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MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 

FROM ITS DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT BY THE 

FRENCH TO ITS FINAL SURRENDER TO 

THE UNITED STATES 

BY 

Henry M. Utley 




LOUIS XIV. DELIVERING TO CADILLAC HIS COMMISSION TO FOUND A 
COLONY AT DETROIT 

Painting presented by the French Republic to the City of Drtroit on the two hundredth 
anniversary of its founding 



MICHIGAN 

As a Province, Territory 
and State, the Twenty-Sixth 
Member of the Federal Union 



BY 



HENRY M. UTLEY BYRON M. CUTCHEON 

AArlMOTj Editor 

CLARENCE M. BURTON 

VOLUMB ONB 



Si quarts peninsulam amcenam circumspice 




The Publishing Society of Michigan 

1906 



Printed at Americana Press 
for The Pub}lebiiisr Society of Michigan 

F 



c^ 



Copyrififht, 1906, by Prank R. Holmes 
All Rigkti Restrved 



PDBI.ICATION OFFICE 

36 BAST 23D STRBKT 
NBW YORK, N. Y., U. S. A. 



JC^ 6=^^ //-^3'^^ 



F«iii«<B> lib; 



PREFACE 



THE story of Michigan asa Province is, in its 
early period, so involved in the story of 
New France that the two are practically 
inseparable. In the primitive stages of 
exploration and development, New 
France covered pretty nearly the whole known con- 
tinent of North America, from the Arctic Circle to the 
Gulf of Mexico, and from the AUeghanies indefinitely 
westward. A little fringe of settlements along the Atlantic 
from the Bay of Fundy to Cape Fear made up the 
modest claim of England. France did not undertake 
to do much with her vast possessions, except to convert 
the pagan natives to a recognition of the rites of the 
Holy Christian Church, and to gather in all possible 
profits from the traffic in peltries. There was much 
tramping back and forth between the east and the west 
in the prosecution of these two errands. It happened 
that Michigan was in the direct line of travel, and so 
it comes about that the story of the smaller territorial 
subdivision is inseparably linked with the larger. The 
events which bore upon the ultimate destiny of the lat- 
ter had an important bearing also upon the former. 
This must be understood, lest we may be thought to 
be going far afield, when, in a history of Michigan, we 
are found describing events on the shores of Hudson's 
Bay, at Ticonderoga, at Fort Duquesne, and on the 
Plains of Abraham. 

As a matter of fact, the doings within the territorial 
limits of Michigan, during this period, were few and 
insignificant. The settlements of Europeans were little 

7 



8 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

more than posts for traffic with the natives, with a squad 
of soldiers to keep the peace, a few merchants, and per- 
haps a few farmers to raise grain and vegetables. So, 
in this review of the Province, it is thought to be more 
interesting and informing to the reader to make the 
larger survey and note the bearings of incidents and 
events in the broad field, rather than to limit the story 
within the little circle of those directly concerned. In 
this view, details have been omitted. Neither has the 
narrative been cumbered with official documents, nor 
correspondence, which might have swelled the volume 
to many times its present bulk. In short, the effort of 
the writer has been to summarize in readable form, first, 
the events worthy of note transpiring within the Prov- 
ince itself, and second, those upon the wider outside 
stage which had an essential bearing upon its ultimate 
destiny. 

The story is not new. It has been told, in part, by 
many persons and in many forms. Features of it have 
been elaborated, and documents bearing upon it are 
easily accessible. The writer does not pretend to dis- 
close here any original material or to present any novel 
theories. Nor has he made the volume a vehicle to 
exploit his individual opinions upon any points, mooted 
or otherwise. 

He has tried to avoid running counter to any preju- 
dices, religious or national. He has honestly endeav- 
ored to be fair, sincere and truthful; to pay suitable 
tribute to the men whose achievements entitle them to 
h'onorable mention; to set down naught in malice or 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 



upon insufficient proof of xorrcctncss. The work may 
have been better done, but it could not have been done 
more conscientiously. 

Henry M. Utley. 



SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTERS 



CHAPTER I 

DISCOVERY 33-42 

Voyages of Verazzano— The St. Lawrence River — ^Jacques 
Cartier — Roberval's Expeditions— Champlain and the 
Founding of Quebec — His Exploration of the Interior — 
— Discovers Lake Ontario— Visits Lake Huron — Recol- 
lect Friars— Their Operations as Missionaries— Jesuits 
visit Lake Superior. 



CHAPTER II 

EARLY EXPLORATION 4355 

Adventures of Jean Nicollet — Looking for a Passage to 
China — Menard and Allouez — Lake Superior Copper — St. 
Lusson and his spectacular Ceremony in the Name of the 
King of France— St Ignace Mission — Marquette and his 
Missionary Enterprises — ^Joliet and Marquette Discover 
the Mississippi River— ^They Explore this River to Dis- 
cover its Outlet — Death of Marquette. 



CHAPTER III 

LATER EXPLORATION 57-^ 

Lasalle — His Energy as a Traveler — Dollier and Galinee 
visit the Site of Detroit — First Ship to Navigate the Lakes 
— Its short Career — Lost in a Storm with all on Board — 
Lasalle Traverses the Interior of Southern Michigan — 
Duluth — ^Lahontan. 



CHAPTER IV 

JESUIT MISSIONARIES 69-81 

Missionary Zeal of the French — Salpitians First* in the 
Field— Jesuits gain a Strong Foothold— Sufferings of the 
Missionaries — ^Torture and Martyrdom by the Savages- 
Havoc of Intoxicating Liquors — Attitude of the Mis- 
sionaries toward the Savages— Their effort was to Chris- 
tianize and not to Civilize — Hopeless Condition of Dis- 
agreement. 



14 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

CHAPTER V 

THE SAVAGES AND THEIR INTER-TRIBAL WARS. .83-93 

Great Indian Races of North America:— Their Distribu- 
tion over the Eastern Portion of the Continent— Desper- 
ate Bravery — Cannibalism — Ferocity in Warlike Exploits 
— Tribes in Michigan — Indian Characteristics. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE FUR TRADE AND ITS IMPORTANCE 95-ioS 

Fur Bearing Animals of North America — ^Their Habitat 
about the Great Lakes — Quality of the Furs— Their Pop- 
ularity in the centers of Fashion — Profits of the Trade — 
Its Management and Mismanagement — Coureurs de Bois 
— Their Conduct and Enterprise in the Business. 



CHAPTER VII 

FIRST FRENCH ATTEMPTS AT COLONIZATION.. 107- 115 

Characteristics of French Schemes — ^Wherein they Dif- 
fered from those of the English — Successful Attempt of 
Champlain — Company of the Hundred Associates — ^The 
Founding of Montreal — King takes an Interest in Affairs 
— Permanent Settlers Encouraged. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE SETTLEMENTS AT SAULT STE MARIE AND MICH- 
ILIMACKINAC 117-128 

Earliest Arrivals at Sault Ste Marie — A Meeting Place of 
the Indian Tribes — Resort of Traders — Chevalier de Re- 
pentigny Granted a Concession — Settlement never Great- 
ly Flourished — First Attempt at Canal and Lock Build- 
ing—Fort Destroyed by Fire and never Rebuilt— Michil- 
imackinac a Great Rendezvous — A Considerable Settle- 
ment—Massacre of 1763 — Removal of the Fort to the Isl- 
and — Settlement Merely a Military and Trading Post 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 5 

CHAPTER IX 

CADILLAC AND HIS COLONY 129-146 

Detroit the first real colony founded in Michigan — Circum- 
stances under which Cadillac undertook the enterprise — 
He was none too early in the field — Fort Pontchartrain 
established — Arrival of Cadillac's Family — New Colony 
Flourishes — Influential Hostility to Cadillac's Plans — He 
is superseded in the Command of the Post — He is sent far 
away and never returns. 



CHAPTER X 

CADILLAC AS FEUDAL LORD 147-161 

French Feudal system at the beginning of the Eighteenth 
Century — Canadian Feudalism — The seeds of French Aris- 
tocracy in New France — An undesirable Crop— Formality 
of Homage to the Lord of the Manor — Cadillac's Tenure 
of Lands — His Grants to his Vassals — Unjust confisca- 
tion of his Property rights — No redress forthcoming. 



CHAPTER XI 

FRENCH SUCCESSORS OF CADILLAC 163-178 

Tenure of office of Commandant limited to Three Years — 
Applicants for the Post — Cadillac's Son among them — 
Some account of those who held the Position — Dishonor- 
able conduct of a few — Names distinguished in the Annals 
of New France — Worthy Records. 

CHAPTER XII 

DANGERS WHICH SURROUNDED THE NEW SETTLE- 
MENT 179-195 

Scheming of those opposed to a Settlement at Detroit — 
Governor's Envoy strongly condemns Cadillac and all his 
Doings — He says the Country is no better than a Swamp 
— ^The Establishment is worse than Useless — Indians be- 
siege Detroit in 1712— All Assaults Repulsed — With the 
aid of Friendly Indians the Attacking Force Routed — 
Prisoners Tortured and Murdered — Recollect Pastor Shot 
by the Savages — Intrigues of the English. 



1 6 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

CHAPTER XIII 

COMMERCIAL RIVALRY BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND 
ENGLISH 197-208 

Fur Business assumes Great Magnitude — French are First 
to develop it — Radisson and Groseilliers — English become 
Interested — Organization of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany — France loses her Opportunity south of the St. Law- 
rence and Great Lakes — Overt Acts of Hostility. 



CHAPTER XIV 

BORDER WARS OF THE COLONISTS 209-223 

Rival Colonies Harass each other Mercilessly — French 
elaim Lake Champlain — Also assert their Rights to the 
Ohio Country — English resent their assumptions — Eng- 
lish Colonies establish a Colonial Union for Mutual De- 
fense — Braddock's Campaign — Fight at Lake George — 
The Niagara Fiasco— Montcalm appears on the Scene. 



CHAPTER XV 

FINAL SUCCESS OF THE ENGLISH 225-242 

Campaign of 1758-9— Amherst and Wolfe— Fall of Fort 
Duquesne — Capture of Fort Frontenac — ^The Fiasco of 
Ticonderoga — ^Siege of Quebec — Niagara Captured by the 
English — Fight on the Plains of Abraham — Final Defeat 
of the French — Capitulation of the Western Posts. 



CHAPTER XVI 

EFFECT UPON THE INDIANS OF THE LAKE RE- 
GION 243-259 

Rogers sent out to take Possession of Detroit — He En- 
counters Pontiac who Demands to Know his Intentions 
— Signs of Indian Discontent — French Retire from De- 
troit and the British Flag is raised above it — Land Grab- 
bing — English Demeanor loward the Savages — Unfriend- 
ly attitude of the Native Tribes — Conspiracy to Rise in 
Rtbellion — Great Prophet of the Delawares Preaches a 
Crusade, 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 7 

CHAPTER XVII 

PONTIAC PLANS TO WIPE OUT THE ENGLISH 

INVADERS 261-273 

Great Influence of Pontiac — His Campaign of Education — 
He Shrewdly Organizes his Forces — Great Secrecy of the 
Movement — Wonderful Skill of Pontiac as an Organizer — 
Siege of Detroit — Gladwin Receives Timely Warning — 
Indian Treachery Baffled — Dwellings of the English out- 
side the Fort in Peril. 

CHAPTER XVIII 

COMPLETE DEFEAT OF THE SAVAGES 275-291 

Events of the Siege — All the English outside the Fort 
Murdered — Attack upon the Fort — Flag of Truce Violated 
— ^Two English Officers Treacherously Captured — Indian 
Reinforcements — Pinched with Hunger — An English Re- 
lieving Party Captured — English reinforcements finally 
arrive — Indians undertake Entrenchments — Captain Dal- 
zell sets out to Suprise Pontiac's Camp— Disastrous Re- 
sult of the Expedition — Many Lives Lost — British Gov- 
ernment Decides to end the Strife by an Overwhelming 
Force — Treaty of Peace Signed. 

CHAPTER XIX 

PROGRESS OF THE COLONY UNDER IMPROVED 

CONDITIONS 293-307 

Efforts to Open up the Country to Settlement — British 
Government Handles the Question very Gingerly — ^Thc 
Quebec Act — French Satisfaction and English Discontent 
with it — Condition of Detroit in 1773 — Governor Hamil- 
ton's Description in '76— Attempt to Develop Copper Min- 
ing — Major Rogers gets into Trouble at Michilimackinac. 

CHAPTER XX 

THE OLD FRENCH HABITANTS AND THEIR WAYS 

309-322 
Characteristics of the French Settlers — Fondness for So- 
cial Festivities — Dancing Parties — Pony Racing on the 
Ice — Orchards — Mercantile Establishments — Ladies given 
to Fine Dresses — Universal Vehicle — Pioneer Hospitality 
— Conservative and Economical Habits. 
Ut 



1 8 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

CHAPTER XXI 

MICHIGAN UNDER BRITISH RULE 323-335 

Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton in Command — He Or- 
ganizes the Indians for bloody Attacks upon the Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia Frontiers — Col. George Rogers Clark 
Attacks the Illinois Posts and Proposes the Capture of 
Detroit — Hamilton Captured at Vincennes — Lemoult 
Strengthens the Fortifications at Detroit — Patrick Sin- 
clair Removes Fort Mackinac to the Island — Attack up- 
on the Spanish at St. Louis — They Retaliate by Capturing 
Fort St. Joseph — Gen. De Peyster in Command at Detroit 
— Military Prisoners Set Free. 



CHAPTER XXII 

INFLUX OF SETTLERS 337-350 

Cession of Western Lands to the United States — Settle- 
ments in Michigan — At Monroe, Mt Clemens, Along the 
St. Clair River — Advent of the Moravian Missionaries — 
Early Ownership of Belle Isle — Island long claimed as a 
Common — Early Settlers Differed from those of New 
England. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION AND SURRENDER 

OF MICHIGAN TO THE UNITED STATES.... 351 -361 

British do not Recognize the Qaim of the United States 
to Michigan — ^They Refuse to Evacuate — Probable rea- 
sons which Influenced to this Course — Michigan Becomes 
Part of the Northwest Territory— Final Futile Attempts 
to Rally the Indians in Support of British Interests — ^Ja/s 
Treaty Promulgated — It Fixes a Definite Time for Surren- 
der—The United States Flag Finally Hoisted over the 
Fort at Detroit. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Louis XIV delivering to Cadillac his Commission to Found 

a Colony at Detroit Frontispiece 

Jacques Cartier Facing p. 31S 

Carrier's Manor House Facing p. 36 

Landing of Nicollet Facing p. 46 

Louis Joliet Facing p. 50 

Marquette and Joliet discovering the Mississippi 

River Facing p. 52 

Robert de la Salle Facing p. 60 

Hennepin's Map of the Upper Lakes, 1697 Facing p. 64 

Jesuit Map of Lake Superior (1670-71) Facing p. 72 

James Marquette Facing p. 76 

Indian Clay Vessel Facing p. 88 

Indian War Implements Facing p. 88 

Map of the Waterways of Michigan Facing p. 102 

Samuel de Champlain Facing p. no 

Cadillac's Statue Facing p. 132 

Louis XIV Facing p. 150 

Braddock's Defeat Facing p. 216 

Louis de Montcalm Facing p. 222 

James Wolfe Facing p. 228 

View of Quebec (i759) Facing p. 240 

Death of Wolfe Facing p. 240 

Pontiac Facing p. 264 

Robert Rogers Facing p. 284 

Arent Schuyler De Peyster Facing p. 330 

John Jacob Astor Facing p. 356 

19 



CHAPTER I 
Discovery 



M 



THE story of the Voyages of Columbus 
quickly spread through Europe and stir- 
red the maritime world as it had never 
been stirred. Spain and Portugal vied 
with each other in fitting out expeditions 
for discovery. The bold navigators of Italy turned 
their prows westward. John Cabot and his son, Sebas- 
tian, the former a native of Venice, represented Eng- 
land, and with the patronage of Henry VII, explored 
the coasts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The 
competitive zeal shown by Spain, Portugal and England 
in searching for a short route to India soon quickened 
the ambition of France to emulation of their example. 
In 1508 two ships were fitted out, one commanded 
by Thomas Aubert and the other by Jean Verassen 
(Verazzano, a Florentine) which sailed from Dieppe 
at the beginning of the year and in the same year dis- 
covered the St. Lawrence river to which they gave the 
name because they began to ascend it on that saint's 
day, August 10. They explored the river for more 
than eighty leagues (about 250 miles), finding the 
inhabitants friendly, with whom they made very prof- 
itable exchanges for peltries.* Even before this time 
the fishing vessels of France had frequented the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence. The seamen of other nations also had 
visited this part of the world, but none had yet made 
exploration of the coasts. 

Fortunately for France, Verazzano was sent a sec- 



^Desmarquets. Memoirs Chronologiques pour servir a Thistoire 
a Diq>pe et a celle de la navigation Francois. Paris, 1785. 

3S 



36 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ond time on a voyage of discovery toward the west, 
under the patronage and support of Francis I, king of 
France. Notwithstanding the secret machinations of 
the king of Portugal four vessels were finally fitted out 
and sailed late in the year 1523. All the ships were dis- 
abled by a storm and were obliged to put back for 
repairs. One of them was soon in condition and Veraz- 
zano sailed on La Dauphine to go to Cathay. It 
appears from his own account of the voyage that he dis- 
covered lands never before seen by white men, and that 
he spent the spring and early summer of 1524 exploring 
practically the whole Atlantic coast of the United 
States, from Florida to Maine. The quite full descrip- 
tion which he wrote to Francis I upon his return to 
Dieppe and the account which he gave of the new 
lands and new peoples inhabiting them were eagerly 
copied and the transcripts widely circulated. The com- 
mercial advantages likely to accrue to France by the 
important discovery of a country thickly populated, rich 
in resources of natural products, furs and metals, 
quickly presented themselves to the popular mind. 

In 1526 he set forth from Havre de Grace on his 
third voyage from which he never returned, having been 
murdered by cannibals after landing with a few of his 
men to confer with the savages. His biographer says : 
Many who had known and conversed with him have 
told me that he had declared that it was his intention to 
persuade the most Christian King to send a goodly num- 
ber of people to settle in some places of the new 
country. 




JACQUES CARTIER 




CAR'IIER'S MANOR HOUSE 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 37 

However, no efforts at colonization were made on the 
part of France and the financial losses of those who 
had promoted the previous voyages were such as to dis- 
courage similar enterprises for several years. In 1534 
Francis I, having regard for the advantages which 
might accrue to France by finding a short way to 
the South Seas, persuaded one James, or Jacques, Car- 
tier to undertake a voyage. He set forth from St. 
Malo on the 20th of April, 1534, with two ships. He 
spent three or four months exploring the Strait of Belle 
Isle, the coast of Labrador, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 
looking for the Northwest passage, and late in the year 
returned to France. In the following year Cartier sailed 
again and explored the St. Lawrence river to the present 
site of the city of Montreal. The natives whom he met 
told him of vast seas of fresh water to the westward 
and great hills of copper and precious metals. But he 
did not push forward to verify their stories. The coun- 
try had then received the name of New France. Car- 
tier spent nearly two years in the region and then 
returned to France. In 1540 he sailed again to New 
France and ascended the St. Lawrence river. Jean 
Francois de la Roque, Sieur de Roberval, was placed 
in command of this expedition and by letters patent was 
commissioned Viceroy and Lieutenant-Governor of the 
new lands belonging to France in the western hemis- 
phere. He himself did not sail until a year later and 
not until after Cartier had departed from the country 
on his return to France. 

Roberval after reaching his destination sent back two 



38 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

of his vessels for supplies while he pushed on in search 
of that country which the savages spoke of as abounding 
in precious metals and stones without price. But a frag- 
mentary portion of Roberval's relation is extant and 
this gives no indication of the distance to which his 
explorations led him nor of the finding of the mineral 
wealth for which he was searching. It may, therefore, 
be assumed that his westward explorations were uncer- 
tain, to say the least. 

Wars at home occupied the attention of the French 
king for the next few years and drove out all thought 
of (Colonization schemes. Francis I died in 1547, and 
not until two years afterward, Henry II being king, 
did Roberval organize his next expedition to Canada. 
He perished on the passage with all his followers. This 
Catastrophe put an end to all colonizing projects in 
France for several years. Religious controversies and 
troubles with other nations shook France to its foun- 
dations and gave no leisure to attend to the concerns 
of the New World. 

The next serious attempt to despatch an expedition 
#as when, in 1603, Samuel Champlain, under the favor 
tnd patronage of Henry IV, set sail with three barks. 
The chief object was to encourage the trade in peltries 
which had been already found to be of considerable 
importance. Champlain established himself on the site 
of the present city of Quebec, the first permanent set- 
dement of Europeans in New France. He gave early 
attention to exploration of the surrounding country. He 
diused a site to be cleared in the vicinity of Montreal 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 39 

for erecting a fort. He concluded a treaty of alliance 
and trade with the Hurons, the most friendly of the 
Indian tribes, a party of which nation, 200 in number, 
had come on a visit. The chiefs of that tribe gave him 
permission to ccmimence a settlement in their country. 
In 1 613 he ascended the Ottawa river nearly to its 
source. In 161 5 he discovered Lake Ontario. In* 
friendly confederation with the Hurons he ascended 
the Ottawa and passed over to Lake Nipissing, about 
sixty leagues northeast of Lake Huron; then descend- 
ing southward he reached the point of rendezvous on 
Lake Ontario. He was the first European to navigate 
that 'Afresh water sea." He was wounded in an engage- 
ment with the Iroquois and was obliged to spend the 
winter among the natives. He made himself acquainted 
with tht Ontarian regions and visited the Neutral 
nation, a race of natives which kept up friendly rela- 
tions with all the battling tribes around. 

The French king and the French people were early 
impressed with the idea that their first duty toward the 
inhabitants of the new-found world across the sea was to 
bring to them a knowledge of the Christian religion. 
France herself was torn with religious strife and the 
Huguenots were driven from the country. The proposi- 
tion was once entertained favorably to send them to col- 
onize the French possessions beyond the sea, and for- 
tunate would it have been for mother country if this 
had been done. But the intense prejudice against 
Protestants intervened and, not only were they not sent, 



40 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

but they were absolutely excluded from entering the 
country. 

Thfe missionary spirit toc^ precedence of the colon- 
izing spirit. The RccoUet friars of Paris were favored 
by the authorities and four members of that body 
arrived at Quebec in 1615. In 161 8 Pope Paul IV 
accorded, at the instance of the French ambassador, the 
charge of missions in Canada to the RecoUets. They 
visited the Hurons with Champlain and established 
missions among that tribe on the eastern sh'ore of Lake 
Huron. As this nation dwelt in the region spreading 
around the shores and visited the islands of the north- 
em extremity of the Lake, it seems quite probable that 
the missionaries were the first white men to view the 
shores of Michigan. The statement h<as been made by 
his biographer, on what is now regarded as doubtful 
authority, that Champlain himself sailed down the east 
shore of Lake Huron and coursed through the con- 
necting waterways and the Strait of Detroit on his 
return to Ontario. It seems certain that he knew the 
connection between Lake Huron and the lower lakes, 
though his maps do not show it with geographical accu* 
racy.* 

The missions extended to the islands above Georgian 
bay, and following the Indians in their migrations the 
missionaries must also have crossed over to the west 
shore of Lake Huron and established the services of the 
Church in the villages and more or less permanent set- 



*CampbeiL Political History of Michigan. Detroit, 1876. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 4 1 

dements of the savages. Several of these religious men 
lived and died among the natives. The friars were 
the only missionaries in the colony until 1624, when by 
special invitation a few Jesuits came to New France. A 
year later, Henry de Levy, Duke of Ventadour, was 
made governor. He had become disgusted with the 
world and had entered a monkish order, intending to 
pass tht rest of his days in religious exercises. He was 
more interested in the conversion of the heathen than in 
the advancement of the material interests of the peo- 
ple over whom he held sway. He brought hithtr at his 
own cost five Jesuits, among whom were Fathers Lal- 
lemant, Breboeuf and Masse.'*' These energetic and 
tireless priests and those who came after them speedily 
set themselves about the work at their hand. They went 
among the Indian tribes and in the most courageous and 
self-sacrificing spirit sought to convert them to Chris- 
tianity and to baptise them into the Holy Church. 

In 1632 Father Sagard, a Jesuit missionary, reached 
Lake Huron by way of the upper Ottawa. In 1641 
Charles Raymbault and Isaac Jogues, two other Jesuit 
missionaries, who had previously established a mission 
at the htad of Pentanguishine bay, embarked in a birch 
bark canoe in which they navigated Georgian bay and 
St. Mary's river. In September of that year they 
arrived at the Sault Ste Marie. They were hospitably 
received by the Chippewas, the chiefs of which tribe 
gave them a cordial reception and afforded them refresh- 



*Garaeau. Histoire du Canada. V. i. Quebec, 1845. 



42 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ment and rest. From the savages the visitors learned 
soniething of the magnitude of Lake Superior, upon 
which their eyes then rested, and of the country about 
it Beyond this great body of water, they were told, 
was the home of the Sioux, a warlike band who never 
permitted the Chippewas to visit their hunting grounds. 
The missionaries did not push their investigations 
further, but late in the autumn of the same year 
returned to their mission at Pentanguishine, carrying 
with them glowing accounts of the beautiful country 
tiiey had seen. 



CHAPTER II 
Early Exploration 



THE missionaries as a rule took little inter- 
est in the country thtough which they 
travelled. They had not that spirit of 
adventure which leads men into perils 
and privations, the chances of flood and 
shipwreck, of torture at the hands of merciless savages 
for the sake of discovering that which lies beyond the 
borders of the known. They did not lack courage nor 
draw back at the prospect of danger, as was shown 
throughout their whole history of efforts to evangelize 
America. Their chief concern was not the bringing of 
new lands to light, but the salvation of immortal souls. 
They were, however, intent on pushing into unknown 
regions in search of new fields for thtir missionary 
labors. 

The Huron tribes occupied the region lying between 
the upper Ottawa and the Georgian bay arm of Lake 
Huron. On the shores and islands of the latter they 
had numerous villages and fishing stations. It was on 
the eastern shore of Georgian bay that the RecoUet fri- 
ars established a mission among them. Hithtr Cham- 
plain had come in 1618, and from this northernmost 
point of his travels he turned southward, coursing 
through these waters on his return to Lake Ontario. 

One of the first Europeans to pass beyond the borders 
of the lands occupied by the Hurons, among which 
tribes numerous missions had been already established, 
was Jean Nicollet. He was a native of Cherbourg, 
France, where he was bom in 1598. He was a man full 
of spirit, daring, and at the same time deeply religious. 

4S 



46 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

He was not a member of the Jesuit order, but had come 
to Quebec in 1618. Champlain sent him to live among 
the Indians to learn their language, their customs and 
to acquire a knowledge of the country, to enable him to 
serve as an interpreter. He spent nine years among 
the Nipissings, a tribe which dwelt northward of the 
Hurons. In 1634 Champlain sent him on an explor- 
ing expedition to the westward, partly to find out if 
there was a waterway which led into the Sea of China, 
and partly to make the acquaintance of the tribes living 
in the region beyond Lake Huron, with' a view to estab- 
lishing trade in peltries. In the sununer of that year 
he voyaged in a bark canoe, with an escort of seven 
Hurons to St. Mary's river which he ascended to the 
outlet of Lake Superior. Thence he returned down the 
river and coasted the south shore of the Upper Penin- * 
sula of Michigan to Michilimackinac and thence by 
Lake Michigan to Green bay in Wisconsin. He was the 
first white man, so far as recorded, to visit this region, 
or to set foot on the soil of Michigan. 

After landing on the shore of Green bay he pushed 
on to the westward. He had been told by the Indians 
that there were strange peoples living far beyond and 
known as the "Tribe of the Sea." These men had no 
beards, shaved their heads, wore peculiar costumes and 
came over a vast extent of water in canoes made of 
wood, instead of bark. From these descriptions Nicol- 
let was convinced that these people were Chinese and 
that the previous theories of reaching China by this 
route were about to be verified. These "Men of the 




H 

i-l 
J 
O 
u 

O 
O 

G 
Z 

3 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 47 

Sea" afterward proved to be the Winnebagoes, but it 
is remarked that so sure was Nicollet that he was to be 
brought into the presence of Chinese when he first met 
them that he had clothed himself in a large garment 
of China damask strewn with flowers and birds of 
various colors. The expected Asiatics proved to be no 
other than ordinary red skins. But they treated him 
well, banqueted and feasted him and made with him a 
treaty of peace. He journeyed southward to the coun- 
try of the Illinois and afterward returned to Canada by 
the same route, arriving at Quebec late in the autumn of 
1635.* Soon after his return Champlain died and this 
put an end for the time to his contemplated efforts at 
further exploration. He married the god-daughter of 
Champlain and settled down upon an estate. In 1642 
he was accidentally drowned while on a trip from Que- 
bec to Three Rivers. 

In the summer of 1660 Father Rene Menard, a 
Jesuit missionary, started from the mission on Georgian 
bay on a voyage of exploration westward. At the 
Sault Ste Marie he procured a birch canoe and accom- 
panied by a single Indian he coasted along the south 
shore of Lake Superior until he reached the head of 
Keweenaw bay. To this bay he gave the name of St. 
Theresa, because he discovered it on the anniversary 
of his patron saint, October 15. Here in the wilder- 
ness with only his Indian companion he spent the long 
dreary winter, suffering great hardship in the inhospita- 



*Henri Jouan. Translation in Wis. Historical Coll. V. xi. Mad- 
ison, 1888. 



48 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ble climate, living in a hut of fir boughs, with insuf- 
ficient food and finding little companionship among the 
savages. During his sojourn here he labored with 
great zeal to convert his wild neighbors, and felt 
encouraged to believe that he had accomplished some 
good. 

In the spring he resumed his journey, going inland to 
visit the Hurons of that region. He passed to the 
westward entirely across the upper peninsula and across 
the boundary line into Wisconsin. In midsummer he 
reached a portage on the Wisconsin river and the 
Indian guide set out to carry the canoe while Father 
Menard wandered into the woods and never was heard 
of again. This is the story told by the savage on his 
return, though it has been strongly suspected that the 
real fact is that the native treacherously deserted his 
master and left him to perish in the wilderness far 
beyond the reach of htiman help. 

In 1666 Father Claude AUouez, a Jesuit missionary, 
set out in the footsteps of his friend and former com- 
panion, Menard. At the Sault Ste Marie he also pro- 
cured a canoe in which he coasted along the south shore 
of Lake Superior. He took the liberty of re-christening 
the lake. He says, "On the 2d of September then, after 
leaving this sault, which is not a waterfall but merely a 
swift current impeded by numerous rocks, we entered 
Lake Superior, which will henceforth bea^ the Monsieur 
de Tracy's name in recognition of indebtedness to him 
on the part of the people of this region."* 



^Jesuit Relation^. V. L. Qeveland, 1899. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 49 

He made frequent excursions into the interior from 
his landing places and afterward in collaboration with 
Marquette published a map which fairly represents the 
southern shore of Superior, as well as the northernmost 
reaches of Lakes Huron and Michigan. On this map 
Superior appears as Lac Tracy ou Superior. He notes 
the existence of copper of which there was evidence of 
former mining. He says it frequently happens that 
pieces of copper are found weighing from ten to twenty 
pounds. ^^I have seen several such pieces in the hands 
of the savages who regard the metal as very precious 
and guard it with jealous care. For some time there was 
seen near the shore a large rock of copper, with its top 
rising above the water, which gave opportunities to 
those passing by to cut pieces from it ; but when I passed 
that vicinity it had disappeared." 

He describes at considerable length the evidences of 
native copper, specimens of which he gathered and sent 
back to Talon, the intendant, at Quebec. The bulk of 
his narrative is made up of what was related to him by 
the Indians and carries evidences of the superstitious 
notions of the untutored red men. It is clear that the 
missionary felt very little interest in mineralogy and 
pursued no scientific investigations, but contented him- 
self with repeating the stories told to him, wild and 
absurd as they were in some particulars. 

In 1863 an article by the late Charles Whittlesey was 
published in the Smithtonian Contributions to Knowl- 
edge, V. 13, which, after quoting from the relations of 
the Jesuit fathers, gives other accounts of the first 



50 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

knowledge of the existence of copper in this region. He 
says that Bouche in the Historie Veritable, etc., 1640, 
tells of the finding of large masses of pure copper, in 
one instance of more than 800 pounds weight. All this 
information came from the French traders who in turn 
got it from the Indians. There is no doubt that the 
very first information concerning the Lake Superior 
country told of copper. The evidences of the systematic 
procuring of the metal by pre-historic races who dwelt 
in or traversed the region were later on established 
beyond question. 

Allouez continued his course along the south shore 
to Chequamagon bay, where he arrived on the ist day 
of October, 1665. This is a point in Wisconsin a short 
distance beyond the western boundary line of Michigan. 
Here he found a very considerable Indian village, with 
cultivated fields and a more or less stable population. He 
determined to establish a mission and set about erecting 
a chapel. This structure was a very primitive affair of 
bark. In time it was succeeded by the permanent chapel 
of La Pointe de Saint Esprit. 

James Marquette is the most widely known at this 
day of all the Jesuit missionary explorers. He was 
born in France in 1637 and arrived in Canada in 1666. 
In April, 1668, he set out from Quebec and journeyed 
to the Sault de Stc Marie, where Fathers Raymbault 
and Jogues had twenty-five years before established a 
mission, which, however, had been abandoned after the 
departure of Jogues and the death of Raymbault. With 
the arrival of Menard and Allouez the mission had 







LOUIS JOLIET 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 5 I 

been re-established and Marquette took measures to .-3 
make the establishment a permanent one. 

It may be noted in passing that here in the spring of 
1 67 1 was performed the ceremony of taking possession 
in the name of the king of France of all the lands 
between the east and the west from Montreal to the 
Sea of the South (Pacific ocean) . Monsieur Talon, the 
intendant, had been instructed by the king to make 
known the name and power of France among the most 
unknown and distant tribes. Sieur de Saint Lusson had 
been commissioned for the task and proceeded to the 
sault where he convoked the tribes of the surrounding 
country of more than a hundred leagues, who in the 
person of their ambassadors met there to the number 
of fourteen tribes.* All the preparations h'aving been 
made the people were assembled for a grand public 
council on the 14th of June. There Saint Lusson caused 
a cross to be erected and there and then had the arms 
of France hoisted upon a cedar pole above the cross. 
All this was attended with much ceremony, prayers were 
recited, the cross was blessed, guns were fired, and all 
the Frenchmen shouted, *'Vive le Roi." Then Father 
Allouez delivered an oration in which he told the 
natives what a great and powerful country was France, 
and what a noble and mighty king ruled over it, and 
what a blessed thing it was for them to become the sub- 
jects of such a king and country. Then Monsieur de 
Lusson spoke and further impressed his hearers that 

♦Vcrwngt. Missionary labors of Marquette, M6nard, Allouez. 
Chicago, 1886. 



52 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

they were now under the protection of a most puissant 
monarch. The affair was concluded with a great bon- 
fire at night, when tht Te Deum was sung. There were 
present on this memorable occasion, beside Allouez, 
James Marquette, Louis Joliet, and other Frenchmen 
whose names are linked with western history. 

Trouble having developed among the Indians at the 
La Pointe mission where Marquette was employed, one 
of the Huron tribes removed from there to Michilimack- 
inac and thither Marquette followed them. Here he 
established the mission of St. Ignace. This locality had 
long been a favorite resort of the Indians on account of 
the abundance of fish and game. The neighboring island 
being in some sort a natural fortification and situated 
directly in the strait between the two great lakes con- 
stituted a key to the door of migrations in any direction. 
While Marquette was devoted to his missionary duties 
and profoundly interested in them, he had an active 
mind and an energetic disposition which did not permit 
him to be contented with his simple priestly obligations. 
He was well educated and his vision extended beyond 
the horizon line of his frontier mission. 

Talon had been advised from Paris that the king 
was firmly impressed with the idea that nothing was 
more important for New France than the discovery 
of a passage to the South sea, and urged that inunediate 
steps be taken to explore the country to the westward 
of Lake Michigan, then conunonly known as the lake 
of the Illinois. Talon being obliged by failing health 
to return to France communicated his plans to Count 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 53 

Frontenac, the newly arrived governor. Accordingly 
Joliet was dispatched upon the westward expedition and 
at Michilimackinac he found Marquette who had been 
instructed to accompany him. As the season was then 
far advanced further movements were delayed until the 
following spring. 

On the 17th day of May, 1673, the ice being out of 
the strait, the two explorers set forth from St. Ignace in 
two bark canoes with five French oarsmen and a supply 
of provisions. The party coasted along the lower 
shores of Lake Michigan to Green bay. Thence they 
pushed on by the way of the Fox river to Lake Winne- 
bago and thence by Wolf river to its upper waters, from 
a point upon which they crossed over the divide which 
separates the waters which flow into the Gulf of St. 
Lawrence from those which flow into the Mexican gulf. 
They were soon embarked upon the Wisconsin river. 
Down this stream they floated until they found them- 
selves upon the broad expanse of the Mississippi. 

They navigated the "Father of Waters" past the out- 
let of the Missouri and the Ohio and as far south as the 
mouth of the Arkansas. Up to this time there had been 
uncertainty whether the Mississippi flowed into the 
Gulf of California or into the Gulf of Mexico. From 
this exploration Marquette rightly concluded that the 
latter was the true solution. After friendly conference 
with the natives and resting for a few days the two 
explorers set out upon their return, two months having 
already elapsed since they left Michilimackinac. Upon 
reaching the mouth of the Illinois river on their return 



54 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

they were informed by the Indians that that stream 
offered a more feasible and shorter route to Lake Mich- 
igan th'an by the way of the Wisconsin and Fox, and 
so they decided to try it. Marquette had long heard 
very favorable accounts of the Illinois Indians and had 
contemplated visiting them in the interest of the Church 
whose servant he was. He therefore embraced with 
pleasure the opportunity thus offered him of gratifying 
his cherished wish. The travelers proceeded up the Illi- 
nois to a point near the site of the present city of Ottawa 
where they found a considerable village.* 

Here they disembarked and after spending a few 
days were guided by friendly natives to Lake Michigan 
which they reached by way of the Chicago river. Thence 
they coasted along the west shore of the lake until they 
reached the mission near the mouth of the Fox river to 
which in the meantime Marquette had been transferred. 
The journal of this expedition kept by Marquette was 
unfortunately lost by the capsizing of Joliet's canoe in 
the Lachine rapids just as he was nearing Montreal 
upon his return. 

In the autumn of 1674 Marquette set out to visit the 
Illinois, of whom he had gained a most favorable 
opinion, and to spend the winter in missionary labor 
among them. His health had been greatly impaired 
by the hardships and privations of his pioneer life 
and especially by the exploration trip of the previous 
year. Though suffering from weakness and pain he 



♦Thwaitcs. Father Marquette. N. Y., 1902. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 55 

preached at the village and assemblages of the natives 
until it became evident that he must seek rest and relief. 
In April, 1675, he started for St. Ignace, this time coast- 
ing around the upper shore of Lake Michigan and 
following th^ eastern shore where the currents were 
more favorable for the oarsmen. They traveled by day 
and camped at night, passing the mouths of the St. 
Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand and Muskegon. Marquette 
was so feeble that he must be carried by his attendants 
from boat to camp and back to boat again. When they 
reached the mouth of the Pere Marquette where now 
stands the city of Ludington he told his companions that 
he could go no further. Accordingly they built a rude 
cabin of bark in which the beloved priest was made 
as comfortable as circumstances would permit. He lin- 
gered but a little while, however, and on the evening of 
the 1 8th of May, 1675, he expired. His body was 
buried where he died and a large cross was erected to 
mark the grave. The following year friendly Indians 
visited the spot, disinterred tht body and carried it to 
St. Ignace where it was honored with funeral cere- 
monies and again interred in a vault beneath the chapel. 
Fire destroyed the little chapel in 1700. But in 1877 
Father Jacker, then in charge of the parish, was able 
to identify the exact site of the grave and a marble 
monument was erected thereon. 



CHAPTER III 
Later Exploration 



No name is more conspicuous in the galaxy 
of French explorers of North America 
than that of Rene Robert Cavalier, Sieur 
de la Salle. He was bom at Rouen in 
1643 ^^^ came to New France in 1666. 
He had been educated by the Jesuits and had intended 
to enter the priesthood of that order. He taught with 
them for a time, but finding that his tastes and inclina- 
tions did not run in th'at direction he early abandoned 
those plans and chose instead a business career. He 
came to Canada with that purpose and first settled at La- 
chine, a few miles above Montreal, having accepted 
there the grant of a large tract of land from the Sul- 
pitian priests who had established a seminary there 
which they desired to be the center of a colony. He did 
not long remain in the quiet inactivity of his frontier 
establishment but stirred by the stories told him by the 
Indians he was excited to an uncontrolable ambition to 
find out whether the great river beyond the lakes and 
flowing southward really emptied into the Gulf of Cali- 
fornia and so led the way to China. He sold out his 
interests at Lachine and organized an expedition in 
the summer of 1669. There were in the party two Sul- 
pitian priests, DoUier de Casson and Rene Galinee, 
beside a number of men hired as oarsmen, etc. They 
set out in seven canoes with some Seneca Indians in two 
other canoes, to act as guides. They coasted along the 
south shore of Lake Ontario and after various adven- 
tures debarked late in September in what is now known 
as Burlington bay near the site of th'e present Canadian 

59 



6o MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

city of Hamilton. As they passed the mouth of the 
Niagara they distinctly heard the roar of the cataract, 
the first of Europeans to approach it so nearly. 

The Indians among whom they landed received them 
in a friendly way. Here the travelers were informed of 
the arrival of two other Frenchmen in a neighboring 
village. It turned out that one of them was Joliet 
returning to Quebec from a visit to the Lake Superior 
country. He had come down through Lake Huron, 
the strait of Detroit and Lake Erie to Grand river, 
whence he had been induced by his guide to cross over 
to the head of Lake Ontario to avoid possible trouble 
with the Iroquois. He gave to the Sulpitians a copy of 
a map he had made of the upper lakes and told them 
of the Pottawattomies who were a most wicked people 
and sadly in need of Christian instruction. This appeal 
impressed the missionaries and determined their course 
then and there. The party broke up. La Salle plunging 
into the wilderness in search of the Ohio river, which, 
it is believed, he explored as far as the present city of 
Louisville. 

The two Sulpitian priests, DoUier and Galinee, made 
a portage to the Grand river down which they floated 
to Lake Erie. But when they reached the lake it was 
so stirred by storms and the season was so far advanced 
that they established a winter camp and did not resume 
their journey until spring. Then they coasted along 
the south shore of the lake and after many tribulations, 
including the loss of a great part of their baggage, their 
vestments and altar-service, they came at last into the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 6 1 

peaceful waters of the Detroit river. Arriving at the 
site of the present city of Detroit they found an Indian 
village, and in the village a large stone somewhat in the 
shape of the human figure. This the Indians had 
daubed with paint and worshipped as an idol. ''After 
the loss of our altar-service/' writes Galinee in his 
journal, "and the hunger we had suffered there was not 
a man who was not filled with hatred against this false 
deity. I devoted one of my axes to breaking him to 
pieces; and then having fastened our canoes side by 
side, we carried the largest piece to the middle of the 
river and threw it with all the rest into the water, that 
ht might never be heard of again. God rewarded us 
immediately for this good action, for we killed a deer 
and a bear the same day." 

So far as known this is the first record of a visit to 
this locality. In all probability others had passed 
through the strait — the Recollet and Jesuit mis- 
sionaries, Joliet, and possibly Champlain himself — 
but none had mentioned it specifically. The Sulpitians 
passed on their course up the lakes and on the 25 th of 
May arrived at the Sault de Ste Marie. Here they 
found Marquette and other Jesuits who had established 
a mission there, erected a chapel, and cleared a tract of 
land for agricultural purposes. After a short visit there 
they returned to Montreal by the Nipissing and Ottawa 
route. 

The year 1678 found La Salle in Paris busied with 
preparations for still further explorations in New 
France. He secured sufficient backing in men and 



62 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

means. Among his adherents was Henri de Tonty, an 
Italian officer of repute, who had lost a hand in war and 
had substituted for it an iron hand which he kept gloved. 
On arrival at Quebec the party was joined by Louis 
Hennepin, a RecoUet missionary. The latter in com- 
pany with La Motte de Lussiere in charge, embarked 
on a vessel of ten tons burden from Fort Frontenac with 
sixteen men, in November, 1678, and sailed along the 
north shore of Ontario and so on to the mouth of the 
Niagara river which they entered. They proceeded 
up the river as far as possible and then debarked and 
climbed the heights at Queenstown, from which they 
traveled to the great cataract, the first Europeans to 
behold the spectacle. Hennepin describes the fall, 
though with some exaggeration as to its height. They 
passed on up the Niagara and near the entrance to Lake 
Erie, La Motte began the erection of Fort Niagara and 
Hennepin started the building of a chapel. La Salle 
and Tonty had followed with another vessel, supplies 
and men to join La Motte. They landed at tht mouth 
of the Genessee and proceeded thence overland. Their 
little vessel left in charge of the pilot was soon after- 
ward wrecked. This was a serious mishap, for La Salle 
had planned to build a vessel to navigate Lake Erie and 
the ropes, chains, anchors, etc., which he had brought 
for the purpose were thereby lost to him. The whole 
party spent the winter at Lewiston and from that camp 
La Motte returned, on account of trouble with his eyes. 
The vessel in which Hennepin and his party had come 
to Niagara was hauled ashore and her lading taken out 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 63 

and packed overland to a point not far from the mouth 
of Black river. Here a place was cleared and the mas- 
ter-carpenter set about the building of a ship. Tht 
entire winter was consumed on this work and early in 
the spring a ship of 45 tons burden was launched and 
christened the ^'Griffon/' in honor of the armorial bear- 
ings of Count Frontenac. In the meantime La Salle had 
gone on foot to Fort Frontenac, leaving Tonty in com- 
mand. He returned in August and on the 7th of that 
month embarked with his party and set forth with high 
hopes on their voyage across Lake Erie. On the fourtk 
day out they entered the Strait of Detroit and Henne- 
pin describes the prospect as most enchanting. 'Those/' 
he says, ''who will one day have the happiness to pos- 
sess this fertile and pleasant strait will be very much 
obliged to those who have shown them the way." The 
men hunted on shore and brought in abundance of game 
to replenish the larders of the little craft. 

They encountered a storm on Lake Huron which 
gave them a bad scare but did no serious damage. 
The Griffon preceded northward and in a few days 
came to anchor behind Point St. Ignace where the voy- 
agers found the palisades with the house and chapel 
of the Jesuits and the near-by villages of the Hurons 
and Ottawas. After a delay of a few days La Salle 
sailed on across the foot of Lake Michigan to Green 
bay where he found some of his party who had pre- 
ceded him. These had secured a valuable lot of furs 
and La Salle decided to ship them at once to the east 
to satisfy the claims of those to whom he had become 



64 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

indebted. The pilot was intrusted with the navigation 
of the vessel to Niagara and return. In a storm which 
followed shortly after, the vessel with all on board was 
lost. At least, such is the inference, since she was never 
heard of again. 

La Salle himself with Hennepin and a party of 
Frenchmen proceeded in canoes up the west shore of 
Lake Michigan and circled around the upper end of the 
lake until thty came to the mouth of the St. Joseph 
river, which he called the Miamis. Here he disem- 
barked and erected a fort. Here Tonty was to have 
joined him with a number of men, coming on from 
Mackinac by the eastern shore of the lake. When at 
length Tonty arrived with a portion of his men, the 
others, owing to scarcity of provisions, having taken to 
the land to subsist by hunting, December was here and 
the winter was on. The party embarked in canoes and 
ascended the river to the site of the present city of South 
Bend. Here they debarked and shouldering their 
canoes started on the portage to the Illinois river. They 
passed on to Fort Crevecocur on that river where they 
established themselves for the winter. Early in the 
spring La Salle, leaving Tonty behind, set out to return 
to Fort Frontenac. He followed the route by which he 
had come and after encountering many difficulties 
reached Fort Miamis, which ht had built the autunm 
before at the mouth of the St. Joseph river. Here he 
found two men whom he had sent to Mackinac for 
news of the Griffon. They knew nothing of her fate. 
Ordering them to rejoin Tonty, La Salle set out on foot 




C/2 

< 

a- 

n: 



a, 
< 

w 
w 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 65 

en his journey eastward. He traversed the unknowit 
wilds of southern Michigan and reaching the Huron 
river he and his companions built a canoe in which the 
party floated down the stream until their progress was 
barred by sunken logs and prostrate trunks of trees. 
Striking out thence across the country he reached the 
banks of the Detroit which he crossed on a raft, pur- 
sying his way to Point Pelee. Here he built a canoe 
which enabled him to arrive safely at his point of first 
departure on the Niagara. 

So it is seen that La Salle was not only one of the 
first to navigate and explore the coasts of the lower 
peninsula of Michigan, but he was the first of all white 
men, so far as known, to penetrate its interior. It 
would be interesting, did it fall in line with the scope 
of this work, to follow his subsequent career. In the 
spring of 1682 he with Tonty and others, navigated the 
Illinois to its union with the Mississippi, and thence 
down the latter stream and into the Gulf of Mexico, 
dius establishing definitely the outlet of the great river, 
which had been before in controversy. The end of the 
intrepid explorer was a sad one. He was shot from 
ambush by one of his treacherous followers in 1687. 
Tonty who shared with him the hardships and priva- 
tions of his frontier life, also shares with him the hon- 
ors which are his due. He was a brave and devoted 
lieutenant and deserved the confidence which he enjoyed^ 

Daniel Greysolon du Lhut, or Duluth, as he is now 

commonly known, was a native of Lyons and a cousin of 

Tonty. He had come to New France in 1676, influ- 
1-6 



66 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

enced by business considerations. He traveled exten- 
sively among the Indians of the lake country and nego- 
tiated profitable purchases of peltries for his employers. 
He explored the country of the Sioux and took posses- 
sion of it in the name of France. In 1679 he built a 
trading fort on the north shore of Lake Superior, the 
present site of Fort William. In 1686, by order of 
the governor, Denonville, he built a fort at the outlet 
of Lake Huron, the site of thfe later Fort Gratiot at 
Port Huron. This he named Fort St. Joseph. He led 
a very active life which brought him intimately among 
the Indians of the lake region. His associations with 
them were most amicable for many years. 

Louis Armand de Lorme d*Arce, Baron Lahontan, 
was bom in 1666 in the parish of Lahontan. He came 
over to Canada in his youth from love of adventure. 
In 1684 he joined an expedition sent out from Mon- 
treal against the Iroquois. In 1687 ^^ ^^^ made com- 
mandant of Fort St. Joseph at the outlet of Lake 
Huron. He was then but 19 years of age. The post 
was regarded by the governor as a very important link 
in the chain of the outposts of New France. The fol- 
lowing years shortage of provisions led to his making 
a trip to Mackinac to replenish his stores. He describes 
in thfe book which he wrote some time after, the partic- 
ulars of his journey, including an account of Saginaw 
bay. Thunder bay, and the character of the Huron sht>re. 
He continued his journeys to Sault Ste Marie and 
seemed to be in no haste to get back to his post, where, 
in all probability he found life rather dull. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 67 

On his return to Fort St. Joseph he learned that Fort 
Niagara had been abandoned owing to the prevalence 
of scurvy. Fearing an irruption of thfe Iroquois, of 
whom he had an unaccountable dread, he abandoned 
and destroyed Fort St. Joseph and fled with all his fol- 
lowers to Mackinac. Here he spent the winter and 
here he met La Salle's men returning from the lower 
Mississippi. Impressed with their story he thought to 
become an explorer himself. Engaging a party he set 
out in the steps of Marquette and followed the route 
of that pioneer to the Mississippi. 

One might speculate on the situation to-day if Lahon- 
tan had stuck to his post and made it a permanent set- 
tlement. If he had been of the same sturdy make-up 
as Cadillac, it seems altogether likely that the latter, 
instead of locating his colony at Detroit, would have 
turned his attention elsewhere. But he was a young 
unmarried man whose mind was unstable and filled 
with longings for adventure. 

By the end of the seventeenth century the country 
east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio had been 
pretty thoroughly traversed. Descriptions h'ad been 
written and maps published to such extent that this part 
of New France was no longer unknown to Europeans. 



CHAPTER IV 

Jesuit Missionaries 



THERE was never a band of more devoted 
men than the French missionaries who, 
in the seventeenth century, came over to 
the wilderness of America, inspired with 
an ardent desire to convert the natives to 
Christianity. They shtank from no hardship or priva- 
tion ; they resolutely faced peril and even death itself in 
the prosecution of their chosen work. Many of them 
proved to be martyrs to the cause, and while their bod- 
ies were burning at the stake their spirits ascended in 
joyful anticipation of the crown which awaited them 
in the world beyond. In almost equal, though less 
dramatic, martyrdom were those who ruined health 
and sank into early graves through exposure in an 
inhospitable climate, in malarial swamps, in shipwreck 
and famine, and lack of medical care and nursing. 

The RecoUet friars were first in the field. In 1618 
Paul IV accorded them charge of the missions of New 
France and for the following six years they were in 
exclusive possession. They established their home at 
Quebec, where chapel, seminary and hospital were 
erected. They penetrated the wilderness and soon put 
themselves in friendly relations with the natives. They 
were fortunate at the outset in falling in with the 
Hurons, a peaceful and teachable tribe, who received 
them kindly and accepted their ministrations in a 
friendly spirit. These people were more domestic and 
less nomadic than many of the tribes. They dwelt in 
villages of some permanence and lived by tilling the 
soil not less than by hunting. Though their agricul- 

71 



72 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ture was af the crudest and their homes barren of nil 
comforts, thty were, nevertheless, far better in these 
respects than most of their neighbors. The earliest of 
all the French missions were those established among 
this tribe by the Recollet friars. These sought the 
interior by way of the Ottawa river and from its tribu- 
taries crossed over to Lake Nipissing and thence to 
the shores of Georgian bay, where flourishing missions 
were soon entering upon a promising career. Though 
the RecoUets were pioneers in the fields they did not 
persist in the face of opposition from rival orders. As 
they were the first to enter Canada, they were also the 
first to disappear from the country. 

The attention of the people of Europe was sharply 
drawn to the spiritual needs of th^ savages of America. 
The authorities of the Church felt the responsibilities 
for prompt action. The authorities of the State also, 
being devotees of Mother Church, were disposed to 
favor in all possible ways the plans for evangelizing 
the new world. There were some sordid minds which con- 
templated the profits of dealing in peltries, but it must 
be said that, for the time being, at least, the religious 
took precedence over the commercial in the views of 
th^se who came over to New France. 

The Sulpitians, Franciscans and other religious orders 
were represented by active and energetic missionariea, 
but the best known of them all were the Jesuits. These 
latter came to America, inspired by holy zeal. They 
were thoroughly organized and subject to the severest 
discipline. For a period of upwards of fifty years 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 73 

each missionary made regularly a detailed report to his 
superior and these reports were sent to the provincial of 
the order at Paris. They were annually printed and 
together constitute the body of writings known as "The 
Jesuit Relations." Many of the narratives are trivial 
and inconsequential, but on the other hand, many deal 
with matters other than the mere personal incidents of 
individual conversions and give valuable information 
concerning the country, its characteristics, the people, 
their life, customs and superstitions. Together these 
relations constitute a body of unimpeachable testimony 
and are of profound interest to the ethnologist not less 
than to the historian. From these circumstances, more 
perhaps than from their numbers or activity, the Jesuit 
missionaries are better known to-day than those of any 
other order. 

The Society of Jesus was founded by Ignatius de 
Loyola in 1534. He was a native of Spain and was a 
brave and dashing soldier with military tastes and 
ambition. At the defense of Pampeluna in 1521 a can- 
non ball disabled both his legs and cut short his mili- 
tary career in his youth. While slowly recovering from 
his wounds he devoted his time to reading and study. 
His attention was drawn to religious matters, with the 
result that he became deeply absorbed in them. He 
resolved to devote himself to the spiritual welfare of 
mankind. Disciples came to his support and in August, 
1534 they assembled in the abbey church of Mont- 
martre and each took a solemn vow to go to the holy 
land and preach the gospel to the infidels. He instructed 



74 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

his disciples that if any one should ask them what 
religion they professed, to answer that they belonged 
to the Society of Jesus, since they were Christ's sol- 
diers. They took vows of perpetual chastity and pov- 
erty and also of unquestioning obedience to their supe- 
rior, and set forth as a militant order for evangeliza- 
tion. So it came about that this organization was 
especially adapted to the work of carrying forward 
missionary enterprises among heathen nations. 

The attention of the superior of the order was soon 
attracted to the opportunities which were open to the 
members in New France. Henry de Levy, the gov- 
ernor of the colony, highly approved the order, and 
in 1625 brought over five missionaries at his own 
expense. Breboeuf, Lallement and Masse were among 
the best known of them. Following soon after came 
Fathers Le Jcune, de Nouc, Daniel, Davost, Gamier, 
Jogues, Raymbault and others. Their first great task 
was to learn the language of the savages, and this 
could only be accomplished by living among them. 
Accordingly they plunged into the forest, and sharing 
the life of the wandering natives performed their holy 
offices as circumstances permitted. Unfortunately the 
harsh rivalries among the different tribes ground the 
inoffensive missionaries as between the upper and the 
nether millstones. 

The case of Father Jogues is an illustration. Men- 
tion has been already made of the fact that Jogues and 
Raymbault established a mission among the Hurons at 
Sault Ste Marie in 1641. In the following spring 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 75 

Jogucs left the mission to go to Quebec to procure 
clothing and other necessaries. About mid-summer he 
set out upon his return. In the party were a number of 
Indian traders who were returning with the proceeds 
of their bargains with the Quebec merchants. Beside 
th'e missionaries were two young laymen attached to the 
mission. There were twelve canoes, the Frenchmen 
occupying the leading one while the Hurons straggled 
along behind. While they were proceeding up the 
river in a spot thickly studded with islands, they were 
suddenly attacked on all sides by a band of Iroquois who 
were lying in wait for them and who swarmed out 
upon the river with war-whoops and shooting. The 
Hurons leaped ashore and fled in a panic, leaving their 
baggage and weapons. The Frenchmen stood their 
ground and were speedily overpowered. Jogues was 
knocked down and beaten with war clubs until uncon- 
scious. The savages stripped off his clothing, and 
reviving him gnawed his fingers to the bone. A number 
of the Hurons were captured and the whole party 
started southward, going through Lakes Champlain 
and George to the Mohawk villages. The captives were 
tortured to make sport for the savages. Jogues was 
clubbed, his hands and body mangled. He was stretched 
upon the ground, his legs and arms extended, and his 
ankles and wrists tied to stakes. Coals of fire were 
dropped upon his naked body. As his wounds began 
to heal they were nightly torn open afresh by the 
women and children, who took great delight in the 
torture. Several of the Huron captives were roasted 



^6 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

with slow fire at the stake and Jogues expected that his 
turn would soon come. The savages seemed constantly 
to devise new ways of physical torture, and when the 
good priest fainted from pain and exhaustion, they care- 
fully resuscitated him for further indignities. He bore 
it all without flinching or murmuring, and never failed 
when the opportuity offered to baptize infants and 
administer his holy office to the dying. His two French 
companions were brained with tomahawks and Jogues 
momentarily expected to share their fate. The sum- 
mer wore on and the cold of winter made his suffer- 
ings even more intense. Famishing from hunger and 
scantily clad he was made a slave to do the menial 
work of the camp. He was held in captivity in this 
fashion for more than a year when he finally escaped, go- 
ing on board a Dutch vessel on the Hudson. The Inr 
dians were furious when they discovered his escape, and 
to pacify them the Dutch paid a large ransom. He after- 
ward returned to France and presented himself to his 
superior, greatly to the astonishment of the latter who 
supposed him dead. The pope by special dispensation 
gave him the right to say mass in spite of the defor- 
mities of body inflicted by the teeth and knives of the 
savages.* 

Jogues' companion, Raymbault, remained at Sault Ste 
Marie where the mission was continued with more or 
less success until his death in 1642. Afterward it was 
abandoned for a time until it was again revived by 



*ParkmaiL Jesuits in North America. Boston, 1868. 




JAMES MARQUETTE 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE ^^ 

Allouez in 1666. Hither came also Dablon and Mar- 
quette. The latter established the mission at St. Ignace, 
which was some years afterward transferred to the 
south side of the strait near the locality now known as 
Mackinaw City. Marest and de Carheil were stationed 
here, but the mission was finally abandoned by the 
Jesuits in 1707. 

The government placed military commandants at 
Sault Ste Marie and Michilimackinac. The fur trade 
carried on at these posts brought to them a great num- 
ber of traders, as well as supernumeraries and Indians. 
The presence of an armed force was necessary to pre- 
serve order and to hold the natives in subjection. In 
1694 de la Motte Cadillac was appointed to the com- 
mand at Michilimackinac, and he had supervision over 
all the surrounding country. Writing from here to the 
governor-general under date of August 3, 1695, 
he says : This village is one of the largest in all Can- 
ada. There is a fine fort of pickets, and sixty houses that 
form a street in a straight line. There is a garrison of 
well-disciplined, chosen soldiers, consisting of about 
two hundred men, besides many others who are resi- 
dents here during two or three months in the year. The 
houses are arranged along the shore of this great Lake 
Huron, and fish and smoked meats constitute the prin- 
cipal food of the inhabitants, so that a drink of brandy 
after the repast seems necessary to cook the billious 
meats and the crudities which they leave in the stom- 
ach. The air is penetrating and corrosive and without 
the brandy that they use in the morning, sickness would 



78 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

be much more frequent. The villages of the savages, 
in which there are six or seven thousand souls, are about 
a pistol shot distant from ours. All the lands are 
cleared for about three leagues around their village 
and perfectly well cultivated. They produce a sufficient 
quantity of Indian corn for the use of both the French 
and the savage inhabitants. The question is, then, 
what reason can there be for this prohibition of intoxi- 
cating drinks in regard to the French who are here now. 
Are they not subjects of the king, even as others? In 
what country, then, or in what land, until now, have 
they taken from the French the right to use brandy, 
provided they did not become disorderly."* 

It appears that the traders had brought into the 
country great quantities of brandy which they sold indis- 
criminately to the natives who were rendered disorderly 
and miserable by its use. The Jesuit missionaries had 
made energetic remonstrances against thus debauching 
their converts, and demoralizing the red men generally. 
They had brought the subject so effectively to the atten- 
tion of the home government that the traffic in brandy 
had been absolutely prohibited. As it appears, Cadil- 
lac did not approve this measure. The real ground 
of his objection seems to have been that it was driving 
away trade. 

In the same letter he says the chiefs and a large num- 
ber of the inhabitants assembled and addressed him as 
follows : "O Chief, what evil have thy children done 
to thee that thou shouldst treat them so badily? Those 



*Sheldon. Early History of Michigan. N. Y., 1856. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 79 

that came before thee were not so severe upon us. It 
is not to quarrel with thee that we come here ; it is only 
to know for what reason thou wishest to prevent us 
from drinking brandy. Thou shouldst look upon us 
as thy friends and the brothers of the French, or else 
as thy enemies. If we are thy friends, leave us the 
liberty of drinking; our beaver is worth thy brandy, 
and the Master of Life gave us both, to make us 
happy. If thou wish to treat us as thy enemies, do not 
be angry if we carry our beaver to Orange (Albany) 
or to Cortland, where they will give us brandy as much 
as we want." Cadillac says he told his chiefs that the 
cause of the shortage of brandy was the failure of the 
fruit crop, as their own grain crop had failed the pre- 
vious year, and that this state of things would not likely 
happen again. 

The liquor question proved to be a most distressing 
cause of friction between the missionaries and the com- 
mandants. De Carheil knocked in the heads of sundry 
barrels of brandy and spilled the precious fluid on the 
ground, which conduct resulted in a violent quarrel 
between him and Cadillac — an exceedingly irritating 
state of affairs. There were also other sources of dis- 
agreement. The missionaries were solely intent upon 
fostering the growth of Christianity and looked with no 
satisfaction upon anything tending to retard it. In their 
view, the savages should be left undisturbed in the rela- 
tions to which he had been accustomed from time 
immemorial. They did not consider it part of their duty 
to change his mode of life, to teach him agriculture or 



8o MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the useful arts, or to separate him from anything except 
idolatry. They believed that christnaity could have 
better sway in the mind and heart of the native if he 
were left free to perpetuate his race in its natural 
environment than under the artificial restraint of civili- 
zation which would require a complete transformation 
of his nature. 

The secular interests did not accept this view. The 
ultimate extinction of the savage races was not then 
contemplated, or even dreamed of. But it was the 
opinion of the most astute of those who were face 
to face with the problem that it was absolutely necessary 
to break up the tribal coalitions and to compel the sav- 
ages to dwell peacefully near the European settlements^ 
and to settle down to a domestic and agricultural life. 
So we cannot wonder that the great colonizers did not 
look with favor upon the Jesuits and that the latter 
had distinct aversion to all colonizing schemes. 

There was another element of discord. The Iroquois 
were the most belligerent of all the savages. They 
were in a chronic state of warfare, particularly with 
the Hurons, whom they h'ad pursued and slaughtered 
with relentless fury. It was the belief of the French 
that these forays and this vindictive feeling were 
encouraged and fostered by the English, who were in 
quite close relations with the Iroquois. Therefore it 
seemed good policy on the part of the French to unite 
all the opposing tribes and to establish them as far 
southward as possible, to act as a buffer for the protec- 
tion of the French interests in northern Michigan. The 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 8 1 

Jesuits had been active in missionary work among the 
Iroquois and were in friendly relations with them. In 
consequence they opposed the schemes of government 
as related to these southern posts as tending to bring 
forward the very state of things which it was hoped to 
avoid. Here again the missionaries found themselves 
out of sympathy with the officials of the province. 

When Cadillac came west to found his colony at 
Detroit he was accompanied by only one Jesuit, Father 
Vaillant, and he remained less than a day. Constantine 
del Halle, a Franciscan, came to Detroit as almoner 
to the king's troops, and he continued in charge at the 
post until he was murdered by the Indians in 1 706. His 
successors were La Marche and Deniau, Recollets. 
These were followed by priests of the same order until 
1782. 

So it transpired that the Jesuits who struggled for 
more than fifty years in the wilderness with the great 
problem of christianizing the savages had ultimately 
very small results, so far as permanently shaping the 
course of human events, to show for all their efforts. 
Their triumphs were destined to disappear with the sav- 
age tribes themselves. But saying this we do not by 
any means wish to detract from the honor which is due 
to their sincerity, their earnestness and to their unflinch- 
ing devotion to the cause in which they were enlisted. 



1-4 



CHAPTER V 
The Savages and Their Inter-tribal Wars 



AT the beginning of the historical epoch 
the Indian race occupying the widest 
extent of territory in North America 
was the Algonquin. It spread over 
the entire country east of the Mississippi 
river, from the line of the Kentucky river and Chesa- 
peake bay as far north as Hudson's bay and westward 
beyond Lake Winnepeg. In the midst of this great 
race was the family known as the Iroquois, or later as 
the Five Nations. It is understood that the Iroquois 
were ethnologically of Algonquin stock. This family 
was composed of three main divisions — the Wyandots 
or Hurons, the Iroquois and the Monocans. The first 
named ranged through the northernmost territory above 
described. The Iroquois occupied the country extend- 
ing through western Pennsylvania from the Alleghanies 
to near the western limit of Ohio, western New York, 
the whole of the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario region, 
the St. Lawrence region from the neighborhood of 
Montreal westward to the northern reaches of Geor- 
gian bay. 

The Iroquois were the most intelligent of all the sav- 
ages. They had the astuteness to organize a confed- 
eracy and to preserve its autonomy. They possessed 
great mental and physical vigor. They fomented discord 
among their weaker neighbors; they prosecuted great 
wars against rival combinations and they terrorized the 
tribes of half the continent. 

Westward of the great Algonquin race were the Da- 
kotas or Sioux, a race of warlike and savage nature, 

8$ 



86 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

spreading over a vast extent of country from the Missis- 
sippi to the Rocky mountains. They touched the shores 
of Lake Michigan in northern Wisconsin, and the point 
of contact with the alien Algonquin was a storm center 
of ccmflict and bloodshed. Their direct influence upon 
the latter tribes was small, except in the way of watchful- 
ness and hurried migrations to avoid unpleasantness. 

These great races were divided into many groups of 
tribes and these again were subdivided into almost in- 
numerable families. The names which they gave them- 
selves and the names given to them by the French some- 
times lead to confusion of idenity. Thus the tribes which 
called themselves Wyandots were called by the French 
Hurons and the latter name is commonly used. One of 
the subdivisions of this group was that known as Ojib- 
was or Chippewas. Their hereditary seat was at Sault 
Ste Marie and from this circumstance the French named 
them Saulteurs. This tribe, with the Ottawas, ceded 
Michilimackinac and certain dependencies, which cession 
forms the basis of titles in that section of the state. It 
should be borne in mind that these tribes were usually 
moving about from one place to another. While they 
might, and actually did, dwell for a greater or less per- 
iod in some particular locality or region, there was noth- 
ing very permanent in their residence. Their claim ap- 
plied to the place where they dwelt when the European 
came into contact with them, and their cession of that 
claim was good for their release of it only. Fortuntely 
for the white man, it was not likely to be disputed. 

From our first knowledge of affairs here there was 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 87 

war on between the Hurons and the Iroquois. The lat- 
ter finally drove their foes out of the St. Lawrence rc^ 
gion. They even pursued them to the northern lake 
regions and slaughtered them with relentless fury. Liv- 
ing upon the Manitoulin Islands, a range of islands of 
considerable extent stretching between Georgian bay and 
Lake Huron proper, were the Ottawas who later had 
their home at Michilimackinac and at Point St. Ignace. 
These two tribes were the common foes of the Iroquois. 
They were fairly well matched in respect to intelligence, 
physical vigor, courage and resources. There was no 
great disparity in numbers. But there was a certain 
bearing of personal pride and self-reliance in the Iro- 
quois, and a spirit which never quailed in the face of dis- 
aster. His instincts were those of the genuine savage. 
In small or large parties they invaded the country of the 
Hurons, scalping squaws in the cornfields, surprising 
the villages at midnight, tomahawking the sleeping 
inhabitants and burning the wigwams. They were untir- 
ing in the purpose to annihilate their opponents. They 
did not hesitate to accomplish by treachery any end not 
to be attained otherwise. 

The Jesuit, Lallemant, relates an incident which 
shows the characteristics of these savages. In 1638 a 
war party of a hundred Iroquois met three times their 
number of Hurons and Ottawas in the forest. They 
might have retreated, but instead gave battle. They 
were overpowered and those not slaughtered were taken 
prisoners. These were distributed among the Huron 
villages to be tortured for the edification of their captors. 



188 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

The ceremonies were performed at night and the victim 
was usually placed on a scaffold to be burned alive. It 
was thought to be unlucky if no cry of pain escaped from 
the sufferer. An Iroquois warrior being thus tortured 
showed such fortitude as to amaze the spectators. When 
they thought him nearly exhausted his tormenters 
scalped him. Thereupon he leaped up and snatching the 
blazing brands he drove the crowd from the scaffold, 
when by accident he fell to the ground below. They 
seized him and threw him into the fire. Again he leaped 
out and rushed upon his adversaries with a blazing 
brand in each hand. He was tripped and as he fell the 
crowd jumped upon him, cut off his hands and feet and 
again threw him into the fire. He rolled himself out and 
crawled forward on his elbows and knees as if to assault 
them again, whereupon they cut off his head. Incidents 
of torture of this character were not rare. Women and 
children were among the spectators on such occasions. 
Women were sometimes the victims. The warriors at 
times showed themselves cannibals, roasting and eating 
their captives, in the belief that in consuming the flesh of 
those who had shown great bravery in battle they were 
thereby sharing the brave spirit which once inhabited it. 
There was another tribe of considerable importance 
called the Assegun or Bone Indians, living on the south 
shore of the Upper Peninsula from St. Ignace north* 
ward. There are said to be still visible a short distance 
from St. Ignace mounds and earthworks of these abor- 
igines. This tribe trespassed on the territory of the Ot- 
tawas on the Manitoulins and a war was the result. In 




INDIAN CLAY VESSEL 




INDIAN WAR IMPLEMENTS 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 89 

this contest the Chippewas were allied with the Ottawas 
and a great battle was fought near Detour, where the 
Asseguns were completely vanquished. They were pur- 
sued by the victorious tribes and were driven westward, 
finally crossing the strait and sitting down near old Fort 
Mackinaw on the south shore, where they established 
their village. But peace with their neighbors, the Ot- 
tawas who occupied the other side of the strait, did not 
last Icmg. Some encroachments gave excuse for renewed 
hostilities. The Ottawas and Chippewas gathered their 
forces and crossing over the strait, surprised and at- 
tacked the Asseguns in their new village and a terrible 
massacre followed. The latter were again routed and 
fled southward, following the eastern shore of Lake 
Michigan as far southward as the south bank of the 
Washtenaw, called by the French the Grand river. 
Here pursuit stopped and the Ottawas retired to St. 
Ignace. The Chippewas, who had been their confed- 
erates in this war, remained in the Lx>wer Peninsula, 
however, and settled about Grand Traverse bay, where 
a renrmant of them still exists.* 

It appears that in these wars of the Ottawas and 
Chippewas against the Asseguns the latter had as con- 
federates a tribe from the Wisconsin shore called Mas- 
coutins. This tribe is alluded to occasionally by the 
missionaries in their relations. It does not appear to 
have been a very numerous or powerful tribe and is 
believed to have been only a family of the Kickapoos, 



^Schoolcraft. Information respecting history of the Indian 
races of the United States. Philadelphia, i860. 



90 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

with whom it was in all probability absorbed later on. 
The Asseguns seem to have disappeared from this penin- 
sula at an early day. Writers on the subject profess to 
find in the name of Osages, given by the French to a 
western tribe, sufficient similarity to show that they may 
have been the same. 

The Miamis inhabited the Michigan lake shore 
region in the vicinity of the St. Joseph river and thence 
through southern Michigan and northern Ohio to Lake 
Erie. The bands who dwelt on the shore of Lake Mich- 
igan were called Michigamies. Charlevoix expresses 
the belief that the Miamis and the Illinois were at one 
time the same, which opinicm he derives from th« 
similarity of their language, their customs and their 
mode of life. These people were for the most part 
harmless and inoffensive. They cultivated lands and 
dwelt in villages, never migrating far unless disturbed 
by invasicm, and seldom inclined to go on the war 
path, except to repel hostilities. They took kindly to 
the missionaries who came among th^em. Many embraced 
the Christian faith and adhered to it with sincerity. 

The Pottawatomies were a tribe of somewhat similar 
characteristics and mode of life who dwelt in south- 
eastern Michigan, as the Miamis dwelt in the south- 
western part of the state. The former had their vil- 
lages along the Detroit river and as far north as the 
outlet of Lake Huron or beyond. In the same direc- 
tion and beyond them were the Sauks or Saginas. The 
Pottawatomies were allies of the French against the 
Iroquois and were ultimately driven westward by the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 9 1 

latter. They dwelt for a time in Wisconsin. Later on 
they removed still further westward and were provided 
by the government with homes in the Indian Territory. 
They were a comparatively peaceful tribe, honest, indus- 
trious and frugal. They turned their attention easily to 
agricultural pursuits, acquired property and became 
good civilized citizens. A number of them are still 
living in Central Michigan and bear these character- 
istics. 

The tribe occupying the north shore of Lake Erie and 
the Canadian peninsula between Lakes Erie and Huron 
was known as the Tobacco or Neutral Nation. Thfe 
former name was given them because they were accus- 
tomed to raise tobacco which they produced in consider- 
able quantities and which they supplied to their sur- 
rounding neighbors. The latter name they acquired 
because in the long and bloody conflicts between the 
Iroquois and the Hurons they declined to take sides and 
held themselves strictly neutral. They were of Huron 
stock and allied in blood and interests with the tribes 
of that nation. But they were more inclined to indus- 
trial pursuits and less to war. So they gave asylum to 
all sorts and conditions of red men and white and held 
aloof from savage strife. It is somewhat remarkable 
that their neutrality was observed by the contending 
forces on either side of them, and that they were 
permitted to live in peace. The tribe itself took good 
care to enforce its neutrality among its own people and 
to impress it upon its neighbors. This shows in some 
degree the strength of Indian character. 



92 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

The following from the pen of Gen. Lewis Cass in 
1825 gives the views of a careful and intelligent 
observer who had enjoyed ample opportunity for study 
and personal observation: "From Hudson's bay to 
Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Rocky mountains, 
the country was possessed by numerous petty tribes, 
resembling each other in their general features, and 
separated into independent communities, always in a 
state of alarm and suspicicm and generally on terms of 
open hostility. These people were in the rudest state 
of society, wandering from place to place, without sci- 
ence, without arts, metalic instruments, or domestic ani- 
mals ; raising a little corn by the labor of their women, 
with the clam-shell or the scapula of a buffalo, devour- 
ing it with savage improvidence and subsisting during 
the remainder of the year on the precarious supply fur- 
nished by the chase or by fishing. They were thinly 
scattered over an immense extent of country, fixing 
their summer residence upon some little spot of fertile 
land and roaming with their families and their mat or 
skin houses through the forest in pursuit of the animals 
necessary for food and clothing. 

"Of the external habits of the Indians, if we may so 
speak, we have the most ample details. Their wars, 
their amusements, their hunting, and the more prom- 
inent facts connected with their occupaticms and condi- 
tion, have been described with great prolixity and doubt- 
less with much fidelity by a host of persons whose oppor- 
tunities for observation and whose qualifications for 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 93 

description have been as different as the places and the 
eras in which they have written. 

**The constitution of Indian society and the ties by 
which they are kept together furnish a paradox which 
has never received the explanation it requires. We say 
they have no government, and they have none whose 
operation is felt, either in reward or punishment; and 
yet their lives and property are preserved and their 
political relations among themselves and with other 
tribes are duly preserved. Have they then no passions 
to excite them to deeds of violence, or have they discov- 
ered and reduced to practice some unknown principle of 
action in human nature equally efficacious as the two 
great principles of hope and fear, upon which all other 
governments have heretofore rested? Why does an 
Indian who has been guilty of murder tranquilly fold his 
blanket about his head, and seating himself upon the 
ground await the retributive stroke from the relation 
of the deceased. A white man under similar circum- 
stances would flee or resist ; and we can conceive of no 
motive which would induce him to such sacrifice. 

"But of the moral character and feelings of the 
Indians, of their mental discipline, of their peculiar 
opinions, mythological and religious, and of all that is 
most valuable to man in the history of man we are 
about as ignorant as when Jacques Carrier first ascended 
the St. Lawrence.'' 



CHAPTER VI 
The Fur Trade and its Importance 



IT did not take the men who came over to New 
France long to discover the commercial possi- 
bilities of the fur business. The Spaniard and 
the Portugese were infatuated by the prospect 
of unearthing gold and precious gems. The 
Frenchman and the Englishman found vastly greater 
wealth in the humble wild animals which roamed the 
primitive forests. These had for the most part been 
left free to multiply in a state of nature. The modest 
wants of the red man in the way of food and clothing 
were easily met. Beyond these he did not care to go 
and never killed for the sake of killing, except when 
it came to his own species. 

The animals of North America produced the finest 
furs in the world. The climate of the northernmost 
sections was adapted to the growth and development of 
these animals under the most perfect conditions. Thfe 
beaver, silver fox, red fox, wolverine, fisher, mink, 
otter, lynx, black bear, wolf and others were found in 
vast numbers. Their skins had ready sale in all the 
centers of wealth and fashion, the world over. They 
were used for muffs, boas, capes, robes, trimmings, etc., 
and many a noble princess was proud to adorn her per- 
son with the furs brought over seas from the far inte- 
rior of America. We can little appreciate in these days 
when so many interests of large importance enter into 
the commercial affairs of the world, how great was the 
single traffic in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 
It occupied the attention and the capital of men of 
means and influence. Companies were formed to exploit 



98 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the trade, and ultimately these accumulated enormous 
wealth, exercised imperial authority over extended ter- 
ritory, and controlled the means of subsistence and the 
destinies of great numbers of people. 

In its infancy th^ traffic in furs was confined to the 
few adventurers who came over with Cartier, Roberval, 
Champlain, and the early explorers. These saw the 
beauty and the value of the furs and knowing well that 
they were readily marketable in the old world stimulated 
the Indians to bring them in from the forests. The 
natives had no conception whatever of their intrinsic 
value and parted with them for a handful! of glass 
beads of assorted colors. Trinkets of no worth what- 
ever and which cost their owners little beyond freight to 
this country answered every purpose for exchange. 
Powder and shot, brandy and rum, were quoted high in 
the barter. The profits of this business soon came to the 
ears of the people in France and great numbers of 
young men set out to make their fortunes in the new 
world. These were adventurous spirits who had little 
if anything to tie them to their old homes. Arriving 
in America, they did not wait for the Indians to bring 
in th'e peltries, but plunged boldly into the forests to 
dicker with the native at close range. Thousands of 
such in the course of years swarmed through the woods 
or paddled their canoes through the lakes and streams. 
They learned the Indian's language, they adopted his 
mode of life. They married squaws and reared innu- 
merable progeny. They shared the life of the native in 
all respects, except that they did not join in the war raids 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 99 

but gave their undivided attention to hunting and mar- 
keting their peltries. These were the coureurs de bois, 
or wood rangers. They became to all intents and pur- 
poses more Indian than white man. They were of a 
happy-go-lucky disposition, entirely beyond the restraints 
of civilization, with morals somewhat below par and an 
unquenchable thirst for strong drink. 

La Hontan writing from Montreal in 1684 says: 
"The merchants are the only persons that make money 
here; for the savages that frequent the great lakes 
come down hither almost every year with a prodigious 
quantity of beaver skins to be given in exchange for 
arms, kettles, axes, knives, and a thousand such things, 
upon which the merchant clears two hundred per cent. 
The peddlers, called the coureurs de bois, export from 
hence every year several canoes full of merchandise 
which they dispose of among all the savage nations by 
way of exchange for beaver skins. Seven or eight days 
ago I saw twenty-five or thirty of these canoes return 
with heavy cargoes. Each canoe was managed by two 
or three men and carried twenty hundred weight, or 
forty packs, of beaver skins, worth a hundred crowns 
apiece. These canoes had been a year or eighteen 
months out. You would be amazed if you saw how 
lewd these peddlers are when they return; how they 
feast and game and how prodigal they are, not only 
in clothes but upon women. They lavish, eat, drink, and 
play all away as long as the goods hold out, and when 
these are gone they even sell their embroidery, their 
lace and their clothes. This done, they are forced to 



lOO MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

go upon a new voyage for subsistence." The same 
writer describes the arrival of the savages with cargoes 
of furs which they exchange with the merchants for 
such articles as enumerated above. It is a sort of fair 
in which the savages are ceremoniously received by the 
governor-general, after which they display the products 
of the chase and traffic with the merchants. He relates 
the restrictions placed upon the sale of liquor to the 
savages, which restrictions arc by no means observed. 
When drunk the Indians were quarrelsome and danger- 
ous, not only among themselves, but were also a terror 
to the town. 

When it was first discovered that there was abundance 
of peltries which had a marketable value, the savages 
thus brought them to the town to be disposed of. Later 
the coureurs de bois scoured the wilderness and bartered 
with the savages at their various points of rendezvous. 
The savages had no appreciation of the value of the 
skins which they bartered. They gladly exchanged them 
for the glittering trinkets which they thought of enor- 
mous worth. Thus the Indian was cheated outrage- 
ously, though he believed himself getting the best of the 
bargain. Each party to the transaction had supreme 
contempt for the other, because he considered that which 
he was parting with of only trifling worth, while that 
which he was getting in exchange of exceedingly great 
value. When it became known that there were such 
enormous profits in the business, the authorities sought 
to control and restrict it by imposing regulations 
which diverted a part of the profits to the officials at 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE lOI 

the head of affairs. This took the form of a license 
without which no one was permitted to engage in the 
trade. These licenses in printed form were granted to 
gentlemen of political influence, retired officers or their 
widows. In the case of the last mentioned who could 
not personally make use of them, they were permitted 
to sell the license. The merchants were the purchasers 
and they in turn employed the coureurs de bois in the 
quality of agents. So there came to be traffic in licenses, 
as well as in furs. The officials issuing the licenses and 
the holders of the same all the way down the line shared 
in the profits of the transaction, and so the matter soon 
became little short of scandalous. 

The number of licenses granted in any one year was 
supposed to be limited to twenty-five, but as a matter of 
fact there was no limit, and private licenses were issued 
equal to the full demand. All persons were forbidden 
to engage in the traffic without a license under penalty 
of death. The price of a license was six hundred crowns 
and it permitted the lading of two canoes only with 
supplies for barter. The operations were practically in 
the hands of the coureurs de bois and these gentry 
showed no conscience in their dealings with the savages, 
but cheated them outrageously. Their two canoe loads 
of trinkets bought four or five canoe loads of beaver 
skins, and the profits were distributed in such way as 
to satisfy all, the merchant who had supplied the cap- 
tal taking, of course, the lion's share. There was also 
much clandestine dealing in furs. Unauthorized per- 
sons were constantly going up and down the land and 



I02 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

when they saw a good opportunity for a bargain they 
did not let it slip through their fingers for lack of a 
royal commission. There were ways of covering up 
these illicit transactions, and it is more than hinted that 
persons high in authority had been known to wink at 
dealings that were somewhat shady. 

The prices of beaver skins were fixed at the office of 
the Farmers General, the Company of the Hundred 
Associates organized to handle the affairs of the colony. 
If the furs were sold at that office the payment was in 
exchange upon Paris or Rochelle; if sold to a private 
dealer, payment was in the currency of the country, 
which was greatly depreciated. Here again was a 
source of profit for the middleman who was ready to 
take advantage of the possessor of peltries who could 
not show a clear title to them. 

There was a vast amount of intriguing, political and 
otherwise, which at bottom was chargeable to the fur 
traffic. The small jealousies and rivalries of officials of 
greater or less degree often had their source in the deal- 
ings with those concerned in the trade or the profits 
which came out of it into their private purses. Even 
the royal court at Versailles was not wholly free from 
the influence, and governors or commandants were sent 
out or recalled through the manipulations of the fur 
interests. As the importance of the matter came to be 
developed and to be better understood the atmosphere 
was cleared somewhat and a more satisfactory state of 
things resulted. 

Military posts were established at Sault Ste Marie, 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE IO3 

Michilimackinac and at other points which were cen- 
ters of the hunting industry and convenient of access 
from every direction. At these remote points the sav- 
ages gathered at certain seasons, as they had previously 
flocked to Quebec and Montreal, to sell the furs and 
buy their supplies of trinkets and tools, guns and pow- 
der, and last but not least, to imbibe freely of brandy. 
The presence of a military force naturally exercised a 
restraining influence. The coureurs de bois were held in 
check, the good behavior of the savages was looked 
after, and illicit trading in furs was suppressed, so far 
as practicable. This trade had fallen into better hands. 
Able and respectable men retired from the army, prose- 
cuted the trade, either personally or through their 
licensees, and gave it character. It was also more syste- 
matically followed and extended and came to be recog- 
nized for the time as a most astonishing example of 
commercial enterprise. 

It will be noted that the region of the great lakes 
was the source of supply from a very early day. The 
woods of Michigan were literally alive with animals 
whose furs were of the highest value in the market. 
Beavers were very abundant and the beaver's fur was 
the choicest of all. Some of the most highly prized 
of the fur bearing animals, such as the beaver, otter, 
fisher, mink, lived upon fish and the lakes and streams 
of both peninsulas swarmed with their food supply. 
The fox, wolverine, lynx and black bear in vast numbers 
roamed the forests. These facts account for the early 
establishment at Sault Ste Marie and Michilimackinac 



I04 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

of depots for the traffic in peltries. Those points were 
convenient of access from all directions, by canoe as 
well as overland. The latter was also the rallying point 
or headquarters for various expeditions fitted out for 
further westward exploration. It was called "The Key 
of the Northwest" and to it from every side adven- 
turous travelers gathered; it was a great rendefzvous. 
Long who visited the country as recently as 1768 and 
wrote an account of his travels, says of Michilimack- 
inac: "It is perhaps the most material of all the bar- 
riers, and of the greatest importance to the commer- 
cial interest of this country, as it intercepts all the trade 
of the Indians of the upper country from Hudson's bay 
to Lake Superior, and affords protection to various 
tribes of savages, who constantly resort to it to receive 
presents from the commanding officer, and from whence 
the traders who go to the northwest take their departure 
for the grand portage, or grand carrying place, before 
they enter on the waters communicating with the north- 
west."* 

The route of travel between Quebec, Montreal and 
this westernmost post was by way of the Ottawa river, 
thence crossing over to Lake Nipissing and thence down 
French river to Lake Huron. A glance at the map will 
show that this is the shortest possible distance, being 
almost a direct line. Aside from this fact it possessed 
several advantages, although it compelled a portage of 



^he grand portage was at the northwest of Lake Superior, from 
a point afterward kiiown as Fort William toward Lake of the 
Woods. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE IO5 

some length. It was the ancient Indian route of travel 
from time immemorial. It avoided the numerous rapids 
and cascades of the St. Lawrence above Montreal, 
which Cartier had found so troublesome. It was wholly 
within the country of friendly tribes and gave a wide 
berth to the blood-thirsty Iroquois who infested the 
shores of Lakes Ontario and Erie and the Niagara 
frontier. The Ottawa route involved many portages, 
that river being broken by numerous rapids, but they 
were for the most part short and easy. The light canoes 
were carried by hand and the packages of furs and mer- 
chandise were transported on the backs of the natives. 
The long portage, so called, was from Lake Nipissing 
to the head tributaries of the Ottawa and was some five 
or six miles in length and extremely rough and rocky. 
Algonquin villages were found at the terminals and here 
labor could be employed for the carrying of burdens. In 
the primitive times this was the best that could be done. 
In spite of the inconvenience of it a vast amount of bus- 
iness was done. All the traffic between Montreal and 
the upper lake region passed this way, as well as that 
originating in or destined for the uttermost regions of 
the sources of the Mississippi and the trading posts of 
Hudson's bay. 



CHAPTER VII 
First French Attempts at Colonization 



THE motives and methods of colonization 
of New France were greatly different 
from those of New England. The cli- 
mate and the face of the country had 
something to do with the matter, but 
most of all the national characteristics of the two peo- 
ples. The Puritans came over to escape from intoler- 
able conditions and to establish themselves in permanent 
homes. They cut themselves loose from mother coun- 
try; they organized their new commonwealth under 
charters granted by the crown, and with the wide 
stretch of the Atlantic between them and royal preroga- 
tives they proceeded to do pretty much as they pleased. 
In religion they were Non-Conformists, but they did not 
tolerate Quakers nor Schismatics. The French seemed 
to be imbued with a holy zeal to proselyte the savages 
of the whole continent. They did not permit Protestants 
to enter the country under their control. Missionaries, 
explorers, adventurers came in their order, but none 
of these were expected to stay very long. The ship 
which brought them over was quite likely to take them 
back later in the season or in the following year, at the 
latest. The climate proved to be quite inhospitable. 
The soil was not productive, and they were not farmers, 
anyway. The Indians were none too friendly, especially 
the Iroquois who cherished a deadly feud against all out- 
side barbarians. Shabby-genteel aristocrats who found 
poor pickings at home were inclined to try their luck in 
the new world, but they had not the stamina, either 
moral or physical, of their neighbors of New England. 

109 



I lO MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

They came as adventurers and they dickered with the 
savages for peltries, but they had no thought of a per- 
manent residence here or of organizing such conditions 
in this new land as would make it an attractive or a 
desirable home. In short, they had little interest in the 
country. 

The first permanent settlement was made in 1603 by 
Champlain whose inclination did not lead him to take 
much interest in conunerce and whose sentiments were 
liberal and looked toward the public welfare. The 
French king having desired him to found a settlement, 
he chose the promontory of Quebec and here he erected 
some huts for his followers and proceeded to clear the 
land of timber. They planted rye and wheat which 
seemed to thrive, but the vines which they imported 
showed signs of great discouragement, on account of 
the long duration and severity of the cold. Champlain 
spent the year in exploration of the neighboring coun- 
try and then returned to France, leaving his infant col- 
ony in charge of Pierre Chauvin. He gave to his 
sovereign a particular description of what had been 
done, which was well received, and he was encouraged 
to recruit additional colonists to accompany him on his 
return to this country. He found the settlement at 
Quebec in a prosperous state. In the meantime he had 
succeeded in interesting a number of wealthy and influ- 
ential persons in the colony and a company was formed 
to take charge of the French possessions in Canada. The 
views of the company were purely commercial and, of 
course, all affairs were managed with reference to those 




SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE III 

views. In spite of all efforts the colony did not grow. 
It is said that in 1622 the total population amounted 
to no more than fifty persons, including women and 
children. The management of the affairs of the com- 
pany proved to be so bad that, upon the advice of Cham- 
plain, the king superseded it. 

Cardinal Richelieu conceived the plan of placing the 
commerce of New France in the hands of a new com- 
pany to be formed of some of the best people of France, 
and which was ultimately known as the Company of a 
Hundred Associates. This company agreed to send 
over within a year three hundred workmen of trades 
of every description, and within twenty years to increase 
the number of inhabitants to six thousand, to lodge and 
feed and supply them with every necessary of life for 
the space of three years, and to concede them after- 
ward as much cleared land as was requisite for their 
subsistence, and likewise to supply them with seed grain. 
In return for these agreements the king conferred on the 
company and their successors forever the fort and set- 
tlement of Quebec, all the territory of New France, 
including Florida, all the course of the great river (Mis- 
sissippi) and of other rivers which discharge themselves 
thereinto, or which throughout this vast extent of coun- 
try disembogue themselves into the sea on the eastern or 
western extremity of the continent; also, islands, harbors, 
mines and right of fishing. The king reserved to himself 
the supremacy of the faith and homage, the appointment 
of officers of justice, the nomination of all captains and 
commandants of forts. The privilege of traffic in skins 



112 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

and furs was conferred for fifteen years, provided that 
the European inhabitants who were neither maintained 
nor paid at the company's expense might freely carry 
on the fur trade with the savages on the condition that 
they should sell the beaver skins to the agents of the 
company only, who should pay therefor a certain speci- 
fied minimum price. This charter was granted by Louis 
XIII in 1627. 

It should be said that although the company under- 
took in apparent good faith to send over settlers and 
supplies it met with obstacles and misfortunes from the 
very outset. Some of their ships were driven out of 
their course by gales and wrecked upon an inhospita- 
ble coast. Others were attacked and captured by the 
English who took possession of Quebec itself. After 
some hesitancy on the part of the French court on the 
question of expediency of trying to go on with the 
colony or abandon it altogether, and an expression of 
willingness on the part of the English to retire from 
the country, the French king, guided by th'e advice of 
Champlain, decided that it was worth while to maintain 
his foothold in the new world. 

By so narrow a margin was the fate of this vast 
region of country preserved to France. The rights of 
the company of New France were restored, Champlain 
was appointed governor and a fresh effort was made 
to bring over colonists. The interest in missionary affairs 
and the establishment of the Jesuits in the country also 
had a tendency to attract some immigrants. But the 
company apparently had very little concern for the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 13 

colony as such, being almost wholly absorbed in the 
profits to be gained from the fur trade. Montmagny 
succeeded to the governorship after the death of Cham- 
plain, and although he shared the views and qualities 
of his predecessor, he lacked both men and means, and 
had but ill support from the company or the court. 

Small settlements had been previously established at 
Three Rivers and at Montreal, but they numbered only 
a few huts and were in a languishing condition. The 
Sulpitians having decided to give attention to mission- 
ary efforts in this country, the French king assigned to 
them the whole island of Montreal and there they set 
up their principal establishment. This fact drew other 
settlers to the locality and Sieur Maisonneuve was 
invested with its government. A fort was constructed 
at the mouth of the Sorel to protect the infant settle- 
ment from the Iroquois who proved to be most pesti- 
ferous neighbors. The Hurons who were peaceably dis- 
posed and easily tractable to religious instruction gath- 
ered about the new settlement and the village of St. 
Joseph became the center of quite a colony of them. But 
the Iroquois could not long refrain from hostile demon- 
strations. In 1649 ^ band of those warriors suddenly 
descended upon the village, burnt and destroyed every- 
thing and put the missionaries to death. 

The Hurons being thus dispersed, a plan was formed 
for re-uniting them in some more favorable location. 
The island of Manitoulin at the north end of Lake 
Huron was chosen for the purpose and hither the scat- 
tered tribes were glad to make their way. The mission- 

1-8 



1 14 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

aries also moved into this region and ministered to the 
religious wants of their proteges, many of whom had 
been converted to Christianity during their residence near 
Quebec and Montreal. 

Meanwhile the colonies languished. The company 
gave little or no attention beyond the fur traffic in which 
lay apparently its sole interest. Harrassed by Indian 
raids, often on the verge of starvation, exposed to the 
rigors of a harsh climate, the settlers found themselves 
in truly desperate straits. Finally in 1662 the governor 
and all the people wrote to the king beseeching him in 
the strongest terms to take the colony under his pro- 
tection. The king was much surprised to learn that the 
country had so suffered from neglect. He sent a special 
commissioner to Canada to observe and report and also 
four hundred of his troops to reinforce the garrisons 
and exposed posts. These things raised high hopes, 
which were still further encouraged by the arrival of 
supplies. 

The Company of the Hundred Associates having 
tired of its responsibilities and being reduced in num- 
bers to forty, surrendered its rights in 1664 and the 
king included New France in the concession which he 
had previously made of the French colonies in favor of 
the Company of the West Indies, the king still to name 
the governor and all other officers. The Marquis de 
Tracy was sent over to formally instal the new company 
in its Canadian possession, which included all the rights 
which the Hundred Associates had enjoyed. Fresh 
troops were despatched and new colonists were encour- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 1 5 

aged to become permanent settlers. Then for the first 
time attention was given to the matter of increasing the 
commerce of the country by consideration of its natural 
resources. Many who had come over as soldiers, when 
thfeir terms of enlistment expired, remained and settled 
in the country. Many officers obtained lands with the 
rights of seignors, married and reared families whose 
descendants are still found here. 

The land was seen to be very fertile when cleared. By 
1680 the total population had incresed to 8,515, not 
including Acadia. Nine years later a census showed 
11,249, a substantial growth for so short a period. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Settlements at Sault Ste Marie and Mich- 
ilimackinac 



ALLUSION has been already made to the 
fact that in 1671 St. Lusson set up thfe 
arms of France with imposing cere- 
monies at Sault Ste Marie. He was evi- 
dently inspired to this by the fact that 
adventurers in the interest of the English had been 
exploring the country and there seemed to be danger 
that foreign claims to the country might intervene. 
Therefore he thought it wise to impress on the minds 
of the savages the great power and dignity of the king 
of France as the sovereign of all this vast domain. More 
than thirty years before a mission had been established 
there by Fathers Jogues and Raymbault, but it was 
short-lived. Later came Dablon, AUouez and Mar- 
quette. Though a chapel and a stockade were built and 
land was cleared and crops were raised by the servants 
of the mission, the little settlement was too much dis- 
turbed by the raids of hostile savages to flourish. In 
1668 a small settlement of Europeans was found here. 

Yet aside from the coureurs de bois and the traders 
who came hither for commerce with the ntaives there 
could scarcely be said to be a permanent settlement. A 
fort was erected and a few soldiers were brought in to 
preserve the peace, but many years elapsed before there 
was a serious attempt to colonize. The activity of the 
English in respect to the fur trade inspired the French 
to more decisive action to retain control of the west. 
Jonquicre was governor under Louis XIV and he was 
entrusted with the interests of the French crown in the 
matter. Upon his request the home government made 

119 



I20 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

a grant of land six leagues square, or thirty-six square 
leagues, on the south side of St. Mary's river at the falls 
to Chevalier de Repentigny and Captain Bonne, on the 
condition that a fort be erected and maintained at their 
expense and the ground thereabout placed under cultiva- 
tion. Bonne was a nephew of the governor but he never 
took any active personal interest in the concession and 
was not at any time seen in its vicinity. Repentigny 
came of one of the oldest and most distinguished fam- 
ilies of New France. He was a brave soldier and an 
educated Christian gentleman who had had much expe- 
rience in the colonial service. He proceeded to the 
Sault where he established his headquarters in 1750 in 
fulfillment of the terms of the concession. His name 
appears solely in all subsequent transactions; Bonne's 
name is conspicuously absent. He built the palisaded 
fort upon the site which was afterward occupied by Fort 
Brady, and inaugurated farming operations.'*' A band 
of followers was installed upon the land, which was 
laid out on the plan of the seignories established from 
the beginning of colonization upon the St. Lawrence. 
The lord of the manor had his own establishment near 
the fort in the center of the tract, and his concessioners 
were given narrow tracts each with a frontage on the 
river and extending back a considerable distance into the 
interior. The advantage of this arrangement was that 
it brought the dwellings near together for social and 
neighborly convenience and was an aid in self defense 
against marauding savages. The disadvantage was that 



♦Capp, E. H. Story of Baw-a-ting. Sault Ste Marie, 1904. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 121 

behind these rows of long farms which fronted the 
river was the untenanted wilderness, and there was no 
incentive to occupy it or to render it habitable. 

After a sojourn of a few years here Repentigny was 
called east by the troubles between the French and Eng- 
lish. He left his fort and little colony in charge of his 
lieutenant, Cadotte, and with an enlisted body of natives 
went to the aid of the governor. He fought at the 
head of a regiment of Canadians at Lake George and 
later he joined in the defense of the citadel at Quebec. 
There in 1759 the tide turned in favor of the English 
and French rule disappeared forever from Canada. 
Repentigny never returned to Sault Ste Marie, but in 
his place came Lieut. Jemette with a detachment of 
British soldiers. The lilies of France which waved 
above the fort were lowered after an ascendancy from 
the coming of St. Lusson of ninety-one years, and the 
red cross of England was flung to the breeze. Although 
Bonne never put in an appearance to inspect his conces- 
sion, long years after his death his heirs laid claim to 
the lands. They sold his interests in 1 806 to one James 
Caldwell of Albany and the matter became afterward 
one of extended litigation and international concern. In 
i860 congress passed an act to quiet the title, to the 
effect that if the courts decided against the claimants, 
their rights should be forever barred. As a matter of 
fact, Xhe courts did so decide and the later settlers found 
their titles good. 

On the arrival of Lieut. Jemette late in 1762, the 
fort was turned over to the British and occupied by 



122 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

them. Cadotte who had been a faithful adherent of 
Repentigny changed his allegience and rendered good 
service to his new masters. The Indians did not take 
kindly to the change of sovereignty. They liked the 
French with whom they had affiliated for many years. 
They disliked the English who had given substantial 
aid and encouragement to their hereditary enemies, the 
Iroquois. They were troublesome in many ways and in 
the summer of 1763 attacked all the British posts 
about the lakes, including those at Detroit, Michilimack- 
inac, Sault Ste Marie, Miamis and elsewhere to the 
number of nine through the west. Cadotte, who was 
well known and liked by the Indians of the adjacent 
country, was able to influence them to peaceful measures, 
and so this fort did not suffer. On December 22 the 
fort took fire and all the buildings with their contents 
were destroyed. Being destitute of food and shelter it 
became necessary to send the soldiers to Michilimack- 
inac, while Jemette proposed to remain and winter 
among the inhabitants. The soldiers arrived there 
without mishap and were in the doomed fort at the 
time of the massacre. A month after their departure 
Jemette decided to go on to Michilimackinac also and 
with Cadotte and Alexander Henry for companions he 
set out on snow-shoes. This proved a slow and toil- 
some method of travel for the Englishman who came 
near losing his life on the road, from exposure and 
starvation. After all his sufferings he met the fate 
of his comrades a few months later in the massacre at 
the fort. This ended the British occupation of Sault 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 23 

Ste Marie as a military post, though it struggled on as 
a little settlement or colony, dependent upon fish and 
some agriculture, but more upon the traffic of the trad- 
ers and Indians. 

In 1783 the Northwest Company was organized as 
the rival of the Hudson's Bay Company, established 
more than a hundred years before. The new com- 
pany erected a post at Sault Ste Marie and here came 
all goods from Montreal destined for the west, and all 
peltries en route to Montreal. To facilitate the traffic 
a canal twenty-five hundred feet long was cut on the 
Canadian side between the islands and the main land 
for the passage of batteaux. A lock was constructed 
of timbers but it was not strong enough to stand against 
the pressure of the waters and was never operated. It 
was the first work of the kind in the west. Evidences of 
it are still visible. 

From time immemorial there have been Indian set- 
tlements of considerable importance about the Straits 
of Mackinac. On the south shore the land was fer- 
tile and produced Indian corn in plenty. Fish were 
very abundant. The place was easy of access by water 
and so became at a very early day the resort of Euro- 
pean fur traders. Marquette had established his mis- 
sion of St. Ignace on the other side of the strait, where 
were also Indian villages. Later the mission was moved 
over and a chapel and fort were erected at the point 
which afterward became known as "Old Mackinaw." 
Here was established a strong-hold and trading post 
of the greatest importance, the rendezvous of traders. 



124 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

trappers, coureurs de bois, soldiers, missionaries and 
savages. The place was strongly fortified and garri- 
soned. La Hontan writing from here in 1688 says: 
"Michilimackinac is certainly a place of great import- 
ance. Here the Hurons and Ottawas have each a vil- 
lage, being separated from each other by a single pali- 
sade. In this place the Jesuits have a little house or 
college, adjoining to a sort of church and enclosed 
with poles that separate it from the village of the 
Hurons. The coureurs de bois have but a very small 
settlement here ; though at the same time it is not incon- 
siderable, as being the staple of all the goods that they 
truck with the south and west savages ; for they cannot 
avoid passing this way when they go to the seats of 
the Illinois and the Oumamis, or to the Bay des Puants 
(Green bay) and to the river of the Mississippi. The 
skins which they import from these different places must 
lie here some time before they are transported to the 
colony. Michilimackinac is situated very advantage- 
ously, for the Iroquois dare not venture with their 
sorry canoes to cross the lakes ; and as they cannot come 
to it by water so they cannot approach it by land, by 
reason of the marshes, fens and little rivers which it 
would be very difficult to cross." 

In 1695 M. de la Motte Cadillac was in command 
at the post which then had a garrison of two hundred 
men. There was a French village of some sixty 
houses, beside two Indian villages of Hurons and Otta- 
was. It was the opinion of Cadillac that the interests 
of France required a strong fort and settlement four 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 25 

hundred miles southward, on the strait of the Detroit, 
to resist the invasions of the hostile Iroquois and to 
stem the tide of oncoming commercial encroachments 
of the English. He visited France and presented his 
views so convincingly to Count Pontchartrain, the 
colonial minister, that he received a concession of land 
at Detroit and authority to establish a fort and colony 
there at once. The result of this movement was the 
abandonment of Michilimackinac. In spite of the 
remonstrances of the missionaries the savages removed 
to Detroit and the trade in peltries was likewise 
diverted. Charlevoix writing in 1721 speaks of the 
demoralization of the place caused by the establishment 
of the new post at Detroit. A few soldiers had been 
sent on in 17 14 and the garrison was revived, but the 
post had ceased to be a flourishing one. 

One of the most memorable events in the history of 
the post was the massacre which took place on the 4th 
of June, 1763. After the fall of Quebec, four years 
before, all the French possessions passed into the hands 
of the English. This transfer was very distasteful to 
the Indians of this region who were greatly attached to 
the French by reason of their long intercourse and the 
uniformly kind treatment they had received. They 
were bitterly hostile to the English and took no pains 
to conceal their sentiments. This hostility was organ- 
ized by Pontiac who inspired active operations. At 
the date mentioned the post at Michilimackinac on the 
south side of the strait was in possession of the English 
under the command of Maj. Etherington with a gar- 



126 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

rison of about one hundred soldiers. There were four 
or five English merchants and a considerable number 
of French and half-breed residents. There were Indian 
villages just outside the stockade, numbering some four 
or five hundred savages of the Chippewa and Sac 
tribes. The day referred to was a public holiday, being 
the king's birthday. The Indians advertised a game 
of lacrosse as a diversion and the garrison and dwellers 
within the fort were invited to witness thfe game. All were 
off their guard and entirely unaware of the conspiracy 
organized by the savages. At a given signal the ball 
was thrown over the pickets and the savages rushed pell 
mell into the fort as if to rescue it. Once inside, they 
threw off the mask of deceit and proceeded to murder 
and scalp the English. The scene is described at length 
by Alexander Henry, an English trader who happened 
to be present and who narrowly escaped the fate of the 
others. He tells of the horrible and sickening spectacle 
of barbarous slaughter. Of all the English in the fort 
but twenty were left alive. The others, including 
Henry, were taken prisoners. Of these, seven were 
afterward killed and served up at a cannibal feast. 
Henry was purchased by an Indian to whom he had 
once done a favor, and so escaped with his life. The 
fort was not destroyed by the savages and was soon 
again re-garrisoned. The Indians were not punished 
for their treacherous onslaught, but they gained noth- 
ing of permanent advantage to themselves. 

When Patrick Sinclair was sent to command the post 
he took up the question of removal of the fort to the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 27 

island for greater security against the savages, and as 
being a situation more desirable in many ways. Such 
representations in regard to it were made by him to 
Gen. Haldimand, the governor, that he approved the 
removal which was accomplished in 1780. A treaty was 
made with the Chippewas by which they ceded for the 
sum of five thousand pounds sterling the whole of the 
island to the British crown. A fort was speedily erected 
and the old post was forever abandoned. Many of the 
French remained behind and carried on traffic with 
the Indians for a time, but this settlement in the course 
of events fell into decay and eventually disappeared 
altogether. The English traders made their head- 
quarters on the island and hither came the Northwest- 
em Fur Company and later the American Fur Com- 
pany. 

There is more or less confusion in speaking of Mich- 
limackinac to know definitely the point referred to. 
Schoolcraft says that the name was applied indiscrimi- 
nately to the ancient fort on the apex of the Michigan 
peninsula and to the mission and Indian settlement on 
the north side of the strait, as well as to the island itself. 
There seems to be little doubt that the most important 
and longest continued settlement was on the south side, 
and that the mission here bore the name of St. Ignace, 
as the same mission did also when located on the north 
side. 

It may be remarked in passing that although Sault 
Ste Marie and Michilimackinac were the earliest per- 
manent settlements within the territorial limits of Mich- 



128 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

igan, they developed, at least during the provincial 
period, into nothing beyond military posts and trading 
stations. There was no attempt at either place to 
colonize for the sake of building up a self-sustaining 
community. 



CHAPTER IX 
Cadillac and His Colony 



14 



MILITARY and trading posts had been 
established at Frontenac, at the out- 
let of Lake Ontario, at Sault Stc 
Marie and at Michilimackinac, but 
they were in no sense permanent col- 
onies, though they were almost continuously occupied 
from the beginning. The first settlement west of Mon- 
treal of a real colony, a gathering of settlers who came 
to stay, who brought with them farmers, artisans, mer- 
chants with a view to making homes was at Detroit. 
Cadillac was responsible for this movement. Here too 
came the first women, the sure home makers, signifi- 
cant of contentment and a willingness to dwell in the 
land. There had been no women at the posts not even 
the wives of officers, because of the hardships and dan- 
gers. But from the coming of Mesdames Cadillac and 
Tonty to Detroit, the presence and influence of the 
gentler sex have not been lacking. 

Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac was a native of Gas- 
cony, France, but the precise place or date of his birth 
are uncertain. The record of his marriage which took 
place at Quebec June 25, 1687, gives his age as about 
twenty-six years, the son of M. Jean de la Mothe, 
sieur of the place called Cadillac of Launay and Ser- 
montel. Counsellor of the parliament of Toulouse, and 
of Madam Jeanne de Malenfant. This statement 
would place the date of his birth about 166 1. The family 
was evidently one of some standing. The education 
and opportunities of the youth must have been good. 
We first hear of him in this country at Quebec in 1683 

131 



132 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

where he was employed in the department of Marine. 
The French interests at that time were largely on the 
lower St. Lawrence and the adjacent coasts. One of 
their oldest settlements was at Port Royal and here they 
were in constant conflict with the English. Cadillac 
must have had some connection with the unpleasant 
state of affairs between the French and English, for 
shortly after his marriage to Marie Therese Guyon, a 
young native of Quebec, in 1687, ^^ ^^ ^^"^ residing 
on Mount Desert Island and later at Port Royal. He 
had been granted an estate in the former locality which 
included the island and a considerable tract on the 
adjacent mainland, and here his oldest children, Made- 
leine and Antoine were bom. Subsequently his removal 
to Port Royal was doubtless for the greater security 
of his family, on account of the troublesome incursions 
of the English. He established his dwelling at Port 
Royal and was himself employed with Francis Guyon, 
the uncle of his wife, in privateering along the Atlantic 
coast. In 1690 Sir William Phipps, governor of Mas- 
sachusetts, organized an expedition in support of the 
English and attacked and destroyed Port Royal. Cad- 
illac's home was among those burned. His family were 
taken prisoners but afterward released and permitted to 
return to Quebec. Here the husband and father later 
joined them. 

Cadillac had evidently commended himself to the 
powers that be as an able and resourceful man of affairs, 
and in 1694 Frontenac designated him as commandant 
and sent him to Michilimackinac to deal with some 




CADILLAC'S STATUE 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 33 

matters of importance. The English were a constant 
thorn in the flesh to the French; not only in the mari- 
time provinces, but in the far distant posts of the 
west their influence was felt among the fur traders and 
the Indian tribes. The three years which Cadillac spent 
at Michilimackinac convinced him that the interests of 
the French would be best served by establishing a strong 
colony near the head of Lake Erie and thus stop the 
English encroachments much nearer their source. He 
contemplated not merely a military post with a numer- 
ous garrison, but in addition a large colony of per- 
manent settlers. His mind also took in the policy of 
undertaking to civilize the Indians by attaching them 
to such a settlement, teaching them agriculture and 
other useful arts, instructing them in the French 
language, overcoming their wandering and improvident 
h'abits and making of them good and useful citizens. 
This may have been somewhat visionary, but it speaks 
well for his philanthropy. 

In this project for a colony Cadillac was none too 
early in the field. The English had already cast covet- 
ous eyes in this direction. Robert Livingston, Secre- 
tary for Indian affairs, reported in 1699 to the Earl 
of Bellemont, a recommendation that two hundred 
English and Dutch inhabitants of the country should 
join with three or four hundred Iroquois in proceed- 
ing to the Detroit, there to build a fort. He expressed 
the opinion that at that point a profitable trade with 
the northern Indians could be established. In the fol- 
lowing year he renewed his suggestion and urged 



134 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

prompt action, as he said the French already had some 
sort of a pretended claim to the country, on the ground 
that they had once set up their king's arms there. He 
says that, from all accounts, Detroit is one of the most 
pleasant and plentiful inland places in America, where 
there are available lands for thousands of people, and 
where there are abundant opportunities for traffic in 
furs.* The establishment of a fort there would pre- 
serve for the English all the lands and Indian tribes 
south of the great lakes and the St. Lawrence. There 
is no evidence that Cadillac had positive knowledge of 
this contemplated movement on the part of the Eng- 
lish. But he clearly foresaw its possibility and even its 
probability. So he hastened to carry into effect his 
own projects. 

He visited Versailles in person and laid his plans 
before Count Pontchartrain, the minister for the col- 
onies. He was able to convince both the minister and 
the king, Louis XIV, of the soundness of his views. 
This was evidently no easy task, for there were influ- 
ences at work hostile to Cadillac and his purposes. He 
had quarreled violently with the Jesuit missionaries who 
were a political factor of no small force, and the Com- 
pany of the Colony of Canada which controlled the fur 
trade of the country was also to be reckoned with. But 
he was able to overcome all obstacles and gained the 
desired end in promises of men and means to carry 
out his project. The king granted him a tract of land 
fifteen arpents (acres) square "wherever on the Detroit 



*N. Y. Hist. Doc. 3. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE I35 

the new fort should be located," and Count Pont- 
chartrain commissioned him as commandant of the post. 
He returned immediately to New France, arriving at 
Quebec March 8, 1701, whence he proceeded imme- 
diately to Montreal. Here he busied himself with prep- 
arations for his expedition until the fifth of June when 
he set out from Lachine with fifty soldiers and an 
equal number of artisans and traders. His officers were 
Captain Alphonse Tonty, a brother of Henry Tonty 
who was La Salle's **man with the iron hand" and 
faithful companion in his explorations, and Messrs. 
Dugue and Chacomacle, lieutenants. A RecoUet priest, 
Father Constantine de I'Halle, accompanied the troops 
as chaplain, and a Jesuit, Father Vaillant, went as mis- 
sionary to the Indians. The route traversed was the 
usual one of that time by way of the Ottawa river, 
thence by portage to Lake Nipissing and thence to the 
Georgian bay and down Lake Huron. The expedi- 
tion arrived at the present site of Detroit on the 24th 
of July, 1 701. 

The first business in hand was the construction of a 
fort for defense against the savages. This consisted 
of a stockade of wooden pickets enclosing about one 
acre of land and nearly square. It stood on the east 
side of Shelby street, south of Jefferson avenue and 
occupied about half a present city block. The pickets 
were trunks of small trees six to eight inches in diame- 
ter, driven deeply into the ground as close together as 
possible, the interstices chinked with clay, standing ten 
or twelve feet high and sharpened to a point at the 



136 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

top to make climbing over them uncomfortable. This 
fort was named Pontchartrain. Inside the enclosure 
wooden huts were built for the men. One of these 
structures was designated as a chapel, and as such was 
dedicated July 26, the feast of St. Ann, and named in 
honor of that saint. The name has been perpetuated 
in successors of the little chapel to this day. Father 
Constantine, the Recollet, was the priest in charge. 
Father Vaillant, the Jesuit, who accompanied the expe- 
dition, after having tried to stir up strife and discon- 
tent among the soldiers and settlers, found the situa- 
tion so uncomfortable for himself that after a sojourn 
of only a day he departed unceremoniously for Michili- 
mackinac. 

The natives were friendly enough. They flocked in 
from all directions, attracted by curiosity and the pros- 
pects of profitable trade. A large village of Potta- 
watomies had previously been established in this local- 
ity just below the site of the fort. There were also 
two villages of considerable size a short distance above. 
So long as all were on good terms this presence of 
savages was an advantage. Cadillac had brought a sup- 
ply of provision for only three months and was com- 
pelled to rely on purchasing game from his savage 
neighbors for subsistance. It was too late in the sea- 
son to cultivate vegetables or grain, but later the col- 
onists were favored with an abundance of excellent 
native fruits. Cadillac had brought a quantity of French 
wheat for seed and the men were set at work clearing 
some land just outside the fort. In the fall twenty 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 37 

acres were thus sown and in the following summer a 
fairly good harvest was reaped. This necessitated the 
building of a mill in which to grind the grain. A half 
acre of land was assigned to each soldier and about 
three acres in width to some thirty to forty in depth 
was given to each settler. The soldiers were expected 
to raise their own garden vegetables and the villagers 
were to cultivate their lands as a condition of owner- 
ship. Without suitable tools and with no oxen or 
horses for teams it may well be imagined that the sub- 
duing and cultivation of the land was laborious. But 
the soil was fertile and produced abundantly. 

Cadillac had entered into a contract with the Com- 
pany of the Colony of Canada with reference to the fur 
trading rights of his new post, but there appears to have 
been more or less friction in carrying out its terms. The 
Company agreed to make certain improvements and 
furnish certain supplies. There were indications that 
the fur market in France had been glutted and that 
prices had fallen so low as to make hunting unprofitable. 
At the same time the English at Albany were ready to 
take all the peltries offered and to pay good prices and 
also to sell to the natives such merchandise as they cov- 
eted for less than the French were charging. There were 
other sources of trouble. We have already seen that 
when Cadillac was stationed at Michilimackinac the 
liquor question was a disturbing one. The Versailles 
authorities at the instigation of the Jesuit missionaries, 
had prohibited the sale of brandy. Against this iron- 
clad order Cadillac protested and he made an argument 



138 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

showing that in such a climate as this a little liquor is 
essential to good health. But there was no denying that 
the savage had a great appetite for fire water, and 
that when he was filled up with it he was a most uncom- 
fortable, not to say dangerous, neighbor. But it was 
the moderate, not the excessive, use of the stimulant 
which Cadillac favored. Therefore, when he had the 
matter in his own hands he undertook to restrict the 
amount of drinking by locking up all the liquor in the 
storehouse and providing that it should be drunk only 
there, and in quantity not exceeding one 24th of a 
quart at one time. The price was almost high enough 
to be prohibitive, and moreover each applicant for a 
drink must be served only in the order of his applica- 
tion. We still have restrictions of the liquor traffic, 
but they have been modified somewhat. 

When Cadillac came to Detroit he brought with him 
as a cadet his oldest son, Antoine, a lad of ten years. 
His wife and other members of his family were left at 
Quebec in the charge of Father Germain. In August, 
1 70 1, Father Germain wrote to Cadillac that his wife 
desired to join him at once. Madame Tonty, the wife 
of Cadillac's captain, proposed to accompany her. 
Father Germain writes: "Every one here admires the 
magnanimity of these two ladies who certainly have 
courage to undertake so laborious a journey to go and 
join their husbands without fearing the great difficul- 
ties or the fatigue or other inconveniences which must 
be endured by roads so long and so rough for persons 
of their sex. Well, sir, is it possible to show more sin- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE I39 

cere conjugal affection or a firmer attachment? Some 
one said pleasantly to them the other day that they 
would pass for heroines. But on some other ladies 
more fastidious saying to Madame de la Mothe, in 
order to dissuade her from this journey, that they 
would be willing if they were going to a pleasant and 
fertile country where they could always get good com- 
pany, as in France, but they could not understand how 
people could make up their minds to go to an unculti- 
vated and uninhabited place where they could have but 
a very dull time of it in such great solitude, she very dis- 
creetly replied that a woman who loves her husband 
as she ought to do, has no attraction more powerful 
than his society, in whatever place it may be; all the 
rest should be indifferent to her."* Madame Cadillac 
was an energetic, capable woman, as she had already 
demonstrated. Having made up her mind to go to 
Detroit she set out on the journey a month later accom- 
panied by Madame Tonty. She took also her second 
son. The two daughters were placed in a convent at 
Quebec. The travellers got no further than Three 
Rivers where they were obliged to spend the winter. 
Chevallier de Calliere, then governor of New France, 
had shortly before concluded a treaty of peace with the 
Iroquois which made the route by way of Niagara 
a safe one for the ladies, and it was by this route in the 
following spring that the little party came on to Detroit. 
They met with nothing but the most respectful treat- 
ment on the part of the Indians who seemed to con- 



^Michigan Pioneer Collections, V. 53. Cadillac papers. 



I40 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

sider it a mark of extraordinary confidence, not to be 
abused, to have ladies of title and distinction pass boldly 
through their country. Upon their arrival at Detroi/ 
the ladies were received with a great demonstration of 
joy. A musketry salute was fired as they approached 
the city. They were speedily provided with as good 
quarters as the place could afford, and here they con- 
tinued to reside so long as their husbands remained at 
the fort. 

In the autumn after his arrival Cadillac wrote to the 
governor, Calliere and Champigny, Minister of Justice, 
a most glowing description of the country in which he 
was settled. He painted a picture of a paradise of 
natural scenery, the streams gentle and sweet and the 
noble forests abounding in native fruits and birds of 
rare song and plumage. He certainly showed a just 
appreciation of the good things which nature had 
bestowed hereabout. The following year he visited 
Quebec and while there made a detailed report of what 
had been done at Detroit. He describes the fort which 
he had built and the houses of good white oak timber 
which had been erected within the enclosure. He speaks 
of clearing the land and sowing wheat which produced 
a satisfactory harvest, and also of the abundant crops of 
com raised, showing the quality of the soil. He had 
built a boat of ten tons burden which was very use- 
ful on the river. He adds : "All that I have had the 
honor to state to you has been done in one year, without 
it ever having cost the king a sou, and without costing 
the Company a double ; and in twelve months we have 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE I4I 

put ourselves in position to do without provisions from 
Canada forever; and all this undertaking was carried 
out with three months' provisions, which I took when I 
set out from Montreal, which were consumed in the 
course of the journey. This proves whether Detroit 
is a desirable or an undesirable country. Besides this 
nearly six thousand mouths of different tribes wintered 
there, as every one knows. All these proofs, convinc- 
ing as they are, cannot silence the enemies of my scheme. 
If the king had the kindness to look into this matter 
well and follow it up, numberless advantages would be 
obtained from it, to the profit of the state, the colony, 
and religion." He argues the necessity for sending to 
Detroit, Frenchmen with their families who shall be 
permanent settlers. He says: "There are at Detroit 
a good fort, good dwellings and the means of living and 
subsisting. * * * It is for you to push this mat- 
ter about the inhabitants and to consider whether you 
will permit the inhabitants of Canada to settle there; 
to form a seminary to begin to instruct the savage chil- 
dren in piety, in the French language; to allow the 
Recollets to settle in order to discharge their functions 
there. It is the Lord's vine; we must let it be cul- 
tivated by all sorts of good laborers. For nearly a 
hundred years it has been labored at without success; 
have trial made, whether the methods which I have 
had the honor to propose are not more sound.'"^ 



*An allusion to the Jesuit policy of considering a savage con- 
verted to Christianity when he had been baptized and leaving him 
still living in the woods in a state of barbarism. 



142 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

The result of Cadillac's appeal was that the garrison 
was increased and six Frenchmen with their families 
were sent to Detroit, together with some cattle. These 
latter were undoubtedly appreciated, for it appears that 
Madame Tonty's infant daughter Therese, the first 
white child bom in Detroit, had died for lack of milk. 
Cadillac asked that some soldiers be sent over from 
France to strengthen the garrison for the effect it would 
have on the natives. Some of the soldiers whose terms 
of enlistment expired preferred to remain and become 
permanent residents. Cadillac advised them to marry 
Indian maidens, for he thinks they will make good 
wives and good mothers, and such a course would help 
to christianize the race. His suggestion was followed 
in some cases, but not many. In 1703 an incendiary 
fire destroyed a portion of the fort, the church and 
several of the houses. The fire was started by an 
Indian who paid with his life the penalty of his crime. 
There had been some underhand work in disposing of 
the supplies sent on by the Company, and when this 
came to the knowledge of Cadillac he sternly reproved 
Captain Tonty for his conduct in the matter. This 
provoked some feeling between the two men. The fric- 
tion with the Company led Cadillac in 1704 to appeal 
to Pontchartrain to be relieved from its surveilance. 
He asked to be given feudal tenure in respect to the 
town and all its surroundings, with the right to issue 
grants to those who should settle there for purposes of 
agriculture, etc. His request was granted and the king 
issued orders to the Company to surrender its rights 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 43 

on the condition of being reimbursed for the goods in 
store. The governor, Vaudreuil, was also instructed to 
aid Cadillac in furnishing to him soldiers and settlers 
and protecting the interests of the new settlement in all 
possible ways. 

Cadillac made grants or leases of small lots to 
upwards of one hundred and fifty persons at a fixed 
annual rental. These were outside the palisades, on 
the east side of Randolph street, from the river north- 
ward, and on both sides of the street called St. Ann, 
which was nearly on the line of the present Jefferson 
avenue, extending from Qriswold street to Wayne. 
Houses built upon these lots consisted of stakes driven 
into the ground and chinked with clay, the roofs being 
constructed of **shakes," or free grained logs of oak 
split into thin strips of considerable width, and held 
in place by poles laid crosswise and fastened at the 
cnxls with "withes" of twisted green saplings. Cadil- 
lac's house is believed to have stood on the north side of 
the present Jefferson avenue, about midway between 
Griswold and Shelby streets. Artisans skilled in all 
kinds of useful trades were brought here and were 
licensed to carry on their business. The first business 
to which they were required to give attention was that 
of Cadillac himself, as the lord of the estate. After 
that was taken care of there was a chance for others. 
Not that he was grasping or overly selfish, but simply 
that he asserted the right to claim his own. 

Five of Cadillac's thirteen children were born in 
Detroit. The record of the baptism of the first of 



144 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

these was undoubtedly destroyed in the fire which 
burned the church in 1703. But that of Marie Theresc, 
under date of February 2, 1704, appears in the register 
of old St. Ann's Church, still extant. Several of these 
children died and were buried in St. Ann's churchyard. 
There was a considerable influx of population in the 
summer of 1706. Two RecoUet priests came on, Domi- 
nique de la Marche and Cherubin Deniau. The former 
kept the parish records for many years. The increase 
in the population compelled the enlargement of the 
palisaded enclosure. The little settlement seemed on 
the high road to a wonderful success. Its prosperity, 
however, stirred formidable hostility in influential quar- 
ters. Quebec and Montreal were jealous of its rapid 
growth which had a tendency to detract from theirs. 
The Company of the Colony objected to the building 
up of an agricultural community and the settlement of 
th<e country to the detriment of the fur businjess. The 
Jesuit missionaries, always hostile, complained because 
their mission at Michilimackinac was broken up and 
the Indians were coaxed away from them to the new post 
at Detroit. The result of all this hostility was a concerted 
attempt to discredit Cadillac and smother his enterprise. 
Vaudrieul was directed to remove the garrison, and in 
the summer of 171 1 Dubaisson was sent on to carry this 
order into effect, to supersede Cadillac as governor, 
and to deliver to him a commission as governor of 
Louisiana. The latter immediately set out for Que- 
bec whence he sailed for France, leaving his wife at 
Detroit to look after his property interests there. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 45 

The change of administration at Detroit came near 
being fatal to the colony. The new men in authority 
were not in sympathy with Cadillac's plans and pur- 
poses. There was great despondency over this state 
of affairs among those who had settled here. Many 
left the place and returned to Montreal, and at one 
time it looked as though there would be complete aban- 
donment. But the colony managed to stem the tide 
of these adverse circumstances and to live through the 
crisis. It rallied again and in due time showed new 
vigor in its revival. 

In 1 7 13 Cadillac and his family were conveyed in 
a French frigate to Louisiana where he assumed his 
duties as governor. He showed his natural activity 
in his new field of labor, but the situation of affairs 
was not wholly to his liking. After four years of expe- 
rience here he resigned and returned to France. He 
was made governor of Castell Sarrazin, where he died 
October 18, 1730. No portrait of the man has ever 
been discovered ; neither have we any authentic descrip- 
tion of his personal appearance. He unquestionably 
possessed great mental and physical force. He had 
the foresight to perceive the importance of the true 
policy of France in establishing a permanent and self 
sustaining colony in the great lake region, and he was 
shrewd enough to wisely choose the location of such a 
colony. It met the needs of his time and the great and 
flourishing city of Detroit, the commercial and indus- 
trial metropolis of the populous State of Michigan, has 
continued to demonstrate the wisdom of his choice. He 

MO 



146 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

shared the defects of positive, aggressive natures in 
provoking antagonisms and so suffered much annoyance 
and trouble from adversaries. He was not self-seek- 
ing. In spite of temptations to which others yielded, 
no scandal attached to his handling of the fur trade and 
other financial interests in his charge. He had domestic 
virtues. He loved his wife and children, and he had 
a wife who was possessed of rare and noble traits of 
character. She was of the greatest assist-ance to him 
in many ways. She exemplified the crowning virtues 
of wife and mother to all her successors of the City of 
the Straits. Cadillac probably deserved a better reward 
than he received during his lifetime. But it often hap- 
pens that founders of states must wait on posterity for 
just appreciation. 



CHAPTER X 
Cadillac as Feudal Lord 



CADILLAC seems to have regarded him- 
self in relation to his colony at Detroit 
as lord of the manor, in accordance with 
the system then prevailing in France. 
He had good reasons for so regarding 
himself. Richelieu had set out to transplant in Cana- 
dian soil the seeds of French aristocracy. The king 
granted titles of nobility with no very wise discrimina- 
tion and conferred seigniories upon almost any who 
would consent to go out to New France and under- 
take to occupy and improve the land. 

The French feudal system of this period was greatly 
modified from that which had formerly prevailed. In 
the days of its greatest power every man was a lord or 
a vassal. The lands were partitioned among the 
former, who was the fief dominant, and to him the vas- 
sals owed not only taxation and dues, but also military 
service, homage and fidelity. Land ownership bestowed 
political, legislative and judicial power. The feudal 
lord was at once both proprietor and absolute sovereign 
over his vassals. He might himself be a vassal of a 
superior suzerain, since there were dukes, counts, vis- 
counts, barons, marquises, etc., down a long line of 
nobles of varying degrees of rank and authority. It 
was an essential principle of a fief that there was mutual 
obligation of support and fidelity. Whatever this obli- 
gation of service laid upon the vassal a similar duty of 
protection was laid upon the lord. It was a mutual obli- 
gation and a trangression upon either side worked a 
forfeiture of land or seigniory. Nor were motives of 

149 



150 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

interest left alone to operate In securing the feudal con- 
nection. The associations founded upon the ancient 
custom and friendly attachment, the impulses of grati- 
tude and honor, the dread of infamy, the sanctions 
of religion were all employed to strengthen those ties 
and to render them equally powerful with the rela- 
tions of nature and far more so than those of political 
society.* 

But abuses crept into the system which in time grew 
to be intolerable. The peasants became the merest 
slaves, attached to the soil, and subject to the caprice, 
the ambition and the avarice of their overlords. The 
feudal aristocracy threatened the prerogatives of the 
king himself, and so, as a matter of political neces- 
sity, he was forced to assert his authority for the pro^ 
tection of the royal domain. At the other end of the 
line the peasants were in a threatened state of unrest 
which culminated in the abolition of villenage. The 
increase of commerce and consequent opulence of mer- 
chants and artisans, and especially the institutions of 
free cities and boroughs, led to a gradual change in 
the constitution of society. So, while some of the 
forms of feudalism were still extant in France at the 
end of the seventeenth century, the substance had long 
since vanished. The power of the feudal nobles had 
been effectually curbed. They no longer overawed the 
king but had become the obsequious servants of Louis 
XIV. Very many of the abuses had been corrected, and 
the king took good care that none of them were sent 



*Hallam. View of Europe in the Middle Ages. P. 168. 







LOUIS XIV 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 5 1 

over to work mischief in the American colonies. Cana- 
dian feudalism was made to serve a double end, to pro- 
duce a faint and harmless reflection of French aris- 
tocracy and simply and practically to supply agencies 
for distributing land among the settlers.'*' 

Louis saw to it that even the smallest remnant of 
power which the nobles of France still exercised was 
withheld from those of rank over seas. The seigniories 
were granted in every Instance directly by the crown. 
The seignior was denied any voice whatever in the 
direction of the government. Ndther had he any 
authority to exact military service from his vassal. 
The governor called out and controlled the militia, and 
the lord of the manor was as much subject to this ser- 
vice as the peasant. The seigniories were transferable 
and carried with them the faith and homage due from 
all their subordinates. An example is cited in Fer- 
land, "Notes sur les Registers de Notre Dame de 
Quebec," of the ceremony of rendering faith and hom- 
age. It is that of Jean Guion, vassal of Giflord, seig- 
nior of Beauport. Guion presented himself in the pres- 
ence of a notary at the principal door of the manor- 
house of Beauport. One BouUe, farmer of Giflford, 
opened the door in response to the knock and in reply 
to the question if the seignior was at home, replied that 
he was not, but that he, Boulle, was empowered to 
receive acknowledgments of faith and homage from 
the vassals in his name. Thereupon Guion placed him- 
self on his knees on the ground with head bare and 



*Parkinan. Old Regime in Canada. P. 305. 



152 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

without sword or spurs said three times these words: 
**Monsieur de Beauport, Monsieur dc Beauport, Mon- 
sieur de Beauport ! I bring you the faith and homage 
which I am bound to bring you on account of my fief, 
Du Bulsson, which I hold as a man of faith in your 
seigniory of Beauport, declaring that I offer to pay 
my seignioral and feudal dues in their season, and 
demanding of you to acept me in faith and homage 
as aforesaid." 

One feature of the royal grants of the seigniories, as 
well as of the grants made by the seigniors to their 
vassals was the requirement that the land thus granted 
should be cleared and cultivated within a specified time, 
on pain of forfeiture. This requirement cuts some- 
thing of a figure in a controversy which arose when 
Cadillac, long after his retirement from the command 
at Detroit, sought to enforce his claim to his estate 
there. It was argued in opposition to his claim that he 
had failed to clear the land which had thereby become 
forfeited to the crown. To this contention he replied 
that he was not a woodchopper and that it was absurd 
to insist that he should have cleared this land in per- 
son; this had been done by his grantees, which was a 
substantial compliance with the requirement. 

The grant at Detroit was made to Cadillac by the 
king on the conditions then prevailing. These pro- 
vided that the lands could not be permanently alienated 
before being cleared, but that they might be granted 
to the habitant upon the annual payment of money, 
produce or both. The rate of payment seems ludic- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 53 

rously small, but it must be borne in mind that money 
values were much above what they are now, and that 
the farmer really could not afford to pay very much. 
His profits were of the meanest. Live chickens, eggs, 
wheat and other grain constituted important features 
of the annual contribution of the vassal to his fief. 
Cadillac greatly desired a noble title and asked the 
king to make him Marquis of Detroit, but his royal 
patron never gratified this ambition. Patents of nobil- 
ity had been issued to a few of the more prominent 
colonists, but the king was disposed to go a little slowly 
in matters of this sort. The country was already over- 
run with gentilshommes. For lack of opportunity or 
occupation at home many of the young noblesse had 
chosen to try their luck in the new world. But they 
were ill fitted by taste and habits for life in the clear- 
ings. They could not labor; they could not trade, at 
least in retail, without forfeiting their nobility. They 
might serve as officers in the army, or they might hold 
down chairs in some political office, and thus save their 
dignity, or they might live as pensioners on the bounty 
of the king or some lord either in France or Canada, 
but so far as any employment for the purpose of earn- 
ing daily bread, that was out of the question. 

The governor, Denonville, says of them: "Several 
have come out this year with their wives, who are very 
much cast down; but they play the fine lady, never- 
theless. I had much rather see good peasants; it would 
be a pleasure to me to give aid to such, knowing, as I 
should, that within two years their families would have 



154 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the means of living at ease; for it is certain that a 
peasant who can and will work is well off in this country, 
while our nobles with nothing to do can never be any- 
thing but beggars. Still, they ought not to be driven off 
nor abandoned. The question is how to maintain 
them."* 

The intendant, Duchesnau, writes: "Many of our 
gentilshommes, officers and other owners of seigniories 
lead what in France is called the life of a country gentle- 
man, and spend their time in hunting and fishing. As 
their requirements in food and clothing are greater 
than those of the simple habitants, and as they do not 
devote themselves to improving their land, they mix 
themselves up in trade, run into debt on all hands, incite 
their young habitants to range the woods and send 
their own children there to trade for furs in the Indian 
villages and in the depths of the forest, in spite of the 
prohibition of his majesty. Yet with all this they are 
in miserable poverty."t Says the intendant Cham- 
pigny, "It is pitiful to see their children, of whom they 
have great numbers, passing all summer with nothing 
on them but a shirt, and their wives and daughters 
working in the fields." While their rank and station 
did not permit them to do manual labor, the same 
restrictions did not apply to the female members of 
their families. Champigny appeals to the king for 
aid to Repentigny with his thirteen children and Tilly 
with his fifteen. "We must give them some com at 



♦Lcttrc dc Denonville au Ministrc, Nov. lo, 1686. 
tLettre du Duchesnau au Ministre, Nov. 10, 1679. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 5 5 

once," he says, "or they will starve." He adds, "I pray 
you grant no more letters of nobility, unless you want 
to multiply beggars." So the granting of letters of 
nobility was incontinently cut off, very greatly to the 
disappointment of Cadillac. Doubtless he would not 
have been unduly puffed up by the distinction. He 
might have been a little more conspicuous figure in the 
colony as Marquis of Detroit, but it would have added 
nothing to his place in history. He was obliged to 
make the best of the situation as a simple sieur, with 
his seigniory and all its responsibilities and appurten- 
ances to look after. 

His enemies have charged him with being grasping 
and avaricious and with exacting the last sou from his 
vassals. But the facts fail to bear out this accusation. 
He was under large expense. One of the conditions of 
his grant by the king was that he should not call upon 
the royal treasury for assistance. At the outset the 
Company were to have the exclusive rights of trade at 
Detroit, and this hampered him until the arrangement 
was made whereby the Company after three or four 
years surrendered to him these privileges. In 1704 
Cadillac was given permission to make conveyances of 
lands included in his grant to actual settlers. Doubt- 
less some of these lands had been already occupied by 
peasants with the authority of their fief and improve- 
ments had been begun. These conveyances were under 
the established feudal system which required an annual 
payment usually specified in the document, both as to 
amount and nature of payment. The farm lands 



156 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

granted were mostly above the fort, extending up the 
river beyond the present city line. They were of the 
usual ribbon kind universal in New France, generally 
three or four arpents* in front by forty in depth. This 
arrangement gave each farmer a front on the river 
where he might fish and obtain his water supply, while 
behind were his orchards, his meadows and fields of 
grain, and still further back, before the mile-and-a-half 
limit was reached, were forests for timber and firewood. 
The dwellings were always placed near the river front, 
and since the tracts were narrow, it follows that the 
houses were comparatively close together, which was 
an advantage for protection from the Indians and for 
social neighborliness. So long as the habitant brought 
in on St. Martin's day his annual dues and contributions 
of chickens and produce or peltries, and showed that he 
was improving his lands, his title was perfect and his 
seignior could not oust him. But when he neglected 
this he forfeited all rights. There is evidence that 
Cadillac assigned the same lands to different persons 
at different times, and presumably for the reason that 
these had been forfeited in the manner stated. Cadil- 
lac owned the mill and the warehouse. He contributed 
the principal cost of maintaining the church and the 
priest, though all the members of the congregation 
were expected to help according to their means. The 
church itself with its bell and altar and all its para- 
phernalia and the vestments belonged to Cadillac. He 



*An arpent was used as a measure of land, indicating the width 
of 192.75 feet 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 57 

assumed supervision over artisans who were obliged 
to obtain license from him to practice their trades. The 
blacksmith and the carpenter must not only have license 
but they must pay annual tribute, usually in labor in the 
line of their calling. All the grain for the colony must 
be ground at his mill and pay toll. In 1706 he brought 
ten head of cattle and three horses to the place. These 
animals were very useful, but there were none owned 
by the farmers. 

When Cadillac was suddenly relieved of his com- 
mand in 1 7 1 1 and ordered away to his post as gover- 
nor of Louisiana an inventory of his effects left behind 
was made by his trusted friend Peter Roy.* In 17 18 
after his return to France he complained to the Coun- 
cil of the Navy that he had been unjustly treated and 
had suffered financial loss by reason of his removal 
from Detroit. He had reimbursed the Company for 
their goods, with a large profit added ; at his individual 
expense he had provided transportation for two hun- 
dred soldiers, had paid substantial wages to sixty Cana- 
dians, had taken out forty families, to some of whom 
he had advanced moneys which were not repaid to him ; 
he had taken out homed cattle, oxen and cows and 
nearly all sorts of domestic animals; he had brought 
out a quantity of fruit trees, had built a windmill, 
enlarged the fort by four other bastions, built houses, 
bams, ice houses and breweries, and did his best, and 
more than could have been expected, to establish a col- 



*A complete list of all this property appears in Pioneer Collec- 
tions, V. 53 (Cadillac Papers) p. 518. 



158 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ony quickly. But just as he had all these things 
accomplished and the colony was in a fair way to suc- 
cess and to be of some profit to him, he was suddenly 
ordered away to Louisiana. As a loyal subject he had 
sacrificed all his prospects and had obeyed the orders 
of the king without remonstrance. He had sought to 
reimburse his expenditures by selling out his property 
at Detroit to La Foret, his successor in command. But 
La Foret was then in such ill health that he was in no 
condition to assume active command. So an arrange- 
ment was proposed by the advice and with the con- 
sent of de Raudot, then intendant, that the transfer 
of the property should be made to the Chevalier de 
Marigny, a captain. This was opposed by Vaudreuil, 
the governor, for what reason is left to surmise, and 
consequently could not be carried into effect. 

When Cadillac returned to France he found that 
in his absence from the country the king had annulled 
in 17 16 his rights and had reannexed to his domain all 
the lands and dependencies at Detroit, with the exclu- 
sive right of trading, and had granted the same to de 
Tonty, who had then been put into command there. 
He asked to be reimbursed his advances and expenses, 
with payment for his services. The Council of State 
thereupon in 1722 made a decree that Cadillac should 
be paid for the property taken from him for the king's 
service, and that upon his defining the boundaries of 
the lands which he claimed the same should be con- 
firmed to him. But as it depended wholly upon the 
testimony of de Tonty, Du Buisson and others who had 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 59 

seized upon his goods and merchandise as to what had 
been actually used in the king's service, manifestly they 
were under every incentive to belittle his claims. Cadil- 
lac complained bitterly that his successors in command 
at Detroit had treated his family, whom he left behind, 
in a most shameful manner; that they cut the fort in 
two and put his house and family outside its shelter; 
that they seized all his effects and drove Roy, who had 
them in charge, out of the country; that they annulled 
the grants of lands which he had made to the inhabi- 
tants, or taxed them beyond endurance, making new 
grants of the same lands to other parties. Cadillac was 
obliged to send for his family to return to France to 
protect them from the insults and the outrages to which 
they were subjected at Detroit after his departure. This 
narrative of the indignities which hp suffered in respect 
to his family and his property betrays a petty meanness 
and lack of all sense of justice and honor on the part of 
those in local authority, backed by the governor, Vau- 
dreuil, which seems almost incredible. It is a shameful 
chapter of greed on the one hand and personal animos- 
ity on the other on the part of persons of high rank 
and authority, which detracts from any other creditable 
reputation which they may have enjoyed. 

Even the king did not come to his rescue with any- 
thing like the alacrity which might have been expected. 
The moneys and expenses which he advanced were never 
made good to him, nor was he recompensed for his cat- 
tle, goods and merchandise. He was left the unprom- 
ising alternative of personally suing Sabrevois, Du Buis- 



l6o MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

son, de Tonty and others who had seized upon his prop- 
erty. But this was a very doubtful expedient, for a 
judgment against them would have been of no. value. 
An order was issued, as stated, that the grants made to 
him should be restored upon their boundaries being 
described by him. Practically this was not, in all proba- 
bility, feasible. He was many thousand miles away, 
without any maps or charts upon which to lay out such 
boundaries. At any rate, the conditions were not com- 
plied with, and in a few years after the decree Cadillac 
died. 

In 1733 his widow and his two sons asked permis- 
sion to return to Detroit in order to settle it, with the 
same rights of trading originally granted to Cadillac. 
The petition of the older son represents that his father 
having received an order to establish a post at Detroit 
accomplished it with so much success that he settled one 
hundred and fifty inhabitants there, took cattle, horses, 
had houses, a fort, a mill, a brewery, etc., erected, all 
at an expense exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand 
livres which he incurred on the promise to grant him the 
post as a seigniory, a brevet of which was sent him 
carrying the privilege of all seignioral rights. Scarcely 
had he completed all these labors when he was sent as 
governor to Louisiana. Having returned from there in 
1 7 1 6 he asked permission to go and continue the work 
of the settlement of Detroit. But this was refused. 
However, in 1722 he was confirmed in the ownership of 
the property, but it has not been possible to put that de- 
cree into execution. The lands which he had cleared 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 6 1 

and upon which he had buildings erected were conceded 
to him on the condition that he should have their bound- 
aries marked out, but this decree could not be put into 
effect within the two years time to which it was limited. 
This petition does not appear to have had any effect. 
At any rate, it is certain that the widow and sons of 
Cadillac never came to Detroit thereafter, and that the 
lands to which they laid claim never came into their 
possession or control. Probably no further efforts were 
made by them to recover this property, and so they suf- 
fered the sacrifice of it all with as good grace as could 
be expected under the circumstances. In reviewing the 
conditions under which the founder of Detroit assumed 
the bold task of establishing a colony there and his suc- 
cess in carrying forward the plan to a point where its 
permanence was assured, it will strike the unpreju- 
diced reader that he was most unjustly treated in respect 
to the substantial rewards which men generally take 
into the account in the affairs of this life. He was not 
actuated by sordid motives in his scheme. The glory 
of France and the advancement of her interest in Amer- 
ica were at the bottom. So thoroughly was he in 
earnest that he was able speedily to convince the king 
and court that his plan was worth a trial. If they 
had stood by him as loyally as he stood by his country, 
instead of listening to those who were intriguing against 
him, the last days of his life would have been more 
serene, and the little outpost in the western wilderness 
under his judicious sway might have enjoyed in its 
infancy a less troublous career. 

Ml 



CHAPTER XI 
The French Successors of Cadillac 



CADILAC*S successors in command at 
Detroit were military officers, usually of 
the rank of captain, and men of tried 
capacity who had a fairly good record. 
The post was regarded as an important 
and desirable one. For that reason there were no lack 
of applicants. Cadillac^s oldest son, Antoine, who had 
served under his father at Detroit as an ensign, was, 
when 27 years of age, an applicant. But his rank and 
experience in the service were considered insufficient 
and his claims were passed by. An older man was 
thought preferable. Usually an officer who had served 
in similar capacity at Michilimackinac, St. Joseph or 
elsewhere was chosen, and at the end of his service at 
Detroit he was transferred to Montreal or Quebec, 
where he was assigned to a comfortable, easy berth, for 
his declining years. The term of office was limited to 
three years, but this does not appear to have been very 
strictly enforced. If his administration was fairly sat- 
isfactory, if he showed capacity for handling the Indi- 
ans, who were most troublesome neighbors at all times, 
and if he was popular with the inhabitants, the incum- 
bent was continued in office by re-appointment or by 
suffrance. So the actual service of the commandants 
varied from one to a dozen years and sometimes they 
were returned to the post for a second term after an 
interval of absence. 

When Cadillac was relieved of his command Fran- 
cois de la Foret was named as his successor. He was a 
native of Paris where he was bom in 1648. The date 

165 



1 66 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

of his arrival in New France is not known, but it was 
evidently when he was a young man, for we find him in 
1680 accompanying La Salle on an expedition to Illi- 
nois. He had evidently commended himself to La Salle, 
for shortly after his return from this ocpedition the lat- 
ter placed him in command at Fort Frontenac. In 
1682 he aided Frontenac in negotiating a treaty with 
the Iroquois. While absent on this mission to Que- 
bec, La Barre was sent out from France as governor 
to succeed Frontenac and he, disregarding the rights of 
La Salle, seized Fort Frontenac and would not permit 
La Foret to return to it. Thereupon the latter went 
to France to secure the restitution of his property to 
La Salle, in which effort he was successful. He was 
then restored to the command of Fort Frontenac which 
he retained for several years. He was a close adher- 
ent of La Salle and devoted much time and energy to 
the support of the cause of his early friend and patron. 
After the death of La Salle, La Foret was given the 
command of Fort St. Louis, to which post he was 
accompanied by La Salle's old companion, Henry de 
Tonty. The two remained at Fort St. Louis several 
years engaged in the fur trade. In 1705 we find him 
second in command at Detroit and in full authority dur- 
ing the absences of Cadillac. He seems to have enjoyed 
the full confidence and esteem of his superior. It was 
only natural that he should be appointed to succeed 
in the command. But his health was then very poor 
and he could not at once proceed to take actual pos- 
session of his post. In the meantime Du BuisscMi was 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 67 

put in temporary charge and so continued until La Foret 
recovered suiEciently to assume his duties. He remained 
in command until his death, which occurred at Quebec 
in 1 7 14. Just before his death he made a report upon 
the condition and prospects at Detroit in which he 
advocated the building up of that post as a military 
necessity to withstand the encroachments of the Eng- 
lish and for the protection of French interests in the 
west. His recommendations did not receive the atten- 
tion they deserved. 

There were several temporary commanders at inter- 
vals during Cadillac's incumbency when he was absent 
from the post. The first of these was Alphonse de 
Tonty, who went out with Cadillac on his original expe- 
dition to Detroit as second in command, a position 
which he continued to hold for several years. He mis- 
behaved himself in some respects, betraying the confi- 
dence of his superior officer during the absence of the 
latter. In 1705 he left the place without permit, putting 
Sieur de Bourgmont, his lieutenant, in charge. The 
latter appears to have had woful lack of tact and dis- 
cretion and soon had the place in a state of turmoil. He 
was abusive to the Indians and soldiers and stirred up 
a social scandal which put an end to his usefulness. He 
fled before Cadillac's return, and though efforts were 
made to apprehend him they were not successful. He 
was afterward heard of in Missouri and rendered some 
service in negotiating peace with the Indians of New 
Mexico. 

After Cadillac's departure and before the arrival of 



1 68 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

La Foret the command of the post fell upon Sieur Du 
Buisson. This period proved to be a very eventful one» 
as it was signalized by the siege of the fort and fero- 
cious attacks upon it in 17 12 made by the Fox and 
Mascoutin Indians in the absence of the Hurons and 
Pbttawatomies who had loyally supported the French. 
These events will be dealt with more fully elsewhere 
from information based upon a narrative of them which 
Du Buisson himself prepared and which was afterward 
translated into English and published. He remained 
as second in command after the arrival of La Foret and 
succeeded temporarily after the death of the latter 
until the arrival of his successor. From 1723 to 1727 
he was in command at Fort Miamis near the present 
city of Toledo. In 1729 he was in command at Mich- 
ilimackinac. 

The successor of La Foret at Detroit was Jacques 
Charles Sabrevois, Sieur de Bleury. He was bom in 
1667 and came to New France as sub-lieutenant. A 
nmiantic incident is related of a violent quarrel between 
him and Cadillac when both were young lieutenants 
stationed at Quebec. It happened in 1686 in the lit- 
tle pension of the widow Pellerin. Cadillac entered the 
room where Sabrevois and others of the boarders were 
sitting after supper and was asked to join them in a 
glass of wine. After a little, Sabrevois arose to excuse 
himself to keep an engagement with a lady. There- 
upon Cadillac made some uncomplimentary remark and 
one word led to another until both men became angry 
and drew their swords. Friends rushed in to sepa- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 69 

rate them when Cadillac picked up a heavy brass 
candlestick and hurled it at Sabrevois, striking him in 
the face and wounding him severely. The candle was 
extinguished, leaving the room in total darkness. 
Friends parted the belligerents and got them safely to 
their respective quarters. Nothing serious came of it; 
there was no duel; although the governor ordered an 
investigation and the testimony was reduced to writ- 
ing, the whole matter appears to have been dropped. 

The records show that Sabrevois was appointed to 
the command at Detroit in 17 12. But his appointment 
was vigorously opposed by the Chevalier de Ramezay, 
who was a powerful influence in the colony, and he 
succeeded in holding it up until 17 15. In the mean- 
time La Foret continued in authority until his death 
in 1 7 14, and in the interval after his death until the 
arrival of Sabrevois, Du Buisson was acting comman- 
dant. Sabrevois commanded only two years. Upon 
his arrival he called the inhabitants together and pointed 
out the dilapidated and unsafe condition of the fort. 
He proposed that all join in improving it for mutual 
safety. This was agreed to on the part of some. 
Thereupon Sabrevois proceeded with the work. Those 
who had agreed with him to share the expense backed 
out and he was left to foot the bills alone. He asked 
the government to come to his relief but this was never 
done. He was, possibly as a recognition of his services, 
made a chevalier of the military order of St. Louis. 
From 172 1 to 1724 he was commandant at Fort 
Chambly. Here he was visited by Charlevoix, then 



I70 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

traveling through the country and writing letters, after- 
ward published. In one of them he speaks in very 
complimentary terms of Sabrevois. The latter was 
afterwards major of Montreal, where he died in 1727. 
He was succeeded at Detroit in 17 17 by Alphonse 
de Tonty, who now appears again upon the stage of 
local history on which he had previously cut something 
of a figure. He had formerly left under a cloud of 
unpopularity, as it were, and it does not appear exactly 
clear what influences led to his re-appointment. He 
was known to be grasping and selfish and certainly 
unscrupulous. The manner in which he and others, per- 
haps under his influence, treated the family and prop- 
erty rights of Cadillac was, to say the least, anything 
but honorable. Under his new regime he showed his 
former selfish characteristics in exaggerated form. He 
joined with himself a few of the citizens to monopolize 
the trade. He had promised great reforms, but they 
did not materialize. He was evidently a man of energy 
and persistency. He entirely reconstructed the fort 
and made it one of the best of the kind in the country. 
In this work he had spent a great deal of money and 
had incurred considerable debts. Possibly he felt jus- 
tified in imposing on the inhabitants to any extent which 
their good nature would bear. But he made himself 
so obnoxious that charges were preferred against him 
and he was obliged in the winter of 1721-22 to go to 
Quebec to defend himself. Nothing resulted from the 
charges. In 1724 he was again called to Quebec to 
answer summons to a suit brought by one La Marque, 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE I ^ I 

who had purchased some of the property of Cadillac. 
Nothing came of it. On his return he was met by 
infuriated citizens who denounced him and demanded 
his recall. This time the Huron Indians joined their 
voices with the exasperated whites and added a threat 
to remove altogether from the place. This was too 
serious for the government to ignore. Beauhamois, 
the new governor, at once ordered de Tonty's removal, 
but for the purpose of letting him down easy, gave it 
out that he would retire at the expiration of his term in 
the following spring. He was greatly chagrined over 
this decision of the government, and this is believed 
to have some bearing upon his death which occurred at 
Detroit Nov. lo, 1727. 

Louis de la Porte, Sieur de Louvigny, is mentioned as 
commanding at Detroit, but this must have been during 
some temporary absence of de Tonty. He commanded 
at Michilimackinac from 1690 to 1694, at which post 
he was succeeded by Cadillac. He came to Detroit in 
1703 as an officer of the garrison. At one time he was 
lieutenant-governor of New France. He was a broth- 
er-in-law of Duluth. He was drowned in a shipwreck 
in 1725. Francois de Belestre is also mentioned as 
commanding at Detroit, but as in the preceeding case, 
it must have been a mere temporary matter during one 
of the numerous absences of de Tonty. He died at 
Detroit in 1729. 

Jean Baptiste de St. Ours, Sieur Deschaiilons, was 
appointed in 1728 to succeed de Tonty. He was bom 
in 1670 and lived in Montreal where all his children 



172 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

were bom. He was an officer of marine and rose to 
the rank of captain. He had taken part in wars with 
the Indians and in raids across the New England bord- 
ers. In 1 7 1 6 he was sent west with an expedition which 
was to assemble friendly Indians at Michilimackinac to 
proceed to Wisconsin and bring the Fox Indians to 
terms. The expedition was successful and on acount 
of his services therein Deschaillons was appointed in 
17 19 commandant at Fort St. Joseph. Here he 
remained only a year and then returned to MontreaL 
Although he came to Detroit as commandant in 1728, 
there is no mention of him in the records of St. Ann's 
at any subsequent time, from which it is inferred that 
his stay did not exceed a year. 

Louis Henry Deschamps, Sieur de Boishebert, came 
to Detroit as comandant early in 1730. He was a 
native of Quebec where he was born in 1679. He 
entered the army in his youth and served under Vau- 
dreuil in his campaigns against the Iroquois, which 
resulted in a treaty by which the French were permitted 
to go to their western posts by way of the lower lakes 
and Niagara, instead of the Ottawa and Lake Nipissing 
route. Cadillac came to Detroit in 1701 by this latter 
route, but a year later, in consequence of this treaty with 
the Iroquois, Madame Cadillac and party were permit- 
ted to come by the way of Niagara. Boishebert was 
employed as an engineer upon the fortifications of 
Quebec in 171 1 and 17 12, and in the following year 
made a map of the coast of Labrador. From the 
completion of this work he was adjutant of Quebec fof 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 73 

eighteen years. He married a daughter of Chevalier 
de Ramezay of Montreal, who was at one time gover- 
nor of that city. Boishebert served his three years as 
commandant at Detroit and then returned to Montreal, 
where he died in 1736. 

Ives Jacques Hughes Pean, Sieur de Livaudiere, was 
commandant at Detroit from 1733 to 1736. He had 
held a similar position at Fort Frontenac in 1724 and at 
Fort Chambly in 1727. He was a native of Paris, 
where he was born in 1682, and married at Montreal 
in 1722 Marie Pecody. He proved an acceptable com- 
mandant and made valuable reports to the government 
of the condition and prospects of affairs at Detroit. He 
returned to Quebec after the close of his term. He was 
a chevalier of the military order of St. Louis and had 
the rank of major of Quebec, where he continued to 
reside until his death in 1747. 

Nicolas Joseph Des Noyelles was appointed by the 
governor, Beauhamois, to succeed Livaudiere, but this 
appointment was not confirmed. Ignorant of that fact 
he proceeded to Detroit in 1736 and assumed the duties 
of commandant, which he continued to discharge for 
three years. He was highly esteemed both by the inhabi- 
tants and by the Indians and so was not disturbed, al- 
though he held the post without warrant from the king. 
He had previous to his appointment rendered good ser- 
vice in wars against the western Indians and had passed 
through Detroit on these expeditions. His term ended 
in 1739 and after that he joined with Verandrye in wes- 
tern explorations, and in 1744 was named as command- 



174 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ant of the post of the Western Sea. In 1750 he was in 
Montreal, but nothing is known of him at a later date. 

Pierre Jacques de Payan, Sieur de Charvis, was 
appointed to succeed as commandant in 1739. He 
was a grandson on the side of his mother of the cele- 
brated Le Moyne family, one of the most distinguished 
in the history of New France, and remarkable for the 
numbers of its members who rose to distinction in the 
province. He was bom at Montreal in 1695 ^^^ 
entered the army at an early age. His military training 
was under his uncle, Sieur de Bienville, while the lat- 
ter was governor of Louisiana. He was afflicted with 
a cancer of the breast and when appointed to Detroit 
had already submitted to three operations. These 
appear to have been successful, for he was able to 
assume the duties of his post and served through his 
term, retiring in 1742 to Montreal, where he is men- 
tioned as governor in 1749. 

Pierre Celoron, Sieur de Blainville, chevalier of the 
military order of St. Louis, was bom at Montreal in 
1693. At an early age he entered the military depart- 
ment, following the example of his father, who had 
been a captain. Promotion in the army was slow, and 
it was not until 1734 that we find mention of him as a 
lieutenant setting out to serve as commandant at 
Michilimackinac. In this position his services proved 
so acceptable that he was continued through a second 
term. During a portion of this time his brother, Jean 
Baptiste Celoron, was at Michilimackinac as second 
in command. Before the close of his term there his 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 75 

services were called for by the governor of Louisiana, 
and he was disp.atched to New Orleans with French 
troops and friendly Indians to defend the whites against 
the Chickasaws. The expedition was entirely success- 
ful and soon after his return Celoron was sent to com- 
mand at Detroit. This is believed to have been in 
1742. A year later he was sent to command at Fort 
Niagara. He remained there two years and was then 
sent to Crown Point. The contest between the French 
aild English for supremacy in America was beginning 
to grow warm and the services of an active, resolute and 
resourceful leader were in demand. He was dispatched 
with succor for Detroit; he undertook to save the Ohio 
country to the French. In this matter Detroit was con- 
sidered the base of operations and the real point of 
importance. Celoron was again placed in command there 
and through his able support supplies and reinforce- 
ments of both whites and Indians had much to do with 
the holding of Fort Duquesne against the English 
attacks. In 1753 he was relieved of his command 
at Detroit and was appointed major of Montreal. In 
1755 he was in command of Canadian militia which 
served with Baron Dieskau in his attack upon the Eng- 
lish at Lake George. He died at Montreal in 1759. 
One of the islands in Detroit river bears his name. It 
was during the term of his incumbency at Detroit that a 
concerted effort was made to increase the population 
of the place by inducing immigration. Quite a number 
of families were thus brought to the town, but there was 
a woful scarcity of women. 



176 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

When Ccloron retired in 1743 he was succeeded by 
Paitl Joseph Le Moyne, Chevalier de Longueuil. He 
was one of the celebrated Le Moyne family and was 
bom in 1701. He came to Detroit in 1743 and 
remained in command until 1748, when he became sec- 
ond in command, probably to Celoron, who was re- 
turned on account of the importance of the post in those 
troublous times and the confidence which the govern- 
ment had in his ability. It seems likely that upon his 
retirement the post fell to Jacques Pierre Daneau, Sieur 
dc Muy, who was transferred thither from St. Joseph 
where he had been in command for some time. He was 
something of a student and naturalist and published in 
Paris the results of his observations upon the plants 
found in this part of the country. The exact period of 
his command at Detroit is uncertain, but the records of 
St. Ann's church mention his death and interment here 
1758. His immediate successor was Jean Baptiste 
Henry Beranger, who had been second in ccHnmand and 
who temporarily succeeded his chief. 

Francois Marie Picote, Sieur de Belestre, was ap- 
pointed to succeed Daneau and immediately repaired to 
his post which he held until it was surrendered to the 
English in 1760. He was a chevalier of the military 
order of St. Louis and a son of a former commandant 
bearing the same name. From early life he took an ac- 
tive part in the military affairs of New France. He ac- 
companied Celoron on his expedition to Ohio. Boishe- 
bert writing in 1747, says of him: **He is known and 
beloved by the Indians of St. Joseph. He is an ensign 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 77 

of excellent conduct, a brave fellow who pleases every 
one that is with him." 

Before this he had been sent on a confidential mili- 
tary mission to Acadia and had acquitted himself in a 
manner to commend him to his superiors. He gave a 
good account of himself in every position in which he 
was placed. In 1746 he was in command at Fort St. 
Joseph. He commanded a detachment of Indians at 
Fort Duquesne at the time of Braddock's attack and 
was captured by the English there in 1757. The man- 
ner of his escape is not known, but in the autumn of the 
same year he was in command of a body of three hun- 
dred French and Indians in the thick of the fray in 
northern New York. He went from Detroit in 1759, 
soon after his appointment to its command, with one 
hundred French and one hundred and fifty Indians to 
the relief of Fort Niagara, then besieged by the Eng- 
lish. He arrived too late to be of help and not being 
included in the capitulation, made good his escape back 
to Detroit. He set on foot plans for the vigorous de- 
fense of Detroit against the expected attack of the Eng- 
lish, and it was only upon the most indubitable evidence 
of the fall of Quebec and that the capitulation included 
all the western posts, that he finally yielded to the in- 
evitable and permitted the lowering of the French col- 
ors upon the ramparts of Detroit and the occupancy of 
the fort by the English under Major Robert Rogers, 
November 29, 1760. He was sent as a prisoner of war 
to Philadelphia, whence he was in due time released and 

i-is 



178 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

permitted to make his way back to Quebec, where he 
died in 1793. 



Note. For many of the facts set forth in the foregoing 
sketches of the several commandants the writer is indebted to Mr. 
Qarence M. Burton's Rulers of Detroit, in Pioneer Collections. VoL 
34- 



CHAPTER XII 

Dangers Which Surrounded the New 
Settlements 



DURING the regime of Cadillac the dan- 
gers which chiefly threatened his colony 
were due to the machinations of his ene- 
mies. Even while the colonizing party 
was en route to the Detroit persistent 
efforts were made by the Jesuit, Vaillant, it was charged, 
to breed dicontent and insubordination among the sol- 
diers and settlers. They were urged to desert and re- 
turn to Montreal, and that some did not do so may be 
explained by their loyalty to their commander. So, 
from the outset there was a deliberate effort to discredit 
the enterprise. The reason for this course on the part 
of the Jesuit missionaries has been already hinted at. 
They objected to having their old mission at Michili- 
mackinac injured by the withdrawal of the Indians. In- 
ducing the natives to come to the new post at Detroit 
was part of Cadillac's program. It succeeded so well 
that the old post at the Straits was practically aband- 
oned from that time, or at least ceased to flourish. The 
missionaries also had an establishment which had been 
maintained for many years among the Miamis at Fort 
St. Joseph, at the mouth of the St. Joseph riven 
Though there was no considerable military force at this 
post, it had managed to keep on peaceable terms with 
the natives and to flourish as a settlement of a few 
Frenchmen, almost altogether missionaries. Some of 
the Miamis came to Detroit and this constituted another 
grievance and aroused the jealousy of this post at the 
west side of the state. There were constant efforts to 
stir up hostility against Cadillac and he was obliged to 

i8i 



1 82 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

combat them as best he could. He writes to Count 
Pontchartrain in 1708, complaining of the Jesuit inter- 
ference with his affairs. He thinks it necessary for the 
firm establishment of Detroit that there should be five 
or six hundred inhabitants and troops in proportion, 
that a good fort of earth be made on the site of the 
present insecure fortification. He says a canal can be 
built connecting Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, which 
would greatly facilitate transportation by water. He 
complains that his plans are frustrated by the efforts to 
re-establish Michilimackinac. This scheme, he says, 
has great allurements for the governor-general, because 
it makes him master of commerce. If Michilimackinac 
were abandoned the savages would no longer resort to 
Montreal, and consequently the governor would not re- 
ceive presents from than. All Canada regards Detroit 
as an obstacle to the re-establishment of the permits; 
hence their opposition. 

In response to the many complaints, the governor, 
Vaudreuil, sent M. d'Aigrement to inspect the frontier 
posts. He spent nineteen days at Detroit and made a 
report which shows evident prejudice against Cadillac. 
He reiterates all the harsh things which his enemies 
were saying, and finds no kind word to offer for any- 
thing. He says that Cadillac is generally disliked by 
the French and the savages on account of his tyranny; 
that he is grasping and covetous and oppressive. He 
charges that Cadillac compels the settlers to pay exor- 
bitant rental and taxes for their lands; that he exacts 
undue toll at his mill; in short, that he makes the most 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 83 

of his opportunities to squeeze the last sou from his 
helpless victims. The inspector asserts that there can 
be no doubt that maintaining the establishment at De- 
troit is highly prejudicial to Canada, for it has a tend- 
ency to divert the Indian trade to the English, and has 
also introduced the latter to the Miamis, who before 
that time were always faithful allies of the French. He 
disputes the account of the fertility of the soil. He says 
it consists of a sandy surface a few inches in depth with 
a stiff clay underneath, which the water cannot pene^ 
trate ; practically it is nothing better than a swamp. The 
timber consists of small stunted oaks and hardy walnuts. 
7 he grasshoppers eat all the garden vegetables, so that 
it is necessary to plant and sow the same thing over, 
even to the fourth time.* Even if the land were ever so 
productive, there is no market and the trade of the post 
could never be useful to France. The establishment 
would always prove a burden and useless to the king- 
dom. He finds no good thing in it in any respect. From 
Detroit d'Aigrement proceeded to Michilimackinac, 
were he spent four days. This, he declares to be the ad- 
vance post of all Canada ; the most important, as well 
for its advantageous position, as for the commerce that 
might be made here. It is the rendezvous and highway 
of all the nations of Lake Superior and the entire upper 
country. The fish are good and very abundant. The 
land is not of the best, but the natives raise enough In- 
dian corn for their own use and that of the traders. 
It is easy to see from this report the motives and feel- 



♦Mich. Pioneer Collections, v. 33. Cadillac Papers. 



1 84 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ings which inspired d'Aigrement. He was hostile to the 
colony at Detroit, and ready to lend his influence to its 
suppression. The effect of his accusations was offset to 
a great degree by Cadillac's statement in reply, as well 
as by the petition signed by all the residents of Detroit, 
sustaining their commandant, by the letters of Father 
Constantine, and by M. de Ramezay, governor of Mon- 
treal, who commended Cadillac in unequivocal terms.* 
The war between France and England had a most 
disastrous effect upon the colonies in America. Both na- 
tions tampered with the Indians and sought to win their 
support. This had a tendency to make the natives wav- 
ering and uncertain in their allegiance. They were nat- 
urally treacherous, suspicious of the motives and pur- 
poses of their white neighbors, and the latter suffered 
the unhappy results of this condition of affairs. Cadil- 
lac appears to have had the confidence and good will of 
the savages, but no sooner had he departed than trou- 
bles thickened for the dwellers at Fort Pontchartrain. 
Through the intrigues of the English the Iroquois 
planned to surprise and capture Detroit. This schone 
was to be carried into effect through the Ottagamies and 
Mascoutins who dwelt in the Green Bay region. These 
were hereditary enemies of the Hurons, who supported 
the French interests and who formed considerable vil- 
lages about the post at Detroit. The invaders came on 
in large numbers early in May, 17 12, and encamped 
just outside the fort. Their arrival was entirely unex- 



♦Mich. Pioneer Collections, v. 33. Cadillac Papers. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 85 

pected. The Hurons and Ottawas had not yet returned 
from their annual hunting expeditions and so their vil- 
lages were practically deserted. The fort was in no 
condition to withstand a siege. There were but thirty 
men in the garrison. Many of the supplies were stored 
outside the fort; especially was this true of the grain and 
it was rescued and carried within the fort with great 
difficulty and labor. The church and storehouse out- 
side the palisades but so near as to endanger the same if 
set on fire were destroyed by order of Dubuisson, the 
commandant. Frequent rallies were made by the be- 
siegers with threats to bum the whole establishment. 

A courier was sent post haste to notify the absent 
Hurons and Ottawas and persuade them to hurry their 
return. The garrison was kept in a constant state of 
anxiety and alarm by the assaults of the savages. The 
cabin of an Ottawa near the gate of the fort was fired 
and great exertions were necessary to save the spreading 
of the flames to the fort itself. Dubuisson in making 
report of the affair says that on the 13th of May, while 
impatiently awaiting the return of the friendly Hurons 
Mr. DeVincennes arrived from the Miami country with 
seven or eight Frenchmen. Not long thereafter he had 
advices that the Hurons and Ottawas had arrived and 
were in a state of great indignation against the invading 
savages. The commandant through Mr. De Vincennes 
undertook to arrange a settlement of the affair without 
bloodshed. But this did not prove to be feasible. Con- 
tinuing his report the commandant says: ''I then closed 
the gates of the fort and divided my few Frenchmen 



1 86 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

into four brigades, each having its brigadier. I in- 
spected their arms and ammunition, and assigned them 
their stations on the bastions. I put four of them into 
the redoubt I had just constructed. I placed some of 
them at the two curtains which were most exposed and 
armed them with spears. My two cannon were all 
ready with slugs of iron prepared to load them, which 
had been made by the blacksmith. Our reverend fath- 
er held himself ready to give general absolution in case 
of necessity and to assist the wounded, if there should 
be any. 

"Every arrangement being made, and while we were 
waiting with impatience, I was informed there were 
many people in sight. I immediately ascended a bastion 
and casting my eyes toward 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 Otta- 
wa Chief Saguina, and also the Pottawatomies, the 
Sacs and some Menomenies. Detroit never saw such a 
collection of people. It is surprising how much all 
these nations are irritated against the Mascoutins and 
the Ottagamies. The army marched in good arder, 
with as many flags as there were different nations, and 
it proceeded directly to the fort of the Hurons. These 
Indians said to the head chief of the army. You must 
not encamp; affairs are too pressing. We must enter 
immediately into our Father's Fort and fight for him. 
As he has always had pity on us and as he loves us we 
ought to die for him. And don't you see that smoke 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 87 

also; they are the women of your village, Saguina, who 
are burning there, and your wife is among them. There 
arose a great cry and at the same time they all began to 
run, having the Hurons and the Ottawas at their head. 
The Ottagamies and the Mascoutins raised also their 
war cry and about forty of them issued from their fort, 
all naked and well armed, running to meet our Indians. 
They were obliged however, to retreat immediately and 
to return to their village. Our Indians requested per- 
mission to enter my fort, which I granted, seeing they 
were much excited." 

After entering all assembled on the parade ground 
where speech-making was next in order. It was char- 
acteristic of the native American that upon occasions of 
impwtance there must be harangues. He was a natural 
born orator and he expected reciprocity in the talk, es- 
pecially something flattering to his feelings. This part 
of the affair being ended powder and balls were distrib- 
uted. All then joined in the war cry; the guns were dis- 
charged and the bullets flew like hail. The report con- 
tinues: ''I held the Ottagamies and Mascoutins in a 
state of siege during nineteen days, wearing them out 
by a continued fire night and day. In order to avoid our 
fires they were obliged to dig holes four or five feet deep 
in the ground and to shelter themselves there. I had 
erected two large scaffolds twenty feet high the better 
to fire into their villages. They could not go out for 
water and they were exhausted by hunger and thirst. I 
had from four hundred to five hundred men who block- 
aded their village night and day, so that no one could 



1 88 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

issue to seek assistance. All our Indians went and hid 
themselves at the edge of the woods, whence they con- 
tinually returned with prisoners. Their sport was to 
shoot them, or to fire arrows at them and then bum 
them." 

The enemy displayed red blankets as standards, from 
which it was inferred that he fought for the English. 
In fact the great chief of the Pottawatomies, by per- 
mission, mounted one of the scaffolds and addressed the 
Mascoutin warriors, charging them with being in the 
direct service of the English and warning them that 
they were making a great mistake by attaching them- 
selves to that unworthy race. This parley had to be 
stopped because it soon appeared that the enemy were 
taking advantage of the cessation of hostilities to go 
for water. Accordingly the firing was resumed. That 
day some thirty of the enemy were killed and twelve 
lives were lost in the fort. A few days later the red 
flags were withdrawn and a white flag was shown. This 
was a signal for a conference, which was granted on the 
condition that they bring to the fort the fourwomen pris- 
oners, including thewife of the Indian chief Saguina. But 
the parley came to nothing. The Frenchmen were so 
badly frightened that they were in favor of giving up 
the contest, abandoning the fort and retiring to Michili- 
mackinac. But Dubuisson would not listen to such a 
suggestion and his followers ultimately decided to stand 
by him. If he had been a coward or weak-kneed the 
ultimate fate of Detroit might have been decided then 
and there. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 89 

Hostilities were resumed with fresh vigor and the en- 
emy was so hard pressed for lack of food and water 
that on the night of the nineteenth day of the siege 
which was dark and rainy he decamped altogether. The 
departure of the savages was not known until daylight 
and then immediate measures for pursuit were put 
into effect. A party of Frenchmen joined with the 
friendly Indians and the fugitives were overtaken where 
they had entrenched themselves some four or five miles 
up the river near what is now known as Windmill Point. 
The pursuing army stumbled unexpectedly into the en- 
trenchments and some twenty were killed or wounded. 
Here the siege was renewed. Guns, ammunition and 
food were supplied from the fort, being taken up the 
river in canoes. Dubuisson's report continues: **The 
enemy held their position four or five days, fighting 
with much courage ; and finally not being able to do any- 
thing more, surrendered to our people, who gave them 
no quarter. All were killed except the women and chil- 
dren, whose lives were spared, and one hundred men 
who had been tied, but escaped. All our allies, returned 
to my fort with their slaves. Their amusement was to 
shoot four or five of them every day. The Hurons did 
not spare a single one of theirs. In this manner came 
to an end these two wicked nations who so badly afflicted 
and troubled all the country. Our reverend father 
chanted a grand mass to render thanks to God for hav- 
ing preserved us from the enemy. The Ottagamies and 
Mascoutins had constructed a very good fort. Our peo- 
ple did not dare to undertake to storm it, notwithstand- 



I90 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ing all I could say. The works were defended by three 
hundred men and our loss would have been great. Our 
Indians lost sixty men killed and wounded, thirty of 
whom were killed in the fort, and a Frenchman named 
Germain and five or six others were wounded with ar- 
rows. The enemy lost a thousand souls, men, women 
and children."* 

So ended this episode, but it was only one of several 
of somewhat similai: character, though it was more for- 
midable and dangerous than others. The inhabitants 
of this region had the same experiences as those of New 
England through the proximity of treacherous and 
heartless savages. Dubuisson had the good luck to 
have the alliance of several friendly tribes who, accord- 
ing to his own report, bore the brunt of the fighting and 
among whom alone fatalities occurred. The savages 
who had their villages in the vicinity or who passed this 
way on their hunting trips were in an almost constant 
state of turmoil, owing to quarrels and jealousies among 
themselves. The most unremitting care and watchful- 
ness on the part of the French were necessary to protect 
their lives. No one could say at what moment a feud 
might break out, or what influences were at work shap- 
ing trouble for the little settlement. This was especially 
a hardship to those who lived outside the palisades and 
who were undertaking to maintain themselves by agri- 
culture. Their domestic animals might be driven off or 
slaughtered without a moment's warning. While 



♦Report of Dubuisson to the Marquis dc Vaudrcuil, Governor 
General of New France, June 15, 1712. 



MICHIGAN AS A.PROVINCE I9I 

working in the fields they were compelled to be watch- 
ful and, upon alarm, to betake themselves with their 
wives and children to the protection of the fort. 

No sooner was the affair above referred to over than 
rumors came of a fresh attack from the Kickapoos, who 
lived at the mouth of the Maumee. The allies who de- 
fended the fort against the Mascoutins having scattered 
there appeared an opening for another onslaught. This 
tribe had got itself into trouble with the whites through 
abuse of some missionaries and other Frenchmen who 
had visited their country. The adventurous white man 
traveling through the woods or the solitary Indian with 
his family venturing into the demesne of a hostile or 
uncektain tribe were (liable to be murderedl These 
crimes called for retaliation and revenge on the part of 
the friends of the victim. So there was constant excite- 
ment and uncertainty. The wandering tribes might 
make their appearance any day and nobody could know 
upon what mischief they were bent. In 1706, a band of 
young Ottawas came along eager for a fray and de- 
termined to attack the fort and drive off the French. 
Father Constantine de THallc, the RecoUet pastor of St. 
Ann's was working in his garden outside the enclosure, 
unconscious of their presence or purpose. They seized, 
bound and stabbed him. Their chief ordered his release 
and told him to go into the fort. As he was doing so 
he was shot and killed. A Frenchman named La Riv- 
iere was also killed. Their bodies lay where they fell 
for some time before the French dared venture forth to 
recover them for burial. 



192 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

In spite of this ^tate of semi-terror the colony strug- 
gled along and managed to hold its own. The home 
government in France had been turning its attention to 
Ix)uisiana as a more promising field of exploitation. 
Cadillac had been withdrawn from Detroit and sent 
there to carry out on a larger scale his scheme of coloni- 
zation in a climate better suited to French ways of liv- 
ing. But he made no great success of it and soon re- 
tired. Law came to the front and occupied the stage 
for a time with his brilliant scheme of finance.* When 
the Mississippi bubble burst many a French family of 
good birth and breeding found itself in desperate 
straits. The most feasible opening seemed to be in mi- 
gration to a new country where the past might be for- 
gotten and an opportunity found to retrieve the fallen 
fortune. New France profited well by this condition of 
affairs, for it was the means of bringing over some of 
the best blood of the nation. Some notable names were 
added to the list of those dwelling in the little settle- 
ment on the Strait and they are still found in our city di- 
rectory. Among these were Robert Navarre, of royal 
blood, Dr. Henry Bellisle, Dr. Jean Chapoton, together 
with the Chenes, Cicottes, Campaus, Godefrois, Guoins, 
Picards Rivards, Riopelles, Morans, Dequindres, 
Reaumes, La Fontaines, Lorangers and many others, 
whose descendants still remain. The new settlers 
swarmed in in considerable numbers and the limits of 
the town were extended. The first rude fort had been 
replaced by another, after having suffered from fire and 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 93 

assault, and this by still another of much greater 
strength, and enlarged capacity. 

The Marquis of Beauhamois became governor and 
Hocquart was made intendant. Both these men were 
liberal and sensible and appeared to have a just appre- 
ciation of the colonists and their struggles and difficul- 
ties. The people appreciated the beneficient adminis- 
tration of affairs and it can be truly said that matters 
moved along smoothly during this period. The most 
exciting event was the presence of smallpox which 
wrought great havoc among the Indians and proved to 
be of serious consequence to the inhabitants of the town. 

In 1749 the government undertook to send over em- 
igrant farmers and to provide them with seeds and 
tools. Lands were granted for ten miles up and down the 
river. These new comers were largely from Normandy, 
a frugal and industrious class, who brought their good 
qualities with them, to the manifest advantage of the 
colony. Among the good things which they brought 
over and by which their descendants have profited were 
fruit trees. All the old French farms on both sides of 
the Detroit river had orchards of most excellent fruit. 
Some of the ancient pear trees still remain, bearing 
abundantly after the lapse of more than a century and a 
half. 

During the governorship of Beauhamois consider- 
able enlightened attention was paid to the improvement 
of conditions in the lake region. The colony at Detroit 
was favored in many ways. The governor went in per- 
son to Michilimackinac where he conferred with the 

1-18 



194 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

few French and Indians still living there. Through his 
influence settlements were established along the Lake 
Michigan shore. There had been one for many years 
at the mouth of the St. Joseph but it had not developed 
to any great extent. Other settlements were formed at 
the mouth of the Muskegon and at L'Arbre Croche, 
midwa) between Little Traverse bay and the Straits of 
Mackinac. At this point the making of maple sugar 
was a specialty. It was carried on extensively and with 
so great care as to cleanliness that it came to have a rep- 
utation which commanded for it the highest market 
price.* 

A Huron mission had been established at an early 
day and it continued for many years under the charge 
of Father de la Richardie on Bois Blanc Island at the 
mouth of the Detroit river. At one period the threat- 
ening attitude of the Indians became so alarming that a 
proposition was seriously made to remove thither the 
entire fort and settlement of Detroit. But it evidently 
never got much beyond the stage of suggestion. The 
attitude of the Indians was largely due to the intrigues 
of the English. In fact, the English themselves were 
pushing westward and when they undertook to open up 
trade at White river and in the Wabash country the 
French at Detroit felt that defensive measures could not 
be too speedily set on foot. In i744-'45 matters seemed 
to be approaching a climax and it was only by the most 
vigorous efforts to thwart the English designs that act- 



♦Campbcll's Political History of Michigan. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 1 95 

oal hostilities were prevented. The time was fast ap- 
proaching when the final clash of arms between the two 
European nations on this continent could be no longer 
avoided. In the meantime the little colony at Detroit 
itniggled along as best it could under the prevailing de- 
moralization of the conflict that was seen to be impend- 



CHAPTER XIII 

Commercial Rivalry Between the French and 

English 



ONE of th=e earliest discoveries made by the 
French after having fairly set foot on 
the continent was the fact that there 
were large profits in the fur trade. We 
have seen in a previous chapter some- 
thing of the methods of carrying on the trade, as well 
as a glimpse of its magnitude and importance. On the 
other hand the first English settlers gave no thought to 
such matters. The circumstance that the regions into 
which the French first came and the remote districts 
which they first penetrated abounded in fur bearing ani- 
mals, while the English came into contact with nothing 
of the sort, helps to account for it. The New England 
colonists had no interest whatever in the subject. They 
gave attention to inducing immigration, developing the 
resources of the country and establishing permanent 
homes. Some time and leisure were found for religious 
quarrels and incidentally to harass their French neigh- 
bors of Acadia. But it was not until they had driven 
the Dutch out of New York and started the movement 
of westward expansion that the English began to see 
that there was something in the fur business. With 
their natural aptitude for commercial affairs it was to 
be expected that having a glimpse of possible profits in 
this direction they should proceed to make the most of 
their opportunities. 

Two French protestant adventurers opened the way. 
These were Medard Chouart, known as Sieur des Gro- 
seilliers, and Pierre Esprit Radisson. These men were 
bom in France about 1620 and came to America when 

199 



200 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

about sixteen years of age. They were full of energy 
and daring and entered with spirit into the wild life 
then so easily found in the new world. Radisson was 
captured by the Iroquois and adopted into one of their 
tribes. After two years he managed to escape. Chouart 
was for a time mission assistant, but that life was not to 
his liking and he became a forest ranger. He married 
a daughter of Abraham Martin, the French settler, af- 
ter whom the celebrated plains of Abraham, just out- 
side of Quebec, were named. After her death which 
followed shortly he married a sister of Radisson and 
henceforth the fortunes of the two adventurers ran 
along the same lines. They went together on many 
western expeditions. They were the first white men to 
explore the north shore of Lake Superior. Passing to 
the extreme western end of the lake and continuing their 
journey in a southwesterly direction they came among 
a band of the Hurons who had been driven thither by 
the Iroquois. These savages having firearms were able 
to maintain themselves against the bloodthirsty Sioux 
and they had traversed the country adjacent to the Mis- 
sissippi as far as Lake Pepin. Upon the information 
furnished by the Indians, Groseilliers and Radisson 
pushed on and wintered among the "Mille Lacs" of 
M-nnesota. They traveled extensively among the Sioux 
penetrating into Dakota. They explored the region of 
Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lakes and on to the 
shores of Hudson's bay. After an absence of two years 
they returned to Montreal in 1660 with marvellous 
stories of the country they had visited, and a large 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 20I 

quantity of furs. As they had left without a proper 
permit they were immediately arrested for illicit trad- 
ing and were fined ten thousand livres. Smarting under 
the injustice of such a fine they went to France to secure 
its remission and to interest the French people in an ex- 
pedition to be sent out to explore Hudson's bay. In 
both these efforts they were unsuccessful. 

Deeply hurt by what they considered persecution and 
influenced in all probability by the fact that they were 
protestants, they now turned toward the English. In 
1664 they went to Boston, then the center of English 
enterprise in America and sought to interest the mer- 
chants of that town in their plans. They finally suc- 
ceeded in chartering a ship which sailed as far as Hud- 
son straits. But the master was too timid to continue 
the voyage and it proved a failure. Upon their return 
to Boston it happened that there were two royal com- 
missioners there, sent over by Charles II to settle some 
disputed questions. One of these commissioners was Sir 
George Carteret, a man of prominence and influence in 
court circles. He was interested in the disclosures of 
Groseilliers and Radisson. Through his advice they de^ 
cided to visit England. Carteret secured for them an 
audience with the king. At this stage of affairs the 
Dutch came upon the scene and sought to induce Gro- 
seilliers and Radisson to join an expedition which they 
were contemplating. This offer they declined, having 
succeeded in interesting Prince Rupert, the king's cousin, 
in their plans. In 1667 the Hudson's bay project was 
set on its feet and among the first subscribers to stock 



202 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

were Prince Rupert and other members of the royal 
family, as well as their personal friends among the no- 
bility.* Two ships were chartered by the merchant ad- 
venturers — the Eaglet and the Nonesuch. Radisson 
sailed on the former and Groseilliers on the latter. It 
is a curious fact that the captain of the Nonesuch was 
Zachariah Gillam, the New England captain of the ship 
which had sailed from Boston in 1664 and who became 
weak-kneed and backed out after reaching Hudson strait. 
On this later expedition it was the captain of the Eaglet 
who showed the white feather and before reaching his 
destination turned about and sailed for home. The 
Nonesuch entered and explored the bay. The party 
landed, made a treaty with the Indians, established a 
post and built a stone fort, where they remained 
through the winter. In the spring they returned, going 
first to Boston and thence to London. 

The success of this voyage opened the way for the 
organization of the Hudson's Bay Company, which 
occurred in 1670 under a charter from King Charles 11. 
An extraordinary feature of this charter was that it con- 
ferred not merely the exclusive rights of trade in peltries 
and other articles of merchandise, but conveyed to the 
company as absolute proprietors a vast territory called 
Rupert's land, equal to a fourth of the whole of North 
America. That this was so was established early in the 
last century, when the company sold to the Earl of Sel- 
kirk a tract greater in extent than the whole of England 

♦Brycc, History of Hudson's Bay Company. N. Y., 1900. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 203 

and Scotland, which conveyance was subsequently con- 
firmed by the highest legal authorities in England. 
Even more astonishing was the conferring upon the 
company the absolute sovereignty over its possessions, 
with the right to make and enforce laws and to admin- 
ister justice. It had the rights of war and peace and to 
make treaties with any prince or people not christians, 
to send ships of war with men and ammunition into its 
possessions and to appoint commanders and officers. In 
short, it was an empire, with an imperial domain, and 
equipped with all the powers and prerogatives of an 
absolute monarchy, yet organized for the sole purpose 
of trade and the profit of its individual stockholders. It 
was the most gigantic monopoly in histor}\ That its 
promoters did not take the utmost advantage of it, 
according to the modern fashion, speaks well for the 
self-restraint and sense of honor of which the English 
race has furnished more than one noted example. 

It may well be supposed that all these things going on 
in England and elsewhere were watched by the French 
with a jealous eye. When Radisson and Groseilliers 
returned from their extended western expedition heavily 
laden with valuable furs and were roundly fined on a 
technicality the French government made a serious mis- 
take to penalize them as it did. It is not entirely a mat- 
ter of surprise that these men, resenting their treatment, 
should then tender their services to the English. The 
French laid claim to the Hudson's bay country as cov- 
ered by the grant of Francis I in 1540 to Sieur de 
Rober\^al. When the Marquis of Denonville, governor 



204 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

of Canada, saw the movements of Radisson and his 
associate and before the expedition sailed from Boston 
in 1668 he sent an officer in charge of a suitable escort 
to go in search of the most advantageous posts and 
establish such on the shores of the great Baie du Nord 
and the rivers which discharge therein. This party had 
instructions to arrest Radisson and his adherents 
wherever they might be found. But the movement was 
too late to prevent the English establishing themselves 
and fortifying important posts on the great bay. The 
next movement was to dislodge the intruders. Through 
the active exertions of the Northern Company, the 
French Company then controlling the fur trade of Can- 
ada, Governor Denonville organized an overland expe- 
dition from Quebec to Hudson's bay. Four brothers of 
the family Le Moyne, of whom Le Moyne D'Iberville 
was the leader, organized an expedition which set out 
early in 1685 and after three months of perilous and 
exciting adventures reached its destination. It attacked 
and captured in their turn the three important forts 
which the Hudson's Bay Company had garrisoned and 
equipped, as well as the company's vessel lying in one of 
the harbors. With these captures was an immense 
quantity of valuable furs. The Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany employes were sent to England and the rest of the 
prisoners D'Iberville took to France, whence they were 
afterward permitted to return to England. The two 
countries being at peace at that time, the affair was in 
reality nothing more than a squabble between the two 
rival fur companies. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 205 

That the Hudson's Bay Company had suffered seri- 
ous damage and injury through these operations of the 
French is made evident by a petition which it presented 
in 1687 to the British government asking compensation. 
Among the items were the value of the furs on board 
the ship captured by D'Iberville, the destruction of 
three ships and ships' stores as well as many thousand 
beaver skins, but most of all the loss and interruption of 
traffic caused by the French occupation of the country, 
amounting to ten thousand pounds sterling a year. The 
whole bill of damages amounted to nearly a quaner of 
a million pounds. This matter hung fire for nearly a 
generation but it does not appear that the French gov- 
ernment had any interest in it. 

While France was exerting herself to retain the fur 
trade for her company in the far north she was neglect- 
ing the golden opportunity to establish and strengthen 
herself south of the St. Lawrence. If instead of devot- 
ing her energies to maintain French prestige and control 
on the bleak and barren shores of Hudson's bay, she 
had anticipated English possession of New York her 
fate on this continent might have been different. 

The colonists of New England knew nothing of the 
fur business and consequently felt no interest in it. Only 
after the English passed over to the banks of the Hud- 
son and came into contact with the Five Nations did 
they begin to perceive the possibilities of making money 
out of the trading in peltries. As we have already seen, 
the French had their minds so firmly fixed upon this fea- 
ture of the opportunities of New France that they gave 



206 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

little thought to permanent settlements in the way of 
colonization. They quickly made their way to the great 
lake region but looked upon this country only as con- 
tributing freely to the traffic in furs. They established 
and garrisoned trading posts, but they were only trad- 
ing posts and nothing more. It was not until the begin- 
ning of the 1 8th century that the foresight and energy 
of Cadillac produced anything beyond a mere trading 
post, and even Cadillac's colony found its most impor- 
tant function, in his mind, in building up a settlement 
which would serve as a barrier against the English and 
so preserve to France the trade of the region beyond. 

When the English began to show activity in respect 
to trade with the Indians the cupidity of the French was 
stirred to put a stop to it. So we find from the very 
beginning of the contact between the two nations in the 
west that the commercial spirit was at the bottom of all 
the trouble. If France had possessed the true coloniz- 
ing spirit and had been willing to deal liberally with the 
people of her race who would try their fortunes in a new 
land her grand opportunity was south of the St. Law- 
rence. Here was a vast and fertile region with a cli- 
mate much more equable and agreeable than that of 
Canada. It was open to her and might have been hers 
by right of pre-occupation. She could as easily have 
made friends of the Iroquois as she did of the Hurons. 
But she was looking In another direction and her heart 
was with the huntsman and forest ranger. She watched 
closely the English adventurers who from time to time 
found themselves in the lake regions .bent on explora- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 207 

tion. But the greatest grievance of all lay in the fact 
that the lake Indians were tempted to trade at Albany. 
There was no way in which the natives could be pre- 
vented from taking their peltries where they could be 
sold to the best advantage. The English not only paid 
a better price for them than did the French but they 
offered better bargains on the articles which the natives 
wished to buy. They were under no compunctions or 
restraint against supplying strong drink and the 
demands of that nature were very considerable. As 
early as 1685 Governor Dongan of New York licensed 
several persons to trade for beaver in the country of the 
Ottawas. This proceeding stirred up a great commo- 
tion at Quebec and Governor Denonville was very 
emphatic in his protest. He says the English have been 
already at Michilimackinac bargaining with the Hurons 
who received them kindly because they gave such good 
prices for furs. In the following year when Duluth 
was sent to establish a fort at the foot of Lake Huron a 
party of English under Captain Roseboom of Albany 
was captured on Lake Huron. There were in this party 
twenty-nine Englishmen and a number of Indians, 
beside a French interpreter. Not long thereafter a 
second party of Englishmen numbering twenty-one in 
charge of Major Patrick McGregory of Albany was 
captured on the St. Clair river. Denonville was pleased 
to hear of the capture of these English invaders. He 
says *4t is certain that had the two English detachments 
not been stopped and pillaged, had their brandy and 
other goods entered Michilimackinac, all our French- 



208 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

men would have had their throats cut by a revolt of all 
the Hurons and Ottawas, whose example would have 
been followed by all the other nations." The victorious 
Frenchmen invaded New York with a large force and 
captured and destroyed the Seneca villages. It had 
already become evident that the Iroquois were in the 
service of the English and that their ravages which 
spread terror among all the tribes friendly to French 
interests were in pursuance of a settled policy of hos- 
tility. 

So the trespasses of the English upon the trading pre- 
serves which the French considered theirs by right were 
rapidly bringing to a very critical stage the relations of 
the two rival nations in America. There had been many 
collisions at one time and another, on Hudson's bay as 
well as on Lake Huron, and along the border. All these 
affairs helped to intensify the feeling on both sides and 
there was not long to wait until the smouldering embers 
broke into flame. 



» CHAPTER XIV 

Border Wars of the Colonists 



M4 



IN the latter part of the seventeenth and early half 
of the eighteenth centuries England and France 
were almost continually embroiled in wars with 
each other or with their continental neighborSy 
with whom one side or the other was allied. 
The American colonies could scarcely avoid being drawn 
into the conflict. The settlers in New England felt it a 
duty they owed the home government to support its ef- 
forts in the field by harassing their French neighbors, 
especially since the sentiment of one toward the other 
was not overly kind, at best. The French of Canadi 
were also eager to forward the interests of their native 
country by threatening their neighbors to the southward 
with the terrors of invasion. Among the earliest of 
these wars which affected the colonies seriously was thait 
known as William and Mary's war. This was purely a 
European dispute and the colonies were drawn into it 
only incidentally. The peace of Ryswick gave all par- 
ties a chance for much needed rest. But it was of short 
duration. The opening of the eighteenth century found 
France and England again at each others* throats in 
what is known as Queen Anne's war, and for the next 
twelve years New England was harrowed with border 
raids of Frenchmen from Canada and their merciless 
Indian allies. The colonists defended themselves as 
best they could and sought reprisal in the way then best 
available — an onslaught on Acadia and New Found- 
land. 

The horrors of those years of strife are among the 
most impressive of the annals of early New England 

211 



2 1 2 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

life. Scarcely a hamlet of the Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire borders escaped. But strange to say, the 
passive New Englanders attempted no counter-raids 
upon Canada. However, a scheme was hatched a little 
later to send a sufficient force to capture Quebec and so 
subdue Canada and put an end to the strife. With the 
active aid of England an expedition was fitted out, but 
it was a futile attempt. The peace of Utrecht in 17 12 
put an end to hostilities and gave another breathing 
spell. This restored the regions previously captured 
by one party or the other, except that England was to 
retain Nova Scotia. But the truce was short lived. The 
state of feeling was such that it was becoming more and 
more evident that such a thing as permanent peace and 
harmony between the rival nations in America was a 
practical impossibility. The French were continually 
exerting themselves to extend their dominions. In 1721 
they made large grants of land on Lake Champlain and 
also built a fort at Crown Point. They also took meas- 
ures to establish their claims to the country southward 
of the great lakes and west of the Ohio. La Salle had 
traversed this region fifty years before and so gave them 
a semblance of right by discovery. They establish Fort 
Duquesne in the Vicinity of the present city of Pitts- 
burg, for the purpose of defending their claims to the 
Ohio and Mississippi as the natural diannel of commun- 
ication for them between Louisiana and Canada. The 
belligerent measures of the French led the English col- 
onies to engage in counter movements. 

It was becoming certain that the clash of arms in 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 2 1 3 

which the two nations had so long indulged must be 
transferred for its final finish to thecontinent of America. 
France despatched a large fleet to recapture Nova Scotia 
as well as to ravage the whole New England coast. It 
was dispersed and wrecked by storms. Clearly the time 
had come for the English colonists to organize energetic 
measures. In accordance with instructions from the 
English Lords of Trade, commissioners from Massa- 
chusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, 
New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland met at Albany 
in June 1754 and resolved unanimously that a union of 
the colonies was absolutely necessary for their preserva- 
tion. A plan of colonial union was framed by Benjamin 
Franklin and submitted to the British government. It 
was rejected, on the ground that it infringed the rights 
of the crown. Nevertheless, the colonies continued to 
co-operate. The British parliament made an appro- 
priation of two hundred thousand pounds sterling, 
which money was sent over and distributed among the 
colonies in proportion to the number of troops which 
each should supply for military service. 

In the following year Gen. Braddock was sent out 
to take command of the colonial forces. He conferred 
with the several governors and a plan of campaign was 
agreed upon. This involved an attack upon the French 
forts at Crown Point, Frontenac, Niagara and Du- 
quesne. A force of three hundred British and three 
thousand colonial troops was despatched to Nova Sco- 
tia and reduced that colony to a state of subjection. 
Braddock himself took up his quarters at Alexandria 



214 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

and his little army was quartered there and in the neigh- 
boring towns of Fredericksburg and Btadensburg. He 
had brought with him from Ireland two regiments of in- 
fantry, intending to supplement his force with the pro- 
vincial levies. Braddock was the son of a major-general 
and himself had a military record of promotions for 
gallant conduct under fire. In the conferences which 
followed the assembling of the forces Braddock took 
as his special task the capture of Fort Duquesne. To 
Sir William Johnson was assigned the responsibility of 
leading a force against Crown Point, and to Governor 
Shirley of Massachusetts was to be given the glory of 
overcoming Forts Frontenac and Niagara. Franklin, 
then postmaster of Philadelphia, undertook to raise the 
necessary funds among the business men and farmers of 
Pennsylvania to provide the transportation of troops 
and supplies for the quartermaster and commissary de- 
partments for the Braddock expedition. The fact that 
England and France happened to be at peace at this 
particular moment was not allowed to interfere. The 
claim was made that all these forts occupied by the 
French were on English soil and this was held to be 
sufficient provocation for driving the invaders out. The 
army started westward in June, 1755, and made very 
slow progress, owing to the wild and rugged nature of 
the country. There were no roads; the march was 
through a pathless forest, over unbridged streams, and 
through almost impenetrable swamps and thickets, and 
a path must be cleared. There was no cultivated coun- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 215 

try to supply fbrmge. Tht troops, especially tlie regu- 
lars, were quite unused to such campaigning. 

As may well be supposed, the French had early and 
accurate knowledge of the movement. The Indians 
hung upon the flanks of the invading army and noted 
how easy it would be from ambush to pick off with their 
rifle bullets the straggling troops and their beasts of 
burden. The Detroit militia helped to reinforce the 
garrison at Fort Duquesne. The French depended al- 
most wholly on the grain and other provisions and sup- 
plies which were forwarded from Detroit. The French 
troops at Fort Duquesne were under the command of 
Charles Langlade and the Indians were under De Beau- 
jeu. They did not wait for the English to attack the 
fort, but relying upon their superior numbers, sallied 
forth to anticipate the attack. They came upon the 
English on the south bank of the Monongahda, entirdy 
oft their guard and unsuspicious of the nearness of the 
enemy. Concealed behind trees the Indians and French 
began the onslaught by shooting and yelling in the most 
blood-curdling fashion. The Virginians, among whom 
were George Washington, an aide-de-camp on the staff 
of Braddock, bravely met the assault and fought va- 
liantly. The regulars brdce and ran in a panic of fright. 
Washington writing to his mother says: "I luckily es- 
caped without a wound, though I had four bullets 
through my coat and two horses shot under mc." This 
was the beginning of the fame of the man who was yet 
to play an important part in the history of his country. 
The British officers showed great intrepidity. Brad- 



2l6 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

dock himself was conspicuous for his bravery. Four 
horses were killed under him and he mounted a fifth. 
Three of his most gallant officers were wounded severe- 
ly, including Gates and Gage, who afterward became 
noted officers on opposite sides in the war of the revolu- 
tion, and Gladwin, who eight years later defended De- 
troit against Pontiac. The latter Indian chief was a 
conspicuous figure on the French side, having led a rab- 
ble of Ottawas from Detroit. The British troops whol- 
ly ignorant of this kind of fighting were soon on the run. 
Braddock seeing that the day was lost undertook to ral- 
ly the men for an orderly retreat and while doing so 
vas shot through the body. He was rescued by some of 
his gallant companions and borne to a place of safety. 
But his wounds were fatal and he expired three days 
later. The English lost in this engagement eighty-six 
officers and sixty-three men killed and disabled. The 
loss of the French was slight, being only three officers 
killed and four wounded. The principal fatalities on 
that side were among the Indians, but the number was 
never definitely known. The retreat of the English be- 
came in fact a rout. Everything not hurriedly remov- 
able was destroyed. More than a hundred wagons were 
burned; cannon, shells and ammunition were buried or 
thrown into the river; provisions were scattered through 
the woods and swamps. The result was that the French 
were left in complete possession of the country. Thus 
exposed to the ravages of the victorious savages there 
was great apprehension among the dwellers on the fron- 
tier. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia strongly sup- 




< 

Q 
o 

Q 
Q 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 2 1 ^ 

ported by Washington, exerted himself for the reorgani- 
zation of the expedition to renew the attack upon the 
fort. But Colonel Dunbar, upon whom the command 
of the regular troops devolved, marched them oil to 
Philadelphia and left the frontiersmen to shift for them- 
selves. The result was as had been foreseen; the coun- 
try was ravaged in the most barbarous fashion. 

The next stroke of the pre-arranged campaign was to 
be the movement against Crown Point, which had been 
assigned to Sir William Johnson. His well-known fav- 
or and influence among the Five Nations seemed to rec- 
ommend him as just the man for the place. He was 
accordingly appointed major-general. Connecticut, 
New Hampshire and Rhode Island contributed up- 
wards of two thousand soldiers at their own charge, 
while New York added a thousand, to say nothing of 
the Indians who were only too eager to respond to any 
call of Sir William Johnson. A month after the luck- 
less aftair at the junction of the Alleghany and Monon- 
gahela Johnson's army had rendezvoused at Albany 
and was preparing to move northward. There were no 
regulars; the army was made up entirely of the sturdy 
yeomanry. It numbered in the ranks some men whose 
names afterward became familiar — Ephraim Williams, 
who made his will in the camp at Albany and left a leg- 
acy to found a school which eventually became Williams 
College; Israel Putnam, a private in a Connecticut regi- 
ment; John Stark, who was in the New Hampshire lev- 
ies. Their arms and equipment were of the rudest 
sort. There were various annoying causes of delay. 



2l8 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

chiefly due to the fact that each colony had to equip and 
maintain its own levies and to the confusion which 
arose in consequence. 

The French had ample knowledge of the designs 
against Crown Point and plenty of time to prepare to 
meet them. A battalion of regulars had just arrived 
from France and these were put under the command of 
Baron Dieskau who set out at once for the defense of 
the fortification. The summer wore on and by the end 
of August Johnson's army had got no further than the 
head of Lake George. Mohawk scouts reported that 
Canada was all ablaze with excitement and that eight 
thousand men were marching toward Crown Point. 
I'hereupon Johnson thought it prudent to wait for rein- 
forcements. This meant a long delay for sending out 
to each colony an urgent request to increase its force in 
the field. While Johnson lay at Lake George awaiting 
fresh levies, Dieskau prepared to surprise him. The 
French forces did not tarry at Crown Point but pushed 
on to Ticonderoga. The Indian allies were under the 
command of Legardeur de Saint Pierre and they were a 
turbulent and troublesome annex to the army. Leaving 
a part of his force at Ticonderoga, Dieskau hastened on 
with the rest to effect his contemplated surprise. He 
seems to have been aware his force was greatly inferior 
to the English in numbers. Johnson had twenty-two 
hundred effective men and three hundred Indians; the 
French numbered about fifteen hundred all told, includ- 
ing six hundred Indians. The English had full knowl- 
edge of the approach of the enemy and set out to meet 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 2 19 

him. The Indians in Dieskau's command prepared an 
ambuscade into which the English fell and suffered its 
principal loss of life. The latter rallied, however, and 
later in the day when attacked by the French retrieved 
their fortunes. Dieskau was seriously wounded and cap- 
tured, and his entire force was put to rout. Johnson 
v;as himself wounded but not seriously. Ephraim Wil- 
liams was killed at the first onslaught. The English loss 
was two hundred and sixty-two in killed and wounded 
and missing; the French loss was slightly less.'^ 

Johnson did not follow up his success. He was urged 
by his officers to push on to Ticonderoga, but he ap- 
pears to have been overwhelmed by timidity and appre- 
hended a renewal of the French attack. In spite of the 
success of the English in the Lake George engagement, 
the Crown Point campaign was a failure. After linger- 
ing in the camp until the snows of winter began to make 
things uncomfortable to the men who were supplied 
with only summer clothing, and after holding various 
councils of war in which it was declared inexpedient to 
proceed, Johnson and his army made their way back to 
Albany. Thence the men dispersed to their homes. 
Strange to say, in spite of the palpable fiasco, Johnson 
reaped great glory from the campaign. His renown 
spread to Europe. Parliament voted him five thousand 
pounds and the king made him a baronet. 

To Governor Shirley of Massachusetts had been as- 
signed the capture of Forts Frontenac and Niagara. He 
was a major-general and after the death of Braddock 



♦N. Y. Colonial Documents, Vol. 6. 



220 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the command of the militia deyolvi»l upon him. His 
army for the campaign was assembled at Albany at the 
same time that the Crown Point army was encamped 
near that city. His force had not been recruited to the 
extent intended. It consisted of a regiment from New 
Jersey and known as the Jersey Blues, together with two 
regiments paid by the king and known as regulars, 
though in reality raw recruits, raised wherever men 
could be found to enlist. They were utterly untried and 
though fairly fell equipped, found their commissariat 
and bureau of transportation quite unequal to the de- 
mands. They numbered about fifteen hundred all told. 
It does not appear that there were any Indian allies at- 
tached to this expedition. No time was wasted in de- 
parting for the scene of operations and the whole army 
H as soon assembled at Oswego. Here there was exas- 
perating delay in the matter of transportation and sup- 
plies. Fort Frontenac was fifty miles away across the 
lake. To reach it required many boats and men skilled 
in navigating them. Moreover at Frontenac was a 
French force of fourteen hundred regulars and Cana- 
dians, well provided with everything necessary, includ- 
ing vessels for crossing the lake and attacking Oswego. 
Here was presented to Shirley a puzzling problem. 
With his small force and limited means of transporta- 
tion to cross the lake and attack a fortified place, garri- 
soned with experienced veterans seemed a foolhardy 
thing. On the other hand, if he should pass on to Ni- 
agara the French, who knew all about the plan of cam- 
paign through papers captured from Braddock, could 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 221 

cross over, take Oswego, and thus cut off his supplies 
and place him in jeopardy, with the enemy in his rear. 

He called a council of his officers and told them that 
he proposed to leave about half his force to defend 
Oswego frcMTi an anticipated attack by the French when 
they saw his purpose to push on to Niagara. This would 
leave him about six hundred soldiers for the Niagara 
campaign. He designed to secure for this service as 
many Indian allies as possible. Niagara was garrisoned 
with a force of twelve hundred Canadians and Indians 
who had come on from Duquesne and from Detroit. 
The journey from Oswego was four or five days along 
the south shore of Ontario. The boats available were 
entirely too small to accommodate the troops and not 
suitable for venturing out upon the c^en lake. The sit- 
uation was precarious; the season was growing late and 
there was no time to procure re-inforcements and suita- 
ble means of transportation. Another council was called 
which decided to postpone further c^erations until 
spring. Leaving most of his men at Oswego Shirley re- 
turned to Albany. This ended the campaign which was 
even a worse fiasco than that of Johnson's movement 
upon Crown Point. 

It was at this time that the French king appointed a 
new commandant over his forces in America in the per- 
son of Louis de Montcalm. The chevalier de Levis, 
afterward marshal of France, was appointed second in 
command, with the rank of brigadier, and the chevalier 
de Boulamarque as his third, with the rank of colonel. 
The appointment of Montcalm was not welcome to 



222 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

Vaudreuil, the governor, who had handled the cam- 
paigns against the English so successfully and who had 
hoped to command all the troops himself. He had every 
confidence in his Canadian soldiers, well versed in the 
Indian methods of fighting, who were bold and reckless 
and more than a match for equal numbers of the Eng- 
lish. He had a poor opinion of the French regulars 
and felt in rather contemptuous mood toward the high 
officers sent over from France to command them. How- 
ever, Montcalm soon showed his metal. He organized 
a successful campaign against Oswego, the most import- 
ant of all the English forts, and captured it with sixteen 
himdred prisoners and a great mast of war material. 
This was the greatest triumph the French arms had yet 
achieved in America, and it was the triumph of French 
soldiers and not of Indians, as was the a£fair with Brad- 
dock. It was now only, necessary to maintain a small 
force at Niagara and at Frontenac, and the French rap* 
idly concentrated at Ticonderoga to repel a threatened 
attack at that point, and if successful in this, to push 
on to Albany. Nothing more came of it than a raid by 
a party which surprised and captured Fort William 
Henry at the head of Lake George, and took the Eng- 
lish garrison prisoners. 

These failures of the English arms to make any pro- 
gress against the French in America were very humiliat- 
ing to the people of England. When William Pitt came 
to the head of affairs he set about vigorous measures. 
The English nation was in the deep waters of tribula- 
tion. The kingdoms of Europe were a veritable war 




,yfid1ti62i/iL ' 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 223 

camp in the midst of which stood Frederic of Prussia. 
Through the intrigues of the women of the court of 
Louis XV a formidable alliance had been raised against 
him. France, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Saxony, and 
most of the smaller German states had joined hands to 
compass his ruin, parcel out his dominions and divide 
thie spoib. England made common cause with Frederic, 
but beyond her there were few, if any, to aid. But he 
proved himself a sturdy fighter. Defeat or success 
seemed to be all one to him ; from the former he rallied 
with perennial vigor, from the latter he pushed on 
to further triumphs. The war which was expected at 
the outset to be brief, lasted seven years. It raised Prus- 
sia to the rank of a first-class power and established the 
maritime and colonial greatness of England, while 
France issued from the contest with her power and 
prestige sadly dimmed. With the coming of Pitt the 
face of things in England was changed. . ''England 
has long been in labor," said Frederic, ''and at last 
she has brought forth a man." The inspiration of the 
new order of things was felt wherever the British flag 
waved. The American colonies were among the first 
to feel the new impube. The master hand at the helm 
made it sufficiently certain that the ship was on her right 
course. 



CHAPTER XV 
Final Success of the English 



i-u 



WITH Pitt dominating the British Cab- 
inct there came a brighter day for 
the American colonies. The half- 
hearted indifference which had hith- 
erto prevailed gave place to sympa- 
thetic and earnest support. Instead of saddling the cost 
of defence upon the already impoverished colonies he 
assumed for the English government the support of the 
war and announced that the money already spent should 
be refunded. Arms, ammunition, clothing and pay 
were to be provided for those who would enlist. This 
liberal policy speedily brought into camp fifty thousand 
men, which was more than the entire male population 
of New France at that time. Lord Jeffrey Amherst 
was appointed commander in chief, with James Wolfe, 
a brilliant and rising young officer, as his lieutenant. It 
was arranged that Amherst himself should lead the 
expedition against Louisburg and Quebec; General 
John Forbes was to take command of an expedition to 
capture Fort Duquesne and to take possession of the 
Ohio Valley; Lord Abercrombie, with whom was 
associated Lord Howe, was assigned to the capture of 
Fort Ticonderoga. 

June 8, 1758, Amherst who had brought with him 
twelve thousand troops, landed with his forces near 
Louisburg. In the landing of the troops Wolfe led 
the first division and was the first man on the shore, 
having leaped from his boat into the water to lead the 
van. The disembarking of the troops was protected 
by the firing from the ships of the fleet under Bosca- 

227 



228 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

wen, and the French deserted their outposts and fled to 
the protection of the fortress. The siege lasted fifty 
days. During the bombardment the French shipping 
in the harbor was destroyed and the town and fortifica- 
tions suffered great damage. Seeing no hope of relief 
and with forces badly crippled the French accepted the 
inevitable and surrendered. This meant the giving up 
to the English of the islands of Prince Edward and 
Cape Breton with five thousand prisoners and an im- 
mense quantity of military stores. This reverse of the 
French arms which had for the most part been hither- 
to successful was a sad blow to the people of Canada. 
Montcalm was depressed and anxious. The people of 
the province had been so absorbed in military affairs that 
they had little opportunity to till the soil. The English 
fleets had cut off the supplies from the mother country. 
So among other disasters famine threatened them. So 
great was the scarcity that all, citizens and soldiers alike, 
were put on half allowance. Montcalm wrote the king 
at Versailles, 'Tor all our success. New France needs 
peace, and sooner or later it must fall; such are the num- 
bers of the English, such the difficulty of our receiving 
supplies." The destitution became more intense as the 
year progressed, and at length the soldiers received but 
half a pound of bread daily and the citizens of Quebec 
only two ounces. Owing to want of forage domestic 
animals perished in vast numbers ; meat was as scarce as 
bread. So enfeebled were the people for lack of suffi- 
cient nourishment that they were in poor condition to 
ward off the attack of the well-fed English. 





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^^^^^^^^^^^^^H • 


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MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 229 

The campaign to the west was entrusted to Gen. John 
Forbes. He set out from Philadelphia early in July 
with nine thousand men, with the exception of a regi- 
ment of Highlanders, all provincials who had been en- 
listed from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. 
Washington was in command of two regiments of the 
latter. Forbes was desperately ill at the time with in« 
flamation of the stomach and bowels, but he accompan- 
ied the expedition. Washington favored making a rapid 
march over the road opened by Braddock two or three 
years before, but Forbes supported by his lieutenant 
Bouquet, stubbornly opposed his counsel and insisted 
upon hewing out a new road through the wilderness 
some distance to the northward. This caused provok- 
ing delay. It was already autumn when the army 
approached its destination. Forbes was wholly ignore 
ant of the strength or movements of the enemy. Scout- 
ing parties of whites supported by a number of friendly 
Indians were sent out to learn the facts. Without moles- 
tation they reached a point where they could observe 
the fort and they soon learned that the strength of 
the garrison had been greatly exaggerated. 

Vaudreuil was welt informed of the movements of 
the English. He undertook to support de Ligueris, who 
was in ccmimand of the fort, by sending him reinforce- 
ments. He ordered troops to go to his aid from Niag- 
ara, Detroit and Illinois, as well as the militia of Detroit 
and all the Indians of the vicinity, Hurons, Pottawa- 
tomies, Ottawas, Miamis and others, who could be 
induced to take a hand in the affair. Forbes' procras- 



230 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

tination had a settled purpose. An intrigue was on 
with the Choctaws and Cherokees to tamper with the 
western Indians and induce them to withdraw their 
support of the French. This was to a degree success- 
ful. Presents from the French had not been as abun- 
dant of late as some of the savages had wished. On 
the contrary, the English were very liberal. As a result 
the loyalty of some of the western tribes had begun 
to waver and they showed an inclination to return to 
their homes and let the French take care of themselves. 
The current reports that the English were coming in 
such overwhelming numbers that the French would be 
driven out of the country had an effect to dampen the 
ardor of many. 

In September Major Grant obtained the consent of 
his commander to lead a force of about eight hundred 
Highlanders, Royal Americans and provincials on a 
raid to capture the fort by surprise. His plans mis- 
carried to such an extent that by an unfortunate division 
of his forces they were attacked in detail by the enemy 
and repulsed with great loss of life. The French fol- 
lowed up thdr success with vigor. They marched upon 
the English camp and punished the enemy severely, 
though they were not successful in its capture. The 
militia of Illinois and Louisiana went home in Novem- 
ber. The Indians of Detroit would stay no longer and 
the outlodc for de Ligueris was gloomy in the extreme. 
Expected supplies had failed to reach him, and with 
starvation staring him in the face he saw that the end 
was near. Although the winter was cm and the roads 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 23 1 

had been rendered almost impassable by the heavy 
rains and snows, the English determined to push on 
with a force large enough to make success certain. On 
the 1 8th of November an army of two thousand five 
hundred picked men in light order set forth under the 
leadership of Bouquet and Washington, Forbes bdng 
brought along on a litter. A week later they arrived 
at the fort, but no enemy was in sight. On the night of 
the 24th de Ligueris blew up his magazines, set fire to 
the fort, and with his five hundred men took to their 
boats and made good their escape. On the 25th Wash- 
ington planted the British flag on the smdcing ruins 
which the French had abandoned. For the protection 
of the troops a stockade was built which later was made 
into a fort and the place was called Pittsburgh in honor 
of the great minister whose energetic support had made 
this triumph possible. Thus disappeared the last ves- 
tige of French domination in the valley of the Ohio. 

A success of almost equal importance in the same year 
was the capture of Fort Frontenac by Lieut.-Col. Brad- 
street. The expedition was undertaken against the 
advice of Lord Abercrombie, but with the enthusiastic 
support of Lord Howe. Bradstreet was given a force 
of three thousand men almost wholly provincials. He 
proceeded up the Mohawk and down the Onondaga 
to the dismantled fort of Oswego. He was accom- 
panied by a few Indians of the Oneida tribe. On the 
22d of August the whole army embarked cm whale- 
boats and bateaux, and four days later made a lodge- 
ment without resistance within a few hundred yards 



53^ MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

of the fort. De Noyau was tht commandant, and his 
garrison consisted of only about one hundred regular 
troops. With such a force resistance against an army 
of upwards of three thousand was useless, and without 
firing a gun the fort was surrendered. The French 
troops were taken prisoners, and with them nine vessels, 
forming the entire French naval fleet of Lake Ontario. 
The fort was well equipped with arms and munitions of 
war^ beside an enormous quantity of provisions, naval 
stores and supplies of every description for the western 
posts. The fort and its guns were destroyed. The 
English carried off as much of the provisions and sup* 
plies as could be handled and burned the rest, as well 
as most of the vessels of the fleet. The Oneidas were 
liberally rewarded with the plunder. 

The fall of Fort Frontenac was a stunning blow to 
the French. New France was cut in two. The west was 
now entirely at the mercy of the English who had also 
complete conunand of Lake Ontario. No attention 
need henceforth be paid to Fort Niagara, for it was 
helpless. Fort Duquesne was at that very moment in 
the last throes of dissolution, and so was falling to pieces 
French domination and authority in the west. 

Not so happy in its results was the expedition against 
Fort Ticonderoga. This was led by Lord Abercrom- 
bie and Lord Howe, and to them was assigned a force 
of fifteen thousand men, of whom over six thousand 
were regulars and about nine thousand provincials. 
Abercrombie was a sort of political figure-head and a 
merely nominal commander: "A heavy man," wrote 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 233 

Wolfe in a letter to his father, ''an aged gentleman, 
infirm in body and mind." Brigadier Lord Howe was 
the real chief. Montcalm was in command at Ticon- 
deroga, but his force was scarcely a tithe of that of the 
English. Vaudreuil, the governor, had planned a diver- 
sion for the English. He proposed to send Levis with 
one thousand six hundred regulars and as many Indians 
into the Valley of the Mohawk, there to attack the 
English forts and threaten Schenectady. He argued 
that this move would attach the Five Nations to the 
French cause and compel the English to give up their 
designs against Ticonderoga and defend themselves far 
to the southward. This scheme came to nothing, but 
in the meantime no reinforcements were sent to Mont- 
calm and he was forced to defend himself as best he 
could. The army of Abercrombie and Howe was 
assembled at the head of Lake George, whence they 
embarked early in July for an assault upon the strongly 
fortified position near the foot of the lake. Montcalm 
was inclined to abandon Ticonderoga and fall back upon 
Crown Point, but realizing that he was in no better posi- 
tion in the one place than in the other, he determined 
to stand his ground. The English army reached the 
foot of the lake on the morning of the 6th. The French 
pickets immediately withdrew, burning the two bridges 
over the river which forms the outlet of Lake George. 
The invading force was therefore compelled to follow 
the considerable bend of the river, leaving behind its 
artillery, heavy baggage and provisions. The ground 
was very rough and covered with a dense wood, and the 



234 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

guides were by no means expert. The result was that 
the order of march was soon broken up and the troops 
were thrown into confusion. The advance guard of 
three hundred French regulars and a body of Indians 
soon attacked and fought with desperation. At the 
outset of the action Lord Howe was struck by a ball 
and instantly died. The consternation caused by the 
death of the commander and the wild yells of the sav- 
ages threw the English into a panic. But being in over- 
whelming numbers they rallied and held their ground. 
The next morning the bridges were rebuilt and Aber- 
crombie determined upon an assault upcm the fort with- 
out waiting to bring up his artillery. This was car- 
ried on with great vigor. The attacking troops behaved 
with the utmost intrepidity and persisted for four hours 
in their efforts to carry the breastworks. But they were 
repulsed with equal courage and determination. The 
engagement lasted through a good part of the day and 
finally the English seeing the hopelessness of the enter- 
prise retired precipitately, having suffered a loss of two 
thousand killed and wounded, mostly regulars. The 
French losses did not exceed three hundred. Expect- 
ing a renewal of the attack on the following day Mont- 
calm spent the night in strengthening his defences. 
What was his surprise to learn when the morning 
dawned, however, that Abercrombie had taken to the 
boats again and was already well under way with all his 
forces to his old camping place at the head of the lake. 
In his hurried retreat he left behind several hundred 
barrels of provisions and a great quantity of baggage* 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 235 

So excitedly did they cross a piece of marshy ground 
that they left many of their shoes stuck in the mud. 
This was a sad blow to English prestige, which had 
been victorious on so many fields. It was charged up 
to the incompentency of the commanding officer. 

But in spite of this set back the feeling in the Eng- 
lish colonies was that the tide of fortune had turned 
against the French and that the English arms must 
ultimately triumph. Pitt was determined to drive the 
French out of America at any cost. Rans of great 
importance were formed in 1759. Parliament was 
solicited to meet the expenses of a comprehensive cam- 
paign with liberal grants. It promptly voted two hun- 
dred thousand pounds to compensate the American col- 
onies for their expenses in levying and maintaining 
troops. Twelve millions were provided for the general 
service of the year and an immense armament, both by 
sea and land was prepared. The plan of campaign 
placed General Amherst in chief command. To him 
was assigned the task of reducing Fort Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point. Wolfe was put in charge of an 
army which was to ascend the St. Lawrence as soon as 
the river was free from ice and to besiege Quebec. 
The third army was to be made up chiefly of provincials 
and to be commanded by General Prideaux. It was to 
be strengthened by a large body of friendly Indians 
under Sir William Johnson. The duty of this army was 
to capture Fort Niagara and thus secure full control of 
the lake region. Amherst, after the capture of Ticon- 
deroga and Crown Point, was to proceed down Lake 



236 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

Champlain and the Richelieu river to form a junction 
with the army under Wolfe. Prideaux, after the cap- 
ture of Niagara, was to proceed down Lake Ontario 
and the St. Lawrence and capture Montreal and finally 
to unite his forces with those of Amherst and Wolfe. 
It is said that this scheme was elaborated by Pitt him- 
self, and that in choosing men for commands he was 
influenced by no considerations of seniority, but solely 
by his judgment of military ability. 

The state of affairs among the people of New France 
at this time was almost pitiable. The resources of the 
country were strained to their utmost. All the able 
bodied men were in the military service, leaving the 
tilling of the fields to the women and children and the 
old men. Provisions of every sort were excessively 
dear. A barrel of flour cost two hundred francs. 
Domestic animals, having scant supply of food were 
slaughtered for meat. British ships hovered about the 
entrance to the St. Lawrence and prevented the bring- 
ing in of supplies from the home country. Montcalm 
was at Quebec with the main portion of his armyi but it 
numbered scarce three thousand men. Vaudreuil, the 
governor, was intensely jealous of him and threw every 
obstacle in his way. Apparently the two men bad 
very poor opinions of each other. Montcalm bore 
himself very discreetly and said little. Vaudreuil was 
constantly writing to Versailles disparaging the com- 
mandant and urging his removal. The upshot of the 
matter was that Montcalm was made lieutenant-general 
and given superior authority over the governor in all 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 237 

military matters, with Levis as second in command. 
But the French court was too busy with other affairs 
to give much attention to Montcalm's urgent appeal for 
help. He begged for men, arms, munitions, food and a 
navy to keep the St. Lawrence open. In reply he was 
informed that he must do the best he could with what 
he had; that the interests of France at home required 
her chief attention to the state of affairs in Europe. 
Three or four hundred regulars with a small quantity 
of munitions were sent over to him, which it was hoped 
would be sufficient for the coming campaign. At the 
same time came to him information that the English 
were preparing to attack Canada with a force af fifty 
thousand men and a great fleet. A census of New 
France taken shortly before showed about thirteen 
thousand effective men. There were in the colony, in 
addition to these, about three thousand five hundred 
regulars, and there could be called into the service thfc 
militia and the coureurs de bois of Detroit and the lake 
posts. There were also about two thousand friendly 
Indians who could be relied upon in case of need. This 
was a poor showing against the well equipped, well fed 
and disciplined forces of the English. Still Montcalm 
did not despair. While the outposts might not be held, 
he had hope that Quebec and Montreal would be able 
to maintain themselves until such time as France could 
come vigorously to their relief. 

Early in the spring of 1759 Amherst moved north- 
ward from New York, where he had landed, and by the 
middle of July had reached Ticonderoga with a force 



238 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

of nearly six thousand regulars and an almost equal 
number of provincials. The French seeing that they 
were attacked by overwhelming numbers, after a feeble 
resistance, dismantled and blew up the fort and with- 
drew to Crown Point. After stopping to rehabilitate 
the fort and to equip and garrison it Amherst pushed on 
with some deliberation to Crown Point. Here he 
found the works abandoned, the army having moved 
down Lake Champlain to Isle aux Noix, an almost 
impregnable island at the entrance to the river, where 
they determined to make a stand. In order to attack 
this position Amherst 'found it necessary to provide a 
navy. This involved delay and it was late in Octo- 
ber before the army was ready to move. Then came the 
storms which rendered lake navigation practically 
impossible, with the kind of vessels they had been able 
to provide. The icy blasts from the north reminded 
the men of the approach of winter. So reluctantly 
Amherst gave up the project of capturing Isle aux Noix 
and turned his face to the southward for a more con- 
genial resting place until spring. Nothing had really 
been accomplished. 

In the meantime Prideaux set forth on his expedition 
against Fort Niagara with a force of five thousand 
regulars and provincials. Leaving Colonel Haldimand 
with a considerable force at Oswego to protect his line 
of march he pushed on to Niagara which he reached 
early in July. The fort at Niagara, which occupied 
the site of the present fort, was well constructed. It was 
garrisoned by six hundred men under Captain Pouchot 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 239 

and was well supplied with provisions and munitions. 
When Pouchot learned of the approach of the English 
he sent a messenger to summon to his relief the French 
and their allies who had escaped from Duquesne, and 
who had congregated at Presque Isle under the com- 
mand of Aubry. These numbered about one thousand 
one hundred regulars, and two hundred Indians, 
together with a considerable number of militia from 
Detroit and coureurs de bois from the upper lake region. 
The relieving party was intercepted before reaching 
the fort by a large force of Indians under Sir William 
Johnson, and after a sharp engagement was put to rout. 
Nearly all the officers were killed or captured. The 
men fled to their boats and going on up Lake Erie 
finally made good their escape to Detroit. The English 
continued to bombard Fort Niagara. During the first 
day's engagement Prideaux was instantly killed by the 
pi:emature discharge of a cannon, and the command 
devolved upon Sir William Johnson. Pouchot seeing 
that his case was hopeless after the defeat and capture 
of his reinforcements was forced to surrender. The 
men were sent as prisoners of war to New York. The 
capture of this stronghold by the English put into their 
hands also Detroit, Michilimackinac and all the lake 
posts, and narrowed the French dominions materially. 
While these things were going on in the west Wolfe 
was operating at Quebec and to him was due the bril- 
liant success of the war. He had under his command 
eight thousand men, chiefly British regulars. The fleet 
under Admiral Saunders comprised twenty-two ships of 



240 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the line and an equal number of frigates and armed ves- 
sels. Montcalm's forces were greatly inferior in num- 
bers and quality, but Quebec itself was an almost 
impregnable natural fortress. The citadel stands three 
hundred and forty-five feet above the level of the river, 
and except upon one side the rock upon which it stands 
rises as a sheer precipice. Westward of the citadel lie 
the Plains of Abraham, the side of which toward the 
river is also precipitous and almost unscalable. The 
English reached the city near the end of June, and at 
once made preparations for the siege. The French 
undertook to destroy the fleet by sending down with the 
tide a number of fireships. But these were prematurely 
fired and exploded and so failed to accomplish the 
expected result. Wolfe took possessicm of Point Levi, 
a high bluff on the opposite side of the river, on which 
he constructed batteries. From this elevated position 
red hot balls and shells were thrown into the city which 
set fire to many buildings. The lower portion of the 
town was wholly destroyed and the upper town badly 
damaged by the bomdardment. The English fleet 
undertoc^ a reconnaisance above the city and success- 
fully passed the batteries without serious injury. Wolfe, 
on board, carefully studied the shores and noted possi- 
ble openings for an assaulting party. It appeared that 
the defences had been carefully planned, every advant* 
age being taken in the conformation of the country to 
place formidable works in all available spots. Mont- 
calm sent a detachment across the river to attack the 
batteries at Point Levi which had done such destruc- 
tive executicm, but this movement had little effect. 




VIEW OF QUEBEC (1759) 



K'^^\fci 














^^^^HVW^^^* . -L-'^'^^^^^^^^^^I^^H^^^^^^^Bi 



DEATH OF WOLFE 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 24 1 

Wolfe planned an assault upon the garris(Mi from 
the heights of Montmorenci below the city. A place 
was found for fording the Montmorenci, a stream of 
considerable volume which flows through a narrow 
canon, and a movement was made, which, however, 
proved to be disastrous to the English. So the sum- 
mer wore away with attack and counter attack, and no 
great success on either side. The besieged French in 
the citadel of Quebec were in real distress. The army 
was on short rations with no relief in sight. The hope 
of Montcalm was that the enemy would assault in force, 
in which case he felt sure of his repulse and in all prob- 
ability a stunning defeat which would cause him to 
draw off his forces. The siege was beginning to drag 
and Wolfe saw that some new movement must be 
devised. In counsel with his officers a plan was pro^ 
posed to transfer the attack to some point above the city. 
The argument was advanced that in this way Mont- 
calm's source of supplies would be cut off and he might 
be starved into surrender. On the 6th of September 
Wolfe discovered the cove which now bears his name, a 
narrow ravine which winds up the steep hill about two 
miles above the fortress. He saw that only an insignif- 
icant guard was stationed there, and that it was possible 
to land a force which could make its way to the top 
of the cliff before any serious effort could be made 
to stop it. Laying his plans well he guided his men to 
the spot in the stillness of the night and before the 
French pickets fully realized what was going on a large 
force had scaled the cliff and formed in line upon the 

1-16 



242 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

level plain above. When the pickets reported to Mont- 
calm what had been done he was at first incredulous. 
But it soon appeared that the time for action had come. 
So quickly rallying his men from all quarters he pushed 
out upon the Plains of Abraham to meet the invading 
foe. The result is soon told. The clash of arms was a 
most desperate one. Both sides fought with consumate 
bravery. Wolfe was fatally wounded and died on the 
field. Montcalm was twice struck by bullets and died 
from his wounds a few days later. The French fled into 
the fortress leaving the English in possession of the 
field. Four days later the flag of England waved above 
the citadel of Quebec. 

During the summer of 1760, Montreal remained the 
last French stronghold in America. The Marquis de 
Vaudreuil, still governor, was there besieged by 
Amherst, Murray and Haviland and the English fleet. 
It held out for only a short time. On the 8th of Sep- 
tember, 1760, it too capitulated and New France was 
removed from the map for all time. 



CHAPTER XVI 
Effect Upon the Indians of the Lake Region 



THE treaty of Paris in 1763 put an end to 
the question whether Canada should be 
restored to France, as Breton and Nova 
Scotia had been previously restored. 
There was strong feeling on this ques- 
tion among the English colonies in America. A pow- 
erful party in England favored such restoration. But 
Pitt, though he had been out of ofEce since the death of 
George II and the accession of George III in 1760, vig- 
ously opposed it. He still had great influence and his 
councils prevailed. By the treaty the king of France 
renounced all pretensions to Nova Scotia, ceded Canada 
and its dependencies to England, together with Cape 
Breton and the islands and coasts in the vicinity of the 
river and Gulf of St. Lawrence. To avoid controversy 
a definite boundary line between the dominions of 
France and Great Britain on this continent east of the 
Mississippi river was described. This left to France 
a portion of Louisiana and adjacent coasts of the Gulf 
of Mexico. Lest she might be plundered of even 
this small remnant of her once vast possessions, she 
made haste to turn over her title to Spain. 

However, the victorious Amherst did not wait for the 
negotiations in the capitals of France and England, 
but proceeded to the full occupancy of the western posts 
which had been held by the French. Three days after 
the capitulation of Montreal he despatched Major 
Robert Rogers with a suitable force to move on to 
Detroit and take command of that post, as well as all 
others in the vicinity. In his order he is told to take 

24s 



246 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

with him one Joseph Powpao, alias La Fleur, an inhab- 
itant of Detroit, and to proceed to Niagara where the 
commanding oiEcer would deliver up to him Monsieur 
Gamelin, *Vho was made a prisoner at the reduction 
of said fort, and has continued there ever since, in order 
to conduct him, with the above mentioned Powpao, to 
their habitations at Detroit; where, upon taking the 
oath of allegiance to his most sacred majesty, whose 
subjects they are become by the capituhition of the 
8th inst, they shall be protected in the peaceable and 
quiet possession of their properties; and so long as they 
behave as becometh good and faithful subjects, shall 
partake of all other privileges and inmiunities granted 
unto them by the said capitulation." Major Rogers 
had as his officers Captain Brewer, Captain Wait, Lieut. 
Brehme, assistant engineer, Lieut. Davis of the royal 
artillery and about two hundred Royal Rangers. They 
embarked from Montreal in whale boats and moved 
up the river. Arriving at Niagara they were furnished 
with clothing blankets, shoes and other necessary sup- 
plies. Thence they proceeded to Presque Isle, the pres- 
ent site of the city of Erie. At this point the detach- 
ment waited while Rogers visited General Monkton 
at Pittsburgh. Here Rogers was reinforced by a detach- 
ment of Royal Americans, 6oth regiment of infantry, 
under Captain Campbell, who marched to Presque Isle. 
Captain Brewer was sent on overland to Detroit with a 
drove of forty oxen, protected by twenty Indian allies 
under Captain Monter. At the same time Captain 
Wait was sent bade to Niagara for a fresh supply of 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 247 

provisions and was instructed to coast along the north 
shore of Lake Erie and encamp near the mouth of the 
Detroit river. 

The English were now entering upon uncertain 
ground. To fight an organized army of well drilled 
troc^s under the protection of strong fortifications was 
without doubt a very serious matter. To penetrate an 
unknown country in which swarmed a horde of hostile 
savages, was a scarcely less serious undertaking. The 
Ottawas, Hurons, Pottawatomies, Wyandots who dwelt 
in the upper lake region were attached to the French by 
long association. Many of them were Christians 
through the influence of the French missionaries. They 
were accustomed to the ways of the French, and how- 
ever frequently the young and impetuous braves might 
go on the war path, and incidentally massacre a few 
whites, it seems clear that these tribes as a whole were 
genuinely loyal to the flag of France. Those untutored 
children of the forest knew nothing of the great games 
of nations in which kings and emperors are pawns, and 
in which empires change hands through the whims of a 
royal mistress or the blunders of an incompetent chief- 
tain. They did not wear their allegiance like a cloak to 
be changed with the fashion of the day. The flag over 
the fort at Detroit might give place to another with 
very different symbols, but this meant little in their 
understanding of things. Beside all this, they did not 
like the English who were proud and haughty in their 
bearing and lacked the suavity and easy good nature of 
the French. For nearly a generation the English had 



^48 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

been associated in their minds with the hateful savages 
of New York, the Iroquois, who had pursued and 
attacked them relentlessly, driven them from their 
homes, destroyed their crops, burned their wigwams and 
murdered their women and babes. Under such condi- 
tions it is not surprising that even the name English 
was a black beast to bring on a pallid fright. To put 
this hated race in mastery over them was a transfer of 
power very far from welcome. 

The approach of the English was known to the tribes. 
In fact, the rumors of it had been circulating through 
the forests and it may well be believed that the facts and 
their significance had been discussed in many a wigwam 
council. The native savage had some mental acuteness; 
he had a form of government and of tribe organization. 
He understood many things and some of the abler men 
of the tribes were gifted with a wonderful amount of 
shrewdness and cunning. One of the most remarkable 
of these was Pontiac, a chief of the Ottawas. He dwelt 
with his squaws and offspring on Peche Island, a small 
islet in Lake St. Clair, a short distance above the head of 
Detroit river. He was of noble form, commanding 
presence and proud demeanor. His courage was uncon- 
querable and his influenceover not only his own tribe but 
of the neighboring ones allied by community of interesr, 
was most profound. When Major Rogers arrived at 
the mouth of the Coyahoga river, the present site of 
Cleveland, on the 7th of Novemebr, 1760, he was met 
by a delegation of Ottawas who advised him to halt and 
await the arrival of Pontiac, who was the lord of the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 249 

country. The Indian chief soon put in an appearance 
and demanded to know of Rogers why he had pre- 
sumed to enter this country without permission, and 
what was his business. Rogers quietly informed him 
that the French had been defeated, and had surren- 
dered to the English, and that he had been sent hither 
by his commanding officer to take possession of Detroit. 
At the same time he informed Pontiac that the English 
had no hostile intent toward the Indian tribes, but pre- 
ferred to live in peaceful relations with them.* He 
assured the savage of the most friendly treatment. At 
the same time he said that the French military forces 
must be removed out of the country, as being an 
obstacle in the way of mutual peace and good will 
between the natives and the new masters. Pontiac 
advised the English officer to remain where he was 
until there should be opportunity to think these matters 
over. At the same time he volunteered offers of assist- 
ance if anything were wanted in the way of supplies 
which the country could afford. Rogers assured him 
that if anything were supplied it would be purchased 
in the usual way. The next morning Pontiac returned 
to the camp and a long conference was held in which it 
appeared that the Indian chief was satisfied with the 
statement made by the English officer of his purposes 
in invading the country. So far as appeared on the sur- 
face the dignity of Pontiac had been appeased and he 
was contented to live in amicable relations with the Eng- 



♦Rogcrs* Journals. Concise account of North America. 



250 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

lish. The calumet of peace was smoked. Pontlac very 
graciously offered assistance both to Captain Brewer in 
driving his oxen to Detroit and to Major Rogers in 
reaching his destination. He sent word to the Indian 
villages along the Lake Erie shore and at the mouth 
of the Detroit river that the English had his permis- 
sion to enter the country. 

On the 2 2d Rogers despatched a messenger, Lieuten- 
ant Brehme, with a note to Captain de Bellestre, com- 
manding at Detroit, informing him of the capitulation, 
of his orders from General Amherst to take possession 
of Detroit and the other posts of the district, and of the 
fact that he had for delivery to Captain Bellestre a let- 
ter from Governor Vaudreuil. While delaying at the 
mouth of the river to parley with the large number of 
Indians who had assembled there Rogers received 
through Monsieur Baby a letter from Bellestre in which 
he acknowledges receipt of Rogers' note, but says that 
having no interpreter he is not able to fully make it 
out. He asks that Vaudreuil's letter be forwarded to 
him and he will govern himself accordingly. There 
was some evidence that the Indians had been instigated 
by Bellestre to attack the English, or at least to make 
themselves as troublesome as possible. It was a cause of 
no small anxiety on the part of Rogers and his insig- 
nificant party, and it required no little diplomacy on his 
part to avoid an open rupture. He moved on by easy 
stages to the mouth of the Raisin, where he stopped 
for a day or two, and thence on up the river to a point 
within a mile of the fort. In the meantime corres- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 25 I 

pondence passed back and faith between the two officers, 
and it appeared that the Indians had been advised by 
die French commandant to arm themselves for self- 
protection, in case it should appear, as had been 
rumored, that the natives following in the wake of the 
English troops were bent on plunder. Soon after land- 
ing near the fort on the 29th of November a reply was 
received from Bellestre to the effect that he yielded to 
die commands of the English. Lieutenants Leffic and 
McCormick with a party of thirty-six Royal Americans 
were sent to take possession of the fort. The French 
garrison surrendered their arms and the French colors 
on the flag staff were run down and the English flag was 
raised amid the shouts of the seven hundred Indians 
gathered about. Whatever may have been the real 
sentiments of the savages they were shrewd enough to 
see that they were helpless to change the course of 
events, and that it was good policy for them to hail the 
rising sun. 

The French garrison were sent east as prisoners. The 
inhabitants were permitted to retain thdr farms and 
homes undisturbed, upon swearing all^iance to the 
British government. A detachment was sent to bring 
in the garrisons from forts Miami near the mouth of 
the Maumee, and Gatanois, on the Wabash, still farther 
south, and to occupy those small stockades. Rogers 
himself leaving Captain Campbell in charge at Detroit, 
set out by lake for Michilimackinac to take possession 
of that post. The season was so late and Lake Huron 
so rough and filled with ice that he was obliged to 



252 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

return. He contemplated an overland journey, but the 
Indians convinced him that this was impracticable with- 
out snow shoes. He was, therefore, forced to abandon 
until spring the occupancy of the forts at Michilimack- 
inac and Sault Ste Marie. At the end of the year he 
departed for Pittsburgh. The posts at St. Joseph, near 
the mouth of St. Joseph river, at Green bay, as well as 
those above named, remained in the hands of the French 
through the winter. Early in the following year a 
detachment of Royal Americans took possession of 
them, and so disappeared from Michigan soil the last 
trace of French domination. 

Though the military and civil control of the country 
had changed hands there was very little on the surface 
to indicate the fact. The French subjects for the most 
part took the oath of allegiance and remained at their 
homes. They continued to be good, pious Roman Cath- 
olics, of free and easy going habits, cultivated their 
farms, married and reared large families, died and slept 
peacefully with their fathers in St. Ann's churchyard. 
The English had now the fur trade in their own hands, 
but they employed the French agents. To save possible 
friction with the Indians and allay their suspicion of 
the designs of the English, King George issued a proc- 
lamation prohibiting the English governors from issu- 
ing grants of lands, except within certain prescribed 
limits. The English subjects were also forbidden to 
make purchases of the Indians, or settlements, with- 
out those bounds.* These regulations, however, were 



^Report on land claims in Michigan, by the land board. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 253 

not stricdy observed, with the result that the Michigan 
land board subsequently had many conflicting and com- 
plicated claims to unravel. Settlements had been made 
by the French along the margin of streams and lakes, 
the farms having a frontage of narrow width on the 
water and extending back a considerable distance. This 
was the character of the French farms along the Detroit 
river, along the Raisin at Monroe, the Huron, or the 
Clinton, in Macomb County. When the clash of arms 
between the English and French was ended the country 
settled down to a peaceful condition of affairs, for the 
most part. The English showed no disposition to 
extend their colonies in the west. The French were left 
in possession, undisturbed by fresh importations of an 
alien race, with new notions and habits and new ways 
of doing things. They got along peaceably with the 
savages. The latter appeared to have a wholesome 
regard for the military strength of the English, and 
were not disposed to test it or to provoke it too far. 

We have already seen what was the conduct^ of Pon- 
tiac when the English approached this region over 
which he claimed native jurisdiction. Though he put 
on a smooth face and affected to be reconciled to the 
situation, there is reason to believe that it was very 
far from being satisfactory to him. He had strong 
regard for the French who had always treated him 
with marked deference and respect. His personal pride 
and egotism were strong characteristics. His former 
masters had recognized them. His new masters treated 
him with contemptuous indifference. So far as he was 



254 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

personally concerned this was, perhaps, a small mat- 
ter. But it expressed a general attitude toward the sav- 
ages. When the French were in control they showed 
great liberality, supplying the surrounding tribes with 
guns, ammunition, clothing and various supplies as gra- 
tuities. The English adopted a contrary policy. They 
were inclined to parsimony in the way of gifts; the 
officers sold at exorbitant prices articles which the 
Indians found themselves obliged to buy. These cir- 
cumstances resulted in serious hardships. The savages 
were improvident to the last degree. When they were 
plentifully supplied they indulged themselves and took 
no thought of the morrow. When there was nothing 
to eat and nothing to wear they suffered the pangs of 
hunger and cold. It is not strange that this situation 
caused general discontent. The fur business was another 
grievance. It had fallen into the hands of a disreputa- 
ble class of traders who cheated the Indians right and 
left. Apparently each trader was bent only on making 
the most profit for himself, regardless of the interests of 
the trade or the rights of those with whom he dealt. 
The savage who was unskilled in the trickery and decep- 
tion practiced by such knaves, was the sufferer. So the 
Indians were plundered without mercy. Many traders 
were dissolute profligates who wrought havoc with the 
laws of morality and debauched the wives and daughters 
of the native, filled him up with cheap whisky and 
ruined his physical as well as his spiritual well being. 
The officers and soldiers of the garrisons showed a 
far different attitude toward the savages than had the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 255 

French officers and soldiers. Formerly when the native 
warriors and men of distinction came into the forts they 
were formally welcomed and received with flattering 
attention. Their peculiarities were overlooked and 
French suavity and politeness had great effect in pro- 
moting good will. Now the case was different. The 
Englishman had only contempt for the rude and repul- 
sive son of the forest, and he did not hesitate to show it. 
The savage may have been a distinguished chieftain 
of his tribe but when he came loafing around the fort 
and got himself in the way of some understrapper ser- 
geant or corporal he was incontinently kicked out and 
told to make himself scarce. Common soldiers were 
sometimes brutal and treated the natives with the very 
rudest and coarsest incivility. All these things had their 
effect in producing a state of feeling greatly to be 
deplored. 

Another matter which went a long way to confirm the 
dissatisfaction and feeling of apprehension among the 
Indians was the extent to which the country was filling 
up with white men. The untutored savage was shrewd 
enough to see that this meant the extinction of the forest 
animals upon which he had hitherto been dependent 
for his livelihood. The Indian's natural occupation was 
that of the huntsman. His living depended upon the 
chase. When the white men swarmed into the land, 
built forts, established towns, felled the forests, wild 
game must retreat before him. The Indian felt that this 
land was his own by divine right of first possession. He 
could not help seeing that the white man was steadily 



256 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

encroaching upon him and crowding him out of his own. 
The eastern tribes were naturally first to discover the 
effect of these movements of the whites. The Dela- 
wares and Shawanoes had been roused to a high state 
of indignation and rebellion. The Six Nations began 
to perceive that the white man was no friend of theirs, 
whether he be Englishman or Frenchman. So the feel- 
ing of discontent and unrest spread .through the forest. 
The tribes about the great lakes were inoculated by it. 
This state of mind was fostered and encouraged by the 
French, who still had great influence over the savages. 
The late masters of the country would, no doubt, be 
glad to see the Indians rise in successful rebellion and 
thus settle the ancient grudge which the French bore 
toward their conquerors. They helped to foment the 
resentment rankling in the Indian mind against the 
English. Though they might not hope to recover con- 
trol of Canada, it would be some satisfaction to see 
bloody vengeance wreaked by the savages upon the Eng- 
lish. 

So disturbed was the state of mind among the Indians 
that it became apparent early in the summer of 1761 
to Captain Campbell, then in command at Detroit, that 
trouble of a serious character was brewing. Forthwith 
he despatched messengers to General Amherst and to the 
commandants at Forts Pitt and Niagara warning them 
of the situation and the dangers which threatened. As 
a matter of fact the garrison at Michilimackinac was 
surprised by a ruse, and many were massacred, the rest 
being carried off into capitvity. A similar attack at 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 257 

Sault Ste. Marie was prevented by a timely warning 
and preparation to meet it. It now appeared that there 
was a wide conspiracy and a general understanding 
among the Indian tribes of all the northern country 
from the Atlantic seaboard to the Mississippi to rise in 
rebellion. By the timely discovery of Captain Camp- 
bell the plan was frustrated for the time being. Know- 
ing of the hostile designs of the savages the com- 
mandants of all the western forts were on the guard 
against surprises. Every movement was closely 
watched. In the summer of 1762 another plot was 
discovered among the tribes of the immediate vicinity 
of Detroit to capture the fort and slaughter the garri- 
son. Its fortunate discovery prevented this attack also. 
As an instance of the state of the popular mind in 
apprehension of direful events, it is related that in that 
same summer there was a rain which brought down 
from the sky sulphurous water of the color and consis- 
tency of ink, some of which being collected in bottles 
seemed to be quite suitable for correspondence.* There 
appears to have been no doubt of the fact, though pos- 
sibly greatly exaggerated. Its influence upon the super- 
stitious dread of the unlettered habitants was of more 
than passing importance. Signs and omens and dreams 
exercised a powerful force upon the minds of the sav- 
ages. Before setting out upon any important enterprise 
they indulged in incantations and diabolical formulas 
and called upon imaginary dieties for assistance. Just 



♦Carver. Travels through interior parts of North America. 



258 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

at this time there arose a great prophet among the 
Delawares who was imbued with the strong spirit of 
religious exaltation such as at various periods in the 
history of the world has produced remarkable and some- 
times far-reaching results. This prophet went up and 
down among the tribes repeating his lurid dreams. He 
warned his people that they had fallen from their high 
estate through the demoralization which followed their 
contact with the white race. There was much obvious 
truth in this. He counselled them to discard all the 
arts which they had gained from the whites, throw 
away their arms and clothing and return at once to 
their natural and simple mode of life. They must purify 
their natures if they would commend themselves to the 
great spirit. He was a powerful and vigorous preacher 
and a greatly effective one, too. His discourses pro- 
duced tremendous excitement and the Indians gathered 
from far and near in large encampments to listen to his 
exhortations. 

This crusade against the white race, preached so 
effectively at this psychological moment, was the spark 
which set fire to the tinder. The natives were in a 
tumult of excitement. They were inclined to follow 
the advice of the prophet and return to their primitive 
ways of living. Their resentment against the white man 
who had come into their country unasked, and who 
showed a disposition to stay and make himself at home, 
was still more inflamed. It was not long until this 
disturbed condition showed omnious signs, as has been 
already intimated. The threatened attack upon Detroit 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 259 

and other posts, the massacre at Michilimackinac, the 
scalping of traders and travelers by scattered parties 
here and there, were surface indications of the seething 
ferment in the minds of the savages. 



CHAPTER XVII 

PoNTiAc Plans to Wipe Out the English 
Invaders 



THE ferment in the camps of the savages 
was contagious. It was not confined to 
any locality, but appears to have been 
general throughout the country. It was 
at this critical time that the astute chief- 
tain, Pontiac, appeared upon the scene. But for him 
the tumult might have expended itself in a few impul- 
sive raids or disconnected attacks which would have 
been easily suppressed and without any very serious 
results. Mention has been already made of the cir- 
cumstance that Pontiac met Major Rogers on his way 
to Detroit and demanded to know by what right he 
presumed to enter the country without the permission 
of the lord thereof. His conduct on that occasion 
proved him to be a diplomat. With great dignity he 
asserted his authority as chief of the rightful owners 
of the land. He undertook to impress upon the invad- 
ers his assumption that they could come in only by suf- 
ferance. At the same time he yielded with apparent 
cheerfulness and allowed the English to pass on. It 
must have been plain to him that the time was not yet 
ripe to assume the offensive. The savages were not 
organized sufficiently to resist the well disciplined forces 
of the English army. To attack with a disorganized 
rabble meant sure defeat, and defeat under such cir- 
cumstances would very likely put an end to all future 
hope. Therefore Pontiac concealed the real state of 
his feelings and without making any hostile demonstra- 
tion he permitted the English to occupy Detroit. With 
great dissimulation he even aided their progress into 

263 



264 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the country and thus deceived them as to his sentiments 
and purposes. 

Pontiac was at this time about fifty years of age. As 
chief he appears to have enjoyed the confidence and 
esteem of all the Algonquin tribes. He was possessed 
of remarkable natural gifts of mind, which accounts 
for his influence over his savage tribesmen. He had 
sufficient force and energy, coupled with shrewdness 
and knowledge of the springs of human action, to main- 
tain his ascendency and organize a combination, the 
most remarkable in the annals of the Indian race in 
America. He had lived in a contented state under 
French domination. He led a squad of his followers in 
support of the French in the attack upon Braddock 
near Duquesne. But when the English came into his 
territory his eyes were opened to the inevitable results 
of this influx of foreigners. He had the intelligence to 
observe the course of events and the foresight to per- 
ceive that if the tendency were not checked the day of 
the native Indian in the land was drawing to a close. 
Therefore he resolved to organize all the tribes in a 
combination to wipe out the English and drive them 
from the country once and for all. He sent out ambas- 
sadors to all the tribes north of the Ohio, into Canada 
to the Ottawa region and far to the southward along the 
Mississippi. They went from village to village and 
talked with the head men and warrior chiefs. They met 
with a cordial reception and found the sentiment among 
' the savages to be the same as that of Pontiac and the 
Ottawas. Nearly all the tribes of Algonquin stock 




^ 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 265 

were united in the plan to make universal war upon the 
English. These comprised the Pottawatomies, the 
Wyandottes, the tribes of the lower Mississippi, and the 
Iroquois tribe of Senecas of western New York. 

So cautiously was this campaign of a universal upris- 
ing against the English conducted that no information 
of it leaked out. The American savage was reticent 
and reserved naturally. He was capable of dissimula- 
tion. He kept his own counsel and depended largely for 
success upon taking the enemy off his guard. This was 
his characteristic method of warfare. In conflicts with 
his own race he gathered his forces secretly and 
descended upon the camp of his antagonist when the 
latter had no suspicion of his whereabouts. Though 
there were white men constantly moving about among 
the tribes, though the traders went among them buying 
furs and selling merchandise, no word was whispered 
to any one of them by friend or foe of the conspiracy 
which was on foot. The intention of the savages was 
to have a general uprising in 1762, when all the Eng- 
lish posts at Niagara, Fort Pitt, Detroit and elsewhere 
should be simultaneously attacked, their garrisons mas- 
sacred and the white men generally put to the scalping 
knife or driven out of the country. A drunken half- 
breed boasted that he would soon decorate his hunting 
frock with English hair. Evidences of unusual commo- 
tion in the villages aroused the suspicion of the whites. 
The commanding officers of all the forts were cautioned 
to exercise the greatest watchfulness. These timely pre- 
cautions had the effect to postpone the outbreak. The 



266 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

wily savages protested that it was all a mistake, that 
only some miserable, good-for-nothing tribe was trying 
to make trouble, while the tribes generally had only the 
most ardent affection for the English and wished to live 
with them in peace and harmony. 

By such tactics the suspicions of the English were 
quieted, while the plot was not frustrated but only post- 
poned. It is proof of the wonderful skill and force of 
character of Pontiac that he was able to unite so many 
diverse and jealous interests in a scheme of such mag- 
nitude and involving so tremendous consequences. There 
had never before in the history of the red race in Amer- 
ica, except in the single case of the Iroquois, been any 
confederation which was more than a rope of sand. 
There were cases in which different tribes united upon 
an enterprise and held together to carry it into execu- 
tion. It was a severe test of Pontiac's combination that 
it was able to stand against a failure of instant move- 
ment and a delay which dragged through more than 
fourteen months. Meantime the forests were alive with 
active war parties who went up and down encouraging 
the spirit of revenge and stimulating the inflamed pas- 
sions of the warriors. Such men had no conception of 
discipline or self restraint. The native had never been 
taught to submit his will to the control of another. He 
loved individual freedom. He was impatient of subor- 
dination. Hence there was never an Indian army in the 
proper sense of the word. The French were able to 
command the services of Indian allies in many affairs, 
and even the English had troops of savages to help 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 267 

them in engagements against similar forces on the other 
side. But these allies were not amenable to military dis- 
cipline and generally fought Indian fashion, without or- 
der or restraint, in a sort of go-as-you-please method. 
The organization which Pontiac was able to effect prob- 
ably came nearest to being an Indian army of any ever 
known. That he was able to attack as strongly a forti- 
fied place as Detroit and maintain a state of siege 
against it for a year speaks strongly for his superior gen- 
ius. 

By the treaty of Paris in 1763 the Valley of the Ohio 
and adjacent parts were reserved as an Indian domain 
of which the natives were to have exclusive possession 
and control. If this fact had been anticipated or could 
•even now be made generally known the situation might 
have been radically changed. The Indians had been ir- 
ritated by the aggressiveness of the English. The course 
of events seemed to show the intention of these people 
to drive the natives out of the country and possess it for 
themselves. The benevolent intentions of the distin- 
guished gentlemen who formulated the treaty in the 
French capital never came to the ears of the dwellers in 
the American forests, or if they did, they had no mean- 
ing within savage comprehension. A proclamation was 
issued in October of that year strictly prohibiting Eng- 
lish settlements within the reservation. Practically this 
came too late to have any effect whatever on the attitude 
of the Indians. They were already on the war path, 
butchering, burning, sacking, destroying. The luckless 
trader or traveler caught in the woods was murdered off- 



268 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

hand. The families living in exposed frontier locations 
were scalped, their cattle run oS, their dwellings sacked 
and burned. The rumors of these depredations quickly 
spread. Terror-stricken families fled from their homes 
to the refuge of the fortified posts. Everywhere there 
was a frenzy of apprehension, of excitement. Those 
who lived near the forts felt little security. Even the 
garrisons themselves were compelled to exercise the 
greatest watchfulness to guard against surprise, to 
suspect treachery in every move and to trust no protes- 
tations of friendliness on the part of any savage. 

Pontiac called a council of his warriors. This was held 
at an appointed spot on the banks of the River Ecorces, 
a short distance below Detroit. Thither came all the 
tribes until there was an immense village of their wig- 
wams. On the 27th of April, 1763, all the warriors 
were summoned and Pontiac addressed them in his most 
impassioned manner. An account of this council writ- 
ten by a priest of Detroit at the time has been pre- 
served in the archives of the State Historical Society. 
From contemporary evidence it is believed to be trust- 
worthy. He reports Pontiac as saying: "It is import- 
ant, my brothers, that we should exterminate from our 
land this nation, whose only object is our death. You 
must all be sensible as well as myself that we can no 
longer supply our wants in the way we were accustomed 
to do with our fathers, the French. They sell us their 
goods at double the prices the French made us pay, and 
yet their merchandise is good for nothing. Neither will 
they let us have them on credit, as our brothers, the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 269 

French, used to do. When I visit the English chief and 
inform him of the death of any of our comrades, instead 
of lamenting, as our brothers, the French, used to do, 
they make game of us. If I ask him for anything for 
our sick, he refuses and tells us that he does not want 
us, from which it is apparent he seeks our death. We 
must, therefore, in return, destroy them without delay. 
There is nothing to prevent us. There are but few of 
them and we shall easily overcome them. Why should 
we not attack them? Are we not men? . . . 
What do you fear? The time has arrived. . . . 
Let us strike. Should there be any French to take their 
part, let us strike them as we do the English. Remem- 
ber what the Giver of Life desired our brother, the 
Delaware, to do. This regards us as much as it does 
them. . . . There is no longer any time to lose, 
and when the English shall be defeated, we will stop the 
way so that no more shall return upon our lands." 
No doubt there were other speechtes, but the record 
docs not give them. When the council broke up it was 
agreed on all hands that an attack should be made upon 
the fort and plans were laid to carry this program into 
effect. 

The fort at Detroit was at that time garrisoned by 
about three hundred regulars under the command of 
Major Henry Gladwin. Anticipating that there was 
likely to be trouble of a serious nature the commandant 
had already sent notice to General Amherst at New 
York of the threatening situation and asked for rein- 
forcements. There were two small armed schooners in 



270 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the service of the English, the Beaver and the Gladwin, 
and one of these was despatched to Niagara for supplies 
and munitions. But Niagara was threatened, as well as 
Detroit. In fact all the English posts in the west were 
simultaneously attacked. The little garrison at Fort 
St. Joseph, at the mouth of the St. Joseph river on Lake 
Michigan, was captured and some of the officers and sol- 
diers were brought to Detroit for exchange. At Michi- 
limackinac the fort quickly fell into the hands of the In- 
dians. The fort near the mouth of the Maumee was cap- 
tured and partially destroyed. Detroit alone was able 
to maintain a stubborn resistance. 

Here Pontiac undertook to gain possession of the fort 
by strategy. He had planned to have a council between 
the English officers and a number of his braves. During 
this council at a given signal the Indians were to make 
an attack with the guns which they had concealed under 
their blankets. Having murdered the officers the alarm 
was to be given and the Indians who had swarmed into 
the fort were to massacre the garrison and so gain com- 
plete control of the fort. Fortunately Gladwin had re- 
ceived warning the previous night of the plan and so had 
made every preparation to defeat it. The wife of St. 
Aubin, one of the principal settlers, had visited the Ot- 
tawa camp to buy venison and while there observed that 
the warriors were busy filing off their gun barrels so as 
to make them much shorter. She did not know that the 
purpose of this was to enable them to conceal these 
weapons under their blankets, but it struck her as a very 
unusual and suspicious proceeding. She discussed it 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 27 1 

with her neighbors and knowledge of the singular cir- 
cumstance soon became public property. 

There is a romantic story believed to have some foun- 
dation in fact, that Gladwin was told of the diabolical 
plot by a squaw who had come to his quarters to deliver 
a pair of moccasinswhich she had made upon his order.* 
She felt enough personal interest in him to try to save his 
life and though she did not know the details of the plan 
she was fully aware that a scheme was on foot to capture 
the fort by treachery. Being thus forewarned Gladwin 
ordered all his troops under arms and every man was on 
the alert against surprise. Pontiac came to the council 
with sixty of his chiefs, while his warriors swarmed 
through the Pottawatomie and Ottawa camps just out- 
side the palisades. The chief and his warriors were ad- 
mitted to the fort and they could not help seeing that on 
every side the troops were in arms and lined up ready 
for action. As the party seated themselves in the council 
house he also noticed that not only was every officer 
armed with sword but that each wore a brace of heavy 
pistols in his belt. The savages could not fail to see that 
the Englishmen could not be taken off their guard. Pon- 
tiac indulged in the usual oratorial effort in which he 
reiterated his professions of friendship for the English. 
Gladwin had arranged that while this performance was 
going on within doors there should be rolling of drums 
and a great clatter of arms just outside. This rude in- 
terruption and the unexpected look of things so discon- 



♦Carvcr. Travels through the interior parts of North America, 



272 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

certed Pontiac that he failed to give the signal to his 
companions to rise up and attack the Englishmen. When 
quiet had been restored Gladwin replied to the speech of 
Pontiac that the savages might be assured of the friend- 
ship of the English so long as they behaved themselves 
in a peaceful and orderly manner. But he said in the 
most emphatic phrases that vengeance would surely 
overtake them if they should assume the aggressive. 
Gladwin strongly intimated his suspicions of the treach- 
ery of the savage warriors and exposed their concealed 
guns, very greatly to their chagrin. The council came 
quickly to an end and the warriors slunk away. During 
this conference the gates of the fort had been kept 
locked to prevent any sudden inrush of the savages. 
Now they were swung open and the baffled chieftain was 
allowed to depart. 

In the opinion of many this was mistaken lenity or 
the part of Gladwin. If he had made Pontiac or even a 
half dozen of his chief warriors prisoners, or held them 
as hostages for the good behavior of the savages the ef- 
fect might have been beneficial. But it was the evident 
desire of Gladwin to avoid an open rupture. He knew 
the overwhelming numbers of the savages, the weak con- 
dition of his defences and the fact that reinforcements 
could not reach him for several weeks. He preferred 
to gain time, at least. Pontiac attributed his conduct 
to cowardice and was more belligerent than before. He 
called a council of his followers in the Pottawotamie vil- 
lage and the war spirit was roused to a still greater inten- 
sity. He evidently still had h6pe to trick his adversary 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 273 

into believing him friendly. The next day Pontiac with 
three of his chiefs came to the fort and assured Gladwin 
that his intentions were all peaceful and he then offered 
to smoke the pipe of peace. Leaving the pipe in the 
hands of Captain Campbell he withdrew. 

The following morning, Monday, May 9th, the sav- 
ages suddenly swarmed in great numbers on the com- 
mons behind the fort. They were decorated with war 
paint, and yelling and leaping and brandishing their tom- 
ahawks they moved toward the fort. As they ap- 
proached Pontiac himself advanced from the multitude 
to the gate of the fort which was close barred and 
locked. He demanded to be admitted. Gladwin re- 
plied that he would admit Pontiac himself but not his 
followers. He said in terms too plain to be misunder- 
stood that however much he might respect Pontiac and 
his official position he had no respect whatever for the 
rabble he led. Then Pontiac turned abruptly from the 
gate and with a cry for revenge he rushed to his followers 
who lay flat upon the ground just beyond gunshot. Wav- 
ing his arms and exhorting them in the most fantastic 
manner he stirred them to action and leaping and yelling 
they ran to the dwellings of the English outside the pal- 
isades and began scalping and tomahawking the helpless 
women and children. From that time forward there was 
bloody work in and about the little settlement and in its 
neighboring forests. 



MS 



CHAPTER XVIII 
Complete Defeat of the Savages 



ALL the English outside the fort were mur- 
dered. The French were not molested. 
It has been said that Pontiac did not ap- 
prove these assassinations but was pow- 
erless to prevent them. A Frenchman 
named Desnoyers came down the river in a canoe and 
landing at the fort reported that two Englishmen, Sir 
Robert Davers and Captain Robertson, with a boat's 
crew, who had been sent to St. Clair Flats to discover 
a passage for a schooner upward bound, had been mur- 
dered; also that a powerful band of Ojibwas from Sagi- 
naw had joined the forces of Pontiac. An Englishman 
living on the island, then called He au Cochon, or Hog 
Island, in charge of a herd of cattle belonging to the 
government and pastured there, was scalped and the 
cattle were killed. The entire Ottawa camp was trans- 
- ferred to a point on the high bank of the river just above 
the mouth of Parent's creek, afterward called Bloody 
Run. Here Pontiac and his warriors indulged in a war 
dance and clamored for vengeance upon the English. 
All the English who had taken refuge in the fort were 
impressed into the military service. The utmost vigi- 
lance was exercised and every precaution was taken to 
prevent surprise. 

Early next morning the attack upon the fort was be- 
gun with all the savage forces combined, including the 
Ottawas, Pottawatomies, Wyandots and Ojibwas. They 
pelted a rain of bullets against the stockade and an as- 
sault was momentarily expected. The savages concealed 
themselves behind trees, fences, outbuildings, or lay flat 

277 



278 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

upon the ground, protected by hillocks or logs. They 
aimed at the loopholes, but their firing had Utde effect. 
The shooting was returned from the fort with effective 
results, so far as could be known. A cannon was brought 
into service and red-hot slugs of iron were poured into 
the wooden buildings in which the savages had con- 
cealed themselves. These buildings were soon in flames 
driving the warriors into the open where they were eas- 
ily picked off by the sharpshooters in the fort. The fir- 
ing was kept up for about six hours and then the attack- 
ing party withdrew. The losses upon the Indian side 
were not definitely known. Five men in the fort had 
been wounded, none fatally. La Butte, a French inter- 
preter who was on friendly terms with the Indians, was 
sent by Gladwin to the camp of Pontiac to express the 
surprise of the commandant at the attack and to say that 
he would be glad to treat with the chieftain for any re^ 
dress of real grievances. Two old French residents, 
Chapoton and Godefroy, volunteered to accompany the 
messenger and aid in arranging an understanding. The 
envoys were received by Pontiac with apparent cordial- 
ity. He said little or nothing, but from his manner La 
Butte was convinced that he was not implacable. Upon 
his return to the fort he suggested that Major Camp- 
bell, second in command to Gladwin who was believed 
to have the good-will of the savages, should be sent to 
their camp to continue the negotiations. Campbell was 
quite willing to go, though Gladwin suspected treachery. 
He set out, however, accompanied by Lieutenant Mc- 
Dougall, a junior officer, with La Butte and a number of 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 279 

Frenchmen. They arrived at the camp of Pontiac which 
they found in a state of great turmoil and excitement. 
Major Campbell addressed the chief in the most con- 
ciliatory terms. He was listened to in silence, but no 
response was made. Time passed and all sat silent until 
Campbell began to feel uneasy at the aspect of things. 
At length he arose and expressed his intention to return 
to the fort. Thereupon Pontiac told him that he would 
stay with his red brothers as a prisoner. Several of the 
warriors made a movement to murder him on the spot. 
But this Pontiac prevented. 

Campbell and McDougall were conveyed to the 
house of a Frenchman named Meloche near the camp, 
where they were given comfortable quarters and de- 
tained as prisoners. The following day Pontiac took 
measures to prevent any outside relief to the beleaguered 
garrison. He stationed pickets along the river below 
the fort and in the outskirts of the adjoining woods to 
waylay and murder any 1 Englishman who might ap- 
proach from any direction. These things being done the 
attack upon the fort was renewed. For many days the 
attacks were kept up from morning to night and the gar- 
rison was compelled to be on constant watch day and 
night, momentarily expecting attack in force and well 
knowing that the palisades could not withstand a sharp 
and determined assault. Many of the Englishmen coun- 
selled the abandonment of the fort and embarking at 
once for Niagara. Gladwin would not listen to this sug- 
gestion. Though the situation was desperate and in the 
event of capture the life of every man was forfeited, he 



280 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

bravely insisted on holding on and awaiting reinforce^ 
ments which were then believed to be on the way. Dur- 
ing intervals between the more active demonstrations, 
parties sallied out from the f(Ht and cut down orchards 
and destroyed fences and out-buildings behind which the 
savages lurked. Thus their hiding places were demol- 
ished and the ground was swept clean for a considerable 
distance from the stockade. The two armed vessels in the 
river covered at close range the grounds and kept the In- 
dians from attacking on that side. 

Early during hostilities Pontiac formally demanded 
the surrender of the fort, accompanying his demand 
with the offer to permit all the garrison to retire upon 
the vessels in the harbor, and offering as the alternative 
the well known treatment which the Indians accord their 
captives in war. To this Gladwin sent a defiant nega- 
tive. The attacks were renewed with increased vim- 
lance. The savages were reinforced by one hundred 
and fifty Ojibwas from Grand River. These fresh ar- 
rivals were eager for the fray while the men in the fort 
were nearly exhausted with their ceaseless vigilance. For 
weeks, in all kinds of weather, the soldiers walked guard 
and slept upon the ramparts.* To make the situation 
worse, the supply of provisions was running short. In 
fact, the garrison must have been completely starved 
out, but for the assistance of the French, especially of 
Mr. Baby and others living upon the opposite side of the 
river, who under cover of night brought over in boats 



^Rogers. Journal of the siege of Detroit 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 28 1 

beef, pork and other supplies, without the knowledge of 
the savages. The latter on their own part were begin- 
ning to feel the pinch of hunger. An immense army had 
been gathered and in the camp was a great horde of 
women and children, so there were many mouths to feed. 
This army had no organized commissary. It lived on the 
country. The French farmers up and down the river 
felt the effects. The savages made free with their cattle, 
pigs, chickens, ravaged their fields and gardens, and 
wasted and destroyed as much as they used. Thereupon 
the farmers sent a delegation to Pontiac to protest 
against the outrage. The council was hdd at the house 
of Mr. Meloche, where Campbell and McDougall were 
still detained as prisoners. To their complaints Pontiac 
replied that doubtless some of the injuries complained 
of were committed by his young men who did not real- 
ize what they were doing, but he reminded his friends 
that the war of extermination which he was waging 
against the English was as much in their interests as his 
own; that the movements of an army were necessarily 
more or less destructive to the region which it occupied 
and through which it must move. He said he only asked 
for provisions for himself and his men. These they could 
well afford to supply, since it would be to their interests 
in the end. Pontiac took measures to stop marauding. 
He visited the various farms and parcelled out the 
quantity which he estimated each was capable of supply- 
ing. For these supplies he issued in payment prcnnis- 
sory notes written upon birch bark and signed with his 
totem, the figure of an otter. 



282 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

About the middle of May, Lieutenant Cuylcr left 
Fort Niagara with ninety-six men and a quantity of pro- 
visions and ammunition for DetrcMt. They had no 
knowledge of the terrible situation at the point of their 
destination. So they proceeded deliberately, coasting 
along the north shore of Lake Erie. Two weeks later 
they landed one evening at Point Pelee, a short distance 
below the mouth of Detroit river, and prepared to en- 
camp for the night. Scarcely had they landed and drawn 
up their boats when they were attacked by a party of 
Wyandots who had been sent thither by Pontiac to in- 
tercept any such relieving parties. The Englishmen were 
all killed, put to flight or captured. Cuyler himself es- 
caped and made his way back to Niagara. The savages 
took possession of the captured boats and supplies and 
with about forty prisoners made thdr way to Detroit. 
The men of the Tittle garrison were delighted when they 
saw the approaching boats, believing that relief at last 
was near. What was their horror when they found that 
the boats were manned by Indians. The boats moved 
on up to Pontiac's camp, where the supplies were wel- 
come and where the whiskey which constituted part of 
the same was greedily swallowed. All the prisoners 
were tortured and butchered as part of the festivities of 
the occasion, and some of them were cooked and eaten 
by the drunken savages. Some were shot full of arrows 
and their bodies were thrown into the river. These 
floated down past the fort and horrified the s<Jdiers who 
saw a possibly similar fate in store for themselves. Just 
at this time also came the news that the fort at Sandusky 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 283 

had been captured by the Wyandots and all the garrison 
slaughtered. Of all the scattered posts west of Niagara 
and Pittsburgh, Detroit alone had been able to maintain 
itself. It was at this time also that Gladwin learned of 
the capture of Fort St. Joseph. This post was under 
the command of Ensign Schlosser and fourteen men. 
The Pottawatomies sent from Detroit by Pontiac 
slaughtered all these men except the ensign and two oth- 
ers whom they brought to Detroit to be exchanged for 
some of their tribe held by Gladwin. 

The garrison at Detroit numbered scarcely three hun- 
dred all told. Pontiac is reported to have had eight hun- 
dred and twenty warriors, of whom two hundred and fif- 
ty were Ottawas, one hundred and fifty Pottawatomies, 
fifty Wyandots and three hundred and seventy Ojib- 
was.* The last mentioned were gathered mostly from 
the interior of the peninsula. The estimate is made that, 
with the wives and children of the warriors, there must 
have been fully three thousand savages in the camps 
about the fort. It was at this time that the schooner 
Gladwin which had been sent to Niagara to hurry for- 
ward men and supplies returned to Detroit. She escaped 
the fate of Lieutenant Cuyler and his men, and though 
she was repeatedly attacked and was compelled to fight 
her way through the narrow channels among the islands 
down the river, she finally succeeded in reaching the fort 
in safety. She brought much needed reinforcements, as 
wcM as fresh supplies of ammunition and provisions. 



♦Parkman. Conspiracy of Pontiac. 



284 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

This was near the end of June. Pontiac made another 
effort to frighten Gladwin into surrender by telling him 
of the expected early arrival of heavy reinforcements. 
The Indian chief then undertook to secure the active co- 
operation of the French residents. He called a council 
of them to which many came. He made a speech in 
which he tried to play on their prejudices against the 
English. To offset his harangue, one of the Frenchmen 
displayed the articles of capitulation of Montreal, which 
showed that Detroit had been included in the surrender, 
and that there was no possible further hope of assistance 
from France. Nevertheless, some of the French and 
half breed coureurs de hots and adventurers joined the 
standard of Pontiac, though the better class of French 
citizens held entirely aloof from giving him any encour- 
agement. The savages, with the assistance of their new 
allies undertook under the cover of darkness, to con- 
struct entrenchments near the fort. When these works 
were discovered in the morning. Lieutenant Hay with a 
party sallied forth and dislodged the enemy. The 
French allies fled precipitately. The savages held their 
ground and in the melee two of them were killed. Short- 
ly after this affair a white man was seen running toward 
the fort pursued by Indians. He was rescued and proved 
to be Ensign Paully, who had been in command at San- 
dusky and who had been brought to Detroit a prisoner. 
By some strange caprice his life was saved and he had 
now made good his escape. He reported that Captain 
Campell, who had been detained a prisoner at Meloche's 
house had been killed by an Ojibwa chief, the father of 




ROBERT ROGERS 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 285 

one of the t^'O savages killed in the attack upon the en- 
trenchments. Lieutenant McDougall, who was taken a 
prisoner at the same time with Captain Campbell, had 
previously found means to escape, or he too would 
doubtless have fallen a victim to the rage of the savage. 
Late in July the garrison was cheered by the arrival 
of Captain Dalzell with twenty-two barges bearing two 
hundred and eighty men with several cannon and an 
abundant supply of provisions and ammunition. The 
men comprised detachments from the Fifty-fifth and 
Eightieth regulars and twenty Independent Rangers un- 
der command of Major Rogers. The party was at- 
tacked by the Indians from the shore just below the fort 
and fifteen of the soldiers were killed or wounded. The 
barracks in the fort could not accommodate these fresh 
troops and they were quartered upon the inhabitants of 
the town. The day after their arrival Captain Dalzell 
held a conference with Major Gladwin and proposed an 
attack in force upon Pontiac's camp. This camp had 
now been removed from near the mouth of Parent's 
Creek to a marsh some two or three miles above. The 
plans of the English officer had not been kept entirely 
secret and coming to the knowledge of some of the 
French were betrayed to Pontiac. At two o'clock on 
the morning of July 31st the detachment two hundred 
and fifty strong set out for the camp. They moved along 
the road which ran parallel with the river a short dis- 
tance from the shore. Two large batteaux with mounted 
guns moved up to the river simultaneously. Unsuspic- 
ious of the fact, the English marched under the observa- 



286 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

tion of savages who spied upon them from behind 
bushes and fences by the roadside. No sooner had the 
head of the detachment passed over the narrow bridge 
across Parent's Creek than it was met full in the face by 
a blaze of musketry from the forces of Pontiac which 
had entrenched themselves on the rising ground just be- 
yond. Scores of the English fell and the whole column 
recoiled under the shock of the unexpected attack. Dal- 
zell rushed to the front to lead his men to an attack upon 
the breastworks. But the savages after firing did not 
fight in a compact body. They scattered and from be- 
hind trees, wood piles, outbuildings, poured a galling 
fusilade into the ranks of the bewildered English, who 
in the darkness could not discover the whereabouts of 
the foe. Anticipating that the savages were organizing 
to cut off their retreat the English faced about and in 
good order began to retrace their steps. The column 
was protected somewhat by the guns on the batteaux 
which moved up abreast. But the savages concealed 
themselves behind bams and in some cases in houses 
which they forcibly entered and from the windows of 
which they fired upon the retreating troops. Captain 
Dalzell was wounded in the first attack and afterward 
killed on the retreat. His body was recovered in a hor- 
ribly mutilated condition and was brought to the fort by 
a Mr. 'Campau. Other officers killed were Captain 
Gray, Lieutenants Luke and Brown; there were fifty- 
seven rank and file either killed or wounded. The rem- 
nant of the command made good their escape into the 
fort. A writer in the Annual Register for 1763, speak- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 287 

ing of this engagement says: ^'Although in European 
warfare it would be deemed a mere skirmish, yet in a 
conflict with American savages it rises to the importance 
of a pitched battle ; since these people being thinly scat- 
tered over a great extent of country arc accustomed to 
conduct their warfare by detail, and never take the field 
in any great force." From that time Parent's Creek has 
been called Bloody Run. 

Pontiac was greatly elated over this affair. He sent 
out runners to inform the savages everywhere of his suc- 
cess, with the result that many others flocked to his 
standard. But in spite of it the English kept up good 
spirits. The strengthening of the garrison was a great 
relief. It was not now necessary for every man to be 
on constant duty. It had become evident that there was 
no longer danger of combined and desperate assault on 
the works, which had been so greatly dreaded. The 
fort could not long have withstood European soldiers. 
But the Indian knew nothing of such tactics. It had 
been his custom to act independently, to shoot from am- 
bush, to avoid exposing himself in the open. Such a 
thing as marching in a body in the face of fire to assault 
a fortified position was wholly inconceivable to him. He 
could never be brought to do it, though Pontiac be- 
sought his French allies to show his people how the 
thing was done. When the English were fully convinced 
of this they breathed easier. They had only to watch 
against surprise and treachery. 

The desultory shooting and skirmishing went on 
without event of importance until September. Then the 



288 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

schooner Gladwin returning from Niagara was at- 
tacked in the river at night and a most desperate fight 
ensued. The savages were driven off, however, with a 
loss of fifteen killed and as many more wounded. The 
schooner lost her captain and four of the crew. The men 
who so bravely defended the ship were later on re- 
warded with medals of honor. Shortly afterwards came 
rumors of the approach of Major Wilkins with rein- 
forcements and this led the savages to relax their war- 
like plans. Accordingly the great chief of the Mis- 
sissaugas visited the fort and made overtures of peace to 
Gladwin. The latter declined to treat but granted an 
armistice of which he took prompt advantage to fully 
provision the fort for the winter. In November came 
news that Wilkins' detachment had been overwhelmed 
by a storm on the lake; the boats were wrecked and all 
the supplies and ammunition were lost, while seventy of 
the men perished. The Indians departed for their win- 
ter hunt. Pontiac retired to his camp on the Maumee 
and Detroit was left to enjoy a season of undisturbed 
repose. In the spring hostilities were renewed, but in a 
desultory sort of way. It was not safe for an English- 
man to wander far from the fort or go into the forest 
in search of game. He was in great danger of being 
shot or scalped, so numerous and belligerent were the 
savages. ' 

Thus matters moved along until midsummer, when a 
new policy was entered upon. Sir William Johnson and 
his deputy, George Croghan, addressed to the British 
Lords of Trade a memorial suggesting a course of pro- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 289 

ccdure intended to conciliate the Indian tribes and estab- 
lish settled peace. This plan was taken up by the British 
government and put into execution. It contemplated a 
treaty with each of the separate tribes by which, for suit- 
able compensation, they would agree to alienate their ti- 
tle to certain lands which could then be thrown open to 
actual settlement by whites. Before this could be car- 
ried into effect, however, it was essential to subdue the 
hostile tribes by force of arms. For this purpose two 
armies were raised. The first was placed under the 
command of Colonel Bouquet with orders to proceed to 
Fort Pitt and from that as a base of operations to chas- 
tise the adjacent tribes. The second army was given in 
charge of Colonel Bradstreet to ascend the lakes and 
subjugate the savages at Detroit and beyond. He ar- 
rived at Detroit near the end of August and never was 
relief more cordially welcomed. For fifteen months the 
beleagured garrison had suffered untold hardships and 
privations. It was now relieved and the new army took 
its place on the ramparts. Negotiations were at once 
opened with the various tribes. Councils were held and 
moderation and conciliation characterised all their pro- 
ceedings. The savages had been thoroughly impressed 
with the idea that there was to be no trifling; that they 
must acknowledge the sovereignty of the king of Eng- 
land. The last glimmer of hope of the restoration of 
the power of France had faded. The tribes came in and 
signed the treaty and thereafter the king of England, in- 
stead of the king of France, was the acknowledged fath- 

\-19 



290 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

er, and by the same token all E)nglishmen became broth- 
ers. 

This business having been satisfactorily disposed iof, 
Captain Howard was despatched to take possession of 
Michilimackinac, Sault Ste Marie and Green Bay. Cap- 
tain Morris was sent to recapture Fort Miami, but 
found the Indians of the neighborhood so hostile that he 
thought it prudent to return to Detroit. Bradstreet de- 
parted to deal with the Indians of Sandusky and other 
localities. Now for the first time since the cession of 
this region to the English, Detroit and the lake posts 
enjoyed the luxury of peace. Pontiac found his allies 
could no longer be held in line. They deserted him to 
make terms with his old enemy, the English. He disap- 
peared completely from view for a time and we next 
hear of him at St. Lx>uis where he was the guest of some 
of his old friends of the days of Duquesne and Brad- 
dock. While there in 1769 he crossed the river to Ca- 
hokia, where the Indians were indulging in some sort of 
festivities, to see what was going on. He joined in the 
festivities and as whiskey played so large part in the 
luxuries of the occasion, a drunken orgic soon followed 
in which Pontiac was as deeply involved as any. The 
natural sequence was a quarrel, and the next morning 
Pontiac was found in the neighboring wood with a tom- 
ahawk buried in his brain. 

When Gladwin was relieved of his command at De- 
troit he retired for a much-needed rest and visited Eng- 
land where he was presented to George III who compli- 
mented him highly for his gallant defense of his post 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 29 1 

against the long siege. Military opinion coincides with 
the complimentary sentiments of the king. It was one 
of the most notable achievements in the annals of the 
country and had inestimable influence in fixing for all 
time the sovereignty of the white race in the lake region. 
It is shameful that the name of Gladwin is not better 
known in Michigan. It is attached to a county, but be- 
yond that it nowhere appears in the geography of the 
land. He was a brave and wise commander. He de^ 
serves to be remembered in all the ways in which poster- 
ity honors those who have rendered conspicuous service 
to their country. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Progress of the Colony Under the Improved 
Conditions 



WHEN the English government tt- 
sumed control over the possessions ac- 
quired from France in America they 
were divided into four separate dis* 
tricts. That with which we arc deal- 
ing was known as Quebec, with headquarters in the city 
of that name. The western limit of this district was at 
Lake Nipissing, beyond which there were at that time 
no settlements. The Hudson's Bay Company had se- 
curely established its authority in the country which it' 
occupied. It was industriously engaged in developing 
the trade in the most profitable and successful manner. 
Following closely the end of French control, the Eng- 
lish were quick to seize upon the opportunities for traf- 
fic. English and Dutch traders flocked in from Albany. 
They employed the French wood rangers and coureurs 
be dots who hiad had life-long experience in dealing with 
the Indians for peltries. The English placed no restric- 
tions upon the trade, as had the French. Passes to go 
into the country were granted as a matter of course to all 
who could give reasonable security for observing estab-^ 
lished regulations. Controversies had arisen between 
the Hudson's Bay Company and the Northwest Com- 
pany, as to the boundary line between the two, which 
was not clearly defined, and some friction developed in 
consequence. This trouble was finally adjusted by unit- 
ing the stock and control of the two companies in the 
same hands. 

There was no effort to fill up the country with perma- 
nent settlers. In fact, by proclamation of the king near- 

29s 



296 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ly all this region had been reserved to the Indian tribes. 
It was the policy of the government to give the natives 
possession of the principal portion of their hunting 
grounds to be retained for their exclusive occupancy. 
The tribes were expected to sustain themselves by hunt- 
ing and fishing. They were to be restrained from law- 
lessness and warlike interference with each other and 
with the whites, but they were to be left pretty much in 
their former condition. To this end the country about 
the great lakes was not open to settlement or to purchase 
without special leave. Nevertheless, as we have seen, 
Bradstreet made treaties with many of the tribes where- 
by they parted with their titles to lands in a number of 
instances. These conveyances, however, were held to 
be invalid unless they were approved by the governor 
and the superintendent of Indian affairs. The power of 
granting lands in Detroit was declared to be solely in the 
king and no purchase could be made of the Indians but 
with that permission and authority, or with that of the 
special representative of the crown. The Pottawatomie 
village and cemetery, then below, now within the limits 
of Detroit, were conveyed by that tribe to Robert Na- 
varre and Isidore Chene, on the condition that the gran- 
tees should live there and care for the cemetery. This 
sale was approved by Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton, 
Major Bassett and others.* The Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany which claimed jurisdiction hereabout was on the 
watch to prevent interference with the interests of the 



^Campbell. Political History of Michigan. The original of the 
Navarre deed is now the property of the Detroit Public Library. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 297 

savages. This naturally follows from the fact that its 
own interests were identical with these. If the fur-bear- 
ing animals were left to propagate freely and the In- 
dians were left to secure their hides and sell the same to 
the company to its great profit, there appeared to it, of 
course, every reason for the indefinite continuance of the 
situation. But the sturdy American pioneer had no pa- 
tience with this logic. The people of the colonies along 
the Atlantic seaboard had turned their eyes westward. 
They had seen the land and declared it worth possess- 
ing. So, in spite of royal proclamations, in spite of 
treaties which they did not share in the making and the 
validity of which they did not recognize, they moved 
over into the Ohio valley, the advance guard of a 
mighty army of pioneer settlers who in a little more than 
a generation were to occupy the land, while the poor In- 
dian took up his final journey to the reservation beyond 
the Mississippi. 

In 1765 Sir Guy Carleton was made the first Gover- 
nor-General of Canada. Complicated questions, some 
of them of a very serious character, developed. The 
population of the Province of Quebec, which included 
Michigan, was almost wholly French. The form of 
government, the laws and usages and religion to which 
these people were accustomed were so different from 
those of their new rulers as to be wholly incomprehensi- 
ble. The making and enforcement of laws, the dispens- 
ing of justice and settlement of civil disputes fell into the 
hands of the military authorities. This government was 
for the most part mild and sensible, though the inhabi- 



298 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

tants grumbled at some of the exactions, especially those 
relating to taxes for the maintenance of the fortifications 
and for other purposes the importance of which they 
evidently did not appreciate. But it may be truthfully 
said of the British commanders that they were honest 
and sincere ; they had not learned the art of plundering 
their subjects, as had the officers of some other nation- 
alities. However much the people might find fault, 
they yet respected their governors. But in the province 
generally the serious complications which arose led to 
the passage by parliament in 1774 of the Quebec act. 
This act provided for a governor and council and for 
the enforcement of all the criminal laws of England ; the 
crown reserved to itself the establishing of courts of civ- 
il, criminal and ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The catholic 
inhabitants were granted the free exercise of their reli- 
gion and the undisturbed possession of their church 
property and the right in all matters of litigation to de- 
mand a trial according to the former laws of the prov- 
ince. The boundaries of the country were extended to 
include the region south and west of the great lakes as 
far as the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The enlarged 
boundaries provoked opposition in parliament from 
William Penn, who claimed jurisdiction beyond the 
Ohio where some of his colonists had already found 
homes. The passage of the act stirred up much feeling 
among the British merchants, among the English liv- 
ing in Canada, and especially among the American col- 
onists. It is cited in the Declaration of Independence 
as ''abolishing the free system of English laws in a 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 299 

neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary 
government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render 
it at once an example and fit instrument for introducinjr 
the same arbitrary rule into these colonies." The act 
was highly acceptable to the people of Canada. When 
it was before parliament Governor Carleton testified 
that there were in the province of Quebec three hundred 
and sixty persons who claimed to be protestants and one 
hundred and fifty thousand catholics. It is easy to un- 
derstand why the great mass of people approved an act 
which secured to them the rights of administration of 
their civil and ecclesiastical affairs in the manner to 
which they had been accustomed. And it is to be noted 
that when, a few years later the American colonies in 
the midst of the revolution sent a delegation to Canada 
to swerve that province from its allegiance to Great 
Britain, they met with no encouragement. Even to this 
day, the people of Canada appear to be sincerely at- 
tached to the British crown. 

As to the state of the colony at Detroit at the time, a 
census taken by Philip Dejean, a justice of the peace, 
September 22, 1773, throws some light. This shows 
two hundred and ninety-eight men, two hundred and 
twenty-five women ; young men and women, ten to twen- 
ty years old, one hundred and forty-two, boys and girls 
from one to ten, five hundred and twenty- four; servants 
ninety-three; slaves, eighty-five; cattle, fourteen hundred 
and ninety-four; sheep, six hundred and twenty-eight; 
hogs, one thousand and sixty-seven ; acres of land culti- 
vated, two thousand six hundred and two; houses, two 



300 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

hundred and eighty, bams, one hundred and fifty-seven. 
This gives a total population of one thousand three hun- 
dred and sixty-seven souls and includes the garrison of 
the fort which numbered less than a hundred. The pres- 
ence of slaves will be noticed. A few were of African 
descent, but they were mainly Indian captives brought 
here from the west and south. Though they were orig- 
inally of various tribes they went under the general 
name of Panis, or Pawnees. The title to these slaves as 
property was secured by the treaty of peace and the rec- 
ords show many conveyances of them from one owner 
to another. The situation with reference to this matter 
was not changed after the American possession, though 
the holding of human property gradually ceased as the 
old servants died off. 

Lieutenant Governor Hamilton writing from Detroit 
in August 1776, says: "The Canadians are mostly so il- 
literate that few can read and very few can sign their 
own names. Till the surrender of the country to the 
English the breeding of sheep was not known here and 
homed cattle were very rare. At present I am told there 
are about two thousand sheep and three thousand head 
of black cattle in the settlement. The backwardness in 
the improvement of farming has probably been owing 
to the easy and lazy method of procuring the bare neces- 
saries. Wood was at hand; the inhabitants therefore 
neglected to raise stone and bum lime which is to be had 
at their doors. The strait is so plentifully stocked with 
a variety of fine fish that a few hours' amusement may 
fumish several families, yet not one French family has 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 3OI 

got a seine. Hunting and fowling afford food to num- 
bers who are nearly as lazy as the savages who arc rare- 
ly prompted to the chase till hunger pinches them. The 
soil is so good that great crops are raised by careless and 
very ignorant farmers. Wheat, Indian com, barley, 
oats, peas, buckwheat yield a great increase. Yet there 
is no such thing as yet as a piece of land laid down for 
meadow and the last winter indeed, a remarkably severe 
one for this country, several of the cattle perished for 
want of fodder. There are very extensive prairies in 
the settlement, but so many natural advantages have 
hitherto appeared rather to encourage sloth than excite 
industry. The great advantages to be drawn from the 
management of bees has never induced any to try them 
here, though there are wild bees in great numbers and 
the woods are full of blossoming shrubs, wild flowers 
and aromatic herbs. As to the climate, it is by far the 
most agreeable I have ever known. * * * Xhc in- 
habitants may thank the bountiful hand of providence 
for melons, peaches, plums, pears, apples, mulberries, 
grapes, besides several sorts of smaller fruits. Several 
of these grow wild in the woods. Those which have got 
a place in gardens are after being stuck in the ground 
committed to the care of the climate, so are perpetually 
degenerating. * * * Xhe number of white settlers 
is about fifteen hundred. They build on the borders of 
the strait and occupy about thirteen miles in length on 
the north and eight on the south side. The houses are 
all of log or frame work, shingled. The most have their 
orchards adjoining. The appearance of the settlement 



302 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

is very smiling. On holy days one would be tempted to 
think the inhabitants very fond of cleanliness, for they 
in general dress beyond their means. Almost every one 
has a calache for summer and a cariole for winter. They 
use oxen and horses indifferently for the plow. 

"Regulations for the trade with the Indians are either 
not generally known or not duly enforced. For example 
great abuses exist in the weights and measures used by 
traders, and for want of an office to stamp the silver 
work, which make a considerable article in the trade 
with the savages, they get their trinkets so debased by 
copper as to lay open a large field for complaint. The 
number of traders not being limited allows of many en- 
gaging in it who have no principle of honesty and who 
impose on these poor people in a thousand ways, to the 
disgrace of the name of trader among the savages, 
which usually means with them an artful cheat. The 
distrust and disgust conceived for these traders occasions 
many disputes which frequently end in murder. This 
trade being lucrative engages several who have little or 
no capital of their own to procure credit, sometimes to 
a considerable amount. Their ignorance or dishonesty 
or both, occasion frequent failures. The adventurers then 
decamp to some other post where they re-commence the 
same traffic, improving in art and villany." 

It is interesting to note that in this same report he 
mentions the arrival of a party composed of white men 
and educated Indians who brought a letter from the Vir- 
ginia congress soliciting the confederacy of western In- 
dians to go to a council to be held at Pittsburgh. He 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 303 

took their letters from them and told them to make 
themselves scarce. He states incidentally that they had 
with them a copy of the Pennsylvania Gazette of July 
25th, containing a declaration of the colonies of their 
independence of the mother country, which declaration 
was adopted at Philadelphia on the preceeding 4th of 
July. This was evidently not very welcome news to him, 
but it caused no sensation whatever among the people of 
the settlement. 

A short time before this a project had been started 
which evidently originated with Alexander Henry, a 
trader who had spent some time in the Lake Superior 
country and who has been already mentioned as an eye 
witness of the massacre at Michilimackinac, to under- 
take the working of copper mines. He organized a 
company and obtained a royal charter for this purpose. 
A number of prominent Englishmen were concerned in 
it, including the Duke of Gloucester. Sir William John- 
son was interested as was also a Mr. Bostwick, a trader 
who had been a companion and associate of Henry in 
his upper lake enterprises. Practical operations were in 
the hands of Mr. Henry, who may have been a very 
good Indian trader but was far from being a mining ex- 
pert. A vessel was purchased and loaded with supplies 
and a number of miners were employed. They sought 
out a location on the Ontonagon river with which Henry 
was evidently familiar, as it was there he had secured 
with no other tool than an axe a considerable mass of na- 
tive copper which he sent to London and which is still 
displayed in the British Museum. They blasted thirty 



304 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

feet into the solid rock. But it was soon found that the 
blasting was expensive and they had very little copper to 
show as a result. The project was, therefore, soon 
abandoned, the miners discharged and the vessel sold. 
So this enterprise came to a disastrous end and it was 
many a long day before another like it was started. 

In the meantime Michilimackinac had been re-estab- 
lished. Major Robert Rogers had been placed in com- 
mand and it was not long thereafter that rumors were 
current that he was intriguing to gain influence with the 
Indians for some ulterior purpose. France had parted 
with her possessions in Louisiana to Spain and there was 
said to be a plan on foot to encourage Spain to assume 
the rights of the former nation in the region of the up- 
per lakes. Rogers had made lavish presents to the In- 
dians and had spent large sums which were raised by 
means of over-drafts, and which were afterward dishon- 
ored, resulting in great financial embarassment and loss. 
Charges were preferred against Rogers based on these 
transactions and also on the report that he was nego- 
tiating for the surrender of his post to the Spaniards. 
He was arrested and taken to Montreal in irons where 
he was tried by court martial. He escaped punishment 
through some technicality and left the country, taking 
service with the Dey of Algires. It appeared through 
some intercepted correspondence from the hand of one 
Colonel Hopkins, who had formerly been stationed at 
Detroit, that the latter had urged and encouraged the 
plans of Rogers. Hopkins, through some troubles with 
the British officers, had taken up the cause of the Amer- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 305 

ican colonists who were planning independence and he 
urges Rogers to espouse this enterprise and turn his in- 
fluence in his locality in this direction. Nothing actually 
came of it ; it is simply evidence of the state of feeling 
throughout the country at the time. Hopkins' profes- 
sions of interest in the American cause were suspected of 
not being entirely sincere. He was not able to gain the 
recognition he desired, and so he cast in his lot with the 
British and was given a commission as colonel. 

In spite of the studied restrictions upon the acquire- 
ment of lands for settlement, many of the traders who 
came west immediately after the English occupation of 
Detroit remained as permanent settlers. Many of these 
were of Scottish birth or origin. They were of a frugal, 
careful disposition and possessed those traits of courtesy 
and kindness to inferiors which lead to personal popu- 
larity. They soon made friends with the Indians, for 
the same reasons which cemented the tie of friendship 
between the French and Indians — a suavity and polite- 
ness and consideration for the feelings of others. For 
the same reasons they enjoyed the intimate friendship of 
the French residents. They were much more careful 
than the English had ever been to avoid giving offence 
to others, regardless of all social distinctions. Of the 
new comers the Scottish merchants outnumbered all the 
rest and there were among them representatives and 
subsequent inheritors of the best houses in Scotland.* 
Angus Mcintosh of Detroit inherited the estates which 



^Campbell. Political History of Michigan. 



306 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

belonged to the old earldom of Moy. These old mer- 
chants formed an important element in the population 
which raised perceptibly the general standard. It is 
a rather curious illustration of the proverbially narrow 
English view that to encourage the building up of the 
new colony would injure the conunerdal interests of the 
home country. Those astute Lords of Trade argued 
that if the setders became manufacturers the English 
tradesmen would find their market narrowed. The more 
liberal minded took the position that however much the 
settlers might produce, they could not possibly supply 
every demand and that instead of narrowing the mar- 
ket, they would, in fact, enlarge it. It was this selfish 
spirit of treating the colonists as inferiors and subjects 
to be exploited merely as contributors to the greed of 
English merchants and manufacturers that had much to 
do with the revolt of the people of the Adantic coast. 
The Lords of Trade deliberately set their faces against 
the encouragement of any enterprises **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," on the ground that they 
would not produce returns sufficient to pay for the man- 
ufactures of Great Britain, and thus would be obliged 
to manufacture for themselves. They say that the pres- 
ent French inhabitants will raise enough provisions to 
supply the military posts, and that meets all the require- 
ments. 

The navigation of the lakes was at this time very lim- 
ited in extent. There were a few schooners, but the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 307 

trade by water was mostly carried on in batteaux which 
were propelled by oarsmen. Governor Carleton issued 
an order, in consequence of the situation caused by the 
war of the revolution, that no vessels are to navigate the 
lakes, except such as are armed and manned by the 
crown, the arms and ammunition of the trade to be put 
on board these armed vessels and no military stores, 
whether public or private property, to be suffered to go 
in open batteaux. It was, however, arranged that mer- 
chants should be permitted to ship goods and to take 
passage upon any vessel not in full employment in the 
king^s service. This restriction of navigation was 
thought to be essential to the safety of the lake posts in 
view of the troubles in which the thirteen colonies had 
involved the country. Though these troubles were of 
only remote interest to the people living in the lake re- 
gion, we, nevertheless, perceive a faint echo in the efforts 
to prevent any possible aid and comfort to the rebels, 
and especially to hold the loyalty of the Indian tribes. 
This latter consideration was matter for earnest caution 
and delicate treatment on the part of the English offi- 
cials. It needed but slight temptation to draw the sav- 
ages into a warlike affair. Later, the English considered 
it to be their best policy to enlist the savages on their 
side and to incite them to attack the Americans. 



CHAPTER XX 

The Old French Habitants and their Ways 



LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR HAMIL- 
TON, quoted in the preceding chapter, 
describes the French peasant settled at 
Detroit as a lazy, happy-go-lucky sort of 
fellow, contented to satisfy his stomach 
in a moderate way and let the world take care of itself. 
He had no ambitions beyond his modest sphere in life« 
As a farmer he was indifferent. In spite of a luxuriant 
virgin soil, a superb climate and abundant crops his cat- 
tle starved in winter for lack of fodder. He drove a 
shaggy little pony, about two-thirds the size of an aver- 
age horse, possessed of a number of vicious traits, ex- 
ceedingly tough and hardy and able to pick up its living 
the year round. His pigs were of the "razor back" va- 
riety. They had enormous appetites, and though in sea- 
son they found an abundant supply of acorns and beech 
nuts, they never, by any possible exaggeration could be 
considered fat. He knew nothing of sheep raising — evi- 
dently had little use for wool and no predilection for 
mutton. His implements were as crude as his system of 
farming — a plow and a harrow, a spade and a hoc, a 
sickle and a flail, made up the list. The licensed black- 
smith fashioned these according to his best instincts. 
They might have been more serviceable if they had been 
better made, but they served. The dwellings were pat- 
terned after those of the peasantry of the home country. 
They were of wood, sometimes the exterior covered 
with clapboards, one and one-half stories high, the long 
stretch of roof sloping toward the street, pierced with 
dormer windows. The little garden in front of the 

3" 



312 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

house was protected by pickets and was given over to 
onions, lettuce, artichokes, cucumbers and other garden 
stuff. The kitchen was at the back of the house and here 
and under the side windows flourished bachelor buttons, 
pinks, hollyhocks and other more or less gaudy flowers. 
Everything which drew its sustenance from the earth 
grew vigorously. The day of the destructive bug and 
worm had not yet arrived. The grasshopper was on 
hand, but the mosquito was about the only really pesti- 
ferous insect, and it distributed malaria with the great- 
est impartiality. The orchards were behind the houses. 
They furnished a great variety of delicious fruits. Ap- 
ples, pears, plums, quinces, grapes were among the best 
grown anywhere. Young trees or cuttings must have 
been brought over from France, for here are found va- 
rieties not known elsewhere in the country. Some of the 
apples still maintain themselves as favorites, in spite of 
all competition. Of course, none of the original apple 
trees remain, but the varieties have been perpetuated. 
Quite a number of the pear trees, however, are still bear- 
ing fruit after a century and a half. The expansion of 
the city has destroyed the trees, with very few excep- 
tions, on the American side of the river. But on the 
other side, especially in the vicinity of Sandwich, many 
of the pear trees still flourish. They have grown to 
enormous size and the annual crops which they shower 
down upon the heads of the present generation are pro- 
portionate to their size. The fruit is not large, but in 
flavor and quality it is not surpassed by any known va- 
riety. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 3 I3 

The French settled at Detroit were, for the most part, 
of a different class from those found at Quebec and 
Montreal. These latter were of the educated noblesse. 
Some were doubtless worthless and dissolute scions of 
noble houses who sought in the new world to retrieve 
their fallen fortunes or to start amid more favorable 
surroundings a new course of life. Some were of re- 
fined tastes and aristocratic manners. They brought 
with them the French language which they spoke in all 
its purity. This purity was preserved in the face of ad- 
verse circumstances until in our own day it has been said 
that the French one hears in Quebec is more Parisian 
than that heard in Paris itself. The settlers upon the St. 
Lawrence were well up in the social scale. The old feu- 
dal scheme of society was perpetuated in a small way. 
The lord of the manor established his castle in the midst 
of his estate and his retainers grouped their houses there- 
about under his patronage. Cadillac came to Detroit 
with some such notions, but they did not survive his de- 
parture. With few exceptions, the settlers at Detroit 
were peasants. They came mainly from Normandy and 
Picardy. They were uneducated. Some of them could 
write their own names, in a way, as we have evidence in 
existing documents, but beyond that they attempted 
nothing with the pen. They were devoted to the ser- 
vices of the church. Their moral characters were above 
reproach. They married early and reared numerous 
children. There were no opportunities for instruction, 
except such as the priests afforded. Later regular 
schools were established which were under the care of 



314 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

philanthropic ladies, but the instruction was naturally 
of a quite primary character. Even this was not practi- 
cable in the early period. The residents found their time 
fully occupied in protecting their lives in the presence of 
the savages and in raising food for thdr own sustenance. 
Besides, there did not appear to be much necessity for 
education. They had nothing to read and as for writ- 
ing, it was a luxury they could not afford. 

The French people were quite moral and correct in 
their habits. The wild and reckless coureurs de bois 
had a fondness for ardent spirits in common with their 
Indian friends. They were also dissolute and addicted 
to a plurality of wives. But the peasants who lived 
quietly on their farms could not be charged with any 
such disregard of the moral code. They drank, upon 
occasion, as was the universal custom of the time, but 
rarely did one become besotted. The long summer even- 
ings were spent in the open air. Canoeing upon the 
river was naturally a favorite pastime. Gallantry 
toward ladies has always been a French characteristic, as 
have social festivities generally. So, young men and 
maidens were likely to be found in each other's company 
either upon the river or upon the lawns. Barbecues 
were a form of recreation in which the elders indulged 
themselves. The open-air roast furnished a hearty 
feast, washed down with generous potations of home- 
made wine or cider. Even in modem times, the old- 
fashioned barbecue has been a notable feature of social 
festivities and not infrequently has it helped to draw out 
a crowd to listen to the orations on political occasions. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 3 1 5 

In winter when the little settlement was completely 
shut in from the outside world and compelled to rely 
solely upon itself, life was by no means stagnant. There 
was nothing to do but to seek pleasure. Balls and par- 
tics made up the whole round. It is said that every 
bouse held a fiddle and some one who could manipulate 
it. The word had only to be passed as to the rallying 
point and there the crowd was sure to be found and 
dancing was kept up from dark to dawn. Up near the 
mouth of Connor's creek was a large marsh called the 
Grand Marais. This froze solid late in the fall and 
generally so continued through the winter. Here the 
young men built a rude cabin of ample proportions, long 
and narrow, with huge chimney and fire-place at each 
end, and fitted out with tables and benches. This was 
known as the Hotel du Grand Marais.* Here on win- 
ter evenings the young folks gathered, driving thither 
in their carioles on the smooth ice along the margin of 
the river. Arriving, the well filled boxes and baskets 
were unloaded upon the tables and all sat down to a 
toothsome feast. This disposed of, the tables were 
cleared, shoved back against the wall, and dancing was 
the order until morning. The crisp winter air was a 
tonic for the appetite as well as an incentive to the vigor- 
ous exercise which followed. The military officers of 
the fort, who found time hanging rather heavily upon 
their hands, with only the dull routine of garrison duty 
to attend to, constituted an important element of the so- 



♦Shddcn. Early History of Michigan. 



3l6 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

cial life. They found plenty of pretty, attractive young 
women for partners at the balls. An officer in uniform 
somehow appeals to the feminine heart, and so the ad- 
miration was doubtless mutual. 

Pony racing on the ice was always a seasonable diver- 
sion for the men. Every Johnny Couteau had a pony 
of uncertain speed. He might challenge the whole 
town, or the whole town might challenge him, and then 
there were doings. Sometimes these races took place on 
the smooth ice along the margin of the river, but more 
frequently upon the Rouge, which being of sluggish cur- 
rent furnished ice which made an ideal track for that 
kind of sport, especially so on account of the curving of 
the channel which afforded spectatoi:^ an unobstructed 
view. Every Sunday after mass the crowd gathered at 
the appointed place and the fun was on. The chal- 
lenged and the challenger brought out thdr ponies and 
scored for a start, while the crowd sized up the animals 
and the betting was furious. There was no starter, no 
jockey, no book-maker, no drawing for the pole. Each 
driver handled the reins over his own animal. He ma- 
neuvered for position and took his chances with his ad- 
versary. And when at last the ponies were off for the 
mile stretch down the river, the excitement among the 
multitude on the bank was something tremendous. If 
ever violence was done to the French language, it waa 
upon such occasions, when individual opinions were 
struggling for utterance from hundreds of throats. 
I^arge sums of money changed hands, considering the 
financial resources of the town. The descendents of 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 3 I ^ 

thc-sc same Frenchmen up ta recent years, at least, still 
rac td their ponies on the frozen surface of the Rouge. 
The sport drew a bigger and rougher crowd than in the 
early day. The rough element which imbibes freely and 
proves itself a noisome nuisance was made up wholly of 
Americans. Johnny Couteau is naturally of a somewhat 
excitable nature, but he still behaves himself and relishes 
the sport for the excitement and uncertainty there is in 
it. His language now is a mixture of French and Eng- 
lish, which adds flavor to the other ludicrous features of 
the affair. 

The characteristic French fondness for dress is noted 
by several writers of the time. The farmers must have 
been prosperous to be able to dress their wives and 
daughters in silks and satins. They undoubtedly raised 
large crops of wheat and Indian com, which sold to the 
garrison and English residents at good prices. The 
money they thus received they spent freely with the mer- 
chants. It is said the stores contained finery of all sorts 
and descriptions which sold for little more than the same 
articles were quoted at in New York. So the people in- 
dulged in the pomps and vanities of dress and showed 
their fondness for amusements to quite as great extent 
as did those in France or elsewhere, who might be pre- 
sumed more able to do so. 

Isaac Weld, an Irish gentleman of some literary 
prominence, visited Detroit in 1795. He describes the 
place and the people at some length. He says, speaking 
of the town, that it "consists of several streets which 
run parallel with the river which are intersected by oth- 



3l8 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

CTS 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, how- 
ever, thfere are footways in most of them formed of 
square logs laid transversely close to each other. About 
two-thirds of the inhabitants of Detroit are of French 
extraction and the greater part of the inhabitants 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. 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 in New York or Philadelphia. 
The country round Detroit is uncommonly flat, and in 
none of the rivers is there 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 in- 
vented by a Frenchman which was chained in the middle 
of the river where it was thought the stream would be 
sufficiently swift to turn the water wheel. The building 
of it was attended with considerable expense to the in- 
habitants, but after it was finished it by no means an- 
swered their expectations. They grind their com at 
present by windmills, which I do not remember to have 
seen in any other part of America." His observations 
respecting water mills were at fault. There were sev- 
eral streams which afforded current sufficient to turn a 
water wheel. One of these was thte Savoyord which 
flowed through what is now the heart of the city. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 3 1 9 

Knaggs' creek, a little further to the westward, was an- 
other. There were two water mills on Bloody Run and 
others on Connor's creek and elsewhere. The wind- 
mills he speaks of were quite a conspicuous feature of 
the landscape in their day. They were inexpensively 
built, wooden affairs with canvas sails to catch the wind, 
these sails being thrown into position by means of a long 
timber sweep operated by hand. 

What hesays about the impassableconditionof the un- 
paved streets will be recognized as truthful by every one 
who has seen such streets in the modem metropolis of 
Michigan. After heavy rain and at certain seasons they 
are literally a sea of mud of uncertain depth. The con- 
siderable mixture of clay in the soil prevents the water 
from sinking into the ground and the contour is not such 
as to accomplish natural drainage. The vehicle almost 
exclusively in use by the French was a two-wheeled cart. 
The pony which drew the cart was not very strong and 
it was not an uncommon spectacle at certain times to see 
the whole turnout stuck solidly fast in the mud, only to 
be pried out with a stout fence rail. The two-wheeled 
cart was used for all sorts of purposes. In it the farmer 
hauled his produce to market. In it, seated upon the 
boards of the bottom, rendered more comfortable by 
plenty of hay and buffalo robes, the family of the farm- 
er from Grosse Pointe or Ecorces was driven to church 
on Sunday morning and to mass on saints' days. The 
cargo of the cart was discharged from the rear. If it 
was produce, the staple which held down the front of 
the box, was unbolted and the contents were dumped. If 



320 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

the cargo was human, the cart was backed up to the 
church steps or to the horse block and the people stepped 
out as gracefully as circumstances would permit. Cases 
have been known when the michievous small boy loos- 
ened the staple in such way that chattering girls were un- 
expectedly dumped in the middle of the road. The pub- 
lic vehicle, and possibly the family coach of the nabobi 
was the calache. This is a two^wheeled affair with low 
wheels, the body mounted on leather strap springs, and 
furnished with a folding top, or hood. The average 
habitant could not, of course, afford so expensive a ve- 
hicle. The date of the arrival in Detroit of the first one 
is not known, but it seems certain that they were never 
quite common. The tradition which has come down 
from a former generation is that ladies dressed in the 
height of fashion and in the richest silks have been seen 
riding in the streets seated upon the floor of the ordinary 
springless cart. One can imagine that it was not an easy 
vehicle to climb into or alight from, and that the occu- 
pant jolting over the rough roads experienced anything 
but the poetry of motion. 

The old habitants were generously hospitable. As 
seems to be almost universally the case, pioneers are 
gratified at the opportunity for entertaining strangers. 
Their very isolation arouses a feeling of sympathy and 
they cordially welcome visitors. It was a common say- 
ing of the early settlers that the latch string of the rude 
cabin in the clearing was always hanging outside the 
door, so that whoever desired might lift the latch and 
enter. He was sure to find a cordial welcome. This 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 32 1 

feeling of humanity and sympathy is not characteristic 
of one nationality more than another; it pertains to all. 
The French pioneer was pleased to receive a friend, 
though he had never seen him before and might never 
sec him again, and to furnish him with food and lodg- 
ing, without expecting or accepting any compensation. 

The old habitant was rather close in money matters. 
This was, perhaps the results of early training, for it 
had always been necessary for him to practice the most 
rigid economy. He was conservative to the last degree. 
As the town expanded and his acres were in demand for 
building lots he would not sell ; neither would he make 
improvements. He would lease and let his tenant make 
improvements. This policy has resulted in making some 
of his descendants rich. He did not take kindly to new 
fangled notions. He preferred to plod along in the 
old-fashioned way. It has been remarked that this old 
French spirit has characterized Detroit down to the 
opening of the present century. The city has never en- 
tertained anything in the nature of a boom. It has been 
considered rather slow and unenterprising. Neverthe- 
less, it has flourished in a business sense and its growth 
and expansions have kept pace with that of other and 
better advertised cities. Its conservatism has on more 
than one occasion proved a strong staff of support, es- 
pecially in the face of financial panics and monetary rev- 
olutions. Speculation has never run rampant. Busi- 
ness of all kinds has been done on a modest basis and al- 
though it may have been considered a slow town, it was 
an eminently safe and reliable one. So, evea in modem 



322 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

tunes, when the descendants of the old habitants form 
but a mere handful of its population, the spirit of the 
fonner generation seems to pervade the city. In the 
long run, perhaps, it is better that this is so. 



CHAPTER XXI 
Michigan Under British Rule 



WHILE the colonies along the Atlantic 
seaboard were in a state of ferment 
over the question of establishing 
their independence of the British 
crown the people of the settlement 
at Detroit took little or no interest in the affair. Lieu- 
tenant Governor Hamilton was in command, not only 
at Detroit but over all the western posts, and was most 
arbitrary in enforcing his authority, which appears to 
have been unlimited. An instance in point was the case 
of Garret Graverat, a former Albany merchant settled 
at Detroit. Apparently he had expressed scnne out- 
spoken opinion not pleasing to the British commander. 
Thereupon he was arrested, without any formal com- 
plaint, so far as appears, and was compelled to give bail 
in the sum of four hundred pounds sterling, conditioned 
"that he does not correspond with, carry intelligence to^ 
or supply any of his majesty's enemies, nor does any- 
thing detrimental to this settlement in particular, or 
against any of his majesty's good subjects, during the 
space of one year and one day," etc. One Philip De- 
jean was appointed by Hamilton a justice of the peace 
and to him apparently was given jurisdiction in all mat- 
ters, civil and criminal. In March 1776, there were 
brought before him a Frenchman named Jean Conten- 
cinau, charged with stealing furs from Abbott & Finch- 
ley, a commercial firm, and Ann Wyley, a negro slave, 
charged with stealing a purse of six guineas from the 
same, found on her person* Thereupon a juiy of sbi 
Englishmen and six Frenchmen was empaneled and be- 

325 



326 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

fore them the case was tried.* They returned a verdict 
of guilty and upon this Dejean sentenced both to be 
hanged. The woman was reprieved, but the man was 
hanged a week later. Dejean was afterward made sec- 
retary to the lieutenant governor and was also appointed 
king's receiver, the most lucrative position in the prov- 
ince; so that he enjoyed not only great official distinc- 
tion, but also emoluments of the highest profit. 

In 1778 Sir Guy Carleton was succeeded as Governor 
General by Frederick Haldimand. General Arent 
Schuyler De Peyster was in command at Michilimacki- 
nac, Rocheblave at Kaskaskia and Lieutenant Edward 
Abbott at Vincennes, which constituted the important 
posts in the west, and all under the immediate control of 
Hamilton at Detroit. The Virginians, who had pushed 
their outposts into the Ohio valley, were showing per- 
nicious activity in taking possession of the country, and 
this was a serious offense in the eyes of the British. The 
continental general Edward Hand, had taken possession 
of Fort Pitt and that bold and enterprising Virginian, 
Colonel George Rogers Clark, had led a band of de- 
voted followers into Kentucky and southern Ohio. Thus 
was British supremacy threatened and it became neces- 
sary to take .vigorous measures to counteract the move- 
ment. The Spanish who held Louisiana, were also in- 
triguing with the Indians, with the inducement that with 
their aid the English might be driven out of the country, 
but with ill success. Meanwhile, Claric by rapid and 



*Lanman. History of Michigan. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 327 

bold movements pushed forward to Illinois and ca|^ 
tured Kaskaskia and Vincennes. While these events 
were transpiring to the southward, Hamilton was plan- 
ning a concentration of the Indians as British allies to 
meet the advance of Clark and to harass the frontier of 
the Pennsylvania and Virginia pioneers. 

He accordingly called a council which was held at De- 
troit in June, 1778. There were present Lieutenant 
Governor Hamilton, Lieutenant Governor Abbott, sev- 
eral officers of the Indian department. Captain Ler- 
noult, Lieutenant Caldwell of the King's regiment. The 
interpreters were Wm. Tudcer, Joseph Drouillard, Si- 
mon Girty, Isidore Chene, Duperon Baby, . Charles 
Beaubien. The Indian tribes represented were Ottawas, 
Chippewas from Saginaw, Hurons from Sandusky, Mo- 
hawks and Senecas from New York, Delawares, Pot- 
tawatomies from St. Joseph, Chippewas from Wash- 
tenaw, six hundred and eighty-three Indians of both 
sexes.'*' The council lasted through the remainder of 
the month, with daily sessions in which presents were 
liberally distributed to the savages and Hamilton sought 
by his talk to inflame the Indians to take up the war 
hatchet against the American colonists. He very adroit- 
ly led them to believe that the invasion of Ohio and Il- 
linois was fatal to their interests and that the British 
were their only true friends. He urged them to take the 
war path and return laden with scalps. To all this talk 
the savages gave hearty assent. The fall of Kaskaskia 



^Michigan Pioneer G)lIections, Vol. 9. 



328 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

and Vincennes created a profound sensation at Detroit. 
Hamilton at once set about organizing a campaign to 
re-capture these posts. De Peyster at Michilimadcinac 
seat out an emissary influential with the savages to 
arouse the tribes west of Lake Michigan to active co- 
operation with the British forces. Hamilton personally 
took charge of the expedition which left Detroit early 
in October. The forces consisted of one hundred and 
fourteen whites and sixty Indians, the whites regulars 
and volunteers recruited at Detroit. They went by boats 
to the Maumee, which stream they followed for some 
distance to a portage, whence they crossed to the head- 
waters of the Wabash and proceeded down that stream. 
They reached Vincennes in December and were greatly 
surprised to find that the garrison consisted only of Cap- 
tain Helm and one soldier who immediately surrendered 
with all the honors of war. 

In the meantime the savages about Detroit were rest- 
less from inactivity. Having agreed to the advice of 
Hamilton in council they felt like undertaking some 
warlike operations. Accordingly an expedition was or- 
ganized by Isidore Chene which was made up almost 
wholly of savages. They went as far south as Boones- 
borough, the surrender of which they demanded. Boone 
had just returned from captivity at Detroit. He had 
been captured early in the year and had been taken to 
that post but had managed to make his escape. He was 
quite a favorite with the Indians and had faith in thdr 
sincerity. When surrender was demanded he proposed 
a parley just outside the gate, but under the guns of the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 329 

fort. The savages treacherously undertook to capture 
him, but he managed to make good his escape within the 
fort. The place was besieged for ten days by the hos- 
tile forces, but their attacks were successfully resisted. 

The winter season being on when Hamilton reached 
Vincennes he concluded to delay the capture of the rest 
of the country until spring and in the meantime to in- 
crease his forces to meet any possible resistance by the 
enemy. But Clark did not wait. In February he ap- 
peared before Vincennes with a considerable force and 
at once began an attack. The Americans were tht better 
fighters and after the experience of their marksmanship 
for but a single day Hamilton proposed a parley. The 
result was surrender of the post. Two days later rdn- 
forcements from Detroit, consisting of a company of 
forty men, with whom was Dejean, justice of the peace, 
was captured as it was approaching. Most of the com- 
mon soldiers were paroled and returned to Detroit. 
Hamilton, Major Hay, Dejean, and Lamothe, an of- 
ficer of the Indian department, were placed in irons and 
with the other officers were taken as prisoners to Wil- 
liamsburg, Virginia. Governor Jefferson and the Vir- 
ginia legislature refused to sanction their exchange, or 
to mitigate the severity of their punishment, holding 
them responsible for Indian atrocities, especially In view 
of Lieutenant Governor Hamilton's advice to his In- 
dians In council to go on the war path and to be sure to 
bring in plenty of scalps. Finally after nearly two years' 
imprisonment, on the advice of General Washington, 
they were allowed to go free. Hamilton was permitted 



330 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

to go to England. Dejean went to New York and never 
returned to Detroit. 

When Hamilton left Detroit on his ill-starred expe- 
dition the ccmimand of the post fell upon Major R. B. 
Lemoult, who thought it wise to strengthen the defences 
of the town, in view of the threatening attitude of Colo- 
nel Clark and his Americans. He accordingly built a 
new and much stronger fort on the rising ground some 
little distance back from the river. This work was 
called Fort Lemoult until it fell into the hands of the 
Americans when its name was changed to Fort Shelby 
Early in 1779 General Arent S. De Peyster was trans- 
ferred from Michilimackinac to Detroit and remained 
in command there about six years. He was bom in New 
Yoric in 1736 and was related to the Van Cortlandt and 
Schuyler families. He was sent to England in his youth 
where he was educated for the army, upon entering 
which he was given a commission in the Eighth, or 
King's regiment of foot. After his service at Detroit he 
retired to Dumfries, Scotland, which had been the early 
home of his wife. Here in 1796 he commanded a regi- 
ment of volunteers, among whom the poet, Robert 
Bums, was enrolled. De Peyster was a man of some 
literary pretensions and wrote alleged poetry himself. 
Quite a warm friendship sprang up between the two men. 
There are allusions in scmie of the poems of Bums to his 
military commander. 

After the capture of Fort Vincennes Clark contem- 
plated an expedition against Detroit, but various causes 
delayed such a movement. It was plain to be seen that 




ARENT SCHUYLER DE PEYSTER 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 33 1 

if the colonial forces could gain possession of Detroit 
the Indian problem would be solved and the raids upon 
the Virginian frontiers would be suppressed. Jefferson 
was strongly in favor of the project and called Wash- 
ington's attention to it. The cost of it was the chief ob- 
stacle. But Virginia stood ready to carry a large share 
of the financial burden and to see to it that if congress 
should refuse to aid, Virginia herself would stand the 
brunt of it. Clark, in whose hands was to be given the 
task of reducing Detroit, appealed to Washington to 
furnish supplies, while he himself should undertake to 
raise and equip the men for the service. But he found 
it extremely difficult to enlist men for so arduous an un- 
dertaking at such a great distance from their homes, in 
a wild and untraversed country, infested with Indians. 
Just then the invasion of Virginia by Comwallis concen?- 
trated the energy and resources of that commonwealth 
within her own borders and the western project was 
abandoned. It is probable that if such an enterprise had 
been undertaken its issue would have been doubtful and 
in any event its success coiild have had little influence 
upon the great contest then going on between the colo- 
nies and the mother country. 

General Haldimand was profoundly earnest in his ef- 
forts to suppress the encroachments of the Americans in 
the Ohio valley. At large expense he fitted out an ex- 
pedition which was sent out from Detroit under Captain 
Bird. This expedition was made up of a company of 
regulars to which was attached a large body of Indians 
and was accompanied by Detroit militia, commanded by 



33 2 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

Chabert De Joncaire, Jonathan Schicfflin, Isidore Chene 
and others. They went as far as Licking, Kentucky, 
which they assaulted and captured. The excesses of the 
Indians in murdering and scalping all the whites who 
could be found and looting their homes could not be re- 
strained hy Bird and were so repulsive to him that he 
determined to proceed no further. He wheeled about 
and retreated rapidly toward Detroit. This movement 
was not premature. The report of his destructive raid 
spread quickly. A large party of Kentuckians was hur- 
riedly gathered and choosing Colonel Clark for their 
leader undertodc to cut off Bird's retreat. They inter- 
cepted him at Pickaway where he had the protection of 
palisades. These they battered with cannon and though 
they did nothing very effective against the troops, they 
did scatter the Indians and completely broke them up as 
an organization. Bird was ultimately left free to make 
his way back to Detroit as best he could. The expedi- 
tion acccmiplished nothing, except to still further irritate 
the American settlers against the British, and especially 
against the British policy of inciting irresponsible sav- 
ages to murder and scalp inoffensive women and chil- 
dren. 

When De Peyster was transferred from Michilimack- 
inac to Detroit he was succeeded at the former post by 
Captain Patrick Sinclair. He was made Lieutenant 
Governor and Superintendent of Indian affairs, a highly 
responsible and dignified position. He signalized his 
arrival at his new post in the fall of 1779 by transfer- 
ing it from the main land on the south side of the strait 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 333 

to the island. He proceeded to build the new fort and 
to occupy it without any authority from the governor. 
When he reported what had been done Haldimand ap- 
proved the removal, although the merchants and resi- 
dents at Michilimackinac had sent in a vigorous protest 
against it. He says : **It is, however, my desire that the 
post, although removed to the island, may still be called 
Michilimackinac and the fort be styled Fort Mackinac. 
I have never known any advantage result from chang- 
ing the names of places long inhabited by the same peo- 
ple." Sinclair's jurisdiction extended to Fort St. Joseph, 
to which he sent officers and a small garrison to keep the 
Pottawatomies. in check. He had supervision over the 
traders who frequented the Saginaw bay, though it does 
not appear that there was at that time any settlement of 
whites in that locality. In 1780 he sent an expedition 
made up largely of traders and Indians to attack the 
Spanish settlements on the lower Mississippi. When 
they reached St. Louis a party of volunteers and traders 
attacked the defenceless town and seven whites were 
killed and eighteen were taken prisoners and sent to 
work on the new fort at Michilimackinac. The affair 
amounted to little, but it provoked retaliation. In Jan- 
uary 1 78 1 Don Francisco Cruzat, the Spanish military 
commander of the western posts, sent an expedition 
against Fort St. Joseph. The winter march of this ex- 
pedition four hundred miles across the bleak and frozen 
prairies must have been a toilsome and weary undertak- 
ing. But they accomplished the trip and found Fort 
St. Joseph so ill defended that its capture was a matter 



334 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

of no difficulty. The English colors on the flag staff 
gave place to the standard of Spain and the place and 
its dependencies were taken possession of in the name of 
the Spanish king. This is the only instance on record 
of Spanish supremacy over the soil of Michigan. But 
it was of short duration. The Spaniard vanished as 
quickly and silently as he came and left no trace behind. 
De Peyster planned a vigorous campaign which in- 
cluded the co-operation of Sinclair from Fort Macki- 
nac, who was to send down parties of his upper lake 
Indians to join with those from below in active opera- 
tions against Colonel Clark and the dwellers along the 
Ohio. Alexander McKee, an Indian agent with a small 
detachment did make a descent into Kentucky. But the 
Indians were becoming timid or indifferent. They had a 
wholesome fear of Colonel Clark. They were upset by 
wild rumors of large forces of Americans being organ- 
ized against them and marching unopposed in all direc- 
tions. The Indian relishes a fight when he can get his 
adversary at a disadvantage; he has no appetite for a 
square stand-up contest of arms where the chances are 
anywhere near equal and where there is shooting by 
skilled marksmen. When there is business of this kind 
in prospect he prefers to sit down and think it over and 
to take plenty of time to consult the oracles. So the sav- 
age forces dwindled and imperceptibly vanished away 
into the forests. The British commander was left with 
only his handful of whites who were manifestly no 
match for the American forces. There was nothing to 
do but to retire. The governor was deeply chagrined 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 335 

aver the outcome of the expedition and was disposed to 
blame the savages. But he was forced to admit that 
they had acted in their customary manner. He could 
only lament that his government was put to the expense 
of maintaining and fitting out such shameless and unre- 
liable allies. 

So matters progressed from year to year. The story 
of one raid is the repetition of the story of another. The 
Indians under the instigation of the English harassed the 
American settlements and the latter defended them- 
selves as best they could but were never able to under- 
take any successful reprisal which would end once for all 
such distressing conditions. By June, 1782, news of the 
cessation of fighting between the British and colonial 
armies came to Detroit and it was evident that an era 
of peace was to follow, De Peystcr at once sent word 
to Captain Caldwell and to Brant and McKee who were 
stirring up matters in Kentucky and Ohio to stop hos- 
tilities, and with a few more skirmishes these bloody 
conflicts of arms came to an end. The doors of "Yan- 
kee Hall," the military prison at Detroit were opened 
and De Peyster sent the captives to their homes. Some 
chose to remain and settle in Michigan. Among thiese 
were a number of Germans from Pennsylvania whose 
families came hither for permanent settlement. 



CHAPTER XXII 
Influx of Settlers 



Its 



WITH the cessation of hostilities and an 
era of peace assured the colonies be- 
gan casting about to see where they 
stood. They had been greatly im- 
poverished by the war. Moreover 
they were burdened with debt. It was important to 
consider means for liquidation. Several of the colonies 
claimed by virtue of royal chiarters land extending in- 
definitely to the westward. New York, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia were 
among the states which set up such claims. Congress 
proposed that all these lands be ceded by the several 
claimants to the Union, to be disposed of for the gener- 
al benefit. These new regions, it was proposed, should be 
ultimately organized into states possessing equal rights 
and privileges with the others. In this way the expenses 
incurred by the thirteen original colonies in carrying on 
the war could be refunded. One after another the sev- 
eral states, after some controversy and compromise, ap- 
proved this program, and by 1786 all had ceded to the 
general government the title to such lands west of the 
AUeghanies as they might properly claim under thteir 
charters. This opened the way to settlement and occu- 
pancy of the western country. The tide of emigration, 
soon began to flow westward with increasing velocity, 
as it had already swept over the mountain ranges from 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, even under the adverse con- 
ditions which existed during the progress of the revolu- 
tion. The Indians, being no longer inspired by British 
presents, advice and entreaty, showed a more pacific dis- 

339 



340 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

position and looked with comparative indifference upon 
the coming settler and his evident purpose to hew out a 
home for himself and family in the forest. 

The mass of this migration was to the southward of 
the great lake region. Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Il- 
linois filled up with comparative rapidity. The fertile 
prairies and the genial climate were enticing. Never- 
theless there were some who were attracted to Michigan. 
There had been a few small settlements outside the im- 
mediate vicinity of Detroit. Chief of these was at Mon- 
roe upon the banks of the Raisin river, first known as 
Frenchtown. There had long been military posts at 
Sandusky and at Maumee near the present city of To- 
ledo, and naturally a settlement grew up around such 
stations. The route of travel overland took in these 
posts and where this trail crossed the Raisin the observ- 
ant eye of the woodman was not slow to discover a beau- 
tiful and promising site for a settlement. About 1780 
Colonel Francis Navarre purchased from the Pottawat- 
omie Indians a tract of land on the south bank of the 
Raisin upon which he built a log house and where he 
made his home. Here was bom his oldest son, Robert 
Navarre, the first white child bom in the county. Four 
years later over one hundred families of Frenchmen fol- 
lowed their countryman, Navarre, and made their 
homes on the Raisin. About the same time a number of 
families settled upon Sandy creek, three miles north; 
Stony creek, five miles north, and Otter creek, five milea 
south of the Raisin. These settlements extended along 
the streams named and along both sides of the Raisin 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 34I 

for a distance of eight or ten miles. For the sake of se- 
curity these pioneers settled very near each other. All 
the farms extended from th'e streams back an indefinite 
distance, but only a small portion of the land fronting on 
the streams was actually cleared and cultivated. The 
patents for these lands were issued by the government, 
the Indian titles having first been acquired by treaty. 
Colonel Navarre obtained in Detroit cuttings from its 
famous pear trees and reproduced that excellent fruit 
upon his own farm, specimens of which trees still flour- 
ish there. The river took its name from the abundance 
of grapes which grew wild thereabout. It is said that 
the trunks of some of the vines were of a thickness of 
six to eight inches; that they ran over the tops of the 
tallest trees, dropping branches which again took root 
and grew in real tropical profusion, a tangled and al- 
most impenetrable mass.'*' 

A notable settlement was that of the Moravians upon 
the banks of the Clinton river, then called Huron, near 
the site of the present city of Mt. Clemens. The Mo- 
ravian or Bohemian brethren trace their origin to the 
time of John Huss. His disciples were driven out of 
Moravia and Bohemia in the early part of the seven- 
teenth century, and about 1740 came to America, estab- 
lishing themselves in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They 
were earnest and active missionaries who met with fair 
success in their labors among the Indians. The Rev. 
David Zeisberger was a devoted and energetic leader in 

♦Judge Christiancy on History of Monroe in Pioneer Collec- 
tions, vol. 6. 



342 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

this religious colony and it was he who led a little com- 
pany of his followers to Michigan and founded the set- 
tlement at Mt. Qemens. In the fall of 1781 General 
De Peyster, then in command at Detroit, sent for Zeis- 
berger who at th'at time was sojourning with some of his 
devoted followers near Sandudcy, having been forcibly 
expelled from the Ohio valley on the score of sympathy 
with the American cause and suspicion that they were 
acting as spies in the interest of the latter. It was upon 
this point that DePeyster wished to be enlightened. Ac- 
companying Zrisberger in answer to the summons were 
Heckewelder, Sensemann and Edwards with a number 
of Christian Delawares who had attached themselves to 
the missionaries. Zeisberger's diary, which has been 
published, gives a full account of his extraordinary ex- 
periences and throws much light on the condition of af- 
fairs hereabout at the time. According to his account 
Detroit was a veritable Sodom ' Vhere all sins are com- 
mitted.'' He mentions by name many of the residents 
whom or whose children he baptized while dwelling 
here for a time. De Peyster was evidently satisfied that 
there was nothing harmful in the apparently inoffensive 
missionaries, for he persuaded them to establish them- 
selves upon the Clinton where a tract of land was tem- 
porarily procured from the Chippewas. He aided them 
in all practical ways, even to the extent of money and 
supplies. Here they founded a village of some twenty 
or thirty huts and a rude chapel. They did not think it 
worth while to erect a stockade, which) shows their abid- 
ing faith in the silent influence of Christianity upon the 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 343 

savage nature. The savages do not appear to have been 
very numerous in the vicinity and the records do not 
show that the missionaries made any progress in con- 
verting them. The place was christened Gnadenbutten, 
which signifies in the Moravian language 'Tents of 
Grace.*' The houses were built upon each side of a 
street seventy feet in width. The people cleared and 
cultivated the land and subsisted by hunting and fishing 
and upon the crops which they raised from the land. 
They made canoes, baskets, brooms, bowls, ladles and 
other simple articles which sold readily in Detroit. They 
laid out and built a straight road to Detroit which was 
the first wagonway constructed to the interior, a distance 
of twenty-three and one-half miles. On Christmas 1782 
Zeisberger notes "there were together fifty-thiree of us, 
white and brown," probably mostly brown. Among the 
births was Susanna, daughter of Richard Connor, bom 
December 16, 1783. In 1784 eight children were bom, 
three couples married, two adults died. It is to be noted 
that this settlement was purely a mission. The purpose 
was to convert the Indians to Christianity and not to cre- 
ate a permanent home for the people who joined in the 
scheme. Perhaps they contemplated remaining indefi- 
nitely, but mainly with a view to spread the gospel and 
not to improve their own temporal condition, and least 
of all to improve the country as a place of habitation. 

The Indians never disturbed the little conununity; in 
fact, took little interest in it. But when the Chippewas 
heard that the war of the revolution was over and that 
the chief who had given permission for the settlement 



344 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

was dead they began to threaten trouble. Governor 
Hay, who had succeeded De Peystcr, at Detroit, ad- 
vised the Moravians that it would be wise for them to 
give up the mission in deference to the wish of the In- 
dians. So in the spring of 1786 they took their depart- 
ure and after some wanderings finally settled on the 
Thames a few miles from the present Canadian city of 
Chatham. Their improvements on the Clinton were 
bought by Major Ancrum, the British commandant at 
Detroit, who bad succeeded after the death of Colonel 
Hay, and John Askin, a trader living at Sandwich, for 
$450.00.* Says Zeisberger, ''None of us all remained 
behind, save Conner's family, who himself knew not 
where to go nor what to do." Connor spent the rest of 
his life there and died in 1808. He left four sons — 
James, John, William and Henry. The only daughter, 
Susanna, whose birth is chronicled as that of the first 
white child bom in Macomb county, married Judge 
Elisha Harrington, who had an extensive farm in the 
same locality, which afterward proved a profitable in- 
vestment when subdivided into city lots. Connor was 
an Indian captive taken by the Chippewas in one of their 
numerous incursions in the Virginian settlements in the 
Ohio valley. There were many who came hither upoa 
compulsion in the same fashion. And it is worthy of 
remark that having seen in their wanderings how goodly 
was the land of Michigan they brought their families 
out after their release and established themselves in per- 
im nent homes. This was the case with Connor. 



♦Mich. Pioneer Collection, vol. 10. 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 345 

William Tucker was a Virginian who was captured 
when eleven years old, his father having been murdered 
by the savages. He was brought to Detroit. After a 
time he escaped and returned to his old home where he 
married. With his young wife he came back to Detroit 
and in 1784 they settled upon the Clinton river about six 
miles from its mouth. His land was bought directly 
from the Indian chief. Others who came under some- 
what similar circumstances and settled in the same vicin- 
ity were John Lovelace, Joseph Spencer, Joseph Hayes. 
Thus although the Moravians had departed, their 
places were speedily filled and a settlement of promising 
dimensions sprang up. John Brooks built a distillery 
and this was an incentive to the farmers to raise rye. In 
1800 Christian Clemens, after whom the town was 
named, came from Germantown, Pennsylvania. He was 
possessed of considerable means, built a good dwelling, 
operated a tannery and was always ready to lend a hand 
to every worthy enterprise. Elisha Harrington married 
the daughter of Connor and became a prosperous farm- 
er. John Stockton married a daughter of Mr. Clemens 
and built the first frame house in the place. Detroit was 
the accessible point and the market for whatever the 
farmers might raise. This attempt at an interior settle- 
ment was clearly a success. It was the leader of other 
advances in the wilderness. Those who had ventured 
found thrir prospects satisfactory. Their friends were 
induced to follow and so, the impetus having been given, 
the pioneers became more and more numerous. 

Naturally the points first reached were those access!- 



346 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

ble by navigation. So there early appeared settlers along 
the St. Clair river. Captain William Thorn was among 
the earliest. He was a lake captain who had been fa- 
miliar with the banks of the St. Clair and who selected 
a goodly site for his home near the present Marine City. 
Captain Patrick Sinclair who was in conrniand at Michi- 
limackinac, bought a tract of land upon which he estab- 
lished a depot and supply station. This was called Fort 
Sinclair and was located at the mouth of Pine river with- 
in the limits of the present city of St. Clair. The heirs 
of General Sinclair afterward laid claim to the lands 
said to have been bought by him and in the evidence 
brought in support of that claim it appeared that the 
land was given to him in lieu of expenses on behalf of 
the government and to re^imburse him for money paid 
for the release of colonial prisoners brought into the 
country by the Indians. However, nothing came of these 
claims, the matter having never been pressed in the 
courts. A number of the buildings of this settlement and 
vestiges of the old earthworks were noted by the kter 
settlers on their arrival in the early part of the nine- 
teenth century. 

At about the time of the Fort Sinclair enterprise a 
number of English and Scotch settlers who had been 
sent over by Lord Selkirk and who had established 
themselves at Belkdoon on the Chenille Ecarte, Cana- 
dian side of the river, crossed over and founded homes 
for themselves near Algonac. These families were 
named Stewart, Robinson, Brown, Harrow, Harris, etc. 
In the summer of 1790 seven Frenchmen with thrir fam- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 347 

ilies established themselves on the site of the present dty 
of Port Huron. They came up the river in boats bringing 
their household effects. Thrir names were Anselm Pe- 
tit, Francois Lerviere, Batiste Levais, Duchien^ Jarvais, 
Comeais and Moreau. They built cabins, cleared away 
the forest and soon had land under cultivation. They 
were a hardy class of peasants who came for the purpose 
of establishing themselves as farmers. Jarvais erected a 
sawmill in what is now called Indian creek, but which 
was then known as Riviere Jarvais. The settlement was 
then known as Dismond, or more commonly la Riviere 
Delude, tht name then given to Black river. It was 
twenty years later and after American occupation that 
Fort Gratiot was established. A promising and profit- 
able employment for the early settlers along the St. 
Clair was the cutting of timber which was made up into 
rafts and floated down the river and lake to Detroit and 
Maiden. This gave occupation at seasons of the year 
when farming could not be carried on, and furnished 
ready money to the pioneers. Thus early began lum- 
bering operations which in later years gave Michigan a 
wide reputation and proved a mine of wealth to many. 
Hog Island, now known as Belle Isle, was granted in 
1768 by General Gage and Captain Trumbull, com- 
mandant at Detroit, to Lieutenant George McDougall 
of the Sixtieth regiment, upon the condition that he pro- 
cure from the Indians a proper indenture. This latter 
document was secured signed by the several chiefs with 
their totems. Thereupon the citizens sent to Governor 
Carleton a vigorous protest, in which they set forth that 



348 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

this island was from the first a common, ceded as sudi 
to the public by Cadillac, the first commandant of the 
country, to keep the cattle in safety. The protest pro- 
ceeds to state that when De Tonty became commandant 
he undertook to appropriate the island but was forced to 
relinquish his assumptions. The same thing happened 
to Mr. De Quindre when he, under the orders of dc 
Celoron, also claimed the ownership. The petitioners 
say that it is a hardship to see themselves stripped of 
their ancient rights and privileges in favor of a stranger 
lately come into the country. This petition was signed 
apparently by every resident of the place and the names 
furnish a pretty full record of the family names of the 
time — all French. It is certified by P. Dejean, judge. 
It seems to have had no effect and the title of McDou- 
gall held good. But when Haldimand was governor in 
1780, he ordered General De Peyster to immediately 
reclaim the island for his majesty's use for cultivation. It 
appears that McDougall was then dead, as the governor 
stipulates that Mrs. Mc Dougall shall be suitably com- 
pensated for any existing improvements of value. The 
appraisal shows three dwellings, an old bam without a 
top, a fowl house and some timber. Barracks were built 
and some of the Kentucky prisoners were quartered 
here, it being their own request to live in the open air 
and to engage in the cultivation of the land, rather than 
to be confined in the military prison. They were quite 
willing to take their chances against an attack from the 
Indians. 

The commandants at Michilimackinac, at one time or 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 349 

another, made grants on the mainland or on Bois-Blanc 
island, the grantees having arranged with the Indian 
chiefs, for a nominal consideration. These grants were 
seldom held good, since the king of England assumed to 
himself the disposal of such lands. Grosse He and some 
of the adjacent smaller islands were granted in the same 
manner to Alexander Macomb. 

It is to be noted that the settlers hereabout differed 
from those of New England. The latter soon estab- 
lished a popular form of government. The town meet- 
ing was the primary forum in which public matters af- 
fecting the colonists were discussed and settled. These 
people were enlightened, progressive, with enlarged 
views of individual rights and liberties, and a disposition 
to retain in thdr own hands the management of their 
public affairs. The French settlers in thto lake region 
had no such notions. They were intensely loyal to their 
king and church. They had no inclination to meddle 
with the prerogatives of either. They were humble, do- 
cile, easy-going, contented. When the colors of France 
gave way to the red cross of St. George, they were equal- 
ly loyal to the British crown. They had never been in 
the enjoyment of the civil rights of some other nationali- 
ties, which made British rule intolerable to the New 
Englanders. So they were contented to accept what 
they had and to plod along in their undemonstrative 
fashion, a little better in a physical sense, but no better 
in a political sense, than their ancestors in Picardy. 
These people made up the mass of the population. The 
new-comers to this region were too few in number, too 



350 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

diverse in nationality to organize anything like a com- 
munity of interests, or to assert themselves in a way to 
influence thrir local government. There was never a 
town-meeting in old Detroit. Up to the final evacuation 
of the country, the British conmiander was the autocrat 
whose word was law and who controlled all affairs, civil 
as well as military. The people and their ways were not 
those of the dwellers upon the Atlantic seaboard. The 
men were brave enough and manly enough, but the 
spirit of rebellion had not been bom in them. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

Close of the Revolution and Surrender of 
Michigan to the United States 



THE treaty of peace of November, 1782, 
provided that "His Britannic majesty 
shall, with all convenient speed, and 
without causing any destruction or carry- 
ing away any negroes or other prc^erty 
of the American inhabitants, withdraw all his armies, 
garrisons and fleets from the 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 order and cause all archives, records, 
deeds and papers belonging to any of tht said States or 
their citizens, which in the course .of the war may have 
fallen into the hands of his officers, to be forthwith re- 
stored and delivered to the proper States and persons to 
whom they belong." By a subsequent article it was stipu- 
lated that five months should be the utmost term for the 
validity of hostile acts. The final treaty of September, 
1783, reaffirmed all these articles as of the preceding 
date. By the terms of this treaty the international bound- 
ary line between the possessions of Great Britain and 
those of the United States ran through the middle of 
Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron and their connecting 
water-ways, and thirough Lake Superior to the north- 
ward of Isle Royale and thence by the grand portage to 
the Lake of the Woods, embracing so far as the north- 
west is concerned, the entire region to the eastward of 
the Mississippi river. The maps which accompanied 
this treaty left no doubt that the whole of Michigan, as 
at present constituted, was within the United States. 
Nevertheless, the British forces showed no inclination 
^•» 353 



354 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

to vacate the fort at Detroit. General Washington sent 
a messenger to Governor Haldimand to establish a date 
for the actual surrender of the western posts. Haldi- 
mand wrote in a respectful tone to the effect that he 
could not consider the matter of vacating these posts in 
the absence of positive orders from bis majesty. New 
York and Charleston were evacuated in November, 
1783, and the continental army was inmiediately dis- 
banded. In spite of the claim by congress for the actual 
possession of the western country, in spite of the agita- 
tion on the part of officials of our government for the 
carrying out of the treaty in good faith, the British gov- 
ernment took no action whatever. Governor Haldimand 
shielded himself behind his lack of instructions, and so 
matters remained for a long time in this unsatisfactory 
condition. 

There is some ground for belief that this was a de- 
liberate policy, founded upon the expectation or hope 
that something might turn up in the interests of Great 
Britain through which that government could continue 
its occupancy indefinitely. It is known that Washing- 
ton harbored some such idea. There were still oppor- 
tunities for complications in the new state of affairs be- 
tween the two countries. No one could forsee what 
questions might arise or whither the course of events 
might lead. There were plenty of emissaries of Great 
Britain working among the Indian tribes, seeking to 
bind them to British interests and to solidify a naturally 
unfriendly feeling against Americans. This very feel- 
ing of the Indians was offered as a pretext for maintain- 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 355 

ing an armed force in the country. It was argued that 
the safety of the whites could only be assured by the 
presence of a strong military guard. This the United 
States had not undertaken to supply. Hence it devolved 
upon Great Britain to preserve the peace. In view of 
the known efforts to foment Indian hostility this argu- 
ment was transparently deceptive. There were evidences 
of intrigues on the part of Great Britain in dealing with 
her farmer Indian allies, who had suffered severe losses 
and who felt that they had not been adequately re- 
warded for all their sacrifices. So the Indian question cut 
a considerable figure in tht determination of Governor 
Haldimand to hang on to the western posts as long as 
possible. 

In 1786 a council of Indian nations northwest of the 
Ohio river was held at the Huron village near the mouth 
of the Detroit river. This was attended by representa- 
tives of all the leading tribes. They were troubled 
about the boundary between their possessions and those 
of the United States. They maintained that the Ohio 
was not to be crossed by the Americans. They also in- 
sisted that thdr rights had not been properly considered 
in the treaty between the United States and Great Bri- 
tain. It seemed to be the feeling of the savages that the 
United States had neglected to sbow the attention to 
their wishes which the same demanded. A grand coun- 
cil was held at Fort Harmer, Marietta, in 1787 which 
formulated a treaty tending to settle in a satisfactory 
manner the points in controversy. This was finally and 
definitely disposed of at Greenville in 1795, when by 



356 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

treaty the title to large tracts of lands included in Michi- 
gan was confirmed to the United States. 

There was another element in the case which had 
much weight, and that was the fur trade. This trade 
had been of immense value to England. She could 
not see these profits slip from her grasp without a strug- 
gle to save them. The region included within the new 
boundaries of the United States had been the most 
profitable source of supply. The Northwest Company 
had a practical monopoly which it was not yet ready to 
relinquish. It was not until later, when John Jacob As- 
tor came into the field with the American Fur Company, 
that the United States furnished a rival capable of com- 
peting in the markets of the world and of expanding the 
enterprise to the far-off Pacific slope. Governor Haldi- 
mand did his best to hold for his countrymen this im- 
portant trade. He saw what some of his predecessors 
had seen long before him, that to let the Americans into 
the country to destroy the forests, to build homes, to 
clear and cultivate the land, meant an early and total 
extinction of the fur bearing animals and the consequent 
end of the trade which they furnished. His policy had 
a tendency to hold the country from settlement, to turn 
back the American pioneer. These influences may not 
appear on the surface and are not distinctly mentioned 
in the official correspondence, but it seems evident that 
they hiad much weight. Governor Haldimand writing 
to his successor, General Barry St. Legcr, declares that 
he has thought it his duty "uniformly to oppose the dif- 
ferent attempts made by the American States to get pos- 




JOHN JACOB ASTOR 



MICHIGAN AS A PROVINCE 357 

session of the posts in the upper country until his majes- 
ty's orders for that purpose shall be received, and my 
conduct upon that occasion having been approved, I 
have only to recommend to you a strict attention to the 
same." 

There were some questions of quite minor importance 
which were greatly magnified. The treaty of peace 
guaranteed that congress would take under immediate 
consideration the full pajment in sterling coin of debts 
owing to British subjects by Americans. It was claimed 
that this guaranty had not been maintained in good 
faith, and that loyalists had been thwarted in all efforts ' 
to regain possession of thfeir estates. Hence, the terms 
of the treaty not having been fully observed by the 
Americans, the British, on their part, were relieved from 
obligation. It was charged by the Americans that a 
number of negro slaves had been enticed away from 
their owners and carried off by British officers, in viola- 
tion of the express provisions of the treaty. Other prop- 
erty was alleged to have been confiscated and smuggled 
out of the country. It is known that the official records 
of the post at Detroit were removed to Quebec and that 
they were not recovered until a half century later. 
These were some of the elements of the friction which 
developed. Claims and counter-claims were bandied 
back and forth between St. James and the capitol at 
Philadelphia. Some of them had thfe appearance of be- 
ing merely subterfuge, an effort to kill time or to pro- 
voke controversy for the sake of controversy. It might 
be Inferred from her conduct, that Great Britain re- 



358 MICHIGAN AS PROVINCE, TERRITORY, STATE 

grctted having yielded in fixing the boundary line in such 
way as to give up to the United States the country north- 
west of the Ohio, and was now inclined to shape matters, 
if possible, for a re-opening of the treaty stipulations. 

In 1787 an ordinance was enacted by congress organ- 
izing the territory northwest of the Ohio river. Under 
this organization General Arthur St. Clair was ap- 
pointed governor. Though Michigan was included 
within the provisions of this ordinance, they could not 
at once be practically applied, owing to the fact that the 
country was still under British control. In 1792 Quebec 
was divided into Upper and Lower Canada, with the 
seat of government of the latter at Toronto, then known 
as York. Sir Guy Carleton as Lord Dorchester had 
again become Governor General of the whole province, 
with John Graves Simcoe Lieutenant Governor of Up- 
per Canada. The Quebec act, so far as related to this 
region, was repealed and all legislation under it was ab- 
rogated. Permanent courts were established in the reg- 
ular way and a form of civil government was set up for 
the first time at Detroit and Michilimackinac. The leg- 
islature also made provision for granting lands in the 
province and grants or pretended grants by Indian tribes 
were made to Jonathan Schiefflin, Robert Innis, Alexan- 
der Henry, John Askin, Robert McNiff, John Dode- 
mead and others of parcels of land covering pretty near- 
ly the whole southeastern portion of Michigan west- 
ward as far as the centre line and as far north as Sagi- 
naw. This was supposed at the time to cover all of the