in order to do what they 
 thought she would be glad to see done. In thos(; 
 days it was certainly not de(-med an unpardon- 
 able sin to try experim<;nts on th(; nnit<;d .Stat(;s, 
 
 The time at last cam(; wh(tn Tcrcumseh's plans 
 could no longer be conceah-d. lie failed in gt;t- 
 ting control of many of the Indians on the bf)r- 
 der; and while souk; of them were fri<;ndly to him 
 and to the b'.nglish, the most of the Wyandots, 
 Delawares, Senecas, and ev(m tin; .Shawanoes. re- 
 main(;d friendly to the; UnitJtd .States. In the au- 
 tumn of iSi I, (ien(;ral Harrison began a move- 
 ment upon the hostile conf(,'deracy, and on the 7th 
 of November he fou^' it the ceUdjrated l)attle of 
 Tippecanoe, wh(;re t\ui IVopJK^t and his warriors 
 were routed, and the peace of that region was 
 secured till after Hull's delays had enabh^d the 
 
(MAr. X,| HULL'S DKI'AH ItJR L. 
 
 261 
 
 Hrilish to l)('(f)m(' aj^^rcssivf, and to use tin- In- 
 dians cdct tivcly. IVciiinscli hctook himscll" to 
 Maiden, anti tlicr<;alt<.'r his atta( limcnls wen* nn- 
 conccal(;<l. He was well rccf.'ivcd and niiicli fa- 
 vored, and obtained a Iii^di rank in the army. 
 
 The Michi^^an setth:nients could make no head- 
 way under such ( irciunstances. and the local affairs 
 of the Territory remained in the same state of 
 discord. 
 
 ( iovernor ilull left for Washinj.(ton hc^forc he 
 heard of the hattle of ri|)|>ecanoe. While in that 
 city ln' made; some iisehd suj.(;4^<;stions concernin;.^ 
 th<; possession of tlu; lakes by American vessels. 
 His (earlier advice on this suhjcrct ha<l been ju- 
 dicious, and at this time, on th(r strenj^th of his 
 Revolutionary merits, he was well thouj.(ht of as 
 a military officer. I le had never commandctd 
 any larj^e force, nor )>erlorm<'d any strikinj^' de- 
 tached s(.'rvice on a lar^<- scale. Whih." some 
 of the more distinj^nisluul and successful soldiers 
 who afterwards had reason to complain of him 
 be(ame suspicious of his litness in the earliest 
 days of his conunand, he left Washinj.(ton for the 
 west in ^ood ^cncrnl ntpute. 
 
 His civil administration practically terminat(;d 
 wh(;n he left for the seat of j^rovernnumt. Hut 
 th<;re was (jne last civil function p(,Tformed in 
 th(; sad int(Tval betw<;en his return from Canada 
 and the surr(tnd(;r which followed it, indicatinj^ a 
 danj.((;rous omission in the previous legislation 
 of the 'lerritory. On the 13th of Auj.(ust, 1812, 
 
2r.2 
 
 ol.l) lAWs AHol ISIIKI). iCiiAC X. 
 
 a hill was passed lorhiddini^ the salt- ol intoxi- 
 cating li<|iM)r to the Indians. 
 
 Tlu-n; arc not many peculiar rcatiircs in the 
 laws of the tirst ICrritorial period, hut some fur- 
 ther reference; is necessar)' to a few of them. 
 
 The want of a press, and the dittirulty which 
 was found in cletermininj.,^ the le^al condition ol 
 the countr), led In iSm to a ver\ wise measure, 
 whereh)' all the Innch laws and customs, and 
 all I^n^lish and Canadian statutes, as well as those 
 of the- Northwest Tc-rritory and Indiana, were 
 aholished. This left the |)ec:)ple suhject only to 
 the- laws ot the I'nited .States, the; Tc^rriiorial 
 statutes, and the general rules of the common 
 law. 
 
 No counties were laid out during; the time 
 of (leneral Hull. The districts were the onl\- di- 
 visions, and tlu; district judt;-es acted as local ad- 
 ministrators. Althouj^h there were highway com- 
 missioners, there wen; f(;\v roads, and those; e'ither 
 in Hctroit or up and down the Hetroit River. 
 There was no access to thc' interior except by 
 streams or Indian trails. 
 
 The nionc^' then in circulation was mostly 
 S[)anish dollars, halves, cjuarters, pistar<;ens, and 
 pieces of twelve and a half, and six and a c[uarter 
 cents. In the absence of small coin the larj:]^er 
 coins were cut into (juarters and eighths. Accounts 
 were kept in York currency, of two dollars and a 
 half to tlu; pound, or twelve and a half cents to 
 the shilling. 
 
Cmai. x.| i.k.(;ai. affairs. 
 
 263 
 
 Several of the early tax laws were never 
 printed, and arc lost, and there is no intlex to 
 their contetus. It seems, how(;ver, that revenue 
 was rais(,'d almost entirely from capitation taxes of 
 one dollar im each male over sixteen years, specific 
 taxes on doj^^'s, horses, asses and mules, and upon 
 vehicles, and taxes and license fees on various 
 occupations. I'he tax on do^s was ingeniously 
 tlevised. It assessed fifty cents on a dog it only 
 one was owned, one dollar for the second, and 
 a dollar and a half for each beyond two. The 
 license law for licpior selling punished witii se- 
 verity every di^ah^r who allowi^d drunkenness or 
 noise on his premises, in-doors or without. It 
 seems that the deputy marshal, who was jailor, 
 had been chargetl a full tavern license; as a law 
 was passed re<|uiring him to pay but one dol- 
 lar, insteatl of the greater sum, for the privilege of 
 entertaining his involuntary guests. 
 
 TIk,' district courts wen; abolished in 1810. 
 and there; a|)pears a hiatus for some years in 
 th(; published laws, as to compidsory jurisdiction 
 over the cases they had dealt with. Probably 
 they were remitted to the Supreme Court. Par- 
 ties in the district courts could waive a jury. 
 On the other hand, cases tried there by jury could 
 be appealed for a new jury trial in the Supreme 
 Court — a practice which afterwards, under a some- 
 what modified system, was found oppressive. Tes- 
 timony in ecpiity cases could be taken in open 
 court, if desired. This was allowed in the United 
 States courts by the early judiciary act. 
 
264 
 
 BURR'S ONSPIRACY. (Chap. X. 
 
 ■-"■ On the 19th day of January, 181 1, Judge Wood- 
 ward appeared in the legislative board clad in a 
 suit of American cloth, (as the record carefully 
 recites), and introduced resolutions in favor of 
 American industry. This was no doubt meant for 
 the audience. It is not reported what effect it 
 produced, at home or abroad. 
 
 In the early part of 1807, on the 23d day of 
 January, a law was passed which seems to have 
 been in some way connected with Burr's conspir- 
 acy, but which is not explained. It is a very 
 elaborate and carefully framed statute to prevent 
 and punish acts hostile to the peace of the 
 United States, reaching all attempts and incipient 
 preparations by land or water, authorizing the sei- 
 zure of persons, arms, supplies and boats or ves- 
 sels, and giving unusual powers to call out forces, 
 and punishing with great severity military officers 
 neglecting or refusing to respond. 
 
 It is known that Mr. Jefferson received infor- 
 mation in October, 1806, which excited his sus- 
 picions against Burr, and that he notified some of 
 the western governors to be on their guard. In 
 November, Colonel Daviess was foiled in an at- 
 tempt to have Burr held to bail in Kentucky ; 
 but the Ohio Legislature, before the middle of 
 December, passed an act from which ours was 
 copied. Wh rlier there were any suspicious 
 movements in this region, or whether the act was 
 passed merely from abundant caution, is now un- 
 
Chap. X.| WAR. 265 
 
 known. The news of Burr's arrest could not have 
 reached Detroit for some time after its passage. 
 
 The war of 1812 and if consequences made 
 a sorrowful ending to a period of no political 
 progress, and which was not an auspicious open- 
 ing to our public career. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 (lOXKKNOR HI I.I.'s .MII.ri'AKV ,U)MFMS TKA IK )\. 
 
 'I'liK discussion of the events of the War of 
 181 2 in a purely miUtary point of view, is not 
 within the purpose of this sketch, and not within 
 the writer's skill. But they were events of such 
 great political and social importance to Michigan 
 that an outline of them is necessary. This involves 
 unavoidably a reference to the surrender of Detroit. 
 Upon this, whatever may have been the laudable 
 desire of personal friends and affectionate relatives 
 to remove oblo(|uy from an officer of very kind 
 heart and many good qualities, there has been a 
 substantial agreement among military men, and 
 no appreciable difference of opinion among the 
 citizens and officers who had most reason to 
 understand and observe the circumstances. The 
 details of the war, and of this most disgraceful 
 and lamentable occurrence in it, have been made 
 familiar by many historians, and given in the Field 
 Book of the War of 181 2, with much fullness as 
 well as with general accuracy, by Mr. Lossing, 
 who has ilone so much with pen and pencil to 
 perpetuattt our military history. No attempt will 
 be made to go into these particulars at length. 
 
Chap. XI.J DKLAYS ANU MISTAKES. 267 
 
 The conduct of the War T.lepartment of the 
 United States in delayiny^ important preparations, 
 and in not using t^reater diHii;^ence in sending out 
 knowledge of the declaration of war, was very 
 reprehensible. And so far as it really interfered 
 with any military successes, the excuse should be, 
 and has been, allowed to all officers and others 
 v'-'io did their best. But it is also no more than 
 just and reasonable to discard from allowance any 
 difficulties or dangers, which, although they might 
 have been possible, either had no effect upon 
 results or ,/ere not in fact existing ; and when 
 existing, were not of such a character that at the 
 time any one should have acted, or did rationally 
 act upon them. The delays and difficulties were 
 not confmed to American movements and prepara- 
 tions ; and the antecedent fears of some wise men 
 and good officers at a distance, concerning the 
 precise nature of perils on the frontier, would 
 not all have; been entertained had they been on 
 the spot, and known the condition of affairs on 
 both sides of the line. 
 
 There was opposition to the declaration of war, 
 and of course it was among the possibilities that 
 it would not be made. It appears from various 
 sources, and especially from those brought to 
 light in (ieneral Hull's behalf, that he was opposed 
 to declaring it at that time, and especially opposed 
 to it so early, as endange.ing his civil jurisdiction 
 and the people living under it. He claims also 
 to have been opposed to the invasion of Canada 
 
268 HULL'S VIEWS. 
 
 [Chap. XI 
 
 (although his previous letter may bear a different 
 construction) on similar grounds, and for the reason 
 that he regarded it as too strong to be overcome 
 by the American forces, and as likely to be 
 dangerously aggressive in return. He was re- 
 luctant to accept a military con^'mand, not because 
 of any doubt of his own ability, but as it now 
 appears for the reason, among others, that it 
 might involve an expectation on the part of the 
 Government that he would attempt to invade 
 Canada; while he saw fit to think it his paramount 
 duty not only to look chiefly to the interests of 
 the Michigan settlements, but to put his private 
 judgment on this policy against all other consider- 
 ations, and carry it out at all events. No one can 
 read his own defence, or the undisputed facts of 
 history, without seeing that he claims credit for 
 having been constantly moved by this sentiment. 
 He was acquitted on the charges of treason. It 
 was not believed he meant to deliberately injure 
 or betray his country. But while free from that 
 design, which would have made his memory as 
 black as Arnold's, he was not, if we accept his 
 own vindication of himself, free from that fault, 
 which, though not so disgraceful morally, is not 
 much less dangerous, and which has been the 
 destruction of many promising reputations, of 
 imagining that military officers have a right to 
 determine the policy of their government, and are 
 only bound to carry out such measures as they 
 deem expedient. An officer who prophesied failure 
 
Chap. XI. J HULL'S gUALlTlES 26D 
 
 before war was declared, unless his views were 
 accepted, and whose anterior views, as to the 
 means of preventing mishap, were not carried out 
 by Congress or the War Department, was cer- 
 tainly in danger of fulfilling his prophecies, and of 
 convincing himself that the failure was inevitable. 
 If Hull was really as frank in his prophecies to 
 the War Department before his appointment, as 
 he was ingenious in finding out afterwards rea- 
 sons why he ought to have failed, there can be 
 r doubt that his selection, reluctant or unre- 
 luctant, was one of the worst faults that could 
 have been charged against that office. But this 
 is hardly credible. At any rate it was not known 
 to the public, and is very doubtful in fact. The 
 General had a reputation for bravery in the 
 Revolution that was honesdy earned. The miser- 
 able squabbles at Detroit had not become so far 
 known outside that any one had discovered his 
 personal foibles and infirmity of purpose; and very 
 good soldiers have had weak points, and been led 
 into ridiculous positions by such annoyances, with- 
 out losing their military qualities. The selection, 
 so far <is we can now see, was justified by e.xist- 
 ing appearances. With the aid of subse(|uent 
 events to suggest a full inquiry, we can now, with 
 that ex post facto wisdom, which no one then could 
 be expected to possess, easily see that the indecision 
 and readiness to avoid trouble which led him into 
 so much mischief, and his fussy attempts to per- 
 suade others and himself that he had some energy. 
 
270 HULL'S ANTECEDENTS. TChap. XL 
 
 had not been of entirely new orit,nn, althouo^h ad- 
 vancing years liad made it easier to yield to them 
 and harder to resist them. He had never, during 
 his Revolutionary career, held command of an 
 army, or any command of any great responsibility, 
 or one which called for much more than personal 
 bravery and devotion, which he certainly had shown. 
 He had been sent on two missions to Canada, 
 one to General Haldimand, to seek the delivery 
 of the posts, in 1 784, and one to ( Governor Simcoe, 
 during the pendency of Jay's negotiations, to ar- 
 range for the access of commissioners to the 
 western Indians in our Territory. In the former 
 he accomplished nothing. In the latter he was 
 certainly evaded and misled, by the address of 
 Simcoe, and showed very little sagacit)'. In both 
 he had talked with vigor and spirit, and in both 
 he had been easily satisfied. The British gover- 
 nors had resorted to much personal Hatter) and 
 attention, which he greatly appreciated, and prob- 
 ably produced some effect on his judgment by so 
 doing. In the steps which led to the final sur- 
 render, (General Brock deliberately and understand- 
 ingly calculated on the result, and worked on his 
 fears with a confidence which would have utterly 
 destroyed the British expedition, if any one else 
 had succeeded to, or assumed command. It is not, 
 indeed, to General Hull's discredit, thrt his char- 
 acter was open enough to enable those who were 
 dealing with him to discern his defects. And they 
 were of that jharacter which are very seldom 
 recognized by their possessor. 
 
Chap. XI.] DECLARATION UK WAR. 
 
 271 
 
 The war was declared on die i8th of June, 
 1812. News of it should have reached General 
 Hull several days earlier than it did; and, as he 
 received one communication of that date from 
 Washington, written earlier in the day, by express 
 on the 24th, it may be assumed that the same 
 diligence should have informed him on that day. 
 or the next, of the declaration. News reached 
 Maiden on the 30th of June. It reached Hull, 
 near the River Raisin, on the 2nd of July. As 
 declarations of war are not made in a corner, 
 and as the British would not have been foolish 
 enough to have no means of immediate knowl- 
 edge at Washington, there was no reason why 
 the British post should not have been informed 
 as early as any Americans near b)'. MaUh^n was 
 practically nearer Cleveland, where Hull's dispatch 
 was sent from, than Hull himself was. But there 
 was e(}ually no reason why every exertion should 
 not have been made to inform the Americans. 
 The tall of Mackinaw was due directly to the 
 fault of the War Department in failing to send 
 news. The fall of Detroit may be palliated by it 
 just so far as it was affected by it, wiiich was very 
 little, if at all, as this happened six weeks later. 
 
 (iovernor Hull spent the winter of 1811-12 
 in Washington, and knew all that was going on. 
 It is possible that he entertained the idea that a 
 Bridsh w^ar would be avoided. He felt much 
 more kindly to the British than most Americans 
 did, except in a small part of the country; and on 
 
272 
 
 HULL'S STRANGE VIEWS. [Chap. XI 
 
 his journey down, he had been furnished with a 
 passage across the lake by a British armed ves- 
 sel detailed on purpose; — a handsome courtesy 
 recognized by our journals, and creditable to both 
 parties. But he himself expected Indian hostili- 
 ties, and he knew perfectly well that the adminis- 
 tration expected war with Great Britain. He knew 
 that the force under his command was raised with 
 that anticipation, if not for that immediate service. 
 He also knew that Congress had, by sufficient 
 majorities, adopted legislation that would have 
 been absurd except in that view. The infatuation 
 that could make any reasonable man suppose war 
 would not be declared, after all these prelimina- 
 ries, was marvellous, and would be incredible, if 
 we did not know there were sections of the coun- 
 try, and other more able men than General Hull, 
 among his old neighbors, that entertained that no- 
 tion. That a general sent out to the frontier 
 with an army, did not at least feel bound to act 
 in all his course as if war might be declared at 
 any moment, and then one party or the other must 
 do some fighting, was one of the fatalities of 
 Hull's unfortunate career. No administration could 
 have delayed it, and it is strange he should have 
 thought so, it such was his notion. 
 
 The invasion of Canada was very openly dis- 
 cussed early in the winter. Before accepting com- 
 mand, General Hull had, in writing, expressed his 
 views on the subject, in which he plainly expressed 
 his opinion in favor of putting at Detroit a force 
 
CHAr. XI. 1 PREPARATIONS I OR WAR 278 
 
 adequate to protect that place, as an alternative, 
 and not as an appendage to a plan for getting 
 control of the lakes : and that, with Detroit pro- 
 tected, the Indians could be kept from Maiden, 
 and the British, unable to hold Canada without 
 them, would leave it, and the command of the 
 lakes would be obtained without a Heet. Mr. 
 Flustis did not corroborate his statements concern- 
 ing his further representations, as being quite as 
 positive as he asserted them from recollection to 
 have been. Before the middle of January, the 
 President had been not authorized but rc^quired 
 to add to the regular army a force of n. rv than 
 25,000 men. On the 6th of h'ebruary he was 
 authorized to accept 50,000 Aolunteers. ( )n the 
 14th of March a loan of eleven millions was au- 
 thorized. On the 4th of April an embargo was 
 laid. And during all this time the necessary sup- 
 plementary laws were passed, for supplies, ord- 
 nance and ships, and for organizing the customary 
 corps and appliances for the staff department. 
 
 It was during this period that the President 
 called for 1,200 Ohio volunteers, and planned a 
 movement to Detroit with an army including those 
 and the 4th Regiment of United .State's Infantr), 
 which had been engaged in the Battle of Tippe- 
 canoe, and was commanded by Colonel Miller, 
 who afterwards obtauied distinction on the Niagara 
 frontier, and was made famous by his modest "/'// 
 Iry, sir." Hull, after declining command in the 
 first instance, afterwards accepted it, and did so 
 18 
 
274 
 
 QUALITY OF THE TROOPS [Chap. XI. 
 
 unconditionally. The volunteering went on very 
 rapidly, and much greater numbers came in than 
 had been called for, but all were accepted. Three 
 regiments of foot and a considerable force of 
 cavalry were mustered in. Duncan McArthur, 
 Jamts Findlay, and Lewis Cass, were chosen 
 colonels of the first, second and third regiments. 
 Their other field officers were Majors James Denny 
 and William A. Trimble of the first, Thomas Moore 
 and Thomas B. Van Home of the second, and 
 Robert Morrison and J. R. Munson of the third. 
 It is not known or reported that there was in the 
 whole command an unworthy officer of any 
 standing. Some of them were men of tried 
 bravery and personal distinction. All the superior 
 officers were already well known and trustworthy. 
 Colonel Miller's command was one never surpassed 
 in soldierly qualities, and Duncan McArthur was 
 spoken of by Brock as "an officer of high repu- 
 tation." All of them soon earned it. 
 
 Some stress has been laid by Hull's apologists 
 upon the fact that the troops were chiefly militia 
 men, and not under proper subordination. They 
 werp no part of the ordinary militia, in the proper 
 sense of the term, and were the same kind of 
 troops that in all our wars have been the chief 
 reliance of the government. One of Hull's con- 
 spicuous faults was his notion (drawn partly, per- 
 haps, from his old experience with Steuben) that 
 troops who were not trained and apparelled ac- 
 cording to the army regulations were not to be 
 
Chap. Xt.l VOLUNI T.ERS. 
 
 275 
 
 implicitly trusted. He had before made trouble 
 in Michigan by this finical disposition, and it may 
 have been one of the causes of dislike which 
 arose in the army quite early. No one doubts 
 that it is advantageous to secure uniformity and 
 system in little things as well as in great, when it 
 can be done without too great delay and the sacri- 
 fice of other things. But it is idle to expect vol- 
 unteers to become martinets, and it is very ques- 
 tionable how far it is best to go in that direction. 
 In the wars of the west, there was a great deal 
 of hard fighting in a very rough way. and those 
 were generally found to be the best commanders 
 who least annoyed their men. It is very certain that 
 if there was insubordination it did not interfere very 
 seriously with the proper work of the army, although 
 there was some which arose from its being kept 
 back from its work. This fault-finding with the 
 volunteers is the less to be respected, if the court 
 was justified in finding him guilty on the specific 
 charge of neglecting the inspection, training and 
 exercise of these troops, during the period between 
 his arrival at Detroit and the surrender. The 
 testimony covered the whole period after he took 
 command; but the court very justly exonerated 
 him from liability for such neglect on the march 
 through the wilderness, but condemned him for tlie 
 rest. .-;.:■.-;■'-' a--- ■:,/-.' i':'-'.!'^ 
 
 On the 30th day of June, Hull and his army, 
 after a tedious and fatiguing march of nearly three 
 weeks, arrived at the Rapids of the Maumee, a 
 
276 VESSELS SENT FROM MAUMEE. CAPTURE. (Chap XI. 
 
 few miles above the present city of Toledo. On 
 the 24th, as before stated, Hull had received let- 
 ters from Washington sayint^^ nothing- about the 
 declaration of war, but urging haste. He had 
 also heard from Secretary Atwater, at Detroit, 
 that affairs looked threatening. On the 24th 
 Colonel McArthur also received letters showing 
 that an immediate declaration was certain, and that 
 it must before that have been made, (ieneral 
 Hull refused to credit this, although coming from 
 sure sources, because he could not imagine any 
 one could be informed earlier than himself. On 
 the first day of July he sent forward, by vessel, 
 some of his invalids, his baggage and entrenching 
 tools, and hospital stores, and a trunk containing 
 all his instructions and military papers, with the 
 muster rolls of the whole army. Three officers' 
 wives went as passengers. A smaller vessel, under 
 charge of a surgeon's mate, was sent up at the 
 same time. The army moved on by land the same 
 day. ;;\:,; '■■-■''■/ ■^■. ■'''■-■.' "tS^, ■:::■:• ^ '„:.■...' ■■■■!-" :-i^" '■■r'-^''' 
 
 The larger vessel sailed through the main 
 channel of the Detroit River, which passes in a 
 narrow space between Maiden and Bois-blanc 
 Island, and was there captured on the next day. 
 The smaller vessel followed tht: American channel 
 west of Grosse He, and reached Detroit without 
 interruption. The first specification against Gen- 
 eral Hull under the charge of treason, related to 
 sending the vessels to Detroit, with his sick men, 
 papers and baggage. Although he successfull)- 
 
Chap. XI. J ARRIVAL Al Sl'RINGWKLLS. 277 
 
 pleaded to the jurisdiction of the court martial to 
 try him for treason, the court were satisfied he 
 had no treasonable design, and so certified, and 
 also acquitted him of criminal neglect in the 
 matter. It is very doubtful whether he knew of 
 the transmission of his papers before the vessel 
 sailed. But as they were in the hands of his son, 
 whom he had a right to trust, he was not at 
 fault for not making special inquiry on the subject 
 of their transmission, and so the court found. 
 
 It was discovered, some time before they 
 reached the Maumee, that those among the Indians 
 whose fidelity was doubted had already left the 
 tountry and gone to Canada. Ihe number of 
 these from Ohio was not very great. The road 
 to Detroit was not difficult, and it was traversed 
 at the rate of twenty miles a day. One day (the 
 4th of July) was .'♦pent at the Huron River, near 
 Brownstown, in building a bridge. Having learned 
 of the declaration of war the day after leaving 
 Maumee, there was some anxiety about an attack 
 from Maiden. But no difficulty occurred, and the 
 troops arrived at the Sandhill, at Springwells, just 
 below Detroit, on the evening of the 5th of July. 
 This spot, just above the present fort, was then re- 
 markable for a multitude of small springs or natural 
 wells, amounting to hundreds, a few feet apart, 
 and generally coming up to within a few inches 
 of the top of the bluff, in holes of from three to 
 six inciics in diameter. On the continuation of 
 the knoll, not many rods below, were three Indian 
 
278 
 
 ENTRY INTO CANADA. [CsAr. XI. 
 
 mounds, circular in form, one of which was covered 
 with timber. These were removed when the 
 present Fort Wayne was built, and were found 
 full of Indian remains and ornaments. The sand- 
 hill and springs, which have been destroyed by 
 removal of much of the bank, reached consider- 
 ably further up the river than the fort. This 
 beautiful spot was known among the French as 
 Belle Fontaine, and was, on account of its dryness 
 of soil and salubrity, a favorite camping ground. 
 It was the camping place of the troops who, 
 twenty years later, were sent out against Black 
 Hawk ; and six years thereafter, for a few hours, 
 of the motley array that were enlisted in the 
 so-called Patriot War. As a point commanding 
 the river both up and down from the only bend 
 in it, the place is of military value and now fortified. 
 
 Immediately on reaching Detroit, the army 
 clamored to be led to Maiden. Colonel Cass 
 had been sent to that fort to communicate with 
 the commander, St. George, concerning the persons 
 captured on the Cuyahoga schooner. He had 
 opportunities to see its condition, and made it 
 known to the general. The latter put himself 
 upon the terms of his Washington letters, and 
 refused to move without orders. On the 9th, the 
 orders came, authorizing him to commence offen- 
 sive operations; and, after dallying a day or two, 
 he moved across to Sandwich, at the centre of 
 the present town of Windsor, and issued a spirited 
 proclamation, which was penned by Cass, and which 
 
Chap. XI. 1 HULL'S INERTNESS. 279 
 
 General Brock found much in his way.' This 
 ended his serious work of invasion. Cass and 
 McArdiur, widi others, made several expeditions 
 and reconnoisances in force, and demonstrated the 
 weakness of that part of the Province. — McArthur 
 pushing up the Thames as far as the Moravian 
 towns, and bringing back considerable supplies, 
 and Cass reaching the Canard River, five miles 
 above Maiden, and driving back from the bridge, 
 where a battery was erected, its original guard 
 and reinforcements sent up from Maiden, and only 
 pausing when darkness set in. The refusal of 
 Hull to follow up their advantage was a charge 
 on which he was convicted. The garrison at Mai- 
 den was actually preparing to evacuate the place, 
 in expectation of an attack which they had no 
 force to resist. 
 
 • The following passages from Brock's Life .ire fully sustained by 
 Urock's official and private letters : 
 
 " The invasion of the western district by Brigadier General Hull, and 
 the artful and threatening language of his proclamation, were productive 
 at the outset of very unfavorable effects among a large portion of the 
 inhabitants of Upper Canada ; and so general was the despondency, that 
 the Norfolk militia, consisting, we believe, chiefly of settlers of American 
 origin, peremptorily refused to march. 
 
 » » # # .1 f,jQ( yfiiy among tiie miiitia was a disposition evinced 
 to submit tamely, but five hundred in the western district .sought the 
 protection uf the enemy. It is true that the people were then far removed 
 from the seat of government, and the more subject to hostile influence, 
 as they were principally composed ot French Canadians and of the natives 
 of the United States, or their immediate descendants; but even the 
 Indians, who were located on the Grand Kiver, in the heart of the pro- 
 vince, positively refused, with a few exceptions, to take up arms ; and 
 they announced their intention, after the return of some of their chiefs 
 from General Hull, to remain neutral, as if they wished the authorities 
 to believe that they would remain in peace in the midst of war." — Ltjt 
 oj Broik, p. 204-5. 
 
280 
 
 WEAKNESS OF MALDEN. (Cmaf. XI. 
 
 (ieneral Brock, complaining of the apathy or 
 tiisaffection of the people, referred to the success 
 of "one Watson, a surveyor from Montreal, of a 
 desperate character," in penetrating unopposed 
 with a small cavalry force as far as Westminster.' 
 This was no doubt Captain Joseph Watson, at one 
 time Secretary to the Governor and Judges, and 
 City Register. 
 
 The story of this period has been amply told 
 by many others. Maiden was exposed and weak, 
 and its condition was known to the army, not only 
 from Cass, but from spies and prisoners. The 
 capture was certain, and would have given the 
 Americans command of the Detroit River and its 
 approaches, as well as broken up the Indian head- 
 cjuarters ; and the line of supplies would have 
 been op'-n by land to Ohio and Indiana, as he 
 had anticipated in his manifesto of March 6th to 
 the Department. The Indians along the Ameri- 
 can side of the Detroit River did not go over to 
 the British until the early part of August, and then 
 did it unwillingly, if not under compulsion; and if 
 Maiden had been taken, it would probably never 
 have happened. No vessel could have gone up 
 and down the river without coming within easy 
 range of batteries. The British vessels were not 
 formidable against land-batteries, and, more- 
 over, during all this time the American ves- 
 sel, Adams, was idle at the navy-yard on 
 the River Rouge, repairing, but capable of 
 
 « Hrock's Life 199. 
 
Chap. XI.] DELAYS 281 
 
 speedy fitting, and stronger than the Queen 
 Charlotte. Within a very shoVt period a'ter the 
 surrender she was armed by the British with i8 
 guns, as the " Detroit," and on the 8th of October 
 was captured near Buffalo, with the Caledonia, by 
 Lieutenant Jesse D. Elliott, of the navy. .She was 
 burned and General Hull lost some of his baggage 
 and papers in her. 
 
 Up to the fourth of August, there was no in- 
 timation given by the General to the Secretary 
 of War, that he felt any anxiety for lack of forces 
 or support. In his letter of Jul)' 9th, in answer 
 to that allowing him to move forward, he does in- 
 deed say that he does not think his force equal 
 to the reduction of Amherstburg, and that the Sec- 
 retary must not be too sanguine, but that he will 
 do everything possible to be done. But on the 
 2 2d he speaks much more decidedly. He writes 
 that he is making preparations for the siege, which 
 will be ready in two weeks; that his army is able 
 to take Maiden by storm, but thinks it would be 
 with too great a sacrifice under present circum- 
 stc^ces; that he is making preparations for an 
 attv-.npt on the Queen Charlotte, and that if Mai- 
 den was in his possession he could march his 
 army to Niagara or York in a very short time. 
 
 At this time he knew there was to be no lake 
 force, and he asked for no reinforcements, and the 
 tone of his despatch was that of a resolute and 
 firm commander. His communications had not 
 been disturbed, and no detachments of Indians 
 
282 
 
 DELAyS iCHAf. XI 
 
 had been sent across the river. The ordinary 
 mails came through in about fifteen days from 
 Washington, and he had never sent expresses, 
 which could have gone in half the time, or resorted 
 to any cypher or other device to prevent mischief 
 by this interception. He did not inform the Sec- 
 retary of the opinions or urgency of his officers, 
 but left him to understand that they were all of 
 one mind with him; and in every instance when 
 he resorted to a council, he followed it if a single 
 vote of an inferior officer made a tie or a ma- 
 jority against action, though opposed by the su- 
 perior officers ; and when the majority was in favor 
 of prompt action, he as uniformly disregarded it. 
 
 The long delay, and the General'^ obstinacy in 
 refusing to allow any decisive action, led to all 
 the worst evils that followed. Knowing the delay 
 in his own advices, he must have known the Brit- 
 ish would get news of the war to the upper coun- 
 try first, as he was in the only American line of 
 travel. He took no steps to forward advices, and 
 does not seem to have paid any heed to the ex- 
 istence of Mackinaw, or the dangers it must in- 
 evitably run from a surprise. It was a very im- 
 portant post in his own civil jurisdiction, and the 
 lives of its garrison and people were as important 
 as those of his Detroit neighbors. He had dwelt 
 much in his former communications to the gov- 
 ernment upon the influence of the trading com- 
 panies over the Indians, and their inveterate ha- 
 tred to the Americans; and the prospect of the 
 
Chap. Xl.J CAPTURE OF MACKINAW. 283 
 
 capture of Mackinaw, and of the consequent let- 
 ting loose of the northern tribes upon the lower 
 country, was one which could not have escaped 
 his notice, if he had given ordinary thought to his 
 duties. The capture of that post, and the rising 
 of these tribes, are dwelt upon in his apology 
 and defence as justifying his timid course after- 
 wards. But they were inevitable, unless by some 
 vigorous course at Detroit. The rallying place 
 of British influence at Maiden could have been 
 broken up; and he had, in March, declared that 
 this would be an effectual measure, as no doubt 
 it would have been. If he had been more dili- 
 gent beforehand, and less astounded afterwards, 
 the lonjjf list of massacres on our borders would 
 have been diminished, if not entirely prevented. 
 
 The news of war reached the British post at 
 the Island of St. Joseph, and the American friends 
 and abettors of the British at the Sault, about 
 the middle of July. The force of regulars sent 
 from there was forty-two men and four officers, 
 which probably comprised most of the garrison. 
 On the 1 6th of July they started for Mackinaw. 
 The expedition consisted, besides, of the armed 
 brig Caledonia (afterwards captured with a large 
 cargo of furs at Buffalo, and doing good service 
 under Lieutenant Turner in Perry's fleet), 250 Ca- 
 nadians, servants and agents of the Northwest 
 Company, and traders, and 500 Indians, the sava- 
 ges being under command of Robert Dickson, 
 and John Askin, Junior, and his son. The white 
 
284 
 
 CAl'TUkK OK MACKINAW. |Chai. XI. 
 
 Canadians were led by John Johnston, Crawford, 
 Pothier, Krmatinger. La Croix, Rolette, I'Vanks, 
 I-ivingston and others, all traders.- PVom 80 to 
 100 Indians joined them on the way, and they 
 found about 70 allies in Mackinaw. 
 
 Lieutenant Porter Hanks, a brave and estim- 
 able gentleman, commanded at Mackinaw, with a 
 garrison of 57 effective men and officers. On the 
 1 6th, he had heard from an interpreter some 
 rumor of an intention of the Indians at St. Joseph 
 lo make; trouble, and the coolness of the chiefs at 
 Mackinaw induced him to believe mischief was 
 brewing. He consulted with the American gentle- 
 men on the island, and it was agreed to send 
 Captain Michael Dousman of the militia, who 
 volunteered to go out and watch the Indians. He 
 started in the evening near sunse , and was 
 captured about 1 5 miles out. The British landed 
 that night on the side of the island away from the 
 fort, at a beach ever since known as the British 
 Landing. Dousman gave his parole to take the 
 people and assemble them on the west side of the 
 island, and put them under protection of the 
 British guard, warning them not to go to the fort, 
 and telling them, if any resistance was made from 
 the garrison, there would be an indiscriminate 
 massacre of the whole population. He also agreed 
 not to inform the commander of anything. Pursu- 
 ing these directions, he succeeded in collecting the 
 people, and in concealing all movements from the 
 garrison, until the surgeon Dr. Day, passing 
 
Chap XI | CAI'TIJRK. (JK MAlKINAW 
 
 285 
 
 through the village, noticed antl in(|iiired into the 
 excitement, and informed Hanks, who at once 
 prepared for defence. He discovered, however, 
 that the height known as old Fort Holmes, a short 
 distance back of the fort, and completely command- 
 ing it, was already occupied by the l^ritish with 
 artillery, antl that resistance was useless. This 
 was the first notice he received of the declaration 
 of war. He did not siirrentU'r until he had sent 
 three American gentlemen, besides his officers, 
 with a flag, to ascertain the force ot the enemy, 
 and obtained honorable terms; nor until the un- 
 animous opinion of both garrison and citizens 
 declared it necessary. 
 
 The prisoners marched out with the honors of 
 war, and were paroletl ; and Lieutenant Hanks 
 and his associate officers arrived at Detroit with 
 the news, on the 2Qth of July. The inhabitants 
 who refused to take the oath of allegiance were 
 compelled to leave the island. Some of them be- 
 es rr 2 more than submissive,-, and were active and 
 willing renegades. The conduct of the Indians at 
 Mackinaw, as w(dl as subsequently in the lower 
 country, showed that they were sufficiently under 
 control of some, at least, of the British officers and 
 agents, to restrain their savagery until allowed to 
 indulge it by their white leaders ; and while these 
 deserve such credit as is due for any forbearance, 
 the responsibility for outrages actually committed 
 in the presence and under control of similar 
 agents elsewhere, is justly chargeable to all who 
 intentionally favored or allowed them. 
 
286 DISLOYALTY IN THE NORTHERN POSTS. [Chap XL 
 
 Whatever allowance may be made for the old 
 predilections of those traders who had taken up 
 their abode in the United States, without electing 
 to retain their British allegiance, their voluntary 
 and unnecessary enlistment in such expeditions 
 was a plain act of treason, for which they deserved 
 punishment. But by some strange oversight in 
 the subsequent legislation of Congress, or by an 
 interpretation of their statutes which was at the 
 extreme verge of liberality, every one of the 
 settlers at Mackinaw. Green Bay, or the Sault 
 Ste. Marie, who occupied land on the first of 
 July, 1 812, was confirmed in it, as a donation and 
 not as a right, although the testimony was clear 
 that nearly the whole Green Bay settlement, and 
 many of the people at Mackinaw and the Sault, 
 were actively disloyal. How far, if at all, Dous- 
 man, against whom the land office affidavits were 
 very strong, was engaged in active disaffection, 
 was never judicially examined. Some of the 
 commissioners regarded the charges as malicious. 
 
 The arrival of Lieutenant Hanks disturbed 
 Hull's quiet, and gave him natural alarm, and he 
 called for reinforcements on the day when he 
 received the news. But he spoke in the same 
 confident tone to the Secretary, and to Governors 
 Scott and Meigs, as he had done before, with the 
 air of a general who had been constantly on the 
 alert, saying : " The operations of this army have 
 been hitherto successful, and it is of the greatest 
 importance that the objects should be effected." 
 
Chap. XI. ] INDIAN DF.FKCTION 
 
 287 
 
 It is needless to add that those patriotic gover- 
 nors acted with their usual promptness, and that 
 Detroit was not lost throuj;h their remissness, nor 
 from any reason to fear their duty would not be 
 performed. 
 
 Colonel Proctor reached Maiden a day or two 
 before the arrival of Hanks. He came by Lake 
 Erie and brouj;ht no force with him. But the 
 news from Mackinaw had its natural effect in de- 
 ciding the Brownstown Wyandots, under Walk-in- 
 the-Water, to submit or adhere to the British. 
 Information being received that Captain Henry 
 Brush of Ohio was coming up with supplies, Hull, 
 on the 4th of August, detached Major Van Home 
 of Findlay's Regiment to meet and escort him. 
 Proctor sent over a force ol soldiers and Indians 
 to intercept him, and he was, after a gallant fight, 
 coiVipelled to return. On the day when he sent 
 down this detachment. General Hull had written 
 to the Secretary of War, informing him of the 
 movements on the upper Thames by Major 
 Chambers of the British army, whom he expected 
 to hear from as gathering the Indians and militia to 
 reinforce Maiden, but who, as it turned out, failed 
 to accomplish anything, because they would not 
 join him. He also mentioned Proctor's arrival, 
 and the capture of the Brownstown Indians, by 
 whites and Indians from Maiden, as not unwilling 
 captives. He speaks of consulting the principal 
 officers, and says, as if there had been no discord, 
 that an attempt to storm the fort without artillery 
 
288 
 
 I'ECUI.lAk I'kKTKXTS IChap. XI 
 
 was deemed unadvisable. lie also shadows forth 
 the idea that possibly he may be compelled to re- 
 cross tlie river to keep open his communications 
 with Ohio, and states that " 1 am constantly obliged 
 to make a strong detachment to convey the pro- 
 visions between the foot of the rapids and I )e- 
 troit." 
 
 Some of these statements are singular, when 
 compared with the testimon) and his own defence. 
 Van Home's was the first detachment he; had ever 
 sent out for the purpose, and this, in view of the 
 known facilities of Proctor to send troops and In- 
 dians over from Maiden, was represented by Mc- 
 Arthur, at least, to be, as it was, grossly insufficient. 
 One of the charges Hull was convicted of was 
 neglect of duty in not keeping open his commu- 
 nications, and in sending out Van Home without 
 adequate force. He leaves the Secretary to infer 
 that he has always kept them open, that a large 
 force was necessary to do it. and that it might 
 need a movement of his entire army. This move- 
 ment meant, as was afterwards avowed, a conver- 
 sion of the whole army into a couple of garri- 
 sons at Brownstown and on the Raisin, which 
 would have left Detroit with no considerable force, 
 and which would almost have insured the capture 
 in detail of the whole line. But in fact this pro- 
 ject of re-crossing the river, though submitted to 
 a council on the first of August, had been unan- 
 imously scouted; and the opinion was given, with 
 no serious, (if any) dissent, that the only effectual 
 
Chap. XI. I . MAIL I Al'TURKD. 280 
 
 way to keep open comiminicatit is with ( )hio was 
 to take Maiden. I'he Cjeneral assented to this, 
 and, upon the assurance that the artillery would be 
 ready in a day or two, it was carried by Hull's 
 casting vote that tht;y should wait for the artillery. 
 At this time one of the two ^uns was ready, and 
 the other nearly so, ami prepared in five days 
 after. All the colonels were in favor of an im- 
 mediate movement. 
 
 The mail was sent on immediately behind \ an 
 Home, with a small mounted escort, which cauiiht 
 up with him and was captured during the en- 
 gagement. It is a little singular, and shows dili- 
 gence and activity in Proctor, as well as a lack 
 of secrecy or fidelity in some one in the Amer- 
 ican camp, that both \'an Home's and Colonel 
 Miller's detachments, which started in the even- 
 ings of the 4th and 8th of August, were encoun- 
 tered in the morning at Brownstown and Mon- 
 guagon, by forces sent across the river by boats 
 during the night. Monguagon, the present site of 
 Wyandotte, (the old home of Walk-in-the- Water,) 
 is about six miles from Maiden, and Brownstown 
 not far from the same distance, and the river is 
 very wide, with islands intervening. The news 
 must have gone down on the Canada side much 
 faster than the troops did on the American side. 
 
 The letters captured in the mail at Browns- 
 town were very dismal, and furnished Brock with 
 the intelligence of Hull's state of mind, which gave 
 
 19 
 
290 
 
 HULL RETREATS FROM CANADA. [Chap. XI. 
 
 him confidence to assume a bold front and count 
 on success.' 
 
 On the 6th of August, the" artillery being 
 ready, General Hull issued an order to attack 
 Maiden on the 8th. On the 7th everything was 
 completely prepared, when (as Hull says, because 
 of certain letters received from Generals Porter 
 and Hall on the Niagara, intimating that a force 
 was moving westward from that quarter,) he 
 suddenly, and against the indignant remonstrances 
 of his officers, ordered a retreat across the river ; 
 and the army, except a small detachment left in 
 an entrenchment, crossed that evening. In his 
 then asserted desire to open his communications, 
 and his subsequent profession of a wish to spare 
 the effusion of blood, which has since come to the 
 front as a reason for self-gratulation for daring to 
 be governed by humanity, he proposed to take his 
 whole army back to the Maumee. How it would 
 tend to save the blood of the Michigan settlers, 
 to leave them unprotected, and with the assurance 
 that the American army would not help them, 
 to the tender mercies of the thousands of savages 
 who were expected to overrun the country, is not 
 manifest. His whole defence against the principal 
 charges against him is based on this notion of 
 saving blood. But when he came out from 
 Washington, if he did not expect to fight British, 
 he did expect an Indian war, and all its attendant 
 horrors. He knew that Tecumseh was determined 
 
 • Brock's Life, p. 267. 
 
Chap. XI.] HUIX DEMORAUZKD. 
 
 291 
 
 to clear the land of the Americans, and that the 
 natural process of depopulation was by unlimited 
 massacre and barbarity, and that this would come 
 unless there was fighting. The whole experience 
 of the west had shown that when the Indians once 
 begin mischief they never end it until they are 
 thoroughly put. down : and that the first sign of 
 timidity is an infallible invitation to the use of 
 tomahawk and scalping knife. That Hull would 
 not have quailed from danger that was merely 
 personal is very possible. He had certainly been 
 brave enough in his youth. But his conduct 
 during the whole period, from the arrival of Hanks 
 to the surrender of Detroit, can only be honestly 
 as well as charitably explained by supposing him 
 to have been completely unmanned and confounded 
 by his responsibilities and su^roundings, which 
 before he had as strangely failed to appreciate. 
 He was entirely lacking in executive ability, yet 
 fond of asserting himself. He was afraid to take 
 decisive action, and a chronic procrastinator, and 
 these defects relieved him from the most serious 
 imputations of disaffection which would otherwise 
 have been inevitable. If he had not been found 
 lacking in ordinary military qualities, no charity 
 could have saved him from worse charges. 
 
 There is no doubt, as he complains, that from 
 this time forth, and probably very much earlier. 
 hi officers did not conceal their opinions of l.is 
 conduct. The proposal to retire upon the M:.u- 
 mee was met by an unequivocal avowal that his 
 
292 
 
 DISTRUST or OFFICERS MYSTKRY. [Chap. XI 
 
 troops would not follow him. It became clear 
 that he had become disposed to avoid any fight- 
 ing. It is quite likely that thus. early he saw in- 
 dications that his command might be divested, then 
 or soon after, and active measures enforced by 
 others; for when the time drew near for the final 
 act in the drama, the two most active volunteer 
 colonels were on detached service. As early as 
 the 1 2th of August, Cass and McArthur had in- 
 formed Governor Meigs that Hull had talked of 
 a surrender, and they had then determined to dis- 
 place him. And he probably had either informa- 
 tion, or else sufficient shrewdness left, not only to 
 know that they would never tolerate a surrender, 
 but to know, or infer, how they would have pre- 
 vented it; and he managed to thwart them. 
 
 ( During the interval of five days, when his army 
 was awaiting the completion of the siege guns 
 for attacking Maiden, occurred the most tragic 
 affair for which he was immediately responsible, 
 and for which n'iither General Hull, nor any one 
 else, has ever given an explanation. That he ap- 
 preciated the act, or desired, or actually expected 
 the horrid result, his worst enemy would never 
 have charged against him. But, so far as can be 
 known, he kept his action from the knowledge of 
 his officers, and yet confided it to some one who 
 made it known to the enemy. And it may be 
 remarked that the coincidences of evi' are so 
 many, that it seems almost certain either that Hull 
 himself was a traitor, which no one supposes, or 
 
Chap. XI. J HULL'S MESSAOK TO CHICAGO. 293 
 
 that he had a spy or traitor constantly with him, 
 having means of getting possession of his plans. 
 But that person, whoever he was, has not been 
 detected and identified, and no reasonable sus- 
 picions have ever been aimed at any one. 
 
 On the 9th of August, 1812, a Potawatamie 
 chief named Winimeg, or the Catfish — said to have 
 been a faithful friend to the Americans, and a 
 private friend to the Kinxie family, — made his ap- 
 pearance at Fort Dearborn, with a letter from 
 General Hull to Captain Heald, the commander, 
 ordering him to evacuate the post and proceed 
 with his command overland to Detroit, leaving it 
 to his discretion to dispose of the public property 
 as he thought fit. Chicago was at this time sur- 
 rounded with Indians, and had been for some time 
 in a state of siege. Colonel Anderson, of the 
 Michigan Second Regiment, at the Raisin, notified 
 General Hull on the 5th of August, that the Indi- 
 ans were swarming in from the west towards 
 Maiden. Winimeg privately informed Mr. Kinzie 
 that he knew what was in the letter, and urged 
 him to dissuade Heald from obeying it, or to per- 
 suade him, if he did so, to depart at once, before 
 the surrounding Indians found it out. But as the 
 post was strong and well supplied, he urged that 
 it would be safe to hold out, as they had done 
 some time, for reinforcements. The Indians never 
 made much impression on any defended post, and 
 this advice was wise : but Heald insisted he must 
 obey orders, and yet dallied several days and ag- 
 
294 CHICAGO EVACUATED [Chap. Xt. 
 
 gravated the danger. His associates and the 
 civiHans in the fort, who were experienced in In- 
 dian ways, protested against his giving up the fort; 
 but he was stubborn. He says in his report that 
 the Indians knew of his instructions as soon as 
 he did himself, and came flocking in from all 
 quarters to receive the goods which he was to 
 distribute. During the delay, Tecumseh sent over 
 a message to the Indians informing them that 
 Hull had crossed the river, and would no doubt 
 soon surrender, and calling on them to arm and 
 come over. In spite of all this, Heald was infatu- 
 ated enough to imagine that the Indians had such 
 a regard for him that they would not molest him 
 if he set out. On the 13th, Captain Wells, who 
 was a near relative of Mrs. Heald, and an adopted 
 Indian chief, having heard of the state of things 
 at Chicago, came over from Fort Wayne with 30 
 Miamis to escort Heald thither if he should be 
 mad enough to leave. Wells failed to make any 
 more impression on Heald than the rest had done, 
 although he assured him it would be almost cer- 
 tain death to go out. On the 14th Heald de- 
 stroyed the liquor, and surplus arms and ammu- 
 nition, and gave everything else to the Indians, who, 
 although angry at the waste, committed no violence 
 before he left the fort. There were some chiefs 
 who were friendly to the garrison, though hostile 
 to the y\mericans, and they warned Heald that the 
 Indians were enrao^ed at his destruction of the 
 liquor and ammunition, and would murder them 
 
Chap. XL] MASSACRE AT CHICAGO 29^t 
 
 all. One, the Black Partridge, took off a medal 
 which he had received from the United States, 
 and returned it, saying his young men could not 
 be restrained from shedding their blood, and he 
 could not wear it as an enemy. He, however, 
 was active in saving several ot the party. 
 
 On the 15th, they set out from the fort, at nine 
 o'clock, with drums beating and in military array. 
 Wells had blacked his face, in token of expected 
 death. They had marched about a mile and a half 
 from the fort, when they were attacked from be- 
 hind a row of sand hills. The Miamis took no 
 part on either side, and after a bloody fight, in 
 which 38 out of 66 soldiers were killed, as well 
 as two women and twelve children, the remainder 
 surrendered and were spared, though made .pris- 
 oners and treated very harshly. The story of the 
 massacre, and of the sad fortunes of the survivors, 
 has been made familiar by the narratives of Mrs. 
 Helm, Mrs. Kinzie, and others, and need not be 
 enlarged upon. Mrs. Helm after""' rds discovered 
 the scalps of some of the victims, for which boun- 
 ties had been paid by Colonel Proctor, and her 
 fearless exposure of the fact led to further im- 
 prisonment and insult. 
 
 In his narrative, and in his defence, Hull claims 
 to have had no military authority except over 
 Michigan and the army at Detroit, and towards 
 the Maumee. He even asserts the fall of Chicago 
 as having added to the Maiden troops before the 
 surrender, and as having been referred to in a 
 
liATTI.F. OF MONflUAGON. [Chap. Xt, 
 
 letter received by him on the 6th of August. 
 Chicago was not connected with any of his com- 
 mand; and the mystery remains \yhy he ventured 
 to assume such an authority, and why, if having 
 authority, he could have been so utterly ignorant 
 and reckless as to send what, if obeyed, was a 
 death warrant. And it is still further a mystery 
 what spy or traitor at once disclosed and circu- 
 lated the news. It is said to have become known 
 afterwards that the Indians were acting under 
 British orders, but whether this be so or not, they 
 certainly got their intelligence from that quarter, 
 and it started as soon as Winimeg, who did not 
 get his own knowledge from Hull. ; : ;^ ^ 
 
 On the 8th of August, Colonel Miller set out 
 with a detachment towards the Raisin, to join 
 Captain Brush. They rested at Monguagon that 
 night. The next morning they had an encounter 
 with a strong force of British and Indians, in 
 which Miller was victorious. He was compelled, 
 however, after waiting in vain for provisions, to 
 return. 
 
 On the I 2th or 13th, Brock arrived at Maiden, 
 with 40 regulars and 260 militia. At this time 
 the American outpost in Sandwich had been 
 evacuated, and the British began constructing 
 batteries near by. On the evening of the 14th, 
 they were discovered, and Captain Dalliba asked 
 leave to attack them, and said : " Sir, if you will 
 give me permission, I will clear the enemy on the 
 opposite shore from the lower batteries." The 
 
CHAr. XI. 1 McARTHUR AND CASS DETACHED. 297 
 
 General answered : " Mr. Dalliba, I will make an 
 agreement with the enemy, that if they will never 
 fire on me, I will never fire on them," completing 
 his answer with the aphorism, " Those who live 
 in glass houses, must take care how they throw 
 stones." 
 
 The Canada batteries were in the same place 
 with those which had been erected on the 5th of 
 July, just before Hull had arrived, which had been 
 broken up by Captain Dalliba, under Major 
 Whistler's orders, before Hull's arrival, from the 
 24-pounder battery at the lower end of the town. 
 Whistler was then in command. On the 14th, 
 Hull ordered McArthur and Cass to march with a 
 considerable force to the River Raisin, by an 
 inland trail running back from the border, by the 
 way which has since been known as the Ypsilanti 
 and Tecumseh trail, striking the Raisin some dis- 
 tance up, at Godfroy's trading post. This road had 
 been taken by General Wayne when he first came 
 to Detroit. Captain Brush had been directed, on 
 the 14th, to go up and meet them. On the 15th, 
 Brock unmasked his battery, and sent over a 
 demand for a surrender, coupled with the stereo- 
 typed threat, that if resisted, he could not control 
 the Indians. This demand was received by Hull 
 about 10 o'clock in the morning. At this time a 
 court of inquiry was sitting to examine into the 
 surrender at Mackinaw. Upon seeing the white 
 flag. Colonel Miller adjourned the court, and 
 Captains Fuller and Snelling were sent to receive 
 
2J8 BRITISH >UMMONS REJECTED. [Chap. XI. 
 
 the flag. Lieutenant Colonel McDonald and 
 Captain Gleig were the bearers, and were taken 
 blindfolded to the house of Major Henry J. Hunt, 
 and detained for Hull's answer. The answer was 
 not given until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, 
 when it was handed over. This reply was a proper 
 one, that the general was prepared to meet 
 Brock's force and any consequences from its use. 
 It contained, in addition, a disclaimer of two acts 
 in Canada, one an unauthorized Hag of truce 
 which had gone about a month before, while Cass 
 was at the Canard, without that officer's know- 
 ledge, and the other the burning of a house when 
 the battery in Canada was abandoned a few 
 days before, either destroyed by accident or by 
 others than the troops. It does not appear that 
 any explanation had been demanded of these acts, 
 or that complaint had been made of them recently, 
 if at all. On the same day, Hull sent out a 
 message to recall Cass and McArthur. They had 
 been gone not far from twenty-four hours when 
 the messenger started, and had been sent on 
 urgent business. They were reached in the even- 
 ing of the 15th, and the detachment hurried 
 back by a night march, and arrived at the River 
 Rouge the next morning, about the time of the 
 surrender. 
 
 On receiving Hull's message, the Canadian 
 guns opened upon the town, and the cannonade 
 was kept up until late in the night, being vigor- 
 ously responded to from the American batteries, not 
 
Chaf. XI.] PREPARATIONS FOR ATTACK 299 
 
 without effect. The summons was understood to 
 be the prelude to an attack, and on the afternoon 
 of the 15th, Major (afterwards General) Jessup, 
 who was Hull's brigade-major, inquired into the 
 arrangement of the forces, which were all ordered 
 to be posted in proper positions. Colonel Brush 
 was to command the Michigan militia, at the up- 
 per end of the town, which bordered on his farm. 
 Colonel Findlay's regiment and the Michigan Le- 
 gion, (a corps of four companies of experienced 
 soldiers, under Major Witherell, Judge of the Su- 
 preme Court, and a Revolutionary officer,) were 
 to form back of the town, where the remainder 
 of McArthur's and Cass's regiments were also 
 stationed. These positions not being well-qhosen, 
 were changed before daylight the next morning, 
 so that Findlay's regiment was moved further 
 west, where he commanded the approaches to the 
 town under cover of lines of high picket fences 
 along the road ; and the other Ohio troops were 
 subsequently, or about the s?me time, joined to 
 his. 
 
 The movement of the enemy towards Spring- 
 wells, and the collecting of boats and moving up 
 of British vessels, began before dark on the 15th. 
 Captain Snelling had been sent down to the Sand 
 Hill, with a few men and a small field-piece, to 
 watch the crossing and report, and to return be- 
 fore daylight. It was urged by him, and by Major 
 Jessup and General Taylor, that one or two 
 24-pounders could be placed so as to drive off 
 
800 
 
 SON' KKSISTANCK. IC'hap XI 
 
 the vessels and command the crossing. A proper 
 place was found on high ground, but Hull re- 
 fused, on various pretexts, all of vyhich were shown 
 to be insufficient. Hoth Jessup and Snelling begged 
 permission to cross and spike the guns, but vait.ly. 
 No movement was made by the enemy to cross 
 during the night, nor until 7 o'clock in the morn- 
 ing of the 16th. At this time the troops and 
 guns were all well posted near the town, so as 
 to command the approaches, and Lieutenant An- 
 derson had a battery on the bluff directly com- 
 manding the road and ravine where the British 
 would be obliged to cross the Savoyard on a 
 narrow bridge. No resistance was made to their 
 landing at Springwells, and no attempt was made 
 to harass them on the road — about three miles 
 long — which was lined most of the way, on one 
 or both sides, with close pickets and orchards, 
 which could have been made available to annoy 
 them. There were also two or three bridges along 
 the road, the destruction of which would have 
 made any approach difficult. The British bat- 
 teries in Canada opened in the morning, and were 
 answered from the American batteries. 
 
 After some time two balls took effect in the 
 fort, killing Lieutenant Hanks, Lieutenant Sibley, 
 Dr. Reynolds, and two privates, and wounding Dr. 
 Blood. Up to this time, the forces outside had 
 not been allowed to do anything against the ene- 
 my, who were advancing 750 strong up the River 
 Road. Upon the fatal result of these balls, which 
 
Chap. XI, i IH'I.L'ii AUUAlliiN 3()1 
 
 appeared to ht^wildcr and terrify him, Hull im- 
 mediately sent over his son and aid (Captain A, 
 F. Hull) with a tlajj^ of truce, to Canada, to (ien- 
 eral Brock, whom he supposed to be tht;re. At 
 this time, and through the morning of the i6th, 
 (although there; was some conflict as to the ap- 
 pearances on the 15th), there was a general agree- 
 ment among the majority of the witnesses that 
 Hull showed signs of extreme agitation and fear; 
 that his appearance was squalid, and his face stained 
 and filthy with tobacco juice, and his self-posses- 
 sion entirely destroyed. 
 
 It has been gravely urged that opinions of 
 eye-witnesses cannot he given to show their im- 
 pression of a man's state of mind, from the ap- 
 pearance of his countenance and his actions. 
 General Hull has laid great stress upon this, and 
 some others have thoughtlessly followed him, and 
 arraigned the court martial as unfair for receiv- 
 ing it. Such an objection is so palpably absurd 
 to any one who has ever paid attention to testi- 
 mony, and the means of proof of human emo- 
 tions and sentiments, that it is surprising it was 
 ever started. That this testimony produced great 
 effect was inevitable, as it was very plain and 
 forcible, and harmonized with the surroundings. 
 It convinced the court, as it has convinced others, 
 and as it can hardly fail to convince any one who 
 does not accept General Hull's theory, which seems 
 to have been that the witnesses were perjured 
 conspirators, and the court a forsworn body of 
 
302 
 
 SURRFNDKR [Chap. XI. 
 
 administration satellites, bound to make him a 
 scapegoat for the transgressions of the President 
 and War Department. 
 
 During this time the British, under Brock, 
 were advancing up the road, and approaching 
 within a mile of the fort. Hull ordered Findlay's 
 regiment to march into the fort, where there was 
 no room for such a crowd to do anything. Be- 
 fore they reached it, he hoisted a white Hag, and 
 had sent to General Brock announcing that he 
 would surrender. And he did surrender, under 
 the same abject terror and bewilderment, without 
 the ordinary terms. His troops were not even al- 
 lowed the honors of war, nor permitted to be 
 discharged on parole, nor was any arrangement 
 made for the benefit of the Canadians who had 
 accepted his protection. He put himself entirely 
 in the control of Brock, by offering surrender 
 without any previous parley, and the articles as 
 drtiwn and signed by the officers on both sides, 
 were as nearly as possible the terms of an un- 
 conditional surrender. He had difficulty in getting 
 any officers to represent him at all, and only 
 succeeded upon the representation that it was his 
 act and not theirs. 
 
 A supplementary article allowed the Ohio 
 troops to go home on parole. A second supple- 
 ment gave the same privilege to Major Witherell's 
 Michigan troops. These conditions were no part 
 of the original stipulation, nor is it explained how 
 or why they were made. Cass and McArthur 
 
C'HAr XI. J TERMS OK CAIM'm.ATION 
 
 303 
 
 had not come in. and mijrht easily have escaped. 
 The capitulation would, no doubt, — and Hull so 
 intimates, — have b(x"n j.,dadly accepted without 
 them, rather than not obtained, and he says he 
 included them for their own safety. Brock was in 
 great dread that they would attack him in the rear, 
 and if the fort had held out an hour or two he 
 would have been in a very perilous condition. 
 He slates that he hastened his movements to 
 reach the fort, and attack it, before Mc Arthur 
 could come up, knowing him to be near. No 
 proof could be more conclusive that he knew Hull 
 would capitulate : for the idea of a garrison of 
 larger force than the assailants being unable 
 to defend themselves for two or three hours, 
 never could have entered the head of that 
 gallant soldier.' He says in his report, somewhat 
 cautiously: "Certain considerations indifced me 
 to agree to the two supolementary articles." 
 What these considerations le, he does not ex- 
 plain. General Hull himself refers to them as 
 separate private agreements. No doubt it was 
 for Brock's advantage not to have to furnish ra- 
 tions to so large a body of men, nor could he 
 probably have felt very s^Te in having a force of 
 unparoled prisoners larger than his own army. 
 He may also have had some compunctions for 
 
 ' In a private letter to one of his brothers. General Brock says : 
 
 " I crossed the river, contrary to the opinion of Colonel Procter, , &c. ; 
 
 it is, therefore, no wonder that envy should attrib.ite to good fortune 
 what, in justice to my own discernment, I must say |)roceeded from a 
 cool calculation of the pours and contrisT — l.ije, p. 267. 
 
304 
 
 HUM. PAROLED fCHAr XI. 
 
 General Hull, whose condemnation and punish- 
 ment for such an unconditional surrender could 
 not have been avoided. The article concerning 
 the Ohio troops was made very shortly, and on 
 the same day. Cass and Mc Arthur had sent up 
 Ca^Jtain Mansfield to inquire into the terms of 
 the surrender, with notice that they should not 
 submit if it was unconditional. That concern- 
 ing the Michigan troops must have been made 
 later, as Major Witherell was taken down the 
 lake as a prisoner, and only submitted to parole 
 at Kingston. There is something curious about 
 this, as Brock's report implies that it was made 
 as early as the 1 7th. General Hull was, on his 
 arrival at Montreal, offered his discharge on parole, 
 by Sir George Prevost, without request, and was 
 allowed to go home. The other officers who had 
 been captured at Detroit, or while fighting else- 
 where, were not so easily parted with. General 
 Brock's reports are destitute of any expressions 
 of respect towards General Hull, and the contem- 
 porary reports of the private statements of Gen- 
 eral Brock, and other British officers, indicate that 
 they did not regard him favorably. ' 
 
 The garrison and forces thus basely surrend- 
 ered were enraged and confounded, as well they 
 might be. The American force at Detroit, with- 
 out counting Cass and McArthur's detachments, 
 exceeded Brock's white army by about 400. Upon 
 this the testimony is full. It is very well known 
 
 « 3 Niles Reg., 44. 
 
Chap. XI.] CONTEMPORANEOUS EVENTS ELSEWHERE. 
 
 305 
 
 that Indians were never of any use against a gar- 
 rison in camp : and the forces of Cass and Mc- 
 Arthur, with the rest, far exceeded Brock's whites 
 and Indians together. When we remember the 
 previous sieg^es of Detroit, under Dubuisson and 
 Gladwin, and the subsequent events at Fort Meigs 
 and Fort Stephenson, the course of Hull becomes 
 so astounding that it excites our amazement to 
 know what men can be led to do, when their 
 judgment and courage have utterly deserted them. 
 
 On the very day when Detroit was surrendered. 
 Fort Dearborn — evacuated the day before under 
 Hull's orders — was burned. At the same time 
 another Hull was actively engaged in looking after 
 enemies on the ocean : and three days thereafter, 
 in the Constitution, captured the (iuerriere from a 
 gallant enemy, Captain Dacres, who was not long" 
 after exchanged for Colonel Miller, one of the 
 noblest soldiers of any of our wars. ' 
 
 On the I jth of August, Captain Elliott made 
 his appearance at Brush's camp, near C^odfroy's 
 post on the Raisin, and claimed his surrender 
 under the capitulation. The outlying troops were 
 not included in the articles, but Hull undertook 
 to cover them afterwards. It being the unanimous 
 opinion of Colonel Amlerson. Captains Rowland 
 and Brush, and the remaining ufticers, that they 
 were not within the surrender, ihey declined lo 
 accede to the demand. Captain Rowland was in 
 favor of remaining in camp and keeping up the 
 
306 TWO COURTS MARTIAL . (Chap. XI. 
 
 post. In this he was overruled, and tht; troops 
 retired. Captain Brush havinj^ been tried by 
 court martial for an alleged violation of duty in 
 rej^ard to the surrender, the court unanimously 
 decided that his courst; in refusing t'> hold it 
 bindinjT on his force was correct and laudable. 
 
 A court martial was ordered in January, 1813, 
 to meet on the 25th day of February, 181 3, to try 
 General Hull. This court was dissolved without 
 meeting. A second court convened at Albany on 
 the 3d of January, i<Si4, consisting" of Major 
 General Henry I)eari)orn, Pr(;sident; Hrij^adier 
 General Joseph Hloomfield, Colonels Peter LittU;, 
 William N. Irvine, J. R. Fenwick, and Robert 
 Bogardus ; and Lieutenant Colonels James House, 
 William Scott, William Stewart, Samuel S. Conner, 
 S. B. Davis, and John W. Livingston. Martin 
 Van Buren acted as special judge advocate, Philip 
 S. Parker being army judge advocate. 
 
 The trial was had on the charges and specifi- 
 cations drawn up by Alexander J. Dallas fot the 
 first court, including charges of (i) treason, (2) 
 cowardice, and (3) neglect of duty. He was ac- 
 quitted upon the charge of treason, and convicted 
 upon the other two charges, though ac(|uitteil on 
 some of the particular specifications und(M- chargers 
 2 and 3. 
 
 The charges of cowardice on which he was 
 convicted embraced, first, his retreat from Canada 
 after his entry and proclamation, and other j)ro- 
 fessions of activity : saotui, fi:ar shown during the 
 
Chap. XI, J . FINDINGS OF THK COURT 
 
 m 
 
 cannonade; and at various times ; third, a series 
 ordelin(|ucncies on the i6th day of Auj^ust, emhrac- 
 inj^^ cowardly acts and expressions, skulkinjr from 
 danger, makinj^r no attempt to prc^vent the enemy's 
 crossing, making no personal reconnoissance on 
 their approach, and tailinij to offer battit;, and 
 other acts inmiediately connected with the sur- 
 render. These last were hastily sendinj^ out flags 
 of truce for surrender, keeping awaj' from the 
 troops in a place of safety, giving lluctuating, 
 inconsistent, and in some cases incoherent orders, 
 calling troops from without into the fort where 
 they were over-crowded, and the precipitate 
 declaration of surrender before asking for terms. 
 Fourth, because in his surrender he did not require 
 that his men should receive the honors of war ; — 
 that he did not stipulate for protection to the 
 Canadians who had joined him, and who would 
 otherwise be liable for treason ; that he did not 
 reserve the right to report to the Secretary of 
 War, but turned everything over to the enemy ; 
 and that the surrender was not due either to the 
 superior force or means of the enemy, or to lack 
 of means in his own army. 
 
 The spticifications of neglect of duty on which 
 he was convicted were, first, a neglect to ins|)(;ct, 
 train, review and ordtir his men, between th(;ir 
 arrival at Detroit and surrender. llu; charges ol 
 previous ntiglect were not sustained, because there 
 was no opportunity on the march. Second, his 
 delays in Canada ; third, allowing his communica- 
 
808 
 
 CONDUCT OK THE COURT. IChap. XI. 
 
 tions to be cut off, and failing to supply and 
 support Van Home. He was acquitted of any 
 criminal neglig^ence in failing to supply Colonel 
 Miller, Fourth, his failure to advance upon Maiden 
 after Cass had taken the bridge on the Canard 
 River ; fifth, neglect to prevent the erection of the 
 Sandwich batteries, or to fortify at Springwells, 
 in advance of the landing, or to annoy or oppose 
 the enemy while landing. 
 
 It has been intimated that the court made a 
 wholesale and indiscriminate finding, and that the 
 verdict was only qualified enough to give an ap- 
 pearance of deliberation. This is not a fair state- 
 ment. There was testimony, which, if this had 
 been a trial by jury, would have authorized them 
 to consider every one of the charges and speci- 
 fications from treason downwards. That, in weigh- 
 ing the testimony, the court regarded the treason 
 as not proven, does not indicate that the charge 
 was frivolous. Their conclusion was satisfactory 
 to candid minds. If it had not been, public opin- 
 ion would have criticized the remission of the 
 penalty for the other acts. The editor of Niles' 
 Register, after the first publication of General 
 Hull's statements, used this language: 'We have 
 now before us the letters of this unfortunate com- 
 mander. If we give all faith to everything he 
 says, we must acquit him of treachery, though we 
 may form opinions of his conduct almosl as dis- 
 honorable to him." ' His letters contained the 
 
 « 3 Niles R., 57. 
 
Chaf. XI. I CONDUCT OF THE COURT. 309 
 
 whole substance of his subsequent defence, con- 
 tradicting some things sworn to by witnesses 
 afterwards ; and this was not the verdict of an 
 enemy. Under the charge of cowardice he was 
 convicted of every specification but one, which 
 was that he was guilty of " forbidding the Ameri- 
 can artillery to fire on the enemy on their march 
 to Detroit." The evidence on this, though con- 
 flicting, was that Anderson was reserving his fire 
 until the enemy got in grape-shot range, near the 
 crossing of the Savoyard, and the white flag went 
 up before they got there. The other specific 
 charges have been mentioned above. 
 
 Under the charges of neglect of duty, he was 
 acquitted of some very serious charges. Among 
 those not before mentioned, and not found sus- 
 tained, were neglect in sending up the vessels from 
 Maumee, when he had reason to believe there 
 was war, or likelihood of it ; and neglect in put- 
 ting the post in proper order, and in using dili- 
 gence to expedite his artillery preparations. That 
 there was carelessness in regard to the vessels 
 can hardly be questioned, but it was not criminal 
 carelessness of such a degr'ie as to require severe* 
 judgment. Upon the other matters, it appears the 
 fort was not out of repair to any serious extent, 
 and that he had been reasonably diligent in giving 
 orders for the artillery preparations. 
 
 Upon the other points there was really no 
 conflict of fact, unless it may be supposed to have 
 arisen upon the question of his state of mind. 
 
^\0 
 
 HULL'S DEti"ENCfe. [Chap. XI. 
 
 He never seriously asserted that he had done the 
 acts which he was charged with omitting. He 
 claimed that some of them were not feasible, or 
 that he had reason to fear either that they could 
 not be done at all, or could not be done without 
 incurring risks which he felt bound to avoid. 
 And he also relied to some extent upon the ground 
 that, as matters had been left to his discretion, he 
 was not subject to censure or responsibility for 
 following it. : I M ■ ;^ { vr , ; ; , 
 
 ti If the defence of General Hull against the 
 verdict of public opinion merely involved himself, 
 no one would desire to dwell upon the unfortunate 
 occurrences, beyond such reference as could not 
 be avoided. That the surrender was unnecessary, 
 and that Hull could not only have saved Detroit 
 but taken Maiden, no one can doubt who believes 
 in any ordinary probabilities. Nor is there any 
 more doubt that most commanders would have 
 done both. No one grudges the sparing of his 
 life, or disputes the propriety of recognizing his 
 honorable record in the Revolution, as rendering 
 his pardon proper. And few would care lo inquire 
 ,whether the loss of his earlier intrepidity was due 
 to physical infirmity, or a charge beyond his 
 capacity to manage, or to both. He was manifestly 
 unfit for his military responsibilities, in the shape 
 in which they fell upon him, and he did not design 
 to be treacherous. 
 
 But the case which he undertook to make by 
 his defence did not rest upon any personal dis- 
 
Cmaf. Xl.| , HULL'S DEFENCE 811 
 
 ability to do what others might have done. It 
 was not apologetic, but was rested on the ground 
 that he had not lost his self-possession, but had 
 acted deliberately, and done what ought to have 
 been done by any competent and prudent com- 
 mander. And it rested on the further claim that 
 a fair court could not have found against him on 
 any charge, and that the witnesses and court were 
 both determined and employed to ruin him, in 
 order to cover up their own defaults and the sins 
 of the administration. In this point of view the 
 inquiry concerns the truth of history, and concerns 
 also the reputation of men without whose services 
 Michigan would still have been a Canadian 
 Province. '■ . . ' 
 
 Attempts have been made by many historians 
 to reverse the judgments of past generations, and 
 rehabilitate those who have been under censure. 
 Such attempts are usually, — however fairly de- 
 signed, and, however plausible, — extremely so- 
 phistical, and disregard the contemporary views of 
 single as well as combined facts. There is but one 
 case in which they can be very serviceable. It 
 sometimes happens that there is newly discovered 
 evidence, which should be allowed weight. Even 
 this, however, is not always decisive. After the 
 lapse of many years, it may easily be conjectured 
 that something has been overlooked which was 
 not in fact overlooked, but was not regarded as 
 trustworthy and conclusive. In General Hull's case 
 we know what testimony convicted him, and we 
 
312 JUSTICE OF THE VERDICT, (Chap XI. 
 
 know what teL*imony he claimed was not produ.^ed. 
 We have not, as the court had, the power of see- 
 injT the demeanor of the witnesses, or of the 
 prisoner on the trial, nor that of seeing the various 
 persons engaged in the drama. Hut so far as 
 personal qualities are concerned, the estimates 
 and opinions of eye witnesses and acquaintances, 
 and the substantial agreement of public sentiment, 
 are generally safer than the conclusions of their 
 successors possibly can be; and courts of justice 
 as well as the court of public opinion so regard 
 them. The reputation of many of the witnesses, 
 and of some of the members of the court, is 
 familiar to all readers of history, and they were 
 personally known to very many yet surviving in 
 this region ; and both their honesty and their 
 judgment are held in esteem. , . . , 
 
 If the court had full reason to believe, and 
 did believe, that Hull had failed to do what every 
 commander of ordinary firmness and capacity 
 should have done in his position, there was no 
 escape from this verdict. Every man who, in 
 civil or military pursuits, undertakes an office 
 requiring skill and firmness, is liable to all the 
 consequences arising from his not possessing them; 
 and is morally as well as legally blameworthy for 
 the failure. Any fear of consequences, which it 
 is a wrong in a military commander to be governed 
 by, is cowardice, whether in its meanest and most 
 selfish form or not. A man who for any reason 
 is afraid to do his duty, cannot avoid that imputa- 
 
Chah. XI.) MILITARY RESPONSIBILITY. 313 
 
 tion. It is rightly regarded in military law as 
 next to treason, because it demoralizes soldiers 
 and breaks up the power of the government. 
 The recent case of Bazaine is one where no one 
 ever suspected that officer of personal poltroonery, 
 yet where he was justly sentenced to death for 
 his neglect of duty, in not acting with that courage 
 and persistency which the case demanded. The 
 remission was properly left to the pardoning 
 power, and not assumed by the court. If Hull 
 was guilty at all, his military offence was very 
 great, and the terrible consequences which actually 
 followed were what might have been expected. 
 The country came back under the control of the 
 British, and under the ravages of the Indians. 
 Th(; advantages of Wayne's and Harrison's victories 
 were all lost for a season, and the ground was 
 only regained after many bloody battles and cruel 
 massacres. Hull no doubt deluded himself at the 
 time, (or more probably afterwards deluded him- 
 self into thinking he had been led at the time) 
 into believing these events might be spared. But 
 he was, nevertheless, responsible for what he 
 ought to have foreseen, and this blindness was 
 itself, if he was not entirely right, one of the 
 blamable results of his self-deception. 
 
 The principal charges against others on which 
 Hull relied for vindication are in the nature of 
 what might be termed impeaching testimony, as 
 indicating faults, and attempts to conceal them 
 by sinister means. In his original defence all 
 
314 
 
 AKTERTMOUGHIS. IChap. XI. 
 
 of those were set out which then occurred to 
 him, or which were deemed appropriate. Nearly 
 ten years later, when the j^eneral knowledge of 
 facts may be supposed to have lost some of its 
 sharpness of outline, an elaborate series of me- 
 moirs was printed, which left out nothing, but in- 
 troduced some new suggestions and enlarged and 
 dwelt more fully upon some old ones. The first 
 great complaint was against the administration 
 for getting him into trouble in the first instance, 
 and afterwards trying to ruin him to save its own 
 credit, by avoiding a trial as long as it dared, and 
 then packing the court. 
 
 Some suggestions in the memoir as to the 
 desire to use these means in furtherance of a 
 Presidential election, would not have been made 
 but for slips of memory. Indeed, while it is the 
 commonest and most natural thing in the world 
 for a well-meaning man charged with wrong to 
 try to persuade himself he cannot possibly have 
 done it, and to multiply reasons to convince him- 
 self that its very mischief is conclusive that he 
 did not do it, such self-deception is necessarily 
 brought about by means which are not satisfactory 
 to the judgment of others. Hull speaks of him- 
 self as having been a prisoner during a consider- 
 able period. This was nominally so, as he was 
 not exchanged. But there is no other instance 
 during the war of a prisoner of his rank being 
 so soon released and paroled, with or without 
 .solicitation ; and except as a personal favor from 
 
Chap. XI.) HULL'S DISCHARGE ON PAROLE 
 
 315 
 
 the enemy, there was no personally creditable 
 reason for it.' He was at home within a little 
 more than three weeks after the surrender — being 
 discharged as soon as he reached Montreal. He 
 was within reach of the press, in a region where 
 the administration was not popular, and had every 
 facility for vindicating himself and punishing the 
 administration before the Presidential election. If 
 this was not a proper thing for him to do before 
 trial, it was vigorously done by some one on his 
 behalf, and the trial was certainly not postponed 
 for the purpose of getting the case beyond the 
 election. It would have been gross injustice to 
 prefer his exchange to that of earlier prisoners, 
 though he had been braves*^ of the brave. But 
 
 J 'l"he real reason is given in a letter from Colonel Baynes to General 
 Brock, September loth, 1812. Colonel Baynes was Adjutant General of 
 Canada, and an officer of high standing, who was a confidential corres- 
 pondent of General Brock. 
 
 " Sir George has also consented to allow General Hull to return upon 
 his parole : he is loud in his complaints against the government at 
 Washington, and the general thinks that his voice, in the general cry, 
 may be attended with beneficial effects, and has allowed him to return 
 and enter the lists. General Hull appears to possess less feeling and 
 sense of shame than any man in his position could be supposed to do. 
 He seems to be perfectly satisfied with himself, is lavish of censure upon 
 his government, but apjjears to think that the most scrupulous cannot attach 
 the slightest blame to his own immediate conduct at Detroit. The grounds 
 upon which he rests his defence are not, f fancy, well founded, for he 
 told us that he had not gunpowder at Detroit for the service of on*^ day. 
 Sir George has since shown him the return of the large supply found in 
 the fort ; it did not create a blush, but he made no reply. He professes 
 great surprise and admiration at the zeal and military preparation that he 
 has everywhere witnessed; that it was entirely unlooked for, and that he 
 has no doubt that his friend, General Dearborn, will share his fate, if he 
 has the imprudence to follow his example. Hull seems cunning and 
 unprincipled : how much reliance is to be placed on his professions, time 
 will show"— P. 289-90. 
 
316 CAUSES KOR DELAY OK TRIAI,. [Cmah XI. 
 
 an exchange could not have been made, and a 
 trial had. before the election, even if he had been 
 the first to be cared for. A note from Fiistis to 
 Dearborn, which is especially relied on as indicat- 
 ing preparations to aid the election, was written 
 December i8. 1812. long after the election was over. 
 
 The fact, however, that a trial was appoint(*d 
 for F'ebriiary. 1813. ancl then prevented and not 
 renewed for about a year, is a circumstance 
 which does call for explanation, and he dw(»lis on 
 it as showing a distrust in the pliability of the 
 first court, which was made up of very good offi- 
 cers. This charge is very disingenuous. It is im- 
 possible that he could have been ignorant of the 
 reason, and on his trial no such ground was taken 
 or alluded to. Th(^ facts wert; these : On the 
 1 8th of January. 1813, official announcement was 
 made by the Adjutant General, of the exchange 
 of Hull, Mc Arthur, Cass, Findlay, Miller, and the; 
 remainder of the Detroit prisoners, with VVinfield 
 Scott and others from other quarters. The court 
 martial war at once called for February 25 th, 181 3, 
 On the 8th of February, Sir George Prevost 
 notified our government that he did not recognize 
 the exchange, for reasons which, if true, were 
 valid ; and that, if they claimed and asserted it, 
 and were captured again, he would hold them 
 guilty of violating their parole." The difficulty 
 necessarily stopped the trial, and the matter was 
 not settled until December, 181 3,' when he was 
 
 > 4 Niles R.. 44. ' s Niles R., 213. 
 
Chap. XI.| KKASONS KOK UtLAY 
 
 317 
 
 finally exchanged, and a second court martial was 
 called at once. I'he government was not respon- 
 sible for the delay, and it is very (juestionable 
 also, (though of course this would not excuse re- 
 missness,) wheiiier the delay did not save him 
 from some peril. There was the same opportun- 
 ity and temptation to pack the first court as the 
 second. If the first court had heard the testimony 
 introduced on thi; trial, and viewed it, as they 
 might and |)robably would have done, as the 
 second court did, such a trial and conviction, 
 coming just alter the? massacre of Frenchtown, 
 would not have been free from the dangerous 
 pressure of the general horror and indignation 
 arising from that act, which was the sequel to the 
 surrender; and mercy would have been very doubt- 
 ful. The last trial was held when the mischief 
 had been overcome in a great measure by the 
 brilliant successes of Perry and Harrison, and the 
 country restored ; and people were much more 
 disposed to be lenient. 
 
 The idea of a conspiracy among such officers 
 as the court and witnesses, the latter of whom 
 had no losses of reputation to make up. and had 
 made famous names by their subsecjuent conduct, 
 is too atrocious to discuss. When a prisoner 
 convicted asks the world to presume that his rep- 
 utation is to be so sacredly esteemed as to raise 
 presumptions against the honor of a dozen men, 
 who have been much better known and tried than 
 he ever was, and who have acted in his case under 
 
318 
 
 HULL'S MEMOIRS I Chap. XI 
 
 rules generally supposed well calculated to secure 
 justice, he goes beyond the boun' ,dulity. 
 
 McArthur, and Cass, and Miller, ant.! van Home, 
 and Jessup, and Whistler, and Snelling — to say 
 nothing of the rest, — are names that, in Michigan 
 at least, cannot be easily smirched with suspicions 
 of cowardice, or conspiracy or perjury. 
 
 The memoirs create an impression that Gene- 
 ral Hull had dwelt so long upon his case as, after 
 ten years, to have persuaded himself that all of 
 the reasons which he gives why he ought not to 
 have expected to succeed, or to do anything more 
 than he did, were before his mind and deliberately 
 acted upon, and actually governed him. Some 
 facts he has certainly forgotten, and assumed as 
 very different from what they appeared in other 
 testimony than his, which is at least as reliable. 
 In regard to the numbers of Brock's troops, he 
 resorts to a method of dealing with Colonel Snel- 
 ling's testimony which is so absolutely ridiculous 
 as to excite surprise. Snelling estimated the force 
 of Brock at 750 regulars and militia, which is 
 within fifteen or twenty of the official returns. 
 On the trial. General Hull (although not admitting 
 its accuracy) did not question the efl'ect of this 
 testimony, if believed, but claimed that, whatever 
 the numbers were, it was not the force present 
 merely, but the one which might be expected to 
 come after It, which he had reason to fear, ami 
 which made a surrender proper in view of future 
 dangers. In his memoirs, he gravely insists that 
 
Chap. XI. | UNREUABI.E ASSERTIONS. 319 
 
 Snelling's language indicated that 750 was only a 
 "third of the whole force, and that the other two- 
 thirds were regulars and uniformed troops, instead 
 of showing that one-third of the entire force of 
 750 was ordinary militia, and two-thirds uniformed 
 regulars and militia. It appears from the official 
 reports that there were 400 militia, in command 
 of a major and four captains, and 330 regulars, 
 consisting of 30 Royal artillery, 250 of the 41st 
 Regiment, and 50 of the Royal Newfoundland 
 Regiment. Colonel Snelling counted them by 
 platoons, and his count was therefore very 
 accurate, and slightly in excess. 
 
 In accounting for his own numbers, Hull is 
 equally unreliable. He represents in the i6th 
 number of his memoirs that 1,200 Ohio militia 
 and 300 regulars were all he ever had regularly 
 put under his command, and that "a few strag- 
 gling volunteers, from the novelty of the scene, 
 curiosity, or a desire to see the country, followed 
 the army and were included in the return." Out 
 of those he intimates that several details were 
 made along the road, and several invalids left be- 
 hind, and 180 would not cross the river, making 
 with the rest, at least 300, to be deducted from 
 his army. To this deficiency was added an offi- 
 cer and 30 men left at the Raisin. The Michigan 
 troops were summarily disposed of by represent- 
 ing them as drau^n from a population of not much 
 more than 4,000, scattered along over 500 miles 
 of territory, and of no account. 
 
320 MATERIAL UK HULL'S ARMY. [Chaf. XI. 
 
 The Ohio regiments of militia, amounting to 
 1,200 or more, were all infantry. In addition to 
 this, there was a cavalry force, to which he makes 
 no allusion. The whole Ohio troops, at the small- 
 est calculation, were reckoned as not less than 
 1,500. At Fort Findlay. on the 26th of June, the 
 rolls showed there were present 1.960 of regulars 
 and volunteers. The evidence on the trial showed 
 that there was no lack of dragoons, to go on 
 escort duty and special service, and none of these 
 appear to have been regulars. Two troops of 
 cavalry were included in the surrender. The as- 
 sertion that General Brock's return of 2,500 troops 
 captured was a fiction of that officer, is not en- 
 tirely satisfactory, when that General enumerates 
 the companies and regiments taken; and their 
 forces, so far as known, would accord with his 
 aggregate very closely. Hut the statements con- 
 cerning the Michigan troops are equally fallacious. 
 Although the population was small, it was within 
 a narrow region, and not scattered all over. The 
 troops are shown, by clear proofs, to have been 
 good soldiers. Colonel Anderson, who command- 
 ed the 2cl Regiment on the Raisin, showed by his 
 letters to Hull of August 4th, that he relied on 
 his men and expected them to fight, and th(\- 
 never were disparaged. While insinuations art- 
 thrown out concerning Colonel h^lijah Brush's 
 Regiment at 1 )etroit as disaffected, there is nothing 
 to indicate they were well founded, beyond Hull's 
 own assertions. Knaggs, whom he reports as go- 
 
Chap. XI. 1 • MICHIGAN TROOPS 
 
 321 
 
 ing over to the enemy, was for many years there- 
 after government interpreter. Judge Witherell's 
 troops are passed over in silence. The Legion, 
 originally organized in 1805, under Colonel Brush, 
 was a thoroughly reliable force. Captain (after- 
 wards Colonel) Richard Smythe, a very gallant offi- 
 cer, commanded a company of horse belonging to 
 it. Hubert La Croix was captain of another 
 company, aiid did good service all through the 
 troubles. Stephen Mack, another good officer, had 
 a third company. Antoine 1 )equindre, also cap- 
 tain in it, receivetl the thanks of the Michigan 
 State Legislature many years after, in i<S45, for 
 his gallantry at Monguagon, where his men and 
 all the Michigan volunteers under Miller were 
 specially commended. 
 
 Justice would not be done to the Michigan troops 
 by leaving the character of the l^^irst Regiment 
 undefended. This regiment had been organized 
 by Colonel Brush, and well drilled, long before 
 Hull's arrival. Colonel Brush was a very brave 
 man, and had got this regiment into thorough 
 effectiveness, as Hull's own course shows, — inas- 
 much as he posted it on the northeast side of the 
 town, which was exposed to the Indians. Its officers 
 were mostly I'Vench gentlemen of character and 
 spirit, proverbially fearless, and in no way inclineil 
 to (ireat Britain, (jeneral Brock's own letters, 
 and the memoir compilcxl from them, show that 
 the disaffection, if any, was the other way, and 
 that the French Canadians, both in Upper and in 
 21 , , „ 
 
322 
 
 CANADIAN BACKWARDNESS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Lower Canada, were very lukewarm in their Brit- 
 ish sentiments, and not at all disposed to be for- 
 ward against the United States. Early in July, 
 General Brock was informed by the Adjutant 
 General of a considerable gathering of French 
 Canadians at Lachine, who refused to join the 
 militia, and were only dispersed by a force from 
 the 49th Regiment, with artillery. Brock, in his 
 confidential letters, written while Hull was delay- 
 ing his movements, expressed great discourage- 
 ment at the prospect, and showed that neidier the 
 western Canadian militia nor the Canadian Indi- 
 ans would join the British Army in any strength. 
 Major Chambers, who was sent to the Thames to 
 enlist their services, utterly failed. The Detroit 
 Regiment was made up of excellent material, and 
 in the interval between the discovery that war 
 existed, (made by the arrest in Canada of Mr. 
 Moran and a companion,) until Hull's arrival, had 
 been on the alert for an attack, and ready for it. 
 
 The charges against the administration as en- 
 tirely responsible for his failure, would not exonerate 
 him, even if true as made. They amount sub- 
 stantially to these: That war was declared with- 
 out providing for commanding the lakes by a 
 naval force, which Hull had represented to be 
 absolutely necessary ; and that notice was delayed 
 so that the British got the earliest news ; that 
 Mackinaw fell, and the Indians were set loose on 
 the lower country by reason thereof; that the 
 Province of Upper Canada was more populous 
 
CHAP. XI.] EXCUSES AND PRETEXTS. 323 
 
 than Michigan, and had a force of 4,000 or 5,000 
 militia, besides the regulars ; that Dearborn, in 
 August, made an armistice, whereby Brock and his 
 army were enabled to turn their whole attention 
 to Detroit ; that the Indians were all in the 
 British interest, and he was compelled to surren- 
 der to avoid the terrible evils to be expected 
 from all these forces, especially Indian massacres ; 
 and that the administration found it necessary to 
 ruin him to save its own credit. 
 
 It would seem to people generally to be a 
 sufficient answer to all this, to say that, whatever 
 may have been the blame belonging to others, 
 while it might relieve him from fault for not 
 doing what it prevented, it could be no excuse 
 for failing to do what he could. Whether it might 
 or not have been possible for Brock to have 
 brought an overwhelming force, large enough to 
 have annihilated Hull, yet, as matter of fact, there 
 was no occasion where Hull's force was not su- 
 perior, and none where his men were not willing 
 and anxious to try conclusions with tne enemy. 
 No superior flesh and blood hosts prevented his 
 capture of Maiden, or his resistance to Brock at 
 Detroit. His early experiences should have re- 
 strained him from such pretexts. The same rea- 
 soning which made it his duty to give up before 
 the spectre of those imaginary forces, would have 
 made it utter madness, and a sin against human- 
 ity, for the patriots of the Revolution to enter 
 that contest. On such a theory wars should be 
 disposed of by footing up the census. 
 
324 NECKSSITY OF THE WAR. [Chav. XI. 
 
 We are not concerned, in this generation, with 
 covering up any faults of Madison's administra- 
 tion. It had its share of failures and was often 
 open to criticism, but the President, who is claimed 
 to be the chief offender, has not been thought by 
 the people, whose sober second-thought is usually 
 just, to have forfeited the right to be respected 
 for his patriotism and general fairness. The war 
 of 1812 was one which no administration could 
 have resisted without popular contempt; and those 
 who attempted to prevent its successful conduct 
 never got rid of the stigma which attached to 
 lack of patriotism. To the northwest it was a ne- 
 cessity, and it has been called, with almost literal 
 truth, the Second War of Independence. 
 
 It was undoubtedly one of (ieneral Hull's weak- 
 nesses, (and a very dangerous one), that he be- 
 lieved it impossible that his views and sugges- 
 tions as to the proper way of conducting the ex- 
 pected war should not be accepted and adhered 
 to. His own witness, General Peter B. Porter, a 
 very good officer, who went twice with Hull to 
 visit the President on the subject of a navy, says 
 that "at first it was agreed to nave one; but 
 afterwards it was agreed to abandon it, doubtless 
 as inexpedient ;" and he also states that while 
 General Hull proposed 3,000 men, " the Secretary 
 replied that there would not be so many ; perhaps 
 2,000." It certainly would be a remarkable thing 
 for an administration to allow itself to be gov- 
 erned by the discretion of a brigadier general 
 
Chai-. XI. J SOPHISTICAL PRETEXTS. 325 
 
 concerning the conduct of a war, and there is no 
 proof that it did so. The notion rests on the 
 assumption of the General that he had a right 
 to expect it, and that his subsequent renewal of 
 his programme should have bound the Secretary 
 to follow it. 
 
 The same lack of judgment appears in his 
 assurance to himself, that the war could not be 
 declared before the ist of July; — as if even the 
 pledge of the President could have retarded the 
 action of Congress. All this, however, is of small 
 account, for he never, after his arrival at Detroit, 
 expected a navy. The occurrences on the Niagara 
 frontier were, however, important for his protection. 
 Hut it is not clear why he was not also bound to 
 keep up his own end of the line, for the help of 
 the army at Niagara; and if he had done his 
 duty, the results there might have been more satis- 
 factory. Dearborn's armistice would very possibly 
 have provided for a cessation of hostilities at 
 Detroit as well as at Niagara, if it had been 
 supposed Detroit required it. To all appearance, 
 a check on the movements of the Detroit army, 
 if commanded as it should have been, would not 
 have been in the interest of the United States. 
 But, be this as it may, the act of Dearborn was 
 disapproved, and neither Hull nor Brock heard of 
 the armistice till after the surrender." Brock's 
 
 I " Wliite on his vi)yaf';e across Lake Erie, in the schooner Chi|)pe\va, 
 he was met, on the 23rd of Angust, by the provincial schooner, Lady 
 I'revost, of 14 unns, the commander of which, at'ter sahiting the (leneral 
 
326 
 
 BROCK'S INFERIOR FORCES. [Chap. XI. 
 
 movement westward was caused by anxiety, and 
 not by any relief on the New York side. He 
 brought no such additional force as would have 
 interfered with Hull's safety, and he is known to 
 have brought all the men he could spare. His 
 memoirs show that the condition of the Niagara 
 frontier made him very uneasy, and that he dared 
 not lesson its defences. 
 
 The militia force of Upper Canada was dis- 
 covered at once to furnish no basis for any such 
 fears as are made to appear so natural in the 
 retrospect. The possible thousands were not men 
 under arms, but men liable to be called out. 
 The numbers actually armed and enrolled were 
 not great, and, while probably about as good 
 material as the militia forces of the United States, 
 could not be any better. Brock's first orders at 
 Maiden, on the 14th of August, complained bitterly 
 of the number of desertions. Hull's force of 
 regulars was larger than Brock's, and his volunteers 
 at least two or three times greater than the force 
 of Canadian militia near Detroit, and some of these 
 were not novices. Mc Arthur's raid into the 
 Thames country had completely demolished any 
 theory that the country away from the garrisons 
 was dangerous. The abortive expedition of 
 Chambers was quite as significant. 
 
 with seventeen guns, came on board and gave him the first intelligence ol 
 the armistice which Sir George Prevost had unfortunately concluded with 
 the American General, IJearborn. Major General Brock could not con- 
 ceal his deep regret and mortification at the intelligence which he found 
 would prevent his contemplated attack on Sacketts Harbor." — Brocl^s Life, 
 p. 274. 
 
Chap. XI.] HULL'S UNFITNESS TO COMMAND 327 
 
 The fact that the news of war arrived at Maiden 
 several days before Hull's army reached the 
 Detroit River, gave the commander of that place 
 an opportunity of taking Detroit by surprise. As 
 in spite of his larger garrison and Indian allies, 
 and his auxiliary naval force, he did not venture 
 on such a measure, the inference is plain that he 
 had not much confidence in his own position ; 
 and so it appeared to all but Hull himself. 
 
 The effect produced on the mind, in reading 
 the vindication which the memoirs set forth, is 
 such as to relieve Hull from any suspicion of 
 disloyally, and to excite a certain degree of sym- 
 pathy for him, as one of those failures which 
 result from being placed in a false position, for 
 which he was utterly unsuited, and where his 
 associates knew his unfitness and could not tolerate 
 it. In a quiet community, where no perilous sur- 
 roundings disturb the general security, such a 
 reputable old citizen, of genial disposition and on 
 good terms with himself, would naturally receive 
 very flattering treatment, and have his faith in 
 himself considerably magnified. Such exaggerations 
 and suspicions as are found in his whole conduct 
 are so general among the class of characters to 
 which he evidently belonged, as usually to receive 
 a great deal of toleration. Few persons are so 
 popular at home as the kind-hearted social mag- 
 nates, who sincerely desire to make all around them 
 happy, and who, from the universal liking and 
 deference wh;,h they receive, become in time im- 
 
328 ACCOUNI'ABIMTV OK COMMANDERS. [Chap. XI. 
 
 pressed with the idea, more or less clearly defined 
 to their consciousness, that their judgment is in- 
 fallible. • No persons are slower to discover their 
 own deficiencies, or to attribute their failures to 
 the true cause, anil few are less able to bear 
 opposition or slij^hts. 
 
 The stern realities of border war will not 
 justify deference to any foibles which endan(;^er 
 the country; and the necessities of justice demand 
 that every one shall be held to a strict responsi- 
 bility, when he assumes a place where the safety 
 of the community depends on his firmness and 
 wisdom. The weakness which imperils such lar^e 
 interests, althoujj^h it may belong to a well mean- 
 ing and very amiable man, is, nevertheless, a 
 moral wrong as well as a legal crime. It may 
 not injure the transgressor in the eyes of those 
 who have known his merits, and have not suffered 
 from his faults. But it would be very dangerous 
 to society if the true character of such derelictions 
 of duty should be so far glossed over, as to enroll 
 convicted offenders among the noble army of 
 martyrs, or to give them approval when it is 
 magnanimous to pardon them. 
 
 The British Army assumed control of the 
 fort and Territory, and the people came under 
 the dominion of martial law. I'nder such a coni- 
 mander as (jeneral Brock, it would have been as 
 tolerable as such a rule can usually be made.- 
 Under Proctor it was not so tolerable. 
 
CHAPTKR XII. 
 
 IlKIIISII I'OSSKSSION AND AMKKICAN KK-CONgUKS'l' ()V 
 
 MICHIGAN. 
 
 Immediaikia after the surrender, the paroled 
 troops returned home, and the prisoners were 
 taken down the lake. At the request of his as- 
 sociates, Colonels McArthur and Findlay, and 
 Lieutenant Colonel Miller, Colonel Cass made a 
 report to the government of the whole history of 
 Hull's career as commander. This was assailed 
 by a portion of the press with great malignity, 
 and it was even charged to have emanated from 
 Mr. Rush, as an administration defence. As his- 
 tory has thoroughly disposed of these calumnies, 
 and the document has been abundantly verified 
 and approved, it may be passed without remark. 
 The sentiments of Ohio and Pennsylvania, con- 
 cerning their sons engaged in the transactions 
 about Detroit, were evinced by their votes of 
 thanks to the volunteer and regular forces and 
 their officers. Miller, and others of his regiment, 
 were brevetted for their good conduct at Mongu- 
 agon, and on other occasions named, where they 
 had distinguished themselves. Cass and McAr- 
 thur continued after their exchange in active ser- 
 
330 MII-ITARY GOVERNMF.NT [Chap. XII. 
 
 vice, and were advanced in rank by the popular 
 and State action, as well as by the Ignited States. 
 Both earned a solid reputation as soldiers and as 
 civil officers, and few men have done more for 
 the advancement of the northwi.'st. 
 
 General Brock, before he departed, issued a 
 proclamation, dated on the day of the surrender, 
 in which he declared that the Territory of Michi- 
 i(an had been ceded to the arms of His Britan- 
 nic Majesty, " without any other condition than the 
 protection of private property!' He therefore de- 
 clares that, " wishing to give an early proof of 
 the moderation and justice of the government," 
 he announces that the laws in force shall con- 
 tinue until the King's pleasure shall be known, 
 so long as the peace and safety of the Territory 
 will admit ; and that all the inhabitants shall be 
 fully protected in their religion. He required all 
 public property, and all arms, public or private, to 
 be delivered up." 
 
 The reference to the alleged sole condition is 
 remarkable. The copy of the capitulation, ap- 
 pended to Hull's trial, contains the following ar- 
 ticle : "Article 3d. Private property, and private 
 persons of every description, will be respected." 
 From the charges and specifications against him, 
 this must have been assumed as correct. There 
 are several verbal differences between this copy 
 and the one published in Niles' Register, which 
 appears to be more correct in names and various 
 
 » 3 Niles, 25. 
 
Chak Xn.] PROCTOR 
 
 331 
 
 other minutia?, as well as in grammar, but which 
 does not contain this article at all. It appeared 
 on the trial that Brock erased some words from 
 the articles as drafted, but it did not clearly ap- 
 pear what they were. Brock's proclamation recog- 
 nizes private property (except arms, which were 
 not excepted in the article as contained in the 
 appendix,) but does not recognize any stipulation 
 as to persons. This afterwards became material, 
 and persons were not respected. It is not im- 
 possible that the copies interchanged may have 
 differed. If so, it is not possible to tell which 
 was correct, as both must have been signed. 
 Brock would hardly have resorted to a misrepre- 
 sentation of fact. The omission, if made, mis one 
 which was of great importance, and the (ate of 
 several subsequent complaints shows that Proctor 
 acted as if no such stipulation existed, although 
 it was asserted and relied on. 
 
 Proctor was left in command. While Brock, 
 and most of the officers under him, appear to have 
 conducted themselves without creating any strong 
 personal dislike against them, Proctor has left in 
 Detroit a reputation for brutality and tyranny 
 that has seldom been equalled. Wherever our 
 people came in contact with him, at Detroit, 
 Frenchtown, Maiden or Ohio, their report was 
 uniform. As a natural accompaniment to cruelty 
 of disposition, he, although by no means wanting 
 in activity, was regarded as lacking in the higher 
 attributes of a brave commander. He was prob- 
 
332 SCHEMK OK ADMINISTRATION. [Chap. Xll 
 
 ably not an absolute coward, for he was often 
 exposed to personal dang^er, but he had no cool 
 and dojTged bravery, and more than once drew 
 himself away from opposing forces, where it would 
 have been much more honorable to prolong re- 
 sistance. His reputation is net much reverenced 
 in Canada. 
 
 On the 2 1 St of August, he issued a proclama- 
 tion to organize the civil government. He or- 
 dained that the courts and civil officers should 
 continue in their functions, and that in the Legis- 
 lative Board a majority should not be recjuired if 
 offices v/cre vacant, and that laws need not be 
 adopted from the American States. The United 
 .States duties and taxes were to be paid to the 
 military treasurer, for general expenses, and local 
 revenues to be expended as before, for local pur- 
 poses. The land officers and Indian department 
 were superseded. He assumed the office of civil 
 governor, and judge Woodward was made 
 Secretary. 
 
 This scheme was a just and pro|ier one. but 
 it was very imp>erfectly carried out. The public 
 records were in part removed, and .some of them 
 disappeared. 'Hie worst act ot sp(^liation related 
 to land titk;s. The land claims confirnKnl by the 
 commissioners, under the \arious statutes, for the 
 benefit of occupants, or h; irs or grantees of 
 occupants, holding in 1796, were not finally ratified 
 by Congress imtil April 23, i<Si2. when it was 
 enacted that patents should issue for all confirma- 
 
Chap. XII. | SPOLIATIONS 
 
 333 
 
 tions. These patents reached the Detroit Land 
 Office just before or during the war, and were 
 lying there awaiting deHvery at the time of the 
 surrender. They were all seized or destroyed, 
 although the otiier office records and files were 
 not seriously injured. 
 
 From a letter written by Brock to Proctor, it 
 would seem that seizures of private property had 
 been made for purposes of extortion. " I under- 
 stand that salvage lias been demanded from in- 
 dividuals on several accounts ; for property re- 
 covered or restored, for patents, etc. 1 lament 
 that such a course has been adopted, for it was 
 my intention, and it is now my wish, that our con- 
 duct in these matters should be governed by the 
 broadest principles (A liberality. \'ou will, there- 
 fore, be pleased to have returned to the several 
 indivitluals the amount which each may have paid 
 as salvage on any account." '■''■ (Life, p. 295.) 
 
 The Indians began at once to pillage; 
 property and to do mischief, and some of the 
 captured officers and men were insulted at Mai- 
 den. On the da)' ot the surrentler. Secretary At- 
 water's house was robbed of a large amount oi 
 personal property, and many outrages were com- 
 mitted in the country round. Colonel McKee, 
 the British Indian agent, interfered in some cases 
 to prevent such outrages, and no doubt did what 
 he could. But no eflective measures were had, 
 and tht! savages made great havoc. Their old 
 friendship for the French settlers in some instances 
 
334 PROCTOR'S ABUSES. fCHAr. XII 
 
 protected them from outrage, but before long in- 
 sidious attempts were made to bring them over 
 to British allegiance, and the suggestion of Indian 
 hostility was used to persuade them. Proctor, in 
 plain violation of the capitulation, resorted to such 
 efforts so often and so shamelessly as to excite 
 the plain-spoken indignation of Judge Woodward, 
 who left the Territory a few months after, to lay 
 his misconduct, in this and in other matters, be- 
 fore the government and the public. General 
 Harrison, after the Battle of the Thames, received 
 a letter from Proctor asking protection to private 
 property of inhabitants in Canada, sent under cir- 
 cumstances so peculiar as to induce him to regard 
 the bearer as a spy. Nevertheless, he offered him 
 no indignity, but refused to notice Proctor, and 
 addressed his reply to General Vincent, his supe- 
 rior, to whom he gave an indignant account of 
 that officer's infamous outrages, which Vincent, 
 whom he respected, made no attempt to excuse 
 or palliate. 
 
 Early in the fall of i8i 2, Walk-in-the-Water 
 and Roundhead, two principal chiefs of the Wyan- 
 dots, wrote a letter to the French people on the 
 Raisin, addressed to Colonel Navarre, calling upon 
 them to rise and help their Indian friends, and 
 threatening, if they failed, to renounce their friend- 
 ship and subject them to the treatment of ene- 
 mies.' The letter was short and pithy, but evi- 
 dently not of Indian originating, though signed by 
 
 « State l'a|)ers, i Iiul. AlT., 371. 
 
CHAr. XII.] UPRISING IN THE WEST. 335 
 
 those chiefs, who would have been much more Hkely 
 to visit the Raisin themselves, if they desired to 
 confer with their old acquaintances. The letter 
 was at once sent up to Judge Woodward, and 
 was one of the illustrations which he afterwards 
 gave of the dishonorable methods which Proctor 
 resorted to. in order to intimidate the settlers. 
 The threat was not an idle one, and the conse- 
 quences of it were the occasion for Winchester's 
 expedition of a few weeks later. 
 
 The immediate result of Hull's surrender was 
 a general uprising all over the west. Kentucky 
 and Ohio were especially active, and Cieneral Har- 
 rison was by common consent put at the head of 
 all the forces, receiving a special commission from 
 Kentucky. These troops were volunteers, not 
 called out originally by the United States, but 
 brought into the field by the enthusiasm of the 
 occasion. Harrison was also commissioned for 
 the same purpose by the United States. The 
 Indians were very soon scattered from the Wa- 
 bash, and driv(.'n northward. A campaign was 
 planned for the recovery of Michigan and the 
 capture of Maiden, which was delayed by some 
 untoward events, and for a time prevented by 
 General Winchester, who. without orders, under- 
 took to advance to the Raisin, ami there met with 
 a terrible catastrophe. 
 
 The American prisoners from Detroit were 
 sent over from (Quebec for exchange, in October. 
 At that time, it is stated, that five of the eight 
 
336 TROPHIES. UROCKS DEATH IChap. XII. 
 
 brass cannon captured at the surrender were lyin<j^ 
 at the chateau. Amoni;- the brass pieces in the 
 fort were two captured by vStark at Bennington, 
 and one taken from liurgoyne at Saratoga, as 
 well as some surrendered at Yorktown. The 
 British officers are said to have been gready 
 pleased at regaining possession of Burgoyne's 
 trophy, which was a little three-pounder, used for 
 salutes. It was afterwards recaptured b)' Harri- 
 son at the Battle of the Thames, with two others 
 from Yorktown, and is now at Frankfort, Kentucky, 
 bearing inscriptions indicating its history and ad- 
 ventures. 
 
 General Brock was created a Knight of the 
 Badi, for his capture of Detroit. His career was 
 not prolonged. He was killed on the i 2th of ( )c- 
 tober, at the Battle of Queenstown, and tiie 
 American Army, as well as th(; British, paid him 
 military honors at his funeral. 
 
 On the 8th day of October, i<Si2, die Detroit, 
 (formerly the American brig Atlams,) an armed 
 vessel of i8 guns, and the Caledonia, a smaller 
 armed vessel, arrived at Fort Frie, opposite Buf- 
 falo, with a number of prisoners, and with large 
 supplies of stores and munitions. The Caledonia 
 had a cargo of furs, estimated at from ;js 150,000 
 to |i200,ooo. A i)ortion of (ieneral Hull's family 
 had come part of the way down the lake in the 
 Detroit, and his and their baggage was on board. 
 Lieutenant (afterwards Commodore) Jesse D. 
 Elliott, with a force of volunteers from the army 
 
Chap. XIM VF.SSKLf; CAI'TUREH. KKNTUCK'.' VOU'NTEKRS. 
 
 3.^7 
 
 and the citizens of Buffalo, boarde and captured 
 them that niuht. Vhv. Caledonia was run across 
 to Black Rock and beached. I'he Detroit grounded 
 on Squaw Island, and after a series of sharp 
 encountt^rs. she was finally burned. 
 
 in th',' winter of 1.S12-13, the cold weather 
 set in with severity, and it was at one time con- 
 templated to take advantat^e of it, by crossing- on 
 the ice, to attack Maiden. But the mistakes and 
 lack of judonient of some of Harrisons sub- 
 ordinates prevented any early action, and it 
 was finally checked by the course of Cjeneral 
 Winchester. 
 
 rhe latter had under his command a fine 
 body, chietly of Kentucky troops, made up of the 
 foremost young men in the State, of great intel- 
 ligence and undaunted braver\. Thev had gone 
 into the service with the generous desire to w\pv 
 out the disgrace of Hull's surrender, and put an 
 end to the frightful barbarities of the Indians, who 
 had l)<;en encouraged by it to renew their old 
 atrocities. It would be almost invidious to mentif)n 
 single names, where the whole muster-roll was a 
 list of heroes. When the new Capitol of the .State 
 shall furnish a |)roper place for prest;rving and 
 perpetuating in public reverence the names of 
 our b(Miefactors, we shall fail in our duly if tiic 
 soldiers of Frenchtown, and the gallant men who 
 avenged them, are not macU; familiar as household 
 words to the whole people of Michigan, 
 
 88 
 
338 
 
 FIRST HATTI.b; OF THK RAISIN. IChap. XII. 
 
 News arrived at the Maumee that the inhabi- 
 tants along the River Raisin were soffering se 
 verely from the depredations of the Indians, and 
 that preparations were making to destroy the set- 
 tlement in a few days. The impulses of human- 
 ity stirred up the whole arir.;- in their behalf, and 
 on the 17th of January, 181 3, General Winchester 
 ordered Colonel William Lewis to proceed to the 
 Raisin and protect the inhabitants. He reached 
 the river, at the present city of Monroe, at three 
 o'clock in the afternoon of the i8th, with a force 
 of between 600 and 700. They found a body of 
 the enemy, composed of British and Indians, 
 posted in the village on the left bank of the 
 stream, who opened fire on the Americans with a 
 howitzer, as they approached the river ; but no 
 one was hurt by it. The line of battle was at 
 once formed, Lieutenant Colonel Allen command- 
 ing the right wing, Major (Graves the left, and 
 Major Madison the centre. The whole army 
 crossed at once on the ice, and Graves and Madi- 
 son, in spite of the obstructions of the heavy 
 pickets and fences, soon drove the (memy from 
 the village. A considerable force, with the how- 
 itzer, encountered Colonel Allen on the right, 
 where the battle was very hot : but by degrees 
 the British and Indians were driven back, fighting 
 obstinately, until at nightfall they had been foj 
 lowed about two miles into the heavy timber, 
 where the darkness put an end to the conflict. 
 and Lewis occupied the village. The number of 
 
CuAt. XII. 1 GENERAL WINCHESTER. 339 
 
 casualties on the American side was i 2 killed and 
 55 wounded. The loss of the enemy was not 
 published, and, so far as the Indians were con- 
 cerned, was not known, as they dragged away 
 their dead. The battle was an obstinate one. 
 
 News of this battle was sent to Winchester, 
 who at once started in person, with about 250 
 men, and reached the Raisin on the 20th, where 
 his force, combined with Lewis's, made over 900 
 men fit for duty. They were all in good spirits, 
 and ready to meet any emergency. It was largely 
 owing to the fault of Cieneral Winchester that 
 they suffered any defeat. His personal gallantry 
 and patriotism led every one to look upon his 
 mistakes with leniency, and few officers have been 
 more generously dealt with. 
 
 (ieneral Winchester, like Hull, was an old Rev- 
 olutionary officer. He never held rank beyond 
 that of a subaltern, but his personal conduct had 
 been brave and devoted, and his large means 
 were unselfishly used for patriotic purposes. After 
 the Revolution, he settled in Tennessee, where 
 he remained in voluntary retirement, declining 
 public office. When the troops were enlisted 
 in that part of the country, he was appointed 
 brigadier general, and at one time, by some 
 strange mistake, he was supposed to have super- 
 seded Harrison. He had no faculty for man- 
 aging an army, and the troops, when he was 
 in command in Ohio, became mutinous, and 
 were only pacified by the vigorous efforts of 
 
340 
 
 LACK Ol Vlt.II.ANCF. IChap. Xll. 
 
 Scott and Harrison, in whom they placed, as well 
 they might, implicit confidence. W^inchester's only 
 streny^th was in his sincere courage and devotion ; 
 and for these he was well esteemed. He was 
 not severely censured for his errors, because they 
 were those of a brave and good, though not wise, 
 soldier. 
 
 The settlement near the mouth of the Raisin, 
 where Winchester had his camp, was close by the 
 Indian country, and onh' eighteen miles from Mai- 
 den, which at this time was accessible by land, 
 and by a crossing on heav)- ice. which was much 
 more convenient than any land road. The Wy- 
 andot villages at Brovvnstown and Monguagon 
 were the headquarters of Walk-in-the-Water and 
 Roundhead, as well as of other noted chiefs, and 
 nearly all the Indian bands which had been driven 
 northward were at Maiden or in southern Michi- 
 gan. The white force that had been met by 
 Colonel Lewis was from Maiden, and the hidians 
 were probably those of the neighborhood. Sav- 
 ages prowled near the camp during the entire 
 interval between the arrival of Lewis and the last 
 battle. 
 
 Under these circumstances, prudence required 
 the utmost vigilance. Here Winchester failed. 
 He had no personal experience of Indian war- 
 fare, and had no idea of the small effect of a de- 
 feat in preventing them from making preparations 
 for further mischief. He took no efficient means 
 for fortifying his encampment ; and while the ori- 
 
Chap. XII. | 
 
 BRITISH ATTACK. 341 
 
 ginal command of Lewis were in quarters which 
 they could have defended, and did defend, the re- 
 inforcements brouL^ht up by Winchester himself 
 were in an open camp. The General did not 
 remain in the vicinity of his ':ien, but was quar- 
 tered in the house of Colonel Navarre, a promi- 
 nent French citizen, on the other side of the river, 
 and more than half a mile from the army. 
 
 On the 2 1st, Winchester was informed that 
 the British and Indians would be down upon him 
 that ni<>^ht. or in the morning ; but he was induced 
 to believe the alarm groundless, and, in spite of 
 warnings, disregarded it. Colonel Wells, who 
 commanded the regulars, endeavored in vain to 
 spur him up to diligence. He neglected to call 
 a council, or to use any means against surprise. 
 No scouts were kept out, and he omitted, in spite 
 of urgent representations, to distribute ammuni- 
 tion, so that many of the troops had a short sup- 
 ply. Colonel Wells became so uneasy that he left 
 his own men in command of his subordinate. Ma- 
 jor McClanahan, and hurried to the Maumee to 
 obtain reinforcements, but although led on at once, 
 they came too late to save the day, and turnetl 
 back when they learned of the surrender. 
 
 Before day-break on the 2 2d the British at- 
 tacked th(; camp with a heavy fire of shells and 
 canister, and made a desperate assault with regu- 
 lars and Indians. Lewis's force being protected 
 by heavy picket fences, which were a very good 
 defence against muskets and light missiles, were 
 
342 
 
 SECOND BATTLE OF THE RAISIN. [Cha^. XII. 
 
 enabled to hold their own. The regulars outsidt; 
 were uncovered, and exposed to the full fury of 
 the assault. Winchester and Lewis, with loo men 
 out of his force within the enclosures, joined them, 
 and for a considerable time held the enemy at 
 bay; but the large body of Indians succeeded in 
 turning their right flank, and they were compelled 
 to cross the river, where, though fighting desper- 
 ately in smaller bodies, they could make no united 
 defence. The greatest portion of them were 
 killed and scalped. No quarter was given to the 
 Americans in this part of the field. Winchester 
 and Lewis, with a few others, were finally induced 
 to surrender to Roundhead, who stripped them 
 and took them to Proctor, who commanded in 
 person, ("olonel Allen was killed. He was a man 
 of ability and his loss was deeply felt. 
 
 The left and centre, under Graves and Madi- 
 son, maintained their position, and the small ar- 
 tillery made little impression on them. Their rifle- 
 men picked oft" the British gunners whenever 
 they showed themselves, and Proctor and his white 
 forces had withdrawn beyond range, so that the 
 besieged soldiers had time to eat their breakfast. 
 At this time Winchester was taken to headquar- 
 ters, and impressed by the barbarities he Iiad 
 witnessed and suffered, and by the suggestions of 
 Proctor that the allies could not be restrained, 
 and miscalculating the condition of the troops 
 under (iraves and Madison, he consented to a 
 surrender on condition — as he reported — that the 
 
Chap. XII. | WINCHESTKR SURRENDERS. 
 
 343 
 
 prisoners should be protected, private property 
 secured, and the side-arms of the officers restored 
 to them at Maiden. L'nfortunately, this was not 
 reduced to writing — probably because not conve- 
 nient, and no one in that army was then acquainted 
 with Proctor. A white Hag was sent to the camp, 
 accompanied by Proctor in person, and by Major 
 (J)verton, one of Winchester's staff, (iraves and 
 Madison hesitated about submitting, knowing the 
 habits of the Indians, and refused to do it with- 
 out full assurance of safety. Proctor pledged 
 himself to respect the conditions, and to send sleds 
 for the wounded to take them to Maiden next 
 morning, and to have them all safely guarded in 
 the meantime. On these assurances they surren- 
 dered. Some of the Indians immediately began 
 to be insolent, and Proctor, on being appealed to 
 by Major Madison, intimated it was beyond his 
 power to restrain them. Madison at once ordered 
 his men to protect themselves with their guns, and 
 thereupon the savages were called off and did 
 them no more mischief The unwounded troops 
 were at once marched off towards Maiden. 
 
 Proctor afterwards reported that the surrender 
 was unconditional. Upon this he is flatly contra- 
 dicted by Winchester, and the promise to Madison 
 to the same effect canrtot be gainsaid. Those offi- 
 cers were men of unsullied honor, and no one 
 can doubt their correctness. The assurances of 
 Proctor were heard and verified by many others, 
 and testified to by Colonel Lewis and twenty-one 
 
.344 
 
 CONDITIONS llkOKEN. IChai-. XII. 
 
 Other officers,' immcdiatoly after their return in 
 March, as well as by some who were longer de- 
 tained, and by civilians at Frenchtown. The reso- 
 lutions passed by a meetinjr of returned officers, 
 held at Krit; on the iXth of Februar\-, iSi;.' not 
 only aver distinctly all the conditions, but other 
 further promises made by Proctor and Klliott for 
 the safety of the wounded, and how all of them 
 wcTe disregarded. Private property of officers 
 and .soldiers was allowed to be plundered, and the 
 officers' side-arms were never restored. Some of 
 the worst atrocities to individuals were not pub- 
 iicl)' known until shortly after, though most of the 
 bloody deeds which have made the River Raisin 
 tt*rribly famous occurred at once. 
 
 I'he victory was dearly bought. Proctor hati 
 1.S2 killed and wounded among his white forces, 
 or more than one-third of their whole number. 
 Of the American troops, not more than 30 or 40 
 escaped, ^^^y prisoners were accounteil for as first 
 estimated, and this number was increased by 40 
 or 50 afterwards ransomed from the Indians. The 
 number of killed and missing was j;97, a large 
 number of whom were not slain in action but 
 murdered afterwards, and a few subsequently came 
 in and were ransomed. The loss of the Indians 
 is not known, but it must* have been very large. 
 The men fought desperately, and were onl)- over- 
 come l)y numbers. 
 
 ■ 4 Niles K., S.s. s 4 Niles R., 13. 
 
Chap. XII. 1 MASSAeRK OF.I'RISONKRS. 
 
 34*') 
 
 Proctor started at oiicc for Maiden. When it 
 was discovered that he was leaving no guard be- 
 hind to jjrotect the wounded, of whom there were 
 very many, he was remonstrated with, and some 
 ol those who were abh: to travel desinnl to ac- 
 company the forces, but they were persuaded that 
 the)' would be safe, and that the n(;xt morning 
 they should all be taken safely to Maiden on sleds. 
 The Indians retired to Stony Creek, a few mil(;s 
 oft, and it was represi'nted that the interpreters 
 who were left behind had fidl control over the 
 savages. Personal pledges were given to souk,- 
 of th(; officers, and one. Captain Hart, (a verj 
 highly est(.'emed officer, and brother-in-law of Henry 
 Clay,) who had met an old acquaintance and friend 
 in Captain l^lliott, who had been entertained in his 
 own house, received from him positive assurances 
 of safety and care. 
 
 These pledges were not fulfilled, but it is not 
 certain that }''lliott was responsible. The kiml- 
 hearted inhabitants had tenderly cared for the 
 wounded in their own homes. The next morning 
 about 200 drunken savages, who had been indulged 
 by their white leaders with the means of a df^ 
 bauch at Stony Creek, came into the devoted vil- 
 lage, and in council determined to kill and scalp 
 all the wounded who could not travel. xAfter 
 plundering the village, they broke in among the 
 wounded, and stripped and tomahawked them. 
 More than 60 were burned up in the houses 
 whert; they were confined, those who tried to es- 
 
346 
 
 MASSACRKOK PRISONKRR. |Chap. XII. 
 
 cape from the fire being driven back and slain. 
 The streets were strewn with the mangled bodies. 
 Those who could walk were started off for Mal- 
 tlen, and a few were, for large sums, allowed to 
 ride. Most of these were killed on the road, and 
 the number taken to Maiden was very small. 
 Captain Hart, Captain Virgin McCracken of 
 Colonel Allen's regiment, Winchester's secretary 
 Captain Woolfolk, and Ensign Wells, were slaugh- 
 tered on the road. The bodies of Woolfolk and 
 Hart were privately rescued, and concealed for 
 burial, by some French citizens. Many prisoners 
 were carried to the Indian villages on the Huron 
 and Rouge, and to Detroit. Many were murdered 
 and some were ransomed. Major Graves was 
 seen on the Rouge a few days after the massacre, 
 but his subsequent fate was never known. He 
 was beyond doubt put to death. No imagination 
 can exaggerate the dreadful scenes of those hor- 
 rid crimes. The brutal tyrant who controlled this 
 region would not even interfere to allow the bu- 
 rial of the dead ; and the bodies of the murdered 
 soldiers were left to be devoured by unclean 
 beasts. The French inhabitants, whose testimony 
 was given on oath concerning these transactions, 
 described the efforts which were made to save 
 some of the bodies from this pollution, and the 
 details of the ravages of the dogs and swine are 
 too dreadful for description. 
 
 Dr. McKeehan, who was sent up with a Hag 
 of truce to help attend the wounded at Maiden, 
 
Chap. XII.] ' PROCTOR'S MISCONDUCT. 347 
 
 was treated shamefully by Proctor. After being^ 
 charged with coming for improper purposes, and 
 resenting it, as he had reason, he was for a time 
 employed as aid to the other surgeons ; but on 
 the 2d of March he was arrested, under pretext 
 of carrying on a private correspondence, and in 
 a few days sent down, with Israel Ruland of De- 
 troit, to Montreal, being treated ignominiously on 
 the way, and on his arrival there shut up in a 
 filthy subterranean dungeon for more than a 
 month. No charges were ever made or alleged 
 against him, and no explanation was ever given or 
 guessed at, unless that he had not taken in silence 
 the insulting abuse of Proctor. That officer was now 
 promoted to be a brigadier general for his vic- 
 tory at the Raisin, where, according to the gene- 
 ral orders announcing his promotion, his gallantry 
 " was most nobly displayed, in his humane and 
 unwearied exertions, which succeeded in rescuing 
 the vanquished from the revenge of the Indian 
 warriors." Surely this was penned without knowl- 
 edge of the cruel sarcasm which was conveyed 
 in it. Whatever grounds for complaint existed 
 against others, no one was found anywhere who 
 competed with Proctor in barbarity. In this he 
 had neither peer nor rival. 
 
 The massacre of the Raisin seemetl to arouse 
 and quicken all his malignant passions. The 
 Indians who had carried off many prisoners to 
 their own villages, began to bring them in for 
 ransom. Knsign Baker, of the 2nd V. S. Infantry 
 
){48 
 
 lAlK <ll' I'KISONKkS. ■ |( MAI'. XII. 
 
 w.is cayjtiircd on llic field of battle, with ahtjiit 20 
 others, and on that same day taken a few mih*s 
 Irom th<' kaisin, where tlK-y were K-lt through tlie 
 next day, whih- most ol the Indians returned to 
 the villaj.((; lor llie inassacn;. Their captors on 
 returning, brought thirty prisoners, and a number 
 of fresh scalps. rju;se prisoners informed Baker 
 ol what had occurred, and tiieir story aj.(r(ted with 
 what has l»een obtained from many oth<!r sour(;{;s ; 
 tor ihe t{;stimony is uniform. I'Our |)risoners were 
 wantonly slain just after tlu;y were brou}.(ht in. 
 Mr. liaker was (employed at M.ilden by (ieiK'ral 
 Winchester in pros(H;utin_n in(|uiries concerninj^ 
 ihe outrages, and his re|)ort. though not complete, 
 contains some details and testimony of iin|)or 
 lance. ( )n the isih ol I'Cbruary, the t<'stimony 
 showed, there were at least .V> <>•' 4" "^^^''l jdive 
 and in captivity in the woods. He traced Major 
 (iraves as on tlu- River Rouj^e, on the 25th or 
 _'6th of January, but heard no more of him. 
 Robert Abbott, (alUTwards Auditor ( iencM'al of 
 Michigan,) stat<'d that on or about the 2.Sth of 
 lanuary an Indian woman came to his dwelling on 
 the RouL(<", and told him an American prisoner 
 was that morning killed in the Indian camp, 
 because he had expn^ssed hatn^d for the Indians. 
 Hut whether this was Major ( ira\cs or not no one 
 knows. A\ the date of Raker's statenuMit, the 
 mutilated Irai^meiits ol the dead still remained 
 scattereil over the j^round, and the Hritish oHiceis 
 said the liulians would not suffer them to be 
 
CiiAr. XII. 
 
 I'KISONF.KS KANSOMI |i. 
 
 W.) 
 
 hiirif'd. lint then- can he no (|ii(^slion of the 
 |)f)W('r ol Proctor to have s('(iir('<l it if !ic chose. 
 
 Baker was taken to I )etroil on the 2gth ol 
 January, and on that da) was purchased from the 
 Inchans. I he next day lie was sent down to 
 Vlalden, and on tht- 15th ol PChrnar) was tor 
 wanh'd to I'Ort \'iai;ara l)\ ' icneral Proctor, lie 
 ^^ives some interesting stateincMlts (oncernin^ the 
 treatment and ransom of |)risoners, and mentions 
 the names ol sexcrai persons in I )etroit, and in 
 ( anada, who had earned their j^ratitnde. Thirty 
 three prisoners Ix-sicies himsell were ransomed at 
 I )etroit, seven l)\ Colonel l^iliott ol Maiden, an<l 
 one hy Colonel l-'rancis liahy, (the i^cntleman 
 whose house was I lull's head(|uarlers when in 
 Canada). Me speaks with j^ratelid warmth ol 
 Major Muir, the connnaiuh-r at I )itroit ; Colonels 
 Hahy and T'lliotl, and ( aptains .\ikins, Curtish 
 and Harrow, amonij th<' British oKicers, as also ol 
 Reverend Kichard I'ollai'd, the ( 'hur(h ol I'.n^land 
 cl(rj.fyman at .Sandwich, whose memory is still 
 held in respect at I )elroit, and connnemorated hy 
 a memorial vvind(»w in .St. Paul's ( hurch. The 
 Iriends whom he lound amon^ the .\meri(ans at 
 l)etroit were numerous, poremost amon^.; them 
 all he (hvells upon Indj^e Woodward, and his 
 well deserved eulomy should not lie lorj^otten : 
 "The exertions ol these worthy |)eo|)|e were di- 
 rected, and point i.;i\(n to thc-m, hy our ever to 
 he venerat(;d countryman, .lu<^ns/ns />'. U'txxhoniu/, 
 who with imwearied zeal (rxerted himself in our 
 
350 WOODWARD HKNKVOI.ENl CI riZKN> (CiiAf XII. 
 
 bchair at Detroit: he was the life and soul of 
 the rc'inaining Ain(;ricans, he man to whom th(r) 
 all looked up lor success in th(; hour of dilficulty; 
 lor advice on every occasi<)n. This, added to 
 the inlluence he at first had with some ol the 
 liritish officers, (enabled him to do wonders for 
 MS. This ^(Uitleman, whose e.\alt('d undcTsta-idinj.; 
 entitU;s him to the; first consideration for talcMits, 
 appears to have no wish separaK; from th(; intiT 
 ests of his country ; thoui^h eminently <|ualified 
 to (jnjoy society, he }^riv(;s up all its swc:ets to 
 shield the unfortunate of his ( ountr) from savaj^e 
 cruelty and British oppression." A man who 
 mad(; such a record, at such a time, is oik; of the 
 nol)l(;s of the earth. If the history of his time 
 rt;(|uir(;s his foil)l(;s and his odditi(;s to he recorded, 
 l(,'t it also be record(;d that before such (pialities 
 as he showed durinj^^ those scen(;s of trial, his 
 w(;akn(;sses, though maj.;nifi(;d an hundredfold, wen- 
 of v(;ry small account. 
 
 Amonj.,^ the names of those most prominent 
 in th(;se b(;nevolent efforts, he m(;ntions C'olonel 
 Mlijah Hrush, Major ll(;nry j. Hunt, Richard 
 Jones, judj.(e James May, Major .Ste|)h(;n Mack, 
 Colonel (iabriel (iodfro)', Robert Smart, Doctor 
 William Brown. Oliver W.Miller, John McDonell, 
 l*(;ter Audrain, Duncan Keiil, and Mr. Macomb. 
 Of ladies who ransomed Kenluckians, he men 
 tions M<;sdemois(;lles l,ass(;lle, Labadie. .Scott. 
 Hays, and others not specified. 
 
iHAi- XII I lil'NKIAl TDkS ()!• PR ISc INKHS, 
 
 851 
 
 ( )! these slcrlinj4 patriots. C'oIoik;! liriish was 
 a son in law of John Askin, and Major Unnt ol 
 An;;ns Mackintosh, prominent L^cntlenien ol 
 Canada, but neith(;r ev(M- swerved from his (hity. 
 Jndj^e May was one ol tlie oldest citizcMis ol 
 I )elroit, havinj4 hved there since i77<S, and per- 
 IbrnKMl man\ puhhc functions; Major Mack was 
 an ollicer of the l.c^ion: Mr. Aiuh'ain was Clerk, 
 k(;^ister, | inline of Probate, and everything else 
 which r(;(|iiire(l clerkls' skill and strict intej,,'rity ; 
 John McI)onell was m after years prominent in 
 ierritoriai and .Stale affairs, and an exc(;llent 
 citiz<;n ; Colonel (iodlroy was an Indian trader of 
 ^ri^at inlliu.'nce. and the others w<tre business m(rn 
 of note, kohert .Smart and I )octor jirown, lived 
 tf) a )^reat old aj^c bachelors and inseparable 
 tritMids, <|uiet in their ways and lull of the milk 
 of Ivjman kindness, and in death they were not 
 divid(.'(l. The) lie side by side in I'.lmwood, and 
 the broad slabs that contain their (|uaint (Epitaphs 
 cover two hoiK-st men, well worthy to be held 
 in remembrance. The rest were not left with<jul 
 relatives still liviiis^ amonj^ us, and have also an 
 honorable re|)utation. 
 
 Most ol thc^se ^(MUlemen, and one, at least, of 
 th(! ladies, incurred I'roctor's malignant hatred for 
 these works of mercy, lie at oiKf |)rohibited any 
 lurther ransom of prisoners ; the result of which 
 was that so many as remained amon^ the Indians 
 forev(!r disappearetl. and the iDanner of their dis 
 appearance can easily be divined. If Major 
 
362 WOODWARD COMPLAINS TO PKOClOk. (Cmap. XII. 
 
 Graves was not the prisoner whose death was 
 announced to Mr. .\bbott, he must ha\e perished 
 speedily, as he was not seen further, and tht; 
 River Rouoe was well settled, and constantly 
 visited. 
 
 On the 2nd of I'ebruary, judj^c; Woodwarti. 
 whose position as 'territorial .Secretary under 
 Proctor's own appointment, y^ave him better means 
 of knowledge than any one else, and who, as we 
 have already seen, had been the resort for aclvice 
 and help of the peopk; of the whole ret^ion, pre- 
 sented to (ieneral Proctor a very plain and direct 
 letter, which put that officer to souKt unc^asiness. 
 The followin<j is the principal substance of it : 
 
 " It is well known to you, sir, that the capitu- 
 lation of the 1 6th of August, i<Si2, has suffered 
 many infractions in every (juarter of the Territory, 
 by the savages in the employ of the; British Gov- 
 ernment. The inhabitants have borne them with 
 unexampled patience. They have entertained a 
 constant apprehension that wht;n the American 
 forces approach the Territory, and when an (en- 
 gagement has taken place, the fury of the savage 
 mind at the sight of blood, and in reflecting on 
 the dead they lose, and perhaps on the retaliatory 
 treatment of prisoners or of the dead, which their 
 cruel mod(; of warfare produced, is always likely 
 to drive them to an ignoble revenge on the j)ris- 
 oners the) find in the country, and the inhabitants 
 of it who are American citizens. They, therefore, 
 pressed the subject on your attention previous to 
 
<, •,.(>. XII. i VIOLATIONS OF THF. CAPITULATION. 
 
 353 
 
 the battle of the 2 2cl January, 1813, and felt satis- 
 fied with your assurance, that you considered 
 your own honor pledged for their effectual pro- 
 tection. Since the result of that batde, facts are 
 before their faces which the\' cannot shut their 
 eyes upon. Souk; of them arc;, perhaps, unknown 
 to yourself. 1 will enumerate some which I be- 
 lieve there will bi- no difficult) in establishinj^ be- 
 yond the reach of contradiction : 
 
 "Firs/. Some of the prisoners, after the cap- 
 itulation of the 2 2d Januar\-, i.Sij;, have been 
 tomahawked b)' the savaj^es. 
 
 "Strom/. Souk; of th(; prisoners, after that 
 capitulation, have been shot by the savag^es. 
 
 " Jliird. Some of the j)risoners, after that 
 capitulatitMi, have been burnt by the; savages." 
 
 The 4th, 5th and 6th charges include shooting 
 and pillaging the inhabitants, and burning their 
 houses. The Judge urges that General Proctor 
 enter into some convention with the citizens, to 
 rectify the evils, (ieneral Proctor having, in writ- 
 ing, through his aid-de-camp, asked for proofs, 
 they were furnished abundantly, and have been 
 preserved and published by the United States 
 Government. But he also sent a verbal message 
 through Major Muir, which Judge Woodward re- 
 garded as dishonorable, and which leil him to ask 
 his passport. In this message Proctor asserted 
 " tha*^ there was no capitulation on the 2 2d Jan- 
 uary, and that the prisoners surrendered at dis- 
 23 
 
364 rVRANNU.AI. MF.ASURRS (Chap. XII. 
 
 cretion." As JikIj^^*' Woodward had not the means 
 of proof on this snhjcct, he assiini(;d Prfx-tor would 
 not falsify it. lint in this he did him more than 
 justice. The part of the mcssa^a- which he re- 
 sent(-d, was Miiir's siij^j^^cstion that the I'Vcnch 
 citizens should take the oath of aliejujiance to the 
 Kin^^ l'j)on the charact(!r of such a su^i^estion, 
 to persons remaininjr under a capitulation pro- 
 tectinjr them and their pro|)erty, he used verj' 
 stronj^ lan^niaj^u'. Me innuedial(;ly (h'parted for 
 Washini(ton, and not only informed the govern- 
 ment of what had passed, but at the nupiest of 
 a committee, in Albany, published his correspond- 
 ence, and some of the testimony, for j^^eneral in- 
 formation. 
 
 IVoctor, relieved Irom the presi;nce ol a man 
 whom he both resijected and feared, j^ave lull 
 scop(; to his malice. He ordered all the inhabi- 
 tants of I'Venchtown to Detroit. Israel Ruland 
 and Doctor William Mcl)owell .Scott w(Te arrested 
 and sent below, wh('re they wert; lon^r heUl in 
 close im|)risonment on the pretext of bein^ Brit- 
 ish subjects adh(?rin^ to the; Americans. .Scott 
 was nn>st h.irshly treated, as a man of much in- 
 dependence and induence. lie had been in the 
 Territory since iSoo, and had occupied a judicial 
 position under the; Territory of Indiana, and was 
 Marshal of Michij.jan. He; was an Irishman by 
 birth, and a very pleasant and cultivated jj^entle- 
 man. His ilescendants are still in Detroit. Mr. 
 Kinzie of Chicai^o had been previously subjected 
 
CHAf. XII. 1 IIANISHMF.NT OF CITIZRNS. ^hft 
 
 to infamous truclly on sonic similar prcttjxt, and 
 Mrs. 1 Iclm, alter three months' imprisonment 
 amon^ the Ineh'ans, was shut iij) another three 
 months in a British prison to t^ratily his s|)iie. 
 
 ikit he had determined to |L;(tt rid of all trouble- 
 some wit!u;ss(;s still earlier. At the end of Janu 
 ary, when he stopped the ransom of prisoners, 
 he went furth(;r, and orden-d to he banished from 
 the Territory all the leading Americans, e.xccpt 
 those of I'"r<Mich orij^in and other natives. This 
 explains wh)' the |jroposition was madi; to reach 
 the native I'Vench inhabitants who had once been 
 British subj(;cts. .mi] terrify tlunn into swearinjr 
 allei^iance tf) (iri^at liritain. On the- fusf day of 
 I^'ebruary, i.Si_^, a uKtetinL; was held by several of 
 these obnoxious i.;cntlemen, to e\pr(;ss their vi(;ws 
 f)n the subject, and the; nanuts a|)pentled emiirace 
 scv(;ral of those mi-ntioned by Baker. They (;x- 
 press their indiL^nation at Proctor's cruelty in s(Mk1- 
 ing th(;m away and separatini; tluMii from their 
 families in I )etroit, who would be d(;prived of 
 their protection ; declare tlu; act a dir(;ct violation 
 of the capitulation, which promised them protec 
 tion ; ass(;rt their rij.(ht and duty not to submit 
 to such wronjjj^s without com[)ulsion, and their re 
 solution to enforce against him by proceedings 
 in justice all rights which can be maintained : 
 acknowledge their duty to maintain obedience so 
 long as [irotected by the British Hag, without pre- 
 judice to their American citizenship; pass a high 
 encomium on Woodward, and request him to urge 
 
35(') NAMKS OK IliK, KANISHKU. ICicai. XII. 
 
 a revocation of the obnoxious ortlcr. I lis inter- 
 vention was made in the inann(;r already spoken 
 of, and he not only failed to do them any j^ood, 
 but felt compelletl to (Uipart hims('lf The names 
 signed to this document (corrected from personal 
 information so lar as obtained) were. Lewis Hond, 
 David McClean, William Wilson, John Dicks, Ar- 
 chibald Lyon, Israel Taylor, Anderson Martin, Wil- 
 liam M. .Scott, David Henderson, William Russe-ll, 
 Joseph .Spencer, James Patterson, (leorg'e K. Chit- 
 tenden, William Rob<;rtson, John Walker, Conrad 
 Seek, Elijah Brush, Conrad TeniCyck, Peter J. 
 Desnoyers. Robtrrt .Smart, James Hennett, Richard 
 H". Jones, William Brown, John McDonell, John 
 Congsett, Duncan Reid, A. Lanti^an, (ieorge Batt- 
 /es (?) James Chitt(;nden.' Of these, Mr. Dtrsnoy- 
 ers, though I'Vench, and bearing a name found in 
 Canada, was not l)orn in this country, but was a 
 native of France, and settled in I )etroit Just after 
 the Americans took possession, lie was a gen- 
 tleman of great worth, and died a few years since, 
 universally resp(;cted. Mis son, I'eter Desnoycn's, 
 then a lad, and now living, was one of the (;arly 
 State Treasurers. 
 
 Maving got rid at home; of all troublesome 
 disturbers of such conscience as he poss(*ssed, the 
 attention of General Proctor was .soon called to 
 matters outside. The news of the massacre of 
 the River Raisin was received with a general 
 burst of indignation, and the people of Kentucky, 
 
 » 4 Niles, 91. 
 
CiiAi' XII. 1 WKSTKRN MoVKMKNTS 
 
 357 
 
 who had <;sp(;cially siiir<;r(Hl from the murder of 
 their friends and kinsmen, determined not to leave 
 th(;n unavenj^^ed. Steps were at once taken to 
 embody lar<,fe forces of vohinteers in Ohio, Ken- 
 tucky, and all othvs parts of the west, and the 
 service was souL,dit with alacrity. It became evi- 
 dent that t\u'. Indians had put themselves where 
 their condition was desperate, unless they could 
 secure undis|)ut("d poss(!ssion of their ancient 
 hunting grounds; and they ^^ave (ieneral Proctor 
 plainly to understand that as they had allied them- 
 selves with the British for their own advantage, 
 as well as to protect Canada, it was time some 
 aggressive mt^asures were taken to drive out .the 
 Americans. All the available forces of the sava- 
 ges were gathered for the work, and the British 
 added their share of white troops, and assumed 
 the; task of deft:ating the army in Ohio, (ieneral 
 Harrison had been unable to get intelligence early 
 enough to reach die Kaisin, to take part in the 
 battle, and its result rendered any immediate ad- 
 vance on Maiden -mpracticable. It was, therefore, 
 resolved to make complete preparation for a fu- 
 ture attack, with forces ecpial to the emergency. 
 A fort was thrown up at the Maumee Rapids, 
 named Fort Meigs, after the ( iovernor of Ohio. 
 On the first of May, 1S13, Proctor, with a large 
 force of British and Indians, well supplied with 
 artillery, began an attack upon the fort, then t c- 
 cupied by General Harrison. The siege lasted 
 until the 5th, when it was raised, and the besiegers 
 
358 BATTLR Of FORT MEtGS. [Cmai-. Xll. 
 
 returned in some haste towards Maiden. The 
 j^arrison had been reinforced by General Green 
 Clay during the siege, and a part of his army, 
 under Colonel Dudley, after carrying out a well- 
 devised plan for capturing the British batteries 
 on the left bank of the river, had been led away 
 by their ardor into advancing against orders too 
 far, and were mostly killed or captured. On this 
 occasion the barbarities of Frenchtown were re- 
 newed, under the eyes and approval of Proctor. 
 The Indians massacred many prisoners, and com- 
 pelled others to run the gauntlet. Leslie Combs 
 of Kentucky, then a boy of i8, yet a captain and 
 scout of great sagacity and dauntless courage, 
 was among those subjected to this cruelty, and 
 his description of the occurrences has been pre- 
 served and repeated on many occasions, and is 
 well known. Proctor's conduct on this occasion 
 was rebuked by Tecumseh, who in person inter- 
 fered and stopped the atrocities, and tauntingly 
 bade Proctor to go off and put on petticoats, for 
 he was unfit to command soldiers. 
 
 Soon after this Dickson, a noted trader, had 
 started from Mackinaw, and gone southward 
 through the Green Bay coimtry and Wisconsin, 
 gathering the Indians in force ; and early in the 
 summer he arrived in Detroit, where Proctor and 
 Tecumseh brought together a large army to make 
 a second atteTint on Harrison's defences in Ohio. 
 The hopes ot the Indians had been excited by 
 the promise that Michigan should be set apart 
 
Chap. XII.) FORT STEPHENSON 359 
 
 for the Prophet and his followers, and they set 
 out with sanguine assurance of success. After 
 various movements to conceal their plans, they ap- 
 proached Fort Meigs, Tecumseh had conceived 
 the plan of deceiving the garrison into supposing 
 an attack had been made by the allies on an 
 American force outside, — expecting by this means 
 to draw out the garrison into an ambuscade. 
 General Clay was on his guard, and although the 
 noises were very suggestive of a fierce battle, 
 and his officers were much excited and anxious 
 to go out to defend their friends, he had been 
 sv^iciently warned to remain firm, and paid no 
 attention to the mock fight. After lingering more 
 than a day in the neighborhood, the allied forces 
 concluded to let the garrison alone, and separated, 
 a part returning to Maiden and Detroit, and a 
 part moving toward Fort Stephenson, on the San- 
 dusky River. Harrison had his army where it was 
 ready to move eastward or westward, as might 
 be necessary, as the whole line of settlements near 
 Lake Erie was threatened, and it was impossible 
 to be sure where the blows would fall. The coun- 
 try being a wilderness, and the savages not mov- 
 ing in the manner of white troops, much vigilance 
 was required to keep informed of their plans. 
 The forces left the vicinity of Fort Meigs on the 
 27th of July, On the 31st Proctor appeared be- 
 fore Fort Stephenson, with gunboats, and a force 
 of 490 regulars and 500 of Dickson's Indians, 
 with about 2,000 Indians under Tecumseh, 
 
360 FORT STEPHENSON HESIEGEIJ, (Chap. Xll. 
 
 who were near by in the woods. He was 
 accompanied, as usual, by Elliott, the In- 
 dian agent, who was sent to demand a surrender. 
 The fort was garrisoned by George Croghan, a 
 young major of 21 years, with a garrison of 167. 
 and one six-pounder. As usual, the demand for 
 surrender was accompanied by the representation 
 that it was made to prevent the eft'usion of blood, 
 and that the Indians could not otherwise be re- 
 strained. Lieutenant Shipp, who was sent out to 
 meet the flag of truce, knew, as did Croghan also, 
 what sort of restraint General Proctor put upon 
 his Indians, and surrender was not in their minds 
 any more appropriate than it had seemed to Har- 
 rison at P'ort Meigs, who had expressed his opin- 
 ion that such propositions, with such suggestions, 
 were insulting. Shipp informed them that when 
 the fort was taken, there would be no one left 
 to massacre ; and he was called in by Croghan, 
 not before he had been assaulted by an Indian in 
 the presence of the bearers of the Hag, with the 
 evident design on their part of intimidating him. 
 The work was not supposed defensible against 
 artillery, but the little garrison strengthened it 
 while the assault went on. They had no fears of 
 the Indians, so long as they remained in their 
 entrenchments, and ^ they determined to hold out 
 against the British until they were relieved or de- 
 stroyed. All night long, and during most of the 
 next day, a cannonade was kept up against the 
 little fort, with no effect. The six-poundar was 
 
Chap. XII. 1 SLAUGHTER OF ASSAILANTS. 361 
 
 used by the defenders very sparingly, for lack of 
 ammunition, but their unerring rifles kept the ene- 
 my at a respectful distance. At last Proctor, 
 chagrined and exasperated at the effect of the 
 obstinate defence on his Indian allies, and afraid 
 of Harrison's approach, determined to storm the 
 fort. Croghan, calculating that the assault would 
 be made against a weak angle of the fort, by first 
 making a breach and then pushing up along the 
 ditch, strengthened the exposed point by heaping 
 up bags of sand and flour, and placed his six- 
 pounder where it would rake the approach, load- 
 ing it with a light charge of powder and a double 
 charge of leaden slugs. The assault was made 
 late in the afternoon of the 2d of August. After 
 about half an hour's conflict at close quarters, 
 where the rifles of the besieged did considerable 
 damage to the besiegers. Lieutenant Colonel Short, 
 of the regulars, followed by his men, leaped into 
 the ditch and approached the point where they 
 supposed the defences had been weakened. When 
 they arrived within about twenty yards the gun 
 was unmasked, and the first discharge threw them 
 back in disorder, and the ditch was filled with a 
 mass of dead bodies, and struggling men, wounded 
 and confounded at the terrible havoc. Those who 
 could move at once retreated, and the whole in- 
 vesting force withdrew. The number of the killed 
 among the British is not known. About fifty were 
 left in the ditch. The killed and missing were 
 stated at 91. The wounded there were no means 
 
862 
 
 INDIANS DEMORALIZED. [Ch*p. Xtl. 
 
 of estimating. The Indian loss could not be as- 
 certained, as they took off all their killed and 
 wounded. The garrison lost one killed and seven 
 wounded — none of them severely. 
 
 During the night, Proctor departed with all his 
 company, leaving behind a gun-boat loaded with 
 clothing and military stores. He left to avoid 
 Harrison. 
 
 This brilliant defence was one of the most 
 glorious exploits in our annals, and Croghan was 
 ju«:tly honored with universal applause. The dis- 
 asters of Proctor at Fort Meigs and Fort Stephen- 
 son shook the confidence of the Indians, and they 
 began to regard him as a failure. But they were 
 now in a des_ jrate case. They had gone into 
 Canada and in many instances taken their families. 
 They had brought devastation on all the border 
 country, and were dependent on the British stores 
 for rescue from starvation. The United States 
 had abstained as far as possible from using Indian 
 auxiliaries, and this policy had been the cause of 
 the defection of Walk-in-the-Water and Round- 
 head. Immediately after the Battle of Fort Ste- 
 phenson the head chiet of the Wyandots Tarhee, 
 (or the Crane,) Black-hoof, who had fought against 
 Braddock, and Big Snake, chiefs of the Shaw- 
 anoes, and Tocktowaynivig or Anderson, chief of 
 the Delawares, asked leave of Governor Meigs 
 and General Harrison to take part in the coming 
 campaign. They brought 259 warriors. 
 
(HAf. Xll.] SHELBY AND THE KENTUCKIANS. 363 
 
 During these transactions a forged letter arrived 
 in Kentucky, purporting to be signed by General 
 Harrison, to stop recruiting, which was acted upon 
 as genuine until orders came for speed and 
 urgency. The source of it was never discovered. 
 
 Kentucky had determined to send forward a 
 large volunteer force, and enlistments went on 
 with enthusiasm. The venerable Governor Shelby, 
 sixty-six years of age, but still active and stirring, 
 announced that he would lead them in person. 
 F!is gallantry during the Re- ilution, at the Battle 
 jf King's Mountain, had rendered him famous, 
 and just as these events were progressing the 
 State of North Carolina, through the hands of 
 Henry Clay, sent him a magnificent sword, in re- 
 cognition of his services in that battle. Richard 
 M. Johnson, afterwards Vice President of the 
 United States, raised a regiment of mounted rifle- 
 men, — a class of soldiers not then as well known 
 as they have been since, — which turned out to be 
 of great value. Mounted rangers were in great 
 demand for many branches of service, and they 
 were held in mortal terror by the Indians, who 
 were themselves in many instances very bold 
 riders, but never in this region did much fighting 
 on horseback. 
 
 The disaffected tribes in Michigan and Indiana 
 were chiefly the Ottawas, Chippewas. Miamis, 
 Weas and Potawatamies, although some of the 
 VVyandots had been gained over, and Tecumseh 
 had more or less of his own tribe with him. 
 
364 
 
 OKEMOS. (Chap. XII. 
 
 Dickson's Indians largely represented scattering 
 tribes of the further west and north, between Lake 
 Michigan and the Mississippi. Okemos, one of 
 the principal Chippewa chiefs of Michigan, was 
 present, with a party of his braves, at some of the 
 engagements along the Maumee and Sandusky. 
 While on the Sandusky River, they were startled 
 one day by the approach of a body of rangers, 
 and concealed themselves among the limbs of a 
 large tree, that had recently been felled or blown 
 over near the trail. The soldiers rode by without 
 discovering them, but one young brave, after they 
 had passed, could not resist the temptation of ris- 
 ing upon the trunk and giving the war-whoop. 
 The troopers were upon them before they could 
 escape from their trap, and left them all for dead. 
 After some time Okemos came to himself, but 
 his eyes were blinded with clotted blood, and his 
 limbs so mangled that he could not rise or help 
 himself. Cautiously imitating the note of an insect, 
 he was answered, and discovered that his brother 
 also lived, but as helpless as himself By painful 
 efforts they managed to reach a little stream and 
 wash their eyes and faces clear, and by crawling 
 and rolling they got down to the Sandusky River, 
 and into a canoe. They were unable to manage 
 it, and drifted down, and were discovered and 
 relieved by friends. By the time they were able 
 to get about, the Americans had regain^^d control 
 in Michigan, and Okemos got Colonel Godfroy to 
 intercede for him with Cieneral Cass. He after- 
 
Chai'. XII. I COMMODORE I'ERKV. 365 
 
 wards, witli tlu- rest of the chiefs, executed a treaty 
 of fidehty, and never a«(ain interfered with the 
 Chemokoman. He lived to nearly a hundred 
 years of a.^i\ \)v.\n^ active and vigorous in body 
 and minil to the day of his death, although a 
 wound in his shoulder n(!ver healed, and his head 
 was conipk.'tely furrowed widi sabre-cuts. His 
 habits were temperate, and among his contempor- 
 aries of the I'Vench, he vv'as always welcome and 
 respected. The townshij) near Lansing, where he 
 spent his later y(;ars, bears his name. His memory 
 was very accurate and ttMiacious. 
 
 The people were untiring in their efforts, and 
 the volunteer army began to assume formidable 
 proportions. About the time that the British were 
 compelled to retire to Canada, Commodore; Oliver 
 H. Perry, of Rhode Island, had fitted out his little 
 Heet at Hrie, to try conclusions on the water. 
 The British naval chief Captain Barclay, was a 
 brave and experienced officer, and the progress 
 of the American navy, which they had not been 
 able to interrupt, does not appear to have given 
 much uneasiness to the enemy. General Harri- 
 son had made his plans to cross over into Cana- 
 da by the aid of Perry's fleet, and the time ap- 
 proached for aggressive measures. On the 31st 
 of July, 3,500 mounted volunteers had appeared at 
 Newport, Kentucky, where Shelby had called for 
 less than half that number. In due time, when some- 
 what disciplined, they moved northward. At Ur- 
 bana the army was organized into eleven regin ents, 
 
366 NAVAL MOVEMENTS. 
 
 [CHAr XII. 
 
 five brigades and two divisions. On the i 5th and 
 1 6th of September, the whole of Harrison's army, 
 except Colonel Johnson's Regiment, was encamped 
 on Lake Krie, and the prisoners taken by Com 
 modore Perry had been landeil and put in charge 
 of a guartl. Johnson was to move round the 
 lake when the endiarkation of the rest of the 
 troops began. 
 
 On the 5th of August, Perry floated his ships 
 over the bar at Erie into deep water, and on the 
 I 2th moved westward with ten vessels, great and 
 small, and reached Put-in-Bay on the 15th. Here 
 he was in communication with Harrison, and their 
 plans were soon matured. Barclay gathered his 
 fleet in Maiden, from which place Perry made va- 
 rious futile efforts to draw him out. Having as 
 certained that Proctor's need oi provisions would 
 compel Barclay to communicate with Long Point, 
 Perry made preparations for an immediate battle, 
 and on the 9th of September he determined, if 
 there should be fu rdier delay, to proceed to Mai- 
 den and attack the British fleet. He had received 
 accurate information of the strength of each of 
 Barclay's vessels, through Major Henry B. Bre- 
 voort, of the army. This gentleman, whose family 
 resided in Detroit, was equally at home on the 
 land and on the water, and was well known to 
 all the old citizens of Detroit as one of the most 
 transparently honest and single-minded of men. 
 brave, intelligent, and one who when he swore to 
 another disappointed him not, though it were to 
 
Chap. XII. BATTI.F OF I.AKF. ERIK 3R7 
 
 his own hindrance. He rendered ^ood service 
 in the fleet as commander of marines on the Ni- 
 agara, and the knowledge which he had obtained 
 enabled Commodort? Perry to plan the work ol" 
 each of his vessels in advance, so that the gene- 
 ral scheme was arranged the night before the 
 vessels came out. although some changes became 
 necessary when the time of action approached. 
 
 At day-break on the loth of .September, the 
 look-out from (jibraltar Island, at the mouth of 
 Put-in- Bay, discovered the British Heet. and Perry 
 sailed out to meet it. The vessels engaged on 
 the British side were the ships Detroit an*.! (Jueen 
 Charlotte, brig Hunter, schooners Lady Prevost 
 and Chippewa, and sloop Little Belt, carrying 6t, 
 carriage-guns, one pivot gun, two swivttls, and four 
 howitzers. The American tleet consisted of the 
 brigs Lawrence, Niagara and Caledonia, schooners 
 Ariel, Scorpion, Tigress and Porcupine, and sloop 
 Trippe, carrying 52 guns and two swivels. The 
 Lawrence and Niagara each had 20 guns, three 
 of the other vessels having one gun each, and 
 the others two, three and four. The British had 
 more long guns, — the Americans more carronades. 
 but heavier metal. The numerical forces of men 
 were very nearly equal. Captain Barclay had a 
 larger proportion of old man-of-war's men. 
 
 The engagement began a quarter before noon. 
 At three o'clock the British fleet surrendered, 
 after one of the closest engagements known in 
 naval history. No entire British fleet had ever 
 
368 HERRYS VICTORY. (CMAr. Xtl. 
 
 been captured before. The utmost bravery was 
 shown on both sicU.'s. The American loss was 27 
 killed and 96 wounded; the British 41 killed and 
 94 woundeil. Most ot the loss in the y\m(;rican 
 tleet was on Perry's llag-ship, the Lawrence, which 
 lost 22 killed and 61 wounded. The brave vic- 
 tor was as humane as he was valiant, and the 
 dead of both llet^ts w(;re buried togeth(;r, with the 
 same honors and the same solenm services, while 
 the wouniled were all tenderly caretl for. and the 
 unfortunate British command<'r, who was dread- 
 fully crippletl, was treat(;d with the g(;nerous 
 kindness which he deserved. 
 
 Perry's subordinatt; commandiirs of vessels 
 were Jesse 1), Elliott in the Niagara, Stephen 
 Champlin in die Scorpion, John II. Pocket in the 
 Ariel, Daniel Turner in the Caledonia, Thomas (\ 
 Almy in the Somers, ( ieorg<,' .Senat in the I*orcu- 
 pine, Augustus H. M. Conklin in the Tigress, and 
 Thomas Holdress in the Trippe. Bn*voort com- 
 manded a detachment of soldiers acting as ma- 
 rines. ; 
 
 Immediately after the enemy struck, Perry 
 wrote upon his cap, on a scrap of paper his cele- 
 brated laconic dispatch : " We have met the ene- 
 my and they are ours," and sent it to Harrison, 
 who was on the l^ke shore west of .Sandusky, 
 about 30 miles from the scene of the battle. The 
 cannonade was heard as far off as Cleveland, and 
 Tecumseh, from his camp on Bois-blanc Island, 
 had listened to the sounds, and endeavored to 
 
Chap. XII. J IKCUMSKH lAlNIS I'RiH lOR SO'.t 
 
 detcriiiiiu.' tin- result ol tlu; battle, wliilt; Proctor, 
 at Maiden, was i(|iially intent to listen. I'rottor 
 concealed the result from his Indian ally until it 
 was impossihle to prevent his knowledge ot it. 
 On the i<Sth, when the British (leneral pre|)ared 
 to evacuate Maklen, the Indians became greatly 
 e.xcited and enraj^ed at his cowardice, and he only 
 pacitied them b\ promisinj^ to mak ■ a stand at 
 the Moravian towns on the Thames. Tecumseh 
 felt very keenly the ilesperate position into which 
 he antl his followers had been brought by their 
 confidence in the British, and insisted that IVoctor 
 should at least sta>' and lij.;ht, or leave the arms 
 and ammunition to the Indians, who would resist 
 to the last extremity. In contempt for his cow- 
 ardice, he compared him to a fat cur, sneaking 
 off with his tail between his legs, after making a 
 great show of courpge. Maiden was evacuated 
 on the 1 8th, and an officer was left behind to 
 burn up everything as soon as the American 
 army made its appearance. 
 
 The Heet was now used to bring over the 
 troops from the main land. It was impossible to 
 transport the horses, and these were all left in 
 Ohio with a guard, while the .sokliers acted as 
 infantry. The)- at fu'st encamoed on Middle 
 Sister Island, and on the 27th of September 
 crossed over the narrow space to the Canada shore 
 about four miles below Maiden. They at once 
 marched into Maiden and found it deserted by all 
 
 24 
 
370 
 
 IlKlROn RKGAINEI). IChap. XII. 
 
 its defenders. Harrison at once prepared to set 
 out after Proctor, but without any expectation of 
 overtaking him until he should reach the Thames, 
 where he had told Tecumseli he meant to make 
 a stand. It was necessar)- to obtain a few horses, 
 and on the 27th. Harrison wrote to Governor 
 Meigs that, "a miserable French pony, upon which 
 the venerable and patriotic (iovernor of Kentucky 
 was mounted, is the only one in the army." On 
 the eve of lanciing, Harrison issued a brief but 
 spirited order, closing with this significant pass- 
 age : " Khntucki.xns — remember the River Rais- 
 in ; but remember it only while the victory is sus- 
 pended. The revenge of a soldier cannot be 
 gratified upon a fallen enemy." The sons of that 
 noble State that in this war had sent out more 
 than 17,000 valunteers, had come at last to their 
 opportunity, aad they did not abuse it. 
 
 Proctor was at Sandwich when Harrison landed, 
 and he at once moved eastward with the Detroit 
 garrison and all his auxiliaries. On the 2Sth, the 
 American Army reached Sandwich, and (lenera! 
 Duncan Mc Arthur crossed over and took posses- 
 sion of the fort, which he had left before under 
 such different circumstances. The overjoyed in- 
 habitants ' were released from what had become a 
 reign of terror. The fort had been fired, but the 
 flames were extinguished, and General McArthur 
 drove off a horde of hostile Indians, who were 
 prowling round the neighborhood. The fleet 
 arrived the same day. On t'ne 29th, General 
 Harrison issued his proclamation, restoring the 
 
Chap. XII. I IIATTLE OF THE THAMES, 
 
 371 
 
 civil authority as it had been before the surrender, 
 and entru.sting its administration to the old in- 
 cumiients when present, and to their next pre- 
 decessors, it absent. Colonel Johnson's Riflemen 
 came up on the ,soth, and crossed into Canada 
 the day after. 
 
 The American Haj.^ is said to have been raised 
 by the inhabitants before McArthur's entrance. 
 But it never Moated again from the old flag-staff. 
 That was left bare and uncared for as a memorial 
 and warning, until a few years afterwards, in June, 
 1820, it was blown over by a severe wind and 
 ceased to be visible over the walls. What igno- 
 minious uses its ruins may have served it is not 
 recorded. It was not in demand for relics. 
 
 McArthur's command was left to hold Detroit, 
 Cass's brigade was left at Sandwich, and Harrison, 
 with a force of about 3,500, on the 2nd of Oc- 
 tober, pushed on by land after Proctor, — the 
 smaller vessels of the fleet sailing up the Thames. 
 Proctor was at last overtaken at the Moravian 
 towns, and compelled to give battle on the 5th. 
 The mounted riflemen dashed through the British 
 line and turned it, and in less than ten minutes 
 the whole force was captured, except General 
 Proctor and i 7 ofificers and 239 men. The official 
 reports of his own government show that he was 
 regarded as having been guilty of grossly dis- 
 graceful conduct." His brave ally, Tecumseh, met 
 
 ' sir '.eorge Hrevost, in his general orders, ii.ses this severe laiiL;ii;if;e : 
 " On this tlisgracetiil dav, upwards dI 600 otticers and soldiers were taken 
 
372 
 
 TKCUMSEll kll.l.KU. IChai'. XII. 
 
 a soldier's death by the hands of a very brave 
 enemy, having been shot by Colonel Richard M. 
 Johnson, while the latter was wounded and held 
 down by his own horse, which had fallen on him, 
 and Tecumseh was approaching to kill him. James 
 Knaggs, who aided in carrying Colonel Johnson 
 off the field, was intimately acquainted with Te- 
 cumseh, and recognized him when pointed out by 
 Colonel Johnson as an Indian whom he had shot 
 in self-defence. Probably no one in the army had 
 as good a knowledge of Tecumseh as Captain 
 Knaggs, who had been for' years an interpreter, 
 and familiar with all the chiefs. The identty of 
 the slayer and of Hie slain is as well established 
 as testimony can establish anything. 
 
 General Cass and Commodore Perry acted as 
 volunteer aids to General Harrison, and he gave 
 great credit to both for their efficient help in 
 making his arrangements and preparations. 
 
 On the 7th, which was the anniversary of the 
 Battle of King's Mountain, (Jovernor Shelby was 
 put in command of the army, and Harrison left 
 for Detroit. On the 14th he appointed General 
 Cass Provisional Governor of Michigan Terri- 
 tory. 
 
 The Indians began to desert Proctor before 
 the battle. Walk-in-the-Water left him some days 
 
 prisoners almost without a struggle, of whom but very tew appeared to 
 have been rescued by an honoriible death from the ignominy of passing 
 imder the American yoke, nor are there many whose wounds plead in 
 mitigation of this reproach."— AViv/'.v Life, 366. 
 
Chap. XII. | KAILURK AI MACKINAW. 
 
 373 
 
 before, and begged permission after the battle to 
 follow him up, and thus atone for his own de- 
 linquency. The tribes were left by the result of 
 the campaign on the verge of starvation. Harri- 
 son treated them kindly, and the hostile forces, 
 consisting chiefly of Potawatamies, Ottawas, Chip- 
 pewas, several bands of Miamis and Weas, and 
 soi: e Wyandots, came in and gave hostages, and 
 weu' supplied with food. The victories on Lake 
 Erie and the Thames ended the Indian troubles, 
 except an occasional outrage from small bands, 
 not approved by the tribes. 
 
 .Several expeditions were sent out from time 
 to time into Canada before the war closed. 
 General McArthur, in 1814, penetrated nearly to 
 Lake Ontario, and swept back along Lake Erie, 
 doing much mischief to the enemy. Fort Gratiot 
 was built in that year by the officer whose name 
 it bears. 
 
 An attempt was also made in 1814 to retake 
 Mackinaw, which failed, and Major Holmes, a very 
 brave officer, from whom the old fort was after- 
 wards named, was killed. The British were aided 
 in this instance by whites from the Sault, and by 
 detachments in force from Green Bay, cvjmposed 
 chiefly of Frenchmen owing allegiance to the 
 United States, and Menominie Indians, under their 
 great chief Thomas, (usually called in imitation of 
 its French sound Tomaw,) who was as remarkable 
 in his gifts as Fecumseh, but less capable of self- 
 control. 
 
374 
 
 NEGLECT OK BENEFACTORS. fCHAr. Xll. 
 
 The Territory now began anew Its career as 
 an American community. Henceforth, the evil 
 influences of British jealousy and cupidity ceased 
 to operate to its ruin. Though for many years 
 there were occasional encroachments, the region 
 was no longer debatabh; ground, and the Indians 
 generally acknowledged the American supremacy. 
 
 It is time that the men who rescued Michigan 
 from its thraldom were remembered with less 
 perishable memorials than the annals of the War 
 Department. Kven General Cass received his 
 only public memorial by having a county named 
 after him, in company with the members of General 
 Jackson's Cabinet, and not for his civil or military 
 services. Harrison, and McArthur, and Miller, 
 and Johnson, and Perry, and all their brave coad- 
 jutors, have been passed over in silence. The 
 name of .Shelby, first given to the fort at Detroit, 
 was dropped for that of Wayne, and the gallant 
 old governor has no memorial. 
 
 .'Xs soon as careful search had discovered and 
 identified the body of Captain Hart, he was ex- 
 humed and buried in Detroit with every honor 
 which could be paid to his lifeless remains. It 
 can never be too late to perform our duty to the 
 rest — now passed beyond the reach of earthly 
 glory, by doing something whereby they may be 
 worthily commemorated. 
 
 A few years ago, on the 4th of July, 1872, the 
 survivors of the massacre of the Raisin, and of 
 
Chap. XII. I HONORKD .MKMORIFS. 
 
 375 
 
 the battles that succeeded it, met at Monroe, to 
 review the scenes ot that time of trial ; and the 
 brave men who had all passed far beyond their 
 three score and ten were gratified by the homage 
 of the younger generations, for whose heritage 
 they and their dead comrades had faced the perils 
 of savage warfare, and redeemed Michigan for 
 American liberty. To those for whom they saved 
 it, the fame of the honored dead of Kentucky and 
 Ohio should be as dear as that of Washington 
 and his companions in arms, and the memory of 
 that heroic struggle should bind these States 
 together with the warmest love of kindred. 
 
 Among the other benefits of the Centennial 
 celebration, we ought to number the renewal and 
 perpetuation of all those honorable remembrances ; 
 and the evidences of our gratitude should be 
 gracious and lasting. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ADMlNFsrkArioN ol' COXF.KNOK fASS. 
 
 Gknkkai. Cass was made? permanent Governor 
 of Michiti^an Territory, and William Woodbridge, 
 of Marietta, Ohio, was appointed Secretary. Mr. 
 Atwater, who had left Detroit immediately after 
 the surrender, never came back. The Judges 
 retained their offices until the change in their 
 tenure, created in 1.S23, by the act re-organizing 
 the Territory. 
 
 The war had scattered the people, and the 
 population had fallen away considerably. It was 
 not until peace was finally declared that the 
 country was entirely relieved from the ravages of 
 the hostile Indians. While most of them had 
 made peace, and behaved reasonably well, the 
 Saginaw band of Kishkaukon was very trouble- 
 .some. Murders and outrages were committed in 
 the immediate neighborhood of Detroit, and within 
 its corporate limits. The people, when they had 
 a chance to reach the aggressors, followed them 
 up vigorously. General Cass acted in these 
 emergencies with great energy, and went out in 
 person with the volunteers to chastise the marau- 
 
Chap. XIIl.] PEACE WITH INDIANS. 377 
 
 dors. After tlv.- failurt' of thi; Mackinaw expedi- 
 tion, no further attempt was made in that (|uarter 
 till the treaty of peace, I*"ort Gratiot, built at 
 the place once occupied by Fort St. jo.seph in the 
 17th century, was intended, like that, to control 
 the passage to and from Lake Huron, as the 
 northern Indians jj^enerally travelled in their canoes 
 through the River St. Clair. 
 
 On the 22nd of July, 1814, ( lenerals Harrison 
 and Cass made a treaty at (ireenville, between 
 the United .States and the Wyandots, Delawares, 
 Shawanoes and Senecas on the one s de, and the 
 Miamis, (known as the Miami Kel River and 
 VVeea tribes) and a portion of the Potawatamies. 
 Ottawas, and Kickapoos, whereby it was agreed 
 they should all make peace, and enter into 
 alliance with the United States, acknowledging 
 their supremacy. On the 8th of September, 181 5, 
 Harrison, McArthur, and John (iraham, made peace 
 with all of those tribes, as well as with the Chippe- 
 was, residing in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. 
 This was not signed by very many of the Chip- 
 pewa or Ottawa chiefs. Okemos signed it as a 
 chief of the Ottawas. 
 
 The treaty of peace with Great Britain did 
 not put an immediate end to the bad feeling. 
 This stipulated for the immediate restoration of 
 all places captured, with all papers, public and 
 private, and for determining, by commissioners, 
 the boundary line in those waters where the 
 position of islands or other difficulties made it 
 
378 HDRDKK \ KXAIIONS. (CliAr. XHI. 
 
 (loiibtfiil, aiul pleds^cd each i^ovfrnmcnt to [)lace 
 \\h'. Indians where the) were in i.Sii. 
 
 The British officers near I )etroit paid no at- 
 tention to the houndars Hnes, but pursued desert- 
 ers into the Tnited States, and on some occasions 
 undertook to assert jurisdiction over American 
 citizens on (irosse lie and in American waters. 
 An Indian was killed at (irosse He in the act of 
 attemptinj^ to murder an American, and the com- 
 manding officer at Maiden, Colonel James, directed 
 an inc|uest, and offered a reward for the per- 
 son who killed him. Governor Cass at once 
 issued a proclamation enjoining the proper asser- 
 tion and protection of American jurisdiction. 
 Colonel Hutler, commanding at Detroit, had also 
 occasion to hold a sharp correspondence with 
 Colonel James, concerning various infractions of 
 right. In addition to other grievances, it was 
 understood that Mackinaw was not likely to be 
 surrendered, and that the Indians (which probably 
 meant Dickson and the traders) meant to hold it. 
 Maiden was retained until such arrangements 
 were made as ensured the delivery of Mackinaw. 
 On the first of July, 1815, Maiden was turned 
 over to the British, and an American force sailed 
 for Mackinaw, and took possession. 
 
 But the distance from headquarters, or some 
 other cause, rendered some of the British officers 
 in this region extremely insolent, and for a year 
 or two there were continued aggressions. The 
 American navy on Lake Erie had been dismantled, 
 
Chap. XIII.) SKARCH n| i.AKK VESSKLS. 379 
 
 and the naval officers at Maklen, in 1816, under- 
 took to visit and search American vessels, under 
 pretext of lookinjr tor deserters, thus renewing- on 
 the lakes the outraj^t's which had led to the war. 
 (ienttral Cass, on bein^ intornietl of these insults, 
 wrote a stronjjf letter to the Maiden officials, and 
 laid the matter before the authorities at VVashinjj^- 
 ton, where no doubt the acts were reputliated, as 
 they were not repeated, and were prol)ably ex- 
 cesses of instructions and mere private impertin- 
 ence. The intrigues with the Indians were kept 
 up, both about 1 )etroit and in the north, ^nd 
 American territory was used in that region for 
 purposes very unfriendly to the United States. 
 The trading companies paid no heed whatever to 
 law or international obligations. It was not until 
 two Indians were hung for murder at Detroit, 
 instead of being as usual despatched in more 
 summary fashion, that a full check was put to 
 their outrages in that neighborhood. 
 
 The first necessity of the country was more 
 people. No lands had been surveyed before the 
 war, except the old private claims. In 1812, 
 among other war legislation, an act was passed 
 setting aside two millions of acres of land in 
 Michigan, as bounty lands for soldiers. As soon 
 as the war wa.- over, and circumstances permitted, 
 Mr. Tififin, the Surveyor General, sent agents to 
 Michigan to select a place for locating these lands. 
 Their report was such as to induce him to re- 
 commend the tranfer of bounty locations to some 
 
38(> Kl I'uin ON IIOUNTV lANhS ICHAr. XIII, 
 
 otheT part ot the Unitt'd States. They Ix'j^^in on 
 the boiiiulary line between ( )hi() anrl Indiana, 
 (which was the western hniit ot tlie lands sur- 
 rendered to the I'nited .States h)' the Indian 
 treat)' of 1S07,) and, tollowiniLi it north for fifty 
 miles, they descrihetl the country as an unbroken 
 series of tamarack swamjis, bo<j^s and sand-barrens, 
 with not more than one acre in a huntired, and 
 probabK not one in a thousand, fit for cidtivation. 
 Mr. Tiftin communicated this evil report to the 
 Commissioner of the ( leneral Land Office, Josiah 
 MiM^s, and he and the .Secretar\ of War, Mr. 
 Crawford, secured t\ut repeal of so much of the 
 law as applied to Michijijan. They were stimulated 
 by a second report of tlu; surveyors, who found 
 the country worse and wors(,' as they proceedetl. 
 In April, 1816, the law was chanj^^ed. and lands 
 were tj^ranted. instead, in Illinois and Missouri. 
 
 This postponed settlements, but it saved Mich- 
 igan from one of the most troublesome sources of 
 litii^-ation which has ever vexed any country. It 
 was in that way a benelit. But the report of the 
 surveyors is one of the unaccountable things of 
 those days. Surveyors are usually good judges of 
 land, and not likely to be deceived by the water 
 standing on the surface of the ground, where the 
 nature of the vegetation shows the soil cannot be 
 marshy or sterile. A few instances have been 
 found in our lerritorial and .State experiences, 
 where surveyors made imaginary sketches of large 
 tracts, and returned them as actual surveys, when 
 
Chai'. XIII.) |i|>l(()NK.vr SI'KVKVS 881 
 
 they hail ncverr visited the places. That trick was 
 of later invention. It may be that the surveyors 
 did not desire to run lines which bordered on the 
 Potawatamie country, tor tear ot personal risks, 
 which wert: certainly possible. Mut the country 
 was not unknown. it had been travtTsed fre- 
 quently b)' traders, and others, and was. not very 
 lon^ before, frequenteil by buffaloes in ^reat 
 numbers. The fact that Michii^an contained so 
 many Indians was proof that its lands wiTe ^^ood, 
 for they seldom conjj^r<;^ate e.\ce|)t in elij^nhlo 
 regions. Mellish had published, a few years before, 
 a very accurate i^eneral account of tlu; whole 
 Lower Peninsula, in which the countr\ is as well 
 described as it could be in as few words to-day. 
 Some have supposed tlie surveyors wen; bribed 
 by those who wislu^d to prevent settlements. 
 Although there were pf;rsons interested in that 
 direction, there is no evidenc<; that they interfered. 
 It is nevertheless possible that they either bribed — 
 or more probably adopted the cheaptM" course ol 
 scaring — the surveying party. 
 
 /J It has already been stated that during Hull's 
 administration there were no counties laid out: 
 and the divisions were all into districts. (General 
 Cass, who had much cleare-r notions about popu- 
 lar institutions, began early to establish the 
 ordinary American divisions. Wayne County, as 
 originally laid out in the Northwest Perritory, 
 was not exactly coincident with Michigan Terri- 
 tory, even in its diminished i)roportions. Put a 
 
382 
 
 I.OCAI. DIVISIONS. [Chap XIII. 
 
 sinjj^lt! county, covcrinj.,^ th«* samt; jfco^raphical 
 (-•xtt'iit with an (Mitirc State or TiTritor)', would 
 be an anomaly, and a county split uj) into sever 
 al supreme judicial districts, would he more 
 anomalous. Assuminj.; that tin." surveys would he 
 made, and the hounty lands located, (ieneral Cass, 
 on the 2 1st of Novtmiher, 1H15, he^i^an the county 
 system, by layinLj out that part of the Tt^rritory in 
 which the Indian title had heen extinjLjuished, into 
 Wayne County, with its seat of justice at 1 )etroit. 
 At the same time he divided the whole Territor) 
 into road-districts, coincident with the sevttral 
 militia-company districts, which were alreaily de- 
 fined. No provision had yet been made for 
 establishinii^ townships, and until the people 
 became indoctrinated with ideas of self-govern- 
 ment, which the Ordinance had not assumed as 
 one of their early i)rerojTatives, there was no 
 place for these small nqjuhlics. 
 
 In 181 2, Conyfress had directed the President 
 to have the northern boundary of Ohio surveyixl. 
 in accordance with the law authori/injj^ that Statt? 
 to form its constitution, "and to cause to b(,' 
 made a plat or plan of so much of the boundary 
 line as runs from the southerly extreme of Lake 
 Michigan to Lake Flrie, particularly noting the 
 place where the said line intersects the margin 
 of said lake." (//r/ of May 20, 18 12.) 'I'he war 
 interrupted this, and it was not surveyed until 
 some years thereafter. Meanwhile Indiana had 
 obtained a population large enough to entitle it 
 
Chai-. XIII I INDIANA AMI ll.t.lNUlS. 
 
 }\h:\ 
 
 to admission into the Union. On tlu- iQlh of 
 April, iSi6. ill*' pfopU," ot that Ttrrritory wen; 
 authorized to form a State; and its boundaries, 
 instead of heinj^ left as the)- were when Michii^an 
 was set off, were fixed on the north by an east 
 and west line ten mili^s north of the southern 
 point of Lake Michij^an, thus takinjj^ a strip ten 
 miles wide off from the soutlu;rn portion of Mich- 
 igan Territory. As our pef»ple had then no 
 representatives, and there was no public journal 
 in the Territory, this ePTcachinent necessarily 
 remained for future st^ttlement. \hv State was 
 admitted December ii, iSi6. On the iSth of 
 April, i8i(S, Illinois was authorized to form a con- 
 stitution, antl its boundary was continued north- 
 ward beyond that of Indiana, to latitude 42° 30', 
 to that extent curtailin^j^ the future State of Wis- 
 consin. Illinois was admitted on the y\ day of 
 December, 181 8. All of the old Northwest Terri- 
 tory north of Indiana and Illinois, was from this 
 time made a part of the Territory of Michigan 
 
 On the 14th of July, 1S17, ti.- County of 
 Monroe was established. In the pr< vious month 
 provision had been made for the erection of a 
 jail at Mackinaw for the use of a future county. 
 The immediate occasion for the orijanization of 
 Monroe County was probably the expected visit 
 of President James Monroe, who had then started 
 out on his tour through the Northern .States. 
 He arrived at Detroit about the middle of August, 
 accompanied by several distinguished officers. On 
 
384 
 
 ['RKSIDKNT MONROE IINANCES. |Chai' XIII. 
 
 the 14th he reviewed the troops. On that occasion 
 Governor Cass, on behah" of the State of New 
 Yoriv, presented to General Alexander Macomb. 
 a magnificent sword, in honor of his conduct at 
 the Battle of Plattsburgh. Generals Brown and 
 Wool were present, and probably (ieneral McNeil, 
 as he went north soon after. The Detroit Gazette, 
 the first regular newspaper of any permanence 
 established at Detroit, made its appearance at this 
 period. It was conducted by John P. .Sheldon and 
 Ebenezer Reed, and was an able but very caustic 
 and personal Journal. - 
 
 The financial affairs of the Territory were not 
 satisfactory. The currency chietly in vogue was 
 Ohio paper, (which was becoming of very poor 
 credit,) and private bills or shinplasters, which 
 very soon became much more abundant than the 
 prosperity of the country required. In parts where 
 the press had not {penetrated, business was carried 
 on upon the system of barter, or " dicker" as it 
 was then called, and occasionally specific articles 
 became practically legal tenders. Among other 
 things it is related that in one community nests 
 of wooden bowls became current for small change, 
 as shingles were subsequently in the pine country. 
 There were financiers, nevertheless, who understood 
 their position ; and it is related of one shrewd 
 gentleman that, being in an adjoining State where 
 he was personally unknown, and where some of 
 his shinplasters circulated, he took part in the 
 abuse lavished on them, and induced some of his 
 
Cmap. XIII. ] CATHOLEPISTEMlAl). 385 
 
 traducers to join with him in manifesting contempt 
 
 for such trash, by burning it; — he setting the 
 
 example, by throwing a large parcel into the 
 flames. 
 
 In the prospect of a future growth in popu- 
 lation, it was deemed proper to organize the 
 University, for which provision had been made 
 several years before. On the 26th day of August, 
 1817, just after Monroe and Cass had departed 
 southward, an act was passed to incorporate the 
 Catholepistemiad or University of Michigania. 
 This institution, which was identical in law with 
 the present University, contained thirteen didaxiac 
 or professorships, which were sufficiently compre- 
 hensive. These were to embrace (1) cathole- 
 pistcmia, or universal science, the incumbent of this 
 chair being President; (2) anlhropogiossica or 
 language, embracing all sciences relating thereto ; 
 (3) mathematics ; (4) pliysioonostica, or natural 
 history ; (5) physiosophica, or natural philosophy ; 
 (6) astronomy; (7) chemistry; (8) iatrica or 
 medical sciences ; (9) oeconomia, or economical 
 sciences; (10) ethics; (11) polcmitactica, ox VLxXxXasy 
 sciences; {12) dicgetica or historical sciences ; (13) 
 mnoeica or intellectual sciences, embracing all the 
 cpistcmiim or sciences relative to the minds of 
 animals, to the human mind, to spiritual existence, 
 to the Deity, and to religion. — the Didactor or 
 professor of this being Vice President. The 
 didactors or professors were to be appointed and 
 commissioned by the Governor, — each might hold 
 •25 
 
386 
 
 CATHOLEPISTEMUD fCHAr. XIII. 
 
 more than one chair, and their salaries were pay- 
 able out of the public treasury, the taxes being 
 increased 15 per cent, for that purpose. The 
 united faculty formed the corporation, with power 
 not only to regulate its concerns, but to establish 
 colleges, academies, schools, libraries, museums, 
 athenaeums, botanic, gardens, laboratories, and 
 other useful literary and scientific institutions con- 
 sonant to the laws of the United States of America 
 and of Michigan ; and to appoint teachers through- 
 out the counties, cities, towns, townships, and other 
 geographical divisions of Michigan. These sub- 
 ordinate instructors and instructrixes were also to 
 be paid from the treasury. Four lotteries were 
 authorized to raise funds. The students' fees were 
 not to exceed fifteen dollars a quarter for lectures, 
 ten dollars for classical, and six for ordinary in- 
 struction : and the expense for poor students was 
 to come from the treasury. On the same day 
 the salaries of the professors were fixed at twelve 
 dollars and a half, instructors twenty-five dollars. 
 President twenty-five, and Vice President eighteen 
 dollars. Appropriations were made at the same 
 time to pay all of these, and a further sum of one 
 hundred and eighty dollars, to apply on lots and 
 building. A gift of two hundred dollars more was 
 made a few weeks later towards enclosing the 
 building. 
 
 This plan was adopted in view of movements 
 already begun, and it went at once into opera- 
 tion. Rev. John Monteith and Rev. Gabriel 
 
Chat. Xltl.] DONATIONS. 
 
 3S7 
 
 Richard were appointed to the various professor- 
 ships, and they forthwith established primary 
 schools in Detroit, Monroe and Mackinaw, and a 
 classical academy and college in Detroit. 
 
 On the 29th of September, 181 7, a treaty was 
 made at Fort Meigs, between Generals Mc Arthur 
 and Cass and the Chippewas, Ottawas, Potawat- 
 amies, Wyandots, Shawanoes, Delawares and 
 Senecas ; whereby the Chippewas, Ottawas and 
 Potawatamies, in view of their attachment to that 
 church, and their desjre to have their children 
 educated, gave to St. Anne's Church, Detroit, and 
 to the College of Detroit, each an undivided half 
 of six sections reserved to those nations by Hull's 
 treaty of 1 807, — three of the sections being on the 
 Macon Reservii on the River Raisin, and the re- 
 mainder to be selected thereafter. There were 
 also many private gifts and subscriptions to estab- 
 lish the Detroit schools and College. One thou- 
 sand pounds ($2,5(X)) was subscribed in a single 
 day in aid of the building. Probably the same 
 liberality prevailed in the other towns. From that 
 time on Detroit never lacked good schools. The 
 first University building was of brick, twenty-four 
 feet by fifty. It was used for school purposes 
 more than forty years. 
 
 The pedantry of this act, which was drawn by 
 Judge Woodward, and his selection of phrases 
 which are neither Greek, Latin nor English, led 
 to much ridicule. But the scheme itself was 
 approved, and carried out. It is by no means 
 
388 UNIVERSITY. NEW COUNTIES. [Chai-. XIII. 
 
 likely that he did very much more than put in 
 this questionable shape a plan already agreed on. 
 The other members of the Legislative Board were 
 as well educated as himself, and as zealous in the 
 interests of education. In many respects it is an 
 admirable system, but it was found afterwards 
 that it lacked accuracy and completeness, and was 
 not by any means perfect. When the Territorial 
 statutes underwent a general revision in 1 820-1, 
 this was replaced by a less pretentious act, and 
 it was never published by the Governor and 
 Judges except in the newspapers. 
 
 In considering the plan of the Catholepistemiad, 
 the suspicion naturally arises that in providing for 
 a chair of catholepistemia, or universal science, 
 the worthy Chief Justice may perhaps in his 
 mind's eye have seen a new Bacon in the in- 
 cumbent, who would vary his judicial pursuits by 
 devising a newer Organon, and discourse to in- 
 genuous youth de omnibus rebus ct quibusdam aliis. 
 But Dis alitcr visum. The Governor lacked ap- 
 preciation, and another received the office. 
 
 The land surveys had made such progress 
 that sales were ordered in the fall of 18 18. All 
 the country to which the Indian title had been 
 ceded, or which contained settlements, was laid 
 out into counties. Macomb County was established 
 January 15th, 1818, and Michilimackinac, Brown 
 and Crawford, on the 26th of October, 18 18. 
 Brown County took in the eastern part of Wis- 
 consin, with its county seat near the mouth of Fox 
 
CiiAr. XIII.I COUNTY AFFAIRS PROSPKRITY. 389 
 
 River; and Crawford County the western part, 
 with its county seat at F^rairie du Chien. 
 
 On the 30th of May, 1818. the duties of man- 
 aging county affairs were tranferred to county com- 
 missioners, three of whom were to be appointed 
 in each county by the (iovernor. 
 
 The Territory was now in a very fair way of 
 growing. There were very few roads as yet, and 
 facilities for land travel did not abound for many 
 years. But the business of Detroit was flourish- 
 ing, and the country, in spite of the report of the 
 surveyors, was believed to be worth seeking. The 
 lakes were not yet much navigated, and all trav- 
 ellers by water were obliged to take advantage 
 of occasional schooners, of small capacity. Never- 
 theless, the sums received in 1817 for the carriage 
 of passengers over Lake Erie to Detroit amounted 
 to 1^15,000. This indicates a good business. The 
 military road had been finished about ten miles 
 beyond Monroe, and some travel came over that. 
 In 1 818 the exports of fish and cider amounted 
 to $60,000. 
 
 The ponies which abounded in the woods, were 
 very serviceable for travelling through the country 
 upon the trails. These tough and sagacious ani- 
 mals ran at large, and droves of them, branded, 
 usually, with the name of some owner or reputed 
 owner, were to be met everywhere near the set- 
 tlements. When the seasons were dry, they would 
 come in to the streams for water in large troops, 
 and sometimes in the night they would gallop 
 
390 WILD HORSES. PACKING. fCMAP. XIII. 
 
 through the streets with a great clatter, but doing 
 no harm unless where salt barrels were left ex- 
 posed, when they would break them in to get at 
 the salt. On a journey they were usually span- 
 celled with a strap, or fettered, at night, and the 
 bell which each one wore was freed from the straw 
 which had bound the clapper through the day. 
 They rarely strayed far from a camp. They lived 
 on what they picked up on the road, and were 
 very free from the diseases which attack animals 
 more tenderly raised. 
 
 In March, 1818, shoes were sent up from Detroit 
 to Green Bay for the troops, by pack-horses. 
 That town had been garrisoned in September, 
 181 7, and the American jurisdiction .had never be- 
 tore been exercised there effectually, unless by 
 judge Reaume, whose authority seems to have 
 belonged to universal jurisprudence. The use of 
 pack-animals instead of vessels, shows the limited 
 extent of water carriage. The abundance of 
 horses, and the small expense of their sustenance, 
 made this less costly than might be supposed. 
 The winter carriage in the upper country was for 
 many years conducted by dogs, and people were 
 very expert in devising contrivances for their 
 animals. The pack-saddle was made of light 
 wood, so padded and shaped as not to gall the 
 horse's back or shoulders, and everything was dis- 
 pensed with which could be spared. It is not very 
 many years since Indian cavalcades of these pack- 
 horses were not unfrequently met in the forest, 
 
Cmat. Xin.] WAYS OF TRAVELLERS. 
 
 391 
 
 carrying the tent-poles and other movables of the 
 wigwam, and the utensils of all sorts belonging to 
 the household, with more or less of the members 
 of the family perched on the pack-saddle, or 
 peering out from the loading. i 
 
 '^ On these journeys, travellers, of whatever rank, 
 were compelled to take such provisions as were 
 least burdensome. Hulled corn was one of the 
 staples, and this, with a modicum of fat meat or 
 tallow, was the chief reliance of voyageurs knd 
 engages. Maple sugar was largely used with the 
 corn. Such game, fish, fruit, or other articles as 
 were found along the road, were welcome additions 
 to the frugal meal. A common form of condensed 
 food was called praline, composed of parched corn, 
 pounded fine and mixed with maple sugar. Corn 
 was also used by the French and Indians in the 
 form of a soup or broth called medaminabo. AH 
 wise travellers who could afford it took along a 
 generous supply of tea, and after their evening 
 meal and copious draughts from their tin cups, 
 they rolled themselves up in their blankets, with 
 a saddle or log for their pillow, and slept soundly 
 with no other shelter. 
 
 The population had now reached the number 
 authorized under the Ordinance to form a repre- 
 sentative government. It having been submitted 
 to a popular vote in the spring of 1818, whether 
 this step should be taken, it was voted down by 
 a large majority. It is difficult for us, who have 
 been educated under a system of self-government 
 
Ji92 
 
 POPULAR r,OVKKNMKNT REJKCTED. [Chap. XIII, 
 
 to comprehend the feelings of those who have 
 bet*n brought up under a paternal government. 
 The brief period of representation in the Assem- 
 bly of the Northwest Territory had not habituated 
 the French settlers to our notions, and the absence 
 of any local system in township and county ad- 
 ministration left them entirely ignorant of its ad- 
 vantages. Those who reached middle age before 
 the people in the Territory became entitled to 
 vote for their own officers, were not always pleased 
 with the change, and some of them, who survived 
 to a very recent period, never ceased to sigh for 
 the good old days, when the commanding officer 
 was the whole government. 
 
 General Cass was in advance of any states- 
 man of his time in his ideas of popular inter- 
 ference in the selection of all grades of public 
 officers. There is much difference of opinion now 
 concerning the policy of electing by general vote 
 those officers whose functions are not representa- 
 tive. He adhered to the doctrine with tenacity, 
 that the people should have a direct voice in ap- 
 pointments generally ; and some matters which, 
 in his subsequent national career, were occasions 
 of difficulty and opposition, were the direct results 
 of his consistency in his opinions on this subject. 
 A man who occupied such offices as he filled at 
 various times can rarely be dealt with impartially, 
 until the political excitements and prejudices of 
 the period have been removed. But it is due to 
 his memory by all candid men, whether political 
 
CHAr. XIII.) (IKNKRAI. CASS. 393 
 
 adherents or opponents, to admit that he was not 
 only a patriotic and energetic officer, but above 
 all things a sincere and devoted admirer and up- 
 holder of America and American institutions. 
 When we look at the circumstances attending the 
 early existence of the Territory, and the difficul- 
 ties besetting its progress, the importance and 
 value of his services as Governor can hardly be 
 exaggerated. • 
 
 The difficulties of the Legislative Board might 
 very well have disposed him to desire a change 
 in its composition. With too much good humor 
 and good sense to become involved in any per- 
 sonal difficulties, the want of harmony between 
 his judicial associates, and the occasional present- 
 ation, as an excerpt from the laws of other States, 
 of such a piece of language run .mad as the 
 charter of the Catholepistemiad, must have been 
 sorely annoying. That queer production was 
 acted upon in his absence, though not against his 
 wishes. He was prompt in aiding to endow the 
 University ; but the two soldiers who negotiated 
 the Treaty of Fort Meigs had some respect for 
 good English, and named their beneficiary the 
 College of Detroit. It would have tried the skill 
 of some of the interpreters to turn that mixture 
 of jargons into the dialects of the woods. 
 
 In March, 1818, the people were called u|K>n 
 to perform another solemn duty. It had been a 
 matter of much difficulty to identify or bury any 
 of the victims of Winchester's unfortunate mas- 
 
394 
 
 HONORS ro CAPTAIN HART iCmap. Xlll. 
 
 sacre at the Raisin ; and, after all their efforts, 
 the authorities were only able to determine the 
 burial place of Captain Hart. His fate had been 
 sinjjfularly sad, and no one had been more la- 
 mented. He was not singular in his self-devo- 
 tion, for in that all his companions were like him. 
 But his admirable personal qualities, and his 
 promise of eminence, as well as the peculiar 
 circumstances of his death, made his name con- 
 spicuous. Left behind at Frenchtown after the 
 British went to Maiden, and not being sent for 
 by a personal friend who had promised to send 
 for him, and who was under obligations for kind 
 care during his own sickness, he was finally slain 
 while on the road to Maiden, by reason of a 
 dispute between his guides. When it became 
 practicable to perform the last honors to his mem- 
 ory, a meeting was called, at which the Governor 
 presided, and preparations were made for his re- 
 interment at Detroit, with all due solemnity. A 
 committee of the principal citizens made the 
 necessary preparations, and on the 1 7th of March 
 his funeral rites were celebrated, with all the 
 tokens of respect and sorrow which were due to 
 him, not only for his own sake, but as a repre- 
 sentative of the noble dead whose lives had been 
 spent for the people who now mourned him. 
 
 The 27th day of August, 1818, was a day long 
 remembered in Detroit. On that day the first 
 steamboat made its appearance on the Strait. The 
 steamboat Walk-in-the-Water, (whether named 
 
Cmv. XIII.] THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 395 
 
 from the Wyandot chief, or for her own qualities, 
 is uncertain,) arrived on that day from Buffalo, 
 with a large load of passengers. She was built 
 at Black Rock, and when completed was taken 
 up to Buffalo against the strong current, not by 
 her own motive power, which had not yet been 
 tried, but by what Commodore Blake facetiously 
 called the " horned breeze," several yokes of 
 strong oxen towing her up safely.' .. . 
 
 Ihe Indians had received early intelligence 
 that a great ship drawn by sturgeons was to 
 make its appearance in the Detroit River, and 
 when the steamer glided up the stream without 
 any visible means of progress, the red men 
 swarmed along the shore and filled the air with 
 their noisy shouts of wonder. 
 
 Henceforth the way was clear for the west- 
 ward-bound pioneers. The land was put in mar- 
 ket that season, and purchases were made of con- 
 siderable amounts by actual settlers. The weekly 
 trips of the steamboat brought up full loads of 
 passengers, on some occasions as many as a hun- 
 dred. The steamers were then considered large 
 which to-day would appear too small for even 
 
 • General Whiting, in a y>« d'espnt entitled "The Age of Steam," 
 read at a Fourth of July steamboat ride, in 1S30, refers to this: 
 
 " And where was e'er the modem wight. 
 Who, though posiessed of second sight. 
 Twice eight years since could see a boat 
 Within the shadowy future float? 
 Or see one lying at Blacic Rock, 
 (For Buffalo then had no docic,) 
 Compelled tu lay the Straits below, 
 T<M 'hom-brccic' or a storm should blow." 
 
390 im.mk.rahos s\mmkss Hor.K icimi- xm. 
 
 roiiuh river servicf, iind would seem iiisi^niticaiU 
 beside the smallest lake hoats. iln- I'.rie canal 
 was not yet built, and tliost* who einbarketl at 
 liurtalo had traversed a lonj^^ road in wa^^ons or 
 on foot. Many, too, landed in Ohio, whence very 
 tew pass(!nj^ers then came across the lake to I )e- 
 troit. The suddenness and magnitude of the first 
 }^reneral movement towards Michii^an was a sur- 
 prising evidence of the restless enerijy of the 
 American people. \'ery little foreign population 
 came in those ilays across the lake;. Most of the 
 settlers were natives of New \'ork or New Kn^- 
 land. 
 
 It was during this year that Captaiti John Cleves 
 .Symmes propounded his theory of a pleasant and 
 habitable region within the earth, accessible from 
 a large opening near the Arctic Circle, and pro- 
 posed to organize a party to explore and possess 
 it. As he was once familiarly known in the North- 
 west Territory and Detroit, this important incident 
 shoidd not be overlooked. P'or some reason 
 " .Symmes'.s Hole" did not divert emigration from 
 the; better known western country. 
 
 The first permanent Protestant churcli in the 
 Territory was organized at Detroit in 181S, and 
 called the " First Prote tant Society." Its member- 
 ship was made up of persons belonging to several 
 bodies of Christians, and it was not denominational 
 in its form, so that ministers of various opinions 
 officiated at different periods. Mr. Monteith was 
 the first settled pastor. Before that time there 
 
t-HAi. Xlll.j lllUKCHKh. INDIAN I KKAIIKS, '.i\)7 
 
 had been occasional services of tlifferent churches, 
 and the Society which finally became incorporaHnl 
 had been informally orj^ani/ed in i8iO. Methotlist 
 clerj^y hatl visited Detroit earlier, and perhaps 
 some others, but no societies had been formed, 
 lipiscopal services had l)een held by lay-reailin^, 
 at which Dr. William McDowell Scott generally 
 officiated as reader; and the Reverend Kichartl 
 Pollard of Sandwich, very soon after the American 
 possession, performed clerical duties in baptisms, 
 marriages, and burials, among the members of the 
 Episcopal Church, and others who desired his 
 services. In 1822. the Methodist church became 
 incorporated. In 1S24, St. Paul's Episcopal Church 
 was organized. Other churches followed, and the 
 Pirst IVotestant Society became a Presbyterian 
 church, and is still existing as such. 
 
 In September, iSiS, the Wyandots e.xchanged 
 their reserves at Hrownstown and Monguagon for 
 one furdier h«ck on the Huron River, where they 
 remained several y(;ars. In 1S19, a treaty was 
 held at Saginaw, whereby the country from near 
 Kalamazoo to the head of Thunder Bay River 
 was ceded to the United States, except a number 
 of special reservations, partly for individuals and 
 partly for bands or villages. In June and July, 
 1820, sixteen square miles "'ere ceded at the Sault 
 Ste Marie, as well as the St. Martin Islands in 
 Lake Huron, containing gypsum. In 182 1, a 
 cession was obtained of all the land south of 
 Grand River and north of St. Joseph's River, and 
 
398 DELEGATES TO CONGRESS. [Chat. XIII. 
 
 Other lands, whereby, except for a small tract south 
 of the St. Joseph, and particular reserves, there 
 remained no unceded land in the Lower Peninsula, 
 except north of Grand River, and north and west 
 of the head of Thunder Bay River. The necessities 
 of the people were provided for, as far as would 
 be required for a long time. 
 
 The election of a delegate to Congress was, 
 by the original ordinance, to follow the legislative 
 organization, and not to precede it. But inasmuch 
 as the population was large enough to warrant it. 
 Congress, in the Spring of 1819, provided that 
 the citizens of Michigan might elect a delegate, by 
 a plurality vote of the free white male citizens 
 over the age of 21, who had resided in the 
 Territory one year and paid a county or Terri- 
 torial tax. The first delegate chosen was William 
 Woodbridge, Secretary of the Territory ; (who 
 seems to have retained his Territorial office, but 
 who soon resigned the other ;) and Solomon Sibley 
 was chosen in his place in 1820. Judge Sibley 
 held the office until 1823, when he was succeeded 
 by the Reverend Gabriel Richard, Rector of St. 
 Anne's Catholic Church. It is not often that a 
 gentleman of his profession has appeared in 
 Congress. He was a faithful and diligent repre- 
 sentative, and performed his duties to the gene- 
 ral satisfaction. This being the only elective 
 office of the Territory, and there being no scope 
 for the ordinary political struggles, there was 
 generally a good deal of excitement and contro- 
 
Chap. XIII.] EXCITING ELECTIONS 
 
 899 
 
 versy, which was at first rather personal than po- 
 litical. But the candidates were all usually well 
 qualified, and any of them would have done suffi- 
 cient credit to his constituents. Father Richard's 
 antagonist in 1823 was General John R. Williams. 
 Austin E, Wing, Major John Biddle, Lucius Lyon, 
 and George W. Jones, were at different periods 
 incumbents of this office. In 1827, the Secretary 
 of the Territory, Mr. Woodbridge, and Robert Ab- 
 bott, Treasurer, in canvassing the Inspectors' le- 
 turns, undertook to anticipate the prerogatives of 
 Congress, and to discuss and determine upon the 
 validity and regularity of the election, and of 
 votes cast in various places, and gave Mr. Wing 
 the certificate by the result of this process. The 
 Legislative Council appointed a committee to in- 
 vestigate the matter, who animadverted' severely 
 on the excess of jurisdiction, but questioned the 
 power of the Council to deal adequately with 
 officers appointed by the United States. At this 
 time there was a violent personal — rather than 
 strictly party — feeling arising, which had been bit- 
 ter during the election, and which was probably 
 for a few years extreme in proportion to the 
 small field open to its operation, and the absence 
 of well-defined party issues. It was afterwards 
 in other ways not without serious mischiefs, which 
 cannot be discussed or understood now as 
 fully as might, on some accounts, be desirable. 
 There are still living many persons interested in 
 the contest, and more or less affected by its pas- 
 sions and prejudices. 
 
400 BANK. EXPLORING EXPEDITION. IChai-. XIIl. 
 
 In 1819 the Bank of Michigan was organized, 
 which, during its many years' existence, was a very 
 important instrument in the financial affairs of 
 the country. Its organization gave rise to a suit 
 to determine what power the Territory had to 
 charter private corporations ; but the courts never 
 felt any serious difficulty in determining that ter- 
 ritories have the same need of the instrumentali- 
 ties of business as States, and have authority to 
 avail themselves of, and secure to their people, 
 all the means required to further the wants of 
 civilization. , -,■,. '-^'m.', .._..■ .--r.^;^;:; , ,,-, v.;,;- 
 
 In the summer of 1819 the Walk-in-the-Water 
 made the first steam voyage to Mackinaw, with a 
 large load of passengers and freight, making the 
 round trip from Buffalo and back in twelve days. 
 Its cargo was reckoned worth |i200,ooo. At this 
 time there were no post roads in the Territory — 
 the first one having been established in 1820, to 
 Pontiac and Mount Clemens. 
 
 In 1820 Governor Cass organized an expedi- 
 tion to explore the country through the upper 
 lakes to the head of the Mississippi. This explora- 
 tion had important results, and was of scientific 
 as well as political value. The population, al- 
 though increasing fast in the last two or three 
 years, had only reached 8,765, and it was thought 
 desirable to take all practicable measures to ob- ^ 
 tain and publish a knowledge of the country and 
 its resources, to invite settlements. 
 
CiiAi'. XIII. 1 CASS'S FIRST NORTHERN KXPEDITION. 
 
 401 
 
 The expedition left Detroit on the 24th of May, 
 1820. Its members were Governor Cass, Dr. 
 Alexander Wolcott physician. Captain D. B. Doug- 
 lass engineer, Lieutenant Aeneas Mackay command- 
 ing the soldiers, James Duane Doty secretary to 
 the expedition. Major Robert A. Forsyth Gover- 
 nor's secretary, Henry R. Schoolcraft geologist 
 and topographer, Charles C. Trowbridge assistant 
 topographer, and Alexander R, Chace. 
 
 They performed their journey in bark canoes, 
 of the size and pattern used in the fur trade, 
 where for more than a century the burden had 
 been fixed at four tons, and the size a little over 
 five fathoms and a half in length by one in 
 breadth. These light craft were proved by expe- 
 rience to be superior to all others for exploring 
 purposes. At Mackinaw they divided the com- 
 pany and the freight among four such canoes, and 
 took besides a twelve-oared barge with an addi- 
 tional escort, to the Sault, where the Indians were 
 reported unfriendly. The British at this time had 
 fortified Drummond's Island, which was then dis- 
 puted territory, and had made it the centre of 
 their dealings with the Indians, in the United 
 States as well as in Canada. In 181 6, immedi- 
 ately after the war, Thomas, the great Menominie 
 chief, went through Mackinaw, on his way to ob- 
 tain the usual presents from the British, and was 
 somewhat surprised that Major Puthuff, the com- 
 mandant, did not treat him with hospitality after 
 he told his errand. He returned to the island 
 26 
 
402 
 
 CHIEF THOMAS. THK SAULT. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 from the Ste. Marie's River very much mortified 
 by the cold treatment ol the British agents, who for 
 a time, (though a very short one) curtailed or sus- 
 pended their gifts. The proud spirit of the chief 
 was so wounded by this that he shut himself up 
 in his wigwam and drank himself to death. He 
 was buried at Mackinaw with much respect, as he 
 was a very able and high-minded man, who is 
 said to have had a majestic presence, and a mag- 
 netic influence over all who met him. The prac- 
 tice of making presents was soon renewed, and 
 when Governor Cass's party reached the Sault, 
 they found themselves among enemies. No 
 American possession had been maintained since 
 the war. 
 
 The party arrived on the 14th of June, and 
 found that the village on the American side then 
 consisted of from 15 to 20 buildings, occupied by 
 five or six F"rench and English families, among 
 whom was the family of John Johnston, before 
 mentioned as having aided the English during 
 the war. On the other side, the Northwest Com- 
 pany had a factory, and had provided a system of 
 boat lockage in the narrow channel near the Ca- 
 nadian shore, to accommodate their large business. 
 The savages were practically under their control. 
 The American side was occupied by the French 
 very early, and, as previously mentioned, had been 
 granted to Repentigny, whose fort was standing 
 during the Pontiac war, but was long since aban- 
 doned. 
 
Chap. XIII] CASS REMOVES BRITISH FLAG. 
 
 403 
 
 One object of this expedition was to establish 
 a new fort ; and it was deemed advisable to hold 
 a council with the Indians, to ascertain and agree 
 upon the bounds of the old concession. A coun- 
 cil was held at the Governor's tent on the i6th. 
 The Indians were surly, and not disposed to re- 
 member that any concession had ever been made ; 
 and some of the chiefs intimated that they might 
 be disposed to allow civil settlements, but that a 
 military post might be subjected to annoyance and 
 plunder by their young men. The Governor an- 
 swered this by an emphatic assurance that a fort 
 would be placed there in any event, whether they 
 agreed to it or not. The council, in which a 
 chief dressed in the uniform of a British briga- 
 dier-general was prominent, came to no agree- 
 ment, and broke up in some disorder. This chief, 
 called the " Count," during his speech, planted his 
 war-lance in the ground, with furious gestures, 
 and kicked away the presents laid before him. 
 On leaving the council the Indians went to their 
 own encampment, on an eminence where the old 
 French fort had stood, 500 or 600 yards off, and 
 hoisted the British flag in front of the Count's 
 wigwam. Governor Cass, on discovering this, 
 walked over, with no escort but his interpreter, 
 and took down the flag and carried it away, in- 
 forming the astounded chief that none but the 
 American flag must be raised on our territory, 
 and that if they should again presume to attempt 
 such a thing the United States would put a strong 
 
404 
 
 TREATY AT THE SAUI.T. fCHAi'. XIII. 
 
 foot on their necks and trample them out. This 
 boldness struck them dumb for a while, but they 
 soon sent off their women and children, and made 
 preparations for an attack. The American force, 
 numbering 66 well armed, j^jot ready to meet 
 them. The head chief, Shinj^^obawassin, who had 
 not been present at the council, interposed and 
 brought the Indians to their senses, and that same 
 day at evening a treaty was signed, releasing to 
 the Americans a tract embracing sixteen square 
 miL^ Neither the Count nor Shingwauk, the 
 two noisiest opponents, signed it. From this place 
 they went by the usual coasting voyage along 
 the south shore of Lake .Superior, crossing Ke- 
 weenaw Point through Portage Lake, and across 
 the land portage, and visiting the great copper 
 boulder on the Ontonagon River. They went up 
 the St. Louis River to a portage near Savannah 
 River, and down that stream, and through Sandy 
 Lake, to the Mississippi, ascending that river 
 through Lake Winnipeg to Upper Red Cedar or 
 Cassina Lake. On their return they descended 
 the Mississippi to the Dubuque mines, and then 
 went up to Green Bay by the Wisconsin and P"ox 
 Rivers, and there separated. A portion of the 
 company went to Mackinaw, and thence directly 
 homeward, the remainder proceeding to Chicago, 
 whence General Cass returned overland to De- 
 troit, the rest coasting along the eastern shore of 
 Lake Michigan. The knowledge of the north- 
 west derived from this careful exploration was of 
 great value. 
 
Chai XlIM STATUTES. 405 
 
 It is a very singular fact that between 1806 
 and 1820 no provision had been made for publish- 
 inir the Territorial Laws, and some of them had 
 been lost and were never found again. In 1816, 
 a meagre volume was printed in Detroit, in type 
 hardly legible, containing the titles of some laws, 
 and abstracts or indexes of others, and a very few 
 in full. This publication was thus condensed for 
 want of means. In 1820, Congress appropriated 
 twelve hundred and fifty dollars for the publication 
 of existing laws, and the Legislative Board com- 
 piled and revised their legislation so as to put it 
 in a very good form, and supply the place of a 
 code. Some changes were made at this time, but 
 none requiring special notice. The compilation 
 was not perfect, however, and omitted some im- 
 portant statutes. ' 
 
 It was not creditable to the Territory that 
 public whipping was allowed to be inflicted on 
 Indians and negroes convicted of various offences, 
 and, by the order of a single justice, on disorderly 
 persons, and those convicted of small offences. 
 The whipping post disgraced the Detroit market 
 house until 1831, when this relic of barbarism 
 was forever removed. The not less barbarous 
 custom of selling the poor to the lowest bidder, 
 was also long kept up, with the disgusting spec- 
 tacle of the ball-and-chain-gang. The legislators 
 were, perhaps, not behind their time altogether, 
 but such exhibitions were not improving. 
 
 Duelling, challenging, and posting, were made 
 punishable in 1S15 for the first time. The law 
 
406 BRITISH SUBSIDIES TO INDIANS. [Ciiai- XIII. 
 
 was borrowed from New Jersey, which had once 
 been a great duelHng ground. 
 
 In 1822, the United States abolished its system 
 of government trading houses. Its abolition re- 
 moved many frauds and opportunities of pecula- 
 tion, and enabled the American fur-traders to 
 compete with the British ; and from that period 
 the British influence over the Indians was sensibly 
 checked. But the Indians were nevertheless kept 
 as far as possible under their control, and they 
 still retained a foothold on our territory. The 
 commissioners under the Treaty of Ghent had 
 determined, in i«S2 2, that Drummond's Island, at 
 the mouth of St. Mary's River, belonged to the 
 Lhiited States ; yet the British post was complained 
 of in 1826, as still remaining, and the American 
 Indians, to the number of 4,000, received presents 
 and annuities there during that year for their 
 services to Great Britain ; while at Maiden, then 
 and for many years thereafter, the same practice 
 prevailed. The evils of submitting to such a system 
 of subsidies are too manifest to need pointing out. 
 The government was much to blame for allowing 
 it. There are many persons now living who have 
 seen the fleets of the great northern canoes 
 lining our shore, and congregated savages, far 
 more numerous than the white inhabitants, receiv- 
 ing guns, knives and hatchets, as well as other 
 gifts, from the Maiden agency, and indulging after 
 their reception in a drunken frolic in our streets. 
 It is not to be denied, however, that they left be- 
 
Chap. XIII. | UNIVERSITY NEW COUNTIKS. 407 
 
 hind them in Detroit a fair share of their pres- 
 ents. 
 
 In 1 82 1, among the new laws contained in the 
 volume published by the Board, was a statute re- 
 pealing the former L^niversity Act, and entrusting 
 the University and its affairs to twenty-one trus- 
 tees, the Governor being one cx-officio. Their 
 powers were not materially altered, but the Ter- 
 ritorial support was withdrawn. The schools were 
 still kept up, and a large lot was soon thereafter 
 conveyed to the institution, embracing a consider- 
 able parcel adjoining that already built upon. 
 This corporation continued as organized in 182 1, 
 until re-organized under the State Constitution. 
 
 In 1822 six new counties were established, — 
 Lapeer, Sanilac, Saginaw, Shiawassee, Washtenaw 
 and Lenawee. They were not set apart as com- 
 pletely organized counties for some years. Thence- 
 forward occasional changes and additions were 
 made, the largest number of counties at one time 
 for many years having been created in 1829, 
 when counties were named after the President, 
 Vice-President and Cabinet, and General Cass, 
 who was not long after made a member of it. 
 As the country opened, it became necessary to 
 divide it up very much in advance of dense set- 
 tlements. 
 
 The situation of Mackinaw and the counties west 
 of Lake Michigan was such that the judicial sys- 
 tem was found ' to work very badly. They had 
 the county courts, presided over by lay judges, 
 
408 JUDICIAL GRIEVANCES AT THE NORTH. |l ha. XIII. 
 
 but an appeal lay from these to the Supreme 
 Court, where a new trial was had by a jury as in 
 the lower court. The Supreme Court had exclu- 
 sive jurisdiction of large cases, of real actions, of 
 admiralty and other United States business, and 
 of capital crimes; and concurrent jurisdiction with 
 the county courts of other offences. But one 
 term of four weeks was held each year, in Detroit, 
 on the third Monday of September. At that time 
 navigation northward was in those days closed, 
 and even if open the hardship of bringing par- 
 ties and witnesses so far was excessive. James 
 Duane Doty, who had removed to Green Bay, 
 prepared and laid before Congress a full state- 
 ment of these grievances. It appears from his 
 showing, that the litigants were mostly private 
 traders, who were compelled to go to the Indian 
 country in winter to sell their goods to the Indi- 
 ans, and buy furs, and that the Indian debtors had 
 a curious rule of considering their debts paid by 
 a tender of the proper amount of furs at the 
 trader's residence. If he was absent or not ready 
 to receive them, he was reasonably certain to lose 
 his demand. The only months in which it was 
 safe for a trader to resort to the settlements were 
 May and the summer months. He also made 
 some remarkable showings concerning the amount 
 of business in that country. He asserts that no 
 territory (unless possibly Orleans) had yielded so 
 large a revenue to the United States from duties 
 on imports. That in 1807, the duties at Macki- 
 
Cmai-. XIII] new court I,F.(;ISLAT1VE (OUNCII,. 409 
 
 naw exceeded ;ji4o,ooo, although afterwards less, — 
 the decrease arising from some of the importa- 
 tions coming into New York, which before were 
 made directly through Canada, in November, 
 1 82 1, 3,000 packs of furs had been exported from 
 Mackinaw. It appears from other sources that 
 the sale of foreign goods, (chiefly to the Indians) 
 amounted in the Territory at cost to about a 
 million of dollars annually. 
 
 Congress, in accordance with the wishes of 
 the people, enacted, in January, 1823, that there 
 should be a separate judge appointed to hold a 
 district court in that region, having all the ordi- 
 nary jurisdiction of the Supreme and county 
 courts, subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the 
 Supreme Court on writ of error, but not other- 
 wise. It was to have full criminal powers, and 
 jurisdiction over all offences and transactions con- 
 nected with the commerce or dealings with the 
 Indians. Mr. Doty was made judge of the new 
 court. .•:,, . 
 
 The same session of Congress adopted a fur- 
 ther law, on the 3rd of March, 1823, completely 
 revolutionizing the Territorial government. The 
 legislative power was transferred to the Gover- 
 nor and Council, composed of nine persons se- 
 lected by the President and confirmed by the 
 Senate, out of eighteen elected by the people of 
 the Territory. Sessions were not to exceed sixty 
 days, and laws were subject to Congressional ab- 
 rogation. The judges were to have equity as 
 
410 CAPiroi. 
 
 IC'HAf, XIII. 
 
 well as common law powers, and tlunr term of 
 office was reducjii to four years, instead of during 
 j^'ood behavior. riic existinj^ oftices were to be- 
 come vacant on the ist of February, 1S24. The 
 pardoning power was vi^steil in the (jovernor for 
 all offences against the Territory, with power of 
 reprieving in United States cases. 
 
 On the 22nd of October, 1X2^^, the corner stone 
 was laid of a building intended for a court house, 
 anil used until 1S47 as the Territorial and State 
 Capitol. It was a fine building for that period, 
 and very well built. The original design had 
 been to build it in the Grand Circus, the central 
 space of Judge Woodward's Cobweb, and now 
 the finest public ground in Detroit. That spot 
 was then remote and inaccessible, being regarded 
 as far out in the country, and in the woods. The 
 new location was also complained of as too re- 
 mote, and accusations of all sorts of interference 
 and corrupting influences were made against the 
 land owners in the vicinity, who had secured the 
 capitol sc near them, when it was a long and te- 
 ilious journey to reach it. For many years it 
 stood alone in the wilderness, reached only by a 
 narrow line of single timbers for a walk, and too 
 far off for any one to resort to it except under 
 dire necessity. It is now far below the central 
 part of Detroit, and in the very heart of the 
 heaviest business. 
 
 In the midst of the tumult naturally caused by 
 the great political revolution, an amusing excite- 
 
CMAf XIII. 1 IRISH MANUSCRIPT JUDICIAL CHANGES. 411 
 
 ment arose concerninir a mysterious manuscript 
 which was found in Detroit, in some out of the 
 way place. The characters were fairly traced and 
 distinct, but the scholars Were all perplexed. It 
 resembled no letters which any of them had ever 
 seen. Aid was souj^ht in various quarters in vain. 
 At last, however, it was discovered that the hiero- 
 glyphics were Irish. 
 
 The change in the Territorial scheme was 
 peculiar. I'he Ordinance of 1787 had provided 
 for a council, but only as an upper house or 
 senate, and the functions of the Michigan Council 
 were both legislative and executive. Under tha: 
 instrument the judges were always to hold during 
 good behavior. It is evident that one object of 
 the change was to get rid of some of the judges. 
 When the appointments were made, Judge With- 
 erell was re-appointed, it is said that Ju.dge Griffin 
 declined a nomination, and Judge Woodward was 
 left out altogether. Judge Witherell was made 
 presiding judge, and Solomon Sibley and John 
 Hunt associate justices. Both of these gentlemen 
 were members of the Detroit Bar. Judge Hunt 
 died in 1827, and the vacancy was filled by the 
 appointment of Henry Chipman, who, although a 
 native of Vermont, had practised several years in 
 South Carolina, and had recently removed to 
 Detroit. He was a lifelong intimate friend and 
 admirer of James L. Petigru of South Carolina, 
 whose fearless patriotism under the most trying 
 circumstances has made his memory honorable. 
 
412 I.K.dlSI.AIlON ERIK CANAL. [CiiAr. XIII. 
 
 jud^e Chipman died but a few years since, leav- 
 ing a good name and spodess reputction. Judge 
 Woodward was, soon after the :Vv of Mr. 
 
 Adams, appointed one of" the Judges of Florida. 
 
 The Council was organized in June, 1824, by 
 appointing Abraham Kdwards President, and John 
 P. Sheldon Clerk. Its first business being to pro- 
 vide for obtaining the funds for its own payment, 
 and for punishing all offences against its dignity, 
 it then proceeded to enact a number of statutes, 
 mostly of no present interest. The Supreme 
 Court was required to hold sessions in several 
 places instead of one. Punishment by whipping 
 was only to be ordered by two justices, but allowed 
 for additional offences.* Provision was made for 
 an annual thanksgiving. The name of the Huron 
 River of Lake .St. Clair was changed to Clinton 
 River, to avoid confusion, as there was a Huron 
 River of Lake Erie in the southern part of Wayne 
 County. Most of the laws were the usual routine 
 legislation, carefully drawn and appropriate. 
 
 The year 1825 was one of mcch interest. 
 The P!rie Canal made the journey to the west 
 easy and economical, and the country began to 
 settle very fast. Three steamers, the Superior, 
 the Henry Clay, and the Pioneer, were running 
 on Lake Erie before the season was over, and it 
 was estimated that thej- landed at Detroit 300 
 passengers a week during the latter part of the 
 season. A second paper — the Michigan Herald — 
 was started in Detroit by Chipn^an ^ .St^ymour, 
 
CiiAi-. Xlll.j I'kUl.RKSS 
 
 413 
 
 and a paper was also printed in Monroe. Six 
 hundred people attended a Fourth of July meeting 
 at Pontiac, and Washtenaw County contained three 
 thousand inhabitants. Tecumseh was located and 
 named this year. On the 25th of February, Con- 
 gress adopted further legislation to popularize the 
 affairs of the Territory. The Governor and 
 Council were authorized to divide the Territory 
 into townships and incorporate them, and to 
 provide for the election of township officers. All 
 county officers were to be elected, except judges, 
 sheriffs, clerks, judges of probate and justices ot 
 the peace. These were excepted because their 
 functions were in no sense representative, but 
 belonged to the administration of justice, which 
 was of public and not of local concern. Governor 
 Cass, in his desire to consult the popular wishes, 
 overlooked this principle, and practically annulled 
 the proviso in the act of Congress which forbade 
 their election, by informing the people of the 
 townships and counties that he would ajjpoint any 
 one whom they elected. There is now much 
 difference of opinion concerning the propriety of 
 electing the officers of justice, but at that time 
 there was none, and Congress would not have 
 sanctioned it. 
 
 The number of councillors was increased to 
 thirteen, and an appeal was granted from the Ter- 
 ritorial Court to the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. 
 
 In 1825, Captain John Burtis introduced upon 
 the river at Detroit a laroe horse-boat, for ferri- 
 
414 INDIAN CAPTIVES. TANNRR [Chap. XIII. 
 
 age to Sandwich, (now Windsor), which excited 
 as much curiosity as the first steamer. This en- 
 terprising gentleman a few years later was also 
 the first to introduce a steam ferry-boat, named 
 the Argo, long famous in that region. It was 
 composed of a gigantic dug-out, decked over, and 
 propelled by an engine of moderate power, and 
 monopolized the business several years. 
 
 About this time rumors were circulated that 
 several of the captives taken at Frenchtown were 
 still among the Indians. Governor Cass examined 
 carefully into the facts, and published a letter stat- 
 ing that there was no reason to believe this, as 
 the captives were all grown up and old enough 
 when taken to know their origin, and would have 
 been discovered long before if living. He said 
 there were no captives left in the woods, who 
 were not voluntary associates of the Indians, and 
 that he knew of but two white men in that con- 
 dition — Tanner, ' and George Johnston, both of 
 whom preferred it. 
 
 In 1826, General Cass and Colonel McKenney 
 made a tour to the head of Lake Superior in 
 canoes, to make treaties with the northern Indi- 
 ans, and to secure access to the Lake Superior 
 
 ' Tliis Tanner was a somewhat dangerous character, who lived in the 
 Lake Superior country, near the Sault. In 1830, it was loiind necessary 
 to pass a s|)ecial act to protect his daughter, Martha Tanner, from her 
 father, which inade it a misdemeanor for him to use any but legal means 
 to get her into his control, against her will. This is prob.ibly the only 
 law ever pa.ssed which attached criminal consequences to injuries to a 
 single private person. Tanner was suspected of the subseeiuent murder of 
 James L. Schoolcraft, and disappeared at that time from the Sault. 
 
Chai'. XIII. McKENNF.Y EXPEDITION. ROAUS. 
 
 415 
 
 mines. Colonel McKenney published a very en- 
 tertaining narrative of his expedition. On the 5th 
 of August they signed a treaty at Fond du Lac, 
 whereby the United States were allowed to search 
 for and remove metals or minerals, but not to gain 
 title to the lands. Annuities were given to the 
 Chippewas for support and education. They came 
 back from Fond du Lac to Detroit by canoe in 
 twenty-two days — making over fifty miles a day — 
 a very remarkable journey. 
 
 An additional grant was made to the Univer- 
 sity of a township of land, on the 20th of May, 
 1826, and the two townships were allowed to be 
 selected in parcels, instead of in whole township 
 tracts. Several roads were also projected by 
 Congress in this and subsequent years, mostly 
 running from the eastern border of the Territory 
 into the interior. The principal government roads 
 ran between Detroit and Maumee, Fort Gratiot, 
 Saginaw, (irand River and towards Chicago. These 
 not only opened the country but drew in many 
 laborers and contractors, who became valuable 
 citizens. The completion of the first locomotive 
 in America at Hoboken, by Mr. Stevens, is an 
 event of this period concerning Michigan as well 
 as the rest of the country. 
 
 The fort at Detroit was left without troops, 
 and in the next year (1827) was discontinued as 
 a fortified post. Some apprehensions were felt 
 about the Indians, but they were groundless. No 
 disturbance occurred afterwards which the local 
 
416 
 
 FORT AllANDONEU. KISHKAUKON. CHANGES. |CnAr. XIII. 
 
 authorities could not put down. The militia were 
 still kept in tolerable training, and had ofificers 
 who had seen service. There were also some 
 well drilled bodies of uniformed volunteers. After 
 the policy was definitely adopted of discontinuing 
 the military occupation, the large military reserve 
 was relinquished to the City of Detroit, and laid 
 out into city lots, on a rectangular plan, and not 
 according to Woodward's scheme. 
 
 The principal local excitement was the arrest 
 and imprisonment, in 1826, of Kishkaukon, the 
 turbulent Saginaw chief, who aided and abetted 
 Big Beaver in the murder of another chief, Wa- 
 wasson, at Detroit. Kishkaukon was furnished 
 with poison by one of his wives, and thus evaded 
 punishment. '^ 
 
 This year seven steamers ran between Buffalo 
 and Detroit. The exports of whitefish began to 
 be large, as well as of cider and apples. It is 
 also noted that in the winter oysters were brought 
 to Detroit, " in good condition," and oyster cel- 
 lars became among the institutions of the city. 
 
 In 1827, Congress allowed the people to choose 
 thirteen Councilmen for themselves, instead of re- 
 porting twenty-six to the President and Senate 
 for selection. The Council abolished the county 
 commissioner system for a board of sup^^rvisors, 
 and required every township to support schools, 
 either Entrlish, or English and classical, according 
 to population. This severed the schools from the 
 University control. A revision of the statutes 
 
Chap. XIII.l HARSH LAW. K.XPORTS. CONTEMPT CASE. 
 
 417 
 
 was also adopted, which very wisely abolished all 
 laws not contained in it. This became necessary 
 from the number of unpublished laws that were not 
 to be discovered among the records, but had been 
 lost. A new law to prevent kidnapping was con- 
 nected with a discreditable provision requiring all 
 persons of color to find sureties for their good 
 behavior. This statute was not enforced, but re- 
 mained a dead letter until, several years after, a 
 riot arose and an attempt was made to destroy 
 the jail, on account of the arrest of a fugitive 
 slave. In the excitement this law was called into 
 requisition, and for a time most of the few col- 
 ored people of Detroit remained in Canada. But 
 public sentiment would not tolerate it, and it was 
 at once repealed. 
 
 This year the first export of flour took place. 
 Miller & Jermain of Monroe shipped 200 barrels 
 to the east. Tobacco was also raised largely, 
 and the next year 100 hogsheads of Michigan 
 tobacco arrived at Baltimore, other parcels having 
 been sold elsewhere. In 1828, Judge Witherell 
 was made Secretary of the Territory, and William 
 Woodbridge was appointed to the Supreme Court 
 with Judges Sibley and Chipman. During this 
 year much feeling arose out of a contempt case 
 against John P. Sheldon, for publications in the 
 Detroit Gazette, which were claimed to be unau- 
 thorized comments on some action of Judge 
 Woodbridge in the Supreme Court. In some of 
 the articles it was intimated that the paper had 
 27 
 
418 
 
 RAILWAYS. KKENCH REVOLUTION. [Chap. XUI. 
 
 driven away one court and might do the same to 
 another. Judges Woodbridge and Chipman, on a 
 hearing before them, held him guilty and fined 
 him. A popular assembly passed strong resolu- 
 tions against the proceeding, and the fine was 
 paid by subscription. The controversy involves 
 the feelings of too many living persons to be 
 fully discussed here. It became very widely known, 
 and was the subject of much comment by the 
 press in various parts of the country. 
 
 In 1830, the first railroad was chartered. The 
 " Pontiac and Detroit Railway Company " was 
 incorporated, with power to use a part of the 
 line of the turnpike. The project failed, and the 
 law was very crude and imperfect. In 1832, the 
 Detroit and St, Joseph Railroad was chartered, 
 which afterwards became the Michigan Central — 
 the State having bought out the company. This 
 was the first charter that was afterwards acted on. 
 
 In 1830, the country was greatly excited over 
 the French Revolution of July, The recent visit 
 of La Fayette had rekindled the old American 
 interest in France, and the news of that move- 
 ment, in which he took so great a part, was re- 
 ceived with rejoicing, A public meeting was held 
 in Detroit, in which all the citizens participated, 
 decked with the tri-color, and addresses were made 
 with enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. De Tocqueville arrived in Detroit early in 
 the summer, and the news of the Revolution 
 
Chap. XIII] CASS MADE SECRETARY OK WAR 419 
 
 reached him in the woods between Detroit and 
 Saginaw. 
 
 The Territory now began to feel tlie effect of 
 general politics which had never before seriously 
 interfered. Major Rowland was removed from 
 the office of marshal, John L. Leib being placed 
 in his room. General John T. Mason, a non-resi- 
 dent, was appointed Se'cretary of the Territory, 
 which made him acting (governor in the Gover- 
 nor's absence, although he had obtained no per- 
 sonal knowledge of the country. It is well known 
 that at this time there were very loose party ties, 
 as the people were in an unsettled state, and re- 
 mained .so until the separation into Whigs and 
 Democrats shortly after. But removals from office 
 became very frequent. . 
 
 The want of harmony in General Jackson's 
 Cabinet, which did not arise from political so 
 much as from personal difficulties, led to its 
 dissolution, in April, 1831. The office of Secre- 
 tary of War, having first been offered to Hugh 
 L. White of Tennessee, was given to General 
 Cass, who accepted it, and left Detroit in the 
 spring. 
 
 He was much respected by men of all parties 
 in Michigan. He had held his office six terms, 
 under Madison, Monroe, Adams and Jackson, and 
 had acted throughout with spirit and dignity. His 
 administration was eminently popular, and he de- 
 sired and endeavored to secure to the people, as 
 soon as possible, all the privileges of self-govern- 
 
420 SOCIAL AFFAIRS [Chap. Xiri. 
 
 ment. If he erred in this respect, it was an error 
 in the direction of the largest popular authority. 
 His views were broad and sagacious, and he was 
 very free from personal bitterness and malignity. 
 The inevitable asperities of politics exposed him 
 in later years to the attacks made on all public 
 men, and his course in national affairs has been 
 severely assailed and warmly defended. But no 
 one now has any doubts about his sincere and 
 unqualified patriotism. He was a brave defender 
 aiid a true lover of his country. 
 
 The social condition of the Territory was re- 
 markably pleasant during his residence as Gover- 
 nor. The persons who came westward in those 
 days were principally Americans of enterprise 
 and intelligence. The schools and all other means 
 of improvement were carefully fostered, and it is 
 not often that a more cultivated or genial society 
 is found anywhere, ... -.^ .. . 
 
 One pleasant feature of life in such commu- 
 nities as the early border towns of the west, was 
 the cordiality and freedom from stiffness which 
 produced as near an approach to republican sim- 
 plicity and equality as is ever found anywhere. 
 With no lack of comfort and elegance, there was 
 an entire absence of ostentation. Strangers were 
 often surprised and amused at one custom which 
 the inhabitants found both pleasant and profitable. 
 Sidewalks and paved streets were alike unknown, 
 and the condition of the city ways was for seve- 
 ral months in the year only equalled by the 
 
Ci.AP. XIII.l CARTS. 421 
 
 country roads described by Macaulay, when the 
 coach and four was used from necessity and not 
 from pride. In winter, the streets and rivers were 
 merry with carioles and sleighs. But at all sea- 
 sons, the favorite family vehicle for safe carriage 
 to church or party, was a common one-horse cart, 
 used as well for the most homely purposes as to 
 supply the place of a coach. The rude box, 
 cushioned with hay and buffalo robes, and crowded 
 with as many laughing inmates as could find room 
 on its spacious Hoor, was absolutely safe from up- 
 setting, and the absence of springs was usually 
 compensat'^d by a yielding bed of mud, so that 
 jolting was not felt. This strong two-wheeled 
 vehicle was backed up to the place of entry or 
 destination ; and on all occasions of public wor- 
 ship, or other concourse, a row of carts would be 
 found awaiting the hour of dismissal. The only 
 chance of accident was from the loosening of 
 the staple which held down the box in front, and 
 was meant to be unbolted when a load other 
 than human was to be tipped out at the back. 
 It occasionally happened that a mischievous urchin 
 would produce this catastrophe to a cart-full of 
 people, but never with tragical results. Carts 
 were not wholly superseded by carriages in De- 
 troit until within a quarter of a century. 
 
 The long winters, during which they were shut 
 in by themselves, compelled them to draw on 
 their own resources. Literary and scientific soci- 
 eties and reunions were established very early, 
 
422 LITF.kARV CONTRIBUTIONS. [Chai-. XIII. 
 
 and all who had anythinjj^ to contribute to the 
 j^eneral enjoyment j^avc it cheerfully. A lyceum 
 was organized in the early days of the Territory, 
 in which papers were read by men of thoroue^h 
 scholarship and research. Many important contri- 
 butions to history were thus secured. At one 
 time or another most of the prominent army offi- 
 cers have been stationed at Detroit, and always 
 did their share. Amonj^ other thing^s they organ- 
 ized a Thespian Corps of much dramatic excel- 
 lence, in which the now venerable and not Lilli- 
 putian General James Watson Webb performed 
 as a graceful hmnettc. Major (afterwards Ciene- 
 ral) Henry Whiting, an elegant writer, (author of 
 Ontwa and Sanilac, and minor poems, not now in 
 print, and editor of an important series of Wash- 
 ington papers,) read various essays before the 
 lyceum and elsewhere. Major John Biddle, Ma- 
 jor Thomas Rowland, Henry R. Schoolcraft and 
 General Cass, were also valued and ready con- 
 tributors. Major Rowland is said to have written 
 the Joel Downing papers, a series of humorous 
 political satires, after the style of Major Jack 
 Downing's letters. Mr. Charles C. Trowbridge 
 rendered permanent service to history by securing 
 narratives from eye-witnesses of the Pontiac war, 
 as well as other matters of interest. These gen- 
 tlemen, with others of like tastes, organized the 
 State Historical Society ; and the published 
 sketches of General Cass, Major Whiting, Major 
 Biddle and Mr. Schoolcraft remain the best sy- 
 
CHAf, XIII. 1 DOCTOR hou(;hton. 42.'{ 
 
 nopsis of our history that has ever yet been pre- 
 pared. I )octor I )ouglass Houghton was first made 
 known to Michigan by having been secured by a 
 number of Detroit citizens, in 1829, to dehver a 
 winter course of lectures on chemistry. He was 
 obliged *to remain through the whole season for 
 that purpose, and, although then but twenty years 
 of age, made so favorable an impression, and was 
 so favorably impressed, that he was placed upon 
 the second commission to seek the sources of 
 the Mississippi, and after his return became a per- 
 manent resident of Detroit. It is worthy of re- 
 mark that when General Cass made his first visit 
 to Detroit on his return from his mission to the 
 Court of Louis Philippe, Doctor Houghton, as 
 Mayor of Detroit, delivered the address of wel- 
 come ; and when, in the fall of 1845, the melan- 
 choly news was received of the death of that 
 eminent devotee of science, the meeting which 
 was called to express the sense of public bereave- 
 ment was addressed by General Cass, as principal 
 speaker, and his remarks were a feeling and elo- 
 quent tribute to one whom he had loved and ad- 
 mired ever since he had known him. 
 
 The Ciovernor did not lose his concern in the 
 affairs of the Territory. He continued to use his 
 influence to further its prosperity ; and while he 
 remained in the United States, he was useful in 
 many ways to the public interests of Michigan. 
 
 But the end of her pupilage was approaching. 
 And, in order that the sense of independence 
 
424 
 
 IMPURTRf) nFFICKRS [CUAr. XIII. 
 
 might not come too early, her destinies were for a 
 time entrusted to the care of strangers, most of 
 whom became, however, in due time, very loyal 
 citizens of their new realm. 
 
 ;-»:,: ■ , . ■ •:■ ' f 
 
C H A P T F. R XIV. 
 
 I.A.ST YKAKS f»l' llli: IKKKiroKV. 
 
 liiK Territory now had a population o( more 
 than thirty thousand, and its peoplt- were increas- 
 ing very fast. Kvery boat from the east brought 
 in large loads of immigrants, most of wliom re- 
 mained in Michigan. The movement to the country 
 west of I^ake Michigan came a Uttle later, and 
 Chicago was not yet laid out as a town, although 
 it was a post of some consequence. 
 
 The laws, although reasonably stable for so 
 young a commonwealth, had been subject to some 
 fluctuations since the formation of the Council, 
 These changes related mostly to the method of 
 conducting local business and to courts. The 
 system of county courts by degrees gave way to 
 the circuit system, which in one form or another 
 has since prevailed. The county system was 
 altered. Beginning with the county court, which 
 for administrative purposes answered to the quarter 
 sessions, it changed first to the county commis- 
 sioner plan, borrowed from Massachusetts, and 
 then to the board of supervisors, derived from 
 
426 EAMKRN CCn.ONIES. [CiiAr. XIV. 
 
 New York. After the State came into existence 
 there were further chancres. 
 
 The settlement of most of the more important 
 townsliips and villaiL^es wa-- very fortunate. In a 
 great many instances neighl)orhoods wert settled 
 by small colonies from the I 'Eastern States and 
 New York, who came in sufficient numbers to give 
 harmonious character to their new homes, and 
 maintain wholesome and agreeable social sur- 
 roundings. The transition from an old to a new 
 country became less trying, and the ne'wly broken 
 wilderness was brightened by familiar associations, 
 rhe effect of these united movements is still vis- 
 ible, and there are many old towns and townships 
 that keep the peculiar characteristics which marked 
 them forty and fifty years ago. There are not 
 many parts of the United States where, with a 
 full measure of enterprise, there are such plain 
 evidences of their American antecedents. The 
 growth of these colonies has drawn largely from the 
 places whence they emigrated. Those coming west 
 are always glad to find old friends and neighbors, or 
 their kindred, antl naturally prefer to cast their 
 lot among them to settling among entire strangers. 
 When the immigration from luirope began to 
 reach large proportions, a great part of it passed 
 further on; and the growth of Michigan was 
 chiefly made up of such as chose a country re- 
 sembling the wooded lands to which they were 
 accustomed, with a society where they would feel 
 at home, to the prairies which were so inviting to 
 
Chap. XIV. ] I'RKPARATIONS FOR A STATK. 427 
 
 many Europeans, and a class of inhabitants with 
 whom it would take them some years to become 
 familiar. The increase of population was rapid 
 enough to indicate life and prosperity. It has 
 usually been gradual enough to enable those who 
 came in from any quarter to settle down into the 
 common ways, instead of forming separate clannish 
 communities, of alien manners and sympathies. 
 
 It was evident to all that the time could not 
 be far distant when Michigan must become a 
 State. As this time drew near, it was natural 
 that the people of the Territory should begin to 
 look, upon the management of public affairs as 
 fairly belonging to them ; and to prepare as far as 
 possible to make the change of rule free from 
 disturbance or abruptness. The southern boundary 
 had been tampered with, and there were difficul- 
 ties in prospect from that source. The increase 
 of removals from office made them daily conscious 
 that as yet their wishes were to have no weight 
 in the guidance of their most important affairs. 
 The people who had joined their fortunes to the 
 Territory were entirely passed by in the chief 
 executive appointments, and almost entirely in 
 some others. In some instances the appointments, 
 and the removals which they followed, were oc- 
 casions of much bitterness. 
 
 When General Cass was nominated as Secre- 
 tary of War, he was — though not by his own 
 procurement, — announced as Lewis Cass of OJiio. 
 This was criticised by the press, and defended on 
 
428 ^.0^•KRNM^'•.NT FKO.M without. ;Ciiap XIV. 
 
 the ground that a Territorial officer was like a 
 military officer, merely detailed on service which 
 did not gain him a residence. As the Ordinance 
 of 1787 expressly required the Governor, Judges 
 and Secretary, to reside in the Territory, and to 
 be freeholders there, and as General Cass had in 
 good faith made Michigan his home and the centre 
 of all his interests, this theory was not quite 
 satisfactory, and was not made any more so by 
 the practical application which regarded the people 
 as subjects rather than citizens, and supplied them 
 with a foreign government. These abuses have 
 now become apparently the normal conditions of 
 Territorial existence. They had not then been so 
 universally recognized, as not to be regarded as 
 unpleasant reminders of praetorian authority. 
 The persona! worth of such officers may prevent 
 misgovernment, but the system is in violation of 
 free principles ; and however proper it may be 
 while there is no considerable population, and no 
 choice of fit persons for office, it is not adapted 
 to communities which are populous, and as well 
 informed on their own affairs, and as capable of 
 furnishing competent officers, as any of the States. 
 
 General Cass having resigned his Territorial 
 office. General John T. Mason became acting 
 (iovernor. But his interests or duties called him 
 elsewhere, and, for reasons that seem to have been 
 confidential, he found it important to make a jour- 
 ney to Mexico, probably on a secret mission of 
 some kind, where he was more or less concerned 
 
(HAP XIV. ] SKCRETARV MASON. I.OVKVNOR PORTER. 
 
 429 
 
 in the events which led to the separation of Texas. 
 He was permitted to resign the Secretaryship in 
 favor of his son, Stevens Thomson Mason, ap- 
 pointed as from Kentucky. This gentleman re- 
 ceived his commission during a recess of the 
 Senate, and was sworn in on the 25th of July, 
 1831. 
 
 The office of Governor was not at once filled, 
 probably from reluctance on the part of some 
 persons to accept an office which was likely to 
 be of short duration. Major John H. Eaton, the 
 recently retired Secretary of War, was commonly 
 supposed likely to receive the appointment. He 
 was soon made Governor of Florida, instead. In 
 Augu«?t. the name of George B. Porter, of Lan- 
 caster, Pennsylvania, was sent to the Senate, and 
 the nomination confirmed. Governor Porter was 
 a lawyer of ability, and had but a few months 
 before been made United States Marshal of 
 Eastern Pennsylvania. He at once removed to 
 Detroit with his family, and adopted Michigan as 
 his future home. 
 
 News of the probable appointment of Mr. 
 Mason as Secretary was received in Detroit on 
 the 23rd of July. As he had not yet reached 
 his majority, and was only slightly known to the 
 citizens as a pleasant and promising youth, his 
 selection to perform the chief executive functions 
 of the Territory was not received with favor. A 
 meeting of citizens was held, presided over by 
 Colonel David C. McKinstry, an active friend of 
 
430 
 
 INDIGNATION MEETING. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 the administration ; and a committee was ap- 
 pointed to ascertain the facts, which was composed 
 of Messrs. McKinstry, Andrew Mack, Shiibael Co- 
 nant, OHver Newberry and John E. Schwarz. The 
 meeting having been held on Saturday night, they 
 waited on Mr. Mason (who had just returned from 
 Washington) on Monday, and learned from him 
 that he had that day received his commission and 
 qualified, — that his age was as had been repre- 
 sented, and that the President had appointed him 
 with full knowledge of the circumstances. They 
 reported accordingly to an adjourned meeting on 
 Monday evening, and a further committee was 
 appointed, (consisting of Eu rotas P. Hastings. 
 Henry S. Cole, D. C. McKinstry, Oliver Newberry 
 and Alexander D. Eraser) to prepare resolutions 
 and a memorial to the President for his removal, 
 to be signed by the meeting and circulated in 
 the Territory. The resolutions were confined to 
 the illegality and impropriety of appointing a mi- 
 nor to such a position, which was declared to be 
 "a violation of the principles of our fundamental 
 law. and of the genius and spirit of the constitu- 
 tion : and in the highest degree derogatory to the 
 freemen over whom he is thus attempted to be 
 placed ;" and declared that " we hold it to be our 
 duty to take prompt measures with a view to his 
 removal from that office." 
 
 The proceedings of this meeting, and the 
 memorial, produced much comment in the leading 
 journals of the country; and the propriety of the 
 
Chai-. XIV 1 STKAKNS THOMSON MASON 
 
 431 
 
 appointment was not maintained, but it was 
 claimed by the (jiobe — (then the official crgan) — 
 that having been appointed, he should not be re- 
 moved except for actual misconduct. As many 
 removals had been recently made without cause 
 of that kind, the argument was not conclusive, and 
 it did not touch the point of minority. He was 
 not removed, but, toward the end of the next 
 session of the Senate, he was nominated and con- 
 firmed, in July or August, 183?, when he had 
 barely reached his majority. 
 
 The appointment and arrival of Governor 
 Porter rendered the position less anomalous, and 
 the frank and gentlemanly reply of Mr. Mason to 
 the action of the meeting did much to disarm 
 criticism, and awaken kind feeling. His conduct 
 had never been arrogant, and while he had his 
 share of the youthful qualities which, though not 
 discreditable, are nevertheless not entirely suited 
 to great public responsibilities, he was manly and 
 generous, and very well adapted to obtain sym- 
 pathy. He intimated in his reply that a young 
 man would be more ready to accept the guidance 
 of his elders than one of riper age. It was not 
 very long before he had mentors enough ; and 
 among his most devoted adherents were some of 
 his early critics. iV\s public career, when the 
 burdens of state again fell upon him, was for a 
 considerable time very popular, and he never lost 
 his personal popularity. He died young, and he 
 is remembered very kindly. 
 
432 
 
 POLITICAL EXCITEMENTS, [CHAr. XIV. 
 
 It often happens that when party issues are 
 obscure, and personal questions prevail, there is 
 much less restraint in controxersy than when men 
 are occupied with serious political problems. While 
 Mr. Mason paid proper respect to his more ex- 
 perienced advisers, his companious of the same 
 age naturally gathered about him, and became 
 demonstrative. There were many things which 
 were more or less exciting to older politicians, and 
 there has never been a time in Michigan when 
 there were so many personal quarrels and rencoun- 
 ters on political and semi-political grounds. The 
 use of veapons in private disputes has never 
 been approved in this community, but for a year 
 or two there were aftrays altogether too frequent, 
 in which more or less blood was shed in a small 
 way. but, fortunately or unfortunately, with no fa- 
 tal results. Such ebullitions do not last long. 
 People very soon discover that men may differ 
 from them without being totally depraved, and 
 learn to live in charity, or at least in tolerance. 
 And while the disputes on national questions were 
 very bitter for several years, the interests of the 
 Territory were more pressing, and upon these 
 there was something approaching unanimity. 
 
 Governor Porter is not known to have incurred 
 any political or personal enmity. He was an able 
 man of good feeling and popular manners, with a 
 considerable knowledge of agricultural as well as 
 public affairs. He took that interest in the Ter- 
 ritory which might be expected of one who in- 
 
Cha?. XIV.] GOVERNOR PORTER OHIO LINE 
 
 433 
 
 tended to remain in it. He was, among other 
 things, very active in encouraging the improvement 
 of stock, and some of the best animals in the 
 State are descended from those he introckiced. 
 He did not remain in office long enough to ac- 
 complish very much, but his administration was 
 judicious, and creditable, and his death was sin 
 cerely regretted as a public loss. 
 
 The year 1831 passed without much that is 
 deserving of record, beyond the removals and ap- 
 pointments, which operated here as they did else- 
 where, and are of no present importance. In the 
 spring of the year, a resolution was passed by 
 the Council, authorizing the Governor to negotiate 
 with Ohio to adjust the boundary line on the basis 
 of a cession of all east of the Maumee, for an 
 equivalent westward. Nothing seems to have 
 come of this proposition. It had not yet been 
 supposed there was any grave doubt about the 
 rights of Michigan in the lands afterwards dis- 
 puted. Roads were laid out and other improve- 
 ments contemplated, and the future storm was not 
 visible. 
 
 The county seats of Hillsdale, Kalamazoo, Sag- 
 inaw, Lapeer and Jackson were located this year. 
 That of the latter county was first named with 
 the imposing title of Jacksonopolis. A year or two 
 after it was Anglicised into Jacksonburgh. Its 
 next metamorphosis was into its present shape ol 
 Jackson, where it will probably remain. The early 
 statute books contain many ambitious names which 
 28 
 
434 
 
 JOHN TKUMBULL. TChap. XIV. 
 
 have one by one cUsappeared, until the State is 
 reasonably free from the ridiculous titles that once 
 adorned its paper cities, whose ambitious clapboard 
 palaces, erected in an unbroken wilderness, were 
 never inhabited, and have ceased to surprise the 
 stragglinjj^ explorer of their deserted avenues. 
 
 On the loth day of May, 1831, John Trum- 
 bull died at Detroit at the advanced age of 82. 
 He had not lived in the Territory more than six 
 or seven years — having come out to pass the re 
 mainder of his days with his daughter, the wife 
 of Judge William Woodbridge. Judge Trumbull 
 was a prominent and honored citizen during the 
 American Revolution, as well as afterwards, and 
 his poem of McFingal was one of those well- 
 timed and well-written satires which sometimes 
 pe.form an important part in public emergencies. 
 It was a very felicitous sketch, which became in- 
 stantly popidar, and produced as marked an effect 
 in the United States as Hndibras did in England. 
 It is one of those productions which are valuable, 
 not only for their keen satire and amusing hits, 
 but for their preservation of past manners and 
 ways, which are seldom depicted by grave writers, 
 yet are necessary to the comprehension of both 
 law and history. American literature is not rich 
 in those unstudied productions which might place 
 us in the same familiar relations with the olden 
 time in this country, which we are enabled to en- 
 joy with the days of Pepys, and Boswell, and 
 Alexander Carlyle, and Horace Walpole. Judge 
 
Chap. XIV. ] JUDICIAL CHANGES. STATE CONTEMPLATED. 435 
 
 Trumbull was not without distinction in various 
 public offices, but as an early writer, thoroui;hl) 
 American in all things, and possessing both learn- 
 ing and genius, he is entitled to honored remem- 
 brance. His placid and kindly face was not known 
 to many of this generation, but he ought not to 
 be forgotten by the citizens of his latest home. 
 
 In i<S32, Judges Woodbridge and Chipman 
 were superseded by Cieorge Morell of New ^'ork, 
 and Ross Wilkins of Pennsylvania. Both of these 
 gentlemen were prominent in judicial life after 
 the State was admitted into the Union, as well as 
 during the Territory, and their reputation is familiar 
 to all our people. They were very important and 
 active agents in the development of our juris- 
 prudence. 
 
 On the 29th of June, 1832, a statute was passed 
 to call an election on the first Tuesday of Octo- 
 ber, to determine " whether it be expedient for 
 the people of this Territory to form a State gov- 
 ernment." At this election all free white male 
 inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years were 
 allowed to vote. The result of the election 
 was a very decisive expression in favor of the 
 change. 
 
 In the early spring of this year. Black Hawk, 
 a Sac chief who had moved beyond the Missis- 
 sippi, and by repeated conventions had agreed to 
 stay there, came across the river with a band of 
 Sacs and Foxes, and committed depredations in 
 
436 UUACK HAWK WAR [CwAr. XIV. 
 
 northern Illinois, and southern Wisconsin, which 
 was then in the Territory of Michigan. The Gov- 
 ernor of Illinois sent up a force under General 
 Whiteside, who left Reardstown on the 27th of 
 April, with 1,800 men, for the mouth of Rock 
 River. General Atkinson moved up from St. 
 Louis early in April, with a force of re_Ljulars. 
 Colonel Henry Dodg-^ of Michij^an raised a force 
 of Territorial volunteers, and rendered very im- 
 portant services, having taken measures to prevent 
 mischief from the Winnebagoes and other doubt- 
 ful Michigan Indians, and then entered vigorously 
 upon a decisive campaign. Many sharp fights 
 took place during the spring and summer, and 
 on the 2d of August the last battle was fought, 
 in which Colonel Dodge and Colonel Zachary 
 Taylor, afterwards President of the United .States, 
 had command in the advance, and the Indian 
 force was nearly annihilated. Black Hawk was 
 held as a prisoner for several months, being last 
 confined in Fortress Monroe. He was, in June, 
 1833, taken out of that fort, and escorted through 
 the principal towns back to the Mississippi ; and 
 during the remaining seven years of his life he 
 behaved himself with propriety, and made no fur- 
 ther trouble. The officer who first took him down 
 the river to Jefferson barracks was then known 
 as Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, of the United States 
 Army. Although intelligent, and having some 
 causes of grievance. Black Hawk was not one of 
 the best types of Indians. The Sacs and Foxes 
 
Chaf XIV. 1 CHOLERA 
 
 437 
 
 had a bad reputation when the French first caiie 
 to Detroit, and they never lost it. Black Hawk's 
 own story shows him to have been very treach 
 erous. He was an old man of 65 when this last 
 Indian war broke out, and was in the [iritish in- 
 terest as long as they provided for him. He 
 seems to have had an idea that the British gov- 
 ernment would help him. He had never kept 
 informed of the American settlement of Michigan, 
 and nothing surprised him more than the changes 
 in Detroit and the other settlements, with which 
 he had been familiar during the war of 181 2. 
 He had not learned before that Maiden had ceased 
 to plague the Northwest. 
 
 The losses of men by the casualties of battle 
 in the Black Hawk war were not so great as 
 might have been feared. There was, however, a 
 worse enemy than the Indians, and the ravages 
 of the Asiatic cholera were fearful. This dreadful 
 disease did not reach many of the troops while 
 in the field, near the seat of war. But it inter- 
 cepted them on the way, and broke up a part of 
 the e.xpeditions sent out from the seaboard. 
 
 The coming of the cholera had been expected, 
 as it had been making its way steadily westward 
 from Asia for many months. The Michigan Legis- 
 lative Council passed laws early in the summer, 
 for the proper organization of boards of health, 
 and had given large powers to the municipal 
 bodies. But while cleanliness was known to be 
 essential, no remedies had yet been discovered to 
 
438 CHOLERA (Cm*». XIV 
 
 check or cure the disease; and while tlie physi- 
 cians vv(;re dilij^cntly stud)in^f how to meet it, all 
 manner of nostrums and prevcMitives were resorted 
 to by th(! terrified |)eople. it reached Detroit be- 
 fore midsumni(.>r, and at onct,- the larj,^(; body of 
 laborin):^ (X'oplc, who had nothinj; to keep them 
 in the city, fled into the country, with exag^j,^e rated 
 stories of horrors, which were bad enou^di at the 
 best. Many citizens were attacked by the cholera 
 in a severe form, and a lar^e share of them died. 
 A church building was converted into a hospital, 
 and all was done which could be to mitigate the 
 sufferings of the victims. Business was hardly 
 thought of. The air, whether really or in fancy, 
 appeared unusually oppressive ; and at nightfall, 
 at the street crossings and all along the public 
 ways, as well as at private houses, great kettles 
 of burning pitch blazed, and threw up dark columns 
 of smoke late into the night. The customary so- 
 lemnities of burial were shortened, and sometimes 
 neglected. A rigid quarantine intercepted the or- 
 dinary course of travel. Lkit the omission which 
 at first was most noted, was that of the tolling 
 of the bell. A custom had prevailed for a long 
 time of ringing the passing- hell, immediately after 
 the death of any person in the town. The build- 
 ings were mostly within a small compass, and 
 the bell of the First Protestant Society, which 
 was used for all public purposes, could be dis- 
 tinctly heard everywhere. In such small commu- 
 nities the death of any one interests the feelings 
 
C»A». XIV.) MOVEMENTS oK TROOPS 439 
 
 of all ; and the tolliiii; which announced that 
 some one had just dcijaricd, was always heard 
 with solemn emotions. Hut when the victims of 
 the cholera hej^ran to multiply, the lrec|uency of 
 these knells added to the ^^eneral panic, and it 
 becanu; necessar)' to iliscontinue them. The cus- 
 tom once broken was not renewed, and was soon 
 fortrotten. 
 
 A considerable force of United States troops 
 was ordered to the seat of war, and they were all 
 sent up by steamboats from I3"ffalo, bound for 
 Chicago. 'I'hese detachments reached Detroit 
 early in July. The Michigan volunteers from De- 
 troit had left before the cholera became fatal, and 
 marched across the country ; but their services 
 were not required, and the orders were counter- 
 manded before they reached Lake Michigan. 
 Colonel Garry Spencer's cavalry troop had 
 marched beyond tlie St. Joseph's River, but the 
 infantr)' had not gone very far before they were 
 recalled. The first detachment of regulars, con- 
 sisting of 220 men, accompanied by Major General 
 Winfield Scott, went up on the steamboat Sheldon 
 Thompson.' When she left Chicago on the re- 
 turn trip, one officer and 51 men had died, and 
 80 were sick. General Scott and several other 
 officers had mild attacks of the cholera, but soon 
 recovered. 
 
 On the 8th of July it was known in Detroit 
 that of 370 who had gone up after General 
 Scott's party, under Colonel Twiggs, and had been 
 
440 CHOLERA VICTIMS. TKRRITORY EXTENnKI). iChap. XlV. 
 
 compelled to land below Fort Gratiot, only 150 
 r(Mnained — a large number having died of cholera 
 and the rest deserted. Very few of these panic- 
 stricken wn^tches reached Detroit. Most of them 
 died in the woods and on the road, and of these 
 many were devoured by wolves and other 
 beasts. A third detachment, under Colonel Cum- 
 mings, had at first encamped at Detroit, where 
 several died. The survivors were embarked on 
 the William Penn, but in a short time were com- 
 pelled to rtiturn. They were put in camp again 
 at Springwells, and there was afterwards compara- 
 tively little mortality among them. It was 
 reckoned that more than half of the aggregate 
 commands were swept away. Of six companies 
 that left Fortress Monroe, but 180 men returned; 
 and the losses among others were in similar pro- 
 portion. 
 
 Among the more prominent citizens who died 
 during this summer, were F"ather Gabriel Richard, 
 and General Charles learned, — a distinguished 
 lawyer, who had been Attorney General of th(; 
 Territory. Jacob M. Howard, and bVanklin 
 Sawyer, (afterwards .Superintendent of Public In- 
 struction,) were students in his office. 
 
 On the 2(Sth of June, 1834, all the territory 
 west of the Mississippi River and north of 
 Missouri, as far as the Missouri and White Earth 
 Rivers, was attached to, and made a part of the 
 Territory of Michigan. The Legislative Council 
 was also authorized to hold an extra session, on 
 
Chap. XIV. ] DEATH OK OOVERNOR PORTER 441 
 
 the call of the (lovernor. The necessity of this 
 arose from the annexation. 
 
 On the 5th of July, Governor Porter died of 
 cholera, which was during that summer very fatal. 
 Seven per cent of the population of Detroit died 
 in a single month. His funeral services were 
 celebrated in the Capitol, and were attended by 
 a very large concourse of people, who held him 
 in great respect. His death would have been a 
 loss to the Territory at any time, and it was at 
 this time especially lamentable, as the public 
 affairs soon became critical, and would have been 
 all the better for his good sens(> and prudence. 
 
 The Council was called together by Acting 
 (Governor Mason in SCjjtember. The western ter- 
 ritory was set off into the Counties of Dubuque 
 and De^- Moines, and put in the same circuit 
 with the County of Iowa, east of the Mississippi. 
 A law was passed for taking a census of the 
 Territory. Provision was also made for appoint- 
 ing boundary commissioners, to adjust the southern 
 boundaries with Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Noth- 
 ing came of this latter project. 
 
 Governor Porter's place was never filled. 
 General Jackson sent to the Senate for confirma 
 tion the name of Henry I). Gilpin. This nomina- 
 nation was rejected. The President and .Senate 
 were not at this time in full accord, and Mr. 
 Gilpin was obnoxious as having been connectetl 
 with some of the matters which had given rise to 
 the difficulty. This arose chieHy from the appoint- 
 
442 HOPULATIUN !Ch*i-. XIV 
 
 merit of Roger B. Taney as Secretary of the 
 Treasury, antl his removal of the pubhc deposits 
 from the United States Bank, which led to resolu- 
 tions of censure on the part of the Senate, and 
 to a nc'W political (organization and the merging 
 of the old parties. Mr. Taney's nomination was 
 held over by the President until the end of th(* 
 session, when he was rejected at once. General 
 Jackson made no further nomination after Mr. 
 (iilpin's rejection. Afterwards he had entertained 
 the id(*a of filling the vacancy by an appointment 
 during the recess. Finding this could not be done, 
 he left Secretary Mason in charge of the executive 
 department of the Territory, until he became dis- 
 satisfied with his course during the period before 
 tht! establishment of the State gov(;rnment. As 
 this occurred but a few weeks before Governor 
 Mason was elected and assumed office* under the 
 State, it was too late to be anything but a source 
 of some trouble to the estimable — but impru- 
 dent — gentleman who last undertook to govern 
 Michigan as a Territory. 
 
 Ihe census, which was completed before the 
 adjournment of the Council, showed that, within 
 the boundaries of the original Territory of Mich- 
 igan, there were 87,273 free inhabitants. This 
 was an increase of 61,768 beyond the 26,505 re- 
 ported by the census of 1830. More people had 
 come into Michigan in four years than the 60,000 
 which entitled her to become a State. This did 
 not include the large immigration west of Lake 
 
CHAf. XIV.) WISCONSIN 443 
 
 Michigan, whereby Wisconsin had already obtained 
 a population which would give her, if a Territory, 
 the right to a complete popular legislature. The 
 Legislative Council of Michii^an, in December, 
 1834, memorialized Congress upon the subject of 
 establishing a Territorial government for Wisconsin. 
 This had been mooted for some time, and " Muron" 
 Territory had been the very inappropriate name 
 before suggested for it. The; Hurons had not 
 lived there, and Lake Huron did not touch it. 
 The name finally selected was appropriate and 
 satisfactory. Nothing was done by Congress to 
 set apart this Territory until Michigan was ready 
 for admission, when Wisconsin was set off, and 
 her new career of independence began on the 
 4th of July, 1836. But the last delegate to Con- 
 gress from Michigan Territory, George W. Jones, 
 had been purposely allowed to be chosen from 
 Wisconsin ; and the Michigan authorities had done 
 all in their power to advance the admission of 
 that region as a separate Territory. 
 
 On the 26th of January, 1835, ^" ^^t was 
 passed, which, after reciting the act of 1805, 
 whereby the territory north of an east and west 
 line, running from the southerly bend of Lake 
 Michigan to Lake Erie, was set off as the Terri- 
 tory of Michigan, and the people, whenever there 
 should be 60,000 free inhabitants, were authorized 
 to form a permanent constitution and organize as 
 a State, appointed an election of delegates. to form 
 a convention to adopt a constitution and State 
 
444 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION noUNDARIKS 'Chap. XIV. 
 
 <rovernment. The election was to be held on Sat- 
 urday, April 4, 1835; ^^^^ ^'^^ convention was to 
 meet at Detroit, on the second Monday of May. 
 The delegates were to be adult citizens of the 
 United States, and the voters adult free white male 
 inhabitants. Th(; inhabitants of the strip of land 
 attached to Indiana were allowed to vote in the 
 districts and counties immediately north of them. 
 This Indiana strip had never been included in the 
 organized counties of Michigan, and the Council 
 disclaimed any design to assume control over it, 
 until their rights could be adjudicated. 
 
 Up to this time Michigan had been in peaceable 
 possession of the country east of Indiana, and 
 north of the latitude of the southern point of Lake 
 Michigan, as surveyed in 18 18, and the authority 
 of Ohio had not been in force there. It had been 
 included in 1827 in the Township of Port Law 
 rence, laid out at the same time with the earliest 
 township divisions in the rest of the Territory. 
 The first act laying out Territorial roads, in 1828, 
 had established such a road from Port Lawrence, 
 through Adrian, in Lenawee County, to intersect 
 the Chicago Road, and the authorities had sur- 
 veyed and laid it out, and opened it, at the ex- 
 pense of the Territory. The Erie and Kalamazoo 
 Railroad was chartered in 1833, from Port Law- 
 rence to Adrian, and thence to the Kalamazoo 
 River; and the only authority whereby lands were 
 obtained for its line was under the laws of 
 Michigan. -^ ^.,;,./ -;^.. .., .,-•■--•-"'■-. .■-•^' - 
 
Chap. XIV^ BOUNDARY DISPUTE 
 
 445 
 
 In the beginninty of this year, (1835,) Governor 
 Lucas of Ohio sent in to the Legislature of that 
 State a message asserting jurisdiction over the 
 territory south of the mouth of Maumee Bay, and 
 urging legislation to possess and control it. The 
 Legislative Council of Michigan, upon receiving 
 notice of this by a message from the acting Gov- 
 ernor, passed an act on the 1 2th of February. 
 1835, " 'o prevent the exercise of foreign jurisdic- 
 tion within the limits of the Territory of Mich- 
 igan," whereby it was made highly penal for any 
 one to accept or exercise any public office, in any 
 part of the Territory, except by commission from 
 the United States or from Michigan. On the 23rd 
 of February, the Ohio Legislature passed a series 
 of acts and resolutions, asserting jurisdiction over 
 the land in question, declaring that measures 
 should be taken by all the departments of the 
 State government to establish it ; extending or- 
 ganized counties so as to cover it, and directing 
 commissioners to run the boundary line ; and re- 
 quiring all public officers to extend their authority 
 over it. Governor Lucas at once notified the 
 county officers to exercise their functions, and the 
 major general under whose command the new dis- 
 tricts were placed to enrol the inhabitants in the 
 militia ; and he determined to attend the spring 
 elections in person, to see to the complete re-or- 
 ganization, and appointed commissioners to meet 
 him at Perrysburgh, on the ist of April, to run the 
 line. The Territorial authorities brought the mat- 
 
446 BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 
 
 [Chap. XIV. 
 
 ter to the at'jntion of the President. Congress 
 had adjovirned without passing an act giving the 
 land to Ohio, which had been sought by Ohio 
 but had failed at two receiit successive sessions. 
 Governor Mason ordered General Joseph W. 
 Brown, commanding the Michigan militia, to hold 
 himself in readiness to resist any attempt of Ohio 
 to carry out the threatened measures ; and the 
 Council appropriated money to enable the execu- 
 tive to enforce the laws of the Territory. The 
 Michigan authorities used such force as was ne- 
 cessary, to repel intrusion and arrest offenders 
 against the law, and the difficulties became very 
 menacing. The Attorney General of the United 
 States, Benjamin F. Butler, (of New York,) de- 
 cided that the Michigan authorities were in the 
 right, and such was the view of the President and 
 his advisers; but Messrs. Rush and Howard were 
 sent out as commissioners, to conciliate matters if 
 possible. It was afterwards claimed by Governor 
 lAicas, but denied at Washington, that these gen- 
 demen had made an agreement that the Ohio line 
 should be run as claimed, and the people be al- 
 lowed to follow their individual predilections as to 
 which government they would obey, until the close 
 of the next session of Congress. It never was 
 pretended that the Michigan authorities consented 
 to this ; and if the commissioners had possessed 
 any authority, which the Secretary of State ex- 
 pressly denied had been attempted to be bestowed 
 on them, — such an arrangement as the latter, 
 
Chap. XlV.l BOUNDARY DISPUTE 447 
 
 which practically would be anarchy, would have 
 been at least very unlikely. The Michigan au- 
 thorities did not accept or act on such an arrange- 
 ment, and proceeded to arrest offenders, as before, 
 including a portion of the party of the Ohio sur- 
 vey commissioners. Governor Lucas called an 
 extra session of the Legislature of Ohio, and they 
 passed a statute agreeing to the terms as he as- 
 serted them of the United .States commissioners, 
 provided the United States would compel Mich- 
 igan to respect them. — otherwise, directing that 
 the Ohio laws should be carried out ; and they 
 appropriated 5^300,000 for that purpose. The 
 Governor, on the i8th of June, sent in a second 
 message enclosing a sharp correspondence with 
 Washington, in which the acting .Secretary of .State 
 denied the correctness of the Governor's under- 
 standing of the views of the commissioners and 
 of the President, and intimated that the latter 
 might find it necessary to interfere with the power 
 of the United States, if Ohio persisted in running 
 the line with an armed escort. Governor Lucas 
 afterwards sent commissioners to Washington, and 
 it was th-^re understood that General Jackson 
 would recommend the Michigan authorities to 
 avoid any unnecessary violence. For a time 
 things remained quiet, with an occasional difficul- 
 ty, but no general interference. 
 
 The Legislature of Ohio had, at the latest 
 session, undertaken to organize a new county 
 named Lucas county, covering the seat of difficulty, 
 
448 TOLRDO WAR [Chap. XIV. 
 
 and it was understood that it was intended to 
 open c(Mirl at Toledo on tlicr 7th ol Septcmln'r, 
 and that hfvics of troops had In'.r.n made to pro 
 tect the jiidj^cs in so doinj.^. (iov<;rnor Mason 
 ther<;upon onU^red out the Michigan forces, and 
 look possession of ToUtdo, accompanyinj.; the 
 troops in pctrson. It is said, hut on doubtful au 
 thorily, that the court was orj.^anized hy ni^ht, 
 and s(;cr(;lly, and iuiniechately adjourn(;d. No op 
 posin;; forces wrrv encountered hy (iov(;rnor 
 Mason ; and tlie Michij.fan htvies were h;d hack 
 over the hnt!, and (Hsljanchid at th(-'ir various 
 points of rendezvous. I'he feehnj^ all over Mich- 
 i^'an was intense, and it is fortunate there was no 
 fatal bloodshed. 
 
 Many of the reminiscences of the campaign 
 partake; of the ludicrous. It is not desirable to 
 record th<! personal incidents and misadventurtrs 
 which our troops n^ported as having befallen 
 th<;mselves and some of their civil adv(;rsari<;s. 
 Michij.ran had a skel(;ton in her own clos«!t, in the 
 shape of a "claim of Lewis K. Baihry foi a horse 
 lost in th(.' service of the State, in defendinj.^ th< 
 supr(;macy of t'i(; laws." Year after year, from 
 1X36 to 1846, this claim was n!j.fularly pres(;nted 
 and re).riilarly rejected, until in the latter year it 
 dawnctd upon t\u- minds of the Legislature that 
 it mi^ht be better to pay fifty dollars, and inter 
 est from Januai v ist, 1836, than to waste time and 
 printing enough to cost more than a nt^lmtnt of 
 ■honses ; and they surrendered to a sie}.(e that 
 
CiiAi. XIV 
 
 SDirillKKN IIOtJNIMKV 
 
 •HO 
 
 |)Jirall<ll((l in <l(iiatioii thai n\ Troy. lime lias 
 healed the oilier L^riels, and il iIk- historian is 
 (•()in|>e||<(| 1(1 dis< nss ih« in, il is not with the pa 
 thetic lament ol < )neen Mar\ over lh<- loss ol 
 ( alais, nor the hankerinL; lor territory which has 
 made Alsace i.orraiiw ;i diliatalile l-touiicI so ionj^. 
 I lowevctr donhtliil the ItarjLjain was oritdnalls liy 
 whicJi Ohio obtained the spoils, il has hec n ratiti<<l 
 too lhoroiiL;hl> to lie disputed ; and our only 
 present emulation is Irieiidly and neivlihorly. 
 
 I h<- liistor) ol the dis|)uii(| hounclai')' is not 
 complicated. I he ()rdinan<i- ol 17.S7, which, as 
 already pointc-d out, was noi a mere statute — 
 which the c (»nlederalec| ('oiii^ress had no |)o\ver 
 to (Miact — was in itsell a compact, ami article 
 ol t^overnmcnt, lor a rcfioii ov<'r which ( Onj^ress 
 its(;ll could not, as iIhii c)r^ani/ecl, lej^dslate di 
 ntctly at all. It had no ordinary le<.^islalive power 
 anci reserved none-; hut, in pursuance ol arraiij^x;- 
 ments which had all the (essentials ol treaty ohii 
 Rations, clehiK-cl ccrtjiin limits lor the temporary 
 exercise ol authority hy a hidslative hoard, until 
 the populati(jn shoidd reach s.ooo tree male- in 
 hahitants, alter which the legislative power ol the 
 lerritory was ahsohite, siihjec t only to ccrt;iin 
 speciCied i-estrictions necessary to justice. The 
 time lor c)ri4ani/.inL; the Le)..jislatiire was ascertained 
 hy the lerrilorial, and not hy the- ( Oni^ressional, 
 authorities, and it was expressly stipulated, as a 
 perpetual compact, that whik!, as a matter of i^race, 
 the; lulure .States mitrjit he admitted with less than 
 2'J 
 
450 
 
 HOirTlir.KN IIOl/NDAKV ff;M«r XIV 
 
 60,000 inhabitants, each should he cntiiUd to lorni 
 a permanent cf)nstiluti()n and State j^ovf-rnnient, 
 and b(; a(hnitted intr> tlie (Inion as a matter ol 
 rij^dit, whenev(rr it should ha\«- that number. It 
 was not in any way intimat<(l or im|)h(;d that 
 Congress should Ix; first re(|uired to L;ive permis 
 sion, b(;fore the initial st'|)s were taken. The or 
 dinance itself ^av(; this permission, as plainly as 
 it did that for (;stablishin|4 a I erritorial Le^isla 
 tun; tf) supplant the Lej.(islative lioard. 'I'h«' onl\ 
 difficulty that could arise must have arisen out ol 
 the authority to cremate live, instead of three 
 .States. Antl this was the j^^round insisted upon 
 by those who ((uestionetl the rij^hi of Mi(:hij.fan. 
 
 The |jerpetual compact provided lor "not less 
 than three, nor more than five, .States;" and the 
 thr(!e contemplatc;(l wen; formed by the itidelmite 
 continuation northward, to the national boundar) 
 line, of the |jresent lines between Ohio and Indiana, 
 and between Indiana and Illinois. These wen- sub 
 ject to this provi.so: " I'rovided, however, and it is 
 further understood and declared, that the boundar 
 ies of these three .States shall be subject so far to 
 be altered that if Conv^ress shall thereat t(;r find it 
 expedient, they shall have authority to form one or 
 two .Statt;s in that jiart of the said tcM-ritory which 
 lies north of an east and ivcsl line dnnvn Ihroiiiili llic 
 souihcr/y bend or ex tn me 0/ Lake A/ie/iioan. And 
 whenever any of th.<; said States shall have sixty 
 thousand free inhaJjilants therein, such .State shall 
 be admitted, by its delegates, into the Congress 
 
»H*f XIV 1 sotrruF.RN imuNDAkv. 4'''>1 
 
 of tlif lJnit<(l St.'iU's, on ;in (•(|u.il footing' with 
 the orij^iii.'il States in all respects what<'ver; and 
 shall !)«• at liLeriy to forni a perniaiu-nt ronstitii- 
 lion and State ^overnnent : I'lovidai, the eon- 
 stitntion and government so to lie lonn<(l, shall 
 he repiddiean, and in eontormity to the prin' i|»les 
 contained in di<'se articles; and so far as it (an 
 he (onsisKtnt with the ^M-neral interests of the 
 confederacy, such admission shall he allowed at 
 an tN'irlier period, and when there ma) he a less 
 nuinhei- ol hce inhahiiants in the State than sixty 
 thousand." 
 
 This (onipac t was declared to he perpetual. 
 It was esiahlished when there was no <'.\|)eclation 
 that any ( liant^e would he made in the articles of 
 confederation, which would j^dve Conj^ress any 
 legislative power that coidd tam|»er with the Or 
 dinance, or provide for govcrnin;^ 'I"erritori<'s hy 
 direct C'on^M'essional int<'rfer(;nce. 
 
 ihe practical construction put u|K)n it by the 
 first Congress f)l the United States under the 
 ("onstitution, was that it was unalterahle. There 
 were hut two powers reserved t«) Con^'ress hy the 
 Ordinance; one; of them — the appointinjj^ power — 
 hein^ executive in its nature, and the othf;r — the 
 desij^nalion of States north of the latitude of the 
 southern point of Lake Michigan — hein^ one of 
 those mixed |)owers which may he (exercised ly 
 lej^islatures tiiems(,'lv(;s, or delegated. Hy the Con- 
 stitution of the I niled Stat(!s the appointinj^ power 
 was made executive (;nlirely; and the ixnver of 
 
452 
 
 SOUTHERN BOUNUARV. [CiiAr. \1V. 
 
 admitting States was left Congressional. Instead 
 of remodelling this Ordinance, the Congress of 
 1789 adopted this preamble: "ll'hcreas, in order 
 that the Ordinance of the United States in Con- 
 gress assembled, for the government of the Ter- 
 ritory Northwest of the River Ohio, may continue 
 to have full eftect, it is recjuisite that certain pro- 
 visions should be made, so as to adapt die same 
 to the present Constitution of the I'nited States. 
 " Be it enacted," etc. The change made was in 
 transferring the executive functions to the Presi- 
 dent and Senate, who under the Constitution had 
 succeeded to that branch of the old powers of 
 Congress. It is also to be remembered that the 
 compact against change did not cover any but six 
 specified articles of the Ordinance. 
 
 No subsecjuent act ot Congress for the estab- 
 lishment of Territories, outside of die lands owned 
 before the Constitution, has ever contained com- 
 pacts beyond the recall of Congress : and it may 
 be doubtful whether Congress could so stipulate. 
 But no such doubt can exist concerning the Con- 
 gress of the Confederation ; antl the Congress of 
 1789 evidently intended to respect their agree- 
 ments. 
 
 The east and west line which was named in 
 the Ordinance, was adopted without (jualihcation. 
 The suggestion of Mr. Binney that it was in- 
 def.<i:ie, because it has no named terminus, would 
 hardly have been made on sober rellection. It is 
 as definit*' as any boumlary line could be made 
 
Chap. XIV. 1 SOUTHERN BOUNDARV. 
 
 458 
 
 for cHvidingr northern from southern jurisdiction ; 
 and is simply a parallel of latitude, which extends 
 wherever there is any territory to bound. It is a 
 mere assumption to claim that the Congress of 
 1787 laid it out under a mistake, or intended 
 to ofive the eastern State the entire southern shore 
 of Lake Krie, or any specific part of it. It gave 
 no lake privileges to either of the two others, 
 which were quite as worthy of consideration. It 
 is definite, and is not ambiguous. In a private 
 contract no court could find it open to construction. 
 
 Whether Congress now has the abstract power 
 to disregard and change such a stipula':ion, has 
 ceased to be a practical question. In the case of 
 the southern boundary of Michigan, it required 
 the consent of the State to the change before 
 admitting it, and thus precluded the discussion of 
 the question before the courts. The main ([uestion 
 at issue in 1835 was whether s\ich a change had 
 been attempted, and whether, if attempted, valid 
 or invalid, it was in accordance with good faith. 
 A nation may tlo many things lawfully which she 
 cannot do honestly. 
 
 When dit3 County of Wayne; was first laid out, 
 in I 7c)6, it included all the tlisputed territory, and 
 its southern line e.xtended to the Cuyahoga River. 
 Wh(Mi it was proposetl to create the State of 
 ( )hio, this county was not consulted in the first 
 instance; anil if judge Murnet is correct, the State 
 was formed l)elow the east and west line of the 
 ( >r(linanc(' for the very purpose of excluding 
 
454 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chai-. XIV. 
 
 Wayne County, for fear it would change the 
 political character intended to be given to the 
 new State. By the act of Congress, which pur- 
 ported to give all inhabitants a right to vote for 
 delegates to a convention, no one in Wayne 
 County was allowed to vote, either in his own 
 county or in any other district. It had not been 
 ascertained that the territory included had 60,000 
 people, and the law allowing a State to be formed 
 was matter of favor and not of right. The 
 statute assumed the precise boundary of the 
 Ordinance, until it struck Lake Erie, or the 
 national boundary line. The delegates were elected 
 to do precisely what this act called for ; and their 
 action was not referred back to the people for 
 ratification. The act of Congress reserved the 
 right to annex the country north of the line and 
 of Ohio, to that State, or to organize one or more 
 States there according to the Ordinance. No 
 power was given to the Ohio convention to change 
 the lines. That convention, however, having 
 learned that the line mentioned in the Ordinance 
 might probably run further south than was supposed, 
 passed a resolution providing that, with the assent 
 of Congress, the line should in that case be drawn 
 from the south point of Lake Michigan to the 
 north entrance cape of Maumee Bay. 
 
 No act or resolution was passed by Congress, 
 for the express purpose of admitting the State, or 
 approving its constitution. The members were 
 allowed their seats in the two houses, like those 
 
CHA». XIV.] SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 
 
 455 
 
 from other States ; and the only laws passed as- 
 sumed that the State had already become one of 
 the United States by the act of its convention 
 alone, under the terms of the enabling act of 1802. 
 
 When Michigan was organized as a Territory, 
 the line of the Ordinance of 1787, and not that 
 recommended by the Ohio convention, was adopted 
 as the southern boundary. This wast just two 
 years after Ohio was admitted, and when her sen- 
 ators and representatives were able to represent 
 her interests in Congress. Either they did not 
 oppose the line, or their opposition was overruled. 
 It is evident the Ordinance was still regarded as 
 sacred. 
 
 This is all of the legislation of Congress re- 
 cognizing or establishing boundaries. The debates 
 in Congress in 1834 and 1835, as well as after the 
 formation of the Constitution of Michigan, were 
 very full, and several reports were made. It was 
 held with almost absolute unanimity, that the dis- 
 puted territory belonged to Michigan, until Con- 
 gress should legislate further. Mr. Adams and 
 others held the Ordinance was irrevocable, and be- 
 yond the power of Congress at all. Others, 
 holding that Congress had power to give the land 
 to Ohio, thought it policy to so grant it. Every 
 one felt that unless Michigan consented, there was 
 room for legal controversy. A Territory could 
 not sue or be sued in the United States Supreme 
 Court. A State could sue another State there ; 
 and it had been held in the very recent contro- 
 
456 SOUTHERN HOUNDARV. (CHAr. XIV, 
 
 versy between New York and New Jersey, as it 
 has been several times since, that boundary ques- 
 tions could be so Htigated. It was only by acting 
 before Michigan became a State, and by keeping 
 her out until she surrendered her claims, that the 
 matter could be put beyond doubt. Indiana and 
 Illinois were as much interested as Ohio in fore- 
 closing this future litigation ; and Michigan was 
 coerced into either giving up her claim, or being 
 left where she could never litigate it. How this 
 was done will appear presently. 
 
 If Congress lawfully possessed the power to 
 change the boundaries, its decision would have 
 been binding, although in violation of a very 
 solemn contract. Had it been made without the 
 extorted consent of Michigan, the question of 
 Congressional right could have been settled by 
 the L'nited States Supremo Court. This would 
 have lessened the temporary excitement. ^ )hio 
 was not willing to leave open her present right, 
 or her right under such legislation : but, with In- 
 diana and Illinois, desired to have it foreclosed 
 by some act which would bind Michigan at all 
 events. 
 
 The equities of Ohio to have the line changed 
 were placed by that State, or its ( iovernor, chielly 
 on three grounds, viz : the intent of the Congress 
 of 1787 to fojlow the supposed line, which was 
 further north than the real one ; the action of 
 the State constitutional convention ; and the pre- 
 ference of the people within the district. 
 
Chap. XI v.] SOUTHERN liOUNDARY. 457 
 
 The last point, if true, could hardly be regard- 
 ed. The country had been settled, and its settle- 
 ment made possible and facilitated, entirely under 
 Michigan law ; and the new preferences, if they 
 existed, were very recent, and were created by 
 the promise of improvements, coming from 
 Indiana, which, if important enough, would sooner 
 or later have been made necessary under any 
 circumstances. But if the inhabitants of any por- 
 tion of a State or Territory are entitled lo have 
 their wishes for a ^hange of allegiance respected, 
 there would soon be an end to pfovernments. 
 
 If there was a mistake concerning the real 
 position of the southerly point of Lake Michigan, 
 no one knows just where it was supposed to be 
 or who made it. The pencil line on a map said 
 to have been before the committee of Congress 
 — although the map has never been verified, and 
 the story is somewhat apocryphal, — is said at 
 the same time to have thrown the line a little 
 below Detroit, and far to the north of the Mau- 
 mee. There is no evidence that Congress paid 
 any attention to this question, or cared where the 
 line fell; inasmuch as it was subject to their 
 future discretion whether to run the line at all or 
 not. It was not the wish of the people of Mich- 
 igan in 1802 to be separated from Ohio. It was 
 known they would have; voted against this ; and 
 when they were separated, it was on the basis 
 that all of Wayne County should be cut off from 
 a voice or interest in the new State. If the Con- 
 
458 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. [Chat. XIV. 
 
 gress of 1802 examined into the matter at all of 
 the location of the line, it is quite as likely, and 
 more consistent with honesty, that they meant to 
 follow the then existing lines of Wayne County, 
 as that they meant to cut off a portion of it 
 without giving the people a right assured to every 
 other inhabitant of the country set apart as Ohio. 
 Wayne County was very well known to cover 
 this land. 
 
 What map was supposed to have been before 
 the Congressional committee is not known. 
 There were undo;jbtedly maps then extant which 
 did not place Lake Michigan as far to the south- 
 ward as it really ran. But there were others 
 that did. If it had been deemed essential, some 
 care would probably have been taken to find out 
 the latitude. The French explorers often gave 
 the result of their observations with accuracy, but 
 their maps are not uniform, and very few maps 
 of that period were carefully protracted. D'An- 
 ville's map places the south end of Lake Michi- 
 gan below any part of Lake Erie. Some of the 
 French and English maps bring it so far east as 
 to strike the line between Ohio and Indiana. 
 The map in Parkman's " Conspiracy of Pontiac " 
 is substantially accurate, in regard to the relative 
 positions of the two lakes. It is not stated from 
 what that was copied. It may be modern, but if 
 so it is not drawn from modern sources in many 
 respects, and in some is very inr ecu rate. It is 
 probable that in the one particular of making the 
 
CnA». XIV.] SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 459 
 
 point of Lake Michigan north of the Maumee 
 Rapids, the preponderance in number exists in' 
 favor of it among the maps then in vogue. But 
 where this is so, they do not even approach an 
 agreement as to the real line. And it is not 
 asserted that the Ohio convention of 1802 acted 
 on any map or upon any other definite informa- 
 tion, in desiring Congress to change the line. 
 They proceeded on the statement of a man who 
 was no surveyor. The equity is a very slight 
 one, at best, that hang.s on such a support, and 
 the evidence is not clear even as to that. 
 
 As to the action of the convention of 1802, 
 its force is the other way, for they knew the line 
 must be changed, if made to suit them, and Con- 
 gress never changed it, but at several different 
 periods acted adversely. The organization of 
 Michigan, in 1805, was upon the expressed theory 
 that the line was at all events to run east frqm 
 the point of Lake Michigan. In 1807, Governor 
 Hull procured from the Indians a grant of right 
 of way for a road from the foot of the Miami 
 Rapids to the Connecticut Reserve, for the 
 expressed purpose of connecting the Ohio and 
 Michigan setdements. In 181 2, Congress required 
 the Michigan line to be run on the parallel of 
 the so !*h point of Lake Michigan. Applications 
 were made to Congress on behalf of the more 
 northern line as desired by Ohio, repeatedly 
 through a period of several years, and were never 
 acceded to. Ohio never attempted to claim by 
 
460 SOUTHERN BOUNDARY |Chap. XIV 
 
 practical steps that the Hne was already as she 
 flesired, until Michi<(an was about becoming a 
 State : when Governor Lucas took the measures 
 already alluded to, under pretexts of title. 
 
 The action of Ciovernor Mason and the Mich- 
 igan (Council was no more than every civilized 
 irovernmcnt is bound to exercise, when her peace- 
 able possession under the law of the land is 
 suddenly invaded. The United States laws, as 
 well as the Territorial laws, had defined the Terri- 
 torial jurisdiction ; and the Territory was in posses- 
 sion, — not recently asserted but long undisturbed. 
 The civil officers had no right to abdicate their 
 powers ; and neither the Governor nor the Presi- 
 dent, both of whom were the servants of the law, 
 could have relieved those officers from liability for 
 neglecting the duties which the law laid on them. 
 No Michigan officer ever attempted to surrender 
 the authority of the Territory. Had he done so 
 he could have bound no one. There is no likeli- 
 hood thjit Commissioners Rush and Howard made 
 any such attempt. If they had attempted it, their 
 action would also have been nugatory; and every 
 one of common sense must have known it to be 
 so. The President of the United Slates has power 
 to remove governors of Territories, and may thus 
 indirectly secure such action as men who choose 
 to abdicate their manhood may take to please him. 
 But neither he nor his appointees could lawfully 
 interfere to change or suspend the laws of the 
 Territory ; and General Jackson is not shown to 
 
Chap. XIV. J LUNUUCl Ot .M1CH1L.AN. 4G1 
 
 liave asserted any such power. It is not within 
 the constitutional power of any State to set on 
 foot a war of invasion ; and acts of violence done 
 beyond the State by any one would be in law 
 mere private misdeeds, which would be punishable 
 in the same way, whether authorized or disavowed 
 by the State. The opinion of Mr. Butler, and of 
 the United States executive, was in harmony with 
 these principles. While a nation may, perhaps, 
 by avowing an act of its officers abroad, cover 
 them from personal responsibility and put itself 
 in their stead, a State of the Union has no extra- 
 territorial functions, and can., it justify others in 
 doing \irrongful acts elsewhere. 
 
 It is probable that, in the excitement of the 
 times, those Michigan officers who performed 
 their functions in the disputed territory, were not 
 always careful to measure their conduct by line 
 and plummet ; and abuses may have been com- 
 mitted under color of law. This, though not 
 justifiable, was, in view of the natural infirmity of 
 human dispositions, a consequence easily foreseen ; 
 and it resulted from the provocation and resistance. 
 Although a defendant who justifies an assault by 
 pleading against his adversary sok assaii/f drnicsnc 
 (his own assault,) usually sets up for himself that 
 he thereupon softly laid hands on him, [jiiollitcr 
 nia/uis iniposnil,) yet a jury generall\' finds that 
 any laying on of hands not grossly in excess of 
 what would suffice for self-protection, is soft 
 enough to satisfy the conscience. The a/ia enormia 
 
462 CONSTITUTION ADOPTED. [Cma*. XIV. 
 
 — the filling in or aggravation of the charges, — 
 in cases of border violence, is not usually regarded 
 as putting the offended — and in turn offending — 
 power in the wrong upon the main question. 
 
 But after the lapse of forty years, and the 
 growth of many friendly relations, it is not 
 unpleasant to remember that the only lives lost 
 were those of two horses, one on either side, one 
 — according to tradition — an Ohio steed slain by 
 General Stickney by mistake, and one lost in 
 some unknown way, for which the State of Mich- 
 igan paid Mr. Bailey. A sheriff's officer who was 
 stabbed by Two Stickney recovered in due course 
 of time ; and those who suffered other griefs have 
 probably been sufficiently repaid by the serene 
 consciousness of having some personal adventures 
 to talk about. 
 
 The Constitutional Convention met at Detroit, 
 on the second Monday in May, 1835, and after 
 a patient session, submitted a Constitution for 
 the popular approval, which became operative by 
 adoption. An election was called for the first 
 Monday in October, 1835, ^^ vote upon the Con- 
 stitution, and to elect a Governor, Lieutenant 
 Governor, Members of the State Legislature, and 
 a Representative in Congress, all to become enti- 
 tled to their offices in case the Constitution should 
 be ratified. The first Legislature was to meet on 
 the first Monday of November. 
 
 This Constitution contained the usual bill of 
 rights. Its only peculiar political feature was that 
 
Chap. XIV.l CONSTITUTION. 463 
 
 it gave the right of voting to all free adult white 
 male inhabitants who were residents of Michigan 
 when the Constitution was signed, whether citizens 
 of the United States or not. This provision, 
 (which had no permanent importance, because all 
 voters would soon be otherwise qualified for 
 naturalization) was a difficulty urged with some 
 force in Congress, against the validity of the 
 Constitution, as interfering with the laws of the 
 United States. It is however to be borne in 
 mind that the Ordinance of 1787 did not require 
 voters to be citizens of the United States. At 
 that time each State had its own naturalization 
 laws; and two years' residence in the Territory 
 made one a voter, if otherwise qualified. The 
 action was, therefore, not entirely without prece- 
 dent, and was necessary to prevent the dis- 
 franchisement of those who had :..een dlowed to 
 vote for the delegates who sat in the convention. 
 
 The Legislature consisted of a Senate and 
 House of Representatives, over whose acts the 
 Governor had a veto power corresponding to that 
 of the President. The Governor and Lieutenant 
 Governor were to be elected for terms of two 
 years, and the executive power was vested, as by 
 the United States Constitution, in the Governor, 
 or in the Governoi and Senate. The courts 
 were to consist of one Supreme Court, and such 
 inferior courts as the Legislature should ordain ; 
 except that express provision was made for 
 courts of probate and justices of the peace. 
 
464 CONSTITUTION. IChap. XIV 
 
 Cabinet officers, and all other State officers, were 
 to be appointed by the Governor and Senate. 
 County and town officers, judicial as well as min- 
 isterial, were made elective. Education was to be 
 supported and encouraged, a university and 
 schools maintained, and the university and school 
 lands and their proceeds, and all other funds 
 obtained for similar purposes, were to be kept 
 inviolate. A superintendent of public instruction 
 was also provided for, — judges and State officers 
 were subject to impeachment for criminal and 
 corrupt conduct ; and judges could be removed 
 on the address of two thirds of each branch of 
 the Legislature. Other offices were subject to 
 removal as might be enacted. Slavery and invol- 
 untar\ servitude were forbidden except on con- 
 viction of crime. Internal improvements of all 
 kinds were to be encouraged by the .State. Acts 
 of incorporation could only be passed by two 
 thirds of the Legislature. 
 
 This Constitution was very simple, and ver)' 
 much better adapted to the changing necessities 
 of a growing .State than the present one. While 
 it restrained such abuses as it was thought would 
 be most dangerous, it left to the Legislature 
 broad discretion. All who have had much to do with 
 stuilying and construing the two instruments, have 
 discovered that, whik; a few restrictions concerning 
 fmances and internal improvements have been 
 found beneficial and necessary, — the buTv of the 
 special legislation contained in the Coiistitution of 
 
Chap. XiV i MASON SUPERSEDED. 
 
 465 
 
 1850 has been a hindrance, and not an advantage. 
 In a republican government it must be assumed 
 that the popular representatives in the Legislature 
 will act usually with honest motives and reasonable 
 prudence ; and while some things should not be 
 allowed under any circumstances, and others re- 
 quire checks, yet all which is subject to be changed 
 by time and changing events, ought in general to 
 be within legislative discretion. 
 
 The Constitution was ratified, and Stevens T. 
 Mason was elected Governor, and Edward Mundy 
 Lieutenant Governor. Isaac E. Crary was elected 
 Representative in Congress. 
 
 Before this election, in August, 1835, the Globe 
 contained the following : " Appointment by the 
 President. Charles Shaler, of Pennsylvania, to be 
 .Secretary of the Territory of Michigan, vice 
 Stevens T. Mason, superseded." This was followed 
 by a long article in which it was set forth that 
 Mr. Mason had disregarded the President's wishes, 
 and the peaceful arrangements which had been 
 made concerning the territorial disputes with Ohio. 
 As Congress had not acted upon the subject, it 
 is questionable how far the President had any 
 right to interpose with his wishes. He had, how- 
 ever, the right to remove the Secretary. Judge 
 Shaler would, no doubt, have been appointed 
 (Governor, if that appointment could have been 
 made during the recess. He was personally an 
 excellent selection, but he did not covet the office 
 under existing circumstances. It was Judge 
 30 
 
466 
 
 SECRETARY HORNER. [Chaf. XIV. 
 
 Shaler, — then a young man, who volunteered to 
 carry from Cleveland to General Hull the news 
 of the declaration of war ; which he did with enter- 
 prise and rapidity, through difficulties ; and, having 
 overtaken the army between the Maumee and 
 the Raisin, he was compelled to remain in Detroit 
 until the surrender. He was a gentleman who 
 would have commanded respect and esteem from 
 the people, whatever they might have thought of* 
 his authority ; but he declined the appointment. 
 
 On the 1 5th of September, the official journal 
 contained, with some editorial answers to eastern 
 newspaper criticisms on the course of the Presi- 
 dent, the following appointment. " John S, Horner, 
 of Virginia, Secretary of the Territory of Michi- 
 gan, Charles Shaler having declined the appoint- 
 ment. We learn that Mr. Horner l.as accepted 
 the above mentioned appointment, and that he is 
 now on his way to Detroit." On the i6th of 
 September, the Cleveland Whig, announcing that 
 Mr. Horner had that morning left for Detroit, 
 adds that it is prepared to hear that the people 
 of Michigan utterly contemn the authority of the 
 new Governor, so far as his policy may differ 
 essentially from that pursued by Mr. Mason. 
 
 Mr. Horner arrived in Michigan when troubles 
 on the frontier had temporarily revived, and just 
 after the troops had been sent down for the last 
 time to Toledo. The elections were to come off 
 in a fortnight, and in about six weeks the State 
 government would be organized. He interfered 
 
Chap. XIV. 1 SECRETARV HORNER'S WELCOME. 467 
 
 with what had been done in the courts, by par- 
 doning everybody but Two Stickney. He had 
 come out with distinct notions that he had a 
 mission to perform, but found no one who would 
 co-operate with him. It is believed that a very 
 upright and estimablt; gentleman of the bar 
 recognized him officially so far as to accept a 
 commission of notary public. But his executive 
 labors were very solitary, and the people began 
 to show signs of disapprobation. On the 1 2th 
 of July, 1835, ^^ addressed a meeting at the 
 Detroit City Hall, giving his views and intentions 
 at length, and apparently with some degree of 
 self-assertion. After he had concluded his speech, 
 the meeting organized, and several resolutions 
 were adopted, among which was the following : 
 (Jacob M. Howard, who in those days was 
 lieutenant in the Detroit City Guards, and in that 
 capacity had gone to Toledo armed and equipped 
 with sword and pistols, was already known to 
 fame as a man of powerful intellect and strong 
 convictions ; and from the style and tone of this 
 resolution, it would not be hazarding much to 
 conjecture that "the voice was Jacob's voice.") 
 
 " Resolved, that if our present Secretary of the 
 Territory should find it beyond his control, either 
 from the nature of his instructions, his feelings ot 
 tenderness towards those who had tor a long 
 period of time set at defiance as well the laws of 
 the Territory as those of the United States, or 
 any feelings of delicacy entertained towards the 
 
468 SECRETARY HORNER'S MISADVENTURES. [Chap. XIV 
 
 executive of a neighboring State, who has in vain 
 endeavored to take a forcible possession of a part 
 of our territory, to enable him to properly carry 
 into effect the existing laws of this Territory, it is 
 to be hoped he will relinquish the duties of his 
 office, and return to the land of his nativity." 
 
 Mr. Horner was a gentleman of excellent 
 character, and not wanting in ability. But he 
 magnified his office, under the favor and encourage- 
 ment of General Jackson, who had found the place 
 was not much sought after ; and the Secretary 
 was rather more peremptory and assuming than 
 the people were accustomed to find their public 
 officers, and more dictatorial than they were dis- 
 posed to submit to. The result was that neither 
 judiciary nor ministerial officers paid any respect 
 to him, — he met with very little private civility 
 or attention, — and in some instances lie was 
 treated with active discourtesy, which sometimes 
 took a form which was not generally approved. 
 In Ypsilanti a disorderly concourse pelted the 
 windows of his tavern loclgings, so that he re- 
 sorted to a safe place to sleep on the iloor ; and 
 it is said that the landlord charged in his bill 
 the damages caused by the lapidation. It was 
 generally thought, however, that until the State 
 became organized, his position should secure him 
 against insults not provoked by adequate cause ; 
 and while he did not as Secretary receive the 
 friendly civilities which his private character would 
 have secured to him as a private citizen, he was 
 
Chap. XIV.] FLECTION OK SENATORS. 469 
 
 not otherwise molested. After the State officers 
 assumed their functions, General Jackson directed 
 him not to recognize them. The result of this 
 was that he soon found it pleasant to remove to 
 that part of the former Territory of Michigan 
 over which no State government had been 
 asserted. He settled in Wisconsin, where he has 
 always been respected for his personal worth 
 and many virtues. It is much to be regretted 
 that so worthy a gentleman was put into a false 
 position, which exposed him to many difficulties, 
 and some indignities. 
 
 The Legislature met on the first Monday of 
 November, 1835. ^^^ ^^^ lo^h of November, a 
 rule was adopted for the election of Senators, 
 providing for a separate election by the two 
 houses, and in case of disagreement, for an elec- 
 tion in joint convention. Lucius Lyon was elected 
 unanimously in each house. Major John Biddle 
 received a major^jy of four in the Senate, and 
 John Norvell a majority of seven in the House. 
 Mr. Norvell was thereupon elected on joint 
 ballot, and he and Mr. Lyon were the first 
 Senators of the new .State. George W. Jones, 
 residing in Wisconsin, was elected Territorial 
 Delegate, — the Territory of Michigan extending 
 beyond the State, and therefore continuing. 
 
 The Constitution provided for the continuance 
 of Territorial officers until superseded. The or- 
 ganization of .State courts was postponed until 
 July, 1836, as the Territorial judges were entirely 
 
470 MICHIGAN KEPT OUT OF THE UNION. [Chap. Xl' . 
 
 satisfactory, and therefore time was desirable to 
 mature a judicial system. After a short session 
 the Legislature adjourned until January, hoping 
 that by that time the State would be admitted. 
 
 The admission, however, met with violent 
 opposition. The principal reasons arose out of 
 the slavery question. The States interested in 
 the southern boundary of Michigan, which the 
 constitutional convention had re-asserted by resolu- 
 tion, opposed it on that ground, although the 
 matter would by the admission into the Union 
 have become subject to settlement in the United 
 States Supreme Court; where Michigan had desired 
 to take it. and had passed resolutions to that 
 end, to have a speedy suit to settle the boundaries. 
 Arkansas had been taking preliminary steps for 
 admission, and it was known there might be some 
 objections to it on account of extreme provisions 
 for the protection of slavery, which it was expected 
 would be inserted, and which w/^re inserted, in its 
 constitution. There was a determination in each 
 extreme of the Union not to allow one State to 
 come in without the admission of the other as a 
 counterpoise. As some of the reasons acted upon 
 were not such as it would seem quite desirable 
 to set up openly, various pretexts and grounds 
 were advanced, — some no doubt from conviction — 
 others with as little doubt for effect. A primary 
 difficulty raised against both States, was that 
 Congress had not authorized the holding of con- 
 stitutional conventions. This was not true in re- 
 
Chap. XIV.] DEBATES IN CONGRESS. 471 
 
 gard to Michigan; — for the Ordinance of 1787, — 
 reasserted when the Territory was organized, — 
 provided expressly for the formation of a State 
 as soon as the free population reached sixty 
 thousand. The application for Arkansas was made 
 in February, 1836; and thereafter it was for some 
 time, in reality, a contest on the slavery question, 
 while in form it was mainly a discussion of the 
 right to call conventions without the previous assent 
 of Congress. But so far as Michigan was con- 
 cerned, political reasons of a pressing, if not very 
 fair, character, rendered it an object to conciliate 
 the neighboring States of Ohio, Indiana and 
 Illinois, in view of an approaching Presidential 
 election. Some members were also impressed 
 with a notion that, although Michigan had explicitly 
 desired to seek a judicial determination of her 
 boundaries, there was danger of bloodshed from 
 Illinois, and possibly elsewhere, unless Congress 
 interfered. Committees reported in favor of giving 
 Ohio the line she asked, and of confirming the 
 boundaries possessed by Indiana and Illinois ; 
 while, to prevent future litigation concerning the 
 binding character of the compact of 1 787, they 
 proposed to compel Michigan to wait for admis- 
 sion until she conceded those boundaries. 
 
 Colonel Benton, in his " Thirty Years' View," 
 — while passing over the boundary question as 
 one which, when he wrote, had ceased to be im- 
 portant, — narrates very fully the course of the 
 contest in 1835-6 over the admission of the two 
 
472 
 
 CONDITIONS IMPOSED. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 States. The debates were unprecedented for ob- 
 stinacy, — the last session in committee having con- 
 tinued twenty-five hours, and the real purposes 
 of the contestants not having been plainly avowed. 
 There was not only a desire to keep off the final 
 vote, but a contest of priority between the bills ; 
 and this grew chiefly out of the slavery dispute. 
 The Michigan bill got the preference, and was 
 passed first by a large vote ; and the vote on the 
 admission of Arkansas was nearly the same. The 
 opposition on the final vote in each case was in- 
 dependent of party ; and the contest throughout 
 was on other than party grounds. ' 
 
 The acts for the admission of both States were 
 thus passed and signed together, on the 15th of 
 June, 1836. But they were left in very different 
 positions. Arkansas was received into the Union at 
 once and unconditionally. Michigan was not to be 
 received except with the southern boundary claimed 
 by Indiana and desired by Ohio. The Upper Pen- 
 insula east of Montreal River, and the American 
 part of Lake Superior from that point to the 
 northwestern national boundary line, were thrown 
 in as a sort of compensation for the land taken 
 off at the south. Until the new boundary line was 
 adopted by a convention of delegates elected for 
 that purpose, by the people of Michigan, she was 
 not to be admitted at all. 
 
 There was much ingenuity in the scheme 
 devised to secure this consent. It was known 
 that the people of the State were largely in 
 
Chaf. XIV.] MOTIVES FOR ADMISSION. 473 
 
 favor of admission, and equally sure that they 
 were unanimously opposed to any boundary con- 
 cessions until the right received judicial determin- 
 ation. If admitted, it was certain the electoral 
 vote would be cast for Mr. Van Buren. The act 
 expressly recognized the election of United States 
 Senators and Representative as valid, and the 
 prevailing — though not unanimous — view was that 
 under the Ordinance the Territory had become a 
 vState, but a State awaiting admission, Wisconsin 
 was created a separate Territory from and after 
 July 4th, 1836. Michigan had meanwhile organ- 
 ized its own judiciary, to go into office July ist, 
 1836. The Senators and Representative were of 
 course desirous of entering upon their duties, and 
 the ingenious theory had been propounded that 
 the assent of a convention thus obtained would 
 be void as a violation of the State Constitution, 
 which had located all the powers of government, 
 and had not recognized any such body as a con- 
 vention. But as Congress had to determine on 
 the assent as a political question, and the ques- 
 tion of admission was not within the power of 
 the people, this theory was not regarded as ten- 
 able for any practical purpose, whether technically 
 correct or not. 
 
 The popular feeling was at once aroused, and 
 hostile. An effort was now made to convert the 
 proposals into a party question, which succeeded 
 partially, but not completely. There had been no 
 divisions of parties before on any of these ques- 
 
4 74 PUBLIC SENTIMKNI'. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 tions, although the partisan journals had been a 
 nrood deal at variance. The Governor called an ex- 
 tra session of the Legislature, to provide for a 
 convention, and it met on the nth of July. A 
 public dinner had taken place in Detroit on the 
 4th, at which many speeches and volunteer toasts 
 were given by leading politicians of both parties, 
 and they were equally earnest in their expressions 
 of disgust. The Governor's message was a ver^' 
 able and fair document, in which he submitted the 
 subject as one which must after all be decided on 
 as one of policy ; and while not disposed to ac- 
 quiesce, if there was any likelihood of a better de- 
 cision in the future, he thought it might perhaps 
 be found inevitable. The Free Press — the organ 
 of the Democratic party — on the same day indi- 
 cated less disposition than the Governor to make 
 the concession. On the first of July, 1836, the 
 provisions for district courts and other United 
 States offices, which are usually passed when 
 States are admitted, and which had been included 
 in the body of the act admitting Arkansas, were 
 enacted separately ; but with a proviso that this 
 act should " not take effect until the State of Micli- 
 igan shall be admitted into the Union according to 
 the provisions of the act entitled 'An Act to establish 
 the northern boundary of the Stace of Ohio, and to 
 provide for the admission of the State of Michigan 
 into the Union on certain conditions' " It should 
 have been remarked before, that this had fixed the 
 Ohio, Indiana and Michigan boundaries positively 
 
Chap. XIV.] CONDITIONS REJECTED. 476 
 
 and unconditionally, the conditions only applying 
 to the admission of Michigan, which was made a 
 subordinate heading of the bill. Congress ad- 
 journed on the 4th of July. Under the setded 
 rules of construction, the act of the ist of July was 
 a dead letter until the admission of the State ; and 
 no appointments could be made under it until 
 then. But before the Senate adjourned, the Pres- 
 ident nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Ross 
 Wilkins as District Judge, Daniel Goodwin as Dis- 
 trict Attorney, and Conrad Ten Eyck as Marshal, 
 with the proviso that their commissions should not 
 issue until the admission of the State into the 
 Union. As a judge when once appointed cannot 
 be removed except by impeachment, this would 
 have raised a very awkward question, if the con- 
 sent of Michigan had been postponed into another 
 administration : and the validity of such an ap- 
 pointment made before there was any law in force 
 to authorize it might have been contested. 
 
 The Legislature directed an election for a 
 convention, to meet in Ann Arbor, on the 4th 
 Monday of September. It became plain to every 
 one before the election day arrived, that the 
 members of this convention would reject the con- 
 ditions. The convention refused to consent to 
 purchasing admission on those terms. 
 
 An attempt was now made to unite the Dem- 
 ocratic party, in favor of accepting the conditions, 
 with the view of taking such measures as might 
 then be ventured on. The Washington corres- 
 
476 
 
 PKRSUASIVES. IChap. XIV. 
 
 pendents figured up the share which Michigan 
 would have in the dividends of surplus revenue, 
 and the five per cent, on the proceeds of public 
 lands, as amoi\:ting in all to more than 5ji45o.ocHD. 
 all of which — the President found occasion to 
 intimate — would be lost to Michigan if not 
 admitted on the first of January, 1837. — (This 
 like most other solemn extra-official utterances 
 of men in authority, was not correct.) Presiden- 
 tial electors were to be chosen in November, 
 under an act of the State Legislature ; and their 
 election also would be futile without admission. 
 And last — though not least — various gentlemen 
 willing to bear official responsibilities would be 
 disappointed. As the anonymous Washington 
 assurances concerning the financial loss by delay 
 appear to have been regarded as of doubtful 
 origin, an official letter was drawn from Mr. 
 Woodbury, Secretary of the Treasury, stating 
 that the money could not be paid to Michigan 
 before her admission, but not making the first 
 of January or any other day the limit. Informa- 
 tion was also obtained from Mr. Schoolcraft, 
 indicating the value of the Upper Peninsula. 
 
 On the 29th of October, 1.836, a Democratic 
 convention of Wayne County expressed a desire 
 for another convention, and this was followed by 
 a similar meeting in Washtenaw. The Governor, 
 in reply to a request, stated there was no time 
 for an extra session of the Legislature, and said 
 he had no authority to call a convention ; but he 
 
Chap. XIV.] MICHIGAN ADMITTED. 477 
 
 referred to the revolutionary proceedings in the 
 early history of the United States as quite irregu- 
 lar, and intimated that a popular convention might 
 be recognized at Washington. Thereupon, in 
 pursuance of the Wayne County ?ction, David C. 
 McKinstry, Ross Wilkins, Marshal J. Bacon, John 
 McDonell, and Charles W. Whipple, called a con- 
 vention to be held at Ann Arbor on the 14th of 
 December, and recommended that their action be 
 ratified by the next Legislature. Elections were 
 held, from which many of the people absented 
 themselves because not lawfully held, and the con- 
 vention met, (familiarly known as the " Frost-bitten 
 Convention") made up entirely of delegates favor- 
 able to admission. They at once, and without 
 ceremony, gave their assent to the conditions, and 
 forwarded their action to Washington. The 
 President laid the case before Congress, and it 
 gave rise to much debate. The validity of the 
 convention was denied, and the matter was con- 
 siderably delayed. There was a general disposi- 
 tion to admit the State, but not to recognize the 
 irregular action ; and a preamble reciting jOiisent 
 to have been given was strenuously objected to. 
 The bill was finally passed, with a preamble which 
 recited that consent had been given by a con- 
 vention of delegates, " elected by the people of 
 the State for the sole purpose of giving their 
 assent;" and Michigan was admitted on the 26th 
 of January, 1837. 
 
478 " ACQUIESCENCE. [CHAr. XIV. 
 
 It would be very difficult to maintain the 
 legality of this convention, on any principle which 
 would not lead to the subversion of all constitu- 
 tional government. But Congress acted upon it; 
 and the question was one political and not judi- 
 cial, on which their action was final. It is 
 probable, also, that in the view that no better 
 terms were likely to be made for some years, if 
 at all, the measure would, upon a second sub- 
 mission, have been ratified by a large majority of 
 the people. When the struggle was over, the 
 result was acquiesced in ; and the best was made 
 of what was deemed a bad bargain. An attempt 
 to have the electoral vote of Michigan declared 
 valid failed. All that could be done for it was 
 to allow the fact to appear that it had been cast 
 for Mr. Van Buren. This was permitted on the 
 ground that it would not change tht; result ; 
 and its regularity was left open. Colonel Richard 
 M. Johnson was elected \ ice President by the 
 Senate, for lack of an electoral majority. This 
 election took place after the State was admitted ; 
 and the Senators, Mr. Norvell and Mr. Lyon, 
 had the opportunity of giving him their votes. 
 
 The State was recognized, when admitted, as 
 having existed as such since November, 1835, when 
 the Senators and Representatives, Governor and 
 Legislature, came into office ; and such has been 
 the uniform ruling of all departments. The last 
 act of the Territorial Judges, on the first day of 
 July, 1836, — three days before the Territory of 
 
Chap. XIV, J CO FXISTEN'CE OF STATE AND TERRITORY, 479 
 
 Michigan lost its remaining jurisdiction by the or- 
 ganization of Wisconsin, — was in their capacity as 
 a land board. They conveyed a lot of land in 
 Detroit to the Detroit Young Men's Society, — a 
 corporation created by the State some months 
 before. This deed was held valid, on the ground 
 that the Territory survived until July 4th, although 
 a part of its domain had been severed and trans- 
 formed into a State. 
 
 Henceforth the affairs of Michigan were within 
 her own control. The motto of the Territory had 
 been Tandem fit Surculus arbor (the sprout at 
 length becomes a tree.) This simple and grace- 
 ful sentiment, with the device expressing it, looked 
 at the future and was now accomplished. The 
 conglomeration of mottoes and devices on the 
 State seal, which remind one of tiie character in 
 Shakspeare who had been at a feast of languages 
 and stolen the scraps, is devoid enough of mean- 
 ing to give a wide range to the imagination. 
 But, in spite of its heraldic confusion, the State 
 has suffered no damage from it ; and her great 
 seal, though not attractive as a work of art, can 
 certify a very honorable history. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MICHIGAN UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OK 1 835. 
 
 The new State had, at the time of its admis- 
 sion, become fairly settled down to the manage- 
 ment of home affairs. The Supreme Court was 
 organized by the appointment of William A. 
 Fletcher as chief justice, and George Morell and 
 Epaphroditus Ransom associate justices. Chief 
 Justice Fletcher had previously been selected to 
 codify and digest the st iutes, and was busy with 
 his work. A court of chancery was created, and 
 Elon Farnsworth was appointed chancellor. This 
 court, under his presidency, accjuired an enviable 
 reputation for the justice and soundness of its 
 decisions, and his opinions are plain and lucid 
 statements of correct principles. He was suc- 
 ceeded, on his resignation in 1842, by Randolph 
 Manning, who was also an able chancellor, and 
 filled with credit several political as well as legal 
 offices, dying in August, 1864, while holding 
 the position of judge of the Supreme Court. The 
 Court of Chancery was abolished by the Revised 
 Statutes of 1846, and the jurisdiction vested in the 
 circuit courts. 
 
Chap. XV.J UNIVERSITY. 481 
 
 John I ). Pierce of Marshall was the hrst Super 
 intendent of Public Instruction. He was very 
 active in preparing the general scheme of educa- 
 tion by means of primary schools, and the I niver- 
 sity and its branches. The University was es- 
 tablished at Ann Arbor. Its board of regents 
 consisted of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, 
 Chancellor, and Judges of the Supreme Court, as 
 ex-officio members, and twelve regents appointed 
 by the Governor and Senate. The University 
 was ultimately to contain not only a literary 
 department, but colleges of medicine and law. 
 Branches of the University were established in 
 various places as preparatory academies. These 
 were at Detroit, Pontiac, Tecumseh, Niles, Kala- 
 mazoo, Monroe and White Pigeon. The branches 
 were first established, and in 1841 the first class 
 was opened in the University at Ann Arbor, the 
 first graduates leaving the college in 1S45. The 
 medical college was opened in 184S, and the law 
 department in 1859. 
 
 The University and school lands previously 
 set apart by the United .States for University and 
 school purposes were transferred in fee to th(; 
 State, to dispose of them as might seem proper, 
 and preserve the funds inviolate. The new 
 organization, being identical with thi; old, obtained 
 title to such property as had been directly vested 
 in that corporation, — including buildings and lands 
 in 1 )etroit, and various other property. The 
 Superintendent of Public Instruction was put in 
 
482 
 
 SCHOOLS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 charge of all the trust lands and funds, and 
 retained their management until they were sub- 
 sequently transferred to the State Land Office. 
 
 The Governor's message, in 1837, dwelt upon 
 the necessity of a full system of education, and 
 advocated what was also desired by Mr. Pierce, 
 the ultimate completion of a uniform system, 
 whereby any child could be educated completely, 
 from the earliest rudiments through all the 
 branches of useful and elegant knowledge. This 
 he urged as necessary to secure political and 
 civil equality. Although it took many years to 
 reach the desired end, it has been reached, and 
 in most of our towns the schools carry up their 
 pupils as far as they choose to go, and prepare 
 them, if they desire it, for pursuing their scholas- 
 tic work in the University, or elsewhere. Until 
 union and high schools were established, the 
 branches of the University had been the only 
 public academies under State authority. Now 
 there are not only multitudes of them, but they 
 are very generally free schools throughout. The 
 branches were not kept up very many years. 
 They received female scholars as well as male. 
 
 In addition to school lands, the United States 
 at various times gave to the State, for its own 
 purposes. Kinds for -State buildings, salt springs, 
 and large grants to aid in public improvements. 
 Five per cent, of the proceeds of government 
 land sales was also given for internal improve- 
 ments. Five hundred thousand acres of internal 
 
Chap. XV. J INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 483 
 
 improvement lands were asked for and siibse- 
 quenriy granted, Michigan also became entitled 
 to a share of the surplus revenue of the United 
 States. These large possessions were anticipated, 
 and the hope of receiving them had, as already 
 seen, been one of the inducements to submit to 
 the unpleasant conditions imposed by Congress. 
 
 The Legislature of 1836, looking forward to 
 these accessions, had meditated on the magnificent 
 possibilities, and had, among other things, author- 
 ized the (iovernor to invite proposals from every 
 rail road company in the .State for the transfer 
 of their roads and franchises. The charters were 
 numerous, but not very much had been done in 
 road-building. In 1837. as soon as admission 
 became certain, the young State launched out, 
 like an heir just emancipated, into the most 
 lavish display df her new freedom, and fancied 
 opulence. 
 
 Although these times are not very remote, the 
 present generation cannot, perhaps, quite compre- 
 hend how people felt. There was as yet, no 
 railway communication with the east. From 
 .\lbany to .Schenectady and Utica, the road was 
 built very gradually. West of Utica the travel 
 was by stage or canal-boat. The Lake l^rie 
 steamboats were the finest and largest boats in 
 America, and conveyed travellers with speed and 
 comfort. From Detroit to Chicago there was no 
 convenient land-passage, and all went by the 
 lakes. iTom Chicago westward there were no 
 
484 
 
 RAILROADS ILiiAi-. XV 
 
 railroads, and no travelling facilities • beyond 
 natural roads. It was more than fifteen years 
 before any railroad crossed Canada. Telegraphs 
 were not put in use ' for many years. There 
 were no plank or gravel roads, and the best 
 turnpikes were almost impassable for several 
 months in each year. 
 
 The railroads themselves were imperfect, and 
 their ultimate perfection was not foreseen. Their 
 passenger cars were small vehicles, holding no 
 more than from eighteen to twenty-four passen- 
 gers, and not much, if any, heavier than the 
 large stage-coaches. The iron was tlat bar-iron, 
 from half to three-fourths of an inch thick, spiked 
 on wooden sleepers which were lightly tied, and 
 on tracks not perfectly graded or heavily ballasted. 
 The locomotives weighed from two to six or 
 seven tons, and drew corresponding loads. 
 Great weight and high speed would have de- 
 stroyed the tracks. One of the dangers of 
 travel was from " snake-heads," caused by the 
 loosening of the ends of the thin rails, which, 
 bending up, were caught between the wheels, and 
 driven through the bottom of the car, wounding 
 or impaling any one who sat over the point of 
 entrance. Instead of grading up or down steep 
 declivities, cars were passed over the incline by 
 counter weights of box-cars, loaded with stone, 
 which balanced them like window weights, and 
 made it easy to pass one up as the other went 
 down. As there were no long railways, there was 
 
Chap. XV. 1 RAILROADS. 
 
 485 
 
 no frei<rhting unless of light articles, except for 
 short distances. In a level country well supplied 
 with wood, the cost of building and ironing a 
 railroad was very trifling, and its rolling stock 
 was also cheap and scanty. The original capital 
 stock of the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad 
 Company, (the corporation which began the 
 Michigan Central Railroad) was a million and 
 a half of dollars. The entire cost of building and 
 stocking the Central Railroad to Marshall, was 
 reckoned in 1846 as having been two millions 
 of dollars. In private hands it would probably 
 have been less ; and the capital stock of $1,500,000, 
 aided by the earnings, properly managed, would 
 have been ade(|uate according to the plans first 
 devised, to build the road ; although the subse- 
 quent improvements in track and stock would 
 have made new arrangements necessary, if the 
 road had been built as slowly as was then 
 customary. Twenty miles a year was in those 
 days rapid railroad building. 
 
 It is not strange that with the experience of 
 such a rapid growth, the people of Michigan were 
 very sanguine. The times were what Judge 
 Baldwin very aptly named them, " flush times," 
 when money was turned out as fast as engravers 
 could make it, and nearly every good engraving 
 passed current somewhere. Property was bought 
 and sold at fabulous prices. Land which could 
 be purchased by any one at government price 
 for a dollar and a quarter an acre, would sell as 
 
486 SANGUINE EXPECTATIONS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 town lots on an engraved village or city plat, for 
 fifty times that price, with no reason in the 
 world for the advance. 
 
 The idea seemed current that the mere activ- 
 ity of immigration, and the enthusiastic visions of 
 the immigrants, actually created wealth. Usually a 
 large population means prosperity, because it has 
 grown up slowly, and improved the country and 
 accumulated savings for many years. But when 
 population from a mere handful grows up in ten 
 years to five or six times its original number, 
 there have been no savings ; and there is no pro- 
 gress beyond beginnings, where the outlay usually 
 exceeds the income. Of the settlers who came to 
 Michigan, most were of that intelligent and enter- 
 prising class that advance the material interest of 
 a region as fast as they can, and in the end 
 build up strong communities. But they were also 
 usually of the class whose wealth is in the future 
 and not in possession, and who do more borrow- 
 ing than lending. They were also very hopeful, 
 and selected their homes and lands with sagacity, 
 so far as fertility of soil and fitness for farming, 
 lumbering and milling, were concerned. But they 
 very often reckoned wildly, by overlooking difficul- 
 ties of access. The garden of Eden would not 
 pay for raising articles which could not be 
 marketed, and the completest mill or factory that 
 ever was built could not flourish without customers. 
 
 It was fortunate that the enterprising settlers 
 had correct notions concerning education. There 
 
ciiAi'. XV.] advancf.l) legislation. 487 
 
 never was in any country a more liberal and en- 
 lightened view of the value of generous culture. 
 The early founders of Michigan were not only in- 
 telligent, but many of them were highly cultivated 
 and intellectual ; and through good and evil 
 fortunes, while they lost wealth and suffered pri- 
 vations, they adhered with dogged tenacity to the 
 system of schools, which had been planned liber- 
 ally, and has been the safeguard and glory of the 
 State. As prosperity has increased it has fallen 
 upon men who generally have known its relative 
 value, and there are few towns in the common- 
 wealth whose schools are not fully up in complete- 
 ness to the means of the people. 
 
 The first State legislation was chiefly directed 
 to the development of the resources of the country. 
 Roads were laid out in every direction, and placed 
 under local supervision, so that the people most 
 nearly interested might have means of preventing 
 neglect and dishonesty. Railroads were chartered 
 whenever asked for. The University and school 
 lands were put in market on long time. The 
 State prepared as soon as possible to enter upon 
 a general system of internal improvement, where- 
 by all parts of its jurisdiction would be made 
 readily accessible, and be brought within easy 
 reach of markets and business facilities. i> 
 
 One of the first and best schemes devised to 
 further the development of the State resources, 
 was the organization of a complete geological 
 survey. In February, 1837, ^" ^ct was passed 
 
488 
 
 r,EOI.OG!CAt, SURVEY. IChap. XV. 
 
 for the appointment of a Slate Geoloijist to con- 
 duct such a survey, and annual sums, increasing 
 from $3,000 the first year to #12,000 the fourth, 
 were appropriated. Doctor Douglass Houghton 
 was selected to fill the ofifice. He was already 
 known throughout the State for his thorough 
 qualities as a sagacious and close observer, a 
 laborious and patient student, and a man of 
 integrity, whose love of science, and devotion to 
 its interests, had not impaired his cool-headed 
 shrewdness and habits of business. .Short as was 
 the remainder of his useful life, the best observa- 
 tions and discoveries in the fields which he tra- 
 versed have proved his accuracy and judgment, 
 and have shown no course safer than to follow 
 his suggestions. Within the first year his views 
 had become so favorably accepted that, in 1838, 
 the survey was re-organized on a larger basis. 
 Three principal assistants were recjuired to be 
 appointed by the Governor, on his nomination, to 
 wit, a zoologist, a botanist and a topographer ; 
 and four minor assistants to be nominated by the 
 Governor on the nomination of their chiefs, — two 
 for the zoologist, one for the geologist, and one 
 for the botanist. Twelve thousand dollars a year 
 was appropriated for the service. Maps, reports, 
 and specimens were to be furnished to the State, 
 and as far as possible to the University. Dr. 
 Abram Sager was appointed zoologist, Dr. John 
 Wright botanist, and Sylvester W. Higgins topo- 
 grapher. Bela Hubbard and Columbus C. Doug- 
 
CHAf. XV.T GEOLOGICAL SURVEV. 489 
 
 lass acted as assistant geologists, and Mr. (ieorge 
 H. Bull assistant botanist. Several important 
 reports and considerable collections were made, 
 and valuable maps and drawings were prepared 
 and some of them engraved. The general finan- 
 cial depression prevented any extensive work 
 after 1841, and in the careless management of 
 some of the State property, after Dr. Houghton's 
 death, all of his engravings, which were numerous 
 and very beautiful, and many of his collections 
 wfiich had been left in the State offices before 
 their removal to Lansing, disappeared. Dr. 
 Houghton had before his death secured the ser- 
 vices of Mr. Beneworth, a wood-engraver, whose 
 marvellous skill had obtained him honorable tes- 
 timonials in Holland, Sweden and Germany, and 
 who executed some of those minute gems of 
 engraving which beautify Harper's Bible. This 
 artist had become desirous of seeing the New 
 World, and was disposed to set out for the un- 
 defined western regions of which he had very 
 vague notions,, when Dr. Houghton found him in 
 New York, and being mutually interested, he was 
 induced to enter upon the work of engraving the 
 illustrations which would be needed for the final 
 report. The blocks were engraved and left with 
 uncut margins to prevent abrasion, and in this 
 condition deposited for safe keeping with one of 
 the vState officers. Besides these, Mr. Higgins 
 had drawn carefully, on stone, a large number of 
 fossils and other specimens, and several maps 
 
490 BANKING. • (Chap. XV. 
 
 were engraved. All have been lost. Their mon- 
 ey value was not less than many thousand 
 dollars. Their artistic as well as scientitic value 
 cannot be reckoned. ,.v : ,. . 
 
 Another scheme for the development of re- 
 sources was unlimited banking. To this the 
 (Governor was not favorable, unless upon careful 
 security. But the ideas of banking were very 
 ill-adapted to such times. It has hardly become 
 an exact science yet, but those times furnished 
 some valuable, though costly experience. At that 
 era the nation was out of debt, and all the State 
 debts combined were less than some ambitious 
 cities now pile up in a twelvemonth. Banking 
 on stock security was unheard of. But banking 
 had thus far been reasonably well conducted 
 generally. The favorite New York system then 
 was the " safety fund," by which each bank subject 
 to it contributed a small percentage of its capital 
 to a general fund, which was relied on to make 
 up such deficiencies as might arise when single 
 corporations were wound up. Large insolvencies 
 with no assets were not imaginable. In 1836, 
 the Michigan Legislature provided for a fund to 
 be made up of three per cent, on the capital of 
 every bank, payable in annual portions of one- 
 half of one per cent. Many banks were chartered, 
 and some of them came under this rule. But in 
 the large dealings with which this freely issued 
 paper had made men familiar, it was thought there 
 was not currency enough afloat, and specie was 
 
Chap XV.] WILD CAT BANKING LAW. 491 
 
 rarely seen. One motive for forming new banks 
 was the desire to secure a share of the govern- 
 ment deposits, as well as the surplus revenue, 
 which had also been sometimes deposited by the 
 States, to be ready if required to be refunded, 
 this being one of the conditions of the distribution. 
 In 1837, ^ general banking law was passed, which 
 was supposed to contain better securities than any 
 other similar scheme, and included the safety fund 
 plan in addition. Any persons residing in a county 
 of the State, (including among them at least twelve 
 free-holders,) could organize hanks of from 5^50,000 
 to $300,000 capital, and care was taken that at 
 least one-third of the stock should always belong 
 to county residents, in good faith and for their 
 own use ; and on executing the preliminaries and 
 paying in 30 per cent, in specie, they could pro- 
 ceed to business. Ten per cent, was payable on 
 the stock every six months, until all the capital 
 was paid in. Before beginning banking business, 
 bonus and mortgages, or the personal bonds of 
 I'esident free-holders, satisfactory to the County 
 Treasurer and County Clerk, were to be filed with 
 the Auditor General, to the full amount of the 
 circulation and indebtedness. Neither the circula- 
 tion nor the loans and discounts were to exceed 
 twice and a half the amount of the capital stock. 
 A rigid system of bank examiners and examina- 
 tions was provided, to prevent any banks, char- 
 tered or general, from committing frauds. 
 
492 
 
 FRAUDULENT BANKINC (Chap. XV. 
 
 This statute was held invalid, because the Con- 
 stitution prohibited any corporations which had not 
 been approved by two-thirds ot the Legislature. 
 But many banks were organized. The county 
 clerks and treasurers had as liberal ideas on the 
 value of lands and the solvency of free-holders as 
 could be desired ; and while in the older towns 
 some of these institutions were carried on as pru- 
 dently and honestly as any others, the general 
 tendency of most of the smaller, and some of the 
 larger, banks was towards reckless discounting 
 and wild speculation. Competent cashiers and 
 officers were rare. Men assumed to be bankers 
 who had no business knowledge, and could hardly 
 cast accounts. Many went into the business as 
 an easy method of swindling. The Hank Com- 
 missioners, who were compelled to travel without 
 the facilities of railroads and telegraphs, discovered 
 all manner of devices to deceive them as to assets. 
 Base metals were packed in coin boxes, and cov- 
 ered over with thin spreadings of coin ; and some- 
 times the same coin was kept in transit from bank 
 to bank through by-ways in advance of the Com- 
 missi()n(!rs, until its familiar appearance, or a re- 
 trograde visitation, exposed the trick. Few and 
 evil were the days of this banking, and the history 
 of the system of wildcat banks would be humili- 
 ating but perhaps profitable reading now : although 
 the sharpers and rascals of i<S76 are undoubtedly 
 more adept in knavery than theii ruder predeces- 
 sors, and would not be proud of such small 
 
Chap. XV.) HAD INVKSTMKNJS. 49S 
 
 swindling. The crash came as soon as the general 
 business panic began to spread through the Union ; 
 and within five years after the State was formed, 
 the financial ruin of its people was complete. 
 The best improved property in the best towns 
 shrunk to less than half, and sometimes less than 
 a fourth, of its previously estimated value, while 
 ur.improved property not paid for bankrupted its 
 luckless mortgagor, and if paid for was often too 
 burdensome to support its quota of taxes. 
 
 But young .States, like children, do not always 
 look beyond the year, and Michigan was no more 
 prudent than others. It allowed the school funds 
 to be lent out to private borrowers as well as to 
 banks and corporations, and made loans of its 
 own bonds and money to various railroads and 
 other schemes. Railroad mortgages of the mod- 
 ern kind were then unknown, and those early 
 loans would be regarded if made now, as safer 
 than the majority of advances made in these 
 (lays on such securities. They were generally 
 secured by private mortgages or guarantees, and 
 they were all on promising roads as first encum- 
 brances. Yet in most cases the .State lost a large 
 percentage. The surplus revenue was lent to 
 banks on deposit, and most of this was repaid or 
 collected ultimately, but somt: of it after long 
 waiting. Bounties were offered, and some loans 
 made, to encourage, among other things, the man 
 ufacture of beet-sugar. This speculation failed, 
 but the State met no serious injury. 
 
494 BOUNTIES AND REWARDS. fCHAf. XV. 
 
 The bounties and loans to encourage new 
 branches of industry were not extravagant, and 
 were probably well invested, even where the 
 object did not succeed. Attention was drawn to 
 the difficulty as well as to the supposed merits 
 of the schemes, and it is a matter of congratula- 
 tion, partly due to this, that few large enterprises 
 have ever been abandoned as impracticable. The 
 early experiments prevented heavier subsequent 
 losses. Among other things, tried on a small 
 scale and abandoned, was silk-raising. There was 
 at one time an epidemic mania for raising the 
 mortis multicaulis, (a mulberry adapted to the 
 silk- worm,) and this State, while somewhat excited, 
 was not much hurt by it. A gift of $3,ocx), in 
 1837, to the Reverend Martin Kundig. was an 
 investment more hopeful. It was given to that 
 excellent man in recognition of his faithful and 
 unwearied labors and outlays during the cholera 
 visitation. While it is the solitary private reward 
 or pension found in our history for philanthropic 
 services, it was creditable to giver and receiver. 
 Mr. Kundig is remembered by the older inhabit- 
 ants of Detroit as one of the few persons who 
 ever made a poor-house a charming place of 
 resort for visitors, entertained only by his pleas- 
 ant conversation and the sight of his well-kept 
 gardens ; and who. with strict economy, secured 
 to his unfortunate wards comfort and self-respect. 
 
 The necessity of internal communication led to 
 a measure which for many years kept down the 
 
Chap. XV.J FIVE MILLION LOAN. 495 
 
 credit of the State, and crippled its resources, 
 thereby driving away some of its own Citizens, 
 and effectually preventing the growth of its popu- 
 lation by increase from abroad. 
 
 In addition to some smaller debts, it was de- 
 termined to borrow five millions of dollars, to ex- 
 pend in various public works. It was expected 
 that by the aid of this sum, and such other dona- 
 tions as might be received from the United States, 
 three trunk railroads could be built across the 
 State, two canals made, several rivers improved 
 so as to be navigable, some small railroads 
 finished, and a ship-canal opened round the Falls 
 of the St. Mary's River. 
 
 A Board of Commissioners of Internal Improve- 
 ment had already been appointed. On the 20th 
 of March, 1837, this Board was directed to survey 
 three railroad routes across the peninsula. The; 
 first was the Michigan Central, from Detroit to 
 the mouth of the St. Joseph River in Berrien 
 County. The second was the Southern, to run 
 from the mouth of the River Raisin, through 
 Monroe, to New Buffalo. The third was tiu; 
 Northern, to run from Palmer or Port Huron to 
 (irand Rapids or (irand Haven. .A purchase was 
 to be made of the Detroit and St. Joseph Rail- 
 road, which hat! gone partly through Washtenaw 
 County. Five hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
 was appropriated to these roads at once, four 
 hundred thousand for the Central, one hundred 
 thousand for the Southern, (both of which included 
 
496 
 
 RAILROADS AND CANALS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 private railroads to be purchased,) and fifty thou- 
 sand for the Northern road. Twenty thousand 
 dollars was appropriated for surveys of a canal, 
 or combined canal and railway, from Mt. Clemens 
 to the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, a canal 
 from Saginaw River to Maple or Grand River, 
 and river surveys on the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo 
 and Grand Rivers, for slackwater navigation. 
 Seventy-five thousand dollars more was to be ex- 
 pended on some of these and other works. 
 
 Of these works it may be enough to say that 
 the Michigan Central was pushed by degrees as 
 far as Marshall, and built in good part from its 
 earnings, and the Southern was also extended 
 into Hillsdale County. Both of these were sold 
 in 1.S46. and the purchase extinguished a large 
 proportion of the State debt. The Northern Road 
 was graded beyond I.apeer. and its bed was con- 
 verted into a wagon- road, at the expense of a 
 large amount of internal improvement lands, which 
 paid a great price for a very little work. The 
 Clinton Canal was completed a few miles, and 
 rented fo.- water power. \'ery little, if anything, 
 came of the other schemes. 
 
 On the 2 I st of March, 1837, '^ ^'^^' was passed 
 authorizing the Governor to negotiate for a loan 
 of five millions of dollars, at not more than five 
 and a half per cent, interest, and redeemable after 
 twenty-five years. At first it was required to be 
 payable in the United States, but afterwards 
 allowed to bear six per cent., and be made pay-_^ 
 
Chap. XV. ] CONDITION OF EXCHANGES. 
 
 407 
 
 able in Europe, in pounds sterling at four dollars 
 and forty-four cents, or in Holland guilders at 
 forty cents. 
 
 The Cashier of the Michigan State Hank (at 
 this time John Norton, Jr.) was Fiscal Agent of 
 the State, having no large discretionary powers, 
 but keeping the State deposits in his bank. At 
 this time demand exchange on New York was 
 purchased by the banks in large sums at six per 
 cent, premium, and sold at much higher rates, — 
 from ten per cent, upward in some cases. Eastern 
 bills had a fictitious reputation, and were re- 
 garded — good and bad alike — as better than home 
 currency. Why this estimate was put on them 
 was not manifest except that persons sometimes 
 bought them as cheaper than exchange, to use in 
 eastern purchases. Michigan money was of differ- 
 ent values. City money was at par, — country 
 money in a few cases was at a slight discount, but 
 usuall)' at a considerable one. A diflerence was 
 made between " chartered" banks and ordinary 
 "safety fund" which were chiefly "wild-cat." although 
 the difference was purely imaginary, or quite as 
 often as not in favor of the wild-cats. No worse 
 frauds were ever detected in banking than among 
 several of the chartered banks. 
 
 In this condition of affairs, the credit of the 
 State was first tried in the money market, on 
 what was then a reasonably large scale. Ihere 
 is no tloubt Michigan bonds could have been 
 placed in Europe, and probably in the United 
 8Si 
 
498 
 
 DISPOSAI, Of STATK BONDS. IChap. XV. 
 
 States, by proper management. If they had been 
 honestly dealt with, the State would probably have 
 had no serious trouble. But Governor Mason, 
 who was personally honest himself, was a novice 
 in finance, and he fell into the hands of the 
 Philistines. 
 
 B) some unfortunate mischance he was induced 
 to select the Morris Canal and Banking Company 
 of New Jersey to aid him in negotiating the bonds. 
 How this was brought about has not been made 
 public. He was unquestionably misled by his own 
 inexperience into accepting strange counsels. He 
 made more than one agreement, and each one was 
 worse than the last. On the first day of June, 
 1838, an agreement was made substantially as fol- 
 lows, except that some of its provisions are am- 
 biguous and not very intelligible. The Governor 
 agreed to make the Morris Canal and Banking 
 Company agents irrevocable, to negotiate the 
 55,000,000 loan, and 5200,000 of other bonds after- 
 wards authorized for special purposes. The bonds 
 were to be sold in Europe or America, at such 
 limits and in such ([uantities as the agents deter- 
 mined, for which sales they were to have two and 
 a half per cent, commission, and in addition half 
 of an)" premiums received, up to five per cent., 
 and all beyond that; and were to bear all «^\pen 
 ses, and guarantee that the jjroceeds deposited in 
 New York, added to their commission, should not 
 be less than their par value. They were also to 
 l)ay the amount of the bonds, less their commis- 
 
Chap. XV, ] TERMS OF CONTRACTS. 499 
 
 sions, in instalments, whether sold or not, but 
 were always entitled to have in hand a million of 
 bonds in excess of payments already advanced, if 
 so much remained undisposed of. They were also 
 at liberty, if they chose, on thirty days' notice, to 
 take and pay for the bonds at par, less their 
 commissions. The contract as to the time when 
 in that case they should pay for them is very blind. 
 $1,300,000 of the bonds were delivered over at 
 once, and they were to pay for these ^250,000 in 
 cash, and ;j(i 1,050,000 when called for, on order, less 
 their commissions. The remainder of the entire 
 loan was payable in quarterly instalments of 
 $250,000 each, (or a million a year,) beginnin<.i 
 July I St, 1839, thus giving them about five years 
 in all to close up the matter. A difficulty after- 
 wards arose concerning the interest account, on 
 which the contract is silent. 
 
 On the fourth of June, 1838, — (three days 
 after the contract,) — Ciovernor Mason, without 
 any legal authority, made a further arrangement. 
 The $1,300,000, instead of being paid in cash, ht; 
 allowed to be put to his credit on the books of 
 the Company, as a payment in full, and agreed 
 to take the whole of it in the bank bills of the 
 Company, and disburse tluMii for State purposes, 
 — receiving $250,000 on the first of August, and 
 $100,000 a month thereafter. This gave the bank 
 the benefit of a distant circulation for over a mil- 
 lion and a cjuarter of bills, and the interest in ad- 
 dition on this whole sum for an average of about 
 
500 THE AGENTS OBTAIN ALL THE BONDS. [Chap. XV, 
 
 six months. On the 14th of July, Mr, Norton, the 
 Fiscal Agent, in equal absence of authority, made 
 a still further arrangement. Instead of paying over 
 their bills, they were to accept drafts for the same 
 amounts, payable ninety days after each of these 
 instalments of bills was to have been furnished ; 
 and these ninety day drafts were taken as cash. 
 As this transaction was between bankers of ex- 
 perience, it needs no comment. It gave them 
 directly ninety-three days of additional interest on 
 the whole $1,300,000. 
 
 The next phase in this transaction was during 
 the same year, in November, when the whole 
 bonds were turned over to these honest agents, 
 upon the sole corporate obligation of the Morris 
 Canal and Banking Company, to pay one-fourth 
 of the instalments originally provided for, and 
 that of the United States Bank, (which was no 
 longer a National bank, but a State corporation 
 of the same name,) for the other three-fourths, — 
 keeping a proper interest account. In this way 
 the whole amount of the bonds got into the hands 
 of the agents, without any security whatever. The 
 Morris Canal Company made default in the pay- 
 ments early in 1840, The State Treasurer, Robert 
 Stuart, found that they had got rid of their share 
 of the bonds in some way, and was glad to get 
 securities for about two-thirds of their proportion 
 of the unpaid and future instalments, but was hope- 
 ful that they would be able to pay in full, with 
 some delay. They were allowed an extension of 
 
Chaf. XV. J UEFAULT OF AGENTS. STATE SCRIP. 501 
 
 four years, until January, 1844, but long before 
 this they failed entirely. Their assets given as 
 security were of a strangely miscellaneous charac- 
 ter, and showed a very reckless course of banking. 
 
 Specie payments were now generally suspended, 
 and the State found difficulty in raising money for 
 its current expenses. The United States Bank 
 also made default in a part of the April instal- 
 ment in 1840. The Treasurer managed to get 
 more or less money out of this bank that year, 
 and the delay of that corporation was also re- 
 garded as temporary. In April, 1841. an issue of 
 State scrip was provided for, in the form of bank- 
 bills, and receivable for State dues, to anticipate 
 the next four instalments coming from the loan. 
 But they never came. The scrip depreciated con- 
 siderably, but, being receivable for taxes, was 
 about the only available currency to be had ; and 
 salaries and all other general liabilities were paid 
 in it, and accepted as the only thing to be ob- 
 tained. The Treasurer endeavored to get back 
 the bonds for which nothing had been received, 
 but they had been hypothecated by the failing 
 banks and were beyond reach. As they were all 
 where the equities still bound them, their further 
 negotiation was checked by proper notices. The 
 State arranged to pay on each what had been 
 advanced upon it. and in the subsequent sale of 
 the railroads these part paid bonds were received 
 — remitting most of the damages to which the 
 State was entitled by reason of the protest and 
 
r302 
 
 DISASTROUS LOSSES. IChap. XV. 
 
 default, and the accounts were substantially closed. 
 The loss to the State in interest caused by the 
 peculiar arrangements made after the first con- 
 tract, even if there had been no default, was 
 ;|>i 21,881.88 without reckoning the retention of the 
 whole 2^ per cent, commissions in advance. 
 The damage by reason of losses in work sus- 
 pended, and improvements rendered valueless, is 
 not to be estimated. It brought the State to the 
 •verge of ruin, and its evil consequences lasted for 
 many years. 
 
 It became necessary to pay internal improve- 
 ment expenses with a different sort of paper from 
 State scrip. Parties contracted to receive their 
 pay in internal improvement warrants, payable in 
 land, and not in money. Land being then a drug, 
 and not in demand, these warrants ran down to 
 forty cents on the dollar, and the contract prices 
 were fixed accordingly. This soon deprived the 
 State of many of the best lands, at a great sacri- 
 fice. No further labor was done except on such 
 works as were of immediate necessity and useful- 
 ness, and the unfinished works were for the most 
 part permanently abandoned, and their cost entire- 
 ly wasted. '. '^■■: -r'-;- ::=,:•,•;,,,.■-., -v. .-.-■; '■■■:, 
 
 But the construction of one of the most im- 
 portant works for the development of the country 
 was prevented by a very gross outrage. One of 
 the first measures of internal improvement adopted 
 was the construction of a ship canal round the 
 Falls of the St. Mary's River. An appropriation 
 
Chai'. XV.) SAULT CANAL STOI'PKU. 5Uo 
 
 was made, in March, 1837, for the survey and 
 commencement of the work, as soon as the Board 
 of Internal Improvement approved the plans. 
 Surveys and plans were made, and publicly known, 
 and contracts were entered into in accordance with 
 them, and the contractors proceeded to purchase 
 materials and make all their preparations in the 
 latter part of 1838 and beginnin^^ of 1839, to go 
 on with their work on the opening oi navigation. 
 The State made them an advance in the early 
 spring. On the 9th of May, they arrived on the 
 ground, and, as they were preparing to proceed, 
 they were served by a subaltern assistant quarter 
 master of the United .States with a letter of the 
 War Department, addressed to himself, whereby , 
 it was directed that no interference must he. al- 
 lowed with the improvements made by the United 
 States at that post, " among which the mill-race 
 is regarded as one of the greatest importance ;" 
 and he was notihed to " apprise the contractor 
 that he cannot be allowed, in the execution of his 
 contract, to interfere, in any way, with that work." 
 Accordingly the officer, on the day of serving 
 this letter, gave the contractor notice that it would 
 be his duty " to interfere with any work on the 
 projected canal, that might injure the United 
 States mill-race near that post." This notice was 
 served on the i 2th of May. The letter was dated 
 on the 6th of March, 1 839, more than two months 
 before, and was an answer to one received by the 
 War Department, written by this same officer in 
 
504 ARBITRARY MILITARY INTERFERENCE. [Chai>. XV 
 
 January, 1^39, containing information how the 
 canal was laid out and to be constructed. No 
 communication was made during this interval to 
 the State of Michigan, nor to any one else. This 
 mill-race, as shown to the Legislative Committee, 
 was not on any ground that had been set apart 
 as a military reserve, but the Town of Sault Ste. 
 Marie intervened between the mill-race and the 
 fort, which was a long way off. The mill is said 
 by the committee who examined into the matter 
 to have been dilapidated and useless, and General 
 Whiting, the chief quarter master of this depart- 
 ment, so stated. The State had not ceded juris- 
 diction over any part of the land in question. 
 
 The contractors informed the officer who 
 notified them, " that they were bound by the State 
 of Michigan, to excavate the canal within the 
 lines run and laid out by the chief engineer, and 
 that they should proceed with the work, and 
 could not allow water to flow through the race, 
 where the canal crosses the same, as it would 
 entirely frustrate the object that the .State of 
 Michigan had in view." The commanding officer 
 at the fort. Captain Johnson, responded that, under 
 his instructions, " the proposed work could not go 
 on peaceably ;" and that he was bound to carry 
 them out to their full extent. The contractors 
 went upon the ground, nevertheless, and began 
 work, when they were met, not by the mandate 
 or injunction of the civil authority, but by Captain 
 Johnson in his military capacity at the head of a 
 
Cha». XV. I STATE PROTEST 
 
 505 
 
 company of soldiers. They had their implements 
 taken from them by actual violence, and the party 
 was driven oH the ground at the point of the 
 bayonet. 
 
 This unjustifiable outrage put an end to the 
 work, and postponed the building of the canal 
 nearly fifteen years. It was brought before the 
 Legislature repeatedly by the State Executive, and 
 in 1840, when it was first presented, with a very 
 indignant message, by Governor Woodbridge, and 
 the facts fully investigated and reported on by a 
 committee, the Legislature, by a joint resolution, 
 declared their opinion that the course of the gov- 
 ernment authorities was " unwarranted by the 
 Constitution of the United States, and a violation 
 of the rights and sovereignty of the State of 
 Michigan," and that as an act of justice, the gov- 
 ernment was bound to repay the .State its advan- 
 ces and damages ; and directed that the State del- 
 egation in Congress be requested to take proper 
 action in the premises. In 1841, Governor Wood- 
 bridge felt it his duty " again to ask the attention 
 of the Legislature to the unauthorized and forcible 
 interruption, by iht troops of the United States, 
 of the public works of the State, during the year 
 before the last, at the Sault de Ste. Marie. The 
 pecuniary loss to the State, resulting from that 
 reprehensible interposition, remains unsatisfied, and 
 the injury to its honor unatoned for." 
 
 The bitter political contests which at this time 
 absorbed the attention of the American people 
 
506 RKl'REHENSim.K ACTION. IChai-. XV. 
 
 may have rendered this affair less important in 
 the sight of Congress than it ^vas in fact. The 
 use of m'htary force, a: ,titute for civil re- 
 
 medics, is iiitolerable in any country governed by 
 law. The official insolence which paid no attention 
 to notifying the State authorities, and gave them 
 no opportunity to delay their appropriations, or 
 deal with the matter in a legal way and obtain a 
 removal of the difficulties, was offensive and dis- 
 graceful. The damage to the State was very 
 serious. The I'pper Peninsulji had been forced 
 upon her acceptance, and the duty was at once as- 
 sumed of p»"oviding for making it available. The 
 explorations had already shown the immediate 
 value of its fisheries, and the ultimate value of its 
 great deposits of metal. The expense of trans- 
 shipment caused by the land portage at the vSault, 
 could not be borne without multiplying the cost of 
 all work done in that region, and adequate ship- 
 ping could not be built on Lake Superior without 
 better mt^ans of getting the r-^*, and assurance of 
 immediate remunerative employment. No large 
 vessels have to this day been built there, and the 
 first, and for many years the; only, vessels of any 
 magnitude that were used upon that lake, were 
 carried across the portage by the expensive and 
 perilous process of dragging them overland. 
 
 The Reserve at the Sault, t;ven within the 
 limits which were adopted for military purposes, 
 has been a source of trouble in the way of im- 
 provements. The carelessness of our legislation, 
 
Chap. XV.i NEEDLESS GOVERNMENT RESERVES. 507 
 
 without proper investigation, not only in allowing 
 government reserves to be created, for purposes 
 where exclusive jurisdiction is entirely unnecessary 
 for the uses of the United States, but in permit- 
 ting them to be much larger than is necessary, is 
 very much to be regretted. The propriety of 
 giving the government exclusive jurisdiction over 
 forts and navy-yards, and other similar places, 
 where no one has any right to go except on 
 public business, is evident enough. But places 
 which it is not dajigerous to the United States to 
 leave open to access at all times, ought never to 
 be removed from State jurisdiction. No difficulty 
 ever arose from having courts, or custom houses, 
 or post offices, or roads, or canals, continued on 
 ground not subject to the exclusive jurisdictiction 
 of Congress. The LInited States can lawfully 
 legislate to punish interferences with any of its 
 institutions or property, wherever they may be. 
 But the consequences of exclusive jurisdiction are 
 very serious. Residents may lose their rights of 
 voting and citizenship, — they may cause difficulty 
 in determining the validity of wills and contracts, 
 in the rights of husband and wife in their per- 
 sonal property, and in the laws of distribution, so 
 that if different reserves in the same State are 
 created at different times, there may be as many 
 difterent codes of law applicable. Many crimes 
 are punished differently by the United States and 
 State laws, and some acts which ari^ penal under 
 one system are exempt from penalty under the 
 
')08 LEGISLATIVE EXPRESSION ON RESERVES. [Chap. XV. 
 
 Other. Instances have already arisen in more 
 than one vState exemplifying these evils. The 
 dangers to public peace, where offences commit- 
 ted on one side of a street are governed by dif- 
 ferent laws from those committed across the way, 
 or on adjacent lands, are not theoretical nor small. 
 The disfranchisement of the Asylum in Ohio, and 
 its results, exemplified what every one who has 
 examined the subject has found strong reason to 
 deprecate. There is no higher act of sovereignty 
 than that which transfers sovereignty, and yet it 
 is easier imder our laws (assuming them to be 
 valid) to cede away State jurisdiction, than to lay 
 out a highway, and it is done with much less 
 ceremony, and for purposes in no way requiring 
 it. In 1855 the Legislature passed a joint resolu- 
 tion, complaining of the needless extent of the 
 reserves, and urging their correction ; but subse- 
 quent legislation seems to have lost sight of this 
 mischief 
 
 The general discontent with the management 
 of the .State finances led to political changes. 
 VUr singular character of the loan negotiation, 
 and its more singular sequels, led to serious 
 charges against the integrity of the whole trans- 
 action ; and the loss of some moneys never fully 
 explained did not tend to remove the public dis- 
 content. The (lovernor incurred heavy censure 
 for his imprudence and credulity. The charges 
 of personal dishonesty were not generally accept(;d 
 as just. When he died, in 1843, both houses of 
 
CiiAi'. XV. I RKVISKI) STATUTF.S. 500 
 
 the Legislature passed resolutions of respect to 
 his memory, and sympathy for his relatives, and 
 in this they followed the general sentiment. His 
 deficiencies were those of inexperience, and were 
 not mean or selfish. His abilities were much 
 beyond his years. 
 
 ("hief Justice Fletcher had been appointed in 
 1836 to prepare a revised code of laws. It was 
 expected that this would be merely a compilation 
 of existing statutes, with such changes as might be 
 needed by the change of government. Instead of 
 this he reported a volume of revised statutes, in 
 the shape of a single act, divided and subdivided 
 into parts, titles and chapters, and introducing 
 some novelties and much confusion. Among other 
 unexpected changes he substituted a boartl of 
 county commissioners for the board of supervisors, 
 and omitted to do away with imprisonment for 
 debt, which he had been expressly required to do. 
 The statutes were hastily prepared, and, as usual 
 when an entirely new arrangement is adopted, 
 they omitted many things, and were quite imper- 
 fect, abolishing most of the existing general laws, 
 and not providing adequate!) for the matters they 
 had regulated. This code introduced no import- 
 ant reforms in the law of property or of proced- 
 ure, and had no influence in that direction. It 
 was, however, well arranged, and perspicuous. In 
 1839, the year after it took effect, a great many 
 amendments were adopted to supply its deficien- 
 cies. One very important subject had been en- 
 
510 REVISED STATUTES, [Chap XV 
 
 tirely left out. Although preparations had been 
 made some years before for the erection of a 
 penitentiary or State prison, and it had been lo- 
 cated m 1837 and partly completed, the revised 
 statutes did not attempt to regulate it. A non- 
 imprisonment f"^*^ was also passed in 1839, as well 
 as laws giving power to the Court of Chancery to 
 wind up insolvent corporations. In 1842, the board 
 of supervisors was restored as before. The repeat- 
 ed amendments had produced so much confusion 
 that in March, 1844, provision was again made for 
 the appointment of a commissioner to consolidate 
 and revise the general laws. This duty was per- 
 formed by Sanford M. Green, who has since 
 filled the highest judicial offices in the State, and 
 was reported to the Legislature in 1846. Judge 
 Green had incorporated all the important amend- 
 atory legislation, and introduced some valuable new 
 features tending towards liberality. His work was 
 somewhat mangled by the zeal of certain so-called 
 reformers, whose impartial ignorance of law enabled 
 them to proceed with a degree of confidence not 
 usually shown by competent legislators. But in 
 many particulars, and perhaps in most of the more 
 important respects, his work furnished the greater 
 part of the code as adopted, and has ever since 
 remained as the groundwork of our legal system. 
 The Constitution of 1.S50 prohibited any further 
 revisions. 
 
 Tin,' removal of the Detroit garrison in 1S26 
 had been regarded as entirely safe, because there 
 
Chap. XV, I 
 
 PATRIOT WAR 51 I 
 
 w^s no likelihood of further complications with the 
 Indians, and the relations with Great Britain were 
 satisfactory. It had not then occurred to any one 
 that there might be occasion to protect the fron- 
 tier from lawless violations of neutrality. The 
 United States Arsenal had been removed to 
 Dearborn, so as to be less exposed. In 1837, the 
 Canadian insurrection, known as the Patriot War, 
 broke out, and for a time kept the lines in tur- 
 moil. Secret lodges of sympathizers, under the 
 name of. Hunter's Lodges, held meetings in sev- 
 eral of the lake cities. During the fall and winter 
 of 1837-8, it became necessary to employ the mil- 
 itary forces of the State to prevent the seizure of 
 the Arsenal, and to patrol the frontier, until they 
 could be relieved by the regular army. The move- 
 nients on the Detroit River were not at this time 
 very important. The invading forces managed to 
 get upon Fighting Island, whert; they remained 
 until dislodged by artillery, without serious casu- 
 alties beyond the occasion they gave for the des- 
 truction of the tine forest on Bois-blanc Island. 
 In 1838, after a temporary lull, and when nothing 
 was suspected, the)' crossed from I )(;troit to 
 Windsor, where a steamboat was burned, and 
 blood was shed on both sides. The leaders were 
 captured, and several of them were banished. 
 
 Some questions arising concerning the condi- 
 tion of naturalized citizens, the Michigan Legisla- 
 ture, in 1839, niemorialized Congress to have 
 measures taken to secure international recognition 
 
512 
 
 NATURALIZATION FREE SCHOOLS. [Chap. XV. 
 
 of the right of expatriation and naturalization. 
 This has been done within a few years, but has 
 left the subject in painful uncertainty, without pro- 
 viding adequately for furnishing evidence of a 
 change of country, and apparently without having 
 given any heed to the effect of such legislation on 
 inheritances and escheats. Few subjects require 
 more careful handling; and while, under modern 
 practice, treason is not much considered in deter- 
 mining the policy of shifting allegiance, the inter- 
 ests of minors have been disregarded also ; and. 
 without more careful action, the seeds have been 
 sown for some of the most vexatious liti<ration. 
 There are so many American children born or 
 educated abroad, that their interests need special 
 protection. It is not desirable, on grounds of un- 
 iversal brotherhood, to destroy the sentiment of 
 patriotism. 
 
 in i<S42, the first system of absolutely free 
 education vras authorized to be established in 
 Detroit. Saii^.uel Barstow and Dr. Zina Pitcher, 
 and Douglass Houghton, were the most efficient 
 movers in this matter, although sustained and 
 aided by many worthy coadjutors. The schools 
 were organized and advanced with much effort, 
 until the removal of the Capital to Lansing en- 
 abled the Board of Fxlucation to establish a union 
 school in the building which had bi;en vacated, 
 and which never belonged to the .State. The 
 other towns in the .State had been e(|uaily anxious 
 to advance their schools, and did so as fast as 
 
Chap. XV.] SCHOOLS. RKTRENC.IMENT. 
 
 513 
 
 possible. The superintendents of public instruc- 
 tion were zealous and energetic, and John D. 
 Pierce, the first in time and not second in en- 
 lightened wisdom, has lived to see the system 
 which he did so much to shape, carried out to 
 completeness. He was followed by PVankhn Saw- 
 yer, who was afterwards selected to organize the 
 schools of Louisiana. The superintendents who 
 have succeeded them have been faithful and val- 
 uable officers. The lands were early transferred 
 to the keeping of the State Land Office, and 
 the superintendents remitted to their more appro- 
 priate functions. 
 
 The collapse of the banking system, and the 
 misfortunes attending the State management of 
 internal improvement, led of necessity to a re- 
 linquishment of the latter, and a return to a 
 specie basis. In 1842, the State reached a point 
 where there was nothing left but to begin over 
 again. The State scrip was called in, the suspen- 
 sion of specie payments rescinded, shinplasters 
 prohibited, and economy introduced in all things — 
 beginning notably with public printing, which was 
 reduced to its narrowest compass, and included 
 no documents not of permanent importance, — per- 
 haps erring in this somewhat. A donation of 
 500,000 acres of lands for internal improvements 
 was received from the United States, and aided 
 more in saving past investments than in future 
 expenditures. It has been doubted, however, 
 whether, apart from the school and University 
 
514 LOANS RESTRICTED. POLITICAL CHANGES. |CHAr XV. 
 
 funds, the State has, on the whole, been a ^reat 
 gainer by the donations of land received from 
 the United States. In some places they have no 
 doubt hastened improvements. But, justly or im- 
 justly, there have been several periods when the 
 integrity of the management of many of the 
 schemes which have absorbed them has been very 
 much doubted, and in some instances their dis- 
 posal has been fraudulent in the extreme. 
 
 In order to prevent any further extravagance, 
 the Legislature of 1842 submitted, and the next 
 Legislature and the people ratified, an amendment 
 to the Constitution, requiring every law authoriz- 
 ing the borrowing of money on State stocks to 
 be confined to a single and specified object, for 
 which alone it should be lawful to use the money, 
 and to be approved by a popular vote at a 
 general election. A judicious exception to this 
 (which if continued under the Constitution of 1850 
 would have saved much trouble) exempted from 
 this necessity loans obtained to pay the actual 
 executive, legislative, and judicial government ex- 
 penses, and for suppressing insurrection, repelling 
 invasion, and defending the State in war. 
 
 In 1839, the election changed the political con- 
 trol of the State, and placed it in the hands of 
 the Whig party, William Woodbridge being 
 Governor, and James Wright (jordon Lieutenant 
 Governor. The Legislature had already been 
 changed so far as to elect Augustus S. Porter as 
 Senator, to succeed Lucius Lyon. Tlu; great 
 
Chap. XV.] GOVERNOR BARRY 515 
 
 popular uprising which, in 1840, elected William 
 Henry Harrison to the Presidency, had secured 
 him a large following in Michigan, where many of 
 his old friends and admirers of the Democratic 
 party as well as Whigs voted for him. His un- 
 fortunate death, and the quarrels of Congress 
 with his successor Mr. Tyler, produced a reaction, 
 and John S. Barry, who assumed the Governor- 
 ship in 1842, had a series of Democratic suc- 
 cessors, until the organization of the Republican 
 party in 1854, when Kinsley S. Bingham was 
 chosen, and has been followed ever since by 
 Republican (governors. Governor Woodbridge 
 was elected Senator to succeed Mr. Norvell in 
 1 841, by a coalition of Democrats with some 
 members of the Whig party, who thus defeated 
 Lieutenant Governor Gordon, the nominee of the 
 party. Governor Woodbridge remained in the 
 Senate during his full term of six years, after 
 which he took no part in public affairs. 
 
 Governor Barry was so prominent during the 
 remainder of his career, that few men are better 
 remembered among our State officials. He was 
 more popular in his later than in his earlier in- 
 cumbency, and never appeared very anxious to 
 seek popularity. His political views were some- 
 what extreme, and at times he became very ob- 
 noxious to his opponents on that ground ; and 
 many regarded his public economy as narrow and 
 parsimonious. It is nevertheless no more than 
 justice to his memory to vindicate him from this 
 
516 GOVERNOR BARRY. [Lhap. XV 
 
 charge. He has on more than one occasion 
 manifested the most liberal views, where the 
 public good required liberality ; and it was due 
 to the combined efforts of Governor Barry and 
 Chancellor Farnsworth that the Insane Asylum at 
 Kalamazoo was planned on a broad basis, instead 
 of reduced to dimensions and surroundings which 
 would have rendered it abortive. It is equally 
 true, (as those who were familiar with his course 
 while ex-officio presiding officer of the Board of 
 Regents can testify,) that he was one of the best 
 friends the University ever had, and that he never 
 allowed political reasons to intrude where they 
 did not belong. It never was the fortune of the 
 writer to agree with Governor Barry in politics, 
 but he cannot justly abstain from bearing testi- 
 mony that he was not the mean man he has been 
 sometimes supposed to be, and that the State and 
 its institutions have derived lasting benefit from 
 his rigid integrity and fidelity. When the resources 
 of a State will permit liberal outlays for laudable 
 purposes, parsimony may become reprehensible. 
 But in Governor Barry's early official career, it 
 required the utmost economy to preserve the 
 public credit at all ; and there was no time while 
 he was in office when it was not desirable. The 
 recent experiences of municipal plundering and 
 venality in various parts of the country, and the 
 waste of public property to enable knaves to 
 outshine their honest neighbors, have not indicated 
 any serious danger that exactness in guarding the 
 
Chap. XV. 1 CONDITION OF INDIANS. 517 
 
 treasury is running to excess, or in need of 
 discouragement. 
 
 At various times, from 1836 to 1842, treaties 
 had been made with the Indians, whereby in the 
 latter year the entire tribal titles had been extin- 
 guished, except as to a few special reservations. 
 The Indians In the Lower Peninsula were mostly 
 removed west of the Mississippi. It had long been 
 felt that it was unjust to prevent them from hav- 
 ing opportunities of civilization, which could only 
 be obtained by giving them property to be held 
 individually, and not by communities. The I/Arbre 
 Croche Indians, as long back as the Pontiac war, 
 had been a well-behaved community, and had pros- 
 pered by honest industry. In 1844, the Legislature 
 requested the Michigan Senators and Representa- 
 tives to endeavor to procure for them the position 
 of American citizens. In 1847, ^he privilege was 
 asked that any Indians in the State might be al- 
 lowed to pre-empt and retain such lands as they 
 occupied and cultivated, on the same footing with 
 others. It is not pleasant to notice that the per- 
 sistent attempts of Michigan to secure to the ori- 
 ginal holders of the soil a chance to become civ- 
 ilized possessors of homes in the country of their 
 fathers, have been thwarted. Although by the 
 Constitution of 1850, the resident civilized Indians, 
 who had separated from their tribes, were admitted 
 to the privilege of voting, yet it was held by the 
 United States Supreme Court, in United States v. 
 Holliday, (3 Wallace. 40,) that it was impossible 
 
518 TRIBAL RELATIONS. [Ciiai-. XV. 
 
 for an Indian to withdraw from his tribal relations 
 without the consent of the United States. As this 
 must be accepted as law, it is time Congress 
 changed it. While we assert the right of every- 
 body else to go where he pleases, and to change 
 his allegiance as often as he chooses, it seems 
 that the guardianship of the government over 
 these persons annihilates their free agency, and 
 compels them to barbarism, no matter how much 
 they may desire to escape it. This rule has a 
 double action, which was very well exemplified in 
 1840. in the partially successful efforts of the 
 British agents at the Manitoulins to draw over 
 Indian colonists into Canada. They proposed to 
 include the Michigan half-breed settlers as Indians, 
 in their distribution of presents. In a meeting of 
 Indians and half-breeds, in May, 1840. on the 
 Canada side of the Sault, Shingwauk, the head 
 chief, referred to this as a part of the scheme of 
 such a colony. Addressing the American Indians, 
 he said : " Whether the thing you ask from the 
 British government will be granted or not, we do 
 not know, but if the half-breeds will consent to 
 be under us as Indians, we hope it will be granted. 
 This is what our fathers told us. The half-breeds 
 on our side have nearly all consented." Where 
 the mixed blood is in even quantities, it is not 
 irrational for Indians as well as white men to 
 claim its allegiance. 
 
 A serious trouble arose in 1841, from the 
 discovery that a considerable quantity of public 
 
Cha*. XV. I FRAUDULENT SURVEYS. NAMES OF COUNTIES. 
 
 519 
 
 lands put in market, including eighty-one townships 
 lying mostly north and west of the Saginaw Bay, 
 had never been surveyed, but had been platted 
 and returned on fictitious surveys. This discovery 
 was first suggested by the State Topographer, 
 Mr. Higgins, who found, in protracting his .State 
 map, that the lakes and water courses in the region 
 in question presented the appearance of a very 
 symmetrical tree, with leaves and branches so 
 very regular that it seemed unlikely the country 
 could be truly represented. The Legislature, in 
 1842, called the attention of the government to 
 the fact, and to the fraud that would be thereby 
 committed on purchasers whose lands were not 
 to be found. 
 
 In 1840 Indian nai les were given to twenty- 
 nine of the northern counties in the Lower Pe- 
 ninsula, many of which were names of distinguished 
 chiefs, who had signed the treaties made at differ- 
 ent times since the Revolution. In 1843, sixteen 
 of these were re-named. In one case a Michigan 
 Indian name was changed for a Florida chief's 
 name, Osceola. Anamickee, or Thunder, the ap- 
 propriate name for the county including Thunder 
 Bay, (and the name of a chief,) was transmogri- 
 fied into Alpena — perhaps a phonetic rendering 
 of Alpina, if dime novels were then extant. Five 
 were borrowed from Ireland, one from New York, 
 one (Montmorency) might have been suggested 
 from several quarters, and the remainder were of 
 no special significance. Kishkauko, the patro- 
 
520 
 
 MARRIED WOMEN. TEXAS AND OREGOK. IChap. XV. 
 
 nymic of the head chief of Saginaw for over a 
 century, was exchanged for Charlevoix — a very 
 proper name, but one which might have been 
 dropped elsewhere as well. The reason for this 
 is not known. 
 
 In 1844, an important step was taken, by se- 
 curing to married women their property (real and 
 personal) free from the control of their husbands. 
 This has since been fixed by the Constitution. 
 
 The Legislature, for two or three successive 
 years, expressed itself in favor of the annexation 
 of Texas, and the assertion of the Oregon title 
 up to fifty-four degrees and forty minutes of 
 north latitude. That boundary was left unsettled 
 by Mr. Webster in the Ashburton treaty of 1842, 
 but compromised by Mr. Buchanan by the Treaty 
 of 1846, in which it was brought down to the 
 forty-ninth parallel. Unfortunately, the careless 
 use of language created another ambiguity in the 
 San Juan de Fuca boundary on the Pacific, which 
 was recently decided in favor of the United States 
 by the Emperor of Germany, after nearly thirty 
 years' dispute. We have been singularly unfor- 
 tunate in not getting our boundary treaties with 
 (ireat Britain so as to make the lines definite 
 and unambiguous. 
 
 In 1846, the State disposed of the Central and 
 Southern Railroads, and ceased to own any pub- 
 lic works, (as she has since kept aloof from them,) 
 and left the building of railroads to private en- 
 terprise, which is much better adapted to their 
 
Chap. XV. 1 MEXICAN WAR. COUNTY COURTS. 
 
 521 
 
 management than the agencies of a republican 
 government. 
 
 In that year the Mexican war broke out. While 
 there was much difference of opinion about the 
 acquisition of Texas, there was none about the 
 duty of Americans to maintain their country 
 against the assaults of her enemies. The call 
 for volunteers was readily responded to, and the 
 Michigan soldiers, both volunte-irs and regulars, did 
 no discredit to the State. Resolutions were 
 adopted by the Legislature in 1847, asserting die 
 right of the United States, and urging the ener- 
 getic prosecution of the war ; expressing admira- 
 tion for the conduct of the army on the Rio 
 Grande and at Monterey ; declaring it the duty 
 of the nation to extend the free principles of the 
 ordinance of 1787 over any territory which should 
 be acquired, and voting money for the equipment 
 of volunteers. 
 
 About this time a considerable change was 
 made in the judicial system. For three or four 
 years a majority of the legal business of the 
 State was reipiired to be brought into county 
 courts, with elected judges, paid at first by fees, 
 and afterwards by a discretionary salary from the 
 county treasury. These courts were introduced 
 on an idea that they would render justice speedily, 
 cheaply and .satisfactorily. In some counties able 
 men presided in them, and gave .satisfaction. This, 
 however, was not so general as to be customary, 
 and the method of doing business deprived par- 
 
522 JUDICIAL SYSTEM. [Chaf. XV. 
 
 ties of some of the most important legal safe- 
 guards to the impartial selection of juries. Nei- 
 ther delays nor expenses were lessened, but, in 
 the end, increased, as every needless intermediate 
 tribunal has always been found to operate. They 
 did not in many counties command respect, and 
 became disorderly. When the constitution of 
 1850 was adopted they were, by universal consent, 
 discontinued as worse than failures. 
 
 The revision of i<S46 abolished the court of 
 chancery, and transferred the disposition of equity 
 cases to the circuit courts. This plan has worked 
 very well — its only drawback being the incapacity 
 of some county clerks to keep their records and 
 business in proper shape, and the habit which 
 sometimes prevails of unduly postponing equity 
 hearings to accommodate the common law issues. 
 Our system has become so far simplified that the 
 unnecessary distinctions between law and equity 
 have mostly disappeared, and equity proceedings 
 are only flexible remedies to reach the cases which 
 cannot properly be tried on common-law issues. 
 Facilities exist for having juries pass upon such 
 facts as may require it, without the old necessity 
 of having them sent before another tribunal. It 
 is very much safer to have cases of all kinds dis- 
 posed of before courts familiar with all departments 
 of the law. Those courts have always acted most 
 judiciously where legal and equitabie, antl civil 
 and criminal, (luestions are all subject to decision. 
 To make any system of laws work well, there must 
 
Chap. XV.] RULES OF EVIDENCE. 523 
 
 be harmony among all its departments ; and 
 specialists are often unsafe counsellors, because 
 they give undue importance to their subjects, and 
 magnify forms and multiply distinctions beyond 
 reason, while they are peculiarly disposed to in- 
 dulge in theories of conduct that ignore the in- 
 finite variety of human action. 
 
 The revision of 1846 began some valuable re- 
 forms in the rules of evidence, which have now 
 been carried still further. Witnesses were no 
 longer excluded from testifying by reason of in- 
 terest, opinion, or character, but all such objec- 
 tions were made to go to their credibility ; and 
 juries and courts were allowed, if they believed 
 their statements, to act upon them. The old rules 
 were senseless, and well calculated to defeat the 
 ends of justice. The only rules of exclusion that 
 rest on real and sensible reasons of policy, are 
 those which prevent parties from violating confi- 
 dences, and from criminating themselves. The 
 revision wisely recognized this, in protecting the 
 confidences of patients to physicians, and religious 
 conlJdences, as well as those of lawyers and clients, 
 and in the domestic relations of husband and wife. 
 The necessity of encouraging fidelity in confiden- 
 tial relations, is much greater than that of encour- 
 aging litigation ; and rules which would destroy 
 manly honor and privat*' faith would be poorly 
 compensated by the small occasional gain that might 
 ensue to persons contending in the courts, by en- 
 larging their field of inquisitiveness. — 
 
624 CAPITAL PUNISHMKNT ABOLISHED. [Chap XV 
 
 This revision also enabled parties in some 
 cases to obtain the testimony of their adversaries 
 in law courts, whenever it could ha^'e been ob- 
 tained for the same purpose by bill of discovery 
 in equity. This was only one step towards the 
 entire removal of the disability of parties to f^stify 
 like other witnesses, — a measure which has been 
 approved by experience. 
 
 The greatest change in criminal law was the 
 abolition of capital punishment. The previous 
 laws in regard to felonies had. during the earlier 
 Territorial days, confined the death-penalty to 
 murder. This crime had then been divided into 
 degrees. Murder in the first degree, which em- 
 braced only the more deliberate and cruel kinds 
 of murder, was punished by death, while murder 
 in the second degree was subject to a graduated 
 and partly discretionary imprisonment. The crime 
 of murder in the first degree was now made 
 punishable by imprisonment for life, with no dis- 
 cretion to reduce it. The statistics of crime h' ve 
 never been so thoroughly intelligible that any one 
 can determine very safely what effect this change 
 has hid. It is very doubtful how far the degree 
 of punishment has any direct bearing on the 
 minds of those who commit this atrocious crime. 
 There is, no doubt, an indirect influence exercised 
 on public opinion by all penal statutes, which 
 reaches criminals and innocent persons alike, and 
 produces some effect on their estimate of conduct. 
 But very few have been known to calculate on 
 
Chap. XV.] CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. ELECTIVE JUDGES 525 
 
 the measure of punishment, before committing 
 homicide, or other violent assaults. There has 
 been no popular or general expression which 
 would indicate a desire to restore the death pen- 
 alty, and it is questionable whether, if existing, it 
 would be disturbed, if left to a popular vote. 
 The change made in 1846 was not either demanded 
 or condemned by the general sentiment. Murders 
 had not been common in the State, and then, as 
 now, whatever opinions there were upon the sub- 
 ject were not the result of study or experience, 
 but rather of pre-existing ideas and differing 
 theories. The circumstances of individual crimes 
 are so different that criminal statistics are among 
 the least valuable means of reaching safe conclu- 
 sions on the relations of crime and punishment ; 
 and few subjects attract less public attention than 
 the bulk of criminal legislation. The Criminal 
 Statutes of the United States have seldom called 
 forth any debate in Congress, and State laws of 
 the same kind are very apt to be adopted with- 
 out much discussion. A change so radical as the 
 removal of the gallows from among the instru- 
 ments of punishment could not fail to create much 
 comment, but it did not elicit any full expression 
 of popular feeling. 
 
 The Supreme Court, whicii began with three 
 judges, was increased in i<S38 to four, and in 184S 
 to five; and in 1849 a constitutional amendment 
 was proposed, (and afterwards adopted) making 
 them elective. . .: ^— -.— — ~- 
 
526 UPPER PENINSULA. [Chap. XV. 
 
 The Upper Peninsula, although the Indian 
 title was extinguished in 1842, remained unsettled 
 for some time. The want of shipping on the lake 
 prevented the development of business, and the 
 want of business prevented the building of vessels. 
 Without a canal to give communication below, it 
 seemed likely the opening of this country would 
 be indefinitely postponed. Year after year the 
 Legislature urged the matter before Congress, 
 and more than one effort was made to secure a 
 right of way for a corporation to build the canal. 
 Some malign influence baulked every eftbrt, until 
 one might imagine the Military Reserve and all its 
 surroundings were too hallowed ground for 
 commerce to tread. In the face of these obstruc- 
 tions, nothing was left but to wait patiently until 
 interests should appear, which would be influen- 
 tial enough to overcome the mischief. 
 
 A first essential to settlement was a complete 
 survey of the lands, or of enough to furnish a 
 foothold for business. The early explorations of 
 Dr. Houghton had determined the true character 
 of the mineral region, but his revelations were so 
 remarkable as to disturb scientific theories, and 
 that was a serious affair not to be lightly accepted. 
 In his earlier excursions he found it impossible to. 
 make complete surveys upon the ground, because 
 the compass-needle was subject to such great and 
 varying fluctuations as to render it inefficient. 
 This difficulty was removed by the genius of a 
 Michigan scientific inventor, William A. Burt, who 
 
Chap. XV. J SOLAR COMPASS COMBINED SURVEYS. 527 
 
 had been for many years prominent as a govern- 
 ment surveyor and engineer, and who devised a 
 simple and elegant instrument which was indepen- 
 dent of magnetic disturbances. This was the now 
 well known solar compass. This remarkable in- 
 vention not only furnished the means of determin- 
 ing at a glance a true meridian, hut had combined 
 with it various other functions, which made it, in 
 a compact form, one of the most useful pieces of 
 scientific mechanism ever put together. By means 
 of this the work of the mineral land surveys be- 
 came easy and accurate. At the same time Dr. 
 Houghton devised another plan — so simple that 
 the stupidity which failed to appreciate it is 
 marvellous — of combining the linear with the 
 geological survey, and carrying all on together. 
 This would be more economical than any other, 
 and would locate with exactness every important 
 discovery. 
 
 The public surveys in Michigan were carried 
 on under a system devised originally for the 
 Northwest Territory. A principal meridian line 
 was first run, and a principal base line upon a 
 parallel of latitude. All the surveys were made so 
 as to be reckoned east or west of the meridian, 
 and north or south of the base. The survey dis- 
 trict was divided oft' into townships, nominally six 
 miles square, but always narrower at the north 
 than at the south side, because of the conver- 
 gence of the bounding meridians. Each township 
 was divided into thirty-six sections, nominally one 
 
528 DOCTOR HOUGHTON'S SYSTEM. [Chap. XV. 
 
 mile square, but really affected by the same con- 
 vergence, except that, instead of the loss being 
 distributed equally among all the sections, it was 
 thrown upon the north and west sides of the town- 
 ship. The more rapid convergence of the lines 
 as they approached higher latitudes rendered it 
 necessary to adopt at intervals new, or correction- 
 al bases, from which to run the town lines north- 
 ward. Each section was divisible into sixteenths, 
 but was not usually surveyed in fact into these 
 minute divisions, but lines were run at half mile 
 intervals. Dr. Houghton's plan was to have on 
 these lines, or on still more frequent subdividing 
 lines when necessary, notes taken of everything 
 of geological value, and of its exact position, and 
 if not exactly on the line, to have its bearings 
 and distances noted. In this way, when the maps 
 were made up from the surveyor's notes, every 
 mineral bed or other important object would ap- 
 pear in its exact place, and could be located and 
 followed up without difficulty at any time, if a more 
 thorough examination by the geologist should be 
 required, without loss of time, in new explorations. 
 Mr. Burt, who was a good explorer and a man 
 of science, at once appreciated the value of this 
 plan. Dr. Houghton succeeded in obtaining au- 
 thority from the Cieneral Land Office to try its 
 efficacy, and undertook the survey in person, in 
 company with Mr. Burt, and other competent as- 
 sistants. The work was done with the facility and 
 exactness which he anticipated. But at the close 
 
Chap. XV.) HOUGHTON'S DEATH. MININO. 529 
 
 of his first season, on the 13th of October, 1845, 
 Dr, Houghton was overtaken by a storm while in 
 a small boat near Eagle River, and perished. All 
 the important notes of his season's work were lost 
 with him. His death was deeply mourned through- 
 out the vState. It was an irreparable loss to the 
 Upper Peninsula, for his place was not tilled by 
 those who partook his views or believed in his 
 plans ; and a system which with diligence and sa- 
 gacity was feasible, and in all respects admirable, 
 was dropped. All the subsequent explorations 
 have been independent and fragmentary. 
 
 Enough was now known to stimulate mining 
 enterprise. The United States, in advance of 
 further complete surveys, issued permits or licenses 
 to locate tracts of land for mining purposes, and 
 leases were granted of thest locations, which were 
 surveyed in a rectangular form, but seldom exactly 
 conforming to the survey lines subsequently estab- 
 lished. Companies were formed to work these 
 locations, and the remarkable developments soon 
 created a great excitement, until mining companies 
 furnished a greater source of speculation than 
 wildcat banking. Nevertheless the companies 
 very generally were got up for actual mining, and 
 spent much time and money in developing their 
 property. The earliest companies were not incor- 
 porated. In 1S47, the Legislature remonstrated 
 against the action of the government in leaving 
 the rights of these lessees in a condition of un- 
 certainty, and urged that such action be had as 
 8* 
 
530 MINING DIFFICULTIES fCHAP. XV. 
 
 to remove doubts as to their title. The lands 
 were afterwards sold and conveyed in fee simple. 
 
 The supplies to the early mines were taken 
 up to the Sault by vessels or steamboats. There 
 they were carted, and afterwards carried upon a 
 short tram-railway, to the head of the rapids, and 
 taken further by coasting boats, until a vessel or 
 two could be obtained. The first propellers and 
 steamers on Lake Superior, were moved past 
 the Rapids in a sort of cradle or frame, on rollers. 
 In J 85 1, or 1H52. the last of these steamers, the 
 Sam Ward, was taken over in the same way. From 
 the landing places the supplies were taken back 
 to the mines on pack-horses or mules in summer, 
 and with dog-trains or sleds in winter. The 
 mineral, until roads were made, came down to the 
 landings chiefly during the winter on sleds. 
 
 The enormous expense of supplies, and the 
 loss of money by inexperience and extravagance, 
 rendered most of the first enterprises costly, and 
 many of them were ruinous. But the spirit of 
 enterprise was proof against all these trials, and 
 the country became a scene of busy labor and 
 great activity. Its early settlers, as was natural 
 in such a region, were men of intelligence and 
 enlarged ideas, and their influence has been per- 
 manent. Few countries have had a larger share 
 of valuable citizens, or a smaller number of 
 drones or paupers. 
 
 After the sale of the railroads, and the re- 
 newal of activity in business, which had begun to 
 
Chap. XV. J ASYLUMS. 
 
 531 
 
 brin^ out the public resources more evidently, the 
 attention of the people was turned to some objects 
 which had been neglected, chiefly from want of 
 means. At this time the penitentiary at Jackson 
 was the principal institution directly maintained by 
 the State. The number of persons disabled from 
 ordinary pursuits began to attract consideration. 
 In 1848, preliminary steps were taken to provide 
 asylums for the deaf, dumb and blind, and for 
 the insane. Commissioners were appointed to 
 select locations, and erect buildings, and put the 
 institutions in operation ; and eight sections of salt 
 lands were appropriated. At that time the number 
 of such asylums in the United States was not 
 large, and their requirements were not well under- 
 stood. The Board determined, before doing more, 
 to get such a thorough knowledge of the different 
 asylums as would enable them to act discreetly, 
 and to secure such further appropriations ^s they 
 should find necessary. Chancellor Farnsworth 
 visited in person all the institutions of that kind 
 in the United vStates. Dr. Pitcher and Mr. Bela 
 Hubbard had made a study of the treatment of 
 insanity, and were well informed upon the con- 
 dition of the principal asylums. The Insane 
 Asylum had received liberal offers at Kalamazoo, 
 including a tract of ten acres, which was by many 
 supposed to be large enough. Governor Barry 
 and Chancellor Farnsworth secured the selection 
 of one hundred and sixty acres, by agreeing to 
 retain it if not confirmed, and finally it was wisely 
 
632 ASYLUMS. UNIVERSITV. NORMAL SCHOUL. (Chap. XV. 
 
 determined by the Legislature to appropriate 
 enough not only to procure this land, which was 
 a good bargain, but to build a very different 
 building from what at first they had been disposed 
 to provide for. In due time it was finished and 
 equipped, ard, under its accomplished superinten- 
 dent Dr. Van Duzen, has been well managed and 
 very successful in curing or alleviating the maladies 
 of many patients, whose lives have been lightened 
 by its kindly ministrations. The Asylum for the 
 Deaf and Dumb, and the Blind, was established 
 at Flint under similar precautions, and has done 
 great good. 
 
 The University graduated its first academic 
 class in June, 1845. Thereafter it continued to 
 grow steadily. In 1848, the Medical Department 
 was organized, which in a few years took rank 
 with the best in the country. The union school 
 system* was becoming popular, and it was found 
 important to provide a training school for teach- 
 ers. Normal schools were as yet experimental, 
 and the statute of 1849, which established the 
 State Normal School, gave to the Board of 
 Education a wide discretion as to its system. Its 
 object was not only to impart such knowledge as 
 would benefit teachers already well educated, but 
 to educate them. Instruction was also to be given 
 in the mechanic arts, in agricultural knowlecige 
 and science, and in the fundamental laws of the 
 country, and other matters bearing on the duties 
 of citizens. This school was established at Ypsi- 
 
Chap XV.] LAND OFFICE. CAPITAL 538 
 
 lanti. and has been continued on a .omprehensive 
 plan, which is undoubtedly wiser than confining it 
 to the machinery and tactics which to some minds 
 seem to make up the equipment of teachers. 
 The Board of I'lducation was found to be a valu- 
 able body for other public purposes, and has suc- 
 ceeded to a large course of duties. 
 
 In 1843, the State lands, apart from the educa- 
 tional and special funds, had become important 
 property, and a State Land Office was established, 
 which had control given to it of the entire body 
 of State lands, whether held in trust or otherwise. 
 The Superintendent of Public Instruction was re- 
 lieved from the care of lands. The office was 
 fixed at Marshall, where it remained until removed 
 to Lansing, under an act of 1849. 
 
 Several colleges were from time to time created 
 under special charters, in different parts of the 
 State. Some of them became quite successful 
 and some still remain so. The great portion of 
 them never kept up their organization. 
 
 The Constitution of 1835 left the temporary 
 location of the State Capital subject to legislative 
 discretion until 1847, when it was to be per- 
 manently located. When that time came there 
 was much difficulty in agreeing upon any of the 
 existing towns, several of which received consider- 
 able support, but none a majority. A suggestion 
 was finally made to locate it near the geographical 
 centre of the State, without selecting a town of 
 present importance, and it was fixed in the town 
 
534 
 
 CAPITAL REMOVED TO LANSING. I Chap. XV. 
 
 of Lansing, in Ingham County. Proposals had 
 been made by parties interested in that township 
 to procure its location on their lands. The Legis- 
 lature determined, however, to require its location 
 by disinterested commissioners, who might consider 
 the proposals made by those parties or any others, 
 but were to act on their own best judgment. 
 The school section in that township had not been 
 sold, and, as it was a very eligible spot, it was 
 determined to place the Capital there. This not 
 only gave the school-fund the benefit of having 
 the seat of government laid out upon it, but was 
 probably as good a choice as could have been 
 made. The position is handsome and well adapted 
 to a city. Although its isolation retarded its 
 growth, it is now increasing rapidly, and in tl 
 road to prosperity. A Capitol building was put 
 up in a very few months, and intended to serve 
 but a temporary purpose ; while a larger and 
 finer building-site was set apart for the future 
 permanent edifice. Fortunately the temporary 
 building was retained until the State was disposed 
 to substitute another worthy of permanence ; and 
 before the t;nd of the coming year the entire 
 business of the commonwealth will be centred in 
 a large and stately Capitol, fair in its proportions, 
 and having, if as well managed hereafter as here- 
 tofore, no reminder of fraud or peculation to mar 
 the popular pride in the undertaking. All the 
 moneys devoted to it have been honestly and 
 faithfully expended. 
 
Chai'. XV. ] NEW CONSTITUTION CONTEMPLATED 
 
 535 
 
 There were several circumstances which led the 
 minds of the people towards a revision of the Con- 
 stitution. It could have been amended easily, but 
 it was supposed a new instrument might be made 
 more homogeneous. Probably the chief cause of 
 the change was the vague desire that sometimes 
 gets abroad to revolutionize or alter affairs, without 
 any fixed plan or object. Other States had made 
 sweeping revisions, and Michigan should follow 
 them. There were, nevertheless, some subjects on 
 which there had been agitation and warmth. 
 
 By amendments already in force, the power to 
 borrow money had been much circumscribed, and 
 the cabinet officers as well as judges had been 
 made elective, thus divorcing the (Governor from 
 the rest of the executive department, and destroy- 
 ing his chief executive function and responsibility. 
 It was still claimed that he had influence remain- 
 ing that might be used corruptly or unfairly for 
 his own benefit, and that the Legislature were also 
 exposed ^ sinister infiuences. The charges which 
 were bandied about, if they had any force, would 
 almost go to demonstrate the tailure of free gov- 
 ernment entirely. Hut. such as they were, they 
 had some weight in the adoption of a constitution, 
 with many very good features, but which intimates 
 from first to last that no one is to be trusted. 
 
 The abuse of the appointing power had been 
 
 prevented by taking it away. But there is little 
 
 in the history of Michigan to indicate its abuse. 
 
 There had been a series of senatorial elections, 
 
536 SUPPOSED ABUSES. [Chai-. XV. 
 
 which are not believed to have been the result of 
 any peculiar executive influence, but which were 
 in the heat of discussion charged to that, and 
 which led to a constitutional inhibition against the 
 selection of a governor as senator. This, however, 
 has been regarded as beyond the popular control, 
 and inoperative. The succession of the Senate is 
 a proper item of State history, and was as follows. 
 As already seen, Lucius Lyon and John Norvell 
 were elected Senators in 1835. By the allotment 
 in the Senate when they were admitted, Mr. 
 Lyon's term was made to expire in 1839, and Mr. 
 Norvell's in 1841. The Legislature of 1839 elec- 
 t(;d Mr. Porter, a Whig, — Mr. Mason, the Gover- 
 nor, being a Democrat. In 1841, the Whig Leg- 
 islative nomination was given to Mr. Gordon, the 
 Lieutenant Governor ; but a secret arrangement 
 was made by the Democratic members with some 
 Whig members to support Governor Woodbvidge, 
 who was elected. The next vacancy occurr*^d in 
 1845, when the Democrats were in power, and 
 John S. Barry was Governor. Mr. Porter, of 
 course, was left out. General Cass had returned 
 to Michigan, and had been in 1844 prominent be- 
 fore the Democratic National Convention as a 
 Presidential candidate ; and, through Mr. \'an 
 Buren's influence, had been defeated by Mr. Polk. 
 He was so manifestly the proper man for senator 
 that he was elected at once. In 1847, when Gov- 
 ernor Woodbridge retired, Alpheus I'elch was 
 (iovernor. He had been Auditor Cienc'ral and 
 
Chap. XV.) SENATORIAL ELECTIONS. 
 
 537 
 
 Judge of the Supreme Court, resigning his latter 
 office upon his election as Governor, in the fall 
 of 1845. rhe Legislature of 1847 elected Gover- 
 nor Felch to the Senate. This was the second 
 instance of a governor thus honored. 
 
 In 1847, Epaphroditus Ransom, then Chief 
 Justice, was elected Governor, and assumed his 
 executive duties in January, 1848. General Cass 
 was that spring nominated for the Presidency 
 against Cieneral Zachary Taylor, and resigned his 
 seat in the Senate. The Legislature was not in 
 session, and the power of appointment fell to the 
 Governor, who appointed Thomas Fitzgerald to 
 fill the vacancy until the Legislature should meet. 
 It was then thought, by those who anticipated the 
 election of Cieneral Cass, that Governor Ransom 
 would become the colleague in the Senate of his 
 predecessor in both offices, Governor Felch. 
 General Taylor's election, as it did not change 
 Michigan politics, left (ieneral Cass again the 
 most suitable choice for the Senate, and he was 
 again elected by common consent. No other 
 Senatorial elections took place until after the 
 new Constitution took eflect. 
 
 In these cases Governor Woodbridge was 
 elected by the a{)posing party, and Governor 
 Felch never was suspected of being elected on 
 any ground but his fitness for the place. The 
 fear that one office would be used to obtain 
 another, was not based on any actual success of 
 that kind. Hut when people become suspicious, 
 
588 CORPORATE MONOPOLIKS [Chap. XV 
 
 and look out for grievances, any hint will arouse 
 their suspicions. 
 
 Another evil was more obvious. The existincr 
 Constitution prevented general corporation laws, 
 and no corporation could exist without special 
 charter. In the early days of the State, railroad 
 and bank charters were given to any one who 
 asked them, and so were charters for all pur- 
 poses. These charters contained no personal 
 liability clauses, and were generally very ill- 
 guarded against abuse. As contracts, they had 
 become irrevocable. A host of banks had failed, 
 and now there were not over about half a dozen 
 in the State, and their charters were approaching 
 an end. There was a great popular fear of their 
 multiplication, and some jealousy of their renewal. 
 The new railroad companies had been given very 
 liberal charters when they bought their roads 
 from the State, and there were strong assurances 
 against competition. As the necessity for new 
 roads arose, there were difticulties about securing 
 charters. It was found that at each session the 
 Legislature was beset by an importunate and ag- 
 gressive lobby, who became an intolerable nuis- 
 ance, and threw suspicion on the honesty of 
 every thing they favored. Charges were freely 
 made of corruption, and a decision, either for or 
 •against a corporate interest, was subject to be 
 impugned. All these scandals arose from corpor- 
 ations under special charters, or persons desiring 
 or opposing the grant of new charters. A very 
 
CiiAr. XV.] NEW CONSTITUTION. SLAVERY. 539 
 
 general feeling was aroused in favor of changing 
 this system, and making provision for general 
 corporation laws, creating no individual privileges. 
 
 These and other less defined discontents led 
 to the calling of a new Constitutional convention, 
 which met at Lansing in 1850, and prepared the 
 Constitution under which we now live, which was 
 adopted by popular vote, and took effect on the 
 first of January, 1851. , 
 
 The period between the Mexican war and the 
 adoption of the Constitution of 1850 was largely 
 taken up with discussions on the question of 
 slavery in the Territories, and this postponed the 
 civil government of New Mexico, and California 
 and the other acquired lands, until settled by the 
 Compromise of 1850. The Michigan Legislature 
 passed repeated and strong resolutions in favor 
 of suppressing the slave trade in the District of 
 Columbia, and preventing its existence in any of 
 the acquired territory. In 1850, the admission of 
 California as a free State was insisted upon, and 
 the question of passing measures of harmony 
 was entrusted to the discretion of the Senators 
 and Representatives in Congress. This resolution 
 and one in favor of the free navigation of the 
 St. Lawrence, closed the work of the last Legis- 
 lature under the old Constitution. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MICHKwVN I'XDKR THE CONSTITUTION OF 1850. 
 
 The Convention which met in 1850 agreed 
 upon a constitution, some parts of which were re- 
 enactments, although in different language, of what 
 had already been in force. Some very important 
 changes, however, were introduced, and some re- 
 markable restrictions. 
 
 The judicial system was changed by making, 
 for the present, eight circuit judges, (whose 
 number might be enlarged) with supreme court 
 powers, instead of supreme court judges with 
 circuit powers. The judges were to hold office 
 for six years, and the courts were to have law 
 and equity powers. County courts were abolished, 
 and the jurisdiction of justices of the peace was 
 raised to three hundred dollars, with power to 
 increase it to five hundred dollars — subject to 
 such exceptions as should be provided by law. 
 After six years, a separate supreme court with 
 four judges, was authorized to be created. The 
 Upper Peninsula was under the jurisdiction of a 
 district court, which might ultimately be changed 
 to a circuit court. Grand juries were not abolished, 
 but it became lawful to dispense with them. Im- 
 
Chaf. XVI. I CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS 
 
 541 
 
 prisonment for debt, except in cases of fraud and 
 fiduciary or official misconduct, was forbidden. 
 
 The sessions of the Legislature were to be 
 held once in two years, instead of annually, and 
 both senators and representatives to be chosen for 
 one legislative term. Representatives were to be 
 elected from single districts, except that in cities 
 and townships entitled to more than one member, 
 all were to be chosen by one ticket. Special 
 acts of incorporation could no longer be passed 
 except for municipal purposes. All other than 
 municipal corporations were to be organized under 
 general laws. Every law was required to be con- 
 fined to a single object, specified in its tide, and 
 not to take effect within ninety days after the 
 adjournment of the Legislature, without a two- 
 thirds vote of all the members elected to each 
 house ; and the yeas and nays were required on 
 the passage of all statutes. Amendments could 
 only be made by re-enacting at length the section 
 as amended. No private claim could be audited 
 or allowed by the Legislature, and a two-thirds 
 vote was required for every act appropriating 
 mone) to private or local purposes. License laws 
 for the sale of intoxicating liquors were forbidden. 
 
 All revenue for ordinary purposes was re- 
 quired to be raised by annual taxes, but specific 
 taxes on corporations were to be applied on the 
 State debt, and after its extinguishment paid over 
 to the primary school fund. All interest on the 
 educational trust funds was payable out of specific 
 
542 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS. [CiiAr. XVI. 
 
 taxes. No debts (except for war purposes) could 
 be incurred beyond fifty thousand dollars, and the 
 State could not aid or be interested in either 
 corporate stock, or works of internal improve- 
 ment, except in expending grants for the latter 
 purpose. State credit could not be loaned or 
 granted in aid of persons or corporations. Taxes 
 (not specific) were to be levied on property 
 assessed at its cash value. ' 
 
 Agricultural leases, upon rents, were confined 
 to tv/elve years, and corporation lands, except 
 where used for corporation purposes, could not 
 be left unsold beyond ten years. Careful guards 
 were placed upon the subjecting of private pro- 
 perty to purposes of public utility. 
 
 No revision of the statutes was to be made, 
 but compilations of existing laws were permitted. 
 This was done by Judge Thomas M. Cooley, in 
 1857, and by Judge James M. Dewey in 1871. 
 
 All State and judicial officers were made elec- 
 tive, subject to impeachment for misconduct. 
 Judges were made removable, on the concurrent 
 resolution of two-thirds of both houses. By a 
 subsequent amendment, other State officers were 
 removable for misconduct, by the executive. 
 
 The (Governor had, as before, the qualified 
 veto power, and a power to reprieve and pardon 
 after conviction, (except on impeachment.) 
 
 'Ihe elective franchise was originally confined 
 to white male citizens, and persons who had 
 
CiiAr. XVI. I CONSTITU'IIONAI. PROVISIONS 
 
 543 
 
 declared their intentions to become citizens six 
 months before election, and resided in the State 
 two years and six months. Civilized native 
 Indians not connected with any tribe could 
 also vote. By subsequent amendment, the word 
 "white" was stricken out. but an amendment 
 permittin)^ women to vote was defeated. 
 
 The school funds were provided for as before, 
 except that the ultimate destination of specific 
 taxes and of the proceeds of escheated lands, was 
 to be added to the primary school fund. Free 
 schools were to be kept in each district, at least 
 three months in the year. Provision was made 
 for an agricultural school, for benevolent institu- 
 tions, for the Normal School, and for public li- 
 braries in every township, and all fines for the 
 breach of penal laws were devoted to these 
 libraries. 
 
 The University was put under an elective board 
 of regents, consisting of eight members, elected at 
 the same time and in the same districts with the 
 circuit judges, except that the vote of the Upper 
 Peninsula was attached to that of the third circuit. 
 In i(S63, the Hoard was made elective by the State 
 at large, for terms of eight years, two members 
 retiring every two years. 
 
 Homestead exemptions of property to the value 
 of fifteen hundred dollars, (not alienable or subject 
 to incumbrance except by joint act of husband 
 and wife if belonging to married persons,) were 
 secured ; and the property of married women was 
 
544 CONSTITUTIONAI, PROVISIONS. IChap. XVI. 
 
 secured to their sole use. Aliens Invux fide resident 
 were ^^iven the same property riji^hts as citizens. 
 
 Salaries of circuit judi^es, legislators, and exe- 
 cutive officers, were permanently fixed ; and sev- 
 eral provisions were adopted to exclude them 
 from leaving one office for another. Stationery 
 allowances to the Legislature were limited, and 
 public contracts were confined to the lowest 
 bidders. 
 
 This Constitution was much more specific than 
 that of 1835, ^^^ some of its provisions, — espe- 
 cially in regard to salaries, — have been found 
 troublesome. The guards against loans beyond 
 fifty thousand dollars, to meet revenue deficiencies, 
 were, on one occasion, when the treasury was 
 depleted by embezzlement, only prevented from 
 ruinous mischief by private liberality. 
 
 The history of the .State, since the new Con- 
 stitution was adopted, has been prosperous but 
 not eventful, and there have been few striking 
 occurrences. Its release from the dangers of debt 
 and extravagance in public works, has left the 
 public business chiefiy confined to the legitimate 
 oversight of the geneTal interests. The expendi- 
 ture of grants of land for various works of im- 
 provement has involved some trouble and difficulty, 
 but no considerable pecuniary dealings. There 
 have been no home disturbances to break in upon 
 the public tranquillity, and not many cases of gross 
 official misconduct requiring the interposition of 
 the criminal laws. Nevertheless the course of 
 
Chap. XVI.J SUCCESSIVE GOVERNORS. 
 
 545 
 
 affairs contains some things worth recording as 
 important if not remarkable. 
 
 Under the Constitution, Governor Barry con- 
 tinued in office until 1852. In 1.S51, an election 
 was to be held for a (lovernor to hold a single 
 year, until January, 1853, when the regular bi- 
 ennial term was to succeed. Robert McClelland 
 was elected for the short term, and re-elected for 
 the next two years, (1853-4.) and Andrew Parsons 
 was elected Lieutenant (iovernor. These were 
 succeeded by Kinsley S. Bingham in 1855, Moses 
 Wisner in 1859, Austin Blair in 1861, Henry H. 
 Crapo in 1865, Henry P. Baldwin in 1869, and 
 John J. Bagley in 1873. 
 
 The sessions of 1851 were mostly devoted to 
 such legislation as was necessary to accommodate 
 matters to the changed Constitution. Attention 
 was, however, called to the increased necessity for 
 a canal round the Falls of St. Mary's River ; and 
 Congress was addressed upon the subject. Reso- 
 lutions were also passed, both in 1851 and in 
 1853, calling upon the United States to protect 
 the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in their Mich- 
 igan settlements, and asserting their quiet character 
 and advancement in industry and civilization. The 
 swamp lands which had been offered upon certain 
 conditions by the United States were also accepted. 
 By a series of laws since passed, these lands 
 have been brought into market, made accessible 
 by roads, and largely disposed of to settlers on 
 liberal terms. Many if not a majority of these 
 
546 
 
 SAUI.T CANAL. ITPPER PENINSULA. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 lands have become or will become habitable, and 
 valuable. 
 
 In 1852, the United States granted 750,000 
 acres of land to build a ship canal at the Sault 
 de Ste. Marie. The State let the contract to re- 
 sponsible parties, for the appropriation, and the 
 canal was at once put in course of construction, 
 and finished in the spring of 1855. Its effect was 
 immediate in reducing mining expenses, and in 
 furnishing inducements to open and settle the 
 country. The towns began at once to increase, 
 and the subsequent growth of the iron and copper 
 regions was rapid. The work has since been 
 enlarged and improved at the expense of the 
 United States government. 
 
 In 1859, reports were received leading to the 
 belief that an easy communication could be had 
 with the Pacific by water ways and natural roads, 
 requiring no improvement. It was stated that a 
 gentleman had come over from Puget's Sound to 
 St. Paul in a wheeled vehicle, in a very short time, 
 having met with no obstacles whatever to hinder 
 his journey. After examining into the facts, the 
 Legislature memorialized Congress to establish a 
 tri-weekly mail between St. Paul's and Puget 
 Sound. The Northern Pacific Railroad had not 
 then been thought of. 
 
 The Upper Peninsula, as already suggested, 
 was for a time connected with Wayne County, 
 for the purpose of electing regents of the Univer- 
 sity. This arrangement was made because, al- 
 
Chap. XVI.] BEAVER ISLANDS 
 
 547 
 
 though geographically distant from Detroit, the 
 business connection was closer than with any other 
 part of the State. This led to another arrange- 
 ment, made on the same grounds of convenience. 
 In 1853, the Counties of Emmet and Cheboygan 
 were organized. Under the new Constitution they 
 could not longer remain connected with Mackinaw, 
 as that was in the Upper Peninsula, and no other 
 organized county was convenient. They were 
 accordingly attached to the Third Circuit. But 
 the real purpose of some of the parties concerned 
 arose out of a remarkable condition of affairs. 
 The Beaver Islands, in Lake Michigai. were 
 anciently the principal seat of the nation of the 
 Beavers or Amikoue, a tribe at one time held in 
 yery high esteem, as supposed to be descended 
 from the Great Beaver. He was a mythological 
 being held second only to Michahoii, or the (ireat 
 Hare, the most powerful spirit in the catalogue of 
 Indian divinities. When the remnant of the tribe 
 retired to Manitoualin Island, in Lake Huron, they 
 were succeeded in their old home by a band of 
 Ottawas, who in Charlevoix's time had become 
 good farmers, and emulated the Hurons in agri- 
 cultural labors. During the Pontiac war it was 
 in close union with the settlement at L'Arbre 
 Croche, and was then, as it was long after, a place 
 held in some sort of mysterious reverence. By 
 the Treaty of March, 1836, with the Ottawas and 
 Chippewas, the Beaver Islands were specially 
 reserved for the Beaver Island Indians. The 
 
548 .\fIGRATORY JURISDICTION. Chap. XVI. 
 
 Senate, in confirming this reservation, with others, 
 undertook to Hmit it to five years, unless permis- 
 sion was given by. the United States to remain 
 longer. If made with white men, this would be 
 regarded as a somewhat singular method of deal- 
 ing with treaties, unless subsequently ratified. 
 How far any steps were taken legally under this 
 change in the treaty it may not be easy to deter- 
 mine. But in 1847, ^ township was created called 
 the Township of Peaine, including the Beaver 
 Islands as a part of Mackinaw County, and 
 establishing the place of meetings at Beaver 
 Island Harbor, " at the store of A. Cable." The 
 Constitution of 1850 placed all the islands in Lake 
 Michigan in the region known as the Upper 
 Peninsula. But in 1853 the County of Emmet 
 (formerly named Tonedagone from a chief of 
 note,) was organized, and the Township of Peaine 
 was expressly recognized as a part of it. The 
 county was attached to the Third Circuit, and the 
 judge of that circuit held court at St. James, the 
 principal settlement and county seat, on the largest 
 Beaver Island. In 1855, Manitou County was 
 organized, out of the various clusters of islands in 
 the northern part of Lake Michigan ; and St. James 
 was made the county seat until another was 
 provided. In 1871, after having been organized 
 six years, the county was attached to Mackinaw 
 for court purposes, " until other provision is made 
 by law for holding a court in said County of 
 Manitou." In 1865, it was attached to Leelenaw. 
 It has since become independent again. 
 
Chap. XVI. J MORMON KINGDOM. 
 
 549 
 
 To understand this curious handling, it may be 
 explained in part by the colonization of the islands. 
 While there were some settlers on Beaver Island, 
 who, whether rightfully or wrongfully there, were 
 carrying on business peaceably, fishing and trading, 
 and in some instances farming, their quiet was 
 disturbed by the arrival of a considerable body 
 of Mormons, who had seceded from the main 
 body, and had come to establish a kingdom in the 
 old seat of the Indian Manitou. Their monarch 
 was King James the First — known to other 
 mortals as James J. Strang. He established his 
 court at St. James, and became an autocrat. The 
 unfortunate Gentiles, who had no legal title to their 
 lands, but who were probably expecting to pre- 
 empt them, were crowded off the island, and treated 
 as roughly as it was safe to treat them, being 
 robbed in such a way as to render it difficult to 
 establish any case against the wrong-doers. Here 
 for a time the isolation of the islands rendered 
 it easy to carry out the royal plans, and the 
 domain became in a certain sense prosperous under 
 its politico-ecclesiastical monarchy, which absorbed 
 a lion's share of the gains. Good stock was intro- 
 duced, — a newspaper established, — and the press 
 used for home purposes. Outsiders were not 
 desired or welcome. This state of things first 
 came into notice when the fishermen of Mackinaw, 
 and others engaged in various interests, came in 
 collision with the islanders ; and a bitter feud 
 arose, but the Mormons held their own. No 
 
550 MORMON AFFAIRS. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 adequate means existed for bringing them to 
 justice, by reason of some doubts touching their 
 legal jurisdictional position ; and the local offices 
 were all in the hands of the faithful, so that re- 
 dress was hopeless there. At last a case was got 
 up against them for an alleged interference with 
 the United States mail; and the armed steamer 
 Michigan was sent up from Detroit, with officers lO 
 arrest Strang and some of his chief followers. 
 The complaint, however, was not legally well- 
 founded ; and although the proceedings disclosed 
 much that was not creditable, and many of the 
 island people were shown up in an unpleasant 
 lij^ it, it did not appear that they had violated the 
 laws of the United States. Strang, as might have 
 been expected from his influence over the people, 
 turned out to be an intelligent and well educated 
 man, of pleasing address, and free from any 
 offensive ways among strangers ; and he became 
 personally popular with those who met him. He 
 improved his time by becomin^^ well informed on 
 his legal condition and prospects, and appeared at 
 the next Legislature as member from Emmet. 
 He then procured the legislation which completed 
 its organization, and detached it from Mackinaw, 
 where everybody was hostile. His demeanor in 
 the Legislature was such as to command respect, 
 and he was reckoned a useful member. During 
 the interval before the next Legislature, the feel- 
 ings of the neighboring fishermen became very 
 bitter, and the general course of things did not 
 
Chap. XVI.] SPOILING THE SPOILERS. 551 
 
 change. But at last Strang was murdered, while 
 entering the steam ship Michigan, which was lying 
 at the wharf on the island. After his death, the 
 people of the mainland revenged themselves on 
 his followers by an organized raid, in which nearly 
 everything removable was carried off as booty, 
 and confiscated, or in the phrase of the captors, 
 (borrowed from some former unpleasant island 
 experiences of their own when they were victi- 
 mised) " consecrated." The island v/as now in the 
 Upper Peninsula District, and in the absence of 
 any organized county government it was difficult 
 to dispense justice there. Attempts were made at 
 Mackinaw to bring the spoilers to a reckoning, 
 but the prosecutions all failed for lack of evidence, 
 and might also, perhaps, have been affected by 
 public prejudice. As lawlessness had only pre- 
 vailed against what was believed to have been 
 quite as bad or worse lawlessness, the result was 
 not as shocking to the popular sense of justice as 
 it would have been under other circumstances. 
 The plunder included some valuable and expensive 
 property, — among other things several handsome 
 boatS; and the largest and finest mules that were 
 ever seen in the State. The subsequent legal 
 condition of the islands, harried and abandoned, 
 is easily accounted for, and their practical outlawry 
 was not singular. v- 
 
 The whole upper country was for many years 
 shut out from easy access, from seven to eight 
 months in the twelve. The law required two 
 
662 
 
 LAW IN THE NORTH. [Chai'. XVI. 
 
 terms of court to be held in each year, in every 
 county, and of course these came quite near 
 together ; while, between the latest fall and earli- 
 est spring or summer term, there was a very 
 long interval. They were fortunate in obtaining, 
 in the Honorable Daniel Goodwin, a judge of 
 great legal knowledge and experience, who did 
 business promptly, and was seldom appealed 
 from. Neither judge nor bar resided in the 
 Upper Peninsula ; and from November till May 
 or June, legal proceedings were often left in very 
 inexperienced hands. In a scattered population, 
 containing very few legally qualified as jurors, it 
 was sometimes troublesome to fill a panel of 
 either grand or petit jurors who were both com- 
 petent and disinterested. No county buildings 
 were furnished in some of the counties, and in 
 some the prison was unfit for winter habitation, 
 if they had one at all. Accordingly it was inevi- 
 table that many irregularities should exist, and 
 that the people winked at things which they could 
 not improve. In one county a serious riot 
 occurred in midwinter, where the case went 
 beyond the powers of a justice of the peace ; 
 and a worthy gentleman who was circuit court 
 commissioner assumed the duty recommended by 
 the old saw, est boni judicis ampliarc jurisdiciionem, 
 and tried and sentenced the offenders to a long 
 imprisonment. As he was the only one who 
 could issue a habeas corpus in the absence of 
 Judg« Goodwin, the imprisonment was as effectual 
 
CiiAr. XVI.] IRREGULAR JUSTICE. LIQUOR LAWS. 553 
 
 as if it had been legal ; and as it was deserved, 
 the sentence was popularly approved. An action 
 for false imprisonment was defeated by the re- 
 moval of the defendant beyond any temporal 
 jurisdiction; but the damages likely to be assessed 
 by a jury of citizens for shutting up the disturb- 
 ers of the peace would not have impoverished 
 him if he had lived. A young Indian charged 
 with murder (committed, if at all in an Indian 
 carouse, and not aggravated) was allowed to go 
 at large without bail for several terms, and regu- 
 larly appeared promptly for trial until his case 
 was heard. He was wofully ignorant of the 
 customs of the whites in similar circumstances. 
 Speedy and irregular remedies were not much 
 blamed where there was great provocation ; and 
 the dangers of drunkenness among miners, which 
 rendered it necessary to keep liquor-sellers away 
 from the locations, sometimes led to their expul- 
 sion in a way more summary than comfortable. 
 With such temporary variations from the regular 
 process of law, there was a general respect for 
 substantial justice, and for the judgments of com- 
 petent tribunals, and no disposition to lawless 
 wrong. 
 
 In 1853, a prohibitory liqupr law was passed 
 which was made to depend upon a popular vote, 
 and was therefore regarded as not legally enacted. 
 In 1855, a similar act was adopted by the Legis- 
 lature, Without popular intervention, and sustained. 
 It continued in force until repealed in 1875, and 
 
554 UNIVERSITY. 
 
 [Chap. XVI. 
 
 replaced by a series of taxing and regulating 
 statutes, which have been much more faithfully 
 enforced, and have accomplished much good. 
 
 The new board of regents of the University 
 were required to appoint a president, who, in 
 addition to his duties in the college, was to be 
 chairman of the regents, but without a vote. 
 They selected the Rev. Henry P. Tappan, D.D., 
 an accomplished scholar and able man, who 
 remained in that post until 1863, when, after a 
 prolonged controversy with the regents, arising 
 mainly out of differences as to the prerogatives 
 of his ofifice, he was removed. His place was 
 filled by the appointment of Rev. Erastus O. 
 Haven, D.D., who in turn, upon resigning, was, 
 (after an interval during which Dr. Frieze was 
 acting president) followed by the present able 
 and estimable incumbent Dr. James B. Angell. 
 During Dr. Tappan's administration, the Univer- 
 sity was more completely organized, several 
 important changes were devised to enlarge and 
 vary its courses of study, and it made great 
 advancement. An observatory was contributed by 
 private subscriptions, chiefly by his procurement, 
 and the library, museums, and other accessaries, 
 were increased and improved. His plans were 
 liberal, and his aims were very high. The Uni- 
 versity has been conducted in the main according 
 to the views with which he had planned to con- 
 duct its scholastic courses, and its success is 
 largely due to his liberal ideas. The unpleasant 
 
CUAT. XVI.1 LAW SCHOOL. 556 
 
 difficulties whicii terminated in a change of presi- 
 dents, necessarily led to much controversy and 
 heat, among those who did not view them in the 
 same way, nor understand all the facts alike. 
 
 In 1859, the law department was added, which 
 completed the original scheme. Its principal aim 
 is to teach the law in its various branches as now 
 developed in this country from a common-law 
 origin, historically and scientifically as well as 
 practically. Its success has been satisfactory, and 
 its pupils, who have been received from all parts 
 of North America, as well as occasionally from 
 foreign parts, have furnished their fair proportion 
 of men of note, and successful lawyers. The 
 faculty first chosen consisted of Thomas M. Cooley, 
 Charles I. Walker and James V. Campbell, all of 
 whom were then or since on the State bench. 
 Judge Cooley has become eminent as a legal 
 author. Judge Walker has, in addition to profes- 
 sional eminence, rendered great public services in 
 various departments of social science and philan- 
 thropic labors and researches, and has exceptional 
 familiarity with the history of the Northwest. 
 Professors P'bnd, Kent and Wells are also dis- 
 tinguished and scholarly lawyers. 
 
 The University fund, in 1837, received a loan 
 from the State by an advance of $100,000 of 
 bonds, the proceeds of which were used in build- 
 ing and other preliminary outlays. Interest on 
 this had been deducted annually from> the income 
 of the fund. By a transfer to the State of the 
 
556 
 
 UNIVERSITY FINANCES. fCHAr. XVI. 
 
 property in Detroit, now occupied by the city 
 hall, and by the sale of a large amount of lands 
 for interest- bearing State warrants which were 
 cancelled, this debt had been reduced, and probably 
 more than paid ; but, either from misapprehension, 
 or as was claimed, from a re-statement of the 
 account, this interest, after the removal of the 
 Capital and the re-organization of the State offices 
 at Lansing, re-appeared as an annual charge, to 
 its full original amount of six per cent, on 
 $100,000. The Legislature of 1853, without at- 
 tempting to settle the obscure facts, directed a 
 remission of the interest for two years, which was 
 afterwards made permanent. In 1867, a tax was 
 authorized in aid of the l^niversity, of one- 
 twentieth of a mill on the dollar, which has since 
 been continued, under a limitation that it shall not 
 exceed $50,000 before the year 1881, when a new 
 equalization of assessments will be made. In 187 1, 
 Governor Baldwin urged the claims of the LJniver- 
 sity very strongly upon the Legislature, and an 
 appropriation was made to build a central univer- 
 sity hall, which has since been completed. Gover- 
 nor Bagley was instrumental in procuring further 
 appropriations to complete the hall, and meet other 
 pressing necessities. 
 
 The position of this institution, which is a 
 necessary part of the system of public education, 
 and which has been, nevertheless, mainly fostered 
 by the United States endowment, will undoubtedly 
 secure it liberal treatment in the future, and 
 
tJiiAP. XVI. I HONKKOPATHV. WOMEN ADMITTED. 
 
 557 
 
 place it. where it ought to be, as a thoroughly 
 State institution, necessary to State prosperity, 
 and entitled to the same liberal support which is 
 due to all public instrumentalities that serve high 
 and useful purposes. 
 
 There have been some subjects of warm dis- 
 cussion which are now mosdy setded. For 
 many years a desire was felt by those who 
 approve the hom(i.'opathic system of medicine, and 
 who compose a considerable body of citizens 
 represented in the Legislature, to have provision 
 made for instruction in their tenets. The diffi- 
 culty of introducing opposing systems into the 
 same institution prevented for several years a 
 pleasant solution of the question. By establishing 
 a separate school at the University for teaching 
 the views of hom(t'opathy, so far as they do not 
 harmonize with other medical teachings, and by 
 taking away from every professor any danger of 
 responsibility for views which he does not approve, 
 all reasonable ground for trouble seems to be 
 removed, and justice is done to both systems. 
 
 The education of women in the University was 
 also introduced after long doubting. When the 
 controversy first arose, the Michigan University 
 was found to differ from most of the colleges in 
 the country in furnishing no rooms or boarding 
 facilities to students. These were all expected to 
 procure board and lodging for themselves, and re- 
 sort to the University only for the purposes of 
 attending recitations, lectures, and public exercises. 
 
558 FEMALE EDUCATION. -' [Chap. XVI. 
 
 or for consulting books in the library. The 
 adverse views of nearly all the other college facul- 
 ties did not take this into the account. Most of 
 the objections urged against the education of 
 women and men in the same classes were theore- 
 tical, and many were inapplicable to such a state 
 of things as existed in Ann Arbor. The exper- 
 iment was one which could not have been long 
 postponed without cn^ating worse difficulty, arid 
 it was felt that if it failed, after a fair trial, it 
 could not at any rate do any serious harm to try 
 it. The branches of the University had female 
 scholars, and our union and high schools had 
 found no trouble in teaching them. The exper- 
 iment has been entirely successful. The ladies 
 who have entered the University have been equal 
 in all respects to their tasks, and have not been 
 kept behind by either mental or physical dis- 
 abilities. They have been treated with delicate 
 respect by their associates, and have been entirely 
 independent of any unwelcome companionship. 
 The learning which sat so gracefully on Lady 
 Jane Grey and Mrs. Somerville, and did not pre- 
 vent the fair Professors of Bologna from possess- 
 ing any of the feminine accomplishments, cannot 
 unsex their successors now, and is as wholesome 
 and harmless discipline, to those who choose it, 
 as any other pursuit can be. And if there are 
 men who think unworthily of women, or women 
 who deserve no admiration, neither of them are likely 
 to fall into such unworthiness in the pursuit of 
 
Chap. XVI. | JUVENILE OFFENSES. 559 
 
 sound learning. The accomplishments which pro- 
 duce no refinement are not those of the college 
 class room. 
 
 The admission of women to the study of 
 medicine has been so admirably approved by its 
 results, that all who are not prejudiced beyond 
 reason perceive how much has been gained by it. 
 
 There is one decided advantage among female 
 students. None go into any of the departments 
 of a university for the mere name of it. There 
 are no attractions for any but those who wish to 
 improve their faculties. It is not likely they will 
 ever attend in as large numbers as men. But 
 those who do enter will probably — as they cer- 
 tainly have done heretofore — keep fully even with 
 their classes, ..:;-^r"'/ ,.•-' •':''"r'"^'.,' '''■'^'■' -.::?■ ■^:''' •":.;'''■'■-■' 
 
 In 1855, the first steps were taken towards 
 establishing a separate place of detention for 
 young offenders. It has gone through different 
 experiences, and has not been uniformly managed. 
 In many cases, courts and magistrates have 
 apparently lost sight of the rules of law which 
 prohibit the punishment of children as criminals 
 until they have reached years of discretion, and 
 have allowed them to be convicted of crime when 
 it was wickedly absurd to hold them to any such 
 responsibility, and was in plain violation of ele- 
 mentary rules of law. The gentlemen who have 
 had the duty of managing the institution have 
 been usually humane men, and have devoted 
 time and patience to bringing good from the 
 
560 , YOUNG OFFENDERS. fCMAP. XVI 
 
 system. As at present conducted, it is likely to 
 lead to important results. Such establishments 
 are curses instead of blessings, when they fall 
 into any but benevolent and patient hands ; and 
 when they are made to follow the analogies of 
 prisons, they present the shocking and cruel 
 anomaly of punishing those who, if responsible at 
 all, are only lightly responsible, more severely 
 and tor longer periods than old offenders. And 
 what is still worse, they put trifling misdemeanors 
 on the same footing with deliberate murder. 
 Whatever benefits have been derived from this 
 system have been due to the personal interven- 
 tion of its managers and of the State executive. 
 Its legal position, without this, leaves room 
 enough for gross abuses. When first organized 
 it simply provided a separate place of confine- 
 ment for persons sentenced, when under fifteen 
 years of age, — leaving the duration of each sen- 
 tence to be governed by the general laws. Now 
 the punishment for all juvenile offenders under i6 
 is by seclusion until they reach their majority, 
 unless discharged by the Board; so that in the 
 ordinary course of things, unless interfered with, 
 the youngest children undergo the longest term 
 of punishment. Until this becomes legally and 
 entirely — what it has been made partially in good 
 hands — an asylum and not a prison, its position 
 cannot but be regarded as dangerously peculiar. 
 
 A most valuable and humane scheme was 
 adopted in 1871, under the recommendation of 
 
Chap. XVI.) CHARITIES 561 
 
 Governor Baldwin, whereby much wiser provision 
 is made for the prevention of juvenile depravity. 
 A law was then passed to establish a State Public 
 School, for dependent, and neglected children. 
 This is fixed at Coldwater ; and the plan, which 
 has been well devised and carefully put in execu- 
 tion under the personal care of Governors 
 Baldwin and Bagley, is apparently judicious, and 
 well adapted to promote the welfare of the neg- 
 lected young persons who are thus snatched from 
 vicious surroundings. The appointment of State 
 agencies to look after the cases of children 
 charged with crime, and see that they are 
 humanely and wisely dealt with, has added great 
 safeguards against mischief. 
 
 A commission was also organized in 1871 for 
 the general supervision of penal, pauper, and 
 reformatory institutions, including also the asylums 
 for the deaf and dumb, blind and insane. Hons. 
 Charles I. Walker, Henry W. Lord, Z. R. Brock- 
 way and Uzziel Putnam as commissioners, with 
 the efficient services of Hon. Charles M. Croswcll 
 as secretary, and with the active aid and sympathy 
 of the executive, have already done great and 
 good service in their beneficent mission. The 
 progress of the State in works of benevolence 
 and mercy, under the leading of its last and pre- 
 sent Governors, has been very great, and creates 
 a most honorable part of her history. More work 
 of this sort has been done within the last eight 
 years than in all her previous experience. It was 
 36 
 
562 GRAND JURIES DISCONTINUED [Chap. XVI. 
 
 contemplated by the founders of the vState, and 
 not neglected ; but within the last few years both 
 education and humanity have received much more 
 attention, and have been, much more wisely and 
 earnestly fostered than ever before. 
 
 In 1859, an important change was made in 
 criminal prosecutions. Under the Constitution of 
 1850. grand juries had ceased to be obligatory, 
 but had not been abolished. In 1857, a new 
 criminal court was created in Detroit, and prose- 
 cutions were allowed to be conducted in it by 
 information. This change was introduced by 
 Hon. Alexander W. Buel, who had principal 
 charge of drawing up the charter. At the session 
 of 1859, the same gentleman introduced a bill to 
 extend the practice into all the circuit courts. 
 This law allowed informations to be filed in all 
 cases when there had been a regular preliminary 
 examination, for felonies as well as misdemeanors. 
 Thereafter grand juries did not act unless specially 
 ordered and summoned. The effect of this change 
 has not been bad in most cases. Nevertheless 
 grand juries are seldom called unless at the re- 
 quest of the Prosecuting Attorney. It is question- 
 able whether any advantage has been gained 
 beyond an apparent economy and — in some cases 
 — ^an increase in expedition. The power left in 
 the hands of prosecuting attorneys is not adequate- 
 ly checked. A dishonest or timid attorney has 
 too much opportunity to abuse his powers in both 
 directions of prosecuting and abstaining from pro- 
 
Cha*. XVI.] kEPUBLICAN PARTY. 563 
 
 secution. There is a strong temptation to corrup- 
 tion. While the system of informing has been not 
 unwisely extended, there is no question but that 
 grand juries, properly organized, prevent much 
 vexatious litigation, and cause to be pursued some 
 classes of offenders who escape by the non-action 
 of some prosecuting attorneys. Criminal justice 
 ought to be beyond the control of any single 
 official. Instances are not unknown of prosecuting 
 attorneys who have not done credit to their offices. 
 If grand juries were called oftener, justice would 
 not suffer from it. 
 
 During most of the existence of the State, the 
 entire political control had been held, with respect- 
 able majorities, by one or the other of the great 
 parties — the Whigs or Democrats. The majority 
 of the people had usually been decidedly opposed 
 to allowing the encroachments of slavery beyond 
 its legal limits, but as decidedly opposed to inter- 
 fering with its vested rights. The Compromise of 
 1850 was acquiesced in, although not in all respects 
 approved. In May, 1854, the Missouri Com- 
 promise was repealed, and this action aroused 
 great feeling. Soon after, in the summer of 1854, 
 a convention was called at Jackson, of delegates 
 from the Whig and Free Soil parties, which re- 
 sulted in the formation of the Republican party. 
 In the election that year, Kinsley S. Bingham was 
 elected Governor, and held the office two succes- 
 sive terms, being succeeded by Moses Wisner. 
 In 1859, Governor Bingham was elected United 
 
564 SUAVKRY QUESTION. 
 
 [CiiAiv XVI 
 
 States Senator, to succeed Charles E. Stuart. 
 Zachariah Chandler, who had been Whig can- 
 didate for Governor in 1S52, was elected to the 
 Senate of the United States, to succeed General 
 Cass, in 1857. General Cass was about the same 
 time made Secretary of .State under President 
 Buchanan. 
 
 The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Acts was 
 followed by a series of legislative resolutions, 
 strongly censuring those who had voted for them, 
 and insisting on the exclusion of slavery wher- 
 ever within the control of the United States. At 
 every session ihe questions were discussed, and 
 the expression of opinion was uniform and decided. 
 
 The feeling was increasing that trouble might 
 arise from the slavery question, as the friends of 
 that institution became aggressive. In 1859, steps 
 were taken to make the State military system 
 more effective, by organizing camps of instruction, 
 and increasing the number of uniformed com- 
 panies. Various gentlemen of military experience 
 devoted time to making addresses and visiting 
 the principal towns, to arouse a military spirit. 
 Among those particularly energetic in this work was 
 General Orlando B. Willcox, who, while discreetly 
 avoiding all reference to the peculiar danger 
 which he had recognized from his army experience, 
 was quite successful in awakening popular feeling 
 in favor of better preparation for such emergen- 
 cies as might arise. In i860, when the signs of 
 mischief were plainer, and the public feeling was 
 
Chap. XVI. I DF.FAUI.TINO TRF.ASURF.R WAR. 
 
 565 
 
 strongly aroused, Governor Austin F31air. who was 
 on the same ticket with Mr. Lincoln, obtained a 
 majority of more than 20,500 over (Governor 
 Barry, who was his only opponent. 
 
 The Legislature nf 1861, which was very 
 strongly Republican, met under unfavorable cir- 
 cumstances for State prosperity. John McKinney, 
 the outgoing State Treasurer, was found to have 
 embezzled the public funds, and bft the treasury 
 empty, and liable for large outstanding and press- 
 ing debts. John Owen, the incoming Treasurer, 
 at once made arrangements, by the use of his 
 personal credit, whereby he kept the treasury in 
 funds until provided from ordinary sources in due 
 course of business, after a delay of some months. 
 The Constitutional restraints on borrowing left 
 no means of raising funds on bonds. This 
 patriotic course saved the State credit, and enabled 
 the State soon after, when a war-loan was needed, 
 to borrow upon fair terms. 
 
 The Legislature of 1861 was occupied, during 
 a large part ot the regular session, with the dis- 
 cussion of the affairs of the Union ; and on the 
 2d of February passed resolutions asserting the 
 supremacy of the Union, and its right and duty 
 to resist treason, and pledging the resources of 
 the State in the public service. As soon as the 
 Southern secession ordinances were passed, the 
 Legislature directed the immediate raising of two 
 regiments for service. 
 
566 MICHIGAN IN THE REBELLION [Cha* XVl. 
 
 Shortly thereafter the war opened by the 
 attack on Fort Sumter, and Governor Blair at 
 once raised a loan from private subscribers and 
 began to organize volunteers, — the first regiment 
 called for by the general government being 
 speedily equipped under the command of General 
 Willcox. An extra session was called, which met 
 in the beginning of May, and passed the neces- 
 sary laws for raising money and troops. But 
 before its meeting four regiments of infantry and 
 a battery of flying artillery had gone into camp, 
 and the First Regiment left for the seat of war 
 on the 13th of May, fully armed and equipped, 
 and was engaged in the unfortunate battle of 
 Bull Run, where its colonel was wounded and 
 captured, and afterwards detained in the Richmond 
 prison as a hostage. PVom that time on, the 
 State kept organizing and preparing troops in 
 advance of the calls from the United States, and 
 was well sustained in its efforts. The military 
 history of the State is honorable, and has been 
 thoroughly and carefully prepared. It is only 
 necessary here to say that its troops in the field 
 numbered 90,747, of whom 67,486 were born in 
 the United States: 8,887 in Canada; 8,453 in 
 Great Britain; 4,872 in Germany, and 1,268 in 
 other foreign dominions ; and that of these 1 3,405 
 died in service. It would be invidious to single 
 out names where all were honorable. The State 
 furnished her full share of men in high as well 
 as lesser commands, and her soldiers of all grades 
 
l,»i*f. XVI, ] SEIZURE UF IHE PHIU) PARSONS 667 
 
 won J\ well deserved respect and renown for 
 bravery and odier good and soldierly qualities. 
 
 Our own borders were somewhat annoyed by 
 the gathering of Southern refugees and agents on 
 the Canada side of the Detroit River. Reports, 
 more or less founded in probability, were received 
 from time to time of projected mischief On the 
 19th of September, 1864, the steamboat Philo 
 Parsons left Detroit for Sandusky, taking on board 
 at Sandwich and Amherstburg several persons 
 with what was supposed to be baggage, but 
 was really a supply of weapons. This expedition 
 was intended to cooperate with another force 
 designed to capture the armed steamer Michigan 
 at Sandusky, to release the rebel prisoners at 
 Camp Johnson near Sandusky, and then to com- 
 mit depredations on the lake cities. The designs 
 on the Michigan having failed, the Parsons was 
 brought back to the Detroit River, and left at 
 Sandwich in a sinking condition from various 
 injuries. The mischief was arrested by timely 
 action, and the vessel refitted. During the raid 
 some other captures were made of United States 
 soldiers and of the steamer Island Queen. On 
 the failure of the plot at Sandusky, the persons 
 on board the boats were safely landed, and no 
 lives were taken. This was the only scheme 
 which produced any actual damage, unless a fevsf 
 incendiary fires were set by some of the same 
 parties, which is not absolutely known. 
 
568 
 
 ClOVERNOKS DLAlU AND CRAPO. |CMAr. XVI. 
 
 I'Vom the opening ot the war until the close 
 of the y('ar 1.S64. Austin Blair was Governor of 
 Michigan, and performtid his pubHc duties with 
 zeal and ilevotion, to the great prejudice of his 
 private interests. During all that period his whole 
 time was necessarily given up to the interests of 
 the country, and almost entirely at his own ex- 
 pense. The salary of jji 1,000 — a miserable pittance 
 at any time — was made by war-prices, and the 
 depreciation of currency, but a mere fraction of 
 its ordinary value. The policy which prevents 
 men of modest means from filling the offices 
 of State is not only poor economy, but con- 
 trary to the cardinal principles of representative 
 government. , 
 
 His successor, Governor Crapo, was also a 
 very conscientious and valuable public servant, 
 and his careful supervision saved the State from 
 mismanagement in some of the multitudinous con- 
 tracts which require almost the eyes of Argus to 
 watch them. His great business experience and 
 strict economy and integrity induced him to give 
 a degree of personal supervision to the details of 
 road-building and other outlays, which was more 
 than any one man could devote to such work 
 without injury to himself. His untimely death was 
 owing to neglect of his health in attending to the 
 details of public affairs. He no doubt carried 
 this attention to details to excess, — as other persons 
 could and should have borne a share of the 
 burdens. It is not the duty of the chief executive 
 
CiiAi'. XVI. I SUPREME COURT. 569 
 
 to perform every variety of public service, and it 
 is impossible to do it. lint that sort of devotion is 
 not so much to be deprecated, as it is to be 
 praised, unless it prevents du(i attention to more 
 peculiarly personal oblijj^ations, which it n(!ver did 
 in (iovernor Crapo's case. Both he and Governor 
 Hlair were well seconded in most of th .State 
 business by competent heads of departments, and 
 other assistants. 
 
 In the year 1857, in pursuance of the Con- 
 stitution, a separate Supreme Court was providt;d 
 for, to be organized on the first of January, 1S58. 
 Its four terms were originally divided between 
 Detroit and Lansing, but are now held entirely 
 at Lansing. (ieorge Martin was the first chief 
 justice, and Randolph Manning, Isaac P. Christi- 
 ancy and James \'. Campbell associate justices. 
 Judge Martin was chief justice until his death, in 
 December, 1867. After that time the office was 
 made to fall upon the justice whose term was 
 next to expire, .so as to change every two years. 
 Judge Manning died on the 31st of August, 1864, 
 and was succeeded by Thomas M. Cooley, who. 
 by repeated re-election is still on the bench. 
 Benjamin F. Graves was elected in the place of 
 Judge Martin, and is still in office by re-election. 
 Judge Christiancy was elected to the United States 
 Senate, in January, 1875, ^^^ Isaac Marston was 
 chosen as his successor. Judge Campbell is yet 
 a member of the court. 
 
 This relieved the circuit judges of appellate 
 duties. The circuits have been divided repeatedly 
 
570 
 
 RINUHAM. HOA'ARI). KKKHY [CiiAr XVI. 
 
 and increased in number to twenty-one. The 
 rpper Peninsula has been brou^dit within th*- 
 lirciiit system. In 1S59, provision was made 
 th<'re for county prosecutinj.^ attorneys, and the 
 office of district attorney aboUshed. liy some cu- 
 rious manoeuvre, the act whose title was "An 
 .'Xct to abolish the office of District Attorney for 
 the Upper Peninsula, and provide for the election 
 of Prosecuting Attorneys of the several counties 
 therein," while by the two earliest sections it 
 mad(? provision for the prosecutinjj;^ attornies, con- 
 tamed a third section declaring that the office of 
 ilistrict attorney should not be abolished. As 
 under the Constitution no part of an act can be 
 repugnant to its title, this created a muddle, 
 which seems to have been supposed to need 
 further legislation. it 1864, another law was 
 passed abolishing the office without ambiguity. 
 
 Governor Bingham was elected to the United 
 States Senate in 1859, and died in office in 1861. 
 In 1862. his place was filled by Jacob M. Howard, 
 who was succeeded, in 1871, by Thomas W. 
 Ferr)', the present presiding officer of the Senate. 
 Mr. Howard was a man of great force and intel- 
 lectual resources, and was second to none of his 
 Senatorial associates in the qualities desirable for 
 his position. To vigorous and manly eloquence 
 he united habits of laborious and profound 
 research, and tenacity of purpose. His ability 
 in the arraying of facts and discussion of evidence 
 has seldom been equalled, and his great powers 
 of reasoning were made more effective by a style 
 
VMA¥ XVI. I SENATOR CHANDLER (i«)VKRNOR CRAPO. 571 
 
 which was weij^hty without losinjy its vivacity, and 
 polished and enriched with learninJ,^ while entirely 
 free from meretricious ornament. His death was 
 a loss to the whole country. His colleague Mr. 
 Chandler, the present Secretary of the Interior, 
 obtained credit for his .Senatorial services, esp<?- 
 cially during the war, and was twice re-electetl. 
 
 The principal political occurrences during Gov 
 crnor Crapo's time were the attempted revision 
 of the Constitution, and the contest which he 
 carried on against the dangerous and unconstitu- 
 tional attempts of the Legislature to authorize 
 railroads to be subsidized by county and other 
 municipal aid and taxation. The early experience 
 of the State had induced the framers of the Con- 
 stitution of 1850 to peremptorily confine the bus- 
 iness of building works of internal improvement 
 to private enterprise ; but for a time there 
 appeared to be a notion that railroads could not 
 be too dearly purchased, whether capable or not 
 of any remunerative use, and contractors and 
 builders, who were the only persons really bene- 
 fitted in many cases, endeavored to saddle their 
 schemes on the public treasuries. The plan was 
 not only illegal, but as dangerous as most illegal 
 schemes always turn out. The collapse of a 
 majority of the secondary ra'lroads has shown on 
 a small scale the utter ruin that would have be- 
 fallen the people if these attempts had gone as 
 far as it was desired to drive them. These 
 schemes were pushed through the Legislature 
 
572 
 
 CONSTl'lUTIONAl, RKVISION. (Chai-. XVI. 
 
 against the opposition of the governors, who 
 were called on to consider them, and the execu- 
 tive objections were sustained by the Supreme 
 Court, which held the laws void. Every constitu- 
 tional amendment which has sought to validate 
 them has been rejected. 
 
 A Constitutional Convention w§is held in May 
 1867, and its labors lasted through the summer. 
 It was composed of able men of both parties, and 
 its work was done carefully. The proposed con- 
 stitution contained several new provisions, upon 
 which there had been no popular agreement. It 
 was defeated by an enormous majority, composed 
 in great measure of the aggregate of the oppo- 
 nents of single parts of the instrument, which were 
 not all obnoxious to the same objectors. The 
 same fate has befallen every attempt to submit 
 amendments together and not separately. It is 
 entirely manifest that the faults of the present 
 Constitution are found in some of its details and 
 specific provisions, and not in its general plan. 
 Single amendments have passed and will probably 
 pass hereafter on their own merits. But every 
 one can now see that the people are not disposed 
 to allow a good am,endment to carry through one 
 which they disapprove. Logrolling and swapping 
 measures are more easily carried through select 
 bodies, than through a popular election. 
 
 The last attempt at revision was at the extra 
 sess'on of 1874. A commission selected by the 
 Governor had sat during the previous year to 
 
CiiAr. XVI. J AGRICUI.TUkAI. CULLEGE GRANTS. 573 
 
 devise amendments. They prepared a series of 
 articles which amounted in effect to a revised con- 
 stitution. The members were well chosen, with- 
 out distinction of party, and many, if not most of 
 their suggestions, were generally approved. Others 
 were not as well received. Their work was 
 adopted with some changes, by the Legislature, 
 and submitted to the people as a whole, except 
 as to a small portion voted on separately. This 
 was also decisively rejected. In addition to other 
 objections, which were probably the fatal ones, 
 there was a feeling among many that the Legis- 
 lative function of proposing amendments did not 
 extend to framing a revision of the whole con- 
 stitution, or of considerable parts of it, and that a 
 constitutional convention should be representative 
 and not appointed. Among other propositions, 
 one to give the right of voting to women, was 
 presented separately, and defeated by a large 
 majority. /ijVr' 
 
 In 1863, the United States made large grants 
 to the several States for agricultural and military 
 education. The State of Michigan accepted the 
 grant, and applied it in aid of the existing Agri- 
 cultural College. This was thereby put on a 
 better footing ; and has become a useful institu- 
 tion, with a promise of more utility in the future, 
 as the value of the necessary preliminary experi- 
 ments becomes more thoroughly tested. 
 
 In 1859, the business of making salt began to 
 assume importance. The discovery of rich wells. 
 
574 SALT AND MINERAL SPRINGS. FORESTS. [Chap. XVI 
 
 and the economy of connecting the work with the 
 steam saw-mills, thus economising labor and fuel, 
 led to the creation of a very extensive industry 
 particularly on the Saginaw River. In some of 
 the borings the discovery of mineral springs, valu- 
 able for curative properties, has led to still more 
 profitable results, and opened pleasant places of 
 resort. >Im^? '^-^k-L/y^]'. -<::'..- ',,.:...-,.,;■-;: 
 
 The extension of roads has facilitated the busi- 
 ness of lumbering, and the country is being rap- 
 idly despoiled of its pine and hardwood timber. 
 The frequent prevalence of extensive fires has 
 furnished some reason for the voluntary destruc- 
 tion, for lumber, of what might be otherwise lost. 
 The year 1871, which witnessed the burning of 
 Chicago, was peculiarly fatal to the northern 
 woods, and immense tracts were rendered value- 
 less, or greatly diminished in value by the fires. 
 The rapid settlement of the Lower Peninsula has 
 led to the removal of woods from the greater 
 part of its southerly moiety, and the effect on 
 climate and streams is very marked, and prejudi- 
 cial. The moisture which was once retained by 
 the vegetation and shade, and tempered the air, 
 now runs off rapidly, and without soaking into the 
 ground. Streams have dwindled and disappeared, 
 and the country often suffers from drought, while 
 it is believed to be much more exposed than 
 formerly to extreme cold. 
 
 After the war was over, and when the fever 
 of speculation began to abate, the State settled 
 
CiiAr. XVI. 1 PROGRESS. NEW CAPITOL. 075 
 
 down again to quiet ways. Within the last ten 
 years the public interest has been more and more 
 directed to things of permanent importance, and 
 valuable executive suggestions have been carried 
 out in the broad and liberal spirit which prompted 
 them. Much more attention has been paid to 
 education and philanthropy. New asylums have 
 been planned, the University and other schools 
 have been aided, prisons have been improved and 
 remodelled, and progress has been made in the 
 highest work of civilization. The State has be- 
 come populous and wealthy, and able to carry out 
 any proper schemes. 
 
 ■ In 1 87 1, preparation was made for building a 
 permanent Capitol. After much examination and 
 reflection plans were adopted and contracts let. 
 The corner stone was laid in 1873. A superin- 
 tending board, consisting of Messrs. Shearer, 
 Chapoton and Grosvenor, have had constant super- 
 vision of the work, which will be finished in 1877. 
 Mr. Myers, the architect, and Messrs. Osburn, the 
 contractors, have planned and built thus far a 
 beautiful and satisfactory building, in which no un- 
 sound material has been placed, and into which 
 all the funds appropriated have honestly entered. 
 When other communities have been so badly 
 cheated in such enterprises, it is certainly worth 
 recording that Michigan has been served with 
 strict integrity. 
 
 The poverty of the State for many years made 
 it necessary to use more than common economy 
 
576 
 
 STATE LIHRARV (Chap. XVI, 
 
 in all its expenditures. This necessity not only 
 prevented the earlier building of a Capitol, but 
 the accumulation of an adequate library. Some 
 of the earlier purchases of books were very 
 judicious and valuable, but neither space nor 
 means existed for placing the library in proper 
 condition. Since it has become certain that books 
 if purchased will be preserved and made accessible, 
 a great change has taken place, and the present 
 collection is already assuming importance. By a 
 careful system of exchanges, the Law Library has 
 become very complete in American Reports, and 
 fairly supplied with other English and American 
 publications, and is constantly improving. The 
 General Library is also advancing rapidly. Gover- 
 nor Baldwin while in office ventured upon what 
 was then the untried experiment, of appointing a 
 lady, Mrs. Harriet A. Tenney, to be State Libra- 
 rian. Her nomination was cheerfully ratified, and 
 the choice has been abundantly justified by the 
 result. The neatness and care with which the 
 library room and its contents ha^'e been arranged 
 and kept, and the quiet and decorum prevailing, 
 are in themselves a great advantage, not always 
 found in State libraries. The Librarian has shown 
 a thorough knowledge of books and their selec- 
 tion, and an enthusiastic desire to make her charge 
 a literary treasury. A department of American 
 antiquities, and valuable relics has also been 
 planned, and some collections already made of 
 documents, pictures, and other things of historical 
 
CMAf. XVI.] FALSE ECONOMY. 577 
 
 value, not least of which is the Roll of Honor of 
 the Michigan Soldiers who died in the Rebellion. 
 The wisdom of choosing a competent woman to 
 such an office has been recognised in some other 
 libraries in the State, which have also been for- 
 tunate in securing the right persons to act for 
 them. No one doubts that such places furnish 
 appropriate and legitimate scope for feminine 
 tact and accomplishments. v ^ - ^ vvt» ; n-v, , 
 
 There is one matter in which the State has 
 no cause for self-gratulation. The Constitution of 
 1850, instead of leaving official salaries to be de- 
 termined by the Legislature, as changing circum- 
 stances might require, fixed the pay of all the 
 principal executive and judicial officers permanent- 
 ly, and at very low rates. There are few if any 
 of these persons who receive as large pay as their 
 own subordinates, or who can afford to devote 
 their whole time to their official duties. It is re- 
 markable that this state of things has not led to 
 greater mischiefs than have befallen the common- 
 wealth from it. Since Mr. McKinney's time the 
 treasury has been in the hands of competent and 
 wealthy men, whose services have been practically 
 almost gratuitous, but have been faithful and valu- 
 able. The Auditor General's office has been, so 
 far as is known, entirely above suspicion. The 
 management of public lands has on some occa- 
 sions been questioned. Frauds have been com- 
 mitted against the State by persons purchasing 
 lands, and it has been imagined that they were 
 37. 
 
578 LEf;>SUAliVK DISCRKTION [LiiAiv XVI. 
 
 not committed without the misconduct ol' some 
 one in the department. The impeachment of Mr. 
 Edmunds, the Commissioner, in 1872, while it was 
 not followed by his own conviction upon charges 
 of crime, indicated that there had been a course 
 of business in the office which was not conducted 
 on proper business principles, and which needed, 
 as it has received, amendment. The penurious 
 system which prevailed prevented that thorough 
 and systematic management imperatively required 
 by so important a branch of the public service, 
 and the property squandered very much exceeds 
 the money saved. In general the incumbents 
 have rendered good service without adequate pay. 
 But it is not good policy to make it difficult for 
 a faithful officer to hold office without great per- 
 sonal loss. Where the fixing of salaries has been 
 left to the Legislature, they have never been ex- 
 travagant. The disposition to suspect Legislative 
 bodies of liability to sinister influences in such 
 matters is absurd. If corruption is dreaded, and 
 if they are not to be trusted where it is possible, 
 they may as well be abolished at once. The 
 general power of legislation affords infinitely more 
 room for misconduct than that which relates to a 
 few offices. When the representatives of the 
 people are to be presumed unfit for their respon- 
 sibilities, republican government must cease. It 
 cannot exist without honesty, and it must be pre- 
 sumed, as it is true, that honesty is usually to be 
 found. The wisest constitutional restrictions are 
 
CiiAi. XVI. ] PROGRESS. 579 
 
 intended to prevent haste and misjudgment, and 
 honestly intended encroachments tempted by pe- 
 culiar circumstances. They seldom, if ever, are 
 designed to indicate a distrust in personal integrity. 
 It is very much to be hoped that the people will 
 soon become convinced that honest work should 
 be honestly paid, and that a generous confidence, 
 rationally guarded, is safer as well as more cred- 
 itable than perpetual distrust. 
 
 This year, of so much interest to the people 
 of the United States, finds Michigan furnishing a 
 hopeful illustration of the results of the experiment 
 made a hundred years ago. She was then 
 governed by martial law, with few people, and but 
 one civil settlement. For twenty years after the 
 Declaration of Independence, she remained under 
 British control, and was intended to be reserved 
 as a refuge for savages and a haunt of beasts of 
 the chase. A- few years later she fell again for a 
 short time under the same governance, as much 
 to the surprise of the captors, as to the disgust 
 and rage of the surrendered. But with the re- 
 capture came the beginning of progress. Multi- 
 tudes of the Revolutionary patriots and of their 
 children came westward, to enjoy the inheritance 
 earned by the struggle for independence. The 
 laws and customs of the new land were fresh 
 copies of those of the older colonies, changed 
 only where change was needed. In every village 
 churches and schools stood foremost in the estima- 
 tion of the people, and ignorance, idleness and 
 immorality, were under the ban. 
 
580 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT. (Cmai-. XVI, 
 
 The beginning of our existence as a State was 
 rendered unfortunate by the mistaken notion that 
 wealth and capital could be made up out of con- 
 fidence, instead of patient industry. The land was 
 rich and lay directly in the pathway to the further 
 west, where the unerring instincts of our wander- 
 ing race have always .led them in search of em- 
 pire. The future was sure, but too uncertain in 
 date to be wisely discounted. No one then 
 dreamed of the shortening of time and space by 
 improved railways and telegraphs, nor was there 
 any confidence in the quick passage of the ocean 
 by steam, whereby it has become possible to 
 crowd and multiply immigration faster than the 
 country can absorb it. And yet in a vague way 
 the hopes of the new settlements kept up with all 
 the possibilities. 
 
 Many people are yet living who remember 
 well the whole course of the Territory. Very 
 many more are familiar with all the fortunes of 
 the State. The population which would not have 
 crowded a large village has now extended beyond 
 a million and a third. The improved lands ex- 
 ceed five and a half millions of acres, and there 
 are more than 113,000 farms occupied almost 
 entirely by owners and not by tenants. Besides 
 agricultural products, the products of industry in- 
 clude lumber, copper and iron, and all the shapes 
 in which they may be wrought, as well as sugar, 
 fish, salt, and an infinite variety of manufactured 
 articles. The railroads in the State exceed 3,700 
 
CMAr. XVI.] CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOM 581 
 
 miles, at a cost of more than 140 millions of 
 dollars, in view of which the five million loan, 
 which was such an incubus on the State, appears 
 very insignificant. The ordinary school houses re- 
 present a value of |9,ooo,ocx), and the annual 
 school expenditures approach 1(^3,500,000. The 
 bonded debt of the State is less than jfii, 600,000 
 — less than $1,20 for each person. 
 
 During the whole period of the State existence 
 there has been unbroken peace with her neigh- 
 bors, and, since her admission into the Union, no 
 quarrel with any other State. No capital sentence 
 has been executed during this time. There has 
 been no general famine, and no very fatal epidemic. 
 Political rancor has not degenerated into treason 
 or sedition, and serious riots have been rare and 
 confined with narrow bounds. Only one State 
 officer has been convicted of malversation in office, • 
 and only one more has been put upon his trial. 
 
 The people ar^i thoroughly American in their 
 habits and sympatnies, attached to their State and 
 attached to the Union. They have gained their 
 prosperity by constitutional liberty, and they re- 
 cognise in the preservation and enforcement of 
 constitutions and laws their best safeguards ' 
 against the dangers that beset a civilized com- 
 monwealth. 
 
 THE END. 
 
.■..'•v.v M.'.n:'i 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ABBorr, Edward, Commander at Vm- 
 cenncs, 173. 
 
 AI)l)ott, James, on committee of tra- 
 
 1 ders to prevent sales ot" liquor, 164 ; 
 James, his son, Judge of Common 
 I'leas, 251. 
 
 Abbott, Robert, Auditor General, 348 ; 
 State Treasurer, 399. 
 
 Absolute system of French government, 
 S, 77, 171 ; of English after the con- 
 quest of Canada, 132, 156. 
 
 Acadians, 108, 117. 
 
 Adams, armed vessel captured at De- 
 troit at surrender, 281 ; recaptured 
 as the '' Detroit," 336. 
 
 Aigremont, Clerambaut d', reports on 
 Detroit, 61, 65, 68, 75. 
 
 Aikins, Captain In British army, be- 
 friends American prisoners, 349. 
 
 Akansas, tribe visited by Joliet, 30. 
 
 Albany traders at Detroit, 116. 
 
 Allen, I^ieutenant Colonel, killed at 
 Frenchtown, 338, 342. 
 
 Allouez, Father, 12. 
 
 Amherst, Sir Jeffrey, u6, 129. 
 
 Amikoue or Beaver Indians, at Beaver 
 Islands, 547. 
 
 Ancrum, Major William, commanding 
 at Detroit : dealings with the Mo- 
 ravians, 187. 
 
 Anderson, Colonel John, Michigan of- 
 ficer, 242, 305. 
 
 Anderson, Lieutenant John, at surren- 
 der of Detroit, 300, 309. 
 
 Angell, James B (LL.D.), President 
 of University, 554. 
 
 Anioton, an Indian chief, 102. 
 
 Anthon, Dr. George Christian, receives 
 grant from Pontiac, 120, 140. 
 
 L'Arbre Croche, an Indian settlement, 
 94; good character of people, 94, 
 119, 517. 
 
 Armistice in War of 1812, 323, 325. 
 
 Askin, John, befriends the Moravians, 
 187 ; engages in plan to secure con- 
 trol of Michigan, 199; retains Brit- 
 ish allegiance, 200. 
 
 Askin, John, Junior, at capture of 
 Mackinaw, 283. 
 
 Asylums, 5 'S. 53 L 574 
 
 Atasson or (.)ttason, Schiefflin's name, 
 201 «. 
 
 Atiochiarontiong, (one of the forms of 
 Taochiarontiong, or Teiichsa Gron- 
 die), a Huron name lor the region 
 about Detroit and Lake Erie, 37, 48, 
 
 56. 
 
 Atwater, Reuben, Territorial Secretary, 
 238 ; warns Hull of danger, 276. 
 
 Audrain, Peter, a public ofiicer at De- 
 troit, 350-1, 
 
584 
 
 t N D E X 
 
 Baby, Colonel Francis, of Canada, 
 19s ; ransoms American prisoners, 
 
 349- 
 
 Uaggattaway, an Indian game of ball, 
 used as a device to enter Mackinaw 
 in 1763, 121 ; attempted at Detroit, 
 124. 
 
 Bailey, Lewis E., his horse, 448. 
 
 Bagley, John J., Governor"' of Michi- 
 gan, 545, 556 
 
 Baker, Ensign, story of his adventures 
 after Battles of Frenchtown, 348. 
 
 Baldwin, Henry P., Governor of Mich- 
 igan. 545, 556, 561, 576. 
 
 Ball-play at Shawnee village between 
 Indians and squaws, 210. 
 
 Bank of Detroit chartered, but annulled 
 by Congress, 244. 
 
 Bank of Michigan chartered, 400. 
 
 Banking system of Michigan carried 
 to excess, 489-492, 513. 
 
 Barclay, Captain, defeated by Perry, 
 
 367- 
 
 Barre, Governor de la, friendly to set- 
 tlements, 41 ; controversy with Don- 
 g^n, 42. 
 
 Barrow, Captain, of British army, be- 
 friends American prisoners, 349. 
 
 Barry, John S , Governor, 515, 531,545. 
 
 Barstuw, Samuel, 512. 
 
 Bassett, Major Henry, British Com- 
 mander, 149, 150, 152. 
 
 Bates, Frederick, Territorial Judge, 
 237 ; Secretary and Governor of 
 Missouri, 239. 
 
 Battle of Bloody Run, 129; of Tippe- 
 canoe, 260; of River Raisin, 338, 
 344; of Fort Meigs, 357; of Fort 
 Stephenson, 360 ; of Lake Erie, 367 ; 
 of the Thames, 371. 
 
 Bayard, Major Robert, British Com- 
 mander, establishes courts, 141, 142. 
 
 Beauhamois, Charles, Marquis de, 
 Governor General, grants lands at 
 Detroit, 88, 89, 90. 
 
 / 
 
 Beauvais de Tilly, goes with Tonty to 
 Seneca campaign, 45. 
 
 Beavers in Upper Canada and Michi- 
 gan,, 48, 58 
 
 Beaver Island, Mormon kingdom there, 
 
 547, 549- 
 
 Bellestre (or Bellftre), Francois Marie 
 Piquot6 de ; his property in De- 
 troit, 60,63, '45; accompanies In- 
 dian chiefs to Quebec, and returns 
 with De la Richardie, loi ; last 
 French Commander at Detroit, 109, 
 no. 
 
 Bellefontaine, or Springwells, 297. 
 
 Belle He, above Detroit, formerly He a 
 Ste. Claire, and He aux Cochons, 
 124; Fisher murdered there by In- 
 dians, 125; granted to George Mc- 
 Dougall, 170. 
 
 Bene worth, James, engraver, 489. 
 
 Biddle, Major John : contributor to 
 historical sketches, 422 ; delegate to 
 Congress, 398; candidate for Senate, 
 
 469 
 
 Bigot, Intendant : his misconduct and 
 conviction, 92. 
 
 Big Snake joins Harrison, 362. 
 
 Bingham, Kinsley S., Governor, 515, 
 545, 563; Senator, 563-4, 570. 
 
 Bird, Captain Henry, makes incursion 
 into Kentucky, 181. 
 
 Black Hawk War, 436. 
 
 Black Hoof joins Harrison, 362. 
 
 Blair, Austin, Governor, 545, 565, 568 
 
 Blood, Dr., wounded at Detroit, 300. 
 
 Bloody Run, massacre of, 129. 
 
 Bluejacket, Shawnee chief: his village 
 and doings there, 210. 
 
 Bois-blanc Island of Detroit River, 59 ; 
 headquarters of Hurops, 99; mission 
 removed to Sandwich, loi ; dispute 
 as to its nationality, 228; Tecum- 
 seh's headquarters, 369 ; forest re- 
 moved in Patriot War, 511. 
 
 Boieh6bert, Captain, French Comman- 
 
INDEX 
 
 586 
 
 dant, favors settlement at Detroit, 
 89, 90 ; authorizes mill to be built, 
 /*. 
 
 Boone, Daniel, captive at Detroit, 175 ; 
 attacked by British' //'. 
 
 Boundary disputes : on the lakes, 2 ; 
 at Bois-blanc, 229; on southern bor- 
 der, 209, 331, 433, 444-448. 449-463. 
 470-477. 
 
 Bounties to industries, 493. 
 
 Bounty lands : Michigan reported un- 
 fit for them, 379, 380. 
 
 Bourgmont, Commander of Detroit in 
 Cadillac's absence, is attacked by 
 Indians, 67 n. 
 
 Bradstreet, Colonel, visits Detroit and 
 makes treaty, 130, 131. 
 
 Brady, Fort, at Sault Ste. Marie : Cass 
 obtains Indian cession for, 404; in- 
 terferes with ship canal, 502. 
 
 Brandy traffic at Mackinaw and De- 
 troit, 64, 65, 85. 
 
 Brant encouraged by the British against 
 the Americans, 191, 257. 
 
 Brevoort, (Major and Commodore) 
 Henry B., 366, 368. 
 
 British conquer Canada and occupy 
 Detroit, 109, in; early endeavors 
 to get a foothold in Michigan, 29, 39, 
 42, 43, 51 ; Roseboom and McGre- 
 gory expeditions captured, 43 ; Iro- 
 quois cession, 56 ; govern Michigan 
 by martial law, 132, 156, 162; pass 
 Quebec Act, 153; send expeditions 
 from Detroit in Revolution, 172, 174, 
 
 181 ; retain posts in violation of 
 treaty, 189; excite Indians against 
 Americans, 192 ; give up the posts 
 in 1776, 197; subsidize Indians, 257, 
 401, 406; take Detroit, 302; occu- 
 pation and re-surrender. Chap. XII. 
 
 Brock, General Sir Isaac, takes De- 
 troit, 301 ; is knighted, 336; killed, 
 ib. 
 
 Brown, Dr. Wm., 350, 351, 356. 
 
 Brown County, 388. 
 
 Brownstown, battle of, 287, 289. 
 
 Brush, Colonel Elijah, Attorney Gen- 
 eral, 219; mystifies the court, ih.; 
 colonel of militia, 242; commands 
 regiment during War of 1812, 321 ; 
 aids prisoners, 350; banished by 
 Proctor, 356. 
 
 Brush, Captam Henry, endeavors to 
 take supplies to Detroit, 287, 296; 
 refuses to surrender, 305 ; vindicated 
 by court martial, 306. 
 
 Buckongahelas, a Delaware chief: af- 
 fairs at his village, 210. 
 
 Buffaloes common in Michigan, 113. 
 
 Bull, George H., botanist, 488. 
 
 Burnet, Judge Jacob, 210. 
 
 Burr's conspiracy leads to special leg- 
 islation, 264. 
 
 Burt, William A., inventor of the solar 
 compass, 527-8. 
 
 Burtis, Captain John, introduces horse 
 and steam ferries, 413, 414. 
 
 Bushlopers or bushrangers, 14, 16, 52. 
 
 Cadarachqui or Cadaraqui, a name 
 of Lake Ontario, 52, 56. 
 
 Cadillac, Antoine de la Motte, Lord of 
 Bouaquat and Mont Desert, a prom- 
 inent officer, 50; desires to fortify 
 the Strait, 5 1 ; visits France and ob- 
 tains authority, 52,53; builds Fort 
 Pontchartrain, 54, 59 ; career at De- 
 troit, Chap, v.; his character, 64; 
 
 I made (iovernor of Louisiana, 76 ; 
 
 I descendants, 80. 
 
 i Cadotte, Monsieur, interpreter at Sault 
 
 j Ste. Marie, iii. 
 
 I Caledonia, British man-of-war, captur- 
 ed at Fort Erie, 281, 336; used in 
 attack on Mackinaw, 283 ; one of 
 
 I Perry's fleet, 367. 
 
 I Calli^res, Louis Hector dc, Governor 
 
586 
 
 INDEX 
 
 of New France. 56; confers with 
 Iroquois about Detroit, 55 ; unjust 
 to Cadillac, 67. 
 
 Campau, Joseph, occupies place of 
 Cadillac's house, 62. 
 
 Campau, Charles, builds water-mill, 90. 
 
 Campbell, Donald, Captain and Major 
 in 60th Royal Americans, first Brit- 
 ish Commander of Detroit, 116; 
 visits Pontiac's camp, 127; murder- 
 ed by Saginaw chief Wasson, 128. 
 
 Campbell, John, Colonel, and Com- 
 mander at Detroit, took part in 
 Croghan's negotiations with Indians, 
 139; repaired fort, 140; levied 
 taxes, 141. 
 
 Campbell, James v.. Judge, 569; law 
 professor, 555. 
 
 Canada or New France, included Mich- 
 igan, 3 ; conquered by Great Britain, 
 109 ; governed by royal proclama- 
 tion, 132 ; brought under Quebec 
 Act, 153, 155; divided Into Upper 
 and Lower Canada, 194 ; invaded by 
 Hull, 278; disaffection caused by 
 proclamation, 279, 321, 322, 326; 
 evacuated by Hull, 290; invaded by 
 Harrison, 269. 
 
 Canada Company control trade at De- 
 troit. 66. 
 
 Cannon captured in Revolution, re- 
 captured at Detroit, and again re- 
 taken at the Thames, 336. 
 
 Canoes : their size fixed for trading 
 purposes, 74, 401. 
 
 Capital punishment inflicted by Judge 
 Dejean, 166 ; abolished, 524. 
 
 Capital of Michigan removed to Lan- 
 sing, 533- 
 
 Capitol building at Detroit, 410; at 
 Lansing, 575. 
 
 Carantouan, whether the same as Kar- 
 ontaen, 37. 
 
 Carheil, Father, missionary at Mack- 
 inaw, 64. 
 
 Carignan Regiment, 27. 
 
 Carleton, Sir Guy, (Lord Dorchester), 
 157; establishes courts, 159; makes 
 appointments at Detroit, 161 ; gives 
 land to tory refugees, 194; encour- 
 ages Indians, 191, 194. 
 
 Carts, fashionable vehicles in Detroit, 
 421. 
 
 Cass, Lewis, (Colonel and General): 
 meeting with Judge Sibley, 218; el- 
 ected colonel of volunteers, 274; 
 defeats British at Canard River, but 
 is prevented by Hull from moving 
 on Maiden, 279 ; sent away with Mc- 
 Arthur before surrender of Detroit, 
 297; reports facts at Washington, 
 329; promoted, 330; in Harrison's 
 army, 371 ; his brigade left at Sand- 
 wich, //'.; volunteer aid in Battle of 
 the Thames, 372; Governor of 
 Michigan, 376; his administration, 
 Chap. XIII.; advanced political 
 views, 392, 413; expedition to sour- 
 ces of the Mississippi, 400 ; gallant 
 conduct at Sault Ste. Marie, 403 ; 
 expedition with Colonel McKenney, 
 414; made Secretary of War, 419; 
 literary and social surroundings, 420 ; 
 Senator, 536 ; Secretary of State, 564. 
 
 Catholepistemiad, 385. 
 
 Cattle at Detroit, 61, 86. 
 
 Cavelier, (see La Salle), Monsieur, 
 brother of La Salle, defrauds the 
 Chevalier de Tonty, 46. 
 
 C6loron, Commander at Detroit, 93, 99. 
 
 Census of Canada. 69; of Michigan, 
 234, 442. 
 
 Chabert de Joncaire, the Chevalier 
 Francois, influential with the Sene- 
 cas, 114; suspected by British, 147 ; 
 delegate from Wayne County in As- 
 sembly of Northwest Territory, 1 14, 
 219. 
 
 Chacornacle, a lieutenant of Cadillac, 
 
 54- 
 Chambers, Major, sent by Brock to 
 raise forces to relieve Maiden, and 
 fails to obtain them, 279, 287, 322. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 587 
 
 Champlain, said to have known the 
 Strait, 10. 
 
 Chancery, Court of, 480; abolished, 
 480, 522. 
 
 Chandler, Zachariah, Senator, 564, 571. 
 
 Chaplain, duties of, devolved on mili- 
 itary officers, 179, 204. 
 
 Chapoton, a French citizen, communi- 
 cates with Pontiac, 127. 
 
 Charlevoix, Father, the historian, 4; 
 visits Detroit, 86. 
 
 Chaudi^re, a name of Lake .Ste. Claire, 
 38. 
 
 Chegoimegon, mission at, 12. 
 
 Chemin du Ronde, the road next to the 
 pickets at Detroit, 60. 
 
 Cbfine, Captain Isidore, of Detroit, at- 
 tempts to capture Daniel Boone, 175. 
 
 Chicago massacre, 293, 295, 305. 
 
 Chi^ry, a monopolist at Detroit, 88. 
 
 Chillicothe, made capital of Northwest 
 Territory, 222 ; discontent and riots, 
 223. 
 
 China, supposed to be accessible, 21. 
 
 Chipman, Henry, Territorial Judge, 
 410, 435- 
 
 Chippewa (or Ojibway) Indians, fiercer 
 than Ottawas, 119; destroy the 
 Mackinaw garrison, 121 ; allow Mo- 
 ravians to settle at Clinton River, 
 184. 
 
 Cholera at Detroit, 437-8, 441. 
 
 Christiancy, Isaac P., Judge, 569; 
 Senator, it. 
 
 Churches organized, 396-7; Saint 
 Anne's, 81, 255, 398, 387. 
 
 Cincinnati, capital of Northwest Ter- 
 ritory, 222. 
 
 Clark, George Rogers, captures Vin- 
 cennes and Kaskaskia, 1 74, 1 76 ; 
 sends Governor Hamilton and others 
 prisoners to Virginia, 176. 
 
 Clay, General Green, at Fort Meigs, 
 
 359- 
 Clinton River, formerly Huron, 184, 
 412. 
 
 Colbert, offers rewards for discovery, 
 
 29 ; checks clerical powers, ib. 
 Colden, Cadwallader, plans against 
 
 Detroit, 108. 
 Colonial absolutism, 5 ; contrasted 
 
 with common-law system, 106, 134, 
 
 171 ; colonial industry encouraged 
 
 by France, 106. 
 Combs, General Leslie, captain and 
 
 scout at Fort Meigs, 358; runs the 
 
 gauntlet, ib. 
 Commanders at Detroit : their names, 
 
 93 ; their privileges, 87, 97. 
 Commission of charities, 561. 
 Compiled Laws, 542. 
 Concessions of land, 71, 79, 90. 
 Cong6s or trade licenses, 25, 69. 
 Connor, Richard, with Moravians, 187. 
 Connor, Henry, an interpreter, 187. 
 Constantine, Father, a missionary, 
 
 killed, 67 n. 
 
 Constitution of Michigan of 1835, 462, 
 538; of 1850, 539, 540, 544, 571, 
 
 572- 
 
 Constitutional commission and its fail- 
 ure, 573. 
 
 Contencinau, Jean, executed at Detroit 
 by order of Dejean, 166. 
 
 Conti, Princess of, a patroness of 
 Tonty, 33. ... -^.. 
 
 Convention to form constitution, 462 ; 
 to consider conditions of admission, 
 475 ; Frost-bitten, 477 ; second con- 
 stitutional, 539 ; third constitutional, 
 572. 
 
 Cooley, Thomas M., Judge, 569, 555 ; 
 compiles Statutes, 542. 
 
 Copper mines on Lake Superior, 147, 
 
 148, 529. 
 Corporation laws, 538. 
 
 Corrigenda: page 197, line 21, for 
 "administration" read "admiration"; 
 page 326, line 8, for "lesson" read 
 " lessen." 
 
 Council of Northwest Territory, 208 ; 
 of Michigan, i, 409, 41 1-13, 416. 
 
688 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 County of Wayne established, 205 ; 
 the only county until Cass's admin- 
 istration, 262 ; re-established, 382 ; 
 counties organized, 382, 383, 388, 
 
 407, 433, 547. 570. 
 County commissioners, 389, 509 ; 
 
 county officers made elective, 413 ; 
 
 county systems, 425, 509. 
 Coureurs de hois, or bushrangers, 14, 
 
 'S. 25, 40, 50, 52- 
 
 Courtemanche, a French officer, 39. 
 
 Courts: none under the French, 78; 
 created by military commanders, 
 141 ; in Upper Canada and Michigan 
 under the British, 159, 161, 194; in 
 Northwest Territory, 205 ; in Mich- 
 igan Territory, 240, 250, 262, 410, 
 463 ; in the State ot" Michigan, 
 Chaps. XV. and XVI. passim. 
 
 Craig, Sir James, Governor General of 
 Canada, warns the United States 
 against Tecumseh, 259 ; sends John 
 Henry to intrigue in New England 
 for disunion, 259. 
 
 Crapo, Henry H., Governor, 541, 568, 
 
 571- 
 Crary, Isaac E,, first Representative, 
 
 465- 
 
 Crawford County (Wisconsin), 388. 
 
 Croghan, Colonel George, British 
 agent, 120, 139. 
 
 Croghan, Major George, heroic defence 
 of Fort Stephenson, 360. 
 
 Cuillerier, Alexis, wrongly convicted, 
 and vindicated, 125. 
 
 Currency, paper and miscellaneous ar- 
 ticles, 262, 384-5. 
 
 Curtish, Captain, of the British arm/. 
 befriends American prisoners, 349. 
 
 Dalliba, James, Captain of Artillery, 
 prevented from firing on the British 
 batteries by Hull, 296-7. 
 
 Dalzell (or Dalyell), Captain, arrives 
 at Detroit, 129; killed at Bloody 
 Run, 130. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, custodian of Black 
 Hawk, 436. 
 
 Dejean, Philip, appointed Judge, 141, 
 162; condemns prisoners to death, 
 166 ; peculiar relations with Gover- 
 nor Hamilton, 1 70 ; captured at Vin- 
 cennes and made close prisoner in 
 Virginia, 176. 
 
 Delaware Indians, friendly to United 
 States, 260. 
 
 Delegates to Congress, 398. 
 
 Delietto, Sieur, commanding at Fort 
 St. Louis, 47, 81. 
 
 DeMuy, Commander at Detroit, 93, 97. 
 
 Denison, B-lizabeth and Scipio, held as 
 slaves, 246. 
 
 Denny, |ames. Major of Volunteers in 
 Hull's army, 274. 
 
 Denonville, Governor of New France, 
 asserts title to Michigan, 42. 
 
 Department of the Marine, contains 
 many records, 5. 
 
 DePeyster, Arent Schuyler, (Major and 
 Colonel), Commander at Mackinaw : 
 sends aid to Hamilton, 174; suc- 
 ceeds to command at Detroit, 178 ef 
 seq.\ character, 179; friena of Burns 
 and commander of his regiment, ih. 
 
 Dequindre, Fontenay, has titres de 
 noblesse, 212. 
 
 Dequindre, Antoine, Captain inLegiyn, 
 at Monguagon, 321 ; receives thanks 
 of the Legislature, ib. 
 
 Deschaillons de St. Ours, Commander 
 at Detroit, 93. 
 
 Deserters kidnapped by British officers, 
 246. 
 
 Desnoyelles, Commander at Detroit, 
 
 93- 
 
 Desnoyers, Peter J., banished by Proc- 
 tor, 356. 
 
 Desnoyers, Peter, State Treasurer, ib. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 589 
 
 Detroit : Le D6troit, or the Strait, dis- 
 covered early, lo ; passed by Joliet, 
 23 ; visited by Dollier and Galinee, 
 /A; by La Salle in the Griffin, 35 ; 
 Teuchsa Grondie, Taochiarontiong, 
 Karontaen, 37; fortified by DuLuth 
 at Fort St. Joseph, 43 ; Tonty's ren- ^ 
 dezvous, 44, 45 ; capture of English 
 parties, 45 ; efforts of English and 
 Iroquois to control the passage, 48 ; 
 place of city known as Wawyachte- 
 nok or Waweatanong, 51; Cadillac 
 authoiized to establish a town, 53, 
 54; ''"ort Pontchartrain, 54, 59; af- 
 fairs under Cadillac, Chap. V.; Brit- 
 ish intrigues with Iroquois and ces- 
 sion, 56; Indian attacks, 67; siege 
 of 1712, 8i ; projected massacre of 
 1747, 10 1 ; supplies furnished during 
 English war, 108 ; fort enlarged, 107 ; 
 surrendeied to British, 109; descrip- 
 tion, 112, 212, 224; new fort built 
 (Fort Lemoult), 178; American oc- 
 cupation, 197, 205 ; business and 
 social condition, 2x0, 2'.2, 226, 254, 
 420; incorporated, 222; burned in 
 1805, and new plans adopted, 240; 
 stockaded in 1807, 248; affairs of 
 War of 1812, Chaps. XI. and XII.; 
 social affairs under General Cass, 
 420; cholera, 437; schools, 512; 
 capital removed from, 512, 533 
 
 Detroit : armed vessel captured by El- 
 liott, 336; another by Perry, 367. 
 
 Detroit Gazette established, 384. 
 
 Dickson, Kob t, British Indian agent, 
 283, 358- 
 
 Disloyalty to the United States in up- 
 per country, 201, 286. 
 
 Districts for judicial purposes created 
 by Lord Dorchester, 159; by Gover- 
 nor Hull, 241, 262. 
 
 Dodemead, John, receives Indian 
 grants, 196 ; his house used for court 
 sessions, 219; court under duress 
 there, ib. 
 
 Dodge, Colonel Henry, in Black Hawk 
 War, 436. 
 
 Dollier de Casson, with Galin6e and 
 LaSalle, on exploring expedition, 23 ; 
 pass through Detroit River and de- 
 stroy a stone idol, ib. 
 
 Dongan, Governor, of New York, dis- 
 putes with Governor of New France 
 about northwestern trade, 13, 42, 43 ; 
 sends expeditions under Koseboom 
 and McGregory, 44. 
 
 Dorchester, {see CarUton). 
 
 Doty, James Duane, accompanies Gen- 
 eral Cass in 1820, 401 ; Territorial 
 Judge, 409. 
 
 Douglass, Columbus C, assistant in 
 geological corps, 488. 
 
 Dousman, Captain Michael : his course 
 at capture of Mackinaw, 284, 286. 
 
 Drummond's Island, held by British 
 ifter awarded to the United States, 
 and used as rendezvous for Indian 
 payments, 401, 406. 
 
 Dubuisson, Commander at Detroit in 
 siege of 171 2, 81, 82. 
 
 Dudley, Colonel, at Fort Meigs, 358. 
 
 Duelling punished, 405. 
 
 Dugue, a lieutenant of Cadillac, 54. 
 
 DuLuth, Daniel Grlsolon, an eminent CiJ 
 French leader, 40, et seq.\ goes to n 
 France to vindicate himself, 41 ; j 1 
 builds fort near Lake Huron (Fort 
 St. Joseph), 43 ; at capture of Mc- 
 Gregory, 45 ; cousin of Tonty, 47. 
 
 Duraiitaye (de la), a distinguished of- 
 ficer, commanding at Mackinaw, 40, 
 42; captures Koseboom, 44. 
 
 Dutch cede New York to England, 29. 
 
690 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Eaton, John H., Secretary of War, 
 429; contemplated as Governor of 
 of Michigan, ib. 
 
 Education : Cadillac desires to provide 
 for it at Detroit, 70, 71 ; Vaudreuil 
 favors it, 107 ; provided for by Or- 
 dinance of 1787, 208; land set apart 
 for it in Northwest Territory, 220; 
 school and University grants, 230, 
 415; Michigan University chartered, 
 385, 407, 481 ; Normal School, 532 ; 
 Agricultural College, 543, 573 ; free 
 schools in Detroit, 512; generally, 
 543 ; State Public School, 561. 
 
 Election t>f delegates to General As- 
 sembly of Northwest Territory, 219; 
 of Legislative Council, 409, 413, 416 ; 
 of Constitutional Convention, 443 ; 
 first State_election, 465. 
 
 Elliott, Jesse D., (Lieutenant, after- 
 wards Commodore), captures British 
 vessels Caledonia and Detroit, 336 ; 
 taki^s part in Battle of Lake Erie, 
 367-8. 
 
 Elliott, Colonel Matthew, (British In- 
 dian agent), endeavors to enlist De- 
 la wares for the British, 182; tampers 
 with American Indians, 195, 257; 
 endeavors to recover fugitive slaves, 
 247; ransoms American prisoners 
 from Indians, 349. 
 
 Elliott, Captain, (son of Matthew), 
 summons Brush to surrender, 305 ; 
 I at Frenchtown, 344; promises to 
 Captain Hart, 345. 
 
 English: rivals of France, 28; send 
 out western expeditions, 42, 43; 
 charter Hudson's Bay Company, 28; 
 emissaries at Detroit, 67, 77, 81 ; to 
 be prevented from reaching the Ohio, 
 99, 104; war with France, 108; un- 
 popular with Indians, 115, 118, 136. 
 
 Erie Canal, an important agent m 
 western settlement, 2, 412. 
 
 Erie, Lake: its importance, 41, 42; 
 various names, 57; the Grififin the 
 first vessel on it, 33 ; Battle of, 367 ; 
 Walk-in-the- Water, the first steam- 
 boat, 395. 
 
 Etherington, George, (Captain and 
 Major), commanding at Mackinaw 
 in 1763, 118; duped by Indian ball- 
 play, 121; capture and adventures, 
 122. 
 
 Evidence, rules of, modified, 523. 
 
 Exploring expeditions: sent to find 
 the South Sea, 21, 29 ; LaSalle and 
 St. Lusson, 21 ; Joliet, Marquette, 
 30 ; Dollier and Galinie, 23 ; La- 
 Salle's great voyage, 33 ; McGregory 
 and Roseboom, 44; Cass and School- 
 craft, 401 ; Cass and McKenney, 414. 
 
 Exports, 389, 416, 417, 
 
 Famine threatened at Detroit, 101, 
 106. 
 
 Karnsworth, Elon,Chancellor, 480, 516. 
 
 Faux-saulniers, or salt smugglers, de- 
 sirable colonists, 16; sent to build 
 New Orleans, 16 ; wanted in Canada, 
 89 ; to be sent to Detroit, 105. 
 
 Felch, Alpheus, Governor, 536; Sen- 
 ator, 537. 
 
 Female suffrage rejected, 572. 
 
 Feudal rights of Cadillac, 66, 71, 87; 
 
 government grants at Detroit in 
 
 rotfire and not feudal, 91 
 Financial troubles of Michigan, 501, 
 
 S08. S'3- 
 Findlay, James, member of Council of 
 
 Northwest Territory, 219; colonel of 
 
 Ohio volunteers in Hull's army, 273 ; 
 
 at surrender of Detroit, 399, 302. 
 Fisher, James, Sergeant, in British 
 
INDEX. 
 
 591 
 
 army, murdered by Pontiac's Indians 
 at Hog Island, 125 ; Cuillerier 
 wrongly condemned for drowning his 
 child, ib. 
 
 Flag staff at Detroit, not used by 
 Americans after Hull's surrender, 
 371 ; blown down, th. 
 
 Fletcher, William A., Judge and Re- 
 viser, 480, 509. 
 
 Flour, fi-t;t exported from the Territory, 
 417. 
 
 Forests recklessly destroyed, 574. 
 
 Forged letter, sent to stop enlistments 
 in Kentucky, 363. 
 
 Formality of |.~ublic acts of French of- 
 ficers, 78 
 
 Fort St. Joseph, on St. Joseph River, 
 39, 120; St. Joseph, on St. Clair 
 River, built by DuLuth, 43 ; burned 
 and evacuated by La Hontan, 49 ; 
 Mackinaw, I9, 25, 39, 48, O9 ; posi- 
 tion changed at various times, 12, 
 112, 188; captured by Indians, 121 ; 
 moved to Island of Michilimackinac, 
 188; captured by British, 284 ; re- j 
 stored to United States, 378 ; Pont- \ 
 chartrain, built by Cadillac in 1701. j 
 54, 59; former fort in 1687, 44! 
 British propose to build one at Wa- 
 wyachtenok, 51; attacked by In- ' 
 dians, 67 ; besieged by Indians in 
 1711,81; enlarged, 107; surrender- 
 ed to British, 109 ; LernouU, at De- 
 troit, back of old town, 178; retain- 
 
 ed by British in violation of treaty 
 of peace, 189, 192; delivered up to 
 Americans, 197; surrendered to 
 British by Hull, 302 ; recaptured by 
 Harrison, and held by Duncan Mc- 
 Arthur, 370 ; abandoned and dis- 
 mantled, 415; Gratiot, built in 1814, 
 376 ; Brady, at .Sault Ste. Mane, or- 
 iginally belonged to Repentigny, 107; 
 abandoned, iii, 120; established by 
 United States, 403-4 ; garrison pre- 
 vent Michigan from building ship 
 canal, 502-3. 
 
 Foxes (orOutagamies) besiege Detroit, 
 81 ; defeated and slaughtered, 83. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, desires to extend 
 settlements, 131, 151, 154. 
 
 French writers and explorers, 4. 
 
 French system unfavorable to freedom, 
 
 77, »7«. 
 French popular with Indians, 22, 117, 
 118, 122,333; British suspicious of 
 their loyalty, 135 ; mostly loyal, 170 ; 
 not zealous against the .\meric.ins, 
 279, 322 ; Proctor's efforts to intimi- 
 date and seduce them in Michigan, 
 
 334- 
 Frenchtown, battles and massacre, 33S 
 
 -345- 
 Frontenac, Governor of New France, 
 
 ll> 40 
 Fur trade, the chief colonial interest, 
 9, 25, 40, 138 ; attempts to control 
 it, 42, 48, 52. 'g^, I9«- 
 
 Gage, General, Commander-in-Chief, 
 
 «I7, 145- 
 
 Galinie, {see Dollier). 
 
 Galissonni^re, Marquis de la. Governor 
 General of New France, favors De- 
 troit, 69, 94 ; liberal views, 104 ; 
 suggestions concerning Detroit, 105. 
 
 Ganatchio, a name of Lake Ste. Claire, 
 
 38. 
 Gatineau, a Detroit monopolist, 88. | 
 
 General Assembly of Northwest Ter- 
 ritory: members from Wayne Coun- 
 ty, 219 ; troubles at Chillicothe, 223 ; 
 differences with Governor, 220. 
 
 Geological survey organized by Doctor 
 Houghton, 487, 527. 
 
 Gilpin, Henry D., nominated for Gov- 
 ernor and rejected, 441. 
 
 Gladwin, Major, commanding at De- 
 troit in Pontiac war, 116, 133. 
 
692 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gnadenhutten, New, founded by Zeis- 
 berger, on Clinton River, 184; Mo- 
 ravian road to, 185 ; abandoned, 
 187. 
 
 Godfroy, Monsieur (Jaques ?), commu- 
 nicates with Pontiac, 127. 
 
 Godfroy, Colone' Gabriel : his post on 
 the Raisin, 297 ; aids American 
 prisoners, 350; intercedes for Oke- 
 mos, 364. 
 
 Goodwin, Daniel, Judge, 475. 
 
 Gordon, Lieutenant Govcinor James 
 Wright, 514. 
 
 Gorrell, Lieutenant, in command at 
 Green Bay, 118; adventures in Pon- 
 tiac war, 122. 
 
 Governors of New France : annoyed 
 by intrigues. 5, 18, 21. 
 
 (iovernor General of Canada : his 
 powers under King's proclamation, 
 132; under Quebec Act, 155. 
 
 Governor and Judges : powers under 
 Ordinance of 1787, 207; acts in 
 Michigan, Chaps. X. and XIII ; last 
 act as land board, 479. 
 
 Governors of Michigan Territory: 
 Hull, Chaps. X. and XL; Cass, 
 Chap. XIII.; Porter, Chap. XIV.; 
 of State, Chaps. XV. and XVI. 
 passim. 
 
 Grand jury system, partially abandon- 
 ed, 562. 
 
 Grandfontaine, Governor of Acadia, 
 sends out Joliet, 30. 
 
 Grants of land: by Cadillac, 71 ; by 
 ( lovernor and Intendant, 80, 89, 90 ; 
 of lots within the fort at Detroit, 94 ; 
 
 from Indians, 120, 140, 170, 193, 196; 
 mostly invalid, 231 ; by Governor 
 and Judges in Detroit, 241, 243 ; by 
 Congress in Michigan, 243, 286. 
 
 Gratiot, F'ort, built, 376. 
 
 Graverat, Garret : under bonds during 
 Revolution, 165 ; ill-treated by De- 
 Peyster, 180. 
 
 Graves, Major : at the River Raisin 
 battles and massacre, 338, 342, 343 ; 
 c.irried away by Indians, 346; prob- 
 able fate, 346, 348. 
 
 Graves, Benjamin F., Judge of Supreme 
 Court, 569. 
 
 Green, Judge Sanford M., reviser of 
 Statutes, 510, 523 
 
 Green Bay, Gorrell at, 118; people 
 disloyal to United States, 201, 286. 
 
 Greenville, Wayne makes treaty at, 196. 
 
 Gregoire, Madame, heiress of Cadillac, 
 80. 
 
 Griffin, the first vessel on Lake Eric, 
 built by LaSalle, 33 ; leaves Niagara 
 River, 35 ; reaches Detroit, 37 ; 
 reaches Mackinaw, 38. 
 
 Griffin, John, Territorial Judge, 237, 
 and Chap. X.; loses office, 41 1. 
 
 Grisolon [see DuLutli) de la Tourettc, 
 brother of DuLuth, 46. 
 
 GriswoUl, Stanley, Territorial Secre- 
 tary, 237. 
 
 Grosse He, a large island at mouth of 
 Detroit River, 58 ; proposed site of 
 town, 58; attack on Frenchmen 
 there by Indians, 102; granted to 
 Alexander Macomb, 170; British 
 undertake to assert authority there, 
 
 378. ■ . ....:: -.A 
 
 H 
 
 Haldimand, Governor (ieneral, re- 
 tu.ses to give up western posts, 1S9, 
 270. 
 
 Half century ut the Republic com- 
 pleted, 3. 
 
 Hall, (ieneral, communicates with 
 Hull, 290. 
 
 Hamilton, Henry, Lieutenant Governor 
 at Detroit, 158, 165; relations with 
 Dejean, 170; military action, 174; 
 
INDEX, 
 
 593 
 
 captured at Vincennes, 177; confined 
 closely in Virginia, 177. 
 Hanks, Lieutenant Porter, taken pris- 
 oner at Mackinaw, 285 ; killed at 
 Detroit, 300. 
 Harrison, General William Henry : 
 :;; delegate to Congress, 220 ; Governor 
 of Indiana, 236 ; defeats Indians at 
 Tippecanoe, 260; commands north- 
 ,r western army, 335,357; holds Fort 
 • Meigs, 357; occupies Maiden, 369; 
 ' occupies Detroit, 370; gains Battle 
 of the Thames, 371, and see Chap. 
 XII. passim; conciliates Indians, 
 
 372-3- 
 Hart, Captain: captured at French- 
 town, 345; murdered by Indians, 
 346 ; buried with honors at Detroit, 
 
 374, 394' 
 
 Haven, Rev. E. O., (D.D.), President 
 of University, 554. 
 
 Hay, John, Colonel: made Indian 
 agent at Pontiac's request, 136; cap- 
 tured with Hamilton at Vincennes, 
 176; imprisoned, 177 ; exchanged, 
 tb.\ made Lieutenant Governor, 186; 
 dies, ih. 
 
 Heald, Captain, ordered by Hull to 
 evacuate Chicago, 293 ; misfortunes, 
 295. 
 
 Helm, Mrs. Margaret, at Chicago mas- 
 sacre, 295 ; harshly treated by Proc- 
 tor, 295, 355. 
 
 Helm, Captain, garrisons Vincennes 
 with one soldier and receives honors 
 of war on surrender, 1 74. 
 
 Hennepin, Father Louis, comjianion of 
 LaSalle, 4, 6, 34. 
 
 Henry, Alexander, a British trader: 
 adventures at Mackinaw, etc , in 
 Pontiac war, 1 1 1, 121, 122 ; attempts 
 miniii); on Lake Superior, 147. 
 
 Henry, John, a British agent employed 
 to excije disunion in New Kiiglnnd, 
 859. 
 
 Hrsse, a Canadian district including 
 Michigan, 159, ibi. 
 
 89 
 
 Higgins, Sylvester W., topographer, 
 
 488.519. 
 Historical Society, 422. - • 
 
 Hocquart, Intendant, 88. 
 Hog Island, {see Belle fsle). 
 Holmes, Major, killed at Mackinaw, 
 
 373- 
 
 Homesteads, 543. 
 
 Horner, John S. : his experience as 
 Secretary of the Territory, 465-469. 
 
 Horses : at Detroit in Cadillac's time, 
 6i ; subsequently, 86; numbers in 
 Canada, 87; none at Oswego, ib.; 
 wild, at Detroit, 389 ; used as pack- 
 animals, 390. 
 
 Houghton, Doctor Douglass, at De- 
 troit, 423; State Geologist, 487; 
 plans northern surveys, 527-8 ; death, 
 423, 529- 
 
 Houses : in Detroit, m early days, 62, 
 63 ; cost of Bellestre's, 63 ; number 
 in 1760, U2; in 1796, 213; style of, 
 213, 215. 
 
 Howard, Jacob M., Senator, 440, 467 
 
 570- 
 
 Hubbaid, Bela, assistant geologist, 
 488: his haunted mill, 217. 
 
 Hudson's Bay Company incorporated, 
 28. 
 
 Hull, William, CJovernor of Michigan 
 Territory, Chaps. X. and XL; ap- 
 |>ointed Governor, 237 ; reaches De- 
 troit, 239; creates court districts, 
 241 ; organizes militia, 242; discords 
 inboard, 241,244; makes treaties, 
 247 ; builds stockade, 248 ; enrolls 
 negro militia, 349; troubles with 
 Woodward, 251 ; goes to Washing- 
 ton, 261 ; views on war,, 267, 271-2 ; 
 Revolutionary record, ifx) ; other 
 .intccedents, 270; appointed to com- 
 mand, 273 ; over-nicety, 274 ; reaches 
 the Maumec, 275; sends vessels to 
 Detroit — one captured at Maiden, 
 276; reaches Springviiells, 277; 
 crosses into t.'anada, a/8- effect of 
 his proclamation, 379 ; delays, a8o- 
 
594 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 283, 289 ; orders attack on Maiden, 
 290; retreats from Canada, (A; me- 
 ditates surrender, 292 ; orders evac- 
 uation of Fort Dearborn at Chicago, 
 293 ; refuses to attack batteries, 297 ; 
 sends out Cass and McArthur to the 
 Raisin, ih. ; refuses summons to cap- 
 itulate, 298 ; makes no resistance to 
 Brock, 300 ; surrenders without fight- 
 ing, 302 ; discharged on parole, 304, 
 315 ; court martial, 306 ; his defence, 
 310; subsequent memoirs on the 
 subject, 314; reasons for dissolving 
 first court, 316; remarks on his de- 
 fence, 318-328. 
 
 Hunt, John, Judge, 411. 
 
 Hunt, Major Henry J., 350, 351. 
 
 Huntington, Samuel, declines judge- 
 ship, 237. 
 
 Hurons, Ouendats or Wyandots, 9; at 
 Mackinaw, 49; remove to Detroit, 
 63 ; industrious and intelligent, 49 ; 
 raise corn for sale, 49, 86 ; mission 
 at Bois-blanc Island, 99; intrigues 
 against Detroit, th.; mission removed 
 to Sandwich, 103; villages at 
 Brownstown and Munguagon, 287, 
 289, 340, 397 ; mostly friendly to 
 United States, 260; some join the 
 British, 280, 287 ; join Harrison, 
 362 ; make treaty, 377 ; change rc- 
 ^erves, 397. 
 
 Huron, Lake, called Ottawawa, 57. - 
 
 Idol, destroyed at Detroit, 23. 
 
 Illinois Indians, help Dubuisson, 82. 
 
 Illinois, State, organized, 383 ; en- 
 croaches on Wisconsin, id. 
 
 Imports, in Territory, 407-410. 
 
 Indiana : Territory organized, 222 ; 
 made to include all Michigan, 223 ; 
 State includes part of Michigan, 383. 
 
 Indian names of counties, 519, 
 
 Indians : settle at Detroit, 63 ; Cadillac 
 desires to civilize them, 64, 70 ; con- 
 dition in 1718, 85; occasionally 
 troublesome, 67, 81, loi ; stirred up 
 by Pontiac, 117; dislike Isnglisii, 
 118 ; not restrained by white leaders, 
 122; persuaded against Americans, 
 191, 192, 19s, 257; injured l)y white 
 associations, 21 1; deceived by in- 
 terpreters, 131 ; make grants of land, 
 I20, 140, 170, 193, 196; rise under 
 I'rophet and Tecumseh, 257; course 
 HI War of 1812, 279, a8o, 283, 293, 
 
 333, 34«. 345, 358, 362, 372, 376; 
 make peace, 373, 376 ; action of 
 Michigan Legislature on their be- 
 half, 517, 543,545- 
 
 Intendant's deputy at Detroit, 96. 
 
 Internal improvement system under- 
 taken, 483; ruinous results, 513; 
 abandoned, ib., 520. 
 
 Interpreters, cause trouble by their 
 mistakes, 131 «. ■ ' v 
 
 Irish manuscript, 410. 
 
 Iroquois : did !iot occupy Michigan, 
 ",57; object to Krench control of 
 the Strait, as the way to the beaver 
 country, 42, 56 ; convey their lauds 
 to King of England, 56; campaigns, 
 27, 46. 
 
 Islands : in boinulary waters, long un- 
 settled as to nationality, 2; in I.akc 
 Superior, named alter I'ontchartrain 
 and his family, 95 ; lust islands, 96; 
 in Detroit River, !;8, 59, 124. 
 
 Jailor, compelled to pay tavern li- 
 cense, 263, 
 
 Jay's Treaty, 196, 246. 
 
 JesRup, brigade major at Detroit, V^). 
 
I N D E 
 
 595 
 
 Jesuits: opposed to settlements, i8; I 
 their zeal, ii.; rivalry with other or- I 
 ders, 29 ; troubles at Detroit, 63. , 
 
 Jogues, Father, 11. | 
 
 Johnson, Sir William, Indian Superin- | 
 tendent, Chap VII. passim. I 
 
 Johnson, Colonel Richard M., com- ; 
 mands mounted rangers, 363 ; ar- | 
 rives at Detroit, 371 ; breaks British 
 lines at the Thames, id.; kills Te- j 
 cumseh, 372 ; Vice President, 478. 
 
 Johnston, John, trader at Sault Ste. 
 Marie, aids in capture of Mackinaw, 
 284, 402. 
 
 Joliet, 30. 
 
 Joncaire, Chevalier Francois Chabert 
 de, 114, 147, 181 ; represents Wayne 
 County in Assembly of Northwest 
 Territory, 219. 
 
 Jones, George W., delegate to Con- 
 gress, 398, 469. ,, 
 
 Jones, Richard, aids prisoners, 350. 
 
 Jon<"S, Father, missionary at L'Arbre 
 Croche, carries news of fall of Mack- 
 i law to Gladwin, 121, 
 
 Jonqui^re, de la, Governor, 104. 
 
 Judges: none commissioned until 1788, 
 158, 161 ; Dejean and LeGrand ap- 
 pointed by commanders, 141, 162 ; 
 under Northwest Territory, 206 ; in 
 Michigan Territory, 237, 410, 411, 
 435 ; in State, 4O3, 469, 480, 569. 
 
 Judiciary system: originally for life, 
 207 ; changed in Michigan in 1823, 
 410 ; under State Constitutions, 463, 
 469, 480, 521, 522, 523. 
 
 Jung, and Jungman, Moravian mission- 
 aries, 184. 
 
 Jurisprudence, French system of, pre- 
 served by Quebec Act, 153; abolish- 
 ed in Upper Canada, 193 ; in Mich- 
 igan, 262. 
 
 K 
 
 Kandekio, a name of Lake St. Clair, 
 
 38. 
 
 Karontaen, name of Detroit, 37. 
 
 Kaskaskia, captured, 174; people 
 friendly to Americans, »A 
 
 Kent, Professor, 555. 
 
 Kentucky, invaded by Hird, 181 ; vol- 
 unteers from, 335, 363. 
 
 Kidnapping, deserters from Detroit, 
 statute against, 417. 
 
 King's Mountain, Shelby in battle of, 
 363- 
 
 King's proclamation after conquest of 
 Canada, 132. 
 
 Kinzie, John, of Chicago, at massacre, 
 293 ; ill-treated by Proctor, 354 
 
 Kishkaukon, Saginaw chief, trouble- 
 some, 376; charged with murder, 
 and poisons himself, 416; County, 
 
 5 '9 
 Knaggs, Captain James, recognizes 
 
 Tecumseh, 372. 
 Kundig, Rev. Martm, appropriation to, 
 
 494- 
 
 I.AHAUIK, Miss, helps prisoners, 350. 
 
 l^a Butte, interpreter during Pontiac 
 war, 127, 131. 
 
 l.a Croix, (luliert, captain in Legion, 
 321. 
 
 La Kor*t, Major de, ( L» Halle's lieu- 
 tenant), 40, 81 ; at irapture ol Rose- 
 boom and McCiregorv, 44; succeeds 
 ('adillac, 80; gives hit views al)uiit 
 Detroit, (i4. 
 
 La Hontan, Raron de, 4, 6 ; commands 
 I>ort St. Joseph, 46; destroys and 
 evacuates it, 49. 
 
 Lakes, necessary ways, 58. 
 
 La Mar(|iie, Detroit monopolist, 86. 
 
 L.T Mothe, Captain, captured at Vln- 
 cennes, 1 77. 
 
 La Motte Cadillac, (/<v CaJU/at). 
 
 Land Office. 513, J33. 
 
596 
 
 K DE X. 
 
 Lands: at Detroit, of good quality, 
 86; granted by Cadillac, 71; by 
 Governor and Intendant, 90, 91 ; 
 titles confirmed, 231, 243; invalid 
 grants, 139, 170,178,231; bounty 
 lands not located, and why, 379-3^ i 
 first sales by United States in 1818, | 
 395 ; school and University grants, i 
 220, 230, 481 ; other grants, 482, 
 513; iVaudulent surveys, 519; sur- 
 vey system, 527. 
 
 Langlade, French trader at Mackinaw : 
 Henry concealed in his house after , 
 massacre, 121 ; sent out by DePeys- ■ 
 ter with Indians, 174. 
 
 Lansing, capital removed to, 533 
 
 Larned, Charles, Attorney (general, 
 440 ; died of cholera, 16. 
 
 La Salle, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de, 4, 
 21 ; sent out to explore, 23; en- 
 nobled, 3 1 ; prepares for further ad- ' 
 ventures, 33; builds the Griffin, /A; 
 starts for the Mississippi, 35 ; 
 reaches the Detroit, 37 ; reaches 
 Mackinaw, 38 ; builds fort on the 
 St. Joseph, 39. 
 
 Lasselle, Miss, aids prisoners, 350. 
 
 Law school of University. 555. 
 
 Legion, Michigan, 33 1. j 
 
 Legislative Board ol Governor and 
 Judges, 207, 237. 
 
 Legislative Council : created, 1 ; met 
 in 1824, 412; changed, 1,413,416. 
 
 Lc Grand, I'hilip, acts judicially under 
 military appointment, 141 
 
 Lernoult, Captain (and Major) K. U., 
 168 ; attends examination ol prison- 
 ers bclorr Dejean, if'.; builds furt at j 
 Detroit named alter htm, 178. 
 
 Lewis, Colonel William, in battles of 
 the Raisin, 338-344. • '■ 
 
 Licenses to sell liquor forbidden, 553. 
 
 Lieutenant Governors: under British, 
 Hamilton, Hay and Smclair, 158, 
 164, 178; of Upper Canada, Simcoe, 
 »93 
 
 Liquor selling : at Mackinaw, 64; re- 
 strained by Cadillac, 65 ; by regula- 
 tions of Detroit merchants, 65, 164 ; 
 legislation before surrender of De- 
 troit, 261 ; by State laws, 553. 
 
 Livingston, Lieutenant Governor, of 
 New York, approves of bushrangers, 
 16, 52 ; his schemes against Detroit, 
 52. 
 
 Livre, tournois and parisis, 63. 
 
 Loan, Five Million, 494, 496-502 ; 
 loans restricted, 514, 542. 
 
 Local government : unknown to French 
 colonists, 77, 171 ; not provided for 
 under Hull's administration, 262 ; 
 views of General Cass on, 392, 4I3. 
 
 l-ods et ventes, reserved in grants, 91 ; 
 their amount, 98. 
 
 Longucuil, Chevalier de. Commander 
 at Detroit, 93, 100; decorated with 
 Cross of St. Louis, too. 
 
 Lottery, authori^.ed for public purposes, 
 241. 
 
 Louisiana: did not include Michigan, 
 8 ; Cadillac made Governor of, 76. 
 
 Louis XIV., ambitious of territory, 20. 
 
 Lucas, LaSalle's pllut, 35. 
 
 Luias, Robert, (iovernor of Ohio, in- 
 volved ill boiindarv disputes, 445, 
 447- 
 
 Lusigiiv, leader ol bushrangers, 40. 
 
 Lyon, Ludus, delegate to Cungresa, 
 J99 i .Senator, 469. 
 
 M 
 
 McAmihiih, Colonel (and (icnertl) 
 Diuuan: lommandu ie|(intenl In 
 Hull* aimv, t7\; adviMt him u( 
 impcnilinn wai, ijb; make* Uitay 
 
 up the Thames, 179: detached with 
 < '•«« l>rloie surrender, 297 ; In lom^ 
 mand at l>«iiiili, 1701 raid Ihrouiih 
 C«n«l», j;j. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 597 
 
 McClelland, Robert, Governor, 545. 
 
 McCracken, Captain Virgin, murdered 
 at Frenchtown, 346. 
 
 McDonell, John, 350. 
 
 McDougall, Lieutenant George, goes 
 with Major Campbell to Pontiat's 
 camp, 128; escapes, ih.\ obtains 
 grant of Hog Island, 170. 
 
 McGregor, Gregor, appointed first 
 sheriff by Lord Dorchester, 161. 
 
 McGregory, Major Patrick, sent on ex- 
 pedition to Mackinaw, 43 ; captured 
 by Tonty and his associates, 45. 
 
 McKee, Colonel, British Indian agent : 
 his stores destroyed by Wayne, 195 ; 
 at Maiden, 257 ; jirotects inhabitants 
 of Detroit, 333. 
 
 McKeehan, Doctor, sent to attend 
 prisoners, and captured, 346 ; cruelly 
 treated, ib. 
 
 McKenney, Colonel, accompanies Cass 
 tu Lake Superior, 414. 
 
 Mc Kinney, John, defaulting State 
 Treasurer, 565. 
 
 McKinstry, Colonel David C, opposes 
 Secretary Mason's ap|)ointnient, 430. 
 
 Mac.iulay, Zachary, signs protest 
 against (Quebec Act, 158 
 
 Mack, Stephen, an othier ot the Le- 
 gion, 321 ; helps prisoners, 350, 
 
 Mackinaw : an early post and mission, 
 12, 13, 19; position ol fort, 13, 4H, 
 113; captured by Indians, 131 ; dif- 
 ficulties with Major Rogers, 145; 
 fort removed to Island <il Michili- 
 niackinac, 1K8; captuiril by lirilish, 
 38} ; some ol its people dialuyal, 
 3H6; failure ol attempt to recapturr, 
 373 I rralorrd to I'liiled Slate*, 377 ; 
 extensive liusine**, 407, 410; trouble 
 with Moiinuiiiion Iteitvrr Island, sVi- 
 
 Markinluoh, An|{u*, <>i Dritoil, Inherit* 
 Muy ealales, \\Un.\ ho«|iiialily, lit 
 
 Macumh, Aleaamier, merihanl : mi 
 intnmiltM to itguUlt liquor Ml**, 
 Ih4i uMaina gtani ol GtoMe tl«, 
 17a 
 
 Macomb, Alexander, General, receives 
 sword of honor, 384. 
 
 Macomb, William, helps prisoners, 
 350- 
 
 Macomb County, 388. 
 
 Madison, Major, at Battles of French- 
 town, 338-345. 
 
 Madison, President, 324. 
 
 Maiden (or Amherstburgh) : built on 
 American occupation of Michigan, 
 228 ; why not placed on Bois-blanc 
 Island, 229 ; centre of Indian trans- 
 actions, 257 ; Hull fails to take it, 
 279, 292, 308, 310; forces from, at 
 Frenchtown, 337, 340; prisoners 
 taken there, 345 ; Barclay gathers 
 his fleet, 366 ; Proctor evacuates and 
 partially destroys, 369; Harrison 
 occupies, /A; restored to British, 378; 
 vexatious conduct of ofificers there, ib. 
 
 Manitous, 24. 
 
 Manning, Randolph, Chancellor and 
 Judge, 480, 569. 
 
 Mansfield, Captain, at Detroit, 304. 
 
 Manslield, Lord: inconsistency, 1)2, 
 156. 
 
 Manufactures : opposed by English, 
 io(); encouraged by French,*/.; ex- 
 tension of settlements opposed, as 
 dangerous to Britiih industry, 138, 
 ISI. 
 
 Marietta colonists at Detroit, 317. 
 
 Marion, Fontaine, shot for acting aa 
 British guide, 46. 
 
 Mart|uette, Father, IJ. 
 
 Marriages: perlormed by military 
 c'omiiianders, 179; sanctioned by 
 ( anadian Icgiklalion, 304. 
 
 Married women, orcured in their |iiii- 
 pcrty, $iO. 
 
 Mar*ton, Isaac, Judge ul Supreme 
 Court, ^(19. 
 
 Mariin, (ieurge, Chlet JuMice, \it 
 
 Marital law 1 keftl up after r«Mit{ue«l, 
 under King'a priHlamaiinn, i)l| 
 uiiiUf (puelie< All. mH. 
 
 M«atuutiiia| l>eaiefa Deltail| li. 
 
598 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Mason, General John T., Secretary of 
 Michigan Territory, 428. 
 
 Mason, Stevens Thomson, Secretary of 
 Michigan Territory, before his com- 
 ing of age, 429'; objections to his 
 appointment, ib.; maintains bound- 
 ary rights of Territory, 446, 448; 
 superseded by Charles Shaler and 
 John S. Horner, 465 ; elected Gov- 
 ernor of the State, //.; negotiates 
 loan, and is cheated, 497-501. 
 
 Massacre, planned against Petruit, loi, 
 123; at Mackinaw, 121 ; at Chicago, 
 295; at Frenchtown, 345. 
 
 Maumee Rapids : Kritish build fort 
 there after the Revolution, 195 ; 
 Wayne defeats Indians there, /A; 
 Hull sends vessels to Detroit from, 
 276; Harrison builds Fort Meigs, 
 
 3S7- 
 Maurepas, Count, friendly to Canada, 
 
 94- 
 May, James, JudKc, 205; aids priiion- 
 
 rrs, 350. 
 Mechanics, in colony, 34, 6a. 
 Medammabo, 391. 
 
 Medical school at Univeraltv, S^t, KJ7. 
 MeiK*, Kurt, l<«»leged ineffrclually, 
 
 357. 3J9. 
 Melga, Raturn j, Gnvcrnnr of Ohio, 
 
 i«<», 3nr. 
 Mwi i l"*, Fathei /•n<il>«, ai t (imiianitu 
 
 UHalle, )4 
 Mtnwmliiir Imllam: al iHlruit. laj 
 
 al<l (iurrtll, ii<i, \tt, atd HtilUh 
 
 ■galim AoMftcana <i Mackinaw. 
 
 fmkm ft«H«. ■MtMtonafy m 
 iplHw. M, lUa* al IM par* 
 lag* <>( Ka«««iia« I'lMM, IS. 
 MMkan Waf, |«i 
 WtMi) liMliaita, m4. Mt. !*}• 
 MkliaUnt. tt\, t4r 
 
 ki.. i..f... K,,«M*> thiiaiwip, I, li 
 . k l*.i«N aaMlaMMll, 1^ ti 
 •mVf iMMM tai alMlMM^ iMj aw 
 
 by Great Britain in violation of 
 treaty, 189; attempt to secure its 
 possession, ig8; delivered up to 
 Americans, 197 ; included in Wayne 
 County of Northwest Territory, 205 ; 
 represented in Assembly, Chap. IX. 
 passim ; attached to Indiana, 224 ; 
 Territory organized, 231 ; its first 
 administration under Hull, Chap. X.; 
 no new settlements, 234 ; nu lands 
 in market, 221, 247 ; surrendered to 
 British, 3U2 ; under British military 
 rule, Chap. XII.; promised to the 
 Prophet, 35&-9 j re-occupied by 
 Americans, 370 ; refuses to have an 
 assembly, 391 ; extended to the Mis- 
 sissippi, 383; to the Missouri, 440; 
 prepares for and forms Constitution, 
 435, 442 4, 462 ; elects State officers 
 and representative, 463 ; first Leg 
 islature, 4(x); Senators elected, lA; 
 admission subjected to cunditiona, 
 47a ; rejected by convention, 475 ; 
 iricgular acteptame, 477; admitted 
 into the Union, M.; adopti new Con- 
 alilutiun, S39. 
 
 Michilimackiiiar, (tt* MiKHm4tw), coun- 
 ty organized, 3KK. 
 
 Military Inlerlaiencr wiih lanal al 
 .Haull Ste Maile, 50a 3. 
 
 Mllilla, org«nl(*4l, 105, a4i ; In Wai 
 Ml mia, 3*1 
 
 Mlllfi, l.lauUnani Culiiiial Jaiiian in 
 Hull'* aimy, 473; al Halila nl Mun> 
 awDgoii. «1|^ aft) lit«v«iia<i. titi 
 r«< haiigMl Cw Oaciaa, jo| 
 
 Mlllw, < >!*«•* W.. b«fi(MMla pftiMW**. 
 
 Mlllw A |at«MtM, iiM Mil|» ttrnm |» ilw 
 
 a«l.4IT. 
 Mill*. UatH M. P.. mtkm npm m 
 
 ( aiia«aa hMRivy. •» 
 
 MtlU M HMNrfl, 74, tl*i 
 
 If MaMrtkan, «• ■ wmhI mim, %^ 
 m l4lM ^ f m km, i«f. i«a 
 
INDEX 
 
 599 
 
 Minong Island, disappearance from 
 maps, 95. 
 
 Missions : early, 10, 11; Huron, at 
 Bois-blanc, 99 ; removed to Sand- 
 wich, 103. 
 
 Money: current, 262; paper, shin- 
 plasters and dicker, 384, 490-2, 497 ; 
 scrip, 501. 
 
 Moni;uagun, Ratile of, 289, 296, 
 
 Monroe County, organized, 383. 
 
 Monroe, James, President, visits De- 
 troit, 383. 
 
 Montreal Point, opposite Detroit, 104. 
 
 Moore, Thomas, major in Ohio volun- 
 teers, 274. 
 
 Moravians : Zeisberger and others 
 brought prisoners to Detroit, 183; 
 settle at New ( Inadenhutten, 184; 
 aban'ion it, 187. 
 
 Morell, George, Territorial and State 
 
 JixlRe, 435, 48o- 
 
 Mormons, establish kingdom on Hea- 
 ver Islands, 549; its fate, 551. 
 
 Morrison, Robert, major in Ohio vtjl- 
 unteeis, 274. 
 
 Muir, Major, Krilish Commander at 
 Detroit, 340, 353. 
 
 Mundy, Kdward, first Lieutenant (Joy- 
 eriiur, 4<>V 
 
 Munson, J. K., major ol Uhlo volun- 
 teers, 374. 
 
 N 
 
 Navakri, Kol>ert, deputy uf the In- 
 tendant, 96, 97, <)9. 
 
 Negroes: retained as slaves, 204, J46 ; 
 not reitorrd when lugltive* lron< 
 < anada, a4(>; rnrnlird •<• milltlii, 
 149; pciuliar law* lonteininH, 417. 
 
 New France, IncbKird MUhliian, I, 
 
 Nrwspaiters : noit* in ( 'aniKlii, I^Jl 
 Mi(hi|{«ii K**«y, ISM l>eliolt tit- 
 ««)tlt, JH4 ; MtiKlgan Mrruld, 41 j. 
 
 N*w Yotk I «««M lu l-nnUml, J*), 
 I <>nln>vtr«v with, ttw wmi»mi If mI«, 
 
 4< 
 
 Nnhulaa, a IIuiimi th)«l, pM* agalod 
 l>«4t<itl, lof. 
 
 NoblcMfl, l'°r«nch cillMnt licluitKing toi 
 
 an. 
 Nolan, Detroit Ri»nu|M>li»t, KS. 
 Normal Sch<H)l, s\t, ^43. 
 North«r<i Ciimpanv cip|Mi*«<l to set 
 
 llvmtiil*, JS7 1 i|ua(iri* at ih» h«uIi, 
 
 40J 
 Norihw**! Icinioiv, ('ha|>. IXt 
 N<>fv«n, Jokn, iNW <H the Aim }*»»\»- 
 
 N<itar^, M lHi|<iit«ant «4k«f, 7I. %7- 
 
 • o 
 
 ■■ni l^i^rf^ t"«ltk«l N tihllaM, «•*«, mi aalaNla % 
 
 •m if«nH WW*. (MffMi II m um— I, %m. 
 ■Ill apMllaMi MM H«r*««*t«« ««H*MM«,«M<M«*M»«, ««• 
 
 lltl 
 
 Slli 
 
600 
 
 i K 
 
 Ottawas: at Mackinaw, 49; at De- 
 troit, 49, 82 ; raise good crops, 85 ; 
 hostile, 363. 
 
 Ottawawa, (Lake Huron), 57. 
 
 Ouendftts, {see Hurons). 
 
 Outagamies, attack Detroit, 81 ; de- 
 feated, 84. 
 
 Owen, John, State Treasurer, saves the 
 State credit, 565. 
 
 Packhorses, used for transportation, 
 
 390- 
 Pajot, Commander at Detroit, 93. 
 
 Panis or Pawnees, slaves, 113; at De- 
 troit, ib. note ; woman conceals Henry 
 at Mackinaw during massacre, 121. 
 
 Paris, Treaty of, 113. 
 
 Parkman, Francis, 4, 120. 
 
 Passing bell, discontinued in cholera 
 year, 438. 
 
 Patriot War, 511. 
 
 Pattinson, Richard, obtains Indian 
 grants, 196; partner in scheme for 
 acquiiing Michigan, 199. 
 
 Ptan, Hugues, hereditary Town-Major 
 of Quebec, Commander at Detroit, 
 (>i ; rapacity and punishment, 92. 
 
 Pcl^e, Pointe: DoUier and Cialinue 
 wrecked there, 23. 
 
 Perry, Commodore Oliver Hazard, 
 prepares fleet at Krie, 365 ; deleats 
 IJritish Meet on Lake Erie, 367; acts 
 A's aid to Harrison in ll.ittte of the 
 Thames, 372. 
 
 I'helyppeaux family, 94- 
 
 Picri:e, John D., Superintendent ol 
 Pulilir Initiuction, 4H1, 513. 
 
 Ploneern, itmially lione*t, ly 
 
 PoHtiial difficulties introduced, 411/- 
 
 43». 
 
 I'olUrd, KfvcrrnH KIrhard. liefHeiid* 
 
 priaonrm, t4<). 
 t'imlM, numcioii* in the ««ihhI\ hanlv 
 
 ■ lu' liatllll, )N(). 
 
 I*i>nlihattr«tti, ( Hiinl, •! <,>u«hvi', Aj ) 
 frtamlly lo (•4llli*i. 79; |>t«<«« 
 naintKl fot htm, «t 
 
 l*tml(h«iiialn. KotI, Ixilll by I'mHIIm 
 
 Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas : meets 
 
 Rogers at Cuyahoga River, 115; his 
 
 plots and massacres, Chap. VIL 
 passim; his sagacity, 2^7; makes 
 
 grants of land, 120, 140. 
 I'opulation: of Detroit, in 1760, 112; 
 
 in 1796, 213; of Territory, 234. 
 Portage of Keweenaw Point : Mesnard 
 
 lost there, 12. 
 Portage of Sault Ste. Marie ; expense 
 
 of transportation, 506, 529. 
 Porter, Captain, takes possession of 
 
 Detroit, 197. 
 Porter, Augustus S., Senator, 514. 
 Porter, (leorge H,, Territorial (lover- 
 
 nor, 429; dies of cholera, 446. 
 Porter, Peter U., tJeneral, 324. 
 Posts, western, retained by Great Un- 
 
 tain wroiiglully, 189 
 Potawataniies : aid Dubuisson, 82; 
 
 raise large crops, S5 ; icde their vil- 
 
 lai(cs to ChOiie and Navarre, 150, 
 
 l|;i ; attack tort on St. Joseph, IJo; 
 
 lioMtllt to I'nilcd States, 363. 
 Po.ier, Father, niKKionary amunti the 
 
 ilurons, <)<). 103 
 f iwell, William Diitnnier, lirat judife 
 
 rii Wt>'«lern lii*lri(!, |(t|. 
 Pownall, (iovernar, un Krtnch Mltla- 
 
 mtnia, 17, loN. 
 I'fallnf. »<»! 
 Priming prra*: mmr In CtMda. <•; 
 
 Aral lnir«Hlti< <hI In Mirhlaan, %\%. 
 Priaonrr* nuMji tr<l al KKPnrMown, 
 
 14^ i tai««(iffi*<l at iMroll. .|4*i ; i«l 
 
 tiM g4iinll»t at ^<>(l Mtlf*. %\'^ 
 
 , lUnit. CotiMt*! an<l tia w a u lt 
 M« tommaml al V|al<tMitMl7i 
 
 M tIflfOtI, IJI i .•»|Wl»»« tWTWW 
 
INDEX 
 
 601 
 
 tnent, 332 ; commands at battles of 
 Frenchtown, 342-345 ; cruelty, 346 ; 
 forbids ransom of prisoners from In- 
 dians, 351 ; remonstrated with by 
 Woodward, 352 ; banishes citizens, 
 354, 355 ; moves into Ohio, 357; 
 repulsed at Fort Meigs, ih.; cruelty 
 
 to prisoners, 358; rebuked by Te- 
 cumseh, ib.; assaults Fort Stephen- 
 son, 360 ; defeated and retreats, 362 ; 
 evacuates Maiden, 369 ; insulted by 
 Tecumseh, tl>.; overtaken and de- 
 feated by Harrison, 371. 
 
 Quebec Act: passed, 152, 153; op- | 
 posed, 157; not enforced in Western , 
 
 Canada or Michigan, 158; repealed 
 as to Upper Canada, 193. 
 
 Railroads: first chartered, 418; 
 owned by State, 483, 495; sold, 
 496, 520. 
 
 Raisin, Kiver, battles and massacre, 
 
 33»-34S- 
 Randall, Robert, attempts to bribe 
 
 members of Congress to dispose of 
 
 Michigan to Detroit company, 199. 
 Ransom of prisoners : from Indians, 
 
 after Krenchtowii massacre, 349 ; 
 
 forbidden by I'roctor, 351. 
 Ransom, KpaphroditUA, Judge, 480; 
 
 (lovcrnor, 537. 
 Ra<|uette, used in ball-play, I3I. 
 Raymbault, mis!«ionary, 11, 
 R^aume, an early Detruit neitler, 88 ; 
 
 a (irern Hay maf(iiitrate of eccentric 
 
 juriadii'tion, l(io, 
 Keliellioii, itervicet ul Michigan in, 
 
 S66. 
 KtcullfU, early mi*iiiun«ric«, 10. 
 Rciord!!, removed from iHtrolt to 
 
 <,)«el>ef, 190. 
 Ke<rrail(>n« of old tlllftnn, iij, aiX, 
 
 »»4, 4»» 
 
 Karii, Kl>«nf4ti, )K4. 
 
 Ktlurm SchtMil, s}«). 
 
 HtttI, I him an, tV>- 
 
 H»m<ivaU )riifn oM<« mul<l|«ll*«l, 419 
 
 H»|>«nilan)r, ( h**al(*t (antl Maf<|ui*) 
 •Ir, oblalit* •«i||n#uft«, •ml liwtkk 
 i«>f« •< s«ul| ««(• Maft«. 71. 91, |»7) 
 laal ♦« M« ♦afwty »•? »•-«»••«, «i 
 «0 
 
 Reserves, government : remarks upon 
 abuses in extending exclusive juris- 
 diction over them, 507. 
 
 Revision of statutes: in 1820, 405; in 
 1827, 417; in 1838, 509; in 1846, 
 523; forbidden by Constitution, 510, 
 
 542. 
 Revolution, American: did not affect 
 
 sentiment in Michigan, 165, 171. 
 Revolution, French, ot 1.S30: celebrat- 
 ed, 418. 
 Reynolds, Doctor, killed at Detroit, 
 
 300. 
 Kiboiirdc. Father ( labricl dc la, iltief 
 
 missionary with l.aSallr, 34. 
 Richard, Father (iabriel: arrive* at 
 
 Detroit, 204 ; inlrcMJiue* prinlInK 
 
 premi, 15$ ; dejcgatr lo Congrcso, 
 
 398; die*, 440. 
 Kichardle, Father dr la, Hiiton mis* 
 
 alonary, loi, lov 
 Klllemen, mountad : |ohn*on'i rtgi* 
 
 Miriii, yi3; arrive a( Deliuil, 371; 
 
 brank Iha fn«my'* llnva at Ihf 
 
 TKanif". t^. 
 HtM'U ' lion* l>rt<>tt Moravian, |M«. 
 
 (t« In I lull** tlm«. Ktl ; iiiv^tnmani 
 
 4M. 
 
 I, Wnitam aiwl Itavtet, ti< 
 
 Hamlall tthVMia, ivf. ^ 
 
 kwlicMava, M 4*. ( ••«IMMbr «t 
 KaatiHt, lUt ia|ilwf«i awi awH 
 to VttflHta, 174. 
 
602 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Rogers, Major Robert : takes posses- 
 sion of Detroit, 109 ; in Pontiac 
 war, 129; frauds at Mackinaw, and 
 subsequent career, 145. 
 
 Rosalie, Fort, 95. 
 
 Roseboom, a New York trader : sent 
 to Mackinaw by Governor Dongan, 
 44 ; captured by Duraniaye, 45. 
 
 Rotfire, lands at Detroit held in, 91. 
 
 Roundhead, Wyandot chief, 334, 340, 
 342. 
 
 Rowland, Captain (and Major) Thomas: 
 refuses to submit to Hull's surren- 
 der, 305 ; a gentleman of literary 
 tastes, 422. 
 
 Royal Americans, (60th Regiment), at 
 Detroit, 109. 
 
 Ruland, Israel, imprisoned and ban- 
 ished by Proctor, 347, 354. 
 
 Sabkbvois, Commander at Detroit, 93, 
 94. 
 
 Sacs or Sakis : at Detroit, 82 ; befriend 
 Etherington, 119; in Black Hawk 
 war, 435-6- 
 
 Sager, Dr. Abram, on geological sur- 
 vey, 488. 
 
 Saghinan or Saginaw, 9. 
 
 Sahiquage or Sweege, a name of Lake 
 Erie, 57. 
 
 St. Anne* Church, Detroit, 81, i04, 
 
 ass. 387, 398' 
 St. Clair, (ieneral Arthur, (tovernor of 
 
 Northwest Terrllury, a 10, lao. 
 Si. Clair, Arthur, (iton of (iovernor), 
 
 Altornry (ieneral, aio; honored 
 
 alH>ve hii cumradm, lA 
 Kl«. Claire, l.akr, named by L^tSallt, 
 
 jS i varlou* namw, i^, 
 %\. Kiprll, miMlun at Chvgolmtgan, 
 
 I a. 
 St. Utoigt, CotiHMl, at Malilvn, ^^%. 
 iU. Ignac*. th* old mtMion i>t Ma<k 
 
 Inaw. If. 
 N(. jiw«|>ii, tif l,ali» Mithi|i«ti. I' oil 
 
 )w4ll bv I^Hall*. Yt, >'mi>«<-.| Ml 
 
 iiML^Oi <a|i«Hi««t in r Ml.*, wtf, 
 MM tiy DkUiMi, «|i mmmmkti 
 
 wf wtt W"Maft^ ^ i 4m#9«^I#4 ami 
 
 St. Ours, Deschaillons de, at Detroit, 
 
 93- 
 Salaries, under State Constitution, 544, 
 
 577. 
 
 Saliires (Carignan) Regiment, a6. 
 
 Salt manutacture, 573. 
 
 Sargent, Winthrop, Secretary and act- 
 ing (lovernor of Northwest Terri- 
 tory, at Detroit, 197 ; organizes civil 
 and military affairs, and eHttf1)liRhe« 
 Wayne County, 305. 
 
 Saauretii, the great Huron chief, taken 
 lo (>ueber, and ilies, 101. 
 
 Sault de Sle. Marie: early mutton, 10, 
 14; St. l.uMnn holds council, ai; 
 neigneuTJe gritnted to Re|>entigny, 
 71, 9a, 1071 vinited by Henry, ill; 
 Hrillth aympiihlfcrit, aoi, aHj, aH6, 
 40a i CaM makm tnaly lh«r«, 404 1 
 »hlp (anal )nl«rTup(«d by trctapa, 
 50a \ Iniill, f 46. 
 
 Ha«y«r, FrMkUn. HM|*iinitiHl»n» oi 
 I'ublic InMruclloii, 44a, }ij 
 
 S4 aliw. ivwanl kn. %11, 
 
 HihiffHtn. fonaihan < aiMmMi at Vln 
 ^«IIM« •n<l Mnl !(• Virgtnia. I^yi |». 
 MNMttI in MaiMtall mNmm, Iff | ffi 
 
 •ll«gt«lw«. fW) 
 gf •••««, l«A, to% J 
 
 Mil . . - 4«Am4 M t1ttai»«4lM, 
 
 ^^ % ^f^^W^^fc 
 
INDEX. 
 
 603 
 
 adopted, 416, 481 ; Normal, 532 ; 
 
 Reform, 559. 
 Schoolcraft, Henry R.: on Cass's first 
 
 expedition, 400; historical writer, 
 
 422. 
 Scott, Dr. William McDowell, 354; 
 
 abused by Proctor, ih. 
 Scott, Miss, befriends prisoners, 350. 
 Scottish officers and merchants, liked 
 
 by Indians, 136. 
 Search of American vessels at Maiden, 
 
 379- 
 Sedgwick, Theodore, exposes Randall 
 
 and Whitney, 199. 
 Sei)(neuries : only two in Michigan, 
 
 71- 
 Senecas : expedition aKain&t, 46; 
 
 friendly to United States, 260. 
 Servants at Detroit, praised by Judge 
 
 Burnet, II3 m 
 
 Settlements ; opposed by Jesuits, fur 
 companies and liiitlsh Ministry, 19, 
 M, iV'i 170, 1721 favored by licau- 
 harnui*, (ialisxmniire and Vau- 
 drenll, S9, I05, 107; In Michiiian, 
 largely from other Stales, 416 
 
 Shaler, Chailes, decliiiei th« oliico of 
 Secretary, 465. 
 
 Hhawanoea, In part )uth TecuiUMh anH 
 the I'Tuphcl, a}H-Vi |>«*tly IrieiMlly 
 lu the Tnlled SUle^ ate. 
 
 Mkea, I>f. John (•,, jo. 
 
 Khelt>y. (iuvernoi Im«i i |t«lria(k ••*• 
 vtte*. |(i|; Um\% Kfniiuliv xiluii' 
 Me««, i4 ; hU (xmY el Maltlvii, \f9; 
 t— iiiiainU aimi ailei (He Halile «f 
 •tie ri»««i»*. 171. loM n«««e«l it)tt 
 
 klM, J74' 
 MmMMi. )«Imi Pi MMat «l «ie«e«l«. 
 
 li lf«^ M|. \ 0t^ 
 
 Sibley, Lieutenant, killed at Detroit, 
 300. 
 
 Sibley, Solomon : first American set- 
 tler in Michigan, 217; delegate to 
 Assembly, 219 ; member of Council, 
 222 ; meeting with Lewis Cass, 218 ; 
 Supreme Court Judge, 217,411 ; de- 
 legate to Congress, 398. 
 
 Sieges of Detroit, 81, 123-130. 
 
 Silver, discovered on Lake Superior, 
 148. 
 
 Simcoe, John Graves, Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor of Ujjper Canada, 193 ; suc- 
 ceeds Rogers in command of Queen's 
 Rangers, 194; builds fort on Mau- 
 mee, 195 ; cajoles Hull, 270. 
 
 Sinclair, Patrick, Lieutenant Governor, 
 178; at Mackinaw, 188; removes 
 fort to Island ol Michilimackinac, />. 
 
 Slavery, not to \vt extended, 539. 
 
 Slaves, in (ianada and Michigan, 113, 
 i04, 846. 
 
 Smart, Rol)ert, 350, 356. 
 
 Smith, Ihomas, ap|M>lnted clerk by 
 Lord Donheslcr, 161 ; killed U 
 Maumrr, ih. 
 
 Smythe, Kichard, cavalry offlctr at IM* 
 trdi, jai. 
 
 Snelllni, Colonel Joeiah, of >!tn«f*t 
 regiment, >97, <vv, J0(>, Jly. 
 
 Morial life Itt l>e«r«ll, tot, til, ail, 
 ••}. aM. 4*0. 
 
 Selaf c«>in|>«M, \t^. 
 
 HoMlh ^4 ei|<e<liil<>nft, 11 
 
 !l|i««ng»»iu. •■< tuii»i,Miia«Me Hwtl'a 
 ten>|-iM« HI '.I < ■ • . HtiM h rt«*Ma 
 iMie, t<"> . **** ami'MMni <4 eoMier* 
 In lUa^li lle«li ««. a/i^ 440 « <gi 
 
 •I* 
 
 UNI* nmm m t^aat^ fyf * 
 
 •lie )* I Jl*«»«. m^ n te4f Nfe»«Ml% ||4 
 
604 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Steamboat Walk-in-the-Water, first on 
 Lake Erie, 395. 
 
 Stephenson, Fort, defended l)y Major 
 Cioghan, 360. 
 
 Stuart, Charles K , Senator, 569. 
 
 Strang, James J., King of the Mor- 
 mons, 549. 
 
 Superior, Lake: early missions on, 10, 
 II ; visited In Alexander Henry, 147; 
 
 by Cass, 404, 414 ; surveys on, 527 ; 
 mining, 148, 529; first steamboat 
 on, 529. 
 
 Sweege, Lake, (Erie), 57. 
 
 Symmes, Judge John Cleves, at De- 
 troit, 210. 
 
 Symmes, Captain John Cleves : curi- 
 ous theory concerning the interior of 
 the earth, — " Symmes's Hole," 396 
 
 Tahki.i (i)N : nature of his office, 97. 
 
 Talon, Intendant, sends out expedi- 
 tions, 31, 39. 
 
 Tanner, John, (apiive among Indians 
 — dangerous rliaracler, 415. 
 
 Tauchiarontiong, same as Atiochiaron- 
 tiong. 
 
 Taiipjn, I)i. Henry I'.. Presldtnt of 
 the University, $54 
 
 Tarhee (the Crane), Wyandot cM*f, 
 join* Harrison, }6a. 
 
 Ta«c»: laid by Commander al !)•« 
 ituli. 140; how Itvictt In rtrriMry, 
 
 Tuvt haiin, t hM, !«■•• !<• QtMhtf wllh 
 
 |t«ll«*it«, simI iII»^ IuI. 
 Taytof. /wliaty. «l«l«M* ImUmm In 
 
 HIkIi Hawk *», 4t* 
 
 T«<MNI*«I». ('kt«< »< Ik* HMWMMNil 
 
 Imm— ltM> IihIImw I<i mm. t|t| tl- 
 
 l«< iWiMi •< ri|i(i#<ami* gov* tn 
 \|«l<l»n, Hm, kHNiantlT •! ¥*»% 
 
 IMlW 'i* l<«ii« !(•>•. l(Nii tws i i Ha 
 ItoitM tat «n««Nlh«, «*! MIlM « 
 
 ill 
 
 Thames, Hattle ot the, 371. 
 
 Thomas (or Tomaw), Menominie chiel, 
 373. 401-a. 
 
 Tip|>ecan<>e, Hattle of, 260. 
 
 Tobacco, exported Irom Detroit, 417. 
 
 Toledo war, 447 
 
 Tonty, Chevallei Henry de, LaSalle's 
 companion, )2 ; in Seneca cam- 
 paign, 44. 
 
 To'ity, Ihr younger, Commander al 
 Detroit, No; graaplng and arrogant, 
 
 «»7. 
 Tmles, granleil land* in Canada, 194 
 To«rnahl|Mi, fliM wganUctI, 4IJ, 
 Tiaiy, Mat(|Hls de, Vtcvftty, gAi Ma 
 
 li<H|HoU cMRpatgn, tj. 
 Tratlai feMft<ie<l, t%, •), jai waali r ii. 
 
 a« n >a d by KnglUh, 41 1 U r ewaea, $%. 
 
 if I aMMniMily al IMkuI, $J , uyn 
 It*. 
 
 m D w rn i. %$k •!•, til, 
 
 TMMt, Hi IHMM, till ltf\ Ifli, Ifl 
 
INDEX 
 
 606 
 
 u 
 
 University: founded, 385; reorgan- 
 ized in 1832, 407; by Constitution 
 of 1835, 481 ; law and medical de- 
 
 partments, 532, 555 ; by Constitution 
 of 1850, 543, 554. 
 Upper F'eninKula, 526, 546, 554, 570. 
 
 Van Burin, Martin, Judge Advocate 
 
 on Hull's trial, 306. 
 Van Home, Thomas B., major of Uhio 
 
 Vaudreuil, Pierre de Kigaud, Marquis 
 de, furtliers settlement of Detroit, 
 107. 
 
 regiment, 274; at Battle of Browns- 1 Vincennes, Sieur de : gallant conduct, 
 
 town, 287, 2K9. 82. 
 
 Vaudreuil, Philip de Kigaud, Mar<|ui* 1 Vincennes, town an<t fort, captured by 
 
 de, favors brandy trade, 85. I Clark, 176, 
 
 W 
 
 WA»iiHKiNniiit, name of Hanry Con- 1 Wheat: Inlroduced by Cadillac, 74; 
 
 nur, 131, 187. raised many yaais un sama land, 86. 
 
 Walklnlhe-Watei, tti»l <teamlM>at on Whipping |m»i, 405. 
 
 l^kt Krlc, .iv}> 400- Whippla, Conimudora, ail. 
 
 Walklnlha-Walvi, Wyandot chltf, Whippla, Ma|of juhii, S)a 
 
 ■*•• JJ*> .140. Mt-y Whipple, Jii<t||t Chailt* W., t\o. 
 
 Walkat, Hun. Chailaa I , Iv., })), )6l. Whitllti. Ma|<>i J••hl^ M Ut«f««l. •!• 
 
 Wat !>( inia, ( ha|>a. XI. and XII. 
 Wai l>«p«ftm*iii, I hap XI. /^mm. 
 Waahlnglon '• «••«• tiA lh« IttfMttMol 
 
 fMaiMn |MMla, IN^ 
 WalM •■«*, IK* i>nlT •«*a<i*, fH 
 Wtwaiam, 4n IntJian liMl, «•*«• Al' 
 
 Waw«a.M«*.i* {mmmtmmmX «M I WIU tM IwAa^ M* 
 »••«• .4 tM««M. ||. |lk If. Will*«Mi. ltw>a*ai (1, H. |A|i fMb 
 
 laiK** HiiiUh iNiiiafy, ify. 
 
 WhMa MtvM, Knglish l<> ha lia|i« Horn. 
 
 90, too, KH 
 WMttMg. Oafi^f al IU«>v. wt, ^m, 
 WltHnay. Cl»a•l•^ |>M* wMh Hwiilail 
 
 ■Mi ««lM»« Hi aklflla «MI« (« M(tM< 
 
 W^ IHBi^ 4HHBIB ^^Wv^i #f % 
 
606 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Witherell, James, Territorial Judge, 
 345 ; Major of Legion, 3Q9 ; paroled, 
 J04; Secretary of Territory, 417. 
 
 \Voli:ott, Alexander, 401. 
 
 Women admitted to Uiiiveriity, J57. 
 
 Woodbridge, William, Secretary of 
 Territory, 376; Judge ot Supreme 
 Court, 4 1 7, 435; delegate to Cun- 
 greM, 398; (iovernor, JI4, 536; 
 Senalof, $15. $36. 
 
 Woodward, Augustus B., Judge, Chaps. 
 X., XI., XII. and XIII. patsim; le- 
 gislated out of office, 411. 
 
 Woolfolk, Captain, murdered at 
 Frenchtuwn, 346. 
 
 Wright, John, botanist, 4S8. 
 
 Wyandot, (s*t Huron). 
 
 Wyley, Ann, eifcuted by Dtjun, 167. 
 
 Zmimkmmmii, David, Muravlait miMtunary, lit.